The emergence of spiritual and knightly ordersto the times of the Crusades, which were organized by the Catholic Church from the ninth century. The goal was good: the liberation of Palestine and the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, but passing tasks were not cheaper: both the Supreme Catholics and the Crusaders themselves needed new lands and yearned for the wealth of the eastern cities.
The formation of spiritual and knightly orders
When the fortress of Jerusalem surrendered to mercythe winner in 1099, the Pope blessed the creation of new organizations for the protection and defense of both Christian possessions and the pilgrims themselves from local Islamists. The base by that time had already been created - various spiritual brotherhoods, from which spiritual and knightly orders of hospitallers, templar and some others were formed.
It was hard enough to reconcile the twoopposite, according to the Holy Scriptures, hypostasis - serving God and military service, where they had to kill their own kind. But by the twelfth century, the history of the spiritual and knightly order was rooted also by its own ideologists, who fully justified not only the creation, but also the way of life of the knights of the Crusaders.
Holy vows
The knight entering the order became a monk,bringing vows of poverty, obedience, chastity, intransigence to the infidels and the fulfillment of the duty of hospitality. A commoner who joined the order, became a military monk. However, commoners and in the circle of initiates always kept their own, separate group. Some orders even accepted women into their ranks.
The discipline was military, all unquestioninglyobeyed the head - the Grand Master, the Grand Master, who could keep a report only in front of the Pope. The rulers, on whose lands the spiritual and knightly order was located (the Templar and any other), if they did not join its ranks, had no right to vote, much less a command.
Hierarchy
История духовно-рыцарского ордена писалась на special tables. From the monastic and from each other knightly orders differed in clothing and their own charter, which was signed by the Pope of Rome. But, in contrast to the monastic, the ranks of knights-monks grew very, very quickly, as demanded by the constant war.
Knights not only plundered the eastern villages andcities, they violated many of the commandments of Christ: they lent money at interest, exploited the locals, were engaged in the slave trade. And steadily growing rich. The ninth-century knight-crusader differed from his brother in the thirteenth as heaven from earth. It is necessary to recognize that, having grown rich, many orders invested money in science.
У каждого члена ордена была определённая position. Over time, it could be recognized by clothing (only to initiates, of course). The Templars - in a white cloak with a red cross, the Hospitallers - in black, the knights of the Teutonic Order - in white with a black cross.
The history of the spiritual and knightly order shows thatit was allowed to sew a special cross on the clothes of the papal bull only in 1146, and not to everyone at once, but only to the most distinguished knights by blood. Over time, when the crusades significantly enriched the treasury not only of the order, but also of individual knights, luxury even in clothes did not take long.
The three main orders
До начала пятнадцатого века история spiritual and knightly orders during the Crusades describes a little more than twenty orders, three of them - the richest, most powerful and influential. They possessed such enormous fortunes that the kings envied them. Here is this wonderful trio:
- Order of the Hospitallers (Johannites).
- Order of the Templar (Templar).
- Teutonic (German) Order.
The history of the spiritual and knightly order was not writtenonly in the Holy Land. Crusaders participated in wars in all territories of the Christian world. In Spain, the Knights of the Hospitaller and Templar orders were the first to start fighting, and the Teutons tamed the whole of Central and Northern Europe. In Eastern Europe, their military glory, however, ended (remember Lake Peipsi and Alexander Nevsky).
The history of the spiritual and knightly Knights Templar
Colossal condition allowed orders to buythe best lands across Europe. As proof of the power of the Templars, for example, minted their own money, freely walking throughout Europe. The coins were made of silver and gold, and there were so many of them that alchemical discoveries were attributed to the Templars, for example, gold mining from lead ...
This organization has been able to survive quitelong. Back in 1118, nine French knights led by Gugh de Payenne and Geoffroy de Saint-Oume remained to defend the road to Jerusalem from the Mediterranean Sea after the first crusade. First of all, Christian pilgrims from robbers and robbers. From the King of Jerusalem Baldwin they received a residence, after which they later became known as the Tample Castle, built on the site of the ancient temple of Solomon. This Order has several names:
- Order of the poor knights (or brothers) of the Jerusalem Temple (or the Temple of Solomon).
- Order of the Templars.
- Order of the Knights Templar.
Charter
Желающие вступить в Орден рыцари непременно were to become monks — humble, poor, and unmarried. It was, nevertheless, a very successful project. The history of the spiritual and knightly order says that its charter was one of the most rigid and strict, and it was developed by Saint Bernard himself, he approved - Pope Eugene III in 1128, that is, after ten years of unofficial existence.
В Ордене тамплиеров рыцарь обязан был забыть всё worldly, including relatives, eat only bread and water, dress in the most simple and coarse clothes. He could not have any property. If gold or silver were found in his things after death, he had no place in the consecrated ground of the cemetery.
However, all this did not prevent the Templars to become particularlygreedy for prey, entertainment and even drunkenness. Works of art written about that time, such as the novel “Ivanhoe” by Walter Scott, preserve the historical truth found in historical chronicles.
Division into estates and decals
Сословия у тамплиеров были.This is undoubtedly the necessary organizational project. The history of the spiritual and knightly order retained for us three divisions: the knights proper, the priests, and the so-called sergeants, to which all lower ranks belonged: the pages, squires, soldiers, servants, guards, and so on.
It must be admitted that with all this categorical division, everyone took the vows of vows, and the statute must all be perfectly fulfilled. However, there were plenty of exceptions to the rules.
For all Knights Templar mandatory wasa white mantle-like cloak with a Maltese eight-pointed scarlet cross. Sergeants also dressed in brown, the cross was the same. You could learn the Templar on the high road by a battle cry, "Bosean!"
The coat of arms of the Templars was simply a symbol of poverty:it depicted two knights on one horse. If the knight was heading for a crusade, he carried the cross on his chest, while returning - on his back. The style, cut, size and material of clothing, as well as the location of the cross, he usually chose himself.
National and class affiliation
The Knights Templar could initially devoteonly a Frenchman of noble birth. A little later, this opportunity was received by the British. Nevertheless, the Spaniards, the Italians, and the Flemings became knights. Only knights could occupy leadership positions - from the grand master and master of property to castellan, captain, drape.
The sergeants became richer citizens, who occupied quite good positions as accountants, squires, rulers and storekeepers. Those that were poorer went into servants, soldiers, or guards.
Епископы римской церкви и сам Папа не могли to manage the priests of the Order. The spiritual and knightly Order of the Templars demanded that their priests send spiritual needs, despite the fact that all the Knights of the Order had the rights of a confessor. Confessions and communions of the members of the Order could be sent only by the order priest, because many secrets were protected from the Roman Catholic Church.
Despite the strict charter and marching life, the OrderThe Templar quickly became popular. A few years later, another three hundred joined the nine knights, among whom were many crowned heads. The number of sergeants, of course, also increased.
Where is the firewood from?
Belonging to the Order gave both personal security and augmenting the state. It was impossible to offend a member of the Order. “One for all” is the motto born far from the first musketeer.
Proclaimed beggarly Order swiftlygot rich And not only because the rulers often bequeathed to him countless riches. Entire villages, cities, churches, castles, monasteries eventually became owned by the Order. They humbly gave him taxes and taxes. The fact is that the spiritual knightly Order of the Knights Templar was engaged in usury.
This is not the Jews, and the Order of the Templars createdEuropean banking system. In the Middle Ages, the Jews were only street workers, and the Templars already had a credit system, bills of exchange, their own money. They operated not only with gold, but also with securities.
Departing from the cross
The Templars were noted as the biggest traitors.deeds of the bearers of the Cross of Christ. This was also the case in October 1240, when the Muslims of Damascus and Egypt quarreled, the Crusaders took the side of Egypt by concluding a deal with an agreement, and received for it not only Jerusalem, but almost all of Palestine. Bloodless! The Templars, in agreement with Damascus, attacked the Egyptians, along with the Teutonic knights and hospitallers. And they were more cruel than Muslims with the Jews. The blood reached the horses to the knees, as the story of the spiritual and knightly Knights Templar says. Even fellow crusaders were not allowed to bury their dead. In 1243, the Muslims repaid the Templars in full and took Jerusalem back, releasing only three Teutons alive, twenty-six Hospitallers and thirty-three Templar.
Further crusades were howevernumerous and so unsuccessful. In 1298, Jacques de Molay became the last Grand Master of the Order. The idea of crusades went out, the meaning of the existence of military monks became unclear. The Teutonic Order still had some work left - a century and a half. But the Templars became uncomfortable to sit on those riches that were not even dreamed of by kings. The first Temple remained behind the Muslim world, and the spiritual-knightly Order of the Knights Templar placed a residence in Cyprus - a refuge for Christians who could leave Palestine but who were not expected in Europe at all was based there.
Rogues
Karl Valois, brother of King Phillip the Fair, startedwar with Byzantium. It was no easier to fight Greek Christianity than with Muslims. The Templars, instead of fighting with Andronicus, go along the coast from Thessaloniki to Thrace and Moravia, where Catholicism has already reigned.
Добыча у тамплиеров была богатой.But the European monarchs were outraged. Who is interested in having a force of fifteen thousand real soldiers nearby, well armed and battle-hardened, besides aggressive, arbitrarily and cleverly controlled? And, of course, greed played a role: the Templars were fabulously, incredibly rich.
В 1307 году Филипп Красивый издал указ об аресте all the Templars in the country. The prisoners were brutally tortured, burned at the stake. The treasury of France has increased considerably. The history of the spiritual and knightly Knights Templar has come to an end.
