The Church of the Holy Sepulcher was built under Constantine in the 4th century and destroyed by al-Hakim in 1009. Al-Hakim's son allowed Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos (1042-1055) to reconstruct the church, which was completed in 1048. Some accounts have it that shortly after the First Crusade when the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was reclaimed, so around 1100, Godfrey of Bouillon established the Canons Regular of the Holy Sepulcher under the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. Other sources argue that no canons of the Holy Sepulchre existed before 1114, when some canons regular who had adopted the Rule of St. Augustine were brought from the West and introduced into Jerusalem 1) 4)
Any way, around 1113 Pope Paschal II (1099-1118) recognised by a Papal bull the Canons, who were living according to the Rule of St. Augustine. This Rule emphasized communal living, pastoral care, and poverty, aligning with reform ideals from Western Europe. The Augustinian identity gave the canons a clear ecclesiastical structure within the Latin Church in the Crusader Kingdom. 4)
By a papal bull dated 10 January 1143 Pope Celestine II (1143-1144) confirmed the church and the Canons Regular of the Holy Sepulchre in all the possessions they had received from Godfrey of Bouillon, King Baldwin I, and other benefactors. Mention is also made in the bull of several churches in the Holy Land and elsewhere belonging to the canons, such as those on Mount Zion and Mount Olivet (Mount of Olives). 2) 3) 4)
The canons regular of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher were members of a religious community that lived a communal life under the Augustinian Rule, resembling monks in many ways, apart from that they did not live in an isolated cloister but near a major church. There they focused on liturgical prayer and community life, and served as clergy in the Church, combining monastic spirituality with pastoral duties. The canons regular took the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. 4)
It must be stressed that before its founding between 1244 and 1256, the Augustinian Order as such did not yet exist. There were religious brothers who found guidance by the instructions found in several writings of Augustine of Hippo (5th century, nowadays Annaba in Algeria), especially in De opere monachorum, mentioned in ancient codices of the eighth or ninth century as the "Rule of St. Augustine". This more or less composed Augustinian rule was in use by a wide range of groups across early and high medieval Europe. There is no historical evidence that the Augustinians were in any way founded by Augustine himself. Rather, the friars invented these links after the Order was threatened with suppression in 1274 at the Second Council of Lyons. 5, 6)
While in early Medieval times the Augustinian rule was overshadowed by other Rules, particularly that of Saint Benedict, this system of life was applied widely for cathedral clergy in various urban locations throughout Europe for centuries, where they became known as Canons regular (i.e. cathedral clergy living in community according to a rule). Augustine's Rule also appears in practice in the eleventh century as a basis for the reform of monasteries and cathedral chapters. As was the case with the canons that were given the responsibility to serve at the unique Church of the Holy Sepulcher at Jerusalem. 4)
Pope Alexander IV (1254-1261) freed the order from the jurisdiction of the bishops. Pope Pius V (1566-1572) placed the Augustinians among the mendicant ("begging") orders and ranked them fourth after the Carmelites. Since the end of the 13th century the sacristan of the Papal Palace was always to be an Augustinian friar. 5)
Many of the above aspects of the Augustinian history and tradition echo the onset of the Templar movement. Two more aspects in their practise resemble later Templar life. Regarding the use of property or possessions, the Augustinians did not make a virtue of poverty, but of sharing. Furthermore, the order has, in particular, spread internationally the veneration of the Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of Good Counsel (Mater boni consilii), similar to the Cistercians, and in their wake the Templars, veneration of the Virgin. 5) 6)
There is an even more direct link between the Augustinian Canons of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and the Templars. During the half decade before their official foundation around 1120, Hugues de Payens and his companion proto-Templars lived as associates, if not as members, of these Augustinian canons. So the Augustinian Rule was the first Rule of the Templars. The Templar Primitive Rule, inspired by the Cistercian Rule, was only introduced a decade later, on 13 January 1129 at the Council of Troyes. 7) 8)
This blog is original work of TemplarsNow, combining quotes and other information gathered from 1) article on the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Wikipedia; 2) Bernard Hamilton (1980) The Latin Church in the Crusader States: The Secular Church, Variorum, 1980; 3) Christopher MacEvitt (2007), The Canons of the Holy Sepulchre and the Rule of Saint Augustine, Studies in Church History, Cambridge University Press; 4) article on the Canons Regular of the Holy Sepulcher, Wikipedia; 5) article on The Order of Saint Augustine on Wikipedia; 6) article on Augustine of Hippo on Wikipedia; 7) Malcolm Barber (1994), The New Knighthood: A History of the Order of the Temple, Cambridge University Press; 8) Udo Arnold (1994), The Rule and Development of the Templars” in The Military Orders, Ashgate. The illustration shows a painting by Piero della Francesca (ca 1455-1460) of an Augustinian Monk, photo www.aiwaz.net, source Wikipedia, Public Domain.
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