Knights Templar (idea)

Why were the Knights Templar sucessful at first?

The Templars were firstly a religious order, and secondly a fighting one. It was considered far more important that all the members should lead holy lives than that they should make up a deadly and efficient fighting force. For this path to be successful a huge number of rules were established that would help to save the men’s souls. It is my hypothesis that the initial success of the Templars was due to popularity and respect, as well as physical gains that they would not have got as a more secular order. This of course wouldn’t have been the only reason for success. The legitimacy and formality of the Templars as an order, as established by the Council of Troyes would have helped in this respect as well.

The sacrifices that they had to make were severe and comparable with any contemporary monastic order. Templar members couldn’t hold wealth and property, and they had to wear plain clothes and use unadorned bridles etc. This extended to their bodies as well, there being several regulations forbidding shaving etc. It could have been thought that the Templars were good because of this, and would not want to keep many acquisitions they made through their military actions. A feature that made the Templars more attractive than a monastic order is that to be a knight literacy was non-compulsory. The order thus attracted those of a less academic inclination. One of the original rulings that enabled people from any station to join the order encouraged the poor to join up. This ruling was later changed, so that only the son of a knight or a knight could become a Templar. Some practicalities were included in the rules to prevent the complete downfall of the knights as a fighting force, but it is obvious that religion was still more important. For example the Cistercian monks didn’t eat meat as it was supposed to corrupt the body, but the Templars were allowed it three times per week as a concession.

The Council of Troyes helped get the Templars started, and ensured that they received official recognition right from the start. This council and its results wouldn’t have happened without the efforts of Hugh of Payns the first Grand Master of the Templars. Bernard, the Abbot of Clairvaux was persuaded to back the order by Hugh of Payns and it may have been his great charisma and character that enabled the other members of the council of Clairvaux to approve the founding of the order. The harsh rules of the Templars, drawn up to ensure that godliness reigned within Templar walls, and discussed above would surely also have helped make the decision of the council what it was. The involvement of important men at this stage, as at others goes some way towards explaining why the Templars were able to acquire influence, as well as success.

After the Council of Troyes the authorities continued to be helpful to the Templars, and ensure their success. Of particular interest is the granting of a papal bull in 1139 from Innocent II. This would have gone well with the expansion of the order as chapter houses were set up in many locations around Europe, and fortresses in the Holy Land, as it enabled greater freedom, both in doings and financially. While the order was primarily founded to help the causes of Christian pilgrims it had diversified and become fairly well spread. The running costs of such an organisation would have been high. For example the order controlled its own stud farms to raise horses for the knights and the sergeants, so money had to be spent on food, and care, and equipment, just in this regard. The papal bull meant, among other things that while the Templars received tithes for land that they owned they would never have to pay them to anyone. The only authority that they would have to answer to after the bull was that of the Pope himself.

As well as financial and organisational success the Templars were not without it in a military sense. They took part in the reconquest of the Iberian peninsula, as well as many conflicts in the Holy Land. These, while not particularly impressive would have at least maintained some interest and support in the military capabilities of the order, and prevented accusations of incompetence for at least that period of time. They did not arise at a perfect time from the war waging point of view, but there was still continual conflict that enabled them to be useful.

To conclude, when all the facts are considered the success no longer seems that impressive, so it must be derived that they therefore account for the early success and influence of the Templar order.