Military Orders Flashcards
“Crusades are a military monastery on the move”
Who said this?
Jonathon Riley Smith
How and when did the first military orders begin?
1114, Count Hugh of Champagne arrives in the Holy Land and makes vow of military service to the Holy Sepulchre
- Count Hugh leaves for France, leaving behind one of his men, Hugh of Paynes, who takes command of a small group of knights protecting pilgrims
Give two pilgrim accounts of danger necessitated
Seawulf, 1102
“The mountainous routes are very difficult and dangerous, as the saracens are always seeking to ambush the christians”
Abbot Daniel, 1107
“Nearby is the town of Ascalon, from which the saracens travel forth and kill travellers of this road”
Who first began to recognise Templar importance?
King Baldwin II
“The King gave them a temporary home in his own palace”
- William of Tyre
What happened at the council of Troyes? When was this?
They were awarded official al recognition as an order of warrior monks in 1129
Which other military orders sought to replicate the success of the Templar movement?
Hospitallers, from the hospital of St. John
Teutonic Knights, largely from west Germany
Knights of St. Lazarus, emerged from an order of leper knights that had originated as a leper hospital
Translate “De Laude Novae Militae”
What was the purpose of this document?
When was it produced?
“In Praise of the New Knighthood” 1132
The document was written in Latin, implying it was not designed for recruitment as laymen wouldn’t understand its language
- the tract intended to justify and explain the new ideal to the clergy through a critique of secular knighthood and appraisal of the utility and virtue of the new knights
Name three papal document which offered support through tax exemptions to the new knights
Omele Datum (1139)
Milites Templi (1144)
Militia Dei (1145)
Critics of the military order
John of Salisbury, felt that knightly and clerical functions were incompatible and that Templar privileges encouraged pride and avarice
William of Tyre, valued their role as defenders of the holy land but saw their actions as self interested
Isaac of L’Etoile, any military action carries a danger of luring the participant toward evil
