The Templar church at Chamberaud, Creuse, France

Perhaps founded in 1193, the Templar commandery of Chamberaud (Creuse, France) stood on the natural promontory of the present bourg (village center). The oldest proven date relating to the existence of the House of the Temple of Chamberaud dates back to around 1258. The annexes of Chamberaud at the time of the Templars were Fransèches, La Pouge, Lépinas and Montbut.

Spiritual and physical war in the Middle Ages

"Despite the obvious difference between the Poor Knights of Christ and Bernard ’s Cistercian brothers (...) the intellectual continuity between these two organizations was considerable. Bernard viewed both as expressions of Christian ideals which provided a model for their contemporary peers.Cistercians were spiritual warriors, and the Templars were physical warriors fighting a fundamentally spiritual war.

OSMTH Easter Message 2020

Easter Message from the Grand Master and Grand Commander.

Brothers and Sisters,

As we near the end of Lent, and approach Easter Sunday, our World continues to struggle with the COVID- 19 pandemic. And we face other challenges, to name a few: inequality and bias, lack of water in many nations, continued wars with increased refugees and natural disasters. But, amidst this strife, we have hope and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ for a better life, and with our prayers through this to God the Father, we will be delivered from this strife. Isn’t it great though, that even in these most difficult of times, we have so much to be thankful for, again as blessing from God. We still must rejoice now and at all times of the year to show our Father how thankful we are for his Son, and all our other spiritual and material blessings, and the fact that we will overcome all adversity through Him. For all that we have, for all that we are, and for all we can be, we give Him the glory, now and forever.

David Appleby GCTJ
Grand Master
George MacLean GCTJ
Grand Commander

source OSMTH Facebook

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Scribal crusading as medieval propaganda

Propaganda is of all times. Today social media are used. In the times of the Crusades letters and travel reports were common, which were hand copied and distributed by monks.

Reading on Jerusalem and celebrating its first Crusader conquest in 1099 was recommended, as in doing so the the glory of the event and God's help therewith would be magnified. As such this monastic praise would enhance the glorious reverberations from the event itself and support the crusading movement. In this way the transmission and reception of First Crusade letters represented a form of “scribal crusading. ”

Diet of the Knights Templar: key to health and a long life

It is striking to note that many Templars lived a long life. Hugues de Payens, one of the founding fathers, died at the age of 66. Jacques the Molay, the last Grand Master, and Geoffrey de Charney, preceptor of Normandy, were executed at the age of 67 and 63, respectively. Official documents of the Vatican suggest that many of the Templars lived longer compared to other people of the Middle Ages, whose life expectancy was in average 25 to 40 years. At the time this exceptional longevity was attributed to a divine gift. However, the strict observance of specific lifestyle habits conferring beneficial effects, may explain the reasons for their greater life expectancy.

The Lament of the Templars

It was in May that I was knighted In the Commandery of Montigny d'Allier On this clear day my joy could not be compared But to that of lovers who have their hearts filled When I received the immaculate cloak from the Order Marked with the red cross, on the embroidered shoulder The Grand Master, here, deigned to speak to me "Be faithful and ardent because you are Templar"

Relics of the Knights Templar - saints and veneration

"Saints or angels were an inspiration for Templars and Hospitallers. Particularly popular among the military orders were female martyr saints. Templar Peñíscola, for example, held some relics of Saint Margaret and Saint Mary Magdalene, among others.  Depictions of Saint Catherine also decorate the walls of many Templar churches, such as the ones in Metz (France) and Chwarszczany (Poland). There frescoes of the Holy Virgins, including Saint Catherine and Saint Barbara, originally commissioned by the Templars, were later refreshed by the Hospitallers in testament to their enduring popularity.

March 18, 2020, the 706th anniversary of the death of Jacques de Molay

On March 18, 2020 we commemorate the 706th anniversary of the death of the last official Grand Master of the Knights Templar, Jacques de Molay.

De Molay, born in 1244 was put to death in Paris by the King of France on 18 March 1314. He was the 23rd and last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, leading the Order from 20 April 1292 until it was dissolved by order of Pope Clement V in 1307.

St Bernard's ca 1130 letter reworded for modern Templars

The Liber ad milites templi de laude novae militiae (Latin for 'Book to the Knights of the Temple, in praise of the new knighthood') was a work written by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090 – August 20, 1153)  between 1120 and 1139. It appears to intend to boost the morale of the fledgling Knights Templar in Jerusalem. In the early 1120s, some of the first Templars were having doubts about the idea of an order of monks devoted to military combat in the Crusades, worrying about whether there was a genuine theological justification for monk-warriors.

Can this 12th century letter be still of value today, especially for modern Knights Templar? Robert S. Magnum thinks it can.