The New Knighthood a History of the Order of the Temple Review
BOOK REVIEWS779 The New Knighthood:A History of the Order of the Temple. Past Malcolm Barber . (NewYork: Cambridge University Press. 1994. Pp. xxii, 441; 14 figures, 17 plates. $69.95.) There has long been a need for an upwardly-to-date and reUable history ofthe Order of the Temple in English. Malcolm Barber has now suppUed that desideratum with The New Knighthood, a lucid account of the Order from its minor beginnings in the Holy Land around 1119 to its dramatic dissolution past papal decree in 1312. Although the loss of the main archive (probably during the Ottoman conquest of Cyprus in 1571) hampers discussion of the growth of the Society in the East, Barber argues for a more vigorous expansion ofthe nascentTemple than is suggested past WiUiam of Tyre'south oft-quoted business relationship of its foundation. Greater early success renders expUcable non merely the recognition accorded to theTemplars at the CouncU of Troyes in 1129, simply also the testify from about the same time for the first of the grants of European lands that would apace transform theTemple into a great international lodge.All the same, some churchmen harbored reservations virtually the warrior monks. Bernard of Clairvaux hailed them as "the new knighthood," only information technology was not until the Templars received a succession of papal privUeges betwixt 1 139 and one 145 that doubts about the validity of their profession were effectively sUenced. By the mid-twelfth century, theTemplars had assumed a vital part in the miUtary affairs of the Latin East.They were known amidst Christians and Muslims akin for their bravery and devotion to the defense of the crusader principalities , and akeady held strategicaUy important fortresses and territories. Equally the military machine state of affairs deteriorated in the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries, rulers granted even more extensive possessions to the Order. Hairdresser treats these matters in detaU, and shows that as theTemple acquired greater lands and independence in the East it became more frequently embroUed in disputes with the rival Club of the Hospital and with secular rulers.TheTemplars may have believed that they were merely protecting their legitimate interests, but exterior observers often interpreted these disputes as unedifying displays of pride and avarice. Barber does not attempt a thoroughgoing handling ofthe Guild in theWest, just surveys its possessions and outlines their organization and management in order to explain their crucial importance to Templar enterprises in Syrian arab republic and Palestine.The majority ofTemplars spent their entire lives in the Due west, simply the whole machinery of the Order was geared to the back up of its presence in the East. Only by cartoon upon the rich resources furnished by the European estates , could the Order sustain its ongoing warfare against the Muslims.The need to transfer revenues from the western lands stimulated the development of the Temple'southward financial institutions, and crusaders, secular rulers, and the papacy soon avaUed themselves of the Order's services and expertise. 780BOOK REVIEWS With the loss of the last Christian strongholds on the Levantine coast in 1291, theTemplars were, in the optics of many, deprived oftheir raison d'être.Although they strove to keep their miUtary operations from Cyprus, they could no longer invoke their defense of the Holy State to deflect criticism. In such circumstances, they were sick-equipped to defend themselves against the charges of heresy and moral corruption brought against them past Philip Four of France in 1307. Barber—whose The Trial of the Templars (Cambridge, 1978) remains the definitive study on the suppression of the Guild—provides a curtailed analysis of the proceedings against the Order and its abolition, and concludes the book with a chapter on the literary and "pseudo-historical" legacy of the Temple. The New Knighthood is a welcome contribution to the scholarly Uterature on the Temple, and wiU long remain an essential piece of work for anyone interested in the Gild. William Thou Zajac University ofWales Swansea Templars, Hospitallers and Teutonic Knights: Images of the Military Orders, 1128-1291. By Helen Nicholson. (New York: Leicester University Press. Distributed in the United States and Canada by St. Martin'due south Printing, NewYork. 1995. Pp. 16, 207. $59.00 clothbound; $24.95 paperback.) The author begins past clearly stating her objectives so sets out...
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