The Templars and Hospitallers: backbones of the Latin cause in Palestine?

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The Catholic Church sought a means to solidify their teachings into a way the aristocracy would both accept them and hold onto them. The crusades became their best means of doing it, inspiring thousands to take up a pilgrimage in order to seek their internal salvation; and finding a group of people who exemplified the Church’s ideals while at the same time fighting to regain the Holy Land was just what the Church needed, to give their cause momentum and stability. The Templars and the Hospitallers became the backbone of the Latin cause in Palestine insofar that as a group, they were more disciplined than other military people, they were more committed than other crusaders, and they had found a means to reconcile piousness with military goals. These warrior-monks were used to exemplify the chivalrous ideals of the Church to the aristocrats while at the same time inspiring the very same nobles to join the crusades and fight the infidels.

The Rules set by the Templars for their Order almost bordered on the desire for self-flagellation. They had to take vows of ‘poverty, chastity, piety, and obedience’ and they had a long list of rules to obey. The need to be severe with ones’ self, both physically and mentally created a uniquely strict set of codes by which to live, and which earned them a fearsome combat reputation.

The maintenance of discipline was extremely important within the Order, for it was the application of the discipline of monastic life to the battlefield which made the Templars invaluable to the crusading armies of the West.(1)

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This sort of deep self-discipline was advantageous to the leaders wishing to either conquer or retain lands amongst their enemies. Knowing that at least one force would obey orders and not turn-tail during fighting was a relief to both army leaders and the Church. Taking Order vows, such as:

“Do you … promise to God and to Lady St. Mary that you, all the remaining days of your life, will help to conquer, with the strength and power that God has given you, the Holy Land of Jerusalem; and that which Christians hold you will help to keep and save within your power?”(2)

showed they were prepared to commit themselves completely and forever to any task they were set. This also allowed them to become fearsome warriors because when they fought the enemy, they felt their consciences were clear with regards to spilling blood. Fighting in the Holy War was fighting for God. These warrior monks were prepared to dig in and hold a position, no matter any adverse conditions, because they also saw it as part of their internal journey to salvation. Unlike many other crusaders who were there to do penance and return home, or mercenaries who were free to pick and choose what they did, where they went, and who they worked for. Their commitment and warrior training was highly disciplined, which worked well for commanders on the battlefield.

Like the Templars, the Hospitallers had a firm rule ordering severe punishment for any knight who broke ranks without orders …(3)

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Their members obeyed the rules, not only because they faced punishment for doing so, or possible expulsion from the Order, but because their eternal salvation was also seen to be at stake; and the state of one's soul was of far greater importance that what could happen to one's body. The Church leaders saw the warrior-monks’ ideals of chivalry as a way of reinforcing church ideology amongst the aristocratic levels of society, which they had been struggling to do for some time before the crusades.

The Templars therefore offered an institutional means of imposing moral restraint on the knightly class as well as providing that class with a suitable way of expressing contrition for actions taken which were contrary to Christian ethics.(4)

It was quite a dilemma for the Church as to how to reconcile their ideals of peace with what they saw as necessary war. But they could not forget the many pilgrims whose journeys for salvation to the Holy Land needed to be safe. The Order were again indispensible as they created a system of credit notes for the pilgrims to carry rather than valuables, so they were less likely to be attacked along the way; and they worked at keeping the travel routes open and safe. In 1132, Elbert, Bishop of Châlons, stated:

‘The knights of the Temple of the holy city of Jerusalem, having professed a knighthood of the most high and pacific king, furnish so great a relief and so much safety to the needy, pilgrims, poor and all wishing to go to the Sepulchre of the Lord, (which) we do not believe to be unrecognised by the charity of the faithful.’(5)

The Church could certainly not send people off on a pilgrimage if there was little chance of a safe passage.

One of the principal roles that had been envisaged for the Templars … was to ‘keep the roads and highways safe from the menace of robbers and highwaymen, with especial regard for the protection of pilgrims’.(6)

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They also found the Templar's ideas were the most useful to their own plans and these became a means to promote the holy crusade. There were instances whereby those amongst the nobility believed enough in the Order that they made out wills leaving their bodies and souls to the safekeeping of the Templars if they should die; and while women could not join the Order, they could be looked after by them, and some made grants to the Order in hopes that their souls would be redeemed through the Templars piety. This shows how powerful the Order had become both in higher social standing and to the Church.

Despite their vow of poverty, the Templars as an Order were gifted many assets including land, gold, valuable trinkets and jewels, which led to them having great wealth. And with wealth came power and position, which meant they then had a powerful political voice. Their opinion was taken into account in matters such as choosing a new King in Jerusalem. The Templars also became masters at political negotiation, and used their skills for such things as treaties, safe passage for travellers, ransoms, and strategic planning. One advantage the Templars had over monks was that they already had experience of the ‘outside world’ and understood much more of both what went on and what was expected during times of war. Monks had essentially always been men of peace and internal salvation. Another advantage was that with their strict code of self-discipline, they could be relied upon to remain in control at all times, unlike other soldiers who could at times get out of control and rebel against their leaders commands, such as when Constantinople fell and soldiers went about raping, stealing, murdering and burning throughout the city for three days before finally being brought back under control. As the Templars answered only to God, and therefore the Church, they could not be ‘bought’ or persuaded to switch allegiance. This gave the Church great confidence in them when appointing them tasks and sending them into situations. While the members of the Order were looking for internal rewards for their efforts, they were gifted many external rewards as a result of their deeds, which gave them great social standing amongst the aristocracy.

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It was to be this very power and wealth which would be the Order's downfall in the end, but for a couple of hundred years they were held up by the Church as paragons of virtue, and used as idealistic warriors of God. Their self-discipline, strict ethics, tenaciousness, obedience, chastity, poverty and piety meant they were able to focus on a task and were prepared to see it through. They were the only group the Church could count on to be one hundred percent committed to the Church’s plans to recapture the Holy Land. The Orders of the Templars and Hospitallers became the ‘backbone’ of the Latin cause in Palestine through their commitment, dedication and belief in God as the salvation of both their physical and spiritual selves in such a way that allowed them to be both as pious as monks and fearsome as warriors.

Knights Templar statue, in the courtyard of the Temple church (London, England)
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This essay was one I wrote as an assignment, while obtaining my University degree. I have included the references and bibliography - reference materials I used while writing - just as I’d had to for its submission. It has never before been published anywhere public, though. Images have been added for visual interest.

References:

1 Upton-Ward, Judi. ‘The Surrender of Gaston.’ p. 187. Military Orders: Fighting for the Faith and Caring for the Sick. Ed. Malcolm Barber. Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Ltd., 1994.

2 ibid., p. 188.

3 Robinson, John J. Dungeon, Fire and Sword: The Knights Templar in the Crusades. New York: M. Evans and Company, Inc.; 1991, p. 186.

4 Barber, M. C. ‘The Social Context of the Templars.’ Transactions of the Royal Historical Society Fifth Series: 34 (1984), p. 39. 9 September 2010 http://www.jstor.org/stable/3679124.

5 ibid., p. 40.

6 Pringle, Denys. ‘Templar Castles on the Road to the Jordan.’ pp. 151-52. Military Orders: Fighting for the Faith and Caring for the Sick. Ed. Malcolm Barber. Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Ltd., 1994.

Bibliography:
Barber, M. C. ‘The Social Context of the Templars.’ Transactions of the Royal Historical Society Fifth Series: 34 (1984), pp. 27-46. 9 September 2010 http://www.jstor.org/stable/3679124.

Christiansen, E. The Northern Crusades. London: Penguin, 2nd ed. 1997, pp. 73-82.

Housley, Norman. Contesting the Crusades. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2006.

Barber, Malcolm, ed. Military Orders: Fighting for the Faith and Caring for the Sick. Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Ltd., 1994.

Forey, A. J. ‘The Military Orders and Holy War against Christians in the Thirteenth Century.’ The English Historical Review 104:410 (1989), pp. 1-24. 9 September 2010 http://www.jstor.org/stable/571013.

MacGregor, James B. ‘Negotiating Knightly Piety: The Cult of the Warrior-Saints in the West, ca. 1070-ca. 1200.’ Church History 73:2 (2004), pp. 317-345. 9 September 2010 http://www.jstor.org/stable/4146527.

McMahon, Norbert. The Story of the Hospitallers of St. John of God. Dublin: M, H, Gill and Son Ltd., 1958.

La Monte, J. L. ‘Some Problems in Crusading Historiography.’ Speculum 15:1 (1940), pp. 57-75. 9 September 2010 http://www.jstor.org/stable/2849087.

Munro, Dana C. ‘The Popes and the Crusades.’ Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 55:5 (1916), pp. 348-356. 9 September 2010 http://www.jstor.org/stable/984051.

Nicholson, Helen. Templars, Hospitallers and Teutonic Knights: Images of the Military Orders, 1128-1291. Leicester: Leicester UP, 1993.

Riley-Smith, Jonathan. The Crusades: A History. New Haven: Yale UP, 2nd ed. 2005.

Robinson, John J. Dungeon, Fire and Sword: The Knights Templar in the Crusades. New York: M. Evans and Company, Inc.; 1991.

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