To fully exist, a monastic order needs the recognition of the pope. To grant it, the sovereign pontiff bases himself on a rule, a name and a habit. After the Council of Troyes, where the idea of a rule specific to the order of the Temple was accepted, the task of writing it was entrusted to Bernard of Clairvaux, who himself had it written by a cleric, Jean Michel. (Jehan Michiel), on proposals made by Hugues de Payns.
It can therefore be said that the Order of the Temple was officially born on January 13, 1129, following the approval of the council. Its development took place in several stages.
Praise of the New Militia (De laude novae militiae)
Thanks to Saint Bernard, one of the greatest religious figures of the 12th century, the order of the Temple experienced a significant increase:a good number of knights enlisted for the salvation of their souls or, quite simply, to lend a hand in distinguished themselves on the battlefields.
The Praise of the New Militia is a letter that Saint Bernard sent to Hugh of Payns, whose full title was Liber ad milites Templi de laude novae militiae[19] and written after the defeat of the Frankish army at the siege of Damascus in 1129.
This praise finally allowed the Templars to meet with great fervor and general recognition.
In addition, this text contained an important passage where Saint Bernard explained why the Templars had the right to kill a human being:“The knight of Christ gives death in complete safety and receives it with even greater assurance. If he dies, it is for his good, if he kills, it is for Christ [...]”.
The papal bull Omne Datum Optimum (1139)
The bull Omne datum optimum was fulminated by Pope Innocent II on March 29, 1139[21] under the mastery of Robert de Craon, second master of the Order of the Temple.
This bull was d 'of capital importance for the order since it was the basis of all the privileges enjoyed by the Templars.
Indeed, following this, the brothers of the Temple had the right:
to Apostolic Protection,
to have their own priests.
We therefore saw a new category emerge in the community, that of the brother chaplains who would officiate for the Templars. Moreover, this bull confirmed the fact that the order of the Temple was subject only to the authority of the pope. The bull also created competition for the secular clergy (which the latter will often see unfavorably). Many conflicts of interest broke out between the Templars and the bishops or the priests.
The privileges it granted being often called into question, the bull Omne datum optimum was confirmed twelve times between 1154 and 1194, and that's why it was not easy to find the original.
The papal bull Milites Templi (1144)
The bull Milites Templi (Knights of the Temple) was fulminated on January 9, 1144 by Pope Celestine II.
It allowed the chaplains of the Temple to pronounce the office once a year in regions where prohibited towns, "for the honor and reverence of their chivalry", without authorizing the presence of excommunicated persons in the church. But this is actually only a confirmation of the Omne datum optimum bubble.
The papal bull Militia Dei (1145)
The bull Militia Dei (Chivalry of God) was fulminated by Pope Eugene III on April 7, 1145.
This bull allowed the Templars to build their own oratories, but also to have a complete independence from the secular clergy through the right to collect tithes and bury their dead in their own cemeteries. In addition, apostolic protection was extended to those familiar with the Temple (their peasants, herds, goods, etc.).
Complaints were lodged by Templars with the pope concerning the fact that the clergy took a third of the bequest made by people wishing to be buried in the cemeteries of the order. The bull Dilecti filii accordingly ordered the clergy to be satisfied with only a quarter of the legacies.
The Templar's habit
The recognition of the Temple did not only pass by the culmination of a rule and a name, but also by the attribution of a particular dress code specific to the order of the Temple.
The coat of the Templars referred to that of the Cistercian monks.
Only the knights, brothers from the nobility, had the right to wear the white coat, a symbol of purity of body and chastity. The sergeant brothers, from the peasantry, wore a homespun coat, without this having a negative connotation. It was the order that gave the habit and it was also he who had the power to take it back. The suit belonged to him. The loss of the habit was pronounced by the justice of the chapter for the brothers who had seriously infringed the regulations. It meant a temporary or permanent dismissal of the order.
In his bull Vox in excelso for the abolition of the Order of the Temple, Pope Clement V indicated that he was suppressing "the said Order of the Temple and its state, its habit and its name", which clearly shows the importance that the habit had in the existence of the order.
The red cross
It seems that it was granted only belatedly to the Templars, in 1147, by Pope Eugene III. He would have given the right to wear it on the left shoulder, on the side of the heart. The rule of the order and its withdrawals did not refer to this cross. However, the papal bull Omne datum optimum named it twice. It is therefore permissible to say that the Templars already wore the red cross in 1139. The shape of the Templar cross has never been fixed. Templar iconography presented it simple Greek, anchored, flowered or patted. Whatever its form, it indicated that the Templars belonged to Christianity and the red color recalled the blood shed by Christ.
It should be noted that it is very likely that the cross of the Templars was derived from the cross of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher, of which Hugues de Payns and his comrades in arms had belonged. This red cross was potent, confined by four small crosses called crosses.