Predictive Modeling and Analytics in 40 Characters

This book is about predictive modeling. Yet, each chapter
could easily be handled by an entire volume of its own. So one
might think of this as a survey of predictive models, both
statistical and machine learning. We define A predictive model
as a statistical model or machine learning model used to
predict future behavior based on past behavior.
Predictive modeling and predictive analytics has often been
used as synonyms. In recent years, that has been changing
and predictive modeling is really a subset of analytics, which
may also include descriptive and decision modeling. Of course
it also encompasses the data mining and analysis that must be
performed before and after.
In order to use this book, the reader should have a basic
understanding of statistics (statistical inference, models, tests,
etc.)—this is an advanced book. Every chapter culminates in
an example using R. R is a free software environment for
statistical computing and graphics. It compiles and runs on a
wide variety of UNIX platforms, Windows and MacOS.
The book is organized so that statistical models are presented
first (hopefully in a logical order), followed by machine learning
models, and then applications: uplift modeling and time series.
One could use this as a textbook with problem solving in R (but
there are no “by-hand” exercises).
ISBN 978-1-312-37544-4
9 781312 375444
Dr. Jeffrey Strickland is the proprietor
of Simulation Educators, Inc. He has
been performing modeling and
simulation for over 20 years, both in
the private sector and in defense. He
has earned advanced degrees in
mathematics, and has taught
mathematics and operations research
at several institutions. He resides in
Colorado.
90000
ID: 15001649
www.lulu.com
Predictive Modeling
and Analytics
Jeffrey Strickland
Predictive Modeling and Analytics Jeffrey Strickland

Knights of the Cross
The truth about the Knights Templar
by
Jeffrey S. Strickland

Knights of the Cross – The truth about the Knights Templar
Copyright 2012 by Jeffrey S. Strickland. All rights Reserved
ISBN 978-1-312-38213-8
www.simulation-educators.com
Published by Lulu, Inc.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit
organization.
All pictures, unless otherwise cited, are taken from the Wikimedia Commons of the
Wikimedia Foundation, and are either public domain or used under the terms of
the GNU Free Documentation License or the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-
Alike License. Public domain pictures have been place in public domain by the
authors or their copyrights have expired.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to extend a special thanks to Laurie Strickland—patient
and loving wife, nurturing mother, and loyal friend.
i

FOREWORD
I will point out from the onset that I have biases. All writers do.
BIAS 1. I am a Mason, though I have not been regularly active since
1999. One of the things that I did in Masonry was ritual work. I
performed nearly every lecture from the first degree of the Masonic
Lodge to the last degree of the Royal Arch Mason. I was well-versed
in the Masonic ritual and literature. During that time, I never found
any reason to depart from the Brotherhood. “The Word of God, the
Bible”, is my rule and guide. When the Bible signals something with
a “red flag”, I pay attention. I saw no red flags in Masonry.
BIAS 2. I am a mathematician and operations research analyst. I
develop studies, collect data, and interpret data in a logical manner.
The data can be qualitative or quantitative, and I have various
models to deal with each. My analysis has to be unbiased, if I am to
contribute to the defense of our country. Thus bias 2 is a strength in
the endeavor that follows.
Who were the Knights Templar?
Traditional history tells us that the Knights Templar was an
organization of warrior monks, knight mystics, clad in white
mantles with splayed red crosses.
They have been portrayed many ways. In Scott’s Ivanhoe1 they are
haughty arrogant bullies, shamelessly abusing their power [1]. In
the Robin Hood2 adventures they were King Richard‘s attendants [2]
[3] [4] [5] [6]. In other 19th century writings they are depicted as
Devil worshipers and heretics.
More recent historians are inclined to view them as hapless victims,
sacrificial pawns in high level political maneuvering of the Church
and State.
iii

And yet, there are other writers, especially in the tradition of
Freemasonry who regard the Templars as mystical adepts and
initiates, custodians of an arcane wisdom that transcends
Christianity itself.
Originally called the Order of the Poor Knights of Christ founded in
1118 AD, their political purpose was to escort the true believers in
Christianity to the Holy Lands of Jerusalem. They were sworn to
chastity, poverty and obedience, and by 1139, they owed allegiance
to no one but the Pope.
Over the next two decades, young sons of noble families flocked to
join the Templars, and since with admission to the Order, a man was
compelled to sign over all his possessions, including his land, the
Templar holdings proliferated.
The Order maintained their own hospitals and surgeons, sea-ports,
shipyards and fleets, both military and commercial, with their major
fleet in La Rochelle, France.
Many myths and things we are familiar with today can also be
traced back to the Templars: the symbol of the skull and crossbones,
a rather morbid story of grave robbing and unholy weddings; the
superstition of ill things happening on Friday the 13th, (because of
the October 13th arresting of the Templars).
The Templars have been linked with the shroud of Turin, (supposed
to be the Mandylion that once belonged to the Templars), The Holy
Grail, The Ark of the Covenant.
The Fairest Sir Knight of All
Joe Edward Kier was knighted in modern times, and has served the
order faithfully to this day. I met Joe in 1989 at a United Methodist
church in Lakewood, CO, where we composed jubilant praises in
song together in choir. Joe became a life long mentor and friend
from that point. In Joe, I have seen the purest example of Christ on
earth; charity, faith, hope, selflessness, humility, bold leadership,
gentle guidance. Joe is a Past Master of the Parkhill Masonic Lodge
iv

of Colorado Ancient Free and Accepted Masons (AF&AM), Past High
Priest of Triad Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, Past Illustrious
Master of Jefferson Council of Cryptic Masons, Past Commander of
Georgetown Commandry of Knights Templar, and Past Grand High
Priest of Colorado Royal Arch Masons. I cannot begin to elaborate
on his Scottish Right offices and activities, as Joe is not one to boast.
Joe Kier, US Army Retired, husband, business entrepreneur, Mason,
Sir Knight, friend, mentor, godfather to my children, is my
inspiration for writing this book. It is to Joe that I now dedicate this
tome.
v
Jeffrey Strickland
In Hoc Signo Vinces
Sexto autem die mensis Decembris anno Domino nostro MMXI

vi
Notes
1 Ivanhoe is a historical fiction novel by Sir Walter Scott in 1819, and set in 12th-century
England. Ivanhoe is sometimes credited for increasing interest in
Romanticism and Medievalism; John Henry Newman claimed Scott "had first
turned men's minds in the direction of the middle ages," while Carlyle and Ruskin
made similar claims to Scott's overwhelming influence over the revival based
primarily on the publication of this novel.
2 Robin Hood became a popular folk figure starting in the medieval period
continuing through modern literature, films, and television. In the earliest sources
Robin Hood is a yeoman, but he was often later portrayed as an aristocrat
wrongfully dispossessed of his lands and made into an outlaw by an unscrupulous
sheriff. In popular culture Robin Hood is typically seen as a contemporary and
supporter of the late 12th-century king Richard the Lionheart, Robin being driven
to outlawry during the misrule of Richard's brother John while Richard was away
at the Third Crusade. This view first gained currency in the 16th century.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .............................................................................................. I
FOREWORD............................................................................................................... III
WHO WERE THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR? ................................................................................III
THE FAIREST SIR KNIGHT OF ALL ....................................................................................... IV
NOTES ....................................................................................................................................... VI
TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................... VII
PROLOGUE .................................................................................................................. 1
THE TEMPLARS ........................................................................................................................ 1
THE TALE TALES ..................................................................................................................... 3
THE TESTAMENTS ................................................................................................................... 5
THE TECHNOLOGY ................................................................................................................... 8
THE TEDIOUS DETAILS ........................................................................................................ 10
NOTES ..................................................................................................................................... 11
CHAPTER 1. THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS. ........................................................ 13
PRELIMINARIES ..................................................................................................................... 13
THE TEMPLAR NAME ........................................................................................................... 16
ST. BERNARD AND THE TEMPLARS .................................................................................... 21
NOTES ..................................................................................................................................... 24
CHAPTER 2. THE TEMPLAR RULES ................................................................. 29
NOTES ..................................................................................................................................... 51
CHAPTER 3. 1129 – 1168 .................................................................................... 53
HUGH DE PAYENS. A.D. 1129 ..................................................................................... 53
ROBERT DECRAON. A.D. 1136. .................................................................................. 53
EVERARD DES BARRES. A.D. 1146 ........................................................................... 55
BERNARD DE TREMELAY. A.D. 1152. ..................................................................... 61
ANDRÉ DE MONTBARD A.D. 1153. .......................................................................... 62
BERTRAND DE BLANQUEFORT A.D. 1156. .......................................................... 63
BERTRAND DE BLANQUEFORT. A.D. 1156. ......................................................... 65
vii

PHILIP OF NAPLOUS. A.D. 1167. ................................................................................ 69
PHILIP OF NAPLOUS. A.D. 1168. ................................................................................ 74
NOTES ..................................................................................................................................... 74
CHAPTER 4. 1170 – 1185 .................................................................................... 83
ODO DE ST. AMAND. A.D. 1170. ................................................................................. 83
ODO DE ST. AMAND. A.D. 1172. ................................................................................. 95
ODO DE ST. AMAND. A.D. 1177. ................................................................................. 97
ODO DE ST. AMAND. A.D. 1179. ................................................................................. 98
ARNOLD DE TORROGE. A.D. 1180. ........................................................................... 99
ARNOLD DE TORROGE. A.D. 1184. ........................................................................ 101
NOTES .................................................................................................................................. 102
CHAPTER 5. LANDS, IMMUNITIES, AND OFFICES ..................................... 109
TEMPLE CHURCH IN LONDON .......................................................................................... 109
POSSESSIONS IN PALESTINE. ............................................................................................ 113
POSSESSIONS IN THE PRINCIPALITY OF ANTIOCH. ....................................................... 118
POSSESSIONS IN THE PRINCIPALITY OF TRIPOLI. ......................................................... 119
POSSESSIONS IN APULIA AND SICILY. ............................................................................. 121
POSSESSIONS IN UPPER AND CENTRAL ITALY. .............................................................. 122
POSSESSIONS IN PORTUGAL. ............................................................................................ 123
POSSESSIONS IN ARAGON, CASTILE AND LEION. ........................................................... 126
POSSESSIONS IN GERMANY AND HUNGARY. .................................................................. 130
POSSESSIONS IN GREECE................................................................................................... 131
POSSESSIONS IN FRANCE. ................................................................................................. 131
POSSESSIONS IN ENGLAND. .............................................................................................. 136
PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES .......................................................................................... 144
TEMPLAR ORGANIZATION AND GOVERNMENT ............................................................. 147
NOTES .................................................................................................................................. 155
CHAPTER 6. 1185 – 1190 ................................................................................. 177
GERARD DE RIDERFORT. A.D. 1185. .................................................................... 177
WALTER. A.D. 1190...................................................................................................... 197
NOTES .................................................................................................................................. 198
CHAPTER 7. 1191 – 1242 ................................................................................. 201
viii

WALTER. A.D. 1191. .................................................................................................... 201
ROBERT DE SABLÉ A.D. 1191. ................................................................................ 201
ROBERT DE SABLÉ A.D. 1192. ................................................................................ 205
GILBERT HORAL. A.D. 1195. .................................................................................... 208
PHILIP DUPLESSIES A.D. 1201. .............................................................................. 210
WILLIAM DE CHARTRES A.D. 1217. ..................................................................... 212
WILLIAM DE CHARTRES A.D. 1218. ..................................................................... 213
PETER DE MONTAIGU A.D. 1218. .......................................................................... 214
HERMANN DE PERIGORD A.D. 1232. ................................................................... 219
NOTES .................................................................................................................................. 222
CHAPTER 8. 1242 – 1291 .................................................................................. 229
WILLIAM DE SONNAC A.D. 1245. .......................................................................... 236
REGINALD DE VICHIER A.D. 1252. ........................................................................ 242
REGINALD DE VICHIER A.D. 1254. ........................................................................ 243
THOMAS BERARD A.D. 1256. .................................................................................. 245
THOMAS BERARD A.D. 1262. .................................................................................. 246
THOMAS BERARD A.D. 1265. .................................................................................. 246
THOMAS BERARD A.D. 1268. .................................................................................. 247
WILLIAM DE BEAUJEU A.D. 1273. ......................................................................... 248
GAUDINI A.D. 1291. ..................................................................................................... 255
NOTES .................................................................................................................................. 257
ix

CHAPTER 9. 1297 – 1310 ................................................................................. 265
JACQUES DE MOLAY A.D. 1297. .............................................................................. 265
NOTES .................................................................................................................................. 305
CHAPTER 10. 1310 – 1313 ............................................................................... 313
Notes ............................................................................................................................. 353
EPILOGUE ............................................................................................................... 359
INSIDE THE LEGEND .......................................................................................................... 359
THE CHINON PARCHMENT ............................................................................................... 360
THE ACQUITTAL ................................................................................................................. 364
THE TEMPLAR RITUAL...................................................................................................... 365
CLOSURE .............................................................................................................................. 370
NOTES .................................................................................................................................. 372
APPENDIX: CHINON, AUGUST 17-20, 1308 ................................................ 373
WORKS CITED ....................................................................................................... 385
INDEX ....................................................................................................................... 409
x

PROLOGUE
The Templars
The extraordinary and romantic career of the Knights Templars,
their exploits and their misfortunes, render their history a subject of
peculiar interest. Shrouded in mysticism, claims of important
secrets, allegations of heresy against the church, the Templars went
about their work quietly and efficiently. Though often defeated in
battle, though they were on occasion outnumbered 600 to 20,000,
their deeds of courage are the odes of old. Founded to defend the
pilgrims to the Holy Land, purposed to preserve the Christian faith,
and charged to live the monastic life, these “Knights of the Cross”
served without wavering for nearly two-hundred years. Yet the
downfall of the Templar order came from a church and state
embroiled in politics.
Although many Templars were born of noble families, these knights
were normal men and at the same time extraordinary men. They
were ordinary in that they were human beings with human
weaknesses and could be seduced by human temptation. They were
extraordinary in that they gave up wealth and fame, and opted for
service to God as warrior monks. The life expectancy of a Templar
in the Holy Land, at times of conflict, was very short. These warrior
monks usually led the vanguard of the Christian armies, much akin
to our modern cavalry. To increase the encumbrance to their duty,
a unforgiving middle-eastern environment constantly exhausted
their resources, as well as their wellbeing.
Born during the first fervor of the Crusades, they were flattered and
magnified as long as their great military power and religious
fanaticism could be made available for the support of the Eastern
church and the retention of the Holy Land. However, when the
crescent had ultimately triumphed over the cross, and the religious-military
enthusiasm of Christendom had died away, they
encountered the basest ingratitude in return for the services they
had rendered to the Christian faith, and were plundered,
1

persecuted, and condemned to a cruel death, by those who ought in
justice to have been their defenders and supporters. The memory of
these holy warriors is embalmed in all our recollections of the wars
of the cross; they were the bulwarks of the Latin kingdom of
Jerusalem during the short period of its existence, and were the last
band of Europe’s host that contended for the possession of
Palestine.
Arn – The Knight Templar (Swedish: Arn - Tempelriddaren) is a 2007 epic film
based on Jan Guillou's trilogy about the fictional Swedish Knight Templar Arn
To the vows of the monk and the austere life of the convent, the
Templars added the discipline of the camp, and the stern duties of
the military life, joining,
“The fine vocation of the sword and lance,
With the gross aims, and body-bending toil
Of a poor brotherhood, who walk the earth
Pitied.”
2

The Tale Tales
The vulgar notion that the Templars were as wicked as they were
fearless and brave, has not yet been entirely exploded. However, I
hope that the copious account of the proceedings against the order,
given in the ninth and tenth chapters of the ensuing volume, will
tend to dispel many unfounded prejudices still entertained against
the fraternity, and excite emotions of admiration for their constancy
and courage, and of pity for their unmerited and cruel fate.
Matthew Paris, who wrote at St. Albans, concerning events in
Palestine, tells us that the emulation between the Templars and
Hospitaliers frequently broke out into open warfare to the great
scandal and prejudice of Christendom, and that, in a pitched battle
fought between them, the Templars were slain to a man. The
solitary testimony of Matthew Paris, who was no friend to the two
orders, is invalidated by the silence of contemporary historians,
who wrote on the spot; and it is quite evident from the letters of the
Pope, addressed to the Hospitaliers, the year after the date of the
alleged battle, that such an event never could have taken place [7].
The accounts, even of the best of the ancient writers, should not be
adopted without examination, and a careful comparison with other
sources of information. William of Tyre1, for instance, tells us that
Nassr-ed-deen, son of sultan Abbas, was taken prisoner by the
Templars, and while in their hands became a convert to the
Christian religion. In the hands of the Templars, he had learned the
rudiments of the Latin language, and earnestly sought to be
baptized [8]. However, the Templars were bribed with sixty
thousand pieces of gold to surrender him to his enemies in Egypt,
where certain death awaited him; and that they stood by to see him
bound hand and foot with chains, and placed in an iron cage, to be
conducted across the desert to Cairo. Now the Arabian historians of
that period tell us that Nassr-ed-deen and his father murdered the
caliph and threw his body into a well, and then fled with their
retainers and treasure into Palestine. Then the sister of the
murdered caliph wrote immediately to the commandant at Gaza,
3

which place was garrisoned by the Knights Templars, offering a
handsome reward for the capture of the fugitives. They were
accordingly intercepted, and Nassr-ed-deen was sent to Cairo, where
the female relations of the caliph caused his body to be cut into
small pieces in the seraglio2. The above act has constantly been
made a matter of grave accusation against the Templars; but what a
different complexion does the case assume on the testimony of the
Arabian authorities!
One must remember that William Archbishop of Tyre was hostile to
the order due of its vast powers and privileges, and carried his
complaints to a general council of the church at Rome. He is
abandoned, in everything that he says to the prejudice of the
fraternity, by Jacob of Vitry, bishop of Acre3, a learned and most
talented prelate, who wrote in Palestine subsequently to William of
Tyre, and has copied largely from the history of the latter. The
bishop of Acre speaks of the Templars in the highest terms, and
declares that they were universally loved by all men for their piety
and humility. “Nulli molesti erant!” says he, “sed ab omnibus propter
humilitatem et religionem amabantur.4” [9]
In 1818, the celebrated orientalist Von Hammer5 brought forward
various extraordinary and unfounded charges, destitute of all
authority, against the Templars [10]; and Von Wilbelm Ferdinand
Wilcke, who has written a German history of the order [11], seems
to have imbibed all the vulgar prejudices against the fraternity. I
might have added to the interest of the ensuing work, by making the
Templars horrible and atrocious villains. However, I have
endeavored to write a fair and impartial account of the order, not
slavishly adopting everything I find detailed in ancient writers, but
such matters only as I believe, after a careful examination of the
best authorities, to be true.
Tales of the Holy Grail, the burial shroud, and the ark of the
covenant, have never been substantiated, and with the exception a
proposed shroud, unfounded. The shroud of Turin, itself, is likely
not the burial shroud of Christ, and even if it were, it would be one
4

more relic to distract the focus of true worship. The grail is a object
of a romantic period, idealized by books of fiction and screenplays
of creative writers. Though entertaining, they do not contain
matters of truth.
In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Dr. Jones approaches an ancient
Templar who is guardian of the Holy Grail (or are they just Hollywood props?).
From Director: Steven Spielberg
The Testaments
That historical documents are incomplete, and inaccuracies occur
frequently. Complete original works do not exist; these we call the
autographs. Hence, one must find facsimiles of the autographs
copied by the hand of some obscure and forgotten scribe; however,
his copy cannot be found intact. Rather, we find fragments of these
copies. Sometimes there are multiple reproductions supplying
multiple fragments, which are often at odds with one another. We
then take these sets of fragments and construct a manuscript.
These manuscripts may have gaps which we then fill with oral
history. And while we are building this manuscript, someone else is
constructing one using different sources and perhaps writing in a
different language.
5

The original languages are from the 12th to 14th centuries. They
include Latin, Vulgar Latin, Old French, Old English, Italian, Spanish,
German, often a mixture of these. To make matters worst, some
sources are in Arabic is backwards, like Hebrew. Then we have to
deal with inaccurate translations of the original languages during
the 16th through 19th centuries, when we did not know a great deal
about original languages, and when textual criticism was not at its
pinnacle. I often found myself translating a passage written in a
mixture of Vulgar Latin and Old French, to French, and then to
English, often guessing at the meaning of archaic words, and often
saved by a modern marvel called the internet and Wiktionary.
I have made reference to the bias of William of Tyre. He was not
alone. Yet he was an eye-witness to the events he wrote of. In
contrast, many writing as if they were at the fall of Acre, for
instance, were never there. They borrowed someone else’s story,
perhaps the one of a crusader knight fleeing in terror to Cyprus with
his prelate or king. In fact, the works of one authentic eyewitness of
the events during the fall of Acre, the last Christian stronghold in the
Holy Land, was produced by an anonymous writer whom referred
to himself a “Templar of Tyre.”
Charles G. Addison’s “The History of the Knights Templar: The
Temple Church and The Templars” (1842) is loaded with mistakes,
misquotes, unidentifiable characters, and poor documentation. It
should not be considered a source document, though many writers
refer to it. I have used it, with caution, to locate Templar fortresses
and settlements in the Holy Land, usually not locating them under
the name he has used; and confirming the identity of key people,
again, usually not with the same name as used in modern
references.
Other source document obstacles lay in my path. Time, war,
earthquakes, fire, mishandling, etc. have either damaged portions of
complete works or destroyed them. Some have just simply
“disappeared”. This has happened precisely because the historical
record concerning their sudden annihilation in the early-14th
6

century at the hands of Philip IV ("the Fair") of France has been so
sparse and ambiguous. Time and revolution have damaged and
dispersed the sources, and made the Templars a magnet for
speculation and imagination. Some were kept secret. For instance,
The Chinon Parchment is a historical document, discovered in
September 2001 by Barbara Frale, an Italian paleographer at the
Vatican Secret Archives, who claimed that in 1308, Pope Clement V
secretly absolved the last Grand Master Jacques de Molay and the
rest of the leadership of the Knights Templar from charges brought
against them by the Medieval Inquisition [12] (There is more to
follow on this matter in the Epilogue). The parchment is dated
Chinon, 17-20 August 1308 and was written by Bérenger, cardinal
priest of St. Nereus and Achileus, Stephanus, cardinal priest of St.
Cyriac in Thermis, and Landolf, cardinal deacon of Sant’ Angelo in
Pescheria; the Vatican keeps an authentic copy with reference
number Archivum Arcis Armarium D 218, the original having the
number D 217 [13] (see below for the other Chinon Parchment
published by Étienne Baluze in 1693).
In his guide to the Authorized Standard Verion of the Holy Bible,
Rev. Leonard Boyle, points out that even the earliest popes retained
letters, acts of martyrs, and other significant documents in a
scrinium or chartarium. Since the popes in these earliest centuries
of the church did not have a permanent residence, the collected
documents were simply handed from pope to pope. By 649, it is
apparent that these collections had found a permanent home in the
Lateran Palace in Rome. By the eleventh century, the collection is
known to have been moved to the slope of the Palatine Hill near the
Arch of Titus in the Roman Forum. Most of these early records were
on delicate papyrus and have long since disintegrated. Innocent III
(1198-1216) was the first pope to recognize the need for a
regularized form of record keeping. Copies of letters sent were
entered by hand in great registers. This action inaugurated the
Vatican Registers, still among the most important records of the
archives. This series is one of the principal sources for documents
on the papacy between the years 850 and the reorganization of the
7

papacy in 1588. From the perspective of the history of the nature of
documentation, the Vatican Registers are important, in that they
were regular in format and durable.
The Technology
This is a low budget study, and since air travel itself is a financial
drain, and many of the places I needed to go—Syria, Lebanon,
Palestine, the Golan Heights—have restricted access, I used another
set of internet marvels: Google Map and Google Earth. From my
recliner, I have walked the halls of the temples in London, Sidon
and Acre. I have walked the streets of France, Antioch, Aleppo,
Safed, and Jerusalem. I have walked upon and studied the ruins of
Templar and Hospitaliers fortifications and castles, including Castle
Blanc, the Pilgrim’s Castle, Castle of Safed, Krak des Chevaliers, and
the Tower of Aphek. I have knelt on the plains of Gaza and the hills
surrounding the sea of Galilee. Never was I asked for a travel visa
from Syrian or Palestinian official.
As I have performed a virtual pilgrimage to the Holy City, and
wandered amid the courts of the ancient Temple of the Knights
Templars on Mount Moriah. I could not but regard with more than
ordinary interest the restoration by the societies of the Inner and
the Middle Temple of their beautiful Temple Church.
I have ventured into historical archives in London, Paris and Rome.
I have been able to obtain facsimiles of manuscripts that time has
forgotten. In many instances, Google Books contributed to my
endeavors with electronic books that are in the public domain,
having been published before the 20th Century, many of which
contain portions of the text of the aged manuscripts. Modern
instruments of preservation, advanced techniques of scanning, and
compound microscopy, etc., have rendered ancient parchments
readily available to researchers.
8

Examples of the available manuscripts and scrolls.
It is a subject of congratulation to us that we possess, in the Temple
Church at London, the most beautiful and perfect memorial of the
order of the Knights Templars now in existence. No one who has
seen that building in its late dress of plaster and whitewash will
recognize it when restored to its ancient magnificence. This
venerable structure was one of the chief ecclesiastical edifices of the
Knights Templars in Europe, and stood next in rank to the Temple at
Jerusalem.
The greatest zeal and energy have been displayed by the restorators
in that praiseworthy undertaking, and no expense has been spared
to repair the ravages of time, and to bring back the structure to
what it was in the time of the Templars.
Charles G. Addison (1842) says [14],
“Mr. Willement, who is preparing some exquisitely stained glass
windows for the Temple Church, has just drawn my attention to
the nineteenth volume of the “MEMOIR ES DE LA SOCIÉTÉ
ROYALE DES ANTIQUAIRES DE FRANCE,” published last year. It
contains a most curious and interesting account of the church of
Brelevennez, in the department des Cotes-du-Nord, supposed to
have formerly belonged to the order of the Temple, written by the
Chevalier du FREMANVILLE. Amongst various curious devices,
crosses, and symbols found upon the windows and the tombs of
the church, is a copper medallion, which appears to have been
9

suspended from the neck by a chain. This decoration consists of a
small circle, within which are inscribed two equilateral triangles
placed one upon the other, so as to form a six-pointed star. In the
midst of the star is a second circle, containing within it the LAMB
of the order of the Temple holding the banner in its fore-paw,
similar to what we see on the antient seal of the order delineated
in the title-page of this work. Mr. Willement has informed me that
he has received an offer from a gentleman in Brittany to send over
casts of the decorations and devices lately discovered in that
church. He has kindly referred the letter to me for consideration,
but I have not thought it advisable to delay the publication of the
present work for the purpose of procuring them.
“Mr. Willement also drew my attention to a very distinct
impression of the reverse of the seal of the Temple described in
page 106, whereon I read very plainly the interesting motto,
‘TESTIS SVM AGNI’.” (Exist to Witness the Lamb of God (Agnus)
The Tedious Details
Agnus Dei—Latin Vulgate for the ‘Lamb of God’—was an essential
Templar emblem. Templar seals featured the Agnus Dei, usually
with its right leg folded over a shepherd’s staff, and with a cross
pattée in the background. Some seals even have the legend, “TESTIS
SUM AGNI,” meaning “I am a witness of the Lamb.”
Some take AGNI literally to mean “Wisdom”, making the translation
“Exist to Witness Wisdom” (perhaps Wisdom of Sophia), which is
the primary bases of drawing a relationship with the Templars and
Gnosticism. However, Agni is the singular, masculine, genitive case
of the noun Agnus, meaning Lamb. This renders Agni “as of the
Lamb”! The translation of the Latin word AGNI raises several areas of
contention, since a similar word AGNITIO translates to “of the nature of
the mind or wisdom”. Those who insist on adding the “O” to AGNI do
not have a fundamental understanding of Latin noun declension. In
other words, they are ignorantly wrong!
10

To guess at the nature of a man or an order of men, based on hearsay is
obviously an uninformed methodology. To conjecture what may have
been in their heart, the condition of their soul, the corpus of the
constitution, without documented evidence, extracted without torture, is
more than prejudicial, and reeks of discrimination. Surely there were
sinful men in the Order; when have there not been fallen men in all
walks of life: a soldier, a builder, a king, or a president? Try to take a
walk in their shoes, where thirst, carnage, intolerance, and martyrdom
was a daily possibility; where chastity was demanded and committed to
by mean of flesh; where the cross not only served a insignia for their
habits, but occupied the epicenter of their being.
“Yet ‘midst her towering fanes in ruin laid,
The pilgrim saint his murmuring vespers paid;
‘Twas his to mount the tufted rocks, and rove
The chequer’d twilight of the olive-grove:
‘Twas his to bend beneath the sacred gloom,
And wear with many a kiss Messiah’s tomb.”
11
Notes
1 William’s great work is a Latin chronicle, written between 1170 and 1184. It
contains twenty-three books; the final book, which deals with the events of 1183
and the beginning of 1184, has only a prologue and one chapter, so it is either
unfinished or the rest of the pages were lost before the whole chronicle began to be
copied. The first book begins with the conquest of Syria by Umar in the seventh
century, but otherwise the work deals with the advent of the First Crusade and the
subsequent political history of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
2 A seraglio or serail is the sequestered living quarters used by wives and
concubines in a Turkish household.
3 “The name of their reputation, and the fame of their sanctity,” says James of Vitry,
bishop of Acre, “like a chamber of perfume sending forth a sweet odour, was
diffused throughout the entire world, and all the congregation of the saints will
recount their battles and glorious triumph over the enemies of Christ, knights
indeed from all parts of the earth, dukes, and princes, after their example, casting
off the shackles of the world, and renouncing the pomps and vanities of this life and

all the lusts of the flesh for Christ’s sake, hastened to join them, and to participate in
their holy profession and religion.”
4 Tr. Lation: “We are harming no one!” He says, “but was loved by all because of the
humility and religion.”
5 In 1818, the name Baphomet appeared in the essay by the Viennese Orientalist
Joseph Freiherr von Hammer-Purgstall, Mysterium Baphometis revelatum, seu
Fratres Militiæ Templi, qua Gnostici et quidem Ophiani, Apostasiæ, Idoloduliæ et
Impuritatis convicti, per ipsa eorum Monumenta [10] (“Discovery of the Mystery of
Baphomet, by which the Knights Templars, like the Gnostics and Ophites, are
convicted of Apostasy, of Idolatry and of moral Impurity, by their own
Monuments”), which presented an elaborate pseudohistory constructed to
discredit Templarist Masonry and, and by extension, Freemasonry itself [262].
Following Nicolai [263], he argued, using as archaeological evidence "Baphomets"
faked by earlier scholars[citation needed] and literary evidence such as the Grail
romances, that the Templars were Gnostics and the “Templars’ head” was a Gnostic
idol called Baphomet.
12

CHAPTER 1. THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS.
“Every brother who is professed in the Holy service should,
through fear of the flames of Hell, give total obedience to the
Master; for nothing is dearer to Jesus Christ than obedience,
and if anything be commanded by the Master or by one to
whom he has given his power, it should be done without demur
as if it were a command from God . . . for you must give up your
own free will.” - The Rule of the Templars, as recorded by
scribe John Michael at the Council of Troyes, 11281
Upon this oath, the extraordinary and romantic institution of the
Knights Templars, those military friars who so strangely blended
the character of the monk with that of the soldier, took its origin as I
describe in the paragraphs below.
Preliminaries
About 298 years after the death of Christ, the Empress Helena2, the
mother of Constantine, miraculously discovered the Holy
sepulcher3. Consequently, the first Christian emperor commanded
the erection of the magnificent church of the Resurrection, or, as it
is now called, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, over the sacred
monument that is considered to be the site of the crucifixion of
Christ. Upon its establishment, a tide of pilgrimage set in towards
Jerusalem, and went on increasing in strength as Christianity
gradually spread throughout Europe. On the surrender of the Holy
City to the victorious Arabians, (A.D. 637,) the privileges and the
security of the Christian population were provided for in the
following guarantee, given under the hand and seal of the Caliph
Omar to Sophronius the Patriarch.
“From Omar Ebno ‘L Alchitab to the inhabitants of Aelia.”
“They shall be protected and secured both in their lives and
fortunes, and their churches shall neither be pulled down nor
made use of by any but themselves.” [15] Elmacin4, Histort of
the Saracen. Eutychius
13

Under the government of the Arabians, the pilgrimages continued
steadily to increase; the old and the young, women and children,
flocked in crowds to Jerusalem, and in the year 1064 the Holy
Sepulcher was visited by an enthusiastic band of seven thousand
pilgrims, headed by the Archbishop of Mentz and the Bishops of
Utrecht, Bamberg, and Ratisbon5. The year following, however,
Jerusalem was conquered by the harsh Turcomen6. Three thousand
of the citizens were indiscriminately massacred, and the hereditary
command over the Holy City and territory was confided to the Emir
Ortok, the chief of a brutal rustic tribe.
Under the iron yoke of these fierce Northern strangers, the
Christians were fearfully oppressed; they were driven from their
churches; divine worship was ridiculed and interrupted; and the
patriarch of the Holy City was dragged by the hair of his beard over
the sacred pavement of the church of the Resurrection, and cast into
a dungeon, to extort a ransom from the sympathy of his flock. The
pilgrims who, through innumerable perils, had reached the gates of
the Holy City, were plundered, imprisoned, and frequently
massacred. An aureus, or piece of gold, was exacted as the price of
admission to the holy sepulcher, and many, unable to pay the tax,
were driven by the swords of the Turcomen from the very threshold
of the object of all their hopes, the goal of their long pilgrimage, and
were compelled to retrace their weary steps in sorrow and anguish
to their distant homes [16]. The melancholy news of the
profanation of the holy places, and of the oppression and cruelty of
the Turcomen, aroused the religious chivalry of Christendom; “a
nerve was touched of exquisite feeling, and the sensation vibrated to
the heart of Europe.”
In the midst of this, there arose the fiery enthusiasm of the
crusades; men of all ranks, and even monks and priests, animated
by the exhortations of the Pope and the preachings of Peter the
Hermit7, flew to arms, and enthusiastically undertook “the pious and
glorious enterprise” of rescuing the holy sepulcher of Christ from the
foul abominations of the heathen.
14

When news of the capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders (A.D.
1099) had been conveyed to Europe, the zeal of pilgrimage blazed
forth with increased fierceness; it had gathered intensity from the
interval of its suppression by the brutal Turcomen, and
promiscuous crowds of both sexes, old men and children, virgins
and matrons, thinking the road then open and the journey
practicable, successively pressed forward towards the Holy City,
with the passionate desire of contemplating the original
monuments of the Redemption8 [17]. The infidels9 had indeed been
driven out of Jerusalem, but not out of Palestine. The lofty
mountains bordering the sea-coast were infested by bold and
warlike bands of fugitive Moslems10, who maintained themselves in
various impregnable castles and strongholds, from whence they
issued forth upon the high-roads, cut off the communication
between Jerusalem and the sea-ports, and revenged themselves for
the loss of their habitations and property by the indiscriminate
pillage of all travelers. The Bedouin horsemen, moreover, making
rapid incursions from beyond the Jordan, frequently kept up
random and irregular warfare in the plains; and the pilgrims,
consequently, whether they approached the Holy City by land or by
sea, were alike exposed to almost daily hostility, to plunder, and to
death.
To alleviate the dangers and distresses to which these pious
enthusiasts were exposed, to guard the honor of the saintly virgins
and matrons11, and to protect the gray hairs of the venerable
palmer, nine noble knights formed a holy brotherhood in arms, and
entered into a solemn undertaking to aid one another in clearing the
highways of infidels, and of robbers, and in protecting the pilgrims
through the passes and defiles of the mountains to the Holy City.
Warmed with the religious and military fervor of the day, and
animated by the sacredness of the cause to which they had devoted
their swords, they called themselves the Poor Fellow-soldiers of Jesus
Christ. They renounced the world and its pleasures, and in the holy
church of the Resurrection, in the presence of the patriarch of
Jerusalem, they embraced vows of perpetual chastity, obedience,
15

and poverty, after the manner of monks12. Uniting in themselves the
two most popular qualities of the age, devotion and valor, and
exercising them in the most popular of all enterprises, the
protection of the pilgrims and of the road to the holy sepulcher, they
rapidly acquired a vast reputation and a splendid renown.
At first, we are told, they had no church and no particular place of
abode, but in the Year of our Lord 1118, (nineteen years after the
conquest of Jerusalem by the Crusaders,) they had rendered such
good and acceptable service to the Christians, that Baldwin the
Second, king of Jerusalem, granted them a place of habitation within
the sacred enclosure of the Temple on Mount Moriah, amid those
holy and magnificent structures, partly erected by the Christian
Emperor Justinian, and partly built by the Caliph Omar. In these
structures, the monks and priests of Jerusalem had exhibited relics
and all objects likely to be sacred in their eyes. They often had
acquired these through their restless zeal, which led them to take
advantage of the naiveté of the pilgrims. Built upon the Temple of
Solomon, the knights previously known as the Poor Fellow-soldiers
of Jesus Christ, became thereafter known by the name of “the
Knighthood of the Temple of Solomon.13” [18]
The Templar Name
A few remarks in explanation of the name Templars, or Knights of
the Temple, may be necessary here.
By the Moslems, the site of the great Jewish temple on Mount
Moriah has always been regarded with peculiar veneration.
Mohammed (Mahomet), in the first year of the publication of the
Koran, directed his followers, when at prayer, to turn their faces
towards it, and pilgrimages have constantly been made to the holy
spot by devout Moslems. On the conquest of Jerusalem by the
Arabians, it was the first care of the Caliph Omar to rebuild “the
Temple of the Lord.” Assisted by the principal chieftains of his
army, the Commander of the Faithful undertook the pious office of
clearing the ground with his own hands, and of tracing out the
foundations of the magnificent mosque which now crowns with its
16

dark and swelling dome, the elevated summit of Mount Moriah14.
[19] [20]
This great house of prayer, the most holy Moslem Temple in the
world after that of Mecca, was erected over the spot where
“Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount
Moriah, where the Lord appeared to David his father, in the place that
David had prepared in the threshing-floor of Oman the Jebusite.” It
remains to this day in a state of perfect preservation, and is one of
the finest specimens of Saracenic architecture in existence. It is
entered by four spacious doorways, each door facing one of the
cardinal points; the Bab el D’jannat, or gate of the garden, on the
north; the Bab el Kebla, or gate of prayer, on the south; the Bab ib’n
el Daoud, or the gate of the son of David, on the east; and the Bab el
Garbi, on the west. The Arabian geographers call it Beit Allah, the
house of God, also Beit Almokaddas, or Beit Almacdes, the holy
house. From it Jerusalem derives its Arabic name, el Kods, the holy,
el Schereef, the noble, and el Mobarek, the blessed; while the
governors of the city, instead of the customary high-sounding titles
of sovereignty and dominion, take the simple title of Hami, or
protectors.
On the conquest of Jerusalem by the crusaders, the crescent was
torn down from the summit of this famous Moslem Temple, and was
replaced by an immense golden cross, and the edifice was then
consecrated to the services of the Christian religion, but retained its
simple appellation of “The Temple of the Lord.” William,
Archbishop of Tyre15 and Chancellor of the Kingdom of Jerusalem,
gives an interesting account of this celebrated construction as it
existed in his time, during the Latin dominion. He speaks of the
splendid mosaic work, of the Arabic characters setting forth the
name of the founder, and the cost of the undertaking, and of the
famous rock under the center of the dome [20], which is to this day
shown by the Moslems as the spot whereon the destroying angel
stood16, “with his drawn sword in his hand stretched out over
Jerusalem” [17]. This rock, he informs us, was left exposed and
uncovered for the space of fifteen years after the conquest of the
17

holy city by the crusaders, but was, after that period, cased with a
handsome altar of white marble, upon which the priests daily said
mass.
To the south of this holy Moslem temple, on the extreme edge of the
summit of Mount Moriah, and resting against the modern walls of
the town of Jerusalem, stands the esteemed Christian church of the
Virgin, erected by the Emperor Justinian, whose stupendous
foundations, remaining to this day, fully justify the astonishing
description given of the building by Procopius17. That writer
informs us that in order to get a level surface for the erection of the
structure, it was necessary, on the east and south sides of the hill, to
raise up a wall of masonry from the valley below, and to construct a
vast foundation, partly composed of solid stone and partly of arches
and pillars. The stones were of such magnitude, that each block
required transportation in a truck drawn by forty of the emperor’s
strongest oxen; and to admit the passage of these trucks it was
necessary to widen the roads leading to Jerusalem. The forests of
Lebanon yielded their choicest cedars for the timbers of the roof,
and a quarry of multicolored marble, seasonably discovered in the
adjoining mountains, furnished the edifice with superb marble
columns18. [21] The interior of this interesting structure, which still
remains at Jerusalem in an excellent state of preservation, after a
lapse of more than thirteen centuries, is adorned with six rows of
columns, from whence spring arches supporting the cedar beams
and timbers of the roof; and at the end of the building is a round
tower, surmounted by a dome. The vast stones, the walls of
masonry, and the subterranean colonnade raised to support the
south-east angle of the platform whereon the church is erected, are
truly wonderful, and may still be seen by probing through a small
door, and descending several flights of steps at the south-east
corner of the enclosure. Adjoining the sacred edifice, the emperor
erected hospitals, or houses of refuge, for travelers, sick people, and
mendicants of all nations; the foundations whereof, composed of
handsome Roman masonry, are still visible on either side of the
southern end of the building.
18

On the conquest of Jerusalem by the Moslems, this esteemed church
was converted into a mosque, and was called D’jamé al Acsa. A large
area by a high stone wall, which runs around the edge of the summit
of Mount Moriah, enclosed it together with the great Moslems
Temple of the Lord erected by the Caliph Omar. Guards from the
non-Christian peoples trod upon the whole of that sacred ground
whereon once stood the gorgeous temple of the wisest of kings19.
[22]
When the Holy City was taken by the crusaders, the D’jamé al Acsa,
with the various buildings constructed around it, became the
property of the kings of Jerusalem; and is denoted by William of
Tyre “the palace”, or “royal house to the south of the Temple of the
Lord, vulgarly called the Temple of Solomon20”. It was this edifice or
temple on Mount Moriah which was appropriated to the use of the
poor fellow-soldiers of Jesus Christ, as they had no church and no
particular place of abode, and from it they derived their name of
Knights Templars21.
James of Vitry, Bishop of Acre, who gives an interesting account of
the holy places, thus speaks of the Temple of the Knights Templars.
“There is, moreover, at Jerusalem another temple of immense
spaciousness and extent, from which the brethren of the knighthood of
the Temple derive their name of Templars, which is called the Temple
of Solomon, perhaps to distinguish it from the one above described,
which is specially called the Temple of the Lord.”22 Moreover, he
informs us in his oriental history, that “in the Temple of the Lord
there is an abbot and canons regular; and be it known that the one is
the Temple of the Lord, and the other the Temple of the Chivalry.
These are clerks, the others are knights23.”
The Rule of the Templar of the Lord conceded to the poor fellow-soldiers
of Jesus Christ the large court extending between that
building and the Temple of Solomon. The king, the patriarch, the
prelates of Jerusalem, and the barons of the Latin kingdom, assigned
the Templars various gifts and revenues for their maintenance and
support [23], and the order being now settled in a regular place of
19

abode, the knights soon began to entertain more extended views,
and to seek a larger theater for the exercise of their holy profession.
Their first aim and object had been, as previously mentioned, simply
to protect the poor pilgrims, on their journey backwards and
forwards, from the sea-coast to Jerusalem24; [23] however, as the
hostile tribes of Moslems, which everywhere surrounded the Latin
kingdom, were gradually recovering from the stupefying terror into
which they had been plunged by the successful and exterminating
warfare of the first crusaders, and were assuming an aggressive and
threatening attitude, it was determined that the holy warriors of the
Temple should, in addition to the protection of pilgrims, make the
defense of the Christian kingdom of Jerusalem, of the eastern
church, and of all the holy places, a part of their particular
profession.
The two most distinguished members of the fraternity were Hugh
de Payens and Geoffrey de St. Aldemar, or St. Omer, two valiant
soldiers of the cross, who had fought with great credit and renown
at the siege of Jerusalem. Hugh de Payens was chosen by the
knights to be the superior of the new religious and military society,
by the title of “The Master of the Temple;” and he has, consequently,
generally been called the founder of the order.
The name and reputation of the Knights Templars spread rapidly
throughout Europe, and various illustrious pilgrims from the far
west aspired to become members of the holy fraternity. Among
these was Falk, Count of Anjou, who joined the society as a married
brother, (A.D. 1120,) and annually remitted the order thirty pounds
of silver. Baldwin, king of Jerusalem, foreseeing that great
advantages would accrue to the Latin kingdom by the increase of
the power and numbers of these holy warriors, exerted himself to
extend the order throughout all Christendom, so that he might, by
means of so politic an institution, keep alive the holy enthusiasm of
the west, and draw a constant succor from the bold and warlike
races of Europe for the support of his Christian throne and kingdom.
20

St. Bernard and the Templars
St. Bernard, the holy abbot of Clairvaux, had been a great admirer of
the Templars. He wrote a letter to the Count of Champagne, on his
entering the order, (A.D. 1123,) praising the act as one of eminent
merit in the sight of God; and it was determined to enlist the all-powerful
influence of this great cleric in favor of the fraternity. “By a
vow of poverty and penance, by closing his eyes against the visible
world, by the refusal of all ecclesiastical dignities, the Abbot of
Clairvaux became the oracle of Europe, and the founder of one
hundred and sixty convents. Princes and pontiffs trembled at the
freedom of his apostolical censures: France, England, and Milan,
consulted and obeyed his judgment in a schism of the church: the debt
was repaid by the gratitude of Innocent the Second; and his successor,
Eugenics the Third, was the friend and disciple of the holy St.
Bernard.” [24]
To this learned and devout prelate two knights Templars were
dispatched with the following letter:
“Baldwin, by the grace of the Lord JESUS CHRIST, King of
Jerusalem, and Prince of Antioch, to the venerable Father Bernard,
Abbot of Clairvaux, health and regard”.
“The Brothers of the Temple, whom the Lord hath deigned to raise
up, and whom by an especial Providence he preserves for the
defense of this kingdom, desiring to obtain from the Holy See the
confirmation of their institution, and a rule for their particular
guidance, we have determined to send to you the two knights,
Andrew and Gondemar, men as much distinguished by their
military exploits as by the splendor of their birth, to obtain from
the Pope the approbation of their order, and to dispose his
holiness to send succor and subsidies against the enemies of the
faith, reunited in their design to destroy us, and to invade our
Christian territories.”
“Well knowing the weight of your mediation with God and his
vicar upon earth, as well as with the princes and powers of
21

Europe, we have thought fit to confide to yon these two important
matters, whose successful issue cannot be otherwise than most
agreeable to ourselves. The statutes we ask of you should be so
ordered and arranged as to be reconcilable with the tumult of the
camp and the profession of arms; they must, in fact, be of such a
nature as to obtain favor and popularity with the Christian
princes.”
“Do you then so manage, that we may, through you, have the
happiness of seeing this important affair brought to a successful
issue, and address for us to heaven the incense of your prayers.”
[25]
Soon after the above letter had been dispatched to St. Bernard, Hugh
de Payens himself proceeded to Rome, accompanied by Geoffrey de
St. Aldemar, and four other brothers of the order, including Brother
Payen de Montdidier, Brother Gorall, Brother Geoffrey Bisol, and
Brother Archambauld de St. Amand. They were received with great
honor and distinction by Pope Honorius, who warmly approved of
the objects and designs of the holy fraternity. St. Bernard had, in the
mean time, taken the affair greatly to heart; he negotiated with the
Pope, the legate, and the bishops of France, and obtained the
convocation of a great ecclesiastical council at Troyes (A.D. 1128),
which Hugh de Payens and his brethren were invited to attend. This
council consisted of several archbishops, bishops, and abbots,
among which last was St. Bernard himself. The rules to which the
Templars had subjected themselves were described there by the
master. They entrusted the holy Abbot of Clairvaux with the task of
revising and correcting these rules, and of framing a code of statutes
fit and proper for the governance of the great religious and military
fraternity of the Temple.
Thus, in 1123, the nine warrior knights under the protection of the
King of Jerusalem, Baldwin II, who had made their home in
Solomon’s stables, below the Temple Mount, their task “to offer
protection to pilgrims”, became a religious order that was to grow
rapidly in Europe, helped by the support of St. Bernard of Clairvaux.
22

The Vatican then recognized this order and their full title was “The
Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of Solomon”. Their simple
way of life was reflected in their insignia of two knights riding one
horse. However, this symbol did not reflect the increasing wealth of
the Templars, who became international bankers through the giving
of credit notes against money deposited in one Templar House,
which could be honored in other Templar centers.
The Templars became immensely wealthy and this wealth
ultimately led to their destruction by the French King Philip IV in
1307. He was heavily indebted to the Templars and needed funds
for his war against England. The French King organized the arrest
of all Templars in France on Friday October 13th on false charges of
heresy. This date is the origin of the superstitions around Friday
13th; and we continue to be reminded of the Templars in many
place names throughout the country including: the Inner and Middle
Temple legal institutions in London and strangely the famous
Brunel Temple Meads Station in Bristol and in providing the site for
Hitler’s Berlin Airport – Templehof.
At the end of the 19th Century, historians accepted that the heresy
charges made against the Templars were valid. However, in recent
times the discovery of later Vatican documents absolving the Order
of the heresy charges have led historians to conclude that their
destruction was based on false statements, extracted by extreme
methods of torture to justify Philip IV‘s suppression of the Order.
The Templars were in part to blame, as their activities were in some
areas shrouded in secrecy, in particular their initiation rites. When
they were driven out of the Holy Land by Saladin, their records
were taken to Cyprus and subsequently destroyed. Lack of
documentary evidence has since enabled speculation of the wildest
sort to flourish, starting with rumors that the original Knights in
Jerusalem discovered the Shroud of Turin and the Holy Grail under
the Temple Mount. Certainly, the Order was rich in relics and this
led to their growth and increasing wealth.
23

Temple Church, Bristol
24
Notes
1 “Donc, moi Jean Michel, par la grâce de Dieu, je méritai d'être l'humble écrivain de
la présente règle, comme me le demanda le concile et le vénérable père Bernard,
abbé de Clairvaux, qu'on avait chargé de ce divin travail.” Tr: “So, I, John Michael,
by the grace of God, I deserved to be the humble writer of this rule, as the council
asked me and the venerable Father Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, who had charge of
this divine work.” [264]
2 Saint Helena (Latin: Flavia Iulia Helena Augusta) also known as Saint Helen,
Helena Augusta or Helena of Constantinople (ca. 246/50 – 18 August 330) was the
consort of Emperor Constantius, and the mother of Emperor Constantine I. She is
traditionally credited with finding the relics of the True Cross, with which she is
invariably represented in Christian iconography.
3 The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a Christian tradition,
are believed to be from the cross upon which Jesus was crucified [265]. According
to post-Nicene historians, Socrates Scholasticus and others, the Empress Helena (c.
AD 250 – c. AD 330), mother of Constantine, the first Christian Emperor of Rome,
travelled to the Holy Land, dated by modern historians in 326-28, founding

churches and establishing relief agencies for the poor. It was afterwards claimed, in
the later fourth-century history by Gelasius of Caesarea followed by Rufinus'
additions to Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History, that she discovered the hiding place of
three crosses, believed to be used at the crucifixion of Jesus and the two thieves —
St. Dismas and Gestas — who were executed with him, and that through a miracle it
was revealed which of the three was the True Cross.
4 Georgius Edu Serecenia, sometime called Elmacin, is cited in Clavis Pentateuchi
(Latin: “Key of the Pentateuch”), by Auctore Jacobo Robertson (1824). The Aribic
following the citation is unclear and requires further research.
5 Ingulphus, the secretary of William the Conqueror, one of their number, states
that he “sallied forth from Normandy with thirty companions, all stout and well-appointed
horsemen, and that they returned twenty miserable palmers, with the
staff in their hand and the wallet at their back.”--Baronius ad ann. 1064, No. 43, 56
is cited in [266].
6 The Turkomen also known as Oghuz Turks (a linguistic term designating the
Western Turkic or Oghuz languages from the Oghur languages) were a historical
Turkic tribal confederation in Central Asia during the early medieval Turkic
expansion. The name Oghuz is just the Common Turkic word for “tribe”. They are
referred to as “Western Turks” because they moved west from other Turkic
peoples after the Göktürk empire collapsed, and because the majority of the areas
in which they inhabit today (except Turkmenistan and the Turkmen Sahra) are
west of the Caspian Sea, while those referred to as “Eastern Turks” live east of the
Caspian Sea. The founders of the Ottoman Empire were also Oghuz Turks.
7 Peter the Hermit (died July 8, 1115 in Neufmoutier by Huy) was a priest of
Amiens and a key figure during the First Crusade. According to Anna Comnena, he
had attempted to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem before 1096, but was prevented
by the Seljuk Turks from reaching his goal and was tortured. Sources differ as to
whether he was present at Pope Urban II's famous Council of Clermont in 1095; but
it is certain that he was one of the preachers of the crusade in France afterward,
and his own experience may have helped to give fire to the Crusading cause. He
soon leapt into fame as an emotional revivalist; and the vast majority of sources
and historians agree that thousands of peasants eagerly took the cross at his
bidding.
8 “Omnibus mundi partibus divites et pauperes, juvenes et virgines, senes cum
junioribus, loca sancta visitaturi Hierosolymam pergerent.” [“All parts of the world
the rich and the poor, the young men and maidens, old men with younger, they
were going to Jerusalem, the holy places shall visit the”]-- [17].
9 The term “infidels” is used loosely throught. The Christian might refer to the
Moslem as an infidel, while the Molem might equally refer to the Christian as an
infidel. The simple meaning in “one who is not of the faith”, whatever that faith me
be.
25

10 Moslem also spelled Muslim, (Arabic: م س لم ), is an adherent of Islam, a
monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Moslems consider the
verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Mohammed. “Moslem” is the Arabic
term for “one who submits to God”. Musulman (Persian: م س لمان ) is a synonym for
Muslim. This term is modified from Arabic. It is the origin of the Spanish word
musulmán, the Portuguese word muçulmano and the Greek word μουσουλμάνος
(all used for a Muslim). In English it has become an archaic usage.
11 “To kiss the holy monuments,” says William of Tyre, “came sacred and chaste
widows, forgetful of feminine fear, and the multiplicity of dangers that beset their
path.”--Lib. xviii. cap. 5
12 “Quidam autem Deo amabiles et devoti milites, charitate ferventes, mundo
renuatiantes, et Christi se servitio mancipantes in manu Patriarchæ Hierosolymitani
professione et voto solemni sere astrinxerunt, ut a prædictis latronibus, et viris
sanguinum, defenderent peregrinos, et stratas publicas custodirent, more
canonicorum regularium in obedientia et castitate et sine proprio militaturi summo
regi.” (Trans:-“Some, however, God, lovely and devout soldiers, charity, fervent, and
the world renuatiantes, Patriarch of Jerusalem, and of Christ himself in the hand of
the profession and a solemn vow of service mancipantes astrinxerunt sere, as
aforesaid from the robbers, and to men of blood, to protect the pilgrims, and to
keep the public road, in the manner of canons regular serve the greatest king in
obedience and chastity and without property.”) There were three kinds of poverty.
The first and strictest (altissima) admitted not of the possession of any description
of property whatever. The second (media) forbade the possession of individual
property, but sanctioned any amount of wealth when shared by a fraternity in
common. The lowest was where a separate property in some few things was
allowed, such as food and clothing, whilst everything else was shared in common.
The second kind of poverty (media) was adopted by the Templars [54].
26
13 St. Pantaleon, lib. iii. p. 82.
14 de Barthélemi d’Herbelot Bibliothèque Orientale p. 270, 687, ed. 1697. William of
Tyre, who lived at Jerusalem shortly after the conquest of the city by the Crusaders,
tells us that the Caliph Omar required the Patriarch Sophronius to point out to him
the site of the temple destroyed by Titus, which being done, the caliph immediately
commenced the erection of a fresh temple thereon, “Quo postea infra modicum
tempus juxta conceptum mentis suæ feliciter consummato, quale hodie Hierosolymis
esse dinoscitur, multis et infinites ditavit possessionibus.” (tr Latin: “Within a short
time afterwards, according to his concept of the mind which successfully
consummated, the quality of this day is known to be in Jerusalem, and enriched it
with many, and a vast possessions.”)--Will. Tyr. lib. i. cap. 2.
15 William of Tyre was born in the Holy Land, born in the Holy Land and was, after a
French education, appointed Archbishop of Tyre and Chancellor of the Kingdom of
Jerusalem. He wrote towards the end of the twelfth century.

16 “Erant porro in eodem Templi ædificio, intus et extra ex opere musaico, Arabici
idiomatis literarum vetustissima monimenta, quibus et auctor et imperarum
quantitas et quo tempore opus inceptum quodque consummatum fuerit evidenter
declaratur…. In hujus superioris areæ medio Templum ædificatum est, forma quidem
octogonum et laterum totidem, tectum habens sphericum plumbo artificiose
copertum. … Intus vero in medio Templi, infra interiorem columnarum ordinem rupes
est, &c.” (tr Latin: “There were the same but in the Temple of the building, inside
and out from the work of musaico, the oldest monument of learning Arabic
language, which must, at which time the quantity and the author of the work of the
government initiative and it is finished and that clearly is declared. . . . In the midst
of the areas of the upper of this temple in building, the form of octogonum and,
indeed, the same number of sides, roof, having artfully BURIED DEEP SPHERICAL
lead. . . . Inside, however, in the center of the temple, within the interior of the
columns is the order of rocks, etc.”)--Will. Tyr. lib. i. cap 2, lib. viii. cap. 3. “In hoc
loco, supra rupem quæ adhuc in eodem Templo consistit, dicitur stetisse et apparaisse
David exterminator Angelus … Templum Dominicum in tanta veneratione habent
Saraceni, ut nullus eorum ipsum audeat aliquibus sordibus maculare; sed a remotis et
longinquis regionibus, a temporibus Salomonis usque ad tempora præsentia, veniunt
adorare.” (“In this passage, which as yet in the same rock above the temple consists,
it is said they had failed and that is destroyed, David apparaisse an angel....
Saracens have the temple of the Lord in so great a veneration, that none of them
would dare to some filth defile him, but from the distant and remote regions, from
the times of Solomon, the presence of up to the times, they come to adore.”)--Jac. de
Vitr. Hist. Hierosol. cap. lxii. p 1080.
17 Procopius of Caesarea (Latin: Procopius Caesarensis, Greek: Προκόπιος ὁ
Καισαρεύς; c. AD 500 – c. AD 565) was a prominent Byzantine scholar from
Palestine. Accompanying the general Belisarius in the wars of the Emperor
Justinian I, he became the principal historian of the 6th century, writing the Wars of
Justinian, the Buildings of Justinian and the celebrated Secret History. He is
commonly held to be the last major historian of the ancient world.
18 Procopius de ædificiis Justiniani, lib. 5.
19 Phocas believes the whole space around these buildings to be the area of the
ancient temple. Ἑν τῶ ἀρχαίω δαπεδω τοῦ περιώνῦμου ναου έκείνοὺ Σὸλομῶντος
θεωρουμενοσ … Ἔξωθεν δὲ του ναου ἐστι περιαύλιον μεγα λιθόστωτον τὸ παλαιὸν,
ὼς οῖμαι, του μεγαλου ναου δάπεδον. (tr. Greek: “Meanwhile floor of an ancient
temple periώnymou έkeinou Solomon theoroumenos. . . But outside the temple Esti
periaύlion mega lithostoton the old, as oimai, the great temple floor.”)--Phocæ
descript. Terr. Sanc. cap. xiv. Colon. 1653.
20 “Quibus quoniam neque ecclesia erat, neque certum habebant domicilium, Rex in
Palatio suo, quod secus Templum Domini ad australem habet partem, eis concessit
habitaculum.” (tr. Latin: “Nor has the church that these existed, nor had a fixed
domicile, the King of his in the Palace, which otherwise has the south part of the
temple of the Lord, the habitation of them granted.”)--Will. Tyr. lib. xii. cap. 7. And
27

in another place, speaking of the Temple of the Lord, he says, “Ab Austro vero
domum habet Regiam, quæ vulgari appellatione Templum Salomonis dicitur.” (tr.
Latin: “From the south, however, has the King's house, which is called the common
name of the temple of Solomon.”)--Ib. lib, viii. cap. 3.
21 “Qui quoniam juxta Templum Domini, ut prædiximus, in Palatio regio mansionem
habent, fratres militiæ Templi dicuntur.” (tr. Latin: “And since they, according to the
temple of the Lord, as we said before, they have an abode in the palace of the king,
the brothers are said to be the host of the Temple.”)--Will. Tyr. lib. xii. cap. 7.
22 “Est præterea Hierosolymis Templum aliud immensæ quantitatis et amplitudinis, a
quo fratres militiæ Templi, Templarii nominantur, quod Templum Salomonis
nuncupatur, forsitan ad distinctionem alterius quod specialiter Templum Domini
appellatur.” (tr. Latin: “Moreover, the temple of Jerusalem is another very great
quantity and dignity, of whom is the host of brethren of the Temple, the Templars
are mentioned, that the temple of Solomon is called, perhaps especially to the
distinction of another, if it is called the temple of the Lord.”)--Jac. de Vitr. cap. 62.
23 “In Templo Domini abbas est et canonici regulares, et sciendum est quod aliud est
Templum Domini, aliud Templum militiæ. Isti clerici, illi milites.” (tr. Latin: “In the
temple of the Lord is the abbot and canons regular, and it should be noted that the
temple of the Lord is one thing, another thing the host of the temple. These clerics,
those soldiers.”)--Hist. Orient. Jac de Vitr. apud Thesaur. Nov. Anecd. Martene, tom.
iii. col. 277.
24 “Prima autem eorum professio quodque eis a domino Patriarcha et reliquis
episcopis in remissionem peccatorum injunctum est, ut vias et itinera, ad salutem
peregrinorum contra latronum et incursantium insidias, pro viribus conservarent.”
(tr. Latin: The first of them, however, and that the profession of them by the Lord
for the rest of the patriarch and the bishops of the remission of sins was imposed,
so that the highways and roads, to the salvation of strangers on the other hand and
the raids of robbers lying in wait, according to their strength preserved them.”)--
Will. Tyr. lib. xii. cap. 7.
28

CHAPTER 2. THE TEMPLAR RULES
Regula Pauperum Commilitonum Christi et Templi Salomonis.
[26]
(Translation from Latin:- Rule of the Poor fellow-soldiers of Christ
and the Temple of Solomon)
“Among the contradictions that are within the governments of
this world, we may rekon it a very great one, that there should
be such an institution as that of armed monks, who make a
vow of living at the same time as hermits and soldiers”-
Voltaire on Manners and Spirit of Nations (original in
French)
“Regula Pauperum Commilitonum Christi et Templi Salomonis” is
the first existing reference to “Règle primitive de l’Ordre” (The
Primitive Rule of the Order). It was arranged by St. Bernard, and
sanctioned by the Holy Fathers of the Council of Troyes in 1129, for
the government and regulation of the monastic and military society
of the Temple1,. It is principally of a religious character, and of an
austere and gloomy company. It is divided into seventy-two heads
or chapters, and is preceded by a short prologue, addressed “to all
who disdain to follow after their own wills, and desire with purity of
mind to fight for the most high and true king,” exhorting them to put
on the armor of obedience, and to associate themselves together
with piety and humility for the defense of the holy catholic2 church
(not to be confused with the Roman Catholic Church); and to
employ a pure diligence, and a steady perseverance in the exercise
of their sacred profession, so that they might share in the happy
destiny reserved for the holy warriors who had given up their lives
for Christ.
“The Rule of the Templar” consists of 686 rules, the first 76 of which
constitute the primitive or original rule (Règle primitive de l’Ordre).
The basic rule was recorded by Jean Michel at the Council of Troyes
29

in 1129 A.D. The completed rule was comprised of the following
sections and rules:-
 Primitive Rule: 1-76
 Hierarchical Status: 77-197
 Election of the Master: 198-223
 Penalties: 224-278
 Convent Life of Brothers: 279-385
 The Chapters of the Order: 386-415
 Penances: 416-543
 Details of Penalties: 544-656
 Receipt of a Brother: 657-686
The rule orders severe devotional exercises, self-mortification,
fasting, and prayer, and a constant attendance at matins, vespers,
and on all the services of the church, “that being refreshed and
satisfied with heavenly food, instructed and established with heavenly
precepts, after the consummation of the divine mysteries,” none might
be afraid of the fight, but be prepared for the crown. If unable to
attend the regular service of God, the absent brother, is for matins,
to say over thirteen pater-nosters, for every hour seven, and for
vespers nine. When any Templar draweth nigh unto death, the
chaplains and clerk are to assemble and offer up a solemn mass for
his soul; the surrounding brethren are to spend the night in prayer,
and a hundred pater-nosters are to be repeated for the dead
brother. “Moreover,” say the holy Fathers, “we do strictly command
you, that with divine and most tender charity you give daily unto some
poor man for forty days, as much meat and drink as was given to a
living brother.” The brethren are, on all occasions, to speak
sparingly, and to wear a grave and serious deportment. They are to
be constant in the exercise of charity and almsgiving, to have a
watchful care over all sick brethren, and to support and sustain all
old men. They are not to receive letters from their parents,
relations, or friends, without the license of the master, and all gifts
are immediately to be taken to the latter, or to the treasurer, to be
disposed of as he may direct. Moreover, they are to receive no
30

service or attendance from a woman, and are commanded, above all
things, to shun feminine kisses. There is much that is highly
praiseworthy in this rule, and some extracts of interest are provided
in the following paragraphs.
I. [Prologue] We speak first to those who secretly despise their own
will and wish to serve with courage, a knight of the sovereign king,
and those who want to do and perform, with diligence, the noble
virtue of obedience. We warn you, you who have so far led secular
chivalry, in which Jesus Christ was not put in evidence, but you have
embraced a favor human, you’ll be among those whom God has
chosen the mass of perdition and he has chosen, for its pleasant
mercy, to defend the Holy Church so that you hasten to add you to
them forever.
First of all, that those knights of Christ chose a conversion in their
holy profession, which must be added great diligence and strong
perseverance, dignified, healthy, spiritual, because it is recognized
only if it is kept with purity and duration, they may deserve a place
among the martyrs who gave their souls for Jesus Christ…
Thus, in all joy and brotherhood, we assemble in Troyes, thanks to
the prayers of Master Hugues de Payens by whom such chivalry
began, with the grace of the Holy Spirit, for the feast of Saint Hilaire
Bishop, in the year the incarnation of Jesus Christ, one thousand one
hundred and twenty to eight, the ninth year since the beginning of
that chivalry. Together, we heard from the lips of Brother Hugues de
Payens, how was this order of chivalry established and, in our trial,
we hired what seems profitable, all we seemed superfluous, we
supprimâmes.
And everything in this meeting, could not be said or told, or
forgotten, we left him with wisdom, at the discretion of our
honorable father, sire Honorius and noble patriarch of Jerusalem,
Etienne de la Ferte who knew the better the needs of the land of the
East and the poor knights of Christ. Now, and because many fathers
31

assembled in this council and approved what we have said, we must
not overlook the true sentences and said they thought it.
So, I, Jean Michel, by the grace of God, I deserved to be the humble
writer of this rule, as the council asked me and the venerable Father
Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, who had been responsible for this
divine work.
VI. [The names of the fathers who were at the Council] First, it was
Matthew, bishop of Albano, by the grace of God Legate of the Holy
Church of Rome; Renaud, Archbishop of Rheims, Henry, Archbishop
of Sens and their votes; Josselin, bishop of Soissons, the bishop of
Paris, the bishop of Troyes, the bishop of Orleans, Bishop of
Auxerre, the Bishop of Meaux, the Bishop of Chalons, the Bishop of
Laon, the Bishop of Beauvais, the abbot Vezelay, which was
subsequently elected Archbishop of Lyon and legate of the Church
of Rome, the abbot of Citeaux, the abbot of Pontigny, the abbot of
Trois-Fontaines, the abbot of Saint-Denis Reims, the abbot of Saint-
Etienne de Dijon, the abbot of Molesmes and Bernard, Abbot of
Clairvaux, already mentioned, etc.. They all praised the sentence
frankly. There was also a master Aubri de Reims, master Fouchier
and several others, which would be long to tell. There were others,
not scholars, for whom we can say that the most beneficial thing we
can guarantee is that they love the truth: namely Count Thibaud,
Count of Nevers and Andrew baud. In their capacity, they were at
the council, and with a particular concern, they examined what they
thought was right and what they thought forsook without reason.
VII. There was also brother Hugues de Payens, master of chivalry,
who had brought with him a few brothers Rotland brother, brother
Godfrey, brother Geoffroy Bissot, Brother Payen de Montdidier,
Archambaud brother of Saint-Amand. Master Hugh, with his
disciples, sent word to the fathers, after having recalled how the
observance came into being from what is said: Ego principium is
loquor vobis, that is to say: "Since I am the beginning of speech. "
32

VIII. It pleased the council that the notices were given and discussed
with diligence, according to the study of Holy Scripture, were
written down so that they are not forgotten, that with the
retirement of Bishop Honorius, Pope of the Holy Church Rome, the
Patriarch of Jerusalem and the consent of the meeting and the
approval of the Poor Knights of Christ Temple which is Jéruslem.
IX. [The rule of the poor knights of the Temple - The way to hear the
divine office] You renounce your own will being the servants of the
sovereign king with horses and arms, for the salvation of your souls,
and that forever, always with a pure desire to hear the morning and
divine whole, according to canonical observances and habits of
regular teachers of the Holy City of Jerusalem. To do this, venerable
brethren, God is with you because you promised to despise the
world forever for the love of God and also the torments of your body
fed the flesh of God, full of commandments of our Lord, we say after
the Divine Office, no one should fear going to the battle. Be prepared
to overcome for the divine throne.
33
…
“XV. [How they should eat] In one common hall, or refectory, the
brothers must eat together. But against the example of other people
who do not practice, it is necessary that you have no hard feelings,
something that is necessary for all of you in private, that in all
humility and reverence, in remembrance of the words of the
apostle: Eat your bread in silence, and in emulation of the psalmist,
who says, I have put a guard to my mouth; that is, “I will not offend
with my tongue”, which means “I have guarded my mouth, that I
may not speak evil”.
“XVI. [Reading] At dinner and at supper, let there be always some
sacred reading. If we love the Lord, and all his holy words and holy
commandments, we must desire it and listen carefully. The reader
who reads the lesson teaches you to be silent when he begins to
read.

“XVII. [Meat] Let a meal of meat three times a week suffice you,
excepting at Christmas, or Easter, or the feast of Our Lady, or of the
Twelve Apostles. …On Sunday we think it clearly fitting and
expedient that two meals of meat should be served up to all the
brothers of the Temple, the chaplains and clergy, that in honor of
the Holy Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The other inhabitants of the
house, namely the squires and sergeants will be satisfied with a
dish, and that’s why they give thanks to God.
“XVIII. [Bowls and Glasses] Two and two ought in general to eat
together, that one may have an eye upon another, that they enjoy
life in abstinence and in the act of eating together. It seems just
something that each of the brothers has a measure equal ration of
wine in his glass.
“XIX. [Dishes on Weekdays] The other days of the week: to wit:
Monday, Wednesday and even on Saturdays, the brothers have two
or three dishes of vegetable soup or other vegetables, and we
believe that this is sufficient and we order that this be held that if a
brother does not eat a dish, he eats the other.
“XX. [Friday Dishes] But on the sixth day (Friday) we recommend
the Lenten food, in reverence of the Passion of Jesus Christ. We ask
to fast from the feast of All Saints until Easter, except when it is the
feast of Christmas, the feast of Our Lady or the feast of the Twelve
Apostles. But the weak and sick brothers are not required to fast.
From April to November, they can eat twice a day, unless there is a
general fast.
“XXI. [Graces to make] At any time after dinner and after dinner, all
the brothers should give thanks to God. If the church is close to the
palace where they eat, and if it is not close, they give thanks to our
Lord Jesus Christ, with humility, because it is the supreme provider.
The remains of the broken bread will be given to the poor and the
bread will be kept whole. Now, as the gift to the poor is like the
kingdom of heaven and the Christian faith as you recognize those
34

who do not have it, it will be the tenth of bread is given to the
chaplain for the poor.
“XXII. [Collation3] When the day goes and night approaches, when
the bell rings or the call of the community is made or the manner of
the country, all go to compline4 (night prayer). We ask first for a
general snack to take a general repast. But this we leave to the
regulation and judgment of the Master, that when he has mercy you
may have water, and when he commands, you may receive it kindly
tempered with wine: but this must not be done too plentifully, but
sparingly, because, says Solomon, Quia vinum facit apostatare
sapienter, i.e., “Wine corrupts the wise”.
“XXIII. [Keep Silence] When the brothers come out of compline, no
permission should be given to speak publicly, unless a great need. If
he needs to talk to his squire, he told what he had to tell him quietly
and in silence. But if, by chance, the day was not enough to do the
job and he needs to speak after Compline, for a great need or for the
purposes of chivalry or the condition of the house, we believe that
the master or any of the older brothers who have to govern the
house after the master, able to speak properly, and we ask that it be
done this way.
XXIV. [Keep Silence (continued)] For it is written: In non multiloquio
effugies peccatum, that is, “talking too much is incentive to sin”. And
in another place: Mors et vita in manibus ling, which means: “Death
and life are in the power of language.” A person who speaks, we
prohibit in any way, idle words and wicked laughter. And if anything
is to say what is said above, when you come in your bed, we
command you to say the Lord’s Prayer with humility and devotion.
“XXV [Brothers suffering] The brothers who are tired, having
ensured the greater good of the house can be provided, are matins5,
after asking the consent and permission of the master or those in
charge of that office. They must, however, say matins thirteen
Lord’s Prayer [paternosters was probably intended to be pater
noster], as established above, that the word is consistent with the
35

heart, and David says: Psallite sapienter, i.e., “Sing with wisdom”.
And, as David says the same elsewhere: In conspectu angelorum
psallam tibi, i.e., “I will sing for you before the angels”. That this
thing be done following the arbitration of the master and those
appointed to that office.
36
…
“XXVII. [Dresses of the brothers] We ask that all the dresses of the
brothers are shades of one color, namely white, black or homespun,
and we give the white coat at all brother Knights in the winter and
summer. No other, which is not a knight of Christ, he is allowed to
wear the white coat. And those who have abandoned the dark life of
the world, like these white robes, can recognize themselves as
reconciled with the Creator: this means that the white sanction
chastity is the safety of courage and physical health, because if a
brother does not promise chastity, he can not come to eternal rest,
or see God, as the apostle says: Pacem sectamini cum omnibus
castimoniam sine qua nemo videbit Deum, which means: “Follow
peace with all, keep chastity, without which no one can see God.”
“XXVIII. [Dresses of the brothers (continued)] By the common
council of the whole chapter, we contradict and order that is
recognized as a familiar one vice which, without discretion, would
be in the house of God and the Knights Templar. That the squires
and sergeants have no white dress, because it would be great
damage to the house. It happened in the parts beyond the mountain,
that false brothers, married or otherwise, emerged saying they were
brothers of the Temple when they were of the century… .
“XXIX. [Dresses of the brothers (continued)] But these dresses must
be no frills and no pride. And if we decided that no brother has fur
or coat to her dress, or anything that belongs to the use of the body,
or even a blanket, we allow the lamb or mutton... .
“XXXI. [Dresses of the brothers (continued)] And if a brother, by a
movement of pride or presumption of courage, wants to have as
something owed, the most beautiful or the best dress, that it be

Predictive Modeling and Analytics in 40 Characters

Predictive Modeling and Analytics in 40 Characters

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (11)

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (15)

Similar to Predictive Modeling and Analytics in 40 Characters

Similar to Predictive Modeling and Analytics in 40 Characters (14)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Predictive Modeling and Analytics in 40 Characters