Knights Templar in 250 Facts

[RolandVT]

The indisputable fact is: the (alleged) co-founder and first Grand Master of Knights Templar Hugues de Payens is a total, complete enigma. Nothing, absolutely nothing is known about him prior to 1119 when he appeared out of nowhere…, approached King Baldwin II of Jerusalem and Warmund, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and proposed creating a monastic Catholic religious order for the protection of these pilgrims.

And – unbelievably – he got everything what he asked for… and more. King and Patriarch convened council of local ecclesiastical and secular lords in Nablus; this Council officially recognized the order of Templars and king… granted the Templars a headquarters in a wing of the royal palace on the Temple Mount in the captured Al-Aqsa Mosque. The most coveted piece of real estate in the city.

There is no known early biography of Hugues de Payens in existence, nor do later writers cite such a biography. None of the sources on his later career give details of his early life… even the Templar archives. The latter is astounding – to put it mildly – as Hugues de Payens was the official co-founder and the first Grand Master of the order who ruled for seventeen years.

Information is therefore scanty and uncertain; theories about his early life depend on documents that may or may not refer to the same individual, and partly on histories written decades or even centuries after his death.

The earliest source that details a geographical origin for the later Grand Master is the Old French translation of William of Tyre’s History of Events Beyond the Sea, dated to around 1200 (over six decades after his death).

This document calls him “Hugh of Payens near Troyes“, a reference to the village of Payns, about 10 km from Troyes, in Champagne. However, many historians do not find this document convincing and looked for Hugh’s origins in other places.

Even his real name is not known for sure: Latin sources call him Hugo de Paganis. Some of his earliest purported appearances in documents are under the name Hugo de Peans, or in Italian as Ugo de’ Pagani or Ugo dei Pagani. In later French works his name usually appears as Hugues de Payens or Payns, often translated into English as Hugh of Payens or Hugh de Payns.

Remarkably, Ugo de’ Pagani and Hugues de Payens are literal translations of each other, both literally meaning ‘Hugh of the Pagans‘. Now it gets very interesting: pagan founder and Grand Master of Christian monastic military order???

[RolandVT]

According to Old French translation of William of Tyre’s History of Events Beyond the Sea (written 64 years after the death of Hugues de Payens), the future Grand Master of Knights Templar was born and raised in the village of Payns, about 10 km from Troyes, in Champagne (!!).

In documents of that period of that region one Hugo de Pedano, Montiniaci dominus is mentioned as a witness to a donation by Count Hugh of Champagne (!!!) in a document of 1085. The same name appears on a number of other charters up to 1113 also relating to Count Hugh of Champagne, suggesting that Hugo de Pedano or Hugo dominus de Peanz was a member of the Count’s court.

Based on the information, most (but not all!) historians surmise that when Hugh of Champagne made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1104–07 and visited Jerusalem for a second time in 1114–16 he was accompanied by Hugh of Payens.

After Hugh of Champagne returned to France, Hugues de Payens remained in the Holy Land… unfortunately, no one has any idea why or for what purpose. However, in 1120 Hugues de Payens was in Jerusalem as he approached the King with his idea of establishing a new military-religious order

Another proof is a charter with “Hugonis de Peans” in the witness list from Jerusalem in 1120 and again in 1123. In 1125 his name appears again as a witness to a donation, this time accompanied by his title “magister militum Templi“.

IMHO, the reality was very different. The future Grand Master of Templars had nothing to do with abovementioned Hugo de Pedano; he met Hugh of Champagne some time in 1116 when the latter was on a pilgrimage in Jerusalem.

Somehow, Hugues de Payens – or whatever his real name was – identified the approximate location of the Ark of the Covenant (“where to dig”) and approached the Count with a proposal to get it.

Count agreed; provided de Payens with some seed money for this venture project (de Payens immediately put together a team of treasure hunters); returned to France; enlisted the support of his relative Bernard of Clairvaux; the latter put King Baldwin and the Latin Patriarch on board… and in 1118 the team got the Arc.

After it was decided to keep the find secret, it was decided to create an order of knights to keep and protect it. It appears that Hugues de Payens had sufficient training and experience in warfare – and was good enough military commander to qualify as the Grand Master of newly minted Knights Templar.

And that’s how he became one.

[RolandVT]

Hugues de Payens had a stellar 17-year career as Grand Master of the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon. He turned out to be a highly competent, efficient and accomplished leader, administrator, diplomat and promoter (salesman of sorts).

He started with only eight knights (probably the members of the team that got Ark of the Covenant); two of whom were brothers and all of whom were his relatives by either blood or marriage. By the time he died in 1136, there were hundreds plus a much higher number of supporting personnel.

In the late 1120s, Hugh of Payens, along with several other Templars, went on a diplomatic mission to western Europe on behalf of Baldwin II. They met with nobles and kings in an attempt to encourage warriors to come to the Kingdom of Jerusalem and join an attack on Damascus Baldwin was planning.

Hugh of Payens used this tour – highly successfully – to raise money (and lands) for the Order and to recruit knights and auxiliaries. On his visit to England and Scotland in 1128, he raised a lot of men and money for the Order, and founded their first House in London and another near Edinburgh at Balantrodoch.

He co-authored (with Bernard of Clairvaux!) the Latin Rule laying down the way of life of the Orde. The Rule was confirmed in 1129 at the Council of Troyes over which a papal legate, sent by Pope Honorius II, presided.

However, his enigma grew only more enigmatic. He reportedly died in 1136, but the circumstances and date of his death are not recorded in any chronicle, though the Templars commemorated him every year on 24 May, and it is presumed that he died of old age.

The 16th-century historian Marco Antonio Guarini claimed that Hugh was buried in the Church of San Giacomo in Ferrara. He was succeeded as Grand Master by Robert de Craon.

Who was probably even more successful than his predecessor as he was instrumental in getting papal sanction for Knights Templar, making them independent from all ecclesiastical and secular authorities except the Pope.

Interestingly enough, there is no record of Knights Templar taking part in any battle under the leadership of Hugues de Payens…

[RolandVT]

Co-founder, to be more precise – without vital support from his partner (and relative) Bernard of Clairvaux Hugh would not have been successful in his endeavors. Still, of these two real founders of the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, Hugh of Champagne was the first of two equals.

First for a number of reasons. Raison d’être for Knights Templar was to be the keepers and protectors of the Ark of the Covenant. Without the Ark, there would have been no Knights Templar. Period.

And there would have been no acquisition of the Ark of the Covenant without Hugh of Champagne. It was Hugh who provided the seed money for the venture project of digging for the Ark – and the necessary political support to obtain all necessary permits from secular (and possibly ecclesiastical) authorities.

It was Hugh who brought Bernard of Clairvaux on board of the Ark (and Knights Templar) project – and without Bernard’s support Templars would have become just the clone of Hospitallers – at best – and never obtained their political, financial, economic and military power and fame.

It was most likely Hugh who came up with the idea to create a military religious order of keepers and protectors of the Ark of the Covenant – after it was decided to keep its acquisition a secret.

It was mostly Hugh – albeit with vital support from his partner Bernard of Clairvaux – who convinced King Baldwin II of Jerusalem and Warmund, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem convene the Council of Nablus to approve the creation of the order of the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon. The “official” founder of Templars Hugues de Payens just did not have the clout.

It was mostly Hugh – albeit with vital support from his partner Bernard of Clairvaux – who convinced King Baldwin to grant the Templars headquarters in a wing of the royal palace on the Temple Mount in the captured Al-Aqsa Mosque (to host the Ark of the Covenant).

It was on Hugh’s territory – he was also the Count of Troyes and even preferred this title to “Count of Champagne” that the Council of Troyes was conducted in 1129. The Council that officially recognized the order Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon on behalf of the Holy See – and the Church.

[RolandVT]

Talmud suggests (and I agree) that the Ark was removed from the Temple towards the end of the era of the First Temple right before Babylonians destroyed it in 587 BC and the Second Temple never housed it.

I believe that Jewish priests hid the Ark in one of the secret chambers (and tunnels) beneath the Temple initially dug by no other than King Solomon precisely for such occasion. One account in the Talmud mentions a priest’s suspicion of a tampered stone in a chamber designated for wood storage, hinting at the Ark’s concealment.

During the times of Second Temple (516 BC – 70 AD) it was decided to keep the Ark in a secret underground chapel (of sorts) and to conduct secret Jewish rituals there – instead of inside the Temple. Just in case someone decides to destroy the Temple again (Babylonian – style).

As it often happens, in reality it was worse – far worse. When Roman legions defeated Jewish rebels in the First Jewish–Roman War in 70 AD and entered Jerusalem, Roman commander Titus ordered a systematic destruction of the city and the wholesale massacre of its inhabitants (first and foremost, Jewish priests).

According to Jewish historian Josephus, Titus “ordered the whole city and temple to be razed to the ground,” leaving intact just the three towers of Herod’s palace to exhibit the city’s former grandeur and the western wall to safeguard the Roman garrison stationed there.

However, “all the rest of the wall encompassing the city was so completely leveled to the ground as to leave future visitors to the spot no ground for believing that it had ever been inhabited.

Consequently, everyone who knew the location of the Ark was murdered or – at best – enslaved. However, it appears that one of these priests managed to encode the location of the Ark in a document or – more likely – oral narrative similar to the one described by Arthur Conan Doyle in his short story (featuring Sherlock Holmes, of course) The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual.

This story is built around family tradition of Musgraves which required that each eldest son of the house memorized and recited (as some sort of a ritual) a strange poem upon coming of age.

Holmes realized that the seemingly meaningless ritual provided instructions to find a hiding place for something valuable. He quickly deciphered instructions and found the remains of a 17-century treasure.

It appears that a similar ritual was kept in a Jewish family… for more than a millennium (70 – 1116 AD). The real Hugues de Payens who most likely took part in the First Crusade and stayed in the Holy Land (in the service of Kings of Jerusalem) somehow learned about this ritual and – like Sherlock Holmes – deduced that it contained the instructions on how to find the Ark of the Covenant.

That’s exactly what priests of the Second Temple wanted… only they wanted the Ark to be found by the Jewish priests after the construction of the Third Temple – and triumphantly returned to its rightful home.

What happened was very different. Hugues de Payens contacted Hugh of Champagne (probably in 1116 or so) and persuaded him to provide sufficient financial and political support for the search of the Ark of the Covenant.

Hugh of Champagne agreed – and sometime in 1118 ragtag team of amateur treasure hunters led by Hugues de Payens presented him with the Ark. Which became the foundation of Ark Templar the unitarian religion of top brass of Knights Templar.

[RolandVT]

In reality, protecting pilgrims en route to Jerusalem and back to point of entry into Outremer (Crusader states) was NEVER an objective of Knights Templar. It was but a cover for their true Mission (raison d’être, actually): keeping and protecting the Ark of the Covenant – and, by extension, the whole Outremer.

First, no official Templar document even mentions (let alone states) the objective of protecting the pilgrims. Not even their Latin Rule – which would have stated it in a very first clause, had this been the objective of Templars.

Second, Hugues de Payens allegedly proposed to King of Jerusalem to create the military-religious order to protect pilgrims in 1119 – TWENTY YEARS after crusaders took Jerusalem and established the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Pilgrims immediately started to flock to Jerusalem in droves… and you are telling me that the King could not have solved the problem of their security en route to Jerusalem for TWENTY YEARS??? And still could not solve it in 1119 without the help of NINE knights??? This is nonsense, cut and dry, plain and simple.

Nonsense because no state can not survive in a hostile environment (and the environment of Outremer was hostile par excellence) without firm control of supply routes (i.e., roads). Which were exactly the same roads that pilgrims took to get to Jerusalem from points of entry. Consequently, in reality roads were sufficiently secure – so there was non need to set up a whole military-religious order to protect pilgrims.

But even if they were not… do you seriously believe that NINE knights can control all roads to Jerusalem and protect pilgrims from hundreds (if not thousands) of Muslim raiders and marauders of all kinds?? Or that the order will grow so fast that it will be able to do so in a matter of months (it didn’t)??

But even is it will… it makes no sense to set it up in Jerusalem – the final point of pilgrims’ destination. Teams of knights-gendarmes (medieval Highway Patrol of sorts) should have been placed in points of entry – because pilgrims leave them with far more cash than they have en route back.

Highway Patrol is a purely secular function so it makes no sense to outsource it to a religious order. Setting up a military-religious order to protect a holy religious object – Ark of the Covenant – does.

And even if did – it made far more sense to outsource it to already existing Knights Hospitallers – who already cared for pilgrims and had their own security teams (knights and foot soldiers who took part in First Crusade).

[RolandVT]

By definition, magic (magick) refers to using supernatural (spiritual) energies and/or partnering with invisible, intangible, intelligent spiritual beings (the exact nature of these beings and partnership is a different story entirely) to achieve visible, tangible, material outcomes in our physical world.

Any kind of magick is strictly forbidden in all monotheistic religions – Christianity, Judaism and Islam. All these religions (often incorrectly) consider the abovementioned entities to be of demonic nature… so for practicing magick (sorcery, witchcraft) one could have been sentenced to death.

In all these religions you are supposed to communicate with God, angels and saints only. Communicate via a spiritual equivalent of a CB radio: when you pray, you talk and God listens; when you meditate, God talks and you listen.

Ark of the Covenant was built on God’s orders to facilitate communication between God and His Chosen People (Jews/Israelites) – via the Levites (the tribe of priests), High Priest… and the Ark.

Consequently, the belief (allegedly held by Adolf Hitler) that you can use the Ark – if you acquire it, of course – to achieve material outcomes (let alone rule the whole world) by conducting magical rituals, is wrong. You can’t do that.

But you can – if you acquire the Ark of the Covenant – create a new religion. You can build a shrine, the Third Temple, if you will (although a small chapel will do); place there the Ark of the Covenant and conduct rituals similar to the ones described in Old Testament.

You will end up with Ark- and Third Temple – centered religion based upon something like the Third Testament/Covenant between God and “New Israelites” – the group of individuals who found and acquired the Ark of the Covenant.

And that’s exactly what Knights Templar did – they found and acquired the Ark of the Covenant in 1118 and established a new religion (Ark Templar) in 1125; when the real founder and shadow Grand Master of Templars Hugh, Count of Champagne, came to Holy Land for good and officially joined Knights Templar.

And became the first High Priest of Ark Templar.

[RolandVT]

Everyone knows that Jews are (were, actually) God’s Chosen people. The fundamental, existential question is: chosen for what exactly?

Esotericists/occultists know that no human being can survive (let alone prosper) without receiving a certain minimum of vital spiritual energy (chi/ki/prana) on a regular basis. Neither can our whole world – without receiving a certain minimum of vital, salvific spiritual energy it will in no time become a genuine Hell on Earth.

This vital, salvific spiritual energy is (not surprisingly) Divine Grace and it has to come from God via some kind of energy channel. Jews were chosen by God to be a key component of this vital, salvific channel of Divine Grace.

In Old Testament (pre-Christian) times, Divine Grace flowed from God via Ark of the Covenant to Jewish High Priest; from Jewish High Priest to the Levites (priestly tribe); from Levites to Jews (Jewish nation) and, finally, from Jews to entire world.

By rejecting Christ in 30 AD, Jews shut down this channel; fortunately, in a few decades it was replaced by Christian channel. Now Divine Grace flowed from God the Heavenly Father via Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to Christian Church (priests, monks, nuns, etc.); from the Church to Christians (“New Israelites”) – and from Christians to the whole world.

Unfortunately, by the first decades of XXI century the Christian Church got so fragmented, corrupt and so “thiswordly” that it no longer can serve as a sufficiently powerful channel of Divine Grace. So, we, indeed, live in a post-Christian era – in terms of Divine Grace.

It appears that in order to our world from becoming a genuine Hell on Earth, a new channel of Divine Grace is needed. And thus, a new religion – and a new Church.

Ark- and Third Temple – centered religion based upon something like the Third Testament/Covenant between God and “New Israelites” – the group of individuals who found and acquired the Ark of the Covenant – appears to be the solution. Hence, the Ark of the Covenant – very possibly a living, intelligent being – is waiting to be discovered and acquired by these “New Israelites”.

At the time of Templars, Christian Church was sufficiently spiritually powerful – so there was no need for a global “alternative energy channel”. However, it worked locally – so Templars who converted to Ark Templar had no spiritual need for Catholic Church.

Or for Jesus Christ for that matter – they got their vital energy from God via the Ark of the Covenant.

[RolandVT]

Contrary to an (alas) very popular misconception, Adolf Hitler was neither an occultist nor a magician and his Fuhrerstaat was no “occult Reich”. He was a mystic, not an occultist – and believed in mysticism, not magic (these are very different activities). However, he was an avid collector of works of art (and relics) – and wanted to have all famous relics and artefacts in his possessions.

Hitler was born to a practicing Catholic mother, Klara Hitler, and was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church; his father, Alois Hitler, was a free-thinker and skeptical of the Catholic Church.

In a speech in 1932, Hitler declared himself “not a Catholic and not a Protestant, but a German Christian”. The German Christians were a Protestant group that supported Nazi ideology.

Both Hitler and the Nazi Party promoted “nondenominational” positive Christianity” (statement to that effect was included in official NSDAP program) a movement which rejected most traditional Christian doctrines such as the divinity of Jesus, as well as Jewish elements such as the Old Testament.

Consequently, for Hitler and the Nazis the Ark of the Covenant – like all other Old Testament relics and artefacts – had n spiritual or religious value. At all. Neither did he believe in its magical powers – so for him it was only a “crown jewel” of his gigantic collection. Nothing more.

It is a well-documented fact that in 1938 (right after Anschluss of Austria), under Hitler’s orders, the Holy Lance (spear that allegedly pierced the side of Jesus as he hung on the cross during his crucifixion) with the other Habsburg regalia was placed on a special train and taken to Nuremberg under SS guard. There, it was housed in St Catherine’s Church.

He did want to obtain the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail – but not because he believed that these relics had any magical powers (he didn’t). He only wanted them for his grandiose collection of relics and artefacts.

SS-Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler was interested in magic and in the occult… but only in German magic (ancient and medieval) and in German occult (ditto). So, while he (allegedly) did order his Ahnenerbe (pseudoscientific research empire of the SS) to look for both, it was never a priority for him… of for Hitler – especially after the outbreak of the Second Great War.

[RolandVT]

To protect the Ark of the Covenant, it was necessary to protect the whole Outremer (Crusader States). To protect the Outremer, it was necessary to have a sizable standing army – a military order. This army was – first and foremost – to protect a holy (the most sacred) religious object – so it had to be a religious order.

Consequently, to found and build such an order, one had to be competent in creating, growing and managing both military and religious orders. Hugues de Payens was definitely not – so he could NOT have been the founder of Knights Templar. Or its Grand Master during the first crucial years, for that matter.

But Hugh of Champagne was. He was the Count of both Champagne and Troyes so he – like all other counts – had his very own standing army. And thus, had extensive experience managing a military unit.

His relative and partner was no other than Bernard (founder and abbot of Clairvaux abbey) so Hugh had extensive knowledge about founding and managing a monastic order.

To grow to the necessary size (necessary for protecting the Ark of the Covenant and the Outremer that is), Knights Templar needed money (money proper and money-generating assets such as land) and manpower.

To get money and assets – and recruit the necessary personnel – a highly efficient promotion campaign was needed. Campaign led by someone with sufficient clout and connections to convince men (of all kinds) to join Knights Templar – and secular and ecclesiastical lords to donate money and land. Hugh of Champagne had this cloud and connections – and Hugues de Payens did not.

Consequently, it appears that during the first five years the latter (coached by Hugh of Champagne and assisted by professionals) tried to build Knights Templar as both the military and religious order while Hugh of Champagne embarked on a massive promotion campaign in Europe.

The latter was very successful while the former… not so much. Consequently, Hugh of Champagne had no other choice but to leave Europe for good, come to the Holy Land, officially join Knights Templar and become their de-facto Grand Master.

Hugues de Payens remained nominal (de jure) Grand Master until 1136 when Hugh of Champagne forced him into retirement… somewhere and replaced him as the nominal Grand Master by far more able and successful Robert de Craon.