Historical Synthesis of the Order of the Temple Knights
Introduction
The following article entitled "Historical Synthesis of the Order of the Temple Knights", was written by the Grand Prior of Italy, Stelio W. Venceslai, translated by Roberta Monticelli and edited by Christian Pacella. This article is reproduced with kind permission from OSMTH - Grand Priory of Italy.
1 - Origins
It is believed that the history of the Order started in 1118, when Hughes de Payns (or Paynes) and eight other knights decided to defend pilgrims travelling to Jerusalem, which had recently been re-conquered by Crusaders. They called themselves Pauperes Milites Christi.
Some authors suggest that Hughes de Payns is actually the French name of Ugo or Ugone de’ Pagani from Nocera.
The King of Jerusalem Baldwin II, (whose elder brother, Godfrey of Bouillon, had conquered the city 19 years before), was grateful to those knights for joining his small forces and gave them a small property close to the old Temple of Salomon, from which the name “Knights of the Temple” was later derived.
Later, at the Council of Troyes, in France, the Order accepted a military and monastic rule by Bernard of Clairvaux, who had dreamt of a religious knighthood.
The definitive recognition by ecclesiastic authorities provided a very important boost to the Order. By that time it had already started to obtain privileges and became more and more militarily, economically and politically powerful and influential.
Moreover, because the Order was under the Pope only, it was as significant and free to act. The Order was, in fact, not supposed to pay tithes or to obey any authority, either religious or secular, except the Pope.
Two centuries later, the political influence and power of the Order became so huge, even tough their previous conquered territories had been lost and it was dreaming of a new Crusade, which actually never took place.
The Order founded many fortresses, monasteries, preceptories and subsidiary houses spread across Latin Christendom, while other religious knightly orders were looking for other non-Christian territories to conquer, such as the Teutonic Knights, who moved to Eastern Europe, or sheltered in Rodi island, joining the future Hospitallers Order which established the future Order of Malta.
All attempts at unifying the religious knightly orders, following the intentions of the Church, were severely hindered by the Masters of each Order (as each of them wanted to get supremacy) and Christian Countries, which feared a new economic and military Power greater than the one of each country that should have welcome it on its own territory.
King Philip the Fair of France, supported by the weak Pope Clement V, taking advantage from the enmity deriving from the economicl power and political influence of the Order, ordered that the members of the Order, -especially the French one- be arrested, tortured and burnt at the stake.
Their properties were confiscated and Clement V suppressed the Order by the bull Vox in excelso on 22nd March 1312.
The history of the Order seems to have developed between 1118 and 1314, when the Grand Master Jaques de Molay was condemned to be burnt at the stake.
Actually, it is supposed that the Order originated even before 1118 and continued operating after 1314.
The picture shows the plate placed where the Grand Master Jaques de Molay was burnt (Pont-Neuf, Paris).
2 - The likely true origin of the Order
All information about the origin of the Templar Order is quite uncertain.
The first reliable news was given by a French historian, William Archbishop of Tyre, who wrote from 1175 to 1185, when Palestine was already under the rule of the Crusaders for 70 years and the Templar Knights had existed for 50 years.
William of Tyre wrote about events he had not participated in but had probably heard of, perhaps directly from second or third hand Templar sources. From 1127 to 1144 there were in fact no historians in the Holy Land and no written documents on those crucial years on the Christian conquest.
At the court of the King of Jerusalem there was an historian, Fulk (or Foucher) de Chartres, who was writing at the time when the Templars arrived from the west, but it seems strange that he never wrote about Hughes de Payns, the Templar Knights or topics related to the templar way of life.
A strange silence surrounds the origins of the Templar Knights in the Holy Land and their first activities that should have been as ambitious as limited: how could only nine men defend the roads leading to the Holy Land and protect the pilgrims who went there?
Nine years later, when the majority of the Knights returned to France, they received a glorious welcome. Around 1128 St. Bernard from Clairvaux wrote his treatise “De laude novae militiae” in which he stressed the importance of the new religious knighthood which would have been consecrated by the Council of Troyes.
The Church officially recognized the Order in 1139 by the Innocent III’s bull (who was already Cistercian like St. Bernard), which established the Temple as a privileged order under Rome, independent from all princes, kings or bishops.
Then, in 1147, by special grant of Pope Eugene II, the Order adopted a red cross pattée on the white mantels, which has since became the symbol of the Templar Knights, replacing the patriarchal cross (or Lorena cross, with two horizontal arms, one of which is shorter than the other), that had been worn on the left shoulder for a long time by the knights, allowed by the Patriarch of Jerusalem.
Some modern historians claim that the origins of the Knights are more ancient. In fact, according to this thesis William Archbishop of Tyro mentions that Count Charles of Anjou, the father of Geoffrey the Plantagenet, should have joined the Order in 1120 (just two years after its official establishment) and in 1124 the Count of Champagne, one of the richest European potentate. But, again, William of Tyro says that no knight joined the first nine knights before 1127. It follows that either he was wrong in determining the date of the foundation of the Order, or it is not true that there were only nine knights for nine years.
If, as it seems to be certain, the Count of Anjou entered the Order in 1120 and there were no new members for nine years, then the actual date of the foundation of the Order should be around 1111 or at latest 1112.
This could just be a speculation, but there is a letter from the Bishop of Chartres written in 1114 addressed to the Count of Champagne when he was going to the Holy Land in which the Bishop wrote:”…we knew that…before leaving to Jerusalem you made a vow to enroll the MILICE DU CHRIST, that you wish to join this evangelical army.” Saying this he was using the diction of that time referring to Templars hinting at their vow of chastity, which was not asked of the other Crusaders.
It is also supposed that an Order of Sion could have been founded by Godfrey of Bouillon, in 1090, nine years before the conquest of Jerusalem and its head quarters should have been the Abbey of Our Lady of the Sion Mountain in Jerusalem. It seems that the Abbey was first populated by a chapter of Augustinian canons, and later it became the residence of the Knights of the Order of Our Lady of Sion.
Because there are some acts (issued on 19th July 1116 and 2nd May 1125) which are signed and sealed by one Prior of the Order of Sion and Hughes de Payns, first Master of the Temple, it seems to be believable that the two Orders were acting together, at least in the beginning, or even that the Temple Knights were the armed branch of the Order of Sion.
After 1314 the Order should have survived in some countries, with various names, either openly or in secret, depending on the power of the Church or acquiescence of the Kings.
3 - The survival of the Order after its suppression
3.1 – At that time many of the Christian kingdoms did not give into the Pope’s wishes or interpreted them reductively, even if the wealth of the Templars played a significant role in the politics of Latin Christendom.
In Spain and Portugal, the Templars lived on for many years before joining the Order of Montesa and the Order of Christ, under the approval of Pope John XXII.
The Templar Knights of Mallorca kingdom, instead, existed on untill their disappearance, in 1350.
Templars from Lorena, protected by the Duke, were later asked allowed to enter the Teutonic Order, while the Hungarian Knights lived on undisturbed till the middle of 1400.
In England, the son-in-law of Philip the Fair, Edward II, protected the Order contesting the decision of the Pope. Then, under strong pressure of the King of France and the Pope, he acted in accordance with their request and Templars were given one year to turn themselves in or become "proven heretics" and would, if foun, be burned to death at the stake with no trial. To King Edward's credit, many Templars apparently "escaped" from English prisons during this period.
In Portugal, the Order was inquired and acquitted from any accusation: it turned into the Order of Christ and lived on until the XVI century, dedicated to maritime activities to create the Portuguese empire.
In Scotland, which at that time was waging war against England, papal bulls never arrived, were not issued nor even applied. This allowed the Order to let in many refugees and live on probably for four centuries longer.
In Germany, the Knights raised up carrying also weapons against the judges, who acquitted them. When the Order was suppressed by the Pope many knights joined the St. Johan Hospitaller Order and the Teutonic Order which in 1522 turned into secular status, disowned their obedience to Rome and supported the rising Lutheranism.
3.2 - Referring to the supposed secret surviving of the Order, it belongs to Templar tradition the belief that the last Master of the Ancient Order, Jacques de Molay, should have entrusted his own power to a knight, Jean-Marc Larménius (or de l’Armenie), who should have written a Charta (Charter of Larménius), which later should have been signed by all the future secret Masters of the Order.
This statement legitimates the surviving of the Order until March 1705, when the nephew of Luis XIV, Philip of Orleans (who later became the king of France and was almost likely Jansenist) stated to be the successor of Jacques-Henry de Durfort as Master of the Temple. He put an end to the secret existence of Templars by convening a General Chapter on 11th April in Versailles, that approved the new statutes and by which the Duke was designated as Grand Master.
The Charta Transmissionis of Larmenius was also issued, written in ciphered letters, which could provide evidence that the Templars survived after 1314.
4 - The Order of the Temple after the XVIII century
4.1 - It was with the public taking sides of the Duke of Orléans that the modern restoration of the Order started, which has been living throughout many and often confused ups and downs.
The succession of Grand Masters was eventually interrupted at the time of the French Revolution (Philip of Orléans died in 1723). Claude-Mathieu Radix de Chevillon, who was ruling during the revolution, declined to be appointed as Grand Master and Bernard-Raymond Fabré-Palaprat succeeded, who was the last to sign in ciphered letter the Charta Transmissionis.
This restoration was approved by the new Emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, who established a new aristocracy. Distrusting the antimonarchical principles of freemasonry, the new Emperor probably considered the restored Order a favourable ally.
From 1804 the Order improved and organized itself as a knightly, charitable, open-minded, traditional and worldwide organization. From 1804 to 1808, in fact, the increasing number of Priories and Commanderies all over the Napoleonic Empire demonstrates the great success of the new restored Order. All postulants who were not of noble origins were given a title. In order to further distinguish itself from freemasonry the Order professed “the Catholic, Apostolic, Roman religion”. All Protestant postulants were rejected.
4.2 - When the Bourbons were restored, Luis XVIII assured the Templars the royal protection, being afraid of the political influence of some factions opposed to the restored monarchy.
Later, the French Templars supported the 1830 insurrection against Charles X, who was threatening to restore the absolutism, as the Belgian revolt against the Orange-Nassau governance leading to the independence of Belgium in 1831.
On 18th February 1838 Fabré-Palaprat died. On 29th May the catholic Count de Mouton was appointed as new Grand Master of the Order and the General Chapter nominated a new Executive Commission. Because the statutes of 1705 had been “corrupted” under the Fabré-Palaprat’s leadership, an act was approved which “renewed the knightly traditions and the obedience to the Catholic Church”.
On 11th February 1841 in Paris a very important decision was taken by the Templars: all Christians of each denomination could be members of the Templar Order, whose official religion, however, remained the Apostolic, Catholic, Roman religion.
By the act of 28th July 1848, all activities of each Order and Association was forbidden by the French Constituent Assembly; but, the political situation changed again and in 1850 Napoleon III recognized the Templar Order. By the act of 13th June 1853 the Emperor authorized the Order to publicly wear its insignia and in 1857 the use of the patriarchal cross was brought back.
In France, the decadent poet and writer Joseph Aimé Péladan was elected Grand Master. He was also considered to be the founder of cabbalistic Rose Crux and magianism.
On 11th November 1894 a General Convent took place in Brussels and an International Templar Secretary was established.
The English Templars, who on 29th January recognized as Grand Master Edward VII, King of England and Emperor of Indies, did not participate in it. But the Templar Knights did not get pleasure from the moving their headquarters to England.
After Edward VII’s death, William II, Emperor of Germany, became the next Grand Master. When the First World War began, he decided to resign for political reasons.
4.3 - It was in 1915 that an International Templar Secretary was established to preserve and watch over the solidarity and relationship among Templars all over the world, whose headquarters were in Belgium and five years later a Regency Council was also elected.
Considering the increasing interest in Templarism, on 1st October 1933 in Louvain the Grand Priory of Belgium decided to re-establish the Magistery of the Order in Brussels, and Théodore Covias was appointed to preside over it. Ten months later, on 8th August 1934, Emile-Isaac Vanderberg succeed him as Regent and Guardian of the Order and he dedicated himself to revitalize the Templar Priories in Europe.
In November 1942, when Belgium was under German domination, Vanderberg, being afraid of the National Socialist repression against the traditional, initiatory, knightly associations, moved the Order archives to Porto, in Portugal, a neutral country, and entrusted them to the Count Antonio Campelo Pinto de Sousa Fontes, Grand Prior of Portugal.
At the end of the War, Vanderberg officially asked for the return of the archives, but the Count De Sousa Fontes refused, stating that the transfer of the archives actually corresponded to a handover of power.
When Vanderberg died by chance, De Sousa Fontes appointed himself, motu proprio, as Regent of the Order. Some Priories recognized his authority, but many others did not.
5 - The Templar Diaspora (1945-2000)
5.1 - In 1947 De Sousa Fontes issued an his own revision of the statutes. It is not clear if they had ever been approved by a General Chapter. The following year, on 20th August 1948, by a private decree, De Sousa designated his own son Fernando Campelo Pinto Pereira de Sousa Fontes as his legitimate successor, in spite of the democratic tradition and statutes of the Order, which had always called for election.
On 24th March 1956, the Regent of the French Chapter, Guerardelle Count of Ribauville, named Prince Dom Gabriel Inellas de Clazomene and Rodosto (1913-1987), living in Brazil, as the 49th Grand Master of Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani Ordo –S.M.T.H.O. By this act the Brazilian observance had been started and the magisterial headquarters was moved to South America.
In the same year de Sousa Fontes due to ill health gave the regency of O.S.M.T.J. up in favour of his own son.
On 19th February 1959, when his father died, Fernando de Sousa Fontes designated himself Regent Prince of O.S.M.T.J.
5.2 - In 1970 a General Chapter of all Grand Priors who had refused to obey de Sousa Fontes in order to restore the Order after the Portuguese usurpation took place in Paris.
The Grand Prior of France at the time, Marshall and Count Antoine Zdrojewski (former General Grand Prior in Europe and chief of the Polish Resistance in France under the German power, and after 1945 exiled Minister of the Polish Government) was named as Grand Master of the Order.
Zdrojewski re-organized the templar obedience. Each Grand Priory was recognized as self-governing in order to meet the foremost aims of the different countries.
De Sousa Fontes made the Chapter of Paris null and void and a General Chapter was convened in three different sittings, -one in Paris, one in Chicago and the last one in Tomar- which many Grand Priories participated in, yearning to find a satisfying solution.
At the next Chapter in Chicago (Illinois, USA) in 1970 many important resolutions were approved: the Order must be Christian, universal and open to members from every country and language, Latin was the official language and it was decided to look for a member of a royal family as Grand Master.
On 25th September 1983 at the International Convent of the Order women were allowed to join the Order as Templar Dames.
5.3 - Upset by the Portuguese leadership of de Sousa Fontes, most Grand Priories adopted independent statutes. Under the guidance of the Grand Priory of Spain, in 1988 at the castle of Siguenza (Spain) many Grand Priories established the International Federative Alliance –I.F.A. They wanted to create an international templar organization in which each Grand Priory is autonomous.
In 1990 de Sousa Fontes (S.M.O.T.J.) adopted the reviewed statutes put forward at the General Chapter in Santiago (Spain) in 1993, when they were neither discussed nor approved.
An international Templar Conclave organized by S.M.O.T.J. took place in London from 23rd to 25th June 1995. The Council of Grand Priories was settled to manage the Order, the Grand Prior of N.A.T.O., Esposito was its President and the Grand Prior of Germany Von Rind the General Secretary. The statutes should have been reviewed and updated and proper candidates should come forward for the election of Grand Master.
The Representatives of I.F.A. made it knon that they could re-join the S.M.O.T.J. if the Regent Prince would resign his function.
A General Chapter was organized in Salzburg (Austria), but de Sousa Fontes refused to empower this meeting and, as leader of S.M.O.T.J., made all the resolutions taken at the Conclave of London null and void.
From 3rd to 5th November 1995 in Salzburg the Council of Grand Priors withdrew all recognition of de Sousa Fontes as leader of the Order.
5.4 - In 1995, on initiative of the Grand Prior of U.S.A., the Atlantic Obedience was established by some Grand Priories of both Atlantic shores. The name of Ordo Supremus Militaris Templi Hierosolymitani –O.S.M.T.H. was adopted.
A Grand International Templar Council took place in Paris on 15th-17th March 1996. It was suggested that the title of Eminent Regent Prince be given to de Sousa Fontes in order to avoid a deeper disagreement among Templars. But the proposal was refused by de Sousa Fontes.
The Grand Council withdrew all recognition of de Sousa Fontes as leader of the templar world this declaration was later reaffirmed at the Grand Council of Salzburg on 1st-5th November 1996.
Other Grand Priories (Spain, Portugal, Austria and Belgium) chose to maintain an autonomous status and work on a more regional basis.
From 25th to 27th April 1996 the I.F.A. Congress took place in Tomar (Portugal). The Protocol of Tomar was adopted in order to promote an international union of Grand Priories.
5.5 - O.S.M.T.H. organized a meeting in Aalborg (Denmark) on 29th July-1st August 1997 to prepare the works of the next Grand Council in USA. The aim was a step towards a Confederacy of all Grand Priories. Later, the Grand Priories of I.F.A. met in Siguenza (Spain) and decided that a Grand Master should be elected and a Grand Priors’ Council and an international Magisterial established. Moreover, they decided to have Representatives of I.F.A. at the next O.S.M.T.H. Council in Alexandria, Virginia, on 17th-18th October 1997.
At the O.S.M.T.H. Council in Turku (Finland) on 2nd-5th July 1998 it was recognized that a confederacy with I.F.A. was no possible at that time. Criteria on membership fees and the principle of “one Grand Priory one vote” were established and Major-General Sir Roy Redgrave was elected Regent Master (U.K.).
At the following O.S.M.T.H. Council in Glasgow (Scotland) on 17th-18th April 1999 the formal constitution of the Grand Council was determined and it was decided to ask for the recognition of O.S.M.T.H. as Member of the International Peace Bureau in Switzerland and for the O.N.G. status by the United Nations. Admiral James Carey (U.S.A.) was elected in the interim as Grand Master.
On 19th August 1999, Sir Roy Redgrave wrote to the General Secretary of I.F.A., Luis Carlos de Matos, separated from the I.F.A. decision of electing a Grand Master. In spite of this, I.F.A. designated Grand Prior of Spain, Don Fernando de Toro-Garland as its own Grand Master in Alcalà de Heneres (Spain).
In May 2000 O.S.M.T.H. was recognized by the United Nations as an international ONG partner.
Non nobis Domine, non nobis, sed Nomini Tuo da gloriam