Hierarchy of the Order of the Temple in the East and Hierarchy of the Order of the Temple in the West.
The Templars were organized as a monastic order, following the rule created for them by Bernard of Clairvaux. In each country a master was appointed who directed all the commanderies and dependencies and all were subjects of the master of the order, appointed for life, who supervised both the military efforts of the order in the East and its financial possessions in West.
With the great demand for knights, some of them also committed themselves to the command for a predetermined period before being returned to secular life, such as the Fratres conjugati, who were married brothers. They wore the black or brown coat with the red cross to distinguish them from the brothers who had chosen celibacy and did not have the same status as the latter.
The serving brothers (brothers casaliers and brothers of trades) were chosen from among the sergeants who were skilled merchants or who were unable to fight because of their age or infirmity. The vast majority of Templars, including knights and masters of the order, were uneducated and illiterate, not descending from high nobility but from more obscure families.
At any one time, each knight had about ten people in support positions. Only a few brothers devoted themselves to banking (especially those who were educated), as the order was often trusted by participants in the crusades for the safekeeping of valuable goods. However, the primary mission of the Knights Templar remained war.
Masters of the Order of the Temple
The expression "grand master" to designate the supreme head of the order appeared at the end of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th century in late charters and in the acts of the trial of the Templars. Then, it was taken up and popularized by certain historians of the 19th and 20th centuries. It is now widespread. However, this rank did not exist in the order and the Templars themselves did not seem to use it. We note, however, in late texts the qualifier of "sovereign master" or "general master" of the order. In the rule and the withdrawals of the order, he is called "Li Maistre" and a large number of dignitaries of the hierarchy could be called thus without the addition of a particular qualifier. The preceptors of the commanderies could be designated in the same way. We must therefore refer to the context of the manuscript to know who we are talking about. In the West as in the East, the high dignitaries were called masters of the countries or provinces:there was therefore a master in France, a master in England, a master in Spain, etc... No confusion was possible since the order was led by only one master at a time, the latter residing in Jerusalem. To designate the supreme head of the order, it is appropriate to simply say the master of the order and not grand master.