Knights Templar in Brittany, also known locally as the red monks.
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In 1127, the Order of the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ started fund-raising efforts throughout Western Europe so as to fund their crusading ambitions in the Holy Land. [1]
By 1129, these efforts enabled the Order to receive significant donations and political backing and secured the Church's official approval at the Council of Troyes.
It was during this time that the Order received donations from the Sovereign Duchy of Brittany, mainly related to lands around Retz. Duke Conan III, ceded property on the outskirts of the commercial city of Nantes and the capital, Rennes awarding market rights in Nantes. [2]
By 1139, Pope Innocent II had also granted the Order special privileges such as:
The subsequent Duke, Conan IV further donated property. This enabled the Order to construct castles, farms and even whole villages like Vildé-Guingalan. They cleared expanses of land in northern Brittany for crops and animal husbandry, cultivated vineyards, producing wine [3] and operating ovens and mills. They also promoted, fairs and public markets at Pléboulle and Les Bias. [4]
The increased competition triggered by the Orders commercial activities caused friction with local Breton leaders, required continual intervention, for example:
With the fall of Acre, in 1291 and loss of the Holy Land, much of the Orders’ rationale for existence was lost. The Church therefore wanted the Order to merge with the Knights Hospitallers. This proposal was rejected by the Order increasing its perceived arrogance. [5]
On 13 October 1307, King Philip IV of France had every Templar in his realms arrested and their properties confiscated. News of the charges levied against the Order was greeted with incredulity outside France, particularly in Brittany, England, Portugal and Aragon. [6] [7]
A tradition from the 15th century states that the French sent men to Nantes on 10 August 1308 to take possession of the Orders properties there, but were driven out of the city by a mob who declared that these properties did not belong to the King of France but to the Duke of Brittany. [8]
By March 1312, the Pope finally suppressed the Order completely and its remaining properties was transferred to the Hospitallers or confiscated by local rulers.
Allegations were used against the Order in Brittany as a pretext to seize property such as:
By May 1313, the Breton assets of the Order were eventually transferred to the Hospitallers; another religious military order. [9]
Many local legends exist surrounding the Order in Brittany but it is unlikely that they date from 12th Century. The traditions from the 17th century seem to have been ambivalent but by the 18th and 19th centuries, the Order became portrayed in a more negative light. [10]
The Order had become known as the red monks; a title not connected with the colour of their tunic but more with the devil, traditions depicting them as ungodly, arrogant or debauched such as:
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, also known as the Order of Solomon's Temple, the Knights Templar, or simply the Templars, was a Catholic military order, one of the most wealthy and popular of the Western Christian military orders. They were founded in 1119, headquartered on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and existed for nearly two centuries during the Middle Ages.
Jacques de Molay, also spelled "Molai", 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 1312. Though little is known of his actual life and deeds except for his last years as Grand Master, he is one of the best known Templars.
A military order is a Christian religious society of knights. The original military orders were the Knights Templar, the Knights Hospitaller, the Order of Saint James, the Order of Calatrava, and the Teutonic Knights. They arose in the Middle Ages in association with the Crusades, both in the Holy Land, the Baltic states, and the Iberian peninsula; their members being dedicated to the protection of pilgrims and the defence of the Crusader states. They are the predecessors of chivalric orders.
Constance was Duchess of Brittany from 1166 to her death in 1201 and Countess of Richmond from 1171 to 1201. Constance was the daughter of Duke Conan IV by his wife, Margaret of Huntingdon, a sister of the Scottish kings Malcolm IV and William I.
The Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem, also known as the Leper Brothers of Jerusalem or simply as Lazarists, was a Catholic military order founded by crusaders around 1119 at a leper hospital in Jerusalem, Kingdom of Jerusalem, whose care became its original purpose, named after its patron saint, Lazarus. It was recognised by King Fulk of Jerusalem in 1142 and canonically recognised as a hospitaller and military order of chivalry under the rule of Saint Augustine in the Papal bull Cum a Nobis Petitur of Pope Alexander IV in 1255. Although they were centred on their charism of caring for those afflicted with leprosy, the knights of the Order of Saint Lazarus notably fought in the Battle of La Forbie in 1244 and in the Defense of Acre in 1291. The titular seat was successively situated at Jerusalem, Saint-Jean-d'Acre and - after the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem - split in two main branches in Italy and in Château Royal de Boigny-sur-Bionne in France.
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Jerusalem, or Templars, was an Order product of the crusades founded in 1119.
The Knights Templar, full name The United Religious, Military and Masonic Orders of the Temple and of St John of Jerusalem, Palestine, Rhodes and Malta, is a fraternal order affiliated with Freemasonry. Unlike the initial degrees conferred in a regular Masonic Lodge, which only require a belief in a Supreme Being regardless of religious affiliation, the Knights Templar is one of several additional Masonic Orders in which membership is open only to Freemasons who profess a belief in Christianity. One of the obligations entrants to the order are required to declare is to protect and defend the Christian faith. The word "United" in its full title indicates that more than one historical tradition and more than one actual order are jointly controlled within this system. The individual orders 'united' within this system are principally the Knights of the Temple, the Knights of Malta, the Knights of St Paul, and only within the York Rite, the Knights of the Red Cross.
Langon is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France.
Alain Demurger is a modern French historian, and a leading specialist of the history of the Knights Templar and the Crusades.
Payns is a commune in the Aube department in north-central France.
Montmeyan is a commune (municipality), located in the department of Var, in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, southeastern France.
Montricoux is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Occitanie region in southern France. It is located along the banks of the Aveyron, between Nègrepelisse and Bruniquel. The written history of the commune dates back to the eighth century. The Château de Montricoux, built by the Knights Templar, now houses the Marcel-Lenoir Museum, which preserves 130 drawings, pastels, watercolors, oils, and frescoes by this artist, a resident of the town.
Romestaing is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne département in south-western France.
Hoël I of Brittany was an illegitimate son of Alan II and Judith. He was Count of Nantes and Duke of Brittany from 960 to 981.
Saint Edeyrn was a pre-congregational saint of Wales, related to Vortigern and the royal house of Powys and the brother of Saint Aerdeyrn and Elldeyrn. Edeyrn is the patron saint of Lannédern in France and Llanedeyrn in Wales, where he founded a monastery of over 300 people.
Ernest de Bouteiller was a French historian and politician.
Villeneuve Abbey, dedicated to Our Lady, was a Cistercian monastery at the present-day Les Sorinières, near Nantes in Pays de la Loire, France, founded in 1201 and dissolved in 1790, during the French Revolution.
The Commandery of Libdeau is a former Knights Templar commandery, founded before 1190. It is at Toul, in Lorraine, in the present Grand Est region of France.
Château Cramirat is a 12th-century Templar castle in the village of Sergeac, Dordogne (Nouvelle-Aquitaine), southwest France. A French national historic monument, the château is situated in the heart of the Vézère river valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Valley of Mankind.