The rule of the temple and the military-religious orders

Nicholson, Helen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1715-1246 2024. The rule of the temple and the military-religious orders. Franke, Daniel P. and Hosler, John D., eds. Routledge Handbook of Medieval Military Strategy, Routledge Handbooks, London: Routledge, pp. 197-207.

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Abstract

The Templars’ regula or official rule, assigned to the new Order of the Temple at the Church Council of Troyes in 1129, explained that this new institution was a knighthood dedicated to the service of Christ, whose members would lay down their lives to defend the Church. However, although the purpose of the new order was military, the Rule said very little about military matters. It was not until the 1160s that the Templars codified their military procedures. The context and presentation of these procedures indicate that they were intended to act as a record of current practice and as a point of reference when problems arose rather than inflexible rules to be followed without question in every situation; as such they allow us to see how this professional military force intended to operate when on campaign in the kingdom of Jerusalem, but not necessarily how it did operate. The Hospitallers, in contrast, did not issue military statutes until the early thirteenth century, while the Teutonic Order’s regulations followed the Templar rule in including very few instructions on military matters in the main body of the rule and setting out directions on military organisation quite briefly in the section of the regulations dealing with the customs of the Order. This chapter considers how far the Templars’ rule and the regulations of the other leading military religious orders laid down clear guidelines on strategy.

Item Type:	Book Section
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	History, Archaeology and Religion
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D111 Medieval History U Military Science > U Military Science (General)
Publisher:	Routledge
ISBN:	9781032325064
Last Modified:	12 Dec 2024 16:48
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/174562

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