Chapter IV.

fieroism of the Templars and Hospitallen—Baitle of Hittin — Crusade of Richard of England and Philip of France— Gorrnption of the Order — Pope Innocent III. writes a Let- ter of Censure — Frederic II.— Great Slaughter of the Tem- plars — Henry III. of England and the Templars — Power of the Templars in Moraviar— Slaughter of them by the Hos* pitallers — Fall of Acre.
The fall of the Christian power in the East was now fast approaching, and it was not a little hastened by the enmity of the rival orders. The truth of the old sentence, that the Deity deprives of sense those whom he will destroy, was manifested on this as on so many other similar occasions ; and while the great and able Saladin was consolidating his power and preparing for the accomplishment of the object which, as a true Moslem » lay nearest his heart, the recovery of the Holy City, discord, enmity, and animosity, prevailed among those who should have been actuated by one soul and by one spirit.
Yet the two orders of religious chivalry had not derogated from their original valour, and the last days of Jerusalem were illumined by some noble feats of prowess. On the 1st of May, 1187, when Malek-el-Afdal, the son of Saladin, was returning from an expedition into the Holy Land, which he had undertaken with the consent of the Count of Tripolis, regent of the kingdom, the Masters of the Temple and of the Hospital, having collected about 140 knighta and 500 footmen, met the Moslems, who were
THE TBMFLASS,
7,000 in number, at ihe celebrated broot Kishon. They iiiimed lately charged them nith the utmost im- petuosity; the Turks, according to custom, turned and fled ; the Christian knighls pursued, leaving their infantry unprotected. Suddenly a large body of the Turks emerged from a valley, and fell on and slaugh- tered the footmen. Their cries brought back the knights lo their aid, but. impeded by the narrowness of tile ground, they could neither lay their lancea in rest nor run llieir horses against the enemy, and all fell beneath the weapons of the Turks, with the ex- ception of the Master of the Temple and three of his knights, who were saved by tlie fleetness of their horses. The Master of Ihe Hospital was among the slain. In this unfortunate light, James De Mailly, the marshal of the Templars, and a Hospitaller, named Henry, especially distinguished themselves. After all their brave companions had been slain around them, they still maintained ihe conSict ; the Turks, tilled wiih admiration of their valour, repeat- edly offered them quarter, but in vain; and they fell at last, overwhelmed with darts flung from a distance, no one venturing to approach them. The historian, Vinisauf, tells us tliat De Mailly was mounted on a white horse, which, juiiied with his relucent arms and white mantle, made him appear to the infidels to be St. George, and they exulted greatly in having slaia the tutelar saint of the Chrbiians. He aitds, what is not an unlikely circumstance, that the Turks covered Lis body with dust, which they afterwards powdered on their heads, thinking Lhereby to acquire some por- tion of his valour.
At Ihe fatal battle of Hiltin, where 80,000 Cbxi^ tians lost (heir lives, where the king and all his princes became captives, and where the Latin powei in Uie East was bmkeii for ever, the Master of ihe Temple, Gerard of Riilelbrl, and severul of his
SBCRIT BOblETIES.
knights and thoae of the Hospilal, were amone: the captives. Saladin, who bore a particular hatred to the Bpiriluul kni^hla, would spare them on do condi- tion but that of their renouncing their faith. To a man they galkntly ri;fused ; and, with the exception of the Master, the heads of all were struck off. Many who belonged not to the orders, smit with desire for the glory of martyrdom, cast the mantles of Templars around tlkem, and went cheerfully to death as such. One Templar, named Niculaus, evinced such joy and impatience for this glorious late, that, according to the irleas of those times, heaven was believed to tes- tify its approbation by a visible sign, and during three nights a celestial light illumined the unburied corpse of the Christian martyr.
It was Indeed rare tor a Templar to renounce his (kith : prejudice, or honour, we may style it, or a better principle, always kept him steady in it, what- ever ihe irregularities of his life might be. We recollect but one instance of a brother of the Tem- ple abjuring his faith, and he was unhappily an English knight, named Robert of St. Albans. From aome unassigned cause, he flung away Ihe dress of his order, broke his vows, went over to Saladin, and became a Musselman. The . of his female relatives in marriuge, and the recreant knight appeared before Jemsalemn at the head of an army of the infidels. He had promised to Saladin to reduce the Holy City; but her hour was not yet come; and afler wasting all the country from Mont- royal to Jericho with fire and sword, he was forced to retreat before the chivalry of Jerusalem, who came forth with the holy cross, and gave him a signal de- feat. Thiseventocciirred iniheyear 1184; and ihe aposla among the Christians, and enciled great ill-will affoinsl the order in getveral.
THE TEMPLAHS.
213
Jt Imd hillierto been the maxim of the order, not to redeem any of Iheir members out of captivity with any higher ransom than a. girdle, or a knife, or some otiier insignilitaiit matter, actinri; in tliis on the same principle with the old Romans, who never redeemed prisoners. The Master, Ado de St. Amando, had died in captivity; but to redeem Gerard de Ride- fort, no lass a ransom was given thnn the city of Ascaton, — Gerard died of a wound received in bat- tle the following year.
During the memorable crusade of Philip of France and Richard of Eufrtand to the Holy Land, which their rivalry and animosity rendered utterly ineffec- tual, we find the Hospitallers on the side of ihe king of England, and of course the Templars the warm partizan.s of the king of France. Vet, when Richani was on his return to Europe, he sent for the Masler of the Temple, and said to him, that he knew by many he was not loved, and that !ie ran great risk of hi); life on his way lo his kingdom; he therefore besought him thut he would permit him to assume Ihe dress of the order, and send two of the brethren with him. The Master readily granted tlie request of so potent a monarch, and the king went on board in the habit of a Templar. It was probably on ac- count of the known enmity of the order to him, that King Richard adopied this i^xpcdient, thinking that no one woidd ever suspect him of being with the Templars. His brother John, we may here observe, was, on the contrary, a great favourer of the order. to whom he gave Lundy Island, at the mouth of the Bristol Channel. Throughout his reign, this odious prince attached himself to the Templars as tlie faithful servants of his lord the pope, reckoning on iheir aid against his gallant barons, who would nut leave the liberties of the nation at the feet of a faithless tyrant. It was now very much the custom for monorcbs to
SBCRBT SOOISTIBS.
deposit their treasures in the Temple houses ; and in r 1213 we Hud King John demanding 90,000 marks which he had committed to the TenipUtrs to keep. We meet with no instance of breach of trust on the part of the knights.
The Templars shared in thu common dishonesty ofthe church with respect to false miracles, and they felt no scruple at augmenting' their wealth by decep- tions calculated k> impose on the ignorance and zeal of the laity. In the year 1204 it wus given out that an image of the Virgin, in a convent not far from Damascus, had become clothed with flesh, and that there issued from ita breasts a kind of juice or liquor of wondraas efficacy in removing the sins of pious pilgrims. As the place was distant, and the road be- set wiih dajiger, the knights of the Temple took upan themselves the task of fetching the mirilic fluid lo the part of the coast still held by tlie Latins, and accom- modating pilgrims nith it, und the colfers of the order were largely replenished by this pious tralhc.
Though, like all other proprietors in the Holy Land, the order of the Temple hitd been losers in conse- quence of the conquest of it by Saladin, their pos- sessions in the West were so extensive that they hardly felt the loss. At this very time we find the number of their possessions of various kinds in Europe, stated at 7050, principally sitnated in France and in ISngland. Their arrogiince and luxury natu- rally kept pace with their wealth ; and, though writers of the twelfth century, and even the Troubadours — the satirists of the age — always speak of the knights of the Temple with honour, there was a secret dislike of them gaining ground, especially with the clergy, in consequence of the great privileges granted to them by the bull Oinne Datum Optimum, and the insolent manner in which these privileges were exercised. Accordingly we find, in tlie jear 1208, the great
i TEMPLARS.
IiLtiocetit HI. the most ambitious of popes, and one nho was a steady friend to the order, utider the neces- sity of passing the first public censure of them, and endeavouring to set, by uuthority, a limit to their excesses. In his epistle to the Master on this occa- sion, the holy father says that they abused the privi- lege of having mass celebrated in places which were under interdict, by causing their churches to be thrown open, and mass to be said every day, with loud ringing of bells, bearing the cross of Christ on their breast, but not caring to follow his doctrines, who forbids to give offence tii any of the little ones who believe on him. He goes on to state that, following the doc- trines of demons, they affued the cross of their order on the breast of (i. e. aj^liated) every kind of scimn- drel, asserting thai whoever, by paung two or three pence a year, became one of their fraternity, c-ould not, even though interdicted, be deprived of Christian burial; and that hence, known adulterers, usurers, and otliers who were lying under sentence of inter- diet, were honourably interred in their cemeteries; " Olid thus they themselves, being captive to the devil, cease not to make captive the souls of the faithful, seeking to make alive those whom they know to be dead." The pontiff laments, that instead of, like religious men, using the world for the sake of God, they employed their religious character as a tneaiis of indulging in the pleasures of the world. Though, on account of these and such abuses, they deserved to be dejirived of the privileges which bad been con- ferred on them, the holy father will not proceed to extremity, relying on the exertions of the Master to effect a reformation.
In this epistle we liave all the charges, which, as will hertafier appear, could be at any time brought with justice against the order, \vhose corruption pro-
I 5lG SECRET SOCIETIES.
Ceeded in the ordinarj- course of human nahire, Ho otherwise, — privileges and exemptions producing insolence and assumption, and weultli generating
I luxury and relaxation of morals. It was the lavish generosity of popes, princes, and nobles, that caused he ruin of the Templars. TTie Templars bore a distinguished part iti the es-
I peditimi to fegypt and siege of Damietta, in 1219, as the cliief commander on that occasion was Uie papal kgat«, whose conduct, under show of obedience, they chiefly directed. But when, in 122S, the Em- penir Frederic II., then under the sentence of the church, undertook the crusade whicii he had vowed, he found nothing but opposition and treachery from these staunch adherents of the pope. Considering the spirit of the a so much to be blamed ; but no principle will excuse (he act of their writing to inform the Egyptian sultan
' of the plans of the emperor. The generous Moslem, instead of taking advantage of this Ireacliery, sent the letter to Frederic, to the confusion of its authors. Frederic checked his indignation at the time, but on his return to Europe he took his satisfaction on tiiose who were most guilty, and he seized the property of the order in Sicilyand his Italian dominions. Though
I Be was excommunicated again for so doing, Frederic persisted in his enmity both to them mid the Hos- pitallers ; and though, perhaps, the least given to su- perstition and illiberality of any man of his age, he did not disdain to make I'riendly intercourse with the Moslems a serious charge i^inst them. " The haughty religion of the Templars," writes he, " reared on the pleasures of the native barons of the land,
waxes wanton We know, on good authority, that
Bultans and their trains are received with pompous
L^Bcrity within the gates of the Temple, and that the
Templars suffer them to celebrate secular plays, and to perfbnn their superstitious rites with invocation of Mahommet."
The hostility between the Templars and the Hos- pitallers still continued, though the Christian power wns now nearly restricted to the walls of Acre. T!ie Templars were in alliance with ihe prince of Damas- cus : the Hospitallers were ihe friends of the sultan of Egypt. The Templars extended their enmity against the emperor to the Teutonic knights, whom they deprived of their possessions in Syria. The appearance of a new enemy, however, brought con- cord for a time among- them. The Turks of Kbau- ri^m, on the east of the Caspian, were now in flight before the hordes of the Mongols, and 20,000 of their horsemen burst Into the Hoiy Land. They took and plundered Jerusaiem, which was unfortified and opeu, and then united themselves with the troops of Egypt, The Christians applied lo the prince of Da- mascus for aid, who forthwith sent the required troops, and their combined forces went in quest of the foes. In the battle the Templars and the militia occupied the centre ; the Hoapitallers were posted on the left wing, the light horse on the right. The battle lasted two days, and ended in the total defeat of the Chris- tians, a result which is ascribed, though probably wilh injtistice, to the treachery of the Damascenes. The Master of the Temple and the whole chapter, with the knights, in all 300, were slain ; only four knights and fourieen esquires escaped.
The improvident and needy Henry III. of England, in general such a dutiftU son of the holy fether, who, for a share of the spoil, ustially aided him in the piotts work of robbing his subjects, summoned cou- rage in 1252 to speak of seizing some of the pro- perty of the church and the military orders. " Tou prelates and religious," said he, " especially you
I
Tempkrs and Hospitallers, have so many liberties and charters, that your enofmous possessions make you rave with pride and haughtiness. What was imprudently given, must be tkerefore prudently re- voked; and wlmt was inconsiderately bestowed must
be considerately recalled I will break this and
other charters which my predecessors and myself have rashly granted." But the prior of the Templars im- mediately replied, " What sayeat thou, O king ? Far be it that thy mouth should utter so disagreeable and silly a word. So loug as thiiu dost exercise justice thou wilt reign ; but if thou iufringe it, thou wilt cease to be a king !" These bold words appear to have checked the feeble king, who tiext year besought the two orders to become Us security for b large sum of money which he owed. They refused bis request, and Henry thenceforth did them ail the injury in his
There occurred an event in Moravia in 1252, which may sewe to show the power of the order in Europe. A uoblemun, name to fly from that country, became aTemplar in France. He made over all his properly, among which was the castle of Eichhorn in Moravia, 1^ the order. But his elder brother, Burian, took possession of his property, as having fallen to himself as head of the fdniily. King Winzel, on being applied to, de- cided in favour of tlie order. Burian, however, still kept possession. The nest year the Templars col- lected some thousands of men, and marched, under the command of tlieir Great Prior, to take the castle. Jjurian, assembling 6000 men, 000 of whom he placed in the castle, advanced in give thini battle. The eng'anement was bloody ; 1700 nien, among them the Ureal Prior of the Templars, lay slain, when uiglit terminated the conflict. A truce was made for three days, at the end of which Burian and his men
L, became
J took up
TU8 TEMPLARS. 219
were driven into the caslle, which they defended bravely, till king Attocar sent to threaten tliem witt his wrath if they did not give it up. Burian surren- dered it, and Vratislaf, returning to Moravii Prior of Eichhorn, in which thiriy Templar their abode.
Though the Templars were so extremely n in Enrope, they were little disposed to go out to the East to encounter toil and danger, in the performance of tiieir dutie.s. They preferred living in ease and luxury on their rich possessions in the Westj and the membera of the chapter alone, with afew knights, and other persons attached to tlie order, abode in Syria. It would even seem that the heads of the society were meditating a hual retreat from tiie East, where they probably saw that nothing of permanent advantage was to be achieved. The Hospiiallers, on the other hand, whatever may have been the cause, Hppe;ir to have been more zealous in their calling, and to have had a greater number of their members in Syria; and it is, probably, to this cause, that we are to assign the total defeat whieli ihey were enabled to give their rivals in 1259 : for the animosity between tlie orders had come to such a height, that, in this year, they came to open war. A bloody battle was fought, in which the Tempbrs were defeated, when, such was the bitterness of their enmity, that the victors made no prisoners, but cut to pieces every Templar who fell into (heir hands, and scarce a Templar remained to carry the intelligence to Europe.
Prom this period till the capture of Acre and final destruction of the Latin power in the East in 1291, afler a continuance of nearly two centuries, the an- nals of the Templars are bare of events. The rivalry between them and the other orders still continued ; and in tlie opinion of some historians, it was their jealousy that hastened the fall of that last remnant of
t20 SBCRKT SOCIBTIES.
the Christian dominion in the East. Not more than ten knights of the Temple escaped in the storm of the town, and these, with the remnants of the other orders, and the garrison, sought a retreat in Cyprus.
We have now traced the history of the order from its institution to within a few years of the period of its suppression. Of this most important event we shall delay the consideration for some time, and shall occupy the intervening space with an account of the intemsd organisation of the society, its officers, its wealth, and various possessions. This will, we trust, prove no slight contribution to our knowledge of one of the most curious portions of the history of the world — ^that of the middle ages — and gratify the reader by the display of manners and institutions which have long since passed away*.
* The organisation and the rules of the Hospitallers were similar to uiose of the Templars ; but as that order existed down to modern times, the nues, &c., given by Vertot^ contain a great number of modern additions.
THE TBMPL&BB.
Chufter V.
Cloasei ot the 1\jmp]]in— The Knights— Theit QuatiScitioni — Mmle of Reception — Dren and Arms of the Knij^ht —
kHode of Buriai— Tho Chaplains— Mode of Reception—. press- Dutioa and ' FriTileges— The Serving-Brethren— tlodd of Receplion—Theii Dutiea- The Affiliated— Cnuaei BDd Advantages of Affiliation— The Uunoten and OblateH.
The founders of the order of the Templars were, LIS we have seen, knights ; and they were the first who conceived the novel idea, and happy one, as we may call it in accordance with the sentiments of those times, of uniting in the same person the two characters held in highest estimation — the bnight and the monk. The latter added sanctity to the for- mer, the former gave dignity and consideration to the latter, in the eyes of a martial generation. Hence, the Templar naturally regarded himself as the first of men ; and the proudest nohles of the Christian world esteemed it an honour to belong to the order. The knigbta were, therefore, the strength, the flower, the ornament of the society.
The order of the Templars, when it was fully de- veloped, consisted not of degrees, but of distinct and separate classes. These were the knights, the chap- lains, and the serving-brethren ; to which may be added the affiliated, the donates, and the oblates, or persons attached to the order without taking the
I, Tjie Kniqhts. — Whoever presented himself to be received as a knight of the order must solemnly
BECSET BOCIBTIES,
aver that he vas sprung from a knightly family, and that his father was or might have been a knighL He was further to prove, that he nas born in lawful wed- lock, for, like the church in general, the Templars excluded bastards from iheir society. In this rule tliere was prudence, though, possibly, it was merely eKtablishetl in accordance with the ideas of the time; for, had a king of France or an emperor of Germany been able to get his natuiikl child into the order, and should he then have been chosen Master of it, as he probably would, it might have lost its independence, and become the mere tool of the monarch. The can- didate was, moreover, to declare that he was free from all previous obligations ; that he was neither married nor betrotlied ; had not made any vows, or received any consecration in another order; and that he w:is not involved in debt He had finally to declare him- self to be of a sound and healthy couatittitiou, and free from disease. When the order was grown great and ])Owerful, and candidates for admission were numerous and of (he highest families, it became the custom to require the payment of a large fee on admission.
It was necessary tliat the candidate for admission among the knights of the Temple should already be a a knight ; for as knighthood was a secular honour.lhe order would have regarded it as derogaling from its dignity if any of its niembers w*re lo receive it. l^e
I Hospitallers and Teutonic knights thought differently, and with them tlic aspirant was knighted on his admis- sion. If the candidate Templar, therefore, had not been knighted, he was obliged to receive knighthood, in the usual manner, from a secular knight, or a bisliop, previous to taking his vows. A noviciate forms an essential and reasonable part of the course of admission Juto the spiritual orders in ^neral ; for it is but right that a person should be- come, in some meaBU.tc,iic(\wa.\n\.ii'!i\Nvv.\.\Vhft rules and
THE TEMPLARS. 223
of a society before he cnUrs it. Bui, though Ihe original rule of the Templars enjoined a novJeiale, It was totally neglected in practice; a matter which was aftemards made one of the charges against the order. Perhaps there was in llieir case little necessity for this preparatory process ; the Templars were so much in the world, and those who joined them had been in general so frequently among them, and were conse- quently so well acquainted with their mode ol' life, that they hardly required any such preliminary discipline to familiarize them with their duties. The neglect of llie practice at the same time gave the Templars an advantage over the rival orders who enjoined it; for a young nobleman would, in all likelihood, feel most die-posed to join the society into which he could be admitted at once ; and perluips no small part of the corruption of the Templars, in which they undoubt- edly surpassed their rivals, may be ascribed to the facility which was thus afforded to unworthy persons entering among them.
With respect to the Dge at which persons were ad- mitted, it is plain, from the previously required recep- tion of knighthood, that it must have been that of adolescence or manhood. All that is said by the statutes is, that no child could he received; and that the parents or relatives of a child destined In be a member of the order, should keep and breed him till he could manfully and with armed hand cxtirpatit ike enemies of Christ out of the land. This formed a marked distinction between the Templars and the mere religious orders, who, even at the present day, we believe, admit children, taking the charge of their rearing mid education ; whereas, children could only be destined to the order of the Temple, and could not be presented for admission, till able [o hear arms, that sually in the twenty-first year of their age.
p
ft
SBCSET SO OIK TIBS.
The reception of a knight took place in one of the chapels oi' the order, in presence of the assemhled chapter. It was secret, not even the relatives of the caniliijate being allowed lo he present. The ceremony commenced by the Master • or prior, who presided, aaying, " Beloved brethren, ye see ihat the majority are ag-reed lo receive this man as a brother. If there be any amon^ you who knows any thing of him, on account of which he cannot lawfully become a brother, let him say it ; for it is better that this should be signified beforehand than after he is brought before us.''
The aspirant, if no objection was made, was then led into a chamber near tVie chapter-room ; and two or three reputable knights of the oldest in the house were sent to lay before him what it was needful for him to know. They commenced by saying, " Bro- ther, are you desirous of being associated to the order?" If he replied in the affirmative, they stated to him the whole rigour of the order. Should he reply that he was willing to endure everything for God's sake, and to be all his lile long the ser- vant and slave of the order, they asked him if he had a wife or was betrothed ? if he had made pro- fession or vows in any other order ? if he owed to any man in the world more than he could pay ? if he was of sound body, and had no secret infirmity, and if he was the servant of any one ? Should his answers be in the negative, the brethren went hack to the chapter and informed the Master or his representative of the result of the examination. The latter then asked once more, if any one knew any thing to the contrary. If all were silent, he said " Are yoti willing that he should be brought in in God's name? " The knights then WhBn we vte ike word " Maiter/' we would always be uo- luod to mean thu Muter or his te|)reseDtatiTB.
i
THE TBHFLABS. US
said, " Let him be brought in in God's name." Those who had been already with him then went out a^in, and asked him if he persisted in his resolution. If he said that he did, they iniitructed him in what he was to do when suing for admission. They then led him back to the chapter, where, casting himself on his knees, with folded hands, before the receptor, he said, " Sir, I am come, before God, and before yon and the brethren, and pray and beseech you, for the sake of God and our dear Lady, to admit me into j^our society, and the good deeds of the order, as one who will be, all his life long, the servant and slave of the order." The receptor then replied, " Beloved brother, you are desirous of a great matter, for you see nothing but tlie outward shell of our order. It it is only the outward shell when you see that we have fine horses and ridi caparisons, that we eat and drink well, and are s'plendidiy clothed. From this you con- clude that you will he well oiT with us. But you know not the rigorous maxims which are in our inte- rior. For it is a hard matter for you, who are your own master, to become the servant of another. You will hardly be able to perform, in future, what you wish yourself. For when you may wish to be on tliis side of the sea, you will be sent to the other side; when you will wish to be in Acre, you will be sent to the district of Antioch, to Trtpolis, or to Armenia ; or you will be sent to Apulia, to Sicily, or to Lombardy, or to Burgundy, France, England, or any other country where we have houses and possessions. When you will wish to sleep you will be ordered to watch ; when you will wish to watch, then you will he ordered to go to bed; when you will wish to eat, then you will be ordered to do something else. And as both we and you might autfei' great inconvenience from I yhat you have, mayhap, concealed from us, look here
SSfi SBCRBT SOClBTtES.
on the holy Evangelisls and the word of God, and answer the truth to the questions which ^^e shall put to you ; for if you lie you will be perjured, and may be expelled the order, from which God keep you!"
He was now asked over again, by the receptor, the same questions as before ; and. moreover, if he had made any simoniacal contract with a Templar or any other for admission. If his answers proved satis- factory, the receptor proceeded. " Beloved brother, take good care that you have spoken the truth to us ; for should yoii have !ipaken false in any one point, you might be put out of the order, from which God keep youl Now, beloved brollier, attend strictly to what we shall ssiy unto you. Do you promise to God, and our dear Lady Mary, to be, all your life lon^, obedient to the Master cf the Temple, and to tbe prior who shall be set over you?"
" Yea, Sir, with the help of God!"
'' Do you promise to God, and our dear Lady Mary, to live chaste of your body all your life loug ?"
" Yea, Sir, with the help nf God !"
" Do you promise to God, and our dear Lady Mary, to observe, all your Hie long', the laudable manners and customs of our order, both those which are already in use, and those which the Master utd kuighfs may add?"
" Yea, Sir, with tbe help of God !"
" Do you promise to God, and our dear Lady Mary, that you wi.ll, with the strength and powers which God has bestowed on yoii, help, as long as you , to conquer the Holy Land of Jerusalem ;
that y
vill, with all
uid to keep and
(luaril lliat which the Christians possess?" " \ea. Sir, with the help of God !" ' Do you promise to God, and our dear Lady iry, never to hnld this order for stronger or weaker.
THE TEMPLARS. 227
"■*>r better or worse, than with permission of the Mus- ter, or of the chapter which has the authority "?''
" Yea, Sir, with the help of God !"
" Do you finally prombe to God, and our dear Lady Mary, never to be present when a Christian is unjustly and unlawfully despoiled of his herilaite, and that you will never, by counsel or by act, take part therein ?'"
" Yea, Sir, with the help of God !"
'* In the name, then, of God, and our dear Lady Mary, and in the name of St. I'eter of Rome, and of our father the pope, and in the name of all the brethren of the Temple, we ret^eive to all the frood works of the order which have been performed from the beginninjf, and shall be performed to the end, you, your father, your muther, and all of your family whom you will let have share therein. In like man- ner do you receive us to all the good works which you have performed and shall perform. We assure you of bread and water, and the poor clothing of ihe order, and labour and toil enow,"
The Master then took the dislinguishing habit of the order, namely, the white mantJe with the red cross, and putting it about the neck of the candidate, clasped it firmly. The chaplain then repeated the I32d psalm, Ecce quam boiium, and the prayer of the Holy Ghost, Dew qui cordajlddiutn, and each brother repeated a Pater noater. The Master and the chaplain then kissed him on the mouth; and he sat down before Ihe Master, who delivered to him a discourse, of which the followinp; is the substance.
He was not to strike or wound any Christian ; tiot to swear ; not to receive any serviee or attendance from a woman vn'thout the permission of his supe- rioiB; not on any account to kiss a woman, even if
• Tlia.t is, never la quit the Older,
SBCBET SOCIBTIEB.
she was his mother or his sister ; to hold do child at the baptismal font, or be a gfld-father; to abuse no Man or call him foul names; but to be always courteous and polite. He was to sleep in a linen sturt, drawers, and tiose, and girded with a small girdle. He was to attend divine service punctually, and at table he was lo commence and conclude with prayer ; during the meal he was to preserve silence. When the Mas- ter died, he was, be he where he might, to repeat 200 Paler nosters for the repose of his soul.
Each knight was supplied with clothes, arms, and equipments, out of the funds of the order. His dreg's was a long white tunic, nearly resemblins; that of priests in shape, with a red cross on the back and litmt of it; his girdle was under thb, over his linen shirt. Over all he wore his ^hite mantle with its red cross of four arms (the under one being the longest, so that itre.sembled thatoii which the Saviour suffered) on the left breast. His head was covered by a cap ot a hood attached to his mantle. His arms were shield, sword, lance, and mace; and, owing to the heat of the East, and the necessity of activity in combats with the Turks and Saracens, his arms and equip- ments in general were lighter than those used by the .secular knights. He was allowed three hofses and an esquire, who was either a serving-brother of the urder or some layman who was hired lor the purpose. At times this office was performed by yoiiihs of noble birth, whom their parents aTid relatives gladly placed in the service of distinguished knights ot' the Tem- ple, that they might have an opportunity of acquiring the knightly virtues ; and these otlen became after- wards members of the order.
When a knight liad become, from age or wounds, incapable of service, he took up his abode in one of the temple-houses, where he lived in ease, and was vith the utmost respect and consideration.
SnCBBT SOCIBTIES.
These emeriti knig;hts are frequently menlioned un- der the name of pTodomes (Good men) ; they were present at all deliberatians of importance ; and their experience and knowledge of the rules of tlie order e highly prized and attended to.
\\ hen the Templar died, he was placed in a coffin in his liabit, and with his legs crossed, and thus buiied. Masses were said lor his soul^ his arms and clothes were partly given Lack to llie marshal or draper of the order — partly distributed among ihe poor,
Jl. The Chaplains, ^ — Tlie orderof the Templars, being purely military in its commencement, consisted then solely of laymen. That of the Hospital, on the contrary, on account of its olfice of uttending- the sick, had, necessarily, priests in it from its origin. This advantage of Ihe latter society excited the jealousy of the Templars, and they were urgent with the popes to be allowed a similar privilege. But the poiitids were loth to give offence tn the oriental prcUites, already displeased at the exemption from their control granted in this case to the Hospitallers; and it was not till the year 1162, that is, four years afler the founding of the order, when their great favourer, Alexander III., occupied the papiil throne, that the Templars allained their object.
The bull, Omne Datum Optimum, issued on this occasion, gave permission tn the Templars to receive iiilo llieir houses spiritual persons, in all countries, who were not bound by previous vows. If they were clergy of the vicinity, they were to ask ihem of ihe bishop ; and if he refused hb consent, they were em- powered, hy the bull, to receive them without it. The ilergy of the Temple were to perform a noviciate of a year — a practice which, as in the case of ihe knights, was dispensed with in the days of the power and corruption of the order. The reception of tlie clergy was (he same us tliat of the knights, with ihe
THB TSMPIABS,
of such questions as did not apply lo them. They were only required lo take the three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. The ritual of their reception was in Latin, and was almost predsely the same with that of the Benedictines. Like that of the knig'hte, their reception was secret. When the psalms had been sung the Master put on the recipient the dress of the order and tiie girdle, and, if he was a priest, the cap called baret.
The habit of the chaplains of the order was a white close-fitting tunic, with a red cross on the left breast. Thougli, according to the statutes, they were to have the best clothes in the order, they were not permitted to assume the white mantle as long as they were mere priests. But should one of them, as was not unfrequently the case, arrive at the epis- copal dignity, he was, if desirous of it, cheerfully granted that privilege. It was a further distinction between the knights and the chaplains, that the for- mer wore their beards, while the latter were close- shaven. The chaplains were also to wear gloves, out of respect to the body of the Lord.
All who had received 'Hit first tonsure were eligible to the office of chaplain to the order. When those who were only sub-deacons and deacons were to be raised to the rank of priests, the Master or his deputy sent them with lelters dimissory to a bishop of the vicinity, who was bound to confer the required order.
The clergy were, like all other members of the order, bound to obey the Master and the chapter. The Master and the chief officers of the order had always chaplains in their train to celebrate mass and other reli- gious offices, as also to act as secretaries, the knights being in general as illiterate as their secular brethren. It was by this last office that the chaplains acquired their chiefinfluence in the society; mind and superior
s;i4
SECRET SOCIETIES.
knowledge vindicating, as they always do, their na- tural rights. For though it was specially provided that the clei^y should take no share in the govern- ment of the society without being invited thereto by iheir superiors, the opinion of the secretary was naturally takeu in general, and if he was a man of sense and talent, it was most commonly followed*.
The duties of the clergy of the order were nearly the same as those of monks in general. They per- fiirnied all religious olhces, and officiated at all the cerciiiunies of the order, such as the admission of members, the installation of a Master, &c. Their privileges were very uuiuiportant ; they had merely the best clothes, sat ucKt the Master in the chapter and in the refectory, and were first served at table; when they committed any offence, they were also more lightly punished thtm others. They could, however, if it so pleased the heads of the order, arrive at high rank in it ; and we find that they were not unfre- qiiently among the preceptors. The alto rney -general of the order at Home, who was always a person of considerable importance, was most probably apriestof the order; at least we know that Peter de Bononia, the last of them, was such.
It isworthy of notice, thaleven in the most flourish- ing period of the order it never had a suflicient num- ber of chaplains, and was always obliged to have recourse lo the ministry of .secular priests. The causes of this were probably the circumstance of the order having attained its full form and consistency long before the clergy formed a part of it, and they conae- (piently had not an opportunity of arran^ng it so as
kai^Uls
geadnat hy Uieadminiunof Veiune&niemWa.''
; TEMPLARS.
235
to give themselves tlieir due share of power and importance. It must have been filing to the pride of those, wlio were used to rule, obeying only their spiritual superiors, to find themselves subject to the command of mere laymen, as they esteemed the knights of the order. Furtlier, though they shared iu the good things of the order and enjoyed the advaa- tau^ of the consideration in which it stood, yet they had no dignities to look forward to; whereas an en- trance into a lienedictine order held out lo the anibitious a prospect of rich priories, abbacies, and bishoprics, and, at tlie leiist, a voice in the chapter. It may well be supposed that the pride of the knights of the Temple relused to admit into their sadetf such persons as those who afterwards joined the me^' dicant orders — peasants and others who preferred a life of ease and idleness lo the labours of the plough and the workshop. The nucnber consequently of those who presented themselves for admission vrns small. But the knights felt no disadvantage thereby ; enow of secular priests were to be had, who were willing to have the master of the Temple as tlieir ordinary, and to share in the good things of the order, and as nei- ther party was bound to the other, they could easily