"[...] because of our life you only see the bark that is outside. Because the bark is such that you see us having beautiful horses and beautiful dresses, and so it seems to you that you will be at your ease. But you do not know the strong commandments that are within. For it is a great thing that you, who are lord of yourself, should become a servant of others." (Excerpt from Rule 661).
The rule of the order and its withdrawals inform us in a precise way about what was the daily life of the Templars in the West as in the East. This life was divided between times of prayer, collective life (meals, meetings), military training, support and protection of pilgrims, management of household goods, trade, collection of taxes and levies. due to the order, the control of the work of the peasants on the lands of the order, diplomacy, war and the fight against the infidels.
The Templars, protectors of pilgrims
The vocation of the Order of the Temple was the protection of Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land. This pilgrimage was one of the three most important in medieval Christianity. It lasted several years and the pilgrims had to travel almost twelve thousand kilometers round trip on foot, as well as by boat to cross the Mediterranean Sea. The convoys left twice a year, in spring and autumn. Generally, the pilgrims were disembarked at Acre, also called Saint-Jean-d'Acre, then had to walk to the holy places. As gens d'arme (gendarme), the Templars secured the roads, in particular that from Jaffa to Jerusalem and that from Jerusalem to the Jordan. They also had custody of certain holy places:Bethlehem, Nazareth, the Mount of Olives, the Valley of Jehoshaphat, the Jordan River, the hill of Calvary and the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.
All pilgrims were entitled to the protection of the Templars. Thus, the latter participated in the crusades, armed pilgrimages, to carry out the close guard of the sovereigns of the West. Also, in 1147, the Templars lent a hand to the army of King Louis VII attacked in the mountains of Asia Minor during the second crusade (1147-1149). This action allowed the continuation of the expedition and the King of France was very grateful to the Templars. During the Third Crusade (1189-1192), the Templars and the Hospitallers provided the vanguard and rearguard respectively of the army of Richard the Lionheart in the fighting on the march. During the fifth crusade, the participation of the military orders, and therefore the Templars, was decisive in the protection of the royal armies of Louis IX before Damietta.
Pilgrims admire the relics and instruments of the Passion in Constantinople. In the church on the left, the Holy Lance, the Holy Cross and the nails. In the one on the right, the Crown of thorns. 15th century illumination
Pilgrims admiring the relics and instruments of the Passion in Constantinople. In the church on the left, the Holy Lance, the Holy Cross and the nails. In the one on the right, the Crown of thorns. 15th century illumination
The Order of the Temple exceptionally helped kings in financial difficulties. On several occasions in the history of the Crusades, the Templars replenished the momentarily empty royal coffers (Louis VII's crusade), or paid the ransoms of kings taken prisoner (Louis IX's crusade).
The Templars, guardians of relics
In the East as in the West, the order of the Temple was in possession of relics. He was sometimes brought to transport them for his own account or conveyed relics for others. The Templar chapels housed the relics of the saints to whom they were dedicated. Among the most important relics of the order were the mantle of Saint Bernard, pieces of the crown of thorns, fragments of the True Cross.