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CHRONOLOGY OF THE MILITARY ORDER 1095 Pope Urban II called the First Crusade at Clermont in France. 1099 In July Jerusalem was conquered by the Crusaders. 1100 The Hospitaler Order of St. John of Jerusalem was founded. 1113 Pope Pascal II recognized the Hospitalers. 1118 Hugh of Payns (Champagne) and Godfrey of Saint-Omer (Picardy) formed a religious community to protect pilgrims. Taking monastic vows nine knights placed themselves under the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Warmund of Picquigny. Baldwin II, king of Jerusalem, provided them with quarters in part of his palace, (al-Aqsa Mosque) thought to be remains of Solomon's Temple. The King charged them with maintaining, "as far as they could, the roads and highways against the ambush of thieves and attackers, especially in regard to the safety of pilgrims." They became known as: The Knights of the Temple. 1126 With a delegation of knights and Baldwin II, Hugh of Payns traveled to France, seeking aid from the Cistercian abbot, Bernard of Clairvaux, in obtaining papal recognition and in developing a "rule of life." 1129 At the Council of Troyes the Order of the Temple was recognized and a Rule was approved, written under the guidance of Bernard and based on the Benedictine model. Known as The Latin Rule, it contained 76 articles. The white mantle of the Cistercians was adopted to be worn by the professed knights as symbolic of loyalty and purity of life. Pope Honorius II (1124-30) approved the recognition. Hugh of Payns was chosen as the first Grand Master. The Order of the Temple rapidly spread throughout Europe. 1130 Around this date Bernard wrote De laude novae militae. in which he described the Templars as "a new type of order in the Holy Places": a mix of knightly and monastic life. The Order of St. Lazarus was founded in Jerusalem with links to the Templars. 1136 The death of Hugh of Payns. Robert of Craon (Burgundy) became the second Grand Master. 1139 Pope Innocent II (1130-43) in the bull, Omne datum optimum brought the Templars under papal authority, providing them with privileges and exemptions that made the Templars an autonomous corporate body and allowed them to secure an economic base for financing their military activities. They were charged with defending the Church against all enemies of the Cross. 1144 Pope Celestine II (1143-1144) issued the bull: Milites Templi, adding more privileges, allowing the Templars to collect their own funds. 1145 Pope Eugenius III (1145-53) called the Second Crusade. He issued the bull: Militia Dei, allowing the Templars to have their own churches and priests exempt from Episcopal control. Subsequent popes would reissued these bulls, adding further privileges. 1146 Pope Eugenius III authorized the Templars to add the red cross on the left breast of their tunics and the shoulder of their mantles, symbolizing willingness to shed their blood and die for the Faith. 1150 The Templars acquired their first castle at Gaza. 1160 By this date various knightly orders had been founded in the Spanish kingdoms, such as the orders of Alcantara, Calatrava and Santiago. 1163 The Retrais et etablissements de Temple consisting of some 675 additional articles was added to the rule, covering the conventual life, defining the hierarchical status, regulating the chapters, election of the grand master, determining the penance and punishments for violations of the rule and statutes and admission to the Order. Pope Alexander III (1158-81) issued a Bull recognizing the amended rule. The following motto was inscribed on the Templars' black and white standard: Non nobis, Domine, non nobis sed nomini tuo da gloriam. The seal showed two knights on horseback (one as a soldier, the other a pilgrim) with the inscription: Sigillum militum Christi. When this amended rule was translated into French it became known as The French Ancient Rule. By the mid 13th century an Aragonese translation known as The Catalan Rule became accepted in the Iberian kingdoms, requiring the Templars to swear fealty to their rulers unlike elsewhere in Europe. Spanish and Portuguese Templars limited their fighting against Islam to the Iberian peninsula. 1187 Saladin defeated the Crusaders at the battle of Hattin, resulting in the loss of Jerusalem. Over 200 Templars died. Pope Gregory VIII (1187) called the Third Crusade. The Hospitalers and Templars established themselves on the island of Cyprus. The Templars developed a naval force. 1191 The port of Acre was captured by the Third Crusade. It became the Templar headquarters. 1198 The Teutonic Knights founded. 1200 By now the establishment of a network of preceptories within Europe allowed the Templars to become a major European economic power with a reputation for providing reliable, honest and efficient financial services. The temples in London and Paris became treasuries patronized by the rulers of England and France. The Templars were becoming pioneers of international banking. 1244 The battle of La Forbie as a Templar disaster. 1250 At the battle of Mansurah in Egypt Louis IX of France and the Templars suffered a disastrous defeat. 1271 The Mamluk sultan of Egypt, Baibars, captured the major fortresses of the Hospitalers (Chastel-Blanc), of the Templars (Krak) and of the Teutonic Knights (Montfort) in Syria. 1291 With the fall of Acre to the Mamluks, Cyprus became the Templar military headquarters. The Templars evacuated their great castle of 'Atlit, for all practical purposes ending their presence in Palestine. 1292 James of Molay (Jacques de Molay) became Grand Master. 1300 By now the Templars had failed to justify their continued existence as a military order, instead they choose to pursue their economic interests, allowing enemies jealousy of their wealth to begin accusing them of corruption and blaming them for the loss of Palestine. 1305 Raymon Lull wrote his Liber de fine, in which he recommended that the Hospitalers and Templars be fused into one military order. 1307 Already Edward I and Edward II had violated the Templar temple in London. Philip IV of France, heavily in debt, saw the opportunity. Rumors circulating of Templar corruption were turned into fact. Philip ordered the arrest of all Templars in France, turning them over to the inquisition. Under pressure Pope Clement V (1305-14) agreed to an investigation. The papal bull, Pastoralis Praeeminentiae, ordered the arrest of the Templars in the Christian West. 1311 Except in France and areas under French dominance the charges against the Templars were not substantiated. The Templar crisis forced the Pope to call a council. 1312 The Council of Vienne found the charges against the Templars lacking merit. On his own authority Pope Clement V issued a bull , Vox in excelso, dissolving the Templars. A second bull, Ad proviendan, turned over Templar property to the Hospitalers, partly to be used to pay pensions to ex-Templars. In Scotland the Bull was not promulgated since the King, Robert the Bruce, was under excommunication. 1314 Philip IV ordered the execution of James of Molay and Geoffrey of Charnay. They were burned in Paris on March 18. At the battle of Bannockburn the Templars appeared to have played a significant role in the Scottish victory. The King of Scotland fused the Templars with the Hospitalers, to be known as the Order of the Temple and of St. John. This order was suppressed during the religious revolution of the 16th century. 1317 In the Spanish kingdoms the Templars were absorbed into the established military orders. The Portuguese King, Deniz (Dionysius), founded the Order of Christ for the Templars. The Order acquired papal recognition in 1319. 1456 Pope Calixtus III (1455-1458) granted to the Order of Christ the ecclesiastical jurisdiction for the Portuguese colonies in Africa and Asia. 1571 The Templar archives in Cyprus, now in the possession of the Hospitalers, appeared to have been destroyed by the Ottoman Turks. 1660 The Order of Lazarus was restored. In France by King Henry IV (1589-1610) as The Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and of St. Lazarus; in Italy by the pope as the Order of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus with the duke of Savoy as the hereditary Grand Master. 1715 After becoming regent of France, Philip, the Duke of Orleans, became involved in the military orders within France. His legitimate son became the Grand Master of the Order of Mount Carmel and Lazarus, while an illegitimate son became a Knight Hospitaler and Grand Prior for the Order in France. The "restorers" of the Order of the Temple in 1804 will claim that the Templars had survived after 1314 with secret grand masters, including the Duke of Orleans. According to them the Templars now ended their hidden existence, holding a Convent General at Versailles that issued the Statutes of 1705. 1717 In London Freemasonry began its institutional history with the combination of four small lodges into the Grand Lodge. 1730 Scottish Freemasonry had spread to France as a political force dedicated to the restoration of the Stuarts as rulers of England and Scotland. 1736 Andrew Michael Ramsay, a Scottish Freemason in Paris , delivered a speech in which he claimed that Masonry began in the Holy Land among the crusaders. Now Masonic lodges began to adopt rituals and symbols associated with the Hospitalers and the Templars. 1750 In the fifties a German nobleman, Baron Karl von Hund, who had associated with Masonic leaders in Paris, claimed a "new" form of Freemasonry, directly descendant from the Templars His Strict Observance brought much of the occult, the magical and the mystical into Freemasonry, much of which was claimed to have come from the Templars. To support this claim, he provided a list of "secret grand masters" centered on Scotland, who ruled the Order, now gone underground, since the execution of James of Moley. 1791 During the French Revolution, the Order of Mount Carmel and Lazarus and the Hospitaler Grand Priory were abolished. 1804 Doctor Bernard-Raymond Fabre-Palaprat "restored" an Order of the Temple. He claimed discovery of documents, including not only a list of "secret" grand masters since 1314 to the French Revolution, but the Larmenius' Charter of Transmission from 1324 and The Statutes of 1705; all to prove that the Order had legitimate continuation from the medieval Templars. Fabre-Palaprat was recognized as "the 45th Grand Master." Napoleon Bonaparte, newly proclaimed Emperor, supported this restoration. Efforts were made to recruit members from the nobility and notables of the Empire. 1808 This new Order of the Temple revealed its existence publicly at a grand ceremony at the Church of St. Paul in Paris, designed to honor James of Molay and other martyrs of the Order. 1810 The success of recruitment resulted in Commanderies and Priories being established throughout Napoleon's European Empire. 1811 A schism erupted, when Fabre-Palaprat revised the Statutes to give himself complete authority over the order. The Duke of Choiseul led the dissenters. 1812 A compromise was reached which allowed Fabre-Palaprat to resign as Grand Master and the Duke of Choiseul to be chosen as the new Grand Master. Fabre-Palaprat, regretting his resignation, was able by political maneuvering to return as Grand Master. Once more the Templars split, with Fabre-Palaprat's adversaries choosing Charles-Louis Le Peletier, Count of Aunay as Grand Master. 1814 The Bourbon King, Louis XVIII gave the Fabre-Palaprat Templars his royal protection, fearing various groups opposed to the restored monarchy. This encouraged a reunion of the Templars with the resignation of the count of Aunay for the good and peace of the order. It appeared that the British admiral and francophile Sir William Sidney-Smith, who had fought in the naval war against Napoleon, played an important role in this reconciliation. He seemed to have had a Masonic connection with the Rose Croix, heading a Grand Priory in England. 1820 Sir Walter Scott wrote Ivanhoe, which along with The Talisman further "disfigured" the medieval Templars, portraying them as greedy, lecherous, tainted with heresy, and subverting the crusades for their own ends. His works would have a major impact on the English and American view of the Templars. 1825 The Grand Priory of Belgium was founded in Paris due to the efforts of the Marquis Albert-Francois du Chasteleer, a close friend of Fabre-Palaprat. 1830 Fabre-Palaprat and French Templars supported the revolution against Charles X, who had threatened to return absolute monarchy to France. Templars also supported the Belgian revolt against Dutch control, resulting in the independence of Belgium as a kingdom in 1831. 1833 Having adopted certain Johannite beliefs, Fabre-Palaprat began to impose them on the French Templars, further changing the rules and rituals. When he proclaimed himself the Sovereign Pontiff and Patriarch of the Johannite church and demanded all the Templars accept his "new faith" the result was another schism. 1837 In poor health Fabre-Palaprat retired to the south of France. Dissident Templars, seized the opportunity and established an Executive Commission that called for a Convent General. 1838 The death of Fabre-Palaprat in February cleared the way for reform and reunion. The Convent General met and formed a new Executive Commission. Since the Statutes of 1705 had been "corrupted" under Fabre-Palaprat, the Convent General approved a new set of documents that removed the Johannite influence and "renewed the knightly traditions and obedience to the Catholic Church." A dispute over leadership rose, when Sir William Sidney-Smith, the English Grand Prior, was chosen as Grand Master. French Templars, who refused to recognize him (perhaps because of his Masonic connection), continued to choose regents, beginning with the Count of Moreton and of Chabrillan. Despite the internal divisions there were some 78 Priories and 400 Commanderies spread across Europe, northern Africa, and South America. Reacting to the confusion in Paris, non-French priories became autonomous. 1845 During the regency of Jean-Marie Raoul, The Prince de Chimay was sent to Rome to gain papal recognition for the Templars. Pope Gregory XVI (1831-1846) required that all Templars be Roman Catholics. Still talks continued until ended by the Revolutions of 1848. 1853 The Regent, Narcisse Valleray, requested official recognition from Emperor Napoleon III. The Order was recognized and its members allowed to wear their insignia within France. 1865 The Belgium Grand Priory split, with the Catholics forming the Priory of St. John d'Hiver, and the "Secular" Templars established the Priory of the Trinity of the Tower, that adopted the Strict Observant Freemasonry of the Baron von Hund. 1868 Due to the inactivity of the French Templars under the Regent, A.G.M. Vernois, Prosper Beechman, the Belgian Grand Prior tried to restored the International Order despite serious divisions between the English, French and German priories. He convoked a Chapter General that recognized him as the Guardian of the Grand Magisterium of the Order. The War of 1870 caused a rupture between the French and German priories. 1877 After the death of Vernois, Felix Champion de Villeneuve assumed the title Gardien du Souverain Magistere since no agreement could be reached to hold a Chapter General to choose a new Regent. 1890 By this year the Catholic Priory had vanish, while the "Secular" Priory Continued. 1894 An International Secretariat of the Templars was established in Brussels to exercise the Magisterial authority. 1930 The last chapter of the Trinity of the Tower was held with the Prior Emile Briffaut proposing the abolition of the priory. Two years later the documents associated with the Palaprien Templar Rite were delivered to Brussels. 1932 Nine Templars re-established the Grand Priory of Belgium. At the first chapter, the Grand Prior was chosen along with the name: The Sovereign and Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem. 1933 Members of the Belgian Grand Priory restored an international association of Templar Grand Priories. A Magisterial Council was formed with Theodore Covias as Regent. 1934 Emile-Isaac Vandenberg became Regent and Guardian of the Order. He devoted his energy and talent to revitalizing the Templars across Europe. This included the Grand Priory of Switzerland. 1942 Fearing the suppression of the Templars during the occupation of Belgium in the Second World War, Vandenberg transferred the archives of the order to the care of the Portuguese Grand Prior, Antonio Campello de Sousa Fontes. 1945 After the War's end the Regent, Vandenberg, requested the return of the Archives, but de Sousa Fontes ignored all requests that quickly became demands. When Vandenberg died suddenly from an accident, de Sousa Fontes assumed the title of Regent. The result was a divided International Order. 1947 Statutes were issued by de Sousa Fontes, which appeared to be an updating of the Statutes of 1705. It remains unclear whether they were approved by a Convent General. 1948 His son, Fernando Campello de Sousa Fontes, was designated as heir and Regent. 1959 Spanish Templars under Prince Guillermo de Grau-Moctezuma-Rife separated from the Order. 1960 Fernando Campello de Sousa Fontes became Regent upon the death of his father. He adopted the title of Prince Regent. 1962 The American Grand Priory, having evolved out of the Autonomous Grand Priory of Switzerland, was established and incorporated under the State of New Jersey. The Prince Regent, de Sousa Fontes, recognized the American Grand Priory. 1964 Peter II, former king of Yugoslavia, became the Royal Patron of the American Grand Priory. After his death in 1970, this position remained vacant. 1970 Grand Priors, who had not accepted the de Sousa Fontes observance met in Paris to restore an international association. At the General Chapter Antoine Zdrojewski was elected as Grand Master. .....The Prince Regent, de Sousa Fontes, called his own Convent General, which met in three sessions: Paris; Chicago, Illinois in 1971; and Tomar, Portugal in 1973. Various resolutions were passed at the Chicago session, which made the order "universal and not limited to any one nationality or language," recognized Latin as "the official language " of the order, and authorized a search for "a member of a hereditary house for Grand Master..." In the final session it was agreed that the seat of the order would be the residence of the Grand Master or Prince Regent, and that the word Catholic be replaced by Christian, making the Templars a "Christian Order." 1973 Antoine Zdrojewski carried out a reorganization of his Templar observance and a reform of the Statutes. Each member Grand Priory was recognized as autonomous. In 1975 a Belgian Grand Chapter accepted the reformed Statutes. (Zdrojewski was a member of the Polish Resistance in Occupied France and after 1945 a minister of the Polish Government in exile.) 1986 Zdrojewski issued a Charter of Transmission that gave authority to George Lamirand, the Grand Seneschal, and designated him as his successor. 1987 The International Federative Alliance (IFA) of Templar priories was formed to promote cooperation and unity. Spanish and Portuguese priories provided the main support. 1990 The Prince Regent issued a new set of Statutes. Article 11 allowed him to become automatically Grand Master, if a Grand Master was not elected within 903 days (pendant 301 jours X 3) The Prince Regent could also designate his successor for life (a vie). He assumed the title of Grand Master. At a Secundus Conventus Magistralis, called to meet at La Toja in Galicia, Spain, these Statutes of 1990 were to be considered as amendments for those of 1947. 1993 At a Convent General in Santiago, Spain, (Toja) the Prince Regent presented a revised set of statutes, that were never approved. 1995 In June an International Conclave of Templars met in London. Its purpose was to make recommendations towards resolving the issue of the Prince Regent's status and for a November meeting of the Grand Convent in Salzburg, Austria. Salzburg I: When the Prince Regent rejected the London Proposal about his future status, it was agreed to withdraw all recognition of him as head of the SMOTJ. A Grand Council of Grand Priors was formed to administer the Order until a Grand Master could be elected. The statutes were to be revised and updated. The British Grand Prior, Sir Roy Redgrave, was chosen to chair the Grand Council. Dr. Werner Rind, the German Grand Prior, was appointed at Secretary General with administrative duties. Candidates for Grand Master were to be identified, including Princess Elizabeth of Ysenburg and Buedingen, Princess of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glucksburg, Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein, Stormarn, Ditmars and Oldenburg, consented to become the Royal Patron of the American Priory of St. Michael and St. George. Salzburg II: In November the Grand Priors met to consider a revised set of statutes, candidates for Grand Master, and recommendations for cooperation and eventual unity with priories that had not accepted the Prince Regent's authority. Unfortunately the meeting indecisively. 1997 In May, the American Grand Priory met in Chicago, partly to consider the impact of Salzburg II for the future. Priority will be given to improving its own operation and pursuing various cultural and humanitarian activities. Opportunities for future international associations will be examined with care.
Notes from the Author:
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