The
grand master 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 ...
was the supreme commander of the holy order, starting with founder
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 , ...
. Some held the office for life while others resigned the office to pass the rest of their life in monasteries or diplomacy. Grand masters often led their knights into battle on the front line and the numerous occupational hazards of battle made some tenures very short. Out of 23 grand masters at least four were
killed in action
Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. The United States Department of Defense, for example, ...
.
Each country had its own master, and the masters reported to the grand master. He oversaw all of the operations of the order, including both the military operations in the
Holy Land
The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...
and Eastern Europe, and the financial and business dealings in the order's infrastructure of Western Europe. The grand master controlled the actions of the order but he was expected to act the same way as the rest of the knights. After
Pope Innocent II
Pope Innocent II (; died 24 September 1143), born Gregorio Papareschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 February 1130 to his death in 1143. His election as Pope was controversial, and the first eight years o ...
issued the
bull
A bull is an intact (i.e., not Castration, castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e. cows proper), bulls have long been an important symbol cattle in r ...
''
Omne datum optimum'' on behalf of the Templars in 1139, the grand master was obliged to answer only to him.
List of grand masters
Timeline
See also
*
List of Knights Templar
This is a list of some members of the Knights Templar, a powerful Christian military order during the time of the Crusades. At peak, the Order had approximately 20,000 members.
The Knights Templar were led by the Grand Master, originally based ...
*
List of grand masters of the Knights Hospitaller
This is a list of grand masters of the Knights Hospitaller, including its continuation as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta after 1798. It also includes unrecognized "anti-grand masters" and lieutenants or stewards during vacancies.
In lists ...
*
*
Grand Master of the Teutonic Order
The grand master of the Teutonic Order (; ) is the supreme head of the Teutonic Order. It is equivalent to the Grand master (order), grand master of other Military order (religious society), military orders and the superior general in non-milit ...
*
Grand Master of the Order of Saint Lazarus
The grand master of the Order of Saint Lazarus was the leader of an order of chivalry that was established by the Holy See in the 12th century. A number of Masters of the order, eventually termed Grand Masters, have been listed by previous histo ...
Notes
Footnotes
References
Bibliography
*
{{Papal orders, decorations, and medals
Knights Templar, Grand Masters
Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a military order of the Catholic faith, and one of the most important military orders in Western Christianity. They were founded in 11 ...