The Council of Troyes was convened by

Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard of Clairvaux, Cistercians, O.Cist. (; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, Mysticism, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templar, and a major leader in the reform of the Benedictines through the nascent Cistercia ...

on 13 January 1129 in the city of

Troyes Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...

. The council, largely attended by French clerics, was assembled to hear a petition by

Hugues de Payens , commonly known in French as or ( – 24 May 1136), was the co-founder and first Grand Master of the Knights Templar. Origin and early life The Latin text of William of Tyre's ''History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea'', dated , calls him , ...

, head of 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 ...

Pope Honorius II Pope Honorius II (9 February 1060 – 13 February 1130), born Lamberto Scannabecchi,Levillain, pg. 731 was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 December 1124 to his death in 1130. Although from a humble background, ...

did not attend the council, sending the papal legate, Matthew, cardinal-bishop of Albano. The council addressed issues concerning the Templar Order and a dispute between the bishop of Paris and king of France.

Background

Baldwin II ceeding the Temple of Salomon to Hugues de Payens and Gaudefroy de Saint-Homer

Founded by Hugues de Payens in 1119, the Knights Templar had gained the backing of King

Baldwin II of Jerusalem Baldwin II, also known as Baldwin of Bourcq (; – 21August 1131), was Count of Edessa from 1100 to 1118, and King of Jerusalem from 1118 until his death. He accompanied Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwin of Boulogne to the Holy Land during the ...

at the

Council of Nablus The Council of Nablus was a council of ecclesiastic and secular lords in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, held on January 16, 1120. History The council was convened at Nablus by Warmund, Patriarch of Jerusalem, and King Baldwin II of Jerusalem. ...

in 16 January 1120. In 1126, Baldwin had commissioned two clerics to speak with Bernard of Clairvaux seeking papal recognition and a Rule for the Templar Order. Later, Baldwin sent Hugues to Europe to convince

Fulk of Anjou Fulk of Anjou (, or ''Foulques''; – 13 November 1143), also known as Fulk the Younger, was the king of Jerusalem from 1131 until 1143 as the husband and co-ruler of Queen Melisende. Previously, he was the count of Anjou as Fulk V from 1109 t ...

to marry his daughter Melisende and to raise an army for a crusade against Damascus. Hugues's other objectives were to gain papal recognition, recruit members for the Order, and establish a permanent Templar base in Europe. According to

William of Tyre William of Tyre (; 29 September 1186) was a Middle Ages, medieval prelate and chronicler. As Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tyre, archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from his predecessor, William I of Tyr ...

, at the time of the council of Troyes the Order had only 9 members.

Council

Bernard convened the council on 13 January 1129. The attendees, which were mainly French clerics, consisted of the archbishops Renaud of Reims and Henry of Sens, ten bishops, four

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

abbots, a number of other abbots, and the clerical scholars, Alberic of Reims and Fulger. Pope Honorius was not in attendance at the council, instead sending his papal legate, Matthew, cardinal-bishop of Albano.

Templar Order

The head of the Order, Hugues de Payen, petitioned the council for a ''Rule'' for the Templars. The council passed, with considerable influence from Bernard, the Templar rule, similar to that of

Rule of Saint Benedict The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' () is a book of precepts written in Latin by St. Benedict of Nursia (c. AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedict's Rule is summed up in the motto of th ...

. The Templar Rule consolidated the monastic tenets of poverty, chastity, obedience and added a vow to defend the Holy Land. The Rule was originally written in Latin, but was translated into French sometime after the

Council of Pisa The Council of Pisa (; , also nicknamed the , "secret meeting", by those who considered it illegitimate) was a controversial council held in 1409. It attempted to end the Western Schism by deposing both Benedict XIII (Avignon) and Gregory XII ...

in 1135. Due to a petition by Pope Honorius II and Patriarch Stephen of Jerusalem, the Templars were required wear a white habit. Seal of Templars

Disputes

The Council addressed disputes concerning Bishop Stephen of Paris and King Louis VI of France.

Aftermath

Following the Council of Troyes' decision concerning the Templar Order, the Templars gained popularity throughout France, Portugal, Spain and Provence. The influx of gold, silver, grants of properties, and men, allowed Hugues de Payens to appoint Payen de Montdidier to oversee France. Even nobility were joining the Order, with

Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona Ramon Berenguer III ''the Great'' (11 November 1082 – 23 January or 19 July 1131) was the count of Barcelona, Girona, and Ausona from 1086 (jointly with Berenguer Ramon II and solely from 1097), Besalú from 1111, Cerdanya from 1117, and cou ...

, being accepted as a companion member on 14 July 1130.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * *{{cite book , title=The Rule of the Templars: The French Text of the Rule of the Order of the Knights Templar , editor-first=J.M. , editor-last=Upton-Ward , publisher=The Boydell Press , year=1992 1129 in Europe Knights Templar 12th-century Catholic Church councils