When the barbarian invasion smashed the remnants of ancient civilization, the population of Western Europe began to group around two strongholds of the Middle Ages - a knight's castle and a monastery.

These two strongholds, acting on each other, created a kind of community - Military-monastic orders, the emergence of which dates back to the era of the Crusades.

Order of St. John of Jerusalem

The first, according to the time of occurrence, was the order of St. John of Jerusalem, whose members were called first the Johnites, then the Rhodes and, finally, the Knights of Malta.

According to one version, the founder, in the first half of the 11th century, of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem is considered to be a wealthy merchant from the Italian city of Amalfi Pantaleone (Pantaleimon) Mauro (called "Moor" in Latin). (However, I do not know of any author who would consider him a real Moor (as dark-skinned Arabs and Berbers or black Negroes were called in medieval Europe; in Russian they were called "murins"). Mauritius, on this basis, in the Middle Ages was also often erroneously counted as blacks.) All chronicles say that he was Italian. The fact that he was allegedly a Moor (Arab, Negro) is at best an exotic version. Note V.A .) apparently secretly converted to Christianity, obtained permission from the caliph to build a hospital for Christian pilgrims in Jerusalem and with it a chapel of St. Mary. In 1099, in order to organize the defense of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, King Guido Lusignan took advantage of the community that already existed at this hospital, which also acquired the church of St. John of Jerusalem. The idea to form an order of knights and pilgrims, whose members would be bound by a single religious and state task to protect the Holy Sepulcher, received its final expression in 1113, with the permission of Pope Paschalis II, and from that time the monk-knights began to be called Johnites or Hospitallers (hospitals ).

They were elected head of the order in 1118 with the title of the first Master of the Order, Raymond de (du) Puy (the title of rector was borne by his predecessor, Blessed Gerard, or Gerard).

The members of the order were divided into 3 classes:

1) knights,

2) clergy and

3) servants.

All uttered the same vows - poverty, chastity and obedience, and the knights, moreover, - and constant struggle with the infidels.

The distinctive external sign of the order was a black cloak with a white cross. Subsequently, in the war they began to wear a red cloak so that blood was not visible. Already Dupuis accepted the title of master of the order, and in 1267 Pope Clement IV bestowed the title of Grand Master on the head of the order.

In 1187, during the capture of Jerusalem by Saladin, most of the knights died, and the rest moved to Ptolemais.

In 1191, the Johnites joined the crusaders under Philip of France and Richard the Lionheart. During the long siege of Acre, a new knightly order arose among the crusaders - St. John the Baptist and St. Thomas.

The aims of this order were identical with those of the Joannites, and the two orders soon merged; only in Spain did an independent branch called ord remain. St. Thomas.

At the beginning of the XIII century. part of the Order of St. John moved from Ptolemais to Spain and, helping King James of Aragon, conquered Valencia from the Moors, for which the knights received large lands.

Those who remained in Asia Minor continued to fight the Turks. The war with Egypt was especially difficult for the order, when in the battle of Gaza in 1241 most of the knights, led by Master Guerin, fell.

In 1291, when Acre was ceded to the Sultan, the order was forced to move to Cyprus, where the Knights Templar had already settled (see below), who at first warmly welcomed the Johnites, but soon quarreled with them over land plots. The Grand Master of the Johnites, Villaret, having gathered all the knights of his order from different states to Cyprus, laid the foundation for a powerful fleet of the order, with the help of which in 1309 he conquered Fr. Rhodes, where the order moved from Cyprus. 15th century was the most brilliant in the history of the order.

With the destruction of the Knights Templar in 1312, the Ioannites inherited from them both Cyprus and several other islands. A strong fleet made it possible to conquer land in Asia Minor near Smyrna and Halicarnassus.

Around the middle of the fifteenth century the Egyptians begin to send their fleet to fight the knights. In 1444 they attacked Rhodes for the first time, but were repulsed. In 1479, 100 thousand. the army of Sultan Mohammed II again went to Rhodes, but, despite a series of assaults, they were repulsed and forced to leave.

In the XVI century. strife begins within the order, and its importance gradually falls.

In 1521, Philippe Villiers de Lisle Adam was chosen as Grand Master. of the order, Amoral, who himself expected to be elected, decided to take revenge on the order and, through a Jew, conveyed to the Turks about the weakness of the garrison of Rhodes. In 1522, Sultan Suleiman II approached Rhodes on 400 ships with 140,000 men.

The order had 600 knights and 4,500 infantry, but despite such a discrepancy in funds, the defense dragged on for six months. The Grand Master hoped that the Christian states would help the Order. However, the hope was not justified, and by January 1, 1523, the capitulation took place, after which the remnants of the Order of St. John moved first to Messina, from there to Civitta Vecchia and, finally, to the island of Malta, which they received as a gift from the Emperor, as well as in Gozzo and Tripoli, with the obligation to protect the coast from the raids of Muslim corsairs.

Since 1530, when the order was firmly established in Malta, the knights were called Maltese. The Reformation deprived the order of the richest estates in England, the Netherlands and Scandinavia, and the changed situation in European countries significantly reduced the influx of new forces to the order.

The internal structure of the order was as follows: at the head was the Grand Master, elected by the knights for life; all other members of the order were divided into 8 nations - Provence, Auvergne, France, Italy, Aragon, Castile with Portugal, Germany and England.

At the head of each nation was a special chosen person, who, at the same time, occupied one of the major posts in the order: Provence gave the Grand Commander (Chief Treasurer); Auvergne - Grand Marshal (infantry); France - Hospitaller (in charge of charitable institutions); Italy - the Great (fleet); Aragon - Great Conservative (Minister of the Interior); Castile with Portugal - the Great (Minister of Foreign Affairs); Germany - Great Bali (all fortifications); England - turkopilera (all cavalry).

The heads of nations constituted, under the chairmanship of the Grand Master, a secret council of the order. Each nation was divided into Grand Priories, Ballies and Commanderies.

Throughout the 16th century, the Knights of Malta waged a heroic struggle against the Turks and continued to expand their possessions, conquering Corinth, Lepanto and Patros.

From the end of the 16th century The order is experiencing more and more intervention by papal authority, and by the beginning of the 17th century. the papal inquisitor, who lived in Malta, had already seized the right to issue patents for the title of Knight of Malta.

The relations of the Knights of Malta with Russia began under the Grand Master Raymond de Rocaful (1697-1720), when there were unfinished negotiations for an alliance against the Turks. More valid were the relations established by the Grand Master Prince de Rogan (1775-97).

According to the will of Prince Ostrozhsky, most of his lands, with the termination of male offspring, were to go to, forming a special Grand Priory.

This will caused much controversy, but supported the rights of the order and further increased the lands of the new Grand Priory, adding to them the estates of the exiled Jesuits.

The French Revolution, declaring a fight against the clergy and nobility, hit hard on the Knights of Malta. By a decree of the convention of September 19, 1792, the estates of the order in France were confiscated, and the knights were expelled from the state. At this time, the order unexpectedly received help from the emperor.

January 4, 1797, due to the influence on the Emperor of the Maltese envoy gr. Litta, it was allowed to establish in Russia the Grand Priory of the order with 13 commanderships, gifted lands and money.

The Russian Grand Priory was attached to the Anglo-Bavarian language (nation) so as not to disturb the general organization of the order. In 1798, in a manifesto, he announced the establishment "in favor of the Russian nobility of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem."

The order was divided into 2 priors (Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox).

The grand prior, 2 priors and 98 commanders had to be Russian subjects, have at least 150 years of nobility received for military merit, and make a contribution to the order's treasury.

To obtain the Commandership, it was required, in addition, to make at least 4 campaigns, 6 months each. each, in the Russian army or in the fleet of the order.

The funds granted to the order were increased.

At this time, the whirlwind of the revolution ended the destruction of the order. In 1798, on June 12, Napoleon (while still a republican general of Buonaparte) took possession, on his way to Egypt, except for Fr. Malta is also Gozzo, Comino and Cominotto, bombardment from the sea, landing, assault on some forts and even hand-to-hand fights, but due to the blatant disparity of forces and the presence among the knights of the order of the "fifth column" (mainly French and Spanish knights), as well as discontent of the local population, the resistance of the Knights of Malta was pretty soon crushed.

Grand Master Gompesh was deposed.

In December, the knights of the order gathered to select a new Grand Master. Benefits rendered to the Order by Emperor Paul, and skillful activity of Count. The Litts delivered the election to the Grand Master of Emperor Paul, but some of the knights did not recognize this act, because, in their opinion, only a Catholic could be the head of a Catholic order.

The election took place on December 16, 1798, and he accepted it, commanding to add the words “Grand Master of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem” to his title. at the same time, to give a new luster to the Russian nobility, uniting it in the order with the most noble families of Europe.

To increase the number of persons related to the order, the sign of the Maltese cross, but without knighting, began to complain to non-nobles; for women, special signs of the order were established and, finally, in 1800, they were ordered to give out to the lower ranks for 20 liters. of impeccable service copper crosses of the Order of Malta, called "Donates of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem".

Acre Military Hospitaller Order of St. John and St. Thomas

There is the Acre Military Hospitaller (hospice chivalric (not spiritual-knightly) order of St. John and St. Thomas (often inaccurately referred to as the "Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Acre and St. Thomas"). This is a traditional, long-standing inaccuracy in translation (no St. John of Acre did not exist - as well as St. John of Jerusalem, in both cases St. John the Baptist and Forerunner of the Lord is meant, and the epithets "Acre" and "Jerusalem" do not refer to the saint, but to the orders named by him name. Note V.A.).

Acre Military Hospitaller Order of St. John and St. Thomas should not be confused with the similarly named spiritual-knightly (military-monastic) Order of the Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem (). This military (knightly) order was founded in 1205 by crusaders in Palestine in the city of Acre (Akkon, Akkaron, Akko, Ptolemeis, Ptolemaida) and named after St. John the Baptist and St. Thomas (one of the disciples-apostles of Jesus Christ). March 18, 1205 Acre Order of St. John and St. Thomas was confirmed in his rights by the Latin emperor of Constantinople Baldwin, and on February 2, 1206, he was recognized by Pope Innocent III of Rome with the bull "Zelo sollicitudine curisque tuis", transferring the hospital (hospitable house) and the leper colony (hospital for lepers) in the city of St. Acre. In 1235 the Acre Order of St. John and St. Thomas settled in Naples. In 1334 the ships of the Acre Order of St. John and St. Thomas participated in a naval battle with the Egyptians in the Aegean Sea, in 1367 - in defense against the Egyptian Sultan Fr. Rhodes (together with the knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem), in many naval battles against the Ottoman Turks. In 1571, three ships of the Acre Order of St. John and St. Thomas, as part of the fleet of the Holy League (Spain, Naples, the Pope, Parma, and some other Italian states), participated in the battle with the fleet of the Ottoman Turks at Lepanto (Nafpaktos), which ended in the triumph of the Cross over the crescent., in 1683 - in the war against the Ottoman Turks, in 1717 - in the liberation by the Venetians of Fr. Corfu from the Turks. It is considered a dynastic hereditary knightly order - the property of Prince Aminado di Amerusio and his descendants, the princes of the Amoroso di Aragon dynasty. In 1944, the residence of the Acre Order of St. John and St. Thomas was transferred from Naples to Rome (which, however, did not make it a papal order - unlike the Sovereign Knightly Order of the Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta, known as). About any connections of the Acre Order of St. John and St. Thomas with Spain and St. John of Jerusalem (except for the similarity of names) I - alas - do not know anything.

Order of the Knights Templar

The Order of the Templars or Templars (temple - temple) arose in 1118, having been founded by Hugues-de-Payen, Geoffroy-de-Saint-Adhémar and several other French crusader knights.

The order got its name because King Baldwin II of Jerusalem gave him a house near the church, erected on the site of the destroyed temple of Solomon.

In 1128, in Troyes, St. Bernard drew up a charter for the order, which received the approval of Pope Honorius II and the Patriarch of Jerusalem.

This extremely strict charter required the knights to take vows of chastity, obedience, poverty, and constant struggle against the infidels. They had to constantly bear the labors of either a warrior or an ascetic. The knights swore to go into battle one on three; they could not surrender, because the charter forbade the order to pay a ransom for them.

The rights of the knights were enormous: only the pope or the chapter of the order could judge them; a witness against the Templar m. b. only the Templar, the testimonies of other persons were not accepted.

Order clothing was a white cloak with a red cross. The order, headed by the Grandmaster, who was elected by the knights for life and lived in Jerusalem, also consisted of knights, clergy and servants.

Under the Grandmaster, a Chapter or Council of senior members of the order met. The estates of the order, under the name of Ballium and Commanderies, scattered throughout Europe, were subordinate to the masters of the provincial chapters, which were in France, England, Hungary, Aragon and others.

Soon after the founding of the order, the knights of the templars gained great military glory for themselves and attracted representatives of the most noble families of knightly Europe, mainly the French, into their midst.

Although the knights took a vow of poverty, the order itself quickly grew rich in the 13th century. he owned more than 9 tons of large estates. The order belonged to the whole quarter of the Temple, which was given the right of refuge.

After the capture of Jerusalem by Saladin, the order moved to Ptolemais, and from there, together with the Johnites, to Cyprus, but most of the Knights Templar returned to the European commanderies, and at the beginning of the 14th century. the long-prepared struggle of the order with the king and papal power broke out.

Along with the accumulation of enormous wealth came the corruption of morals. The knights took a vow of chastity, but constant contact with the customs of the East led to the fact that many formed harems, consisting of Muslim women and Jews, whom the knights allegedly converted to Christianity. Gone was the old simplicity and modesty of life; In Europe, even sayings were made: "drunk like a Templar" and "swearing like a Templar."

The knights also made extensive use of their judicial privileges, and many bloody crimes remained unpunished. For the European states, which began to unite and emerge from the chaos of fragmentation of possessions, the order, as a state within a state, became dangerous. The spiritual authority is the pope and the secular authority of the state in which the order owned the largest property, i.e. the king of France, nevertheless did not dare to openly fight the order and accused the Templars of apostasy and witchcraft.

There is no doubt that among the highest ranks of the Order of the Templars, the secret (occult) teachings received by them from Eastern scientists were spread. Here the ancient mysteries of Greece, the secret teachings of Egypt, and the Kabbalah of the Jews were mixed up. The first impetus in this direction was already given by the fact that in Jerusalem the order owned the temple of Solomon, with treasures hidden in it and books that keep wonderful secrets.

As evidence of the involvement of knights in secret knowledge and magic, one can cite the fact that until now all the oldest societies dealing with the same issues as Masons, Rosicrucians, Martinists, etc., among the many titles of their members, have, for one from the highest degrees the title of "Chevalier du Temple" ("temple knight").

At the end of the XIII century. the order, in the person of its chief representatives, was rather skeptical of the papal power, and thus finally aroused it against itself. The struggle of the temple (Temple) with the church (Eglise) began. Mutual accusations exceeded all limits. The popes accused the knights of apostasy, of worshiping the devil in the form of a goat (Baphomet), of offering human sacrifices to him, of arranging demonic covens, and so on.

The knights, referring to the Apocalypse and the immorality of a number of popes, called the papal court "the great harlot." The last impetus that prompted the enemies of the order to take action was the hospitality extended by the order during the revolt of the population to King Philip IV the Handsome.

The king, being in the Temple, was convinced of the enormous riches the order owned, and he had the idea to enrich himself at his expense. On the desire to appropriate the property of the order, two recent sworn enemies agreed: King Philip and Pope Clement V.

At a secret meeting in 1306, the allies established a plan of action. The king filed a complaint with the pope against the knights, accusing them of the above crimes and of direct connection with the gloomy eastern sect of the assassins (assassin - murderer). But papal justice proceeded slowly, while the order had all its power; then the king came out, by whose order, on October 13, 1307, the Templars were arrested simultaneously throughout France and thrown into prison. Treacherously lured to France, the Grand Master of the order, Jacob Mole, was arrested and imprisoned in the tower.

Whatever the guilt of the knights, but the reprisal against them was extremely cruel. Contrary to the bull of 1163 and custom, the knights were subjected to torture, and mass executions followed, taking away the property of the order for the king and pope.

With the bull of 1312, Pope Clement V destroyed the order itself.

In March 1314, Jacob Mole was burned, recognized by his contemporaries as innocent of the crimes charged against him. The apparent life of the order has ended, but there is an assumption that the order secretly exists, or existed not so long ago, with the main goal of revenge for the defeat.

The far left of the French revolutions adopted the names of the Jacobins, after the church built in memory of Jacob Molay, in which they met. (Jacobins gathered in the Parisian church of St. James the Elder (one of the apostles of Jesus Christ) - no one in the Catholic French kingdom would have allowed to build a church in honor of Jacob (Jacques de) Molay, condemned by the king and the church as a heretic and enemy of the Christian faith. Note . V.A.)
The unfortunate Louis XVI was imprisoned in the Temple in the same tower where the Grand Master of the order once languished. All this may be just coincidences, but there are many, and the solution to this interesting mystery lies in the secrets, the archives of the Freemasons and Martinists, if the study of them ever becomes possible.

The Order of the Knights Templar, which emerged from the underground in France in 1808 under Grand Master Bernard-Raymond de Fabre-Pallaprat and officially recognized by Emperor Napoleon I Bonaparte, still exists today, not only in France, but also in many other countries, including France. h. in Russia, under the name "Supreme Knight Order of the Temple of Jerusalem" (Supreme Knight Order of the Temple of Jerusalem).

See also articles by Wolfgang Akunov:

Warband

Officially, the Teutonic Order (originally in the form of a hospice - hospital) was founded in 1190 during the siege of the city of Acre (Akko, Akko, Akkaron, Ptolemeis or Ptolemais). His first master was a certain Sibrand, also referred to in various sources as Sibrand, Sigibrand, Sigibrand (1190-1192). And in 1128, according to legend, the Teutonic hospice brotherhood (hospital, spital) was founded in Jerusalem, subordinate to the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. Traces of this Teutonic hospital are lost after the capture of Jerusalem by Saladin in 1187, and it is not known whether there is continuity between it and the later Teutonic hospital founded in Acre in 1190. Ioannitsky, order), historians of the Teutonic Order usually deny this continuity in order to emphasize the original independence of their order from anyone, including from the Order of St. John.
The second head of the Teutonic Order (hospital) was a certain Gerard (1192). The third - Prior Henry (1192), the Fourth - preceptor Henry (1193-1194). The fifth head of the Teutonic hospital was Heinrich Walpot (Valpoto, Valbot, Valboto) - the first knight in this post, who first took the title of master (meister). Under him, the Teutonic Hospital was transformed into a spiritual and knightly order, which was engaged not only in caring for the sick and wretched pilgrims, but also in armed struggle against the enemies of the Christian Faith.

Since the Order of the Templars was created mainly by French knights, they were reluctant to accept the Germans into their midst, and then this reception completely stopped. Several wealthy German knights in Jerusalem formed a special fraternity to help the pilgrims called the fraternity of St. Mary of Teutonic.

Prior to the crusades of Frederick Barbarussa, the new brotherhood developed little, but with the advent of a large number of German knights in Palestine, in 1189 it received an organization modeled on the Templars and the name "Order of the House of the Holy Virgin of Jerusalem."

This name did not last long, and in 1191 Pope Clement III approved the charter of the Order with its name Teutonic.

The first Grand Master of the order was Heinrich Woldbott, who established the rule that only a German could be a member of the order; otherwise, the order was similar to the Templars, developing only wider charitable activities.

After the fall of Acre, Hochmeister Hermann Salza transferred the order to Venice, from where he closely followed international relations in order to obtain land somewhere and establish an independent state for the order. The struggle of the popes with the Hohenstaufen, both sides trying to attract the order, gave him large lands in Germany and Italy. The order was especially generously presented by Pope Honorius III.

The hope for an independent existence appeared to the order when King Andrew of the Hungarians offered him lands in Transylvania with the cities of Kreutzburg and Kronstadt, with the obligation to protect the border from the raids of neighbors; the order came into possession of the granted lands, but soon quarreled with the king, who took his gift back.

The order settled more firmly in Prussia. Converted to Christianity, Prince Conrad of Mazovia in 1226 offered the Kulm and Leboda lands to the order for the protection of Mazovia from the pagan Prussians (by the time of his reign, Poland had long since adopted Christianity).

Taught by an unsuccessful experience with the Transylvanian lands, the Hohmeister Salza asked the emperor for a letter of ownership of the Kulm and Prussian lands, and in 1228 a significant part of the knights, under the command of Hermann Balk, came to.

Prussia of that time was inhabited by the pagan people of the Lithuanian tribe. The preaching of Christianity among the Prussians was started in 1209 by Bishop Christian, who tried to preach a crusade against the Prussians, but a sufficient number of knights did not respond to his call. When the Teutonic Knights arrived in Prussia as its rulers, then between them, Bishop Christian and Prince. Mazowiecki began a dispute over the right of ownership, turning into armed clashes.

In 1231 the dispute ended with the fact that the order recognized itself as a vassal of the bishop and promised to transfer to him a significant part of the conquered Prussian lands. Since that time, the gradual methodical conquest of Prussia by the Germans began. Local residents were cut out without exception and colonists called from Germany settled in their places. The knights exterminated the pagans because they were not Christians, and when the Prussians wanted to be baptized, the knights either claimed that they were unworthy of this and nevertheless exterminated, or, if there were not a sufficient number of German colonists at hand, they allowed to be baptized, but converted Prussians into slavery. But still, the Prussians were not exterminated, but Germanized. As early as the beginning of the 16th century. one of the disciples of the "father of the Reformation" in Germany, Martin Luther, translated the Bible from German into Prussian (which was spoken in the former Prussian possessions of the Teutonic Order, turned into a secular Prussian duchy in 1525 by the last Prussian Hochmeister of the Teutonic Order, Albrecht Hohenzollern, who converted from Catholicism to Lutheranism until the end of the 17th century).

To consolidate the conquered lands, the knights built fortified cities, of which the city of Thorn was the first to be founded in 1231. The order also successfully conducted its diplomatic affairs.

Taking advantage of the fact that his overlord, Bishop Christian, was captured, the order received from the pope in 1234 the rights to the entire Prussian and Kulm lands, for the obligation to pay tribute personally to the pope, who thus became the overlord of the order himself.

In 1237, the Teutonic Order merged with the Livonian Order (see below) and was involved in the fight against Russia, which ended in the defeat of the forces of the knights in 1242 (Battle on the Ice).

The Order has fallen on hard times. The Prussians, driven out of patience by the oppression of the knights, rebelled and attacked the knights' castles. Bishop Christian, having redeemed himself from captivity, demanded back his lands. The order was saved by an alliance he made with the Czech king Ottokar, who helped to pacify the Prussians. Christian soon died, and the dispute between the order and his heir was resolved by the pope in favor of the order by the fact that the archiepiscopal throne was transferred to Riga, and the sovereign bishops of Prussia and Kulm began to be appointed exclusively from members of the order.

In 1260, the cruelty of the knights caused a popular uprising, the leadership of which was taken over by the Lithuanian prince. Mindovt. A significant number of rebels and the decisiveness of their actions put all the possessions of the order in a dangerous position. King Ottokar of Bohemia, who again came to the rescue, failed; the order was on the brink of ruin when the election of Rudolf Habsburg to the imperial throne saved the day.

By order of the Emperor, a mass of German knights moved to the aid of the order, and the final extermination of the Prussians took place.

By the end of the XIII century. the order owned vast lands on both banks of the Vistula and founded the cities of Marienburg, Vindava, Mitava, and others; colonization ended, and by the beginning of the XIV century. the order turned to the German state.

The goal set by the Hochmeister Salza was achieved, and in 1309 the Hochmeister Siegfried Feithwangen moved his residence and the Head Office of the Order from Marienburg.

14th century - the time of the greatest flowering of the power of the order, especially the period of governance of the Hochmeister von Kniprode (1351-82), a cruel man, but far-sighted and completely devoted to the interests of the order. By this time, the management of the order had the following organization: the supreme overlord of the order was the pope, but his attitude towards the order consisted only in receiving an annual tribute. The next body was the Deutschmeister, who ruled the lands of the order in Germany and had the sole right to assemble the Grand Chapter of the order, which was given the right to judge the Hochmeister, in fact, the main manager of the destinies of the order.

The Hochmeister, or Grand Master, was the chairman of the chapter, which consisted of five chosen knights who acted as ministers.

All the lands of the order were divided into regions, each region was entrusted to a knight commander, who was also the commandant of a fortified city or castle in this region. The remaining members of the order consisted of: knights wearing a white cloak with a black cross; merciful brothers who cared for the wounded and sick, and priests. There were also half-brothers (Halbruider) who had the right to fight under the banner of the order, but did not have the right to loot.

During the fall of the order, order sisters also appeared.

In the captured and Germanized country, the order established strict order and built a whole network of fortresses - knight's castles. But along with the development of the order, its enemies also grew. As early as 1315, an alliance between Vladislav Loketok (Poland) and Gediminas (Lithuania) was concluded against the order. The war went on with varying happiness. Another enemy of the order was dissatisfaction with the lack of rights of the townspeople and the clergy. Large trading centers, like Danzig, Koenigsberg, etc., joined the Hanseatic League and demanded the rights of internal self-government, which the order denied them.

With the unification of Poland and Lithuania under Jagiello, the external position of the order began to deteriorate, and in 1410 on the fields of Grunwald (Tannenberg) the knights suffered a heavy defeat from the Russians, Poles and Lithuanians, after which the order could never recover.

The order was saved from final death by the energetic Swedish commander (who ruled the castle and the region of Shvets) Heinrich Plauen, who arrived with the swordsmen to help and forced Jagello to lift the siege of Marienburg.

According to the Peace of Thorn, the order was forced to cede Zhmud to Poland and pay an indemnity, and give cities the right to send their representatives to the chapter. But the internal and external collapse of the order was going on, all intensifying.

In 1422, after a new defeat, the order was forced to cede significant lands to Poland; in 1433, according to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, more concessions were made.

Internal strife and further wars with Poland led to the fact that in 1462 the order recognized its fief dependence on Poland and allowed Poles into its midst, i.e. ceased to be exclusively German.

The Reformation deprived the order of many possessions in Germany and thus finally undermined its strength.

In 1511, Albrecht of Brandenburg was chosen as Hochmeister, who at first tried to fight Poland, but, seeing complete failure, decided to accept the reformation and turn the lands of the order into his possession. He succeeded in this, and in 1525 a new duchy of Prussia appeared with fief dependence on Poland.

After the secularization of the Prussian possessions of the Teutonic Order by the former Hohmeister of the Teutons Albrecht Hohenzollern, the Teutonic Knights, who remained faithful to Catholicism, left for Franconia (a region of Germany), where they elected a "Deutschmeister", i.e. Master of Germany (the ruler of the possessions of the Teutonic Order located on German lands) Walter von Kronberg (and not "Kronbere") administrator (manager) of the position of the Supreme Master) of the Teutonic Order. Over time, this position became known as "Goh-und-Deutschmeister" (Supreme and German Master). A new charter was also developed, but the order was already becoming obsolete and at the beginning of the 19th century was destroyed by Napoleon's decree.

Since 1923, the head of the Teutonic Order (who lives in the city) is again simply referred to as "Hohmeister" (Supreme Master), and not "Grand Master" ("Grand Master") - unlike other military monastic orders.

In 1805, the Austrian Imperial House took under its patronage the Teutonic Order, which still exists in Austria, in the form of a charitable society.

The Austrian emperors from the Habsburg dynasty never took the title of Hohmeister (Supreme Master) of the Teutonic Order. But the princes ("Archdukes", literally "Archive Voivodes", i.e. one of the sons) of the Austrian emperors in the "Habsburg" period of the order's existence (during this period it was officially called not just the "Teutonic Order", but the "Teutonic Knightly Order ") were elected heads of the order with the title of not just "Hochmeister" (Supreme Master"), but "Goh-und-Deutschmeister" ("Supreme and German Master", "Supreme and German Master", "Supreme Master and Master of Germany), being at the same time the chiefs of the Austrian army of the same name ("Goh-und-Deutschmeister", abbreviated: "Deutschmeister"). In the "Habsburg period" of the history of the Teutonic Order, the "knight brothers" (who were no longer monks) played a paramount role in it, although there were also "priest brothers" (monks, like all Catholic clergy), nursing service, hospitals, hospitals, orphanages, almshouses and a sanitary service ("Marian branch") under the auspices of the order. So I would not argue (unlike the author of the article) that in the "Habsburg period" the Teutonic Order existed in Austria in the form of a "charitable society". Since 1923, the rank of "knight brothers" was abolished in Austria, the order became purely monastic and continues to be so to this day under the name "Teutonic Order", indeed widely engaged in hospital and charitable activities (and thereby fulfilling its original purpose - after all It was founded precisely as a brotherhood of hospital strangers).

Order of the Sword

The Order of the Sword, the wrong name is the Livonian Order. ("The Livonian Order" - as such, never officially existed. From 1202 to 1237, the Order of the Sword (Sword) existed in Livonia (Lifland). In 1237, it was, as a branch, included in the Teutonic Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary. So Alexander Nevsky fought not with the swordsmen, but with the Livonian knights of the Teutonic Order in 1241-42. After 1237, there were no more "sword-bearers" in Livonia, but only Teutonic knights. Note V.A.).

The Order of the Sword was founded later than the others, namely in 1202, and was one of the orders not founded in Palestine. The founder of Riga, Bishop Albert von Buksgevden (an ancestor of our hero of the Patriotic War of 1812), wishing to strengthen his position as the sovereign of the newly conquered lands, summoned knights from Germany, organized, with the permission of the pope, an order and received from him a fief.

At the head of the order was the Master, or Meister, who was subordinate to the commanders who were in charge of the regions and had knights under their command. The order soon adopted the name of the Order of the Sword. At first, relations between the order and its overlord, the bishop, were good, but soon the order felt strength and began to seek independence; relations soured, and the first Master Wiunold von Rohrbach moved his residence from Riga to a fortified castle.

The conquest of the lands proceeded quickly, and in 1207 Bishop Albert received all of Livonia as a fief from the Emperor.

throughout the first half of the thirteenth century. the order spent in the struggle for Livonia, trying to maintain good relations with the Polotsk princes and even concluded an alliance with them in 1212 against the Estonians. At the same time, the order had to fight for its possessions with Denmark, which had expressed claims to the entire coast.

Valdemar II of Denmark took possession of Estonia and built Revel, but in 1223 the swordsmen forced the Danes to clear Estonia.

By 1228, all of Estonia had been conquered and most of it was transferred by the bishop to the order.

In 1237 a new invasion of the Danes snatched these conquests from the hands of the Sword-bearers. Then the order in the same year joined the Teutonic Order, the Hochmeister of which became the overlord of the Master of the Sword.

Until 1347, there was still some dependence of the Sword-bearers on the Archbishop of Riga, but in 1347 a papal bull put an end to this dependence.

13th and 14th centuries - the time of the greatest development of the Order of the Sword; then many castles were built, and the region is strongly Germanic, although not to the same extent as Prussia.

In the same period, an internal struggle began with the wealthy cities. To the enemies of the order was added another, the most serious. Good relations with the neighboring Russian principalities did not last long, and the order soon began the gradual seizure of the Novgorod and Pskov regions.

In 1240, i.e. in the year of the Battle of the Neva, the sword-bearers captured a significant part of the Pskov land, and in 1241 they took the city of Pskov, after which they moved to Novgorod. To consolidate the conquered space, they built the Koporye fortress.

Called by the Novgorodians, Alexander Nevsky on April 5 (O.S.) 1242 inflicted a severe defeat on the knights on the ice of Lake Peipus (Battle on the Ice). In this battle, where the Teutonic Knights also helped the swordsmen, the Germans suffered such losses that they were forced to return all the occupied lands and abandon the idea of ​​extending their possessions to the east.

In the XV century. the fall of the order began. The Battle of Grunwald, which broke the Teutonic Order, greatly shocked the Swordsmen, Master Walter von Plettenberg (1494-1535) managed to revive the order for a while. He entered into close relations with Lithuania and Sweden and concluded an alliance with them for the war with Moscow, but the war of 1501-05. did not benefit the order, which at the same time was shocked by the reformation.

The secularization of the lands of the Teutonic Order and its conversion to the vassal duchy of Poland created a new environment for the Order of the Sword. Having become independent, Plettenberg refused to accept the secularization of the lands and began to reorganize the order. All order lands were divided into regions, in each region there was a fortified city, or burg.

In large areas there were several cities, one of which was called Oberburg. Each burg had a convention of 15-20 knights, headed by a focht or commander who ruled the area. The Fochts were subordinate to the master, who was elected for life. The leadership of the troops of the order was entrusted to the marshal, who lived in Wenden or in Segewold.

To resolve military issues related to the order, an order convention was assembled from the marshal, vochts or commanders, chaired by the master.

Matters affecting the whole country were discussed by the Landtag, which met under the chairmanship of the Master. The Landtag was divided into 4 estates (Stand): the clergy, knights, vassals of the order and townspeople.

By the middle of the XVI century. The Livonian Order was involved in a whirlpool of major events in which such powerful states as Russia and Sweden played a role; therefore its importance diminished, and it gradually lost its possessions.

By the end of the XVI century. all of Estonia was under the protectorate of Sweden. Ezel passed into the possession of Denmark, Livonia went to Poland.

Under the last Master of the Sword, only Courland belonged to the order. The order ceased to exist in 1561.

See also articles by Wolfgang Akunov:

Military encyclopedia. 1911 vol. VI.;

Wolfgang Akunov.

In 1120 in Jerusalem, under conditions that are still poorly known, the first medieval military monastic order, the Order of the Temple (Templars), was founded. Its early adepts called themselves pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonici, that is, "poor champions of Christ and the Temple of Solomon." They obeyed the master, followed the charter and pledged to protect the pilgrims on the roads leading to Jerusalem. At the beginning of 1129, their activities were legalized by the Roman Church: the council, which met in Troyes under the chairmanship of the legate, approved their charter. After a short time, Saint Bernard, who took an active part in this council, wrote for them "De laude novae militiae", or "Praise to the Holy Host": here he justified the mission of those who in his eyes were both monks and knights. Do not confuse: the concept of "military-monastic order" is not equivalent to the concept of "knightly order". In Western countries, at different points in their history, "chivalry", orders of chivalry arose; but even if the Order of the Temple, a military monastic order, was designed primarily for knights, it would be a mistake to see historical continuity between these concepts. The creation of the Order of the Temple was a new and original phenomenon. This order grew out of the changes - or simply the evolution - of Western society after the millennium, and came into being through the crusade.

Indeed, in different eras, corporate groups arose, sometimes defined by the word ordo (plural ordines), "order", "estate", in the definition of which - "equestrian", "knightly" - the horse is mentioned.

In Rome, under the Republic, the fighters of twenty-eight cavalry centuries were recruited from wealthy citizens, each of whom was listed as a "community horse." Together they constituted an order of equestrians distinct from that of senators: the expression ordo equester is the exact equivalent of the concept of equites romani or equites romani equo publico. Under the empire, equites (eques, equites) were assigned administrative and military positions, which were increasingly neglected by the senatorial aristocracy. Thus, the estate of horsemen had to allocate an "elite" for the service of the state. Finally, this class merged with the senatorial class and disappeared in the last period of the empire, leaving no traces in posterity. The military monastic orders of the Middle Ages owed him nothing or almost nothing; some clerics who read Latin authors sometimes used the expression ordo equester, designating with it the estate of "fighting" in a society divided into three estates, or three functions. This was done at the beginning of the 12th century. Guibert Nozhansky.

The Romans also knew the word miles, meaning a soldier in general; after all, the best part of the Roman armies was precisely the foot soldiers. Thus, the word militia meant "military service" or "soldier's craft", and militare - "to serve in the army" or "to be a soldier". The command was given to the magistri militum, or magistri militiae. During the period of the late empire (III-V centuries), tangible changes took place in the army and administration: civil and military functions, previously separated, began to be united (except for the reign of Diocletian) and increasingly assigned to the military. At the same time, cavalry began to acquire more and more importance in the army and a division appeared into magister peditum [master of foot soldiers (lat.)] and magister equitum [master of horsemen (lat.)]. However, the word miles retained the general meaning of "soldier". But the word militia eventually began to refer to any public service to the state. It is in this sense that it is predominantly used in the code of Justinian in the sixth century BC. (3, 25).

In the Middle Ages, cavalry became the main branch of the military, and the cavalryman almost synonymous with the one who "fights." It was denoted by the word miles (plural - milites). But this word, while retaining the technical meaning of "one who fights on horseback", also acquired an ethical meaning and began to mean the elite of mounted fighters. Local dialects in most cases shared these two meanings: chevalier - cavalier [knight - horseman, in French], Ritter - Reiter in German, knight - rider or horseman in English, but in Italian only cavaliere, and in Spanish - caballero.

The clerics of that time imagined an ideal Christian society divided into three estates (or three functions), which are arranged in a hierarchical order and are in solidarity: those who pray, those who fight (and command), those who work. The knights were placed in the second, ordo pugnatorum, class - fighting (or bellatores); but this "order" did not correspond to any institution. Nevertheless, it was from among the knights that the most prominent representatives and leadership of the military-monastic orders came out, first the Temple, the Hospital, the Teutonic, and then the Spanish orders. However, these orders cannot be defined as knightly ones. First of all, these were monastic orders, like Cluny, like Sito (by the way, the Spanish orders, except for Santiago, were all part of the Order of Sito), but these monastic orders were primarily - although, of course, not exclusively - designed for the participation of knights and meet their religious needs. The Templars were not monks (moines), but military servants of the church (religieux).

From the 14th century the circumstances and needs that led to the creation and flourishing of the military-monastic orders gradually began to disappear, but the orders, except for the Temple, did not disappear. The concept of chivalry, too, no longer reflected the ideal and military prowess of the nobility, degraded as a result of the crisis of the late Middle Ages. The monarchs still needed the nobility and used the title of knight to bestow it on trusted people. They began to create secular knightly orders, gathering in them the knights most worthy to serve as models for others. One of the first was the Order of the Ribbon in Castile, but the most famous are the Order of the Garter in England (1347) and the Order of the Golden Fleece in the Burgundian states (1429). The Order of the Star, founded by John the Good in France, included 500 knights (1350).

These secular orders were not related to the military monastic ones: their members were inspired by other ideals and were driven by other needs. But contemporaries believed in their continuity, thanks to which these orders became instruments for the establishment of the royal religion. There is a manuscript in the British Library in London, the author of which relates the Latin Rule of the Order of the Temple to the statutes of the Order of the Golden Fleece.

However, in the end, the secular and military monastic orders merged into one. In modern times and the modern era, every state, every principality considered it their duty to establish orders of merit. In France, revolutionary upheavals led to the creation of a completely new order - the Legion of Honor, but in England, the Order of the Garter, and in Portugal, the military-monastic Order of Avis were transformed into orders of merit. Some military-monastic orders created in the Middle Ages have survived to this day, but at the same time they abandoned the military character that constituted their originality in order to adapt to the new time or turn into charitable organizations. This happened with the Teutonic Order, whose seat is now in Vienna, or the Order of the Hospitallers, which became the Order of Malta and now settled in Rome. These orders have again taken up the mission of charity that was due to them from the very beginning, before militarization. They have retained their military attire, which is now no more frightening than the swords of academicians!

Military monastic orders led an original way of life only in the Middle Ages. Therefore, in this book, I will give an overview of their history in the corresponding period - from the beginning of the 11th century, when the concept itself arose, and until 1530, when the Hospitallers, expelled from Rhodes by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, went to the island of Malta, which they were provided with Charles V.

In addition to the Knights Templar, other similar organizations appeared in the Holy Land, but the history of their emergence was somewhat different. Some religious institutions that already existed in the Kingdom of Jerusalem were reorganized into military monastic orders. Shortly before the first crusade at the hospital of St. John the Merciful in Jerusalem, a religious and charitable brotherhood was organized to help the poor and sick pilgrims. The activities of this brotherhood especially expanded after the conquest of Jerusalem by the crusaders, it spread a whole network of shelters and hospitals not only in the East, but in Western European countries, turning into a huge organization into which abundant offerings flowed from all over the Christian world. Already in the first half of the 12th century, the brotherhood took over (apparently following the example of the Templars) military tasks to defend Christian pilgrims and Christian possessions in the East from the "infidels". Having turned into a military-monastic order of the Hospitallers (or St. John's), the brotherhood began to represent a huge material and military force in the East.

The Teutonic Order grew out of a brotherhood at a German hospital, the date of its foundation is considered to be 1199. At the same time, a monastery of black clergy was founded in Acre, from which the military-monastic order of St. Thomas of Acre (in the 1220s). He took over military functions and the hospital of St. Lazarus for lepers, the first mention of which in the sources dates back to 1142. One of the first actions, in which, as we know, members of this organization took part, was the battle of La Forbier in 1244.

The sources that have come down to us do not explain the reasons for the transformation of monastic and charitable organizations into military monastic orders. Obviously the example was provided by the Templars, but it is unclear why it was followed. In some cases, the actions of specific individuals can be traced: for example, the militarization of the society of St. Thomas of Acre can be attributed to the initiative of the Bishop of Winchester, Peter de Roche, who came to the East at a time when the monastery of the black clergy was in a state of decline. But there could be other reasons as well. In particular, among the members of these organizations (except for St. Thomas of Acre) there certainly were people capable of holding weapons in their hands, and it is quite possible that they were approached for military assistance due to the constant lack of military strength among the settlers in the Holy Land.

Military monastic orders originated in the Holy Land, but very soon they spread their activities to other territories of the Christian world. The Templars and Hospitallers were the first to enter the war in Spain. At first, the Iberian Peninsula attracted the attention of the orders as a source of income and a potential opportunity to replenish their ranks, but in 1143 the Count of Barcelona persuaded the Templars to take part in the Reconquista, and by the middle of the 12th century the Hospitallers joined them. And already in the third quarter of the 12th century, several of their own military monastic orders arose in Spain. In Castile, in 1158, the Order of Calatrava was founded, and in the Kingdom of León in 1170, the Order of Santiago de Compostela. OK. In 1173, the Montegaudio Order arose, whose possessions were mainly in the Kingdom of Aragon, and by 1176 an organization appeared in Portugal, which later became the Order of Avish, and in the Kingdom of Leon, the Order of San Julian ds Pereiro, the predecessor of the Order of Alcantara, was created. Between 1170 and 1300, the orders of San Jorge de Alfama and Santa Maria de Espana appeared. These Spanish orders were from the very beginning military organizations based on the example of the Knights Templar and Hospitaller orders. Neither in an attempt to explain the emergence of these organizations must one take into account both the hopes and plans of their founders and early members (the founder of the Montegaudio order, for example, was a disillusioned member of the Order of Santiago), and the mood of the Spanish kings who patronized these orders. The Christian rulers of Spain, of course, hoped in this way to enlist solid military support both on land and at sea (Alphonse X of Castile strongly supported the Order of Santa Maria de España, hoping for the help of sailors in the fight against Muslims for control of the Strait of Gibraltar) . It should also be noted that the Order of Calatrava appeared after the Templars, who had previously been granted the castle of Calatrava, were unable to defend it. In addition, local orders were not supposed to send funds to the Holy Land, and the rulers, patronizing several military-monastic organizations at once, could control the situation in such a way that no single order became too powerful. At first, the Spanish rulers even hoped to use these local organizations in the fight against their Christian rivals, but the orders quickly spread throughout the peninsula and took a neutral position in relation to conflicts between Christian kings.

However, despite the support of the kings, not all Spanish military monastic orders flourished. The Order of Montegaudio in 1188 was forced to unite with the Order of the Hospital of the Holy Redeemer in Teruel, and in 1196 they joined the Knights Templar. Some of the brothers did not accept this union and settled in Monfragüe on the Tagus River in Castile; later this group entered the Order of Calatrava. These changes were due to the internal difficulties of the order of Montegaudio and the group in Monfragüe. The unification of the Order of Santa Maria de España with the Order of Santiago de Compostela took place after the latter had suffered huge losses in the battle of Mauclin in 1280. Other Spanish orders survived, but remained purely local, Spanish organizations. From time to time, proposals were made to extend their activities to the territory of North Africa, the Holy Land and even the Baltic countries, but none of these plans was carried out.

In Central Europe, unlike in Spain, the Templars and Hospitallers were not the first military monastic orders to take up arms for a just cause. At the beginning of the 13th century, Europeans relied more on the new, European military-monastic organizations and on the Teutonic Order. It was they who played the main role in the conquest of Prussia and Livonia, which were completely defeated by the end of the 13th century. The Order of the Sword and the Order of Drbrina were founded to protect missionaries: the first arose in Livonia in 1202 with the support of Bishop Albert, and the second in Prussia, probably in 1228, at the initiative of Bishop Christian of Prussia and the Polish prince Konrad of Mazovia. In the 1230s, both of these organizations became part of the Teutonic Order.

The Teutonic Order first appeared in Central Europe in 1211, when the Hungarian king Andrew II offered him the Transylvanian region of Burza under the condition of protecting it from the Polovtsian raids. The Teutonic Order saw in this proposal an opportunity to expand its activities in Europe, which he aspired to, since in the Holy Land the order had to constantly compete with the Templars and Hospitallers. But in 1225, King Andrew took away these lands from them, probably afraid of the desire of the Teutonic Order for complete independence. Around the same time, Prince Konrad of Mazovia offered the Kulm Land to the order on the condition that the knights defend it from the Prussians. The ensuing negotiations, which included the German Emperor Frederick II, led to the creation of an independent state on the territory of Prussia under the control of the Teutonic Order. Around 1230, the order became a very influential organization on the territory of Prussia, and then, having united with the sword-bearers, extended its influence to Livonia.

After the Teutonic Order was expelled from Hungary and established itself in Prussia, the Hungarian and Polish rulers tried to seek help from other military monastic organizations. In 1237, Konrad of Mazovia even made an attempt to revive the Dobrinsky Order in the Drogichin castle on the Bug River, but did not succeed. The Templars soon left the Polish lands granted to them in the 1250s. The Hospitallers also refused to defend the Severinsky region, which stretched from the Transylvanian Alps to the Danube, which was granted to them in 1247 by the Hungarian king Bela IV.

Bela IV hoped for the help of the Hospitallers in the struggle not only against the pagans, but also against the schismatics. II although the Hungarian king was not provided with such assistance, the Templars, Hospitallers and Knights of the Teutonic Order contributed to the defense of the Latin Empire of the Franks, created in 1204 after the Fourth Crusade. In the 13th century, the crusades were increasingly directed against dissidents within Christianity, and therefore it is not surprising that the fight against the Greeks became quite suitable for military monastic orders. Attempts were also made to use knightly orders against heretics, opponents of the pope and other troublemakers in Western Europe. The popes repeatedly called on the military monastic orders to intervene in internal conflicts in Cyprus and the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and in 1267 Pope Clement IV invited the Hospitallers to side with Charles of Anjou against the last Hohenstaufen in southern Italy. There were also attempts to establish new orders in the south of France to combat heresies. However, these orders did not last very long, with the exception of the Italian order of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose charter, approved in 1261, charged the knights with the duty of protecting the faith and the Church and suppressing civil unrest. And yet the main function of the military-monastic orders in the XII-XIII centuries was the fight against non-Christians on the borders of Western Christendom.

Warfare

In the largest orders, both knights and ordinary service people - sergeants participated in hostilities. The knights had more magnificent equipment and three or four horses, while the sergeants had only one. Sergeants could serve as infantry if necessary, but their weapons and armor were similar to those of knights, and sergeants were never used as light cavalry as was found among the Muslims. Both sergeants and knights were permanent members of the order, but sometimes knights fought side by side with them, joining the order only for a certain period. In the Holy Land they were crusaders who came from the West. In the charter of the Templars, three points are given to such persons. Sometimes the order required military service from its vassals, and sometimes even hired military force was used. In the Holy Land, local residents could serve in the orders for hire, who were provided with horses and bows.

On all fronts, the monk-knights were only an integral part of the entire Christian army, but in Syria and the Baltic they enjoyed greater freedom of action than in Spain. The Spanish Reconquista was led by the Christian rulers of the peninsula, and they preferred to strictly control all military operations. Many charters issued in Spain to military monastic orders state that they must start and end hostilities only by royal command, and, as a rule, the orders followed this rule, despite some protests from the papal throne. But at the same time, the Spanish kings did not seek to suppress the initiative as such in the military-monastic orders, and sometimes the orders conducted their own military campaigns - narrative sources, for example, testify to the capture in the late 1220s and early 1230s of several Muslim castles by the orders of Santiago de - Compostela n Calatrava, but such events were held within the framework of the general royal policy. In the East things were different. In 1168, Bohemond III of Antioch gave the Hospitallers a free hand and even promised to respect the truces they would conclude. The king of Cilician Armenia Levon II did the same in 1210. And although in the 12th century in the Kingdom of Jerusalem the orders did not enjoy such freedom of action, in the 13th century the fall of the authority of royal power in Jerusalem allowed the military-monastic orders to pursue their own policies in Palestine and Syria. At the beginning of the century, the Templars and Hospitallers maintained aggressive offensive positions in the north of the kingdom and even received tribute from neighboring Muslim states; in the south, they pursued an independent policy towards Egypt and Damascus, and later, with the strengthening of the power of the Mamluks, they concluded their own agreements with them. But the military-monastic orders in the Baltic lands enjoyed the greatest independence. In Prussia, the Teutonic Order was an independent state. The swordsmen and later the knights of the Teutonic Order in Livonia did not have such legal independence, but in practice no one tried to lead them. Henry of Livonia wrote about the Master of the Sword at the beginning of the 13th century: “He fought in battles for the Lord, leading and leading the army of the Lord in all expeditions, regardless of whether the bishop was present or not.”

The military actions of knightly orders on different fronts differed to some extent in their goals and methods. In Syria and Spain, the main objective of the offensive war was to consolidate the power of the territories, and not to convert Muslims to Christianity. In the Baltic, however, territorial conquests were accompanied by the baptism of pagans. But at the same time, in the XII-XIII centuries, all knightly orders conducted military campaigns mainly on land. Even the order of Santa Maria de España was not limited to maritime performances. In the eastern Mediterranean, the Templars and Hospitallers only began to create their own flotillas towards the end of the 13th century.

On land, the actions of the orders included both the defense of fortresses and battles in the open. In Palestine and Syria in the 12th century, the Templars and Hospitallers defended a large number of castles that were sold to them or transferred by rulers and feudal lords who did not have the means or enough people to keep them. It is estimated that in 1180 the Hospitallers had about twenty-five castles at their disposal in the East. Among the smaller fortifications in their hands, there are forts erected on the roads to provide shelter for pilgrims going to Jerusalem or Jordan. However, in the 12th century, most of the castles of these two orders were not in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but in northern Syria. In 1144, Count Raymond II of Tripoli handed over several fortresses to the Hospitallers, including Krak des Chevaliers on the eastern border of his county, and in the north, the Principality of Antioch entrusted the Templars with the protection of the border region of Amanus. The most important Hospitaller castle at Antiochne was Margat Castle, granted to the order in 1186 by its former owner after the latter “realized that he could not hold Margat Castle as necessary in the interests of Christianity, due to lack of necessary funds and close proximity to infidels." Most of these fortresses were lost after the defeat at Gattnn, but some were subsequently recaptured. In the 13th century, the Templars and Hospitallers acquired new castles, and the Teutonic Order at this time also took over the protection of some castles, mainly in the rear of Acre. As you can see, the main burden of protecting Christian settlements fell on the military monastic orders.

The orders not only provided manpower for the defense of fortresses, but also undertook the construction of new fortifications and the restoration and fortification of old ones. So, in 1217-1218, the Templars built Chastel-Pelerin and restored the castle of Safad, recapturing it from the Muslims in 1240. The Hospitallers also built new castles, such as Belvoir, and fortified old ones, such as Krak des Chevaliers.

Less is known about construction in Spain, but we do know that many frontier fortresses on the peninsula were under the control of military monastic orders. In the 12th century, the Templars and Hospitallers were the most active in Aragon and Catalonia: an attempt by Alphonse II to nominate the Spanish order of Montegaudio failed. However, in the south of the kingdom of Valencia, conquered in the middle of the 13th century, the Aragonese king Jaime I gave a clear preference to the order of Santiago de Compostela. In Portugal, in the 12th century, the rulers also relied mainly on the Templars and Hospitallers, and in the 13th century they turned to the Spanish orders of Aves and Santiago de Compostela. In the center of the peninsula, however, the Castilian and Leonese kings always preferred to deal with local orders, especially those of Calatrava and Santiago de Compostela, and it was they who were entrusted with the protection of fortresses on the borders. In the Baltics, as new territories were captured, the military monastic orders - the Teutonic Knights in Prussia and the Swordsmen in Livonia - built fortresses along the way of their advance. In both areas, primitive pagan wooden structures were set on fire, and new ones were erected in their place (although at first the knights built fortifications also from wood, and only later did brick structures become the norm). Sometimes one gets the false impression that all the castles that were in the hands of the orders were defended by a large number of brothers, but this is not so. In 1255, the Hospitallers claimed that they intended to keep sixty knights in Krak des Chevaliers. And it took eighty Templars to defend Safad. But, as far as we know, usually the number of defenders was much smaller, especially in the Baltic lands and in Spain. The chronicler reports that after the strengthening of Thorn Castle on the Vistula by the Teutonic Order in 1231, only seven knights were left in it. And some small fortifications did not have a permanent garrison at all.

The brothers who defended the castles were often assisted by additional military forces. It could be vassals from nearby areas. But it was possible to count on such assistance only after the successful completion of the colonization of the surrounding lands. In some areas, firm power over the border territories arose only after they were settled by Christian settlers. In Spain, the orders did everything possible to attract immigrants to their lands. But there were not always enough people willing to travel to empty, war-torn, still unsafe places, and the process of settling in Spain was slow and difficult. In the Prussian lands, the Western European peasantry began to settle only at the end of the 13th century, when the Prussian pagan tribes were finally subjugated, and in Livonia this process did not occur at all.

Military monastic orders were often praised for defending border fortresses, and indeed, they often fought bravely and skillfully. After the defeat at Gattin, the Belvoir castle of the Hospitallers held out for more than a year, and Saladin was then unable to take either Krak des Chevaliers or Margat. The brothers of the Order of Calatrava also managed to hold the castle of Salvatierra in Castile for a very long time, when it was besieged in 1211 by the Almohad caliph. Of course, there were also cases when fortresses fell quickly. The Templar castle in Gaza surrendered without a fight after Saladin's victory at Gattin, and after the defeat of the Spanish Christians at the Battle of Alarcos in 1195, several castles of the Order of Calatrava quickly fell. Success or defeat often depended not only on the valor, skill and number of defenders, but also on other factors. Thus, Gaza was surrendered by the Templars in order to secure the release of their master from captivity, and according to Islamic sources, Margat Castle survived due to its extremely advantageous location and excellent fortifications. And yet, as a rule, not some individual factors, but the general military and political situation determined the fate of the fortresses of military monastic orders. After crushing defeats in battles, as at Gattin or Alarcos, it was difficult to hold castles, especially if the garrisons were not fully manned - part of their composition was sent to reinforce the army. When, at the end of the 13th century, the orders in Syria were faced with the ever-increasing power of the Mamluks, and there was no one to expect help from, it became obvious that the garrisons were not able to withstand long sieges. And in this situation, it was even preferable to surrender the fortress in exchange for permission to leave it without hindrance, and not to fight to the last man. In the 1260s, some castles of the Teutonic Order in Prussia also fell due to uprisings of local tribes. But, speaking of the failures that befell the orders, we must keep in mind that, defending the fortresses, the knights undertook a task that others could not do.

In open battles, the orders were not required to provide a certain number of people, and therefore it is rather difficult to determine the number of knight-monks who participated in the battles on various fronts. But one gets the impression that in general the total number of brothers was relatively small, even by medieval standards. A letter from a Templar from the Holy Land reports that the order lost sixty brothers at Cresson in May 1187, and another two hundred and thirty were killed at the battle of Gattin, leaving the central Templar monastery "almost completely depopulated." Another letter, written after the defeat at La Forbier in 1244, says that the Templars and the Hospitallers lost about 300 knights, while thirty-three Templars and twenty-six Hospitallers survived.

On the Iberian Peninsula, military monastic orders were even smaller in number. The loss by the Order of Santiago de Compostela of its master and fifty-five brothers at the battle of Mocklin in 1280 led to the merging of the remnants of the order with the order of Santa Maria de España /. In 1229, the Templar detachment that took part in the attack on Mallorca was only twenty-fifth of the entire army, although the Templars were the most powerful order in Aragon. However, it must be taken into account that the Christian rulers of Spain had at their disposal much more ordinary, secular troops than the settlers in Syria, since Christians made up a much larger percentage of the population in Spain than in the crusader states, and the rulers could at any time demand from their subjects of compulsory military service.

The chronicles describing the military operations in the Baltic states also indicate that the monk-knights who participated in them were much smaller than the rest of those who fought. For example, the “Liivonian Rhymed Chronicle” (Livonian Rhymed Chronicle) reports that in 1268 the Livonian master of the Teutonic Order called together all the combat-ready brothers, and their number was one hundred and eighty people, while the entire army numbered eighteen thousand. The Teutons in this region were greatly assisted by the crusaders. So, the conquests of 1255 were carried out with the help of the Margrave of Brandenburg Ottokar II of Bohemia and a large crusading army.

Despite the fact that there were relatively few monk-knights, for their courage they were respected even by opponents (especially in the East). The brothers were a force more disciplined and organized than many secular military units. The Templars followed strict rules of conduct in the military camp and on the march, and, of course, the brothers of all orders were bound by a vow of obedience, the violation of which threatened severe punishment. The punishment for desertion in battle was exclusion from the orders, and in the Knights Templar, for an attack without the permission of the guilty, they were removed from the life of the order for a certain period. Of course, the threat of punishment could not exclude all cases of disobedience, but many researchers of the crusading movement share the point of view of the Grand Master of the Knights Templar Jacques Bernard de Molay (1243-1314), who believed that the Templars, thanks to the vow of obedience, are superior to other troops. Some scholars see the advantage of knightly orders in the East also in the fact that, being constantly there, they had more experience in local warfare, in contrast to the crusaders who arrived from the West.

In the eastern Mediterranean, experienced and knowledgeable members of the military monastic orders were often sent to the vanguard and rearguard of the crusading troops, as was the case during the Fifth Crusade and the Egyptian campaign of Louis IX. In Spain this was not required, since the local Spanish troops knew the terrain and situation better, but the core of the army at the beginning of the campaign was often members of the orders, because the rest of the units could not be mobilized quickly enough. In addition, brother knights, unlike other warriors, could be relied upon. So, in 1233, some units of the militia of the Castilian cities left the siege of Ubeda, as their service life had expired. With members of the military monastic orders, such a turn of events could not be feared.

However, the brothers fought not only with the "infidels". Sometimes they turned their weapons against fellow believers, protecting or pursuing the interests of their order. And there are many examples of this. In 1233, in Livonia, the Sword-bearers were in conflict with the supporters of the papal legate Baldwin of Alna; in the East, the orders were involved in the internal political conflicts characteristic of the 13th century, such as the war of St. Savvas in Acre, and were also involved in private civil strife; the same thing happened in the second half of the 13th century in politically unstable Castile. The involvement of the monk-knights in such conflicts drained the forces that could be used in the fight against Muslims or pagans. Moreover, despite all their discipline, the military monastic orders did not always respond to calls to arms. Collections of documents of the Aragonese kings contain not only repeated calls for participation in military campaigns, but also threats of sanctions against the possessions of the orders for failure to comply with royal requirements. But, despite all this, the military monastic orders made a huge contribution to the fight against the "infidels" and played an important role in the defense of fortresses on all fronts. Already in the middle of the XII century, King Amalrich of Jerusalem told the King of France that "if we can achieve anything, it is only through them."

Other activities

On the battlefield, the Hospitallers and members of some Spanish orders took care of the wounded and injured, but, in general, the knight-monks were engaged in charitable activities away from hostilities, especially since the works of mercy were part of the duties of members of all military monastic orders. After merging in 1188 with the Order of the Hospital of the Holy Redeemer, the Montegaudio Order took upon itself the ransom of Christians from captivity, and the charter of the Order of Santiago de Compostela stated that all booty that went to the order should be used to free Christians who fell into the hands of "infidels" . Hospital of St. John and the Teutonic Order were founded with the aim of helping the poor and sick, and they continued to provide such help even after they turned into military orders. And although in the second half of the 12th century, Pope Alexander III expressed concern that the hostilities of the Hospitallers prevented them from doing works of mercy, the pilgrim John of Würzburg, who visited Jerusalem in the 1160s, wrote about the hospital of St. John: “A huge number of sick people - men and women - are located in several buildings, and every day they are cared for and treated at no cost. When I was there, I learned from the lips of the ministers themselves that there were at least two thousand sick people. The duties of the Templars did not include caring for the sick and homeless, but they, like members of all orders, had to regularly distribute alms. Usually it happened like this: the poor were given a tenth of the bread that was baked in the monasteries of the Templars.

Members of all military monastic orders were inevitably involved in the administration of those territories in which the castles and estates of the order were located, and the Teutonic Order was responsible for the administration of all of Prussia. Orders in the Holy Land also had considerable political power. Some orders - especially the Templars - were also involved in financial transactions. Their monasteries often became a place of storage of money, jewelry and documents. Some left their funds in the monasteries just for safety, but the order was able to arrange the transportation of money and goods from place to place. Operations of this kind were made possible by the network of order monasteries in Western Christendom. And if some left their money in the monasteries only on occasion, then others had a permanent "account" with the Templars, who regularly received the income of their clients and paid their bills. In the 13th century, the branch of the Knights Templar in Paris played the role of the royal treasury; many nobles, including the brothers of Louis IX, used the banking services of the Templars.

The Templars also practiced usury. In the Kingdom of Aragon, for example, they lent money at interest already in the 1130s, and at the end of the 13th century the Aragonese crown regularly took loans from them. In the 12th century, loans were usually used to cover urgent expenses, but in the next century, loans became part of government financial policy. The rulers approached those whose capital allowed them to lend out large sums of cash, and borrowed money for short periods against the expected income from taxes and other items. Those who possessed such large amounts of money included not only Italian trading firms, but also the Knights Templar, although there were cases when the order itself was forced to resort to loans in order to satisfy royal requests: to refuse a loan to the king would mean losing royal disposition.

Resources

The military and charitable activities of the military-monastic orders required significant costs. There were several ways to obtain the necessary funds. A successful war was itself a source of income in the form of booty and estates in the conquered territories, and in some cases the victors even imposed regular tribute. But most of the orders received their main income from possessions that were far from the war zone. The Knights Templars and Hospitallers achieved a leading role in the defense of the Holy Land because they - unlike the rulers and barons of the Latin East, who could rely only on local resources - had the opportunity to use the funds of the whole of Christendom. However, these two orders were the only ones that had significant possessions in all regions of Western Europe.

Donations to the orders were made by representatives of all sections of the population of Western Christendom. By donating money or property to military-monastic orders, people, as it were, took part in the fight against the “infidels”. In the twelfth century, the concept of holy war was still relatively new and attractive. Donation sometimes replaced personal participation in the crusade or was made by people who themselves accepted the cross and went through the war or even participated earlier in the military and charitable affairs of the military-monastic orders. Sometimes donations were the result of personal or family ties, and other times people donated to an order whose monastery was close to their place of residence. But donors have always sought divine rewards, both in this world and after death. The names of the donors were mentioned in prayers offered in the order's monasteries. As a rule, the funds received in this way were intended for military operations and for charity. However, starting from the 13th century, donations began to be made for specific actions - for the maintenance of priests, for the celebration of masses or for lamps in front of the altars of the order chapels.

The military monastic orders themselves acquired property, they invested their funds in such a way that they would then bring them a regular income. Military and charitable activities were quite costly, and the orders accepted and owned almost all types of property. The second paragraph of the charter of the Teutonic Order states that because of the expenses for the war and for the care of the poor and the sick, "brothers can own both movable and immovable property ... namely: lands and fields, vineyards, villages, mills, fortifications, parish churches , chapels, tithes, etc.” This list is far from complete: horses, armor, cash were donated to the orders, they were given various privileges that allowed them to increase their income. Donors also received some privileges. The papal throne, for example, allowed those who made an annual contribution to the military-monastic order to consider the seventh part of the epitome imposed on them completed. Most of the orders received from the papacy a partial exemption from paying tithes. Orders could also take part in the settlement of new lands. However, many believed that the orders often increased their income by abusing their rights and privileges.

Over time, the methods of obtaining funds have also changed. In Syria and in Spain, where the Reconquista stopped by the middle of the 13th century, the possibilities of enrichment at the expense of the “infidels” sharply decreased, and the flow of donations from areas far from the borders decreased. The military monastic orders began to lose the favor of the donors, and the financial situation of the orders did not allow them to make large acquisitions. As a result, they not only did not increase their treasury, but also lost their already existing, reliable sources of income. Possessions in the East were lost with the arrival of the Mamluks from Egypt: in 1268, the master of the order of the Hospitallers assured that the order had not received income in the territory of the Kingdom of Jerusalem for eight years. The frequent threats from the papal throne against those who damaged the property of the military-monastic orders testify to the fact that the preservation of rights and possessions anywhere in Western Christendom required constant vigilance. Among those who encroached on the rights of the orders were the clergy, who, in their own financial interests, wanted to limit the privileges of the orders in such matters as the right of burial. The material well-being of the military monastic orders was also influenced by such general trends as inflation, internal unrest and civil strife.

It is important to note that not all the funds received by the orders could be spent on military and charitable purposes or on the acquisition of property. Most of the income of the Templars and Hospitallers in Western Europe was spent on the maintenance of the brothers who permanently lived there. The maintenance of churches and monasteries also required funds: according to the data of 1309, in Cressing (Essex, England) it took more than a quarter of the income of the Templars. In addition, it was also necessary to pay certain amounts to those who were promised maintenance at the order (usually these were donors who had previously specially made a contribution for this purpose), or to those whose patronage was necessary for the order. And, of course, the orders were subject to certain taxes. In the 13th century, privileges became less: for example, partial exemption from paying tithes was limited in 1215 by Pope Innocent III. And some rulers who were experiencing financial difficulties canceled the tax exemption that had previously been granted to orders in their territories. And although the papal throne did not require donations from the orders to help the Holy Land, the orders were supposed to give money to the needs of the papal throne in the West.

In the 13th century, the orders began to experience constant and increasingly serious financial difficulties. Increasingly, they were forced to resort to loans, and not always short-term ones. At the beginning of the 14th century, the Hospitallers in Germany tried to solve their financial problems by limiting the admission of new members and forbidding new construction. But the most common solution was the sale of property, which was only a temporary way out of the current situation.

Financial problems affected both the military and charitable activities of the knightly orders. In 1306, the Master of the Order of the Hospitallers declared that the order no longer had sufficient funds to support the sick. Several cases are known when, at the end of the 13th century, the masters of the Knights Templar assured that the poverty of the order might not allow it to continue to remain in the Holy Land. In Spain, the master of Santiago de Compostela complained in 1233 that the order did not have enough funds even to protect its fortresses. Hard times have come for all military monastic orders.

Membership

The orders had to constantly replenish their ranks, because the mortality rate among members of the military monastic orders was much higher than among ordinary monks. Most knightly orders recruited members mainly (though not exclusively) from one particular region: the candidates for the Spanish orders came mainly from Spain, most of the members of the Teutonic Order were Germans. Only the Templars and Hospitallers attracted people from all countries of Western Europe, although these orders were mainly focused on France. However, to enter the knightly orders, as well as when entering the monastery, it was necessary to meet certain requirements. All candidates had to have the status of free citizens, and those wishing to receive the rank of knight had to have a long and noble pedigree. Knights entering the Knights Templar and Hospitaller orders in the 13th century also had to be legitimate. In most orders, married candidates could not be admitted without the consent of the spouses; the state of health and financial situation of applicants were also taken into account. In the early Middle Ages, religious communities were generally seen as a suitable place for the wretched or crippled, and military monastic orders sought to avoid such a burden. They also wanted to make sure that no candidates' debts were passed onto them. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, opposition to the tradition, according to which those who entered the monastery had to make a certain contribution, increased in the Church, but this practice existed for a long time in the military monastic orders. But the orders agreed with the policy of the Church in relation to the placement of children in monasteries. Some orders even introduced an age limit. The records of the Templar trial show that some entered the order at the age of 10 or 11, but these were exceptions: the usual average age of candidates was 25 years. The younger sons, who made up a significant part of the candidates for membership in the military monastic orders, were often in need of a livelihood. The words addressed to novices at the ceremony of admission to the order indicate that membership in the order was seen by some as providing a comfortable existence and, in some cases, high social status. One of the Templars assured that when he joined the order, "they asked him why he was doing this, because he was noble, rich and had enough land." However, the sources that have come down to us often emphasize the spiritual needs of the candidates, and they cannot be easily discounted. For some, and especially in the early period of the crusading movement, the fight against the "infidels" seemed to be a more reasonable way of serving God and saving the soul than seclusion in some European monastery. When studying the issue of attracting new members to the military monastic orders, one should also not underestimate the family and geographical ties with each specific order.

In the early years of the order, recruiting new people was difficult, and some orders, such as Montegaudio, never managed to recruit new members. But the Templars and Hospitallers, once they were firmly on their feet and launched their activities, did not experience much difficulty in attracting candidates from the secular circles of Western Europe even in the 13th century. Some who wished could achieve membership only “by pull” - through influential donors. The chronicler Matthew of Paris reports that even after the defeat at La Forbier (1244), the Templars and Hospitallers "accepted many lay people into their ranks."

Organization

In the early years of its existence, the order consisted of a small group of brothers under the leadership of a master or grand master, and at this stage it did not require a special management structure. However, as the number of knights and possessions increased, it became necessary to organize subsidiary monasteries both in the border regions and far from them, and since the master could not manage remote monasteries, it was necessary to create a middle management level. An effective system was also needed to transfer new members and funds from European monasteries to the borders. Orders that fought on several fronts needed to appoint military commanders for each region. The already existing traditional organizational monastic forms were not suitable for military monastic orders. Most orders became practiced, grouping the mansions of each region into provinces or priories, ruled by provincial masters or grand priors. All major orders adopted a three-tier system of government, but, of course, each organization had its own characteristics.

In the border regions, the monasteries were often located in castles or fortresses and performed military duties, while the main occupation of the knight-monks in peaceful monasteries was the management of the property of the order. Most of the inhabitants of the monasteries were laymen, although in some orders, for example in Santiago de Com-postela, there were separate monasteries for clergy, and several orders even founded women's monasteries. From 40 to 50 sisters sometimes lived in the latter, but men's cloisters far from the borders were usually small. At the head of the cloisters were mentors or commanders who were not chosen, but appointed from above. They monitored the implementation of the charter, in the border regions they commanded knights on the battlefield; they were also responsible for the management of the monastery property, part of the income from which they sent every year to their superiors. The commanders had very few officials subordinate to them; in their activities they had to use the advice of the monastic chapters, which usually met once a week. The heads of the provinces were also appointed by the central leadership and performed approximately the same functions as the commanders. In the Knights Templar and Hospitaller orders and in the Teutonic Order, the heads of the provinces of Western Europe had to send a third of the income of their territories to the center. They also did not have a large bureaucratic apparatus, they made decisions with the help of a provincial chapter, which met once a year and consisted of monastic commanders. At the center of the main orders stood the master (or grand master), who was assisted by such persons as the grand commander, the supreme marshal, the wardrobe master, the treasurer and others who made up the council. There were no such posts in small orders. All orders practiced the periodic convocation of general chapters, which brought together brothers from different provinces.

Thus, officials at all levels ruled jointly with the chapter. At the meetings of the central and provincial chapters dues were paid, reports were made on affairs, and new appointments were made. At the same time, officials enjoyed considerable freedom of action. Not all chapters met often enough, some did not even have their own seals. But if there were no obvious abuses on the part of officials, then their subordinates did not touch them. Only in the case of prolonged and malicious abuse of their position were sanctions applied to them. This happened, for example, in 1296 in the order of the Hospitallers, when the central monastery was forced to apply severe sanctions to several masters for abuses and injustices. Perhaps a vow of obedience prevented subordinates from controlling officials, but at that time and in the world, rulers were very rarely subject to any restrictions.

However, officials were also far from always able to strictly monitor all the actions of their subordinates. The masters of the major military monastic orders sought to spread their influence throughout Western Christendom, but for the orders headquartered in the Holy Land, this was very difficult, if only because of their geographical position. All major orders practiced regular official visits to the branches of the order, but if the provincial masters could travel themselves, then the grand masters had to send their representatives. In this regard, naturally, there was a tendency towards the independence of the provinces, especially considering that most of the brothers were natives of the area where their monastery was located, in other words, there was always a danger that local and family ties and interests would outweigh obedience to the master of the order. And yet, despite the fact that some provinces sometimes did not fully fulfill their financial obligations, until 1300 the only serious attempt to achieve greater independence was the performance of the brothers of the order of Santiago de Compostela in Portugal: with the help of the Portuguese king, they were able to weaken control over themselves by the Master of the Order.

Women's convents and monasteries for clerics had the right to choose their own mentors, and lay brothers in spiritual matters, of course, were subordinate to their fellow priests. However, the power in the knightly orders belonged to the laity. The leaders of the orders and the heads of the provinces usually belonged to the knightly class. Knights also made up the majority of the members of the general chapters and, in the Knights Templar and the Teutonic Order, the committees that selected new masters (committees consisted of eight knights, four sergeants and one priest). Knights also headed the monasteries in the border regions, but in other parts of Western Christendom, sergeants were often commanders, and among their subordinates there could be knights: it seems that in these monasteries appointments were made according to the principle of correspondence to the position held, and not according to belonging to the class. The chapterhouses of the monasteries further from the borders also consisted mainly of sergeants. Various groups within the orders did not always live peacefully, but the only orders in which disagreements reached the point of clashes were Santiago and Calatrava in Spain (where the clergy constantly complained about the violation of their rights) and the Order of the Hospitallers (the sisters of the Sihen Monastery in the Kingdom of Aragon entered several times in open conflict with the head of the province).

Military monastic orders were not absolutely independent organizations. And although most of them were exempt from paying tithes and thus did not fall under the jurisdiction of the bishop, they were all subject to the papal throne, and the popes intervened in the affairs of the orders if they saw reasons for this. Sometimes popes even tried to influence the appointment of officials, either for political reasons or in cases where they wanted to arrange for their protégé. The same applies to kings. Military monastic orders associated with other religious organizations were under constant external control. Some Spanish orders, including Calatrava, Montegaudio and Santa Maria de Espana, were branches of the Cistercian order, while the Avish and Alcantara orders became branches of Calatrava. We do not always know the reasons for this organization of the orders, although in the case of Calatrava this can be explained by the circumstances of the foundation of the order: it was organized after the Cistercian abbot of Fitero in 1158 undertook to protect the castle of Calatrava (a task that the Templars failed to cope with ). Relations between the Order of Calatrava and the Order of the Cistercians developed in the same way as between the various Cistercian monasteries, that is, the head of the central monastery had the right of inspection and the right to vote in the choice of masters. However, most of the military monastic orders were theoretically subordinate only to the pope.

monastic life

When joining the military monastic orders, traditional vows were given - poverty, chastity and obedience. Only the Order of Santiago de Compostela accepted married men. Members of the orders had to lead a monastic life in the monastery - to sleep in the dormitories, eating in the refectory. All the brothers in the monastery had to attend church services, but since most of them were illiterate, they only listened to what the priests read and said "Our Father" the prescribed number of times. Again, due to illiteracy, they did not read books, and although literary pursuits were not completely alien to the monk-knights, the only books found in the Templar monasteries during their trial were service books and breviaries. The time between services was filled with various practical exercises. Some brothers were engaged in administrative affairs and charity, while others followed the economy and field work. Unfortunately, little is known about military training in peacetime. The statutes and rules were mainly aimed at not allowing in the monasteries the activities characteristic of the secular way of life, such as hunting, for example. The Charter of the Templars said: "It is not befitting for a religious order to enjoy worldly pleasures in this way." However, in the devastated and deserted areas, the brothers of the Order of Calatrava were allowed to hunt for food. Unlike ordinary monks, the knight brothers were allowed to eat meat, however, only three days a week. They were also allowed to fast not so strictly, and additional fasts without permission were generally prohibited. And although the posts usually did not coincide with the times of military campaigns (with the exception of the Baltic states, where hostilities were more often carried out in winter) and, moreover, a minority of all members of the order participated in hostilities, every effort was made to ensure that the brothers remained in good physical shape. As in ordinary monasteries, silence was to be observed during meals, although the Templar charter allowed some conversations due to the brothers' ignorance of sign language. As for clothing, the Templars allowed linen to replace wool because of the heat in Syria and Palestine. Linen cassocks could be worn from Easter to All Saints' Day. But all members of the order were required to observe modesty in clothing and equipment, pomp and extravagance were not allowed.

For violators of the charter, a whole system of punishments was developed - from exclusion from the order to a brief penance, sometimes accompanied by corporal punishment. But the decrees could not completely exclude all cases of violation of discipline, moreover, in some circumstances deviations from the general rules were allowed. The brothers did not always strictly adhere to a cenobitic way of life, in documents and narrative monuments there are numerous references to separate apartments of officials, and by the beginning of the 14th century, ordinary brothers of the Order of Hospitallers in Limassol lived in separate cells or rooms. (At the same time, the documents of the Templar trial speak of common dormitories in monasteries.) Eating was also allowed to be relaxed, which was usually, although not always, explained by military considerations. The rules relating to dress and equipment allowed no exceptions, but they were very difficult to enforce. The Charter of the Hospitallers, written in the 13th century, contains a sharp condemnation of embroidered clothes and gilded and silver-plated equipment. And the ban on hunting did not stop everyone ...

Strict observance of the rules of life in the military monastic orders was hampered by the lack of an institution of novices, which would allow assessing the candidate's ability to religious life and would provide time for training. Only the Order of Calatrava insisted that each candidate member of the order must go through a probationary period, while other orders replenished their ranks without worrying about preliminary training. True, it cannot be said that the new members were not taught anything at all. So, immediately after the ceremony of admission to the order of the Templars, the new member was told about the punishments for various offenses and about the routine of daily life.

Public readings of the bylaws aloud were held periodically. But this was clearly not enough: the documents of the trial of the Templars testify to the widespread ignorance among the brothers regarding the true goals and organization of the order, or a misunderstanding of them. The absence of the institution of novices and the illiteracy of most of the brothers created certain difficulties, but at that time, inadequacy to the required level was a common phenomenon in the monastic world.

Criticism and reorientation

Despite the fact that in the XII-XIII centuries the flow of those wishing to join the main orders and donations to these organizations did not stop, the attitude towards military monastic orders was ambiguous. The doubts that were expressed at their foundation not only did not disappear anywhere, but accusations were added to them. The orders were accused of pride and greed. How the Orders use the funds that come to them has become the subject of close scrutiny. Some assured that the brothers live in luxury and idleness, and all donations are spent on maintaining this lifestyle. From this followed the next accusation, namely, that the orders are not kept on the borders, especially in the Holy Land, the required number of knights. Among these accusers was Matthew of Paris, a chronicler from St. Albans (see his Chronica majora). The knight-monks who were in the border regions were reproached for using force against fellow believers. Especially often, such reproaches were directed at the Teutonic Order, which launched its activities in the Baltic states. It was also pointed out that the Templars and Hospitallers turned their weapons against each other because of the alleged irreconcilable enmity between them, which, as they said, could play a cruel joke on the Christians in their struggle against the "infidels". Critics feared that the independence of the orders might interfere with the effective struggle against the Muslims in the East, moreover, some of them accused the orders of indecision. When, for example, the Templars and Hospitallers spoke out against the attack on Jerusalem during the Third Crusade, they were vehemently criticized by the French crusaders. Members of the orders were even suspected of sympathizing with Muslims. On the other hand, in the 1260s, the English Franciscan friar Roger Bacon accused them of taking up arms at all. He believed that the military actions of the orders only hindered the conversion of "infidels" to Christianity. This opinion was not popular, but the swordsmen and members of the Teutonic Order were from time to time reproached for not engaging in missionary work and pursuing policies that only interfered with the conversion of the pagans.

Such reproaches and accusations must be considered in a general context. All religious orders, to one degree or another, had to face slander. In addition, it happened that those who criticized the military monastic orders later defended them. For example, the popes more than once brought various accusations against them, but they also supported them. Some of the critics were obviously biased. The secular clergy began to lose income and authority after the papacy granted privileges to knightly orders, moreover, in the 13th century, these priests also had to constantly make crusading fees to help the Holy Land. In the Baltics, the Teutonic Order was attacked by its rivals. Many critics of the military monastic orders were ill-informed about their activities and did not have personal contact with its members, so they simply repeated the accusations from hearsay. Detractors exaggerated the wealth of the orders and claimed that the military-monastic orders had sufficient funds to fully finance the defense of the Holy Land. However, the census of the property of the Templars during their trial does not create a picture of great wealth. The rumors about the rivalry of the orders were also greatly exaggerated. V accusations of tolerance for "infidels" in the Holy Land were caused by ignorance of the situation there and the lack of reliable information. Newly arriving crusaders often did not understand the political situation in the East and the long-term interests of the Latin settlers. They only wanted to fight the "infidels" and rushed into battle without thinking about the future.

Yet not all accusations were unfounded. At times, the orders did abuse their privileges and turn their weapons against fellow Christians, not only in self-defense. The actions of the Teutonic Order, which defended its independence first in Hungary, and then in Prussia, indicate that the order was busy not only with the fight against the pagans.

By the end of the 13th century, many believed that the military monastic orders needed deep internal reforms. Church authorities and authors of treatises on the crusade paid much attention to this idea. Some proposed limiting the independence of the military monastic orders in the eastern Mediterranean, while others - and they were in the majority - advocated the unification of some or all of the knightly orders in order to end the rivalry between them. There were also those who proposed to confiscate the property of the orders and use it in other ways for the needs of the crusading movement.

However, the proposed reforms were not implemented. Changes occurred with the emergence of new circumstances in the border areas. In Spain, in the middle of the 13th century, the Reconquista stopped, and changes in the knightly orders proceeded calmly and gradually. For the Spanish military monastic orders, the fight against the Moors receded into second place, but the main occupation was participation in conflicts between Christians. The Spanish rulers counted on the help of the orders in the fight against their opponents, which happened in 1285 during the French invasion of Aragon; the orders also participated in numerous civil strife in Castile.

In 1291, the Latin kingdom ceased to exist, but no one then believed in the final loss of the Holy Places. Templars, Hospitallers and the Order of St. Thomas of Acre moved to Cyprus, located 100 miles from the Syrian coast, and for several years sent military expeditions against the Muslims. It is known that the Templars and the Hospitallers jointly discussed plans for the return of the Holy Land. However, circumstances did not allow these plans to be realized. Instead, the Hospitallers conquered the island of Rhodes, southwest of the coast of Asia Minor, in the first decade of the thirteenth century. Around the same time, the Order of St. Lazarus moved his headquarters to Paris, where the order no longer played any military role, and the central monastery of the Teutonic Order moved to Venice, and from there - in 1309 - to Marienburg in Prussia, and from that time the Teutonic Knights devoted themselves entirely to the interests of this region.

Trial of the Templars

After the fall of the Latin kingdom, the military monastic orders underwent internal changes and adapted to the new situation, and only the order of the Templars was destroyed. In October 1307 (then the headquarters of the order was in Cyprus), the Templars in France were unexpectedly arrested by order of King Philip IV. They were accused of forcing candidates during entrance ceremonies to renounce Christ, spit on the cross, and behave indecently; in addition, they were accused of sodomy and idolatry. Pope Clement V protested at first against Philip's actions, but after the master of the Templars, Jacques de Molay and other Templars recognized the validity of the most serious accusations, he ordered all Western European rulers to arrest members of the order and confiscate their property. And only in the Kingdom of Aragon, the executors of the papal order encountered difficulties: the local Templars took refuge in their castles and resisted (several castles managed to hold out for more than a year). At the beginning of 1308, the investigation into the affairs of the order was suspended due to friction between the pope and King Philip, but by 1311 the Inquisition entered the matter. As a result, in France and in some areas of Italy, the majority of the Templars recognized the charges as just, the Paris Parliament recognized their guilt as proven, and the knights accused of heresy, along with their Grand Master Jacques ds Molay, were condemned to death and burned at the stake. However, in Cyprus, in the Kingdom of Aragon, Castile and Portugal, no confessions could be wrested from the Templars, and in England only three Templars confessed to what they were accused of. The fate of the order was finally decided at the Council of Vienne, convened at the end of 1311. The Templars who arrived at the council and wanted to speak in defense of their order were not given a word, despite the fact that many prelates wanted to listen to them. On March 22, 1312, two days after King Philip's arrival at the cathedral, Clement announced the abolition of the order.

From the very time of the trial of the Templars, disputes did not stop about how justified the charges against them were and why Philip IV decided to destroy the order. It is hard to believe that the Templars were really guilty of all the crimes they were accused of. Indeed, even in France, where the Templars were seized quite unexpectedly, no material evidence was found - neither idols, nor texts of secret charters. Moreover, the confessions of the accused do not inspire confidence - they are inconsistent, unconvincing, none of the knights even tried to explain or justify the actions they were accused of. It seems that the Templars confessed to what they were not guilty of, that is, they slandered themselves. Some of them later renounced their words and repentance, but this did not help anyone, and they were still burned as having fallen into heresy a second time. If the order really fell into heresy, and even long before the arrest of its members, it would hardly have gone unnoticed. It should also be borne in mind that the accusations leveled against the Templars were not original - earlier supporters of various heresies and Muslims were accused of the same. In addition, confessions were extorted from the Templars under severe torture, which was perfectly mastered by the medieval Inquisition.

It is difficult to discern the motives behind Philip's actions. It is generally accepted that the French king needed money and therefore decided to take over the property of the order. But this still does not explain anything, especially since the property of the order did not automatically pass to the French crown. In addition, there is no evidence that Philip really needed funds so much. As the second reason, "they put forward the desire of the king to expand and strengthen his power and the unwillingness, in connection with this, to have an independent, military and aristocratic organization on his territory. But the Templars who moved to France were no longer a military organization, the members of the order for the most part did not belong to the aristocracy and the independence of the order was very relative. Some historians have seen the trial of the Templars as a victory of secular, royal power over the papacy. But it is unlikely that the trial of idolatry and heresy was best suited for this purpose; after all, the French government had to accept that the power of sentencing belongs to the pope (even if the king was able to deceive or intimidate the latter. One more version remains: Philip could really believe the rumors about the Templars. After the death of his wife (in 1305), he began to pay a lot of attention to religious issues , and he could well doubt that dad without his help will take appropriate measures against possible heresy. But this is just a version; it has not yet been possible to come to any definite conclusion on this issue.

The beginning of the XIV century, basically, ends the first phase of the history of military monastic orders. Despite the fact that the Knights Templar was destroyed, and other orders were going through hard times at that time and were forced to change a lot, the value of the institution of such orders was not in doubt.

The military monastic orders received most of their income from agriculture and animal husbandry on their estates (sometimes doing this themselves, and sometimes renting it out); other sources of funds were the administration of justice, feudal rights and privileges, city rents, the sale of pensions, investments, papal indulgences, commercial activities, etc.

P. The monastic communities of the military orders differed from the traditional monasteries in that the brothers had not only to support themselves, but also to send money to the headquarters of their order and to the brothers who were in military service. Orders usually organized their possessions into priories (or provinces), which included several commanderships (or debts) headed by commanders. The commanders themselves managed their houses or rented them out and paid dues to the priory, and from the priories the funds were transferred to the central treasury of the order. Sometimes the revenues of particular houses were earmarked specifically for the Prior or the Master. After 1319, the Order of Montesa introduced a system whereby the income of individual commanderies was placed at the disposal of certain officials for specific purposes - for the master, to protect the border from Muslims, etc. for their personal treasury. The Master of the Hospitallers received most of the income of the island of Rhodes and, after 1530, of Malta.

Despite the introduction of a system of accounting and verification, the ruling elite of the orders did not have accurate information about the total income of the orders, the number of people who were in them, and about what resources and military forces the central leadership could count on in the event of hostilities. Each order faced both similar and unique challenges. There were too few knights in some orders, and some were already too old to participate in wars; in others there are few sergeants; thirdly, there are too many priests. As for cash receipts, in the years 1374-1375, the Western governments of the Order of the Hospitallers, for example, sent about 46,000 florins to Rhodes, and in 1478 the monastery on Rhodes received 80,500 Rhodes florins from the West and 11,550 Rhodes florins from the East. And in 1519, the Order of the Hospitallers was very much counting on the fact that during this year the cogeo (see above) would deliver to him 47,000 ducats. As we have already said, the number of hospitallers in the East in the 15th century varied from 250 to 450 people. In 1525, there were only 55 Teutonic brothers in Prussia (in 1379 there were about 700), which, however, is partly due to the loss of territories by the Teutonic Order; especially after 1466. Prussian revenues grew until 1410, and then began to decline, but in the years 1435-1450 they arrived fairly regularly and evenly. In 1565, Malta was defended by about 540 knights and sergeants of the Order of the Hospitallers, and in 1631 the entire order consisted of 1755 knights, 148 chaplains and 155 sergeants, that is, a total of 2058 people, of which 995 were in the three French provinces, and 226 in Malta. The Spanish orders were numerous and rich; Calatrava alone received in 1500 an income of 61,000 ducats, which was equal to about one-twelfth of the annual income of the Castilian crown, with more than half of this money received by the master of the order. In modern times, the Hospitallers, in comparison with all other orders, found themselves in the most advantageous economic position. By 1776, Malta's cotton crop was generating more money for the island than the order itself; in 1787-1788 the amount of exports was 2,816,610 skudos.

The master received about 200,000 skudos per year from the income of the island, and the income of the order treasury was 1,315,000 skudos, received mainly from other countries; ordinary brothers imported about 1,000,000 skudos a year for personal expenses. The capital of the Hospitallers, La Valletta, existed on funds received from the colonies and western priories.

The functions of the commanderships included not only providing the center with money and people. They were also recruitment centers, military training bases, nursing homes and residences of numerous priests of the order. All the brothers who lived there were monks, some were priests, and this status of theirs brought income - in the form of donations and orders for funeral masses. Commanderies could own hotels, infirmaries and cemeteries, parishes and schools, several churches or chapels. The orders built and maintained churches and other buildings.

They had their own services, their patron saints, icons, relics and relics, which attracted people to them. The Teutonic Order hired special lecturers to read aloud to the brothers in the national language (some of the brothers were illiterate) at meals. Some orders even had their own saints. The orders were also active in propaganda activities.

As the incomes of the orders fell in the face of a deteriorating economic situation, rivalry for their wealth intensified. In the order of the Hospitallers, it became common for commanders to lead two or even more commanderships at the same time, and the conditions for admission to the order began to tighten. So, if in the XIV century in most orders many knights came from the bourgeoisie and the untitled petty nobility, then by the XV century they began to require candidates to prove their noble origin; by 1427 the Catalan Hospitallers accepted new members only on the presentation of written documents and the testimony of witnesses given under oath. In the Teutonic and other orders, formal evidence of belonging to a noble family had to be provided long before the year 1500. And gradually it became common practice. Thus, the aristocracy won back positions from the untitled nobility and the bourgeoisie. And in Castile, evidence of noble origin also served as protection against penetration into the order of persons with Jewish blood. Until the very end of the 15th century, the Teutonic Order did not encourage the use of personal seals and the accumulation of their own funds, as well as the construction of rich tombs, but in other orders, the vows of poverty and the rules that limited private possessions and funds were widely violated by the creation of private foundations, tombs for individual brothers, acquiring seals with personal coats of arms, etc.

After the case of the Templars, the debate around the orders flared up with renewed vigor. Some authors of treatises proposed the creation of a single military-monastic order, others advocated national organizations, and still others believed that the liberated Jerusalem would have to turn into an order state under the control of a new order. Christians who fell victim to the Teutonic Order constantly protested against its actions. But, oddly enough, there was no real discussion of orders as a phenomenon. Writing before 1389

Former Chancellor of Cyprus and fanatic of the crusading Philippe de Maizière, who extolled the Teutonic Order to the skies, sharply criticized the Hospitallers, accusing them of spiritual decline and that they served in Rhodes only for the sake of receiving benefices in the West. His own plan for a new military-monastic order, completed in 1396, was drawn up in the usual terms of a noble brotherhood, setting itself the goal of liberating Jerusalem and creating a monarchical order state in Palestine, and the knight-monks would have to constantly be in the East, and their European the estates would be administered by specially appointed reliable secular officials. Philippe de Maizières also suggested that knights should be allowed to marry (as was the case in the Order of Santiago), but that their loyalty to their spouses be monitored. (It's funny that when the widows of the knights of Santiago joined the order themselves, they had to indicate whether they wanted

they remarry.)

In the treatises on the crusading movement, various proposals were put forward to eliminate abuses in individual orders and to regulate such issues as worship, contributions, the obligatory presence in commanderies and the way of life of knights-monks, however, the military-monastic orders of the late Middle Ages did not attract the interest of large theologians, and they did not survive serious reformist movements, such as, for example, in the Franciscan or Augustinian orders. Starting from the XIV century, monastic knights no longer tried very hard to keep their vows, discipline fell, cases of evasion from military service became more frequent, members of the orders sought to have

own residences, private estates, financial benefits. All this greatly undermined the spirit and morality in the orders. Increasing attention was paid to material and monetary interests, even commanderships were often rented out to secular persons. Membership in the order turned into a sinecure for a privileged aristocratic corporation that provided itself with a comfortable existence for life.

The emergence of spiritual knightly orders dates back to the time 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 the associated tasks were not cheaper: both the supreme Catholics and the crusaders themselves needed new lands and thirsted for the riches of the eastern cities.

Formation of spiritual knightly orders

When the fortress of Jerusalem surrendered to the mercy of the victor in 1099, the Pope blessed the creation of new organizations to protect and protect both Christian possessions and the pilgrims themselves from local Islamists. The base had already been created by that time - various spiritual brotherhoods, from which the spiritual and chivalric orders of the Hospitallers, the Templars and some others were formed.

It was quite difficult to reconcile two opposite, according to the Holy Scriptures, incarnations - serving God and military service, where one had to kill one's own kind. But by the twelfth century, the history of the spiritual and chivalric order had also grown with its own ideologists, who fully justified not only the creation, but also the way of life of the crusader knights.

holy vows

A knight entering the order became a monk, taking vows of poverty, obedience, chastity, intransigence towards 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 army, everyone unquestioningly obeyed the head - the grand master, grandmaster, who could only report to the Pope. The rulers, on whose lands the spiritual and knightly order (the Templars and any other) was located, if they did not join its ranks, had no right to vote, especially command.

Hierarchy

The history of the spiritual and knightly order was written on special tablets. Knightly orders differed from monastic and from each other in clothing and their own charter, which was certified by the signature. But, unlike monastic ones, the ranks of knight-monks grew very, very quickly, as required by constant war.

The knights not only plundered the eastern villages and cities, they violated many of the commandments of Christ: they lent money at interest, exploited local residents, and engaged in the slave trade. And they steadily grew rich. The crusader knight of the ninth century differed from his brother in the thirteenth as heaven from earth. It must be admitted that, having become rich, many orders invested in science.

Each member of the order had a specific position. Over time, she could be recognized by her clothes (only to the initiates, of course). The Templars are in a white cloak with a red cross, the Hospitallers are in black, in white with a black cross.

The history of the spiritual and knightly order shows that it was allowed to sew a special cross on clothes with a papal bull only in 1146, and not all at once, but only the most noble knights by blood. Over time, when the treasury of not only the orders, but also individual knights was significantly enriched, luxury, even in clothes, did not take long.

Three major orders

Until the beginning of the fifteenth century, the history of the spiritual knightly order during the crusades describes a little more than twenty orders, of which three are the richest, most influential and strongest. They possessed such huge fortunes that kings envied them. Here are the great trio:

The history of the spiritual knightly order was written not only in the Holy Land. The crusaders participated in wars in all territories of the Christian world. In Spain, the knights of the Orders of the Hospitallers and the Knights Templar were the first to start hostilities, and the Teutons tamed all of Central and Northern Europe. In Eastern Europe, their military glory, however, ended (remember Alexander Nevsky).

The history of the spiritual knightly order of the Templars

The colossal state allowed the orders to buy up the best lands throughout Europe. As proof of their power, the Templars, for example, minted their own money, which circulated freely throughout Europe. The coins were made of silver and gold, and there were so many of them that the Templars were credited with alchemical discoveries, for example, from lead ...

This organization was able to exist for quite a long time. Back in 1118, nine French knights, led by Hugues de Payen and Geoffroy de Saint-Ome, 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 Baldwin they received a residence, after which they later began to be called - Castle Temple, built on the site of the ancient temple of Solomon. This Order has several names:

• The Order of the Poor Knights (or Brothers) of the Temple of Jerusalem (or the Temple of Solomon).
• Order of the Templars.
• Order of the Knights Templar.

Charter

Those wishing to join the Order of the knights certainly had to become monks - humble, poor and celibate. It was, however, a very successful project. The history of the spiritual knightly order suggests that its charter was one of the most rigid and strict, and it was developed by Saint Bernard himself, and approved by Pope Eugene III in 1128, that is, after ten years of unofficial existence.

In the Order of the Templars, the knight was obliged to forget everything worldly, including relatives, eat only bread and water, dress in the simplest and coarsest clothes. He could not have any property. If gold or silver was found in his things after death, there was no place for him in the consecrated land of the cemetery.

However, all this did not prevent the Templars from becoming especially greedy for booty, entertainment, and even drunkenness. Fiction written about that time, for example, a novel, preserves the historical truth that was found in historical chronicles.

Division into estates and decals

The estates of the Templars were. This is certainly a necessary organizational project. The history of the spiritual knightly order has preserved for us three divisions: the knights proper, the priests and the so-called sergeants, which included all the lower ranks: pages, squires, soldiers, servants, guards, and so on.

It must be admitted that with all this categorical division, monastic vows were accepted by everyone, and everyone had to fulfill the charter equally impeccably. However, there were plenty of exceptions to the rule.

For all the Knights Templar, a white cloak, similar to a mantle, with a Maltese eight-pointed scarlet cross was obligatory. The sergeants dressed in brown, the cross was the same. It was possible to recognize the Templar on the high road by the battle cry "Bosean!", As well as by the flag - a black and white cloth and the motto in Latin - "Not for us, Lord" (the first words from the ninth verse of the one hundred and thirteenth psalm).

The coat of arms of the Templars was simply a symbol of poverty: it depicted two knights on one horse. If the knight went on a crusade, then he carried the cross on his chest, and returning - on his back. The style, cut, size and material of clothing, as well as the location of the cross, were usually chosen by him.

National and class affiliation

At first, only a Frenchman of noble birth could be consecrated as a Knights Templar. A little later, the British also got this opportunity. Nevertheless, Spaniards, Italians, and Flemings became knights. Only knights could hold leadership positions - from the grand master and master of possessions to the castellan, capitulier, drapier.

Richer townspeople became sergeants, who occupied good positions of accountants, squires, stewards and storekeepers. Those that were poorer went into servants, soldiers or guards.

The bishops of the Roman Church and the Pope himself could not govern the priests of the Order. The spiritual and knightly Order of the Templars required their priests to attend to spiritual needs, despite the fact that all the knights of the Order were endowed with the rights of a confessor. only the priest of the order could send from members of the Order, because many secrets were also protected from the Roman Catholic Church.

Despite the strict charter and camp life, the Knights Templar quickly became popular. A few years later, another three hundred joined the nine knights, among whom there were many crowned persons. The number of sergeants, of course, also increased.

Where are the firewood from?

Belonging to the Order gave both personal security and an increase in wealth. It was impossible to offend a member of the Order. "One for all" is a motto that was born far before the first musketeer.

Proclaimed as a beggarly Order, it rapidly grew rich. And not only because the rulers often bequeathed to him untold wealth. Entire villages, cities, churches, castles, monasteries eventually began to belong to the Order. They humbly gave him taxes and tributes. The fact is that the spiritual and knightly Order of the Templars was engaged in usury.

These are not Jews, but the Knights Templar created the banking system of Europe. In the Middle Ages, Jews were only street money changers, while the Templars already had a credit system, bills, and their own money. They operated not only in gold, but also in securities.

Departed from the Cross

The Templars were noted as the biggest traitors to the cause of the bearers of the Cross of Christ. Such was the case in October 1240, when the Muslims of Damascus and Egypt quarreled, the crusaders took the side of Egypt, making a deal with a treaty, and received for this not only Jerusalem, but almost all of Palestine. Bloodless! The Templars, having agreed with Damascus, attacked the Egyptians, along with the Teutonic Knights and the Hospitallers. And they were more cruel than Muslims and Jews. The blood reached the horses to the knees, as the story of the spiritual and knightly Order of the Templars 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 Templars.

Further crusades were both numerous and unsuccessful. In 1298, Jacques de Molay became the last Grand Master of the Order. The idea of ​​the crusades went out, the meaning of the existence of military monks became unclear. The Teutonic Order still had a little work left - a century and a half. But it became uncomfortable for the Templars to sit on those riches that the kings did not even dream of. The first Temple remained with the Muslim world, and the spiritual and knightly Order of the Templars placed a residence in Cyprus - a refuge was founded there for Christians who were able to leave Palestine, but who were not at all expected in Europe.

Rogues

Karl Valois, brother started a war with Byzantium. Greek Christianity was no easier to fight than Muslims. The Templars, instead of fighting Andronicus, leave along the coast from Thessaloniki to Thrace and Moravia, where Catholicism has already reigned.

The booty of the Templars was rich. But European monarchs were indignant. Who is interested in having a force of fifteen thousand real soldiers nearby, well-armed and battle-hardened, moreover, aggressive, arbitrarily and cunningly controlled? And, of course, greed played a role: the Templars were fabulously, unspeakably rich.

In 1307, Philip the Handsome issued a decree on the arrest of all the Templars in the country. Prisoners were brutally tortured, burned at the stake. The treasury of France has significantly replenished. The history of the spiritual knightly Order of the Knights Templar has come to an end.