André de Montbard (5 November ca 1097 or 1103 -17 October 1156) was the fifth (Grand) Master of the Knights Templar and also one of the early members, if not one of the founders of the Order. His life, which started and ended in Burgundy, France, shows a remarkable link between the Templars and the Cistercian Order. André even ended his life at Clairvaux as a Cistercian monk, together with another former Master, Evrard des Barres. What are the details?
André was born ca 5 November 1097 at Montbard castle in Burgundy as second and last son of the first Count of Montbard, Bernard I (ca 1040-1103) and his second wife Humberge de Tonnerre d'Angoulême (ca 1025-1068). He had an elder brother, Raynard de Montbard (1070-1120) who inherited the county on the death of his father in 1103. His elder halfsister was Aleth de Montbard (1060-1107). Aleth was the mother of Bernard of Clairvaux (1090- August 20, 1153), prominent Cistercian and abbot of Clairvaux abbey. This made André an uncle of Bernard.
André went to the Holy Land before 1120. There he belonged to the group of knights (according to the myth only nine) that had formed (around 1115-1118) a group of armed canons, related to the Holy Sepulcher, who set themselves the goal to defend pilgrims en route in the Holy Land. Their first post was Destroit Tower near Atlit. This group was officially acknowledged by local clergy and nobility at the Nablus council of 23 January 1120.
In 1120 it seems that it was he, accompanied by Godfrey of Saint-Omer, who carried a letter from Baldwin II of Jerusalem to Bernard of Clairvaux in which he asked him for help in obtaining an apostolic confirmation of the order and a precise rule of life for its members. This embassy failed to gain recognition for the fledgling Militia of the Temple by the Pope, but the latter nevertheless promulgated a Crusade bull, which encouraged Fulk V of Anjou to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
In 1124 or 1125, Baldwin II sent André de Montbard and Geoffroy de Saint-Omer to Europe again, again bearing a letter to Bernard de Clairvaux. This embassy to gain recognition for the newly created militia was just as unsuccessful. It would take another two years and the journey of Hugues de Payns to Europe to bring about recognition of the Order at the Council of Troyes, which would make it official and give it its Rule.
Within the Templar group André was seneschal, deputy and second-in-command to the (Grand) Master between 1148 and 1151, serving both Master Evrard des Barres (Master 1147 - 1151) and Master Bernard de Tremelay (Master since 1151). After the Siege of Ascalon in August 1153, where Bernard de Tremelay was killed, André, in his 50s, was elected (Grand) Master. That election took place late 1154 after a delay because of opposition to his candidature by king Louis VII of France who favoured Templar brother William II of Chanaleilles. As a favorite of the King, William's election would have allowed the King to control the Order. André is said to have accepted his nomination with the sole aim of countering the election of the favourite of the King of France.
He appears for the first time as Master of the Temple, on May 27, 1155, in an act of Baldwin III, King of Jerusalem, and in an identical act dated June 27, 1155 concerning a confirmation of exchange with Queen Mélisande of Jerusalem. On July 3, 1155 he is cited in an act of Amaury, Count of Ascalon.
His magisterium was not very active and in 1156, only two years after his election, he abandoned his office to retire to the abbey of Clairvaux, as had done Evrard des Barres in 1151. André died there in 1156, either on 17 January (according to the martyrology of Reims) or 17 October (according to the orbituary of Bonlieu). The earlier date seems to pertain to André relinquishing his post of Master to his successor Bertrand de Blanquefort (Master from January 1156 to 1169). This would mean that both former Grand Masters André de Montbard and Evrad des Barres may have lived together as Cistercian monks at Clairvaux between January 1156 and October 1156.
Sources templiers.org,Wikipedia, templiers.net and templarsnow.com. Illustration Seal of André de Montbard, Public Domain source Wikipedia
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