On the Rules of the Order
Chapter 6 of the work “From the History of the Knights of the Temple”.
Prepared by the Noble + Brother Wolfgang AKUNOV
Crimes (theft, murder, mutiny, flight, blasphemy, cowardice in the face of the enemy, the disclosure of the decrees of the Chapter to a “brother” not admitted to take part in the sittings of the Chapter, simony and sodomy) were punished by expulsion from the Order of the Temple, whereas lesser offences (disobedience towards superiors, slander against a “brother”, the striking of a “brother” or of another Christian, consorting with women of ill repute, the refusal of food and drink to a “brother”) were punished by temporary deprivation of the right to wear the habit of the Order. Expulsion from the Order of the Temple meant for the exile the loss of his means of livelihood, for, upon entering the Order, a Templar brought into it all his possessions, which were never returned to him.
He who was deprived of the mantle of the Order was obliged to labour together with the slaves, to eat upon the bare ground and not to dare to touch arms. Even after the mantle of the Order had been restored to him, he could never again attain in the Order of the Temple the highest office, nor give testimony against any of the “brothers” of the Order.
Every man who wished to enter the Order of the Templars as a full member (of the “white mantle”) had to be of excellent health, to be born of a lawful marriage and of a knightly lineage. He also had to satisfy the following requirements:
- not to be married,
- not to be excommunicated from the Church,
- not to be bound by oath to any other religious Order, and
- not to seek admission into the Order of the Temple by means of promises or gifts.
Before the solemn reception into the Order of the Temple of a candidate who had successfully completed the year of preliminary trial (of obedience, or novitiate), 2 “brother-knights” led him into a separate chamber adjoining the church of the Order for a conversation concerning the seriousness of his intentions and the burden of those duties which he was about to take upon himself. If, notwithstanding all, the candidate remained firm in his resolve, then, with the permission of the Chapter, he was led into the church, was sworn upon the Holy Gospel and, with the observance of solemn ceremonies, was clothed in the white mantle of the Order.
It was most strictly forbidden to depart from the Order of the Temple of one's own will. If a Templar who had left the Order of the Templars wished to return to it again, he had to stand, in all weathers and with uncovered head, at the entrance to the “House of the Order” (the “Temple”), and, bending the knee before every Templar entering and departing, to implore pardon with tears.
After a certain time had passed, the Almoner offered the penitent outcast to strengthen himself with food and drink and reported to the Chapter that the apostate “brother” prayed them to show mercy and to receive him back into the Order of the Temple. In the event of the Chapter's consent, the penitent supplicant, stripped to the waist (or, in the language of the modern army, “bare-torsoed”) and with a hempen rope (a “cord”) about his neck, appeared before the assembly of the Chapter, and upon his knees, with tears of heartfelt contrition, implored admission and declared his readiness to undergo the most severe punishment. If he thereafter brought forth “fruit worthy of repentance” during the appointed term, the Chapter returned to him his former habit of the Order.
As has already been said above, the Grand Master of the Templars took important decisions not alone, but only after consulting the “General Chapter” (in especially urgent cases, the Convent of Jerusalem, that is, the general assembly of all the Templars serving in Jerusalem), and only with their consent could he declare war, conclude peace, carry out commercial transactions and the like.
The General Chapter consisted of the highest officers of all the domains of the Order and of the most experienced “brother-knights”, summoned to the council by the Grand Master. This Chapter was convoked only in especially important cases, on account of the extraordinary expenses connected with it. The affairs of the Order concerning a single province were discussed at the sitting of the provincial chapter under the presidency of the preceptor of that province.