Throughout history, armed priests or soldier priests have been recorded. Distinguished from

military chaplain A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases, they will also work with local civilians within a military area of operations. Although the term ''cha ...

s, who are

non-combatants Non-combatant is a term of art in the law of war and international humanitarian law to refer to civilians who are not taking a direct part in hostilities. People such as combat medics and military chaplains, who are members of the belligerent arm ...

that provided spiritual guidance to service personnel and associated civilians, these priests took up arms and fought in conflicts as combatants. The term warrior priests or war priests is usually used for armed priests in Antiquity and the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, and of historical tribes.

History

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

, the Curetes were identified as armed priests. In

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

, the

Salii The Salii, Salians, or Salian priests were the "leaping priests" of Mars in ancient Roman religion, supposed to have been introduced by King Numa Pompilius. They were twelve patrician youths dressed as archaic warriors with an embroidered tunic, ...

were an order of armed priests who carried sacred shields through the city during the March festivals.

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

(59 BC–17 AD) mentions ''armati sacerdotes'' (armed priests). Medieval European

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

said that a priest could not be a soldier, and vice versa. Priests were allowed on the battlefield as chaplains, and could only defend themselves with clubs. The

Aztecs The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the ...

had a

vanguard The vanguard (sometimes abbreviated to van and also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. ...

of warrior priests who carried deity banners and made sacrifices on the battlefield. In more recent times, the warrior-priest was a common figure in the

First Serbian Uprising The First Serbian Uprising (; sr-Cyrl, Први српски устанак; ) was an uprising of Serbs in Orašac (Aranđelovac), Orašac against the Ottoman Empire from 14 February 1804 to 7 October 1813. The uprising began as a local revolt ...

(1804–13). Several archpriests and priests were commanders in the revolt, while Serbian Orthodox monasteries sent monks to join the

Serbian Army The Serbian Army () is the land-based and the largest component of the Serbian Armed Forces. Its organization, composition, weapons and equipment are adapted to the assigned missions and tasks of the Serbian Armed Forces, primarily for operatio ...

Legacy

The Pyrrhic Dance in

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

is said to have been the ritual dance of the

Korybantes According to Greek mythology, the Korybantes or Corybantes (also Corybants) (; ) were the armed and crested dancers who worshipped the Phrygian goddess Cybele with drumming and dancing. They are also called the ''Kurbantes'' in Phrygia. Etymology ...

, deities described as armed priests.

Notable groups

* Chivalric military orders,

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

religious societies of

knights A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

of the Catholic Church in feudal Europe such as the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

, the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...

, the

Teutonic Knights The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to t ...

and many others. *

Sōhei were Buddhist warrior monks of both classical and feudal Japan. At certain points in history, they held considerable power, obliging the imperial and military governments to collaborate. The prominence of the ''sōhei'' rose in parallel w ...

, Buddhist monks in feudal Japan *

Shaolin Monk Shaolin Monastery ( zh, labels=no, c=少林寺, p=shàolínsì), also known as Shaolin Temple, is a monastic institution recognized as the birthplace of Chan Buddhism and the cradle of Shaolin kung fu. It is located at the foot of Wuru Peak o ...

Ch’an Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

Buddhist monks in feudal China * Righteous armies, Korean guerrilla fighters, including monks, who resisted the

Japanese invasions of Korea Japanese invasions of Korea may refer to: *Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598) *Donghak Peasant Revolution ** Japanese occupation of Gyeongbokgung *Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fou ...

(1592–98). *'' Sant Sipahi'', the

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

ideology of a saint-soldier inspired by the example

Sikh gurus The Sikh gurus (Punjabi language, Punjabi: ਸਿੱਖ ਗੁਰੂ; Hindi: सिख गुरु) are the spiritual masters of Sikhism, who established the religion over the course of about two and a half centuries, beginning in 1469. The year ...

, where one lives in strict discipline of both mind and body. * Naga Sadhus, a militaristic

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

sect of arms-bearing sannyasi.

Notable people

;Eastern Orthodoxy *

Alexander Peresvet Alexander or Aleksandr Peresvet (; died 8 September 1380) was a Russian Orthodox monk who fought in single combat with the Tatar champion Temir-Mirza, known in most Russian sources as Chelubey, at the opening of the Battle of Kulikovo on 8 Se ...

(d. 1380), Russian Orthodox monk who fought in the

battle of Kulikovo The Battle of Kulikovo () was fought between the forces of Mamai, a powerful Mongol military commander of the Golden Horde, and Russian forces led by Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy, Dmitry of Moscow. The battle took place on 8 September 1380, at Ku ...

, dueled the

Tatar Tatar may refer to: Peoples * Tatars, an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" * Volga Tatars, a people from the Volga-Ural region of western Russia * Crimean Tatars, a people from the Crimea peninsula by the B ...

warrior Chelubey and both killed each other. * Luka Lazarević (1774–1852), Serbian Orthodox priest, ''vojvoda'' (general) of the

Serbian Revolution The Serbian Revolution ( / ') was a national uprising and constitutional change in Serbia that took place between 1804 and 1835, during which this territory evolved from an Sanjak of Smederevo, Ottoman province into a Revolutionary Serbia, reb ...

. *

Matija Nenadović Matija Nenadović ( sr-cyrl, Матија Ненадовић, or Mateja Nenadović sr-cyr, Матеја Ненадовић; 26 February 1777 – 11 December 1854), also known as Prota Mateja, was a Serbian archpriest, writer, and politician wh ...

(1777–1854), Serbian Orthodox archpriest, commander in the Serbian Revolution. * Athanasios Diakos (1788–1821), Greek Orthodox priest, commander in the

Greek War of Independence The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution or the Greek Revolution of 1821, was a successful war of independence by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire between 1821 and 1829. In 1826, the Greeks were assisted ...

. *

Mićo Ljubibratić Mihajlo "Mićo" Ljubibratić ( sr-cyr, Мићо Љубибратић; 1839 – 26 February 1889) was a Serbian vojvoda (military commander), Orthodox priest, writer and translator who participated in the many uprisings in the Herzegovina region. ...

(1839–1889), Serbian Orthodox priest, fought in the Herzegovina Uprising. *

Bogdan Zimonjić Bogdan Zimonjić, ( sr-cyr, Богдан Зимоњић; 1813 – 21 January 1909) was a Serbian Orthodox Church, Serbian Orthodox priest and Voivode, Vojvoda (military commander) in two major uprisings against the Ottoman Empire in 19th-centu ...

(1813–1909), Serbian Orthodox priest, active during the 1852–62 and 1875–78 uprisings in Herzegovina *

Vukajlo Božović Vukajlo Božović ( sr-cyr, Вукајло Божовић; died 1926), known as Priest Vukajlo ( sr-cyr, поп Вукајло), was a Serbian Orthodox priest and revolutionary. Božović participated in the Balkan Wars as a commander of a detach ...

(d. 1926), Serbian Orthodox archpriest, fought in the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

. * Jovan Grković-Gapon (1879–1912), Serbian Orthodox priest, guerrilla in Macedonia. * Tasa Konević (d. 1916), Serbian Orthodox priest, guerrilla in Macedonia. * Mihailo Dožić (1848–1914), Serbian Orthodox priest, guerrilla in Potarje (1875–78). * Stevan Dimitrijević (1866–1953), Serbian Orthodox priest, guerrilla in Macedonia (fl. 1904). *

Momčilo Đujić Momčilo Đujić ( sh-Cyrl, Момчилo Ђујић, ; 27 February 1907 – 11 September 1999) was a Serbian Orthodox Church, Serbian Orthodox priest and Chetnik . He led a significant proportion of the Chetniks within the northern Dalm ...

(1907–1999), Serbian Orthodox priest, World War II Chetnik. *

Vlada Zečević Vladimir "Vlada" Zečević ( sr-cyr, Владимир Влада Зечевић; 21 March 1903 ( OS) – 26 October 1970) was a Serbian Orthodox priest and later a member of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia and the Yugoslav Partisans dur ...

(1903–1970), Serbian Orthodox priest, Yugoslav Partisan. * Dimitrios Holevas (1907–2001), Greek Orthodox priest, World War II Greek Resistance. * Germanos Dimakos (1912–2004), Greek Orthodox priest, World War II Greek Resistance. ;Catholicism * Archbishop Turpin (d. 800), legendary (insofar as military accomplishments) member of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

Twelve Peers The Paladins, also called the Twelve Peers (), are twelve legendary knights, the foremost members of Charlemagne's court in the 8th century. They first appear in the medieval (12th century) ''chanson de geste'' cycle of the Matter of France, whe ...

. *St.

Heahmund __NOTOC__ Heahmund was a medieval Bishop of Sherborne. He was a warrior-bishop and he was killed fighting against the Danes for the Anglo-Saxon King Æthelred I of Wessex and his brother, the future King Alfred the Great. Heahmund was consecrate ...

(d. 871), Bishop of Sherborne, died at the Battle of Meretun under Aethelred I of Wessex against the

Great Heathen Army The Great Heathen Army, also known as the Viking Great Army,Hadley. "The Winter Camp of the Viking Great Army, AD 872–3, Torksey, Lincolnshire", ''Antiquaries Journal''. 96, pp. 23–67 was a coalition of Scandinavian warriors who invaded ...

. * Cresconius, (c. 1036–1066), Bishop of Iria, Spanish bishop who fought Vikings raider. *

Odo of Bayeux Odo of Bayeux (died 1097) was a Norman nobleman who was a bishop of Bayeux in Normandy and was made Earl of Kent in England following the Norman Conquest. He was the maternal half-brother of duke, and later king, William the Conqueror, and w ...

(d. 1097), Bishop of Bayeux, half-brother of

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

Rudolf of Zähringen Rudolf of Zähringen (also ''Rudolph'', ''Ralph'' or ''Raoul'') (c. 1135 – 5 August 1191) was the archbishop of Mainz from 1160 to 1161 and prince-bishop of Liège. He was the son of Conrad I of Zähringen and Clemence of Luxembourg-Namur. A ...

(1135–1191), Catholic bishop, Crusader. *

Absalon Absalon (21 March 1201) was a Danish statesman and prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the bishop of Roskilde from 1158 to 1192 and archbishop of Lund from 1178 until his death. He was the foremost politician and church father of De ...

(1128–1201), Catholic archbishop, Crusader. * Joscius (d. 1202), Catholic archbishop, Crusader. * Reginald of Bar (fl. 1182–1216), Catholic bishop, Crusader. * Aubrey of Reims (fl. 1207–18), Catholic archbishop, Crusader. *

Arnaud Amalric Arnaud Amalric (; died 1225), also known as Arnaud Amaury, was a Cistercians, Cistercian abbot who played a prominent role in the Albigensian Crusade. It is purported that prior to the Massacre at Béziers, massacre of Béziers, Amalric, when aske ...

(d. 1225), Cistercian abbott, Crusader. * Bernardino de Escalante (1537 – after 1605), Catholic priest * Luka Ibrišimović (1620–1698), Francisian monk, Croatian spy and anti-Ottoman fighter in

Great Turkish War The Great Turkish War () or The Last Crusade, also called in Ottoman sources The Disaster Years (), was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League (1684), Holy League consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Polish–Lith ...

* Marko Mesić (c. 1640 – 1713) Croatian priest and anti-Ottoman fighter in

* John Murphy (1753 – c. 2 July 1798), Irish Catholic priest and one of the leaders of the

Irish Rebellion of 1798 The Irish Rebellion of 1798 (; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ''The Turn out'', ''The Hurries'', 1798 Rebellion) was a popular insurrection against the British Crown in what was then the separate, but subordinate, Kingdom of Ireland. The m ...

. Captured, tortured and executed by British Crown forces. * Jerónimo Merino (1769–1844) Roman Catholic priest and Spanish guerrilla commander during the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

. *

José María Morelos José María Teclo Morelos Pérez y Pavón () (30 September 1765 – 22 December 1815) was a Mexican Priesthood in the Catholic Church, Catholic priest, statesman and military leader who led the Mexican War of Independence movement, assuming it ...

(1765–1815), Roman Catholic priest, Mexican independentist commander. * José Félix Aldao (1785–1845), Dominican friar, General in the Argentine War. *

Antanas Mackevičius Antanas Mackevičius (; 26 June 1828 – 28 December 1863) was a Lithuanians, Lithuanian Roman Catholic priest who was one of the leaders and initiators of the January Uprising in Lithuania. Mackevičius was born to a family of Petty nobility, ...

(1828–1863), Lithuanian Catholic priest and one of the military commanders in the

Uprising of 1863 The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last in ...

. * Stanisław Brzóska (1832–1865), Polish Catholic priest, head chaplain and one of the generals in

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

. *

Georges Thierry d'Argenlieu Georges Thierry d'Argenlieu (), in religion Father Louis of the Trinity, OCD (7 August 1889 – 7 September 1964), was a Discalced Carmelite friar and priest, who was also a diplomat and French Navy officer and admiral; he became a major pe ...

(1889–1964),

Discalced Carmelite The Discalced Carmelites, known officially as the Order of the Discalced Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel () or the Order of Discalced Carmelites (; abbrev.: OCD; sometimes called in earlier times, ), is a Catholic mendicant ...

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendi ...

and priest, French naval officer, eventually admiral. As High Commissioner of the French Fourth Republic in the Far East after World War 2, set in motion the

First Indochina War The First Indochina War (generally known as the Indochina War in France, and as the Anti-French Resistance War in Vietnam, and alternatively internationally as the French-Indochina War) was fought between French Fourth Republic, France and Việ ...

. * Camilo Torres Restrepo (1929–1966), Colombian socialist guerrilla and Catholic priest. * Gaspar García Laviana (1941–1978), Catholic priest inspired by Liberation theology to join the Sandanista revolution as a guerrilla soldier. ;Anglicanism * William N. Pendleton Confederate General, Episcopal Priest,

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

graduate *

Leonidas Polk Lieutenant-General Leonidas Polk (April 10, 1806 – June 14, 1864) was a Confederate general, a bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana and founder of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Confederate States of America, which separat ...

(1806–1864), Confederate General,

graduate, Episcopal bishop of Louisiana * Charles Todd Quintard Confederate Army surgeon and chaplain *

James Kilbourne James Kilbourne (October 19, 1770April 9, 1850) was an American surveyor, War of 1812 veteran, politician from Ohio, and Episcopalian clergyman. He served two terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1813 to 1817. Early life and ...

Episcopal priest and volunteer colonel during the War of 1812 ;Other *The ''

tlatoani ''Tlahtoāni'' ( , "ruler, sovereign"; plural ' ) is a historical title used by the dynastic rulers of (singular ''āltepētl'', often translated into English as "city-state"), autonomous political entities formed by many pre-Columbian Nahuatl- ...

'', ruler of Nahuatl pre-Hispanic states, were high priests and military commanders. *

Dutty Boukman Dutty Boukman (or Boukman Dutty; died 7 November 1791) was a leader of the Haitian Revolution. Born to a Muslim family in Senegambia (present-day Senegal and Gambia), he was initially enslaved in Jamaica. He eventually ended up in Haiti, where h ...

(d. 1791), voodoo priest and Haitian Revolution leader.

References

Sources

* * {{cite book, first1=Béla K., last1= Király, author-link1=Béla K. Király, first2=Gunther E., last2= Rothenberg, author-link2=Gunther E. Rothenberg, title=War and Society in East Central Europe: The first Serbian uprising 1804-1813, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KV_fAAAAMAAJ, year=1982, publisher=Brooklyn College Press, isbn=978-0-930888-15-2

History

Legacy

Notable groups

Notable people

See also

References

Sources