The Establishment Of The Order Of The Temple

The Order of the Temple, or the Knights Templar, was founded in the Holy Land during the times of Crusade. Its members combined a military with a religious way of life, which created the Christian Military Orders in medieval times. The development of Christian knighthood and the change in the church's attitudes towards the war, these two aspects are the most important elements in the origins of the Knights Templar. By Christianizing the Germanic knights into miles Christi ('soldiers of Christ'), the church identified them with monks to serve God. The idea of the Christian Holy War, which regarded the war against the pagan and heathen as a new way of salvation, opened another door into the Heaven. The Knights Templar itself was the product of the idea of Holy War with the belief of serving God through the material and spiritual combat against the evil. This thesis discusses the possibility of the origins of the Knights Templar, while analyzing the change in church's attitudes towards the war.The thesis consists of an introduction, four chapters and a conclusion. The introduction firstly makes a survey on the history of the Knights Templar, and secondly makes a brief investigation on the historiography of the Templar, focused on the debates on the origins of the Templar.The first chapter mainly discusses the founding of the Knights Templar and its early history. In order to secure the safety of pilgrims, the Templar was founded with the support of the church and the secular lords. With the Templar Rule made by the Council of Troyes in 1129 and the privileges granted by the popes, the Templar gradually developed into one of the most powerful corporations in the medieval Christendom.The second chapter describes the constitution of the Knights Templar in terms of the personnel, the institution, the religious life and the military life based on the Rule of the Templar. The Templar was categorized into knights, sergeants, priests and servants. It adopted a three-tier system of government and a system of chapter meetings in order to administrate its property.The third chapter analyzes the origins of the Knights Templar and the development of the church's viewpoints about the war. The transformation of the church's view was the most important element in the origins of the Templar. From the initial opposition to the war, to the acceptance of the idea of holy war, the change of attitudes towards the war by the church made the origins of the Templar possible.The fourth chapter mainly checks the viewpoints from outsiders about the dual identities of the members of the Templar. With the analysis of the donation charters, the thesis tries to explain the different understanding about the Templar. Although the Templar was officially authorized by the church, the existence of new institution was still subjected to doubts.In the final conclusion, the Knights Templar may in fact be seen as a product of contemporary Christian society. It was a culmination of the development of the concept of Christian warfare and Christian knighthood, and was also a product of the new monasticism of the twelfth century. By making the knights devote themselves to the holy war as 'soldiers of Christ', and by combining monastic life with chivalry, the Templar provided a better way to those who wanted to live monastic life but were reluctant to join the traditional monastic orders.