+Non Nobis Domine, Non Nobis Sed Nomine Tuo Da Gloriam+

September 2015
N 1

Magazine

+The First Templar Knight+

+The Origin of the Temple+

Sovereign Brotherhood of Dames and Knights of The Temple

OSMTJ-SPAIN

Digital Magazine

Sovereign Brotherhood of Dames and Knights of The Temple

OSMTJ-SPAIN

Director:

September 2015

Ms. Fuensanta Santos de la Rubia

Contact: hsdct2014@gmail.com

Editorial Board:

Priory Council of HSDCT.OSMTJ.

Mr. Jose Maria Fernandez Nuez
Mr. Luis Antonio Coln Arce

Writers:

Mr. Jos M Fernandez Nez

Mr. Julio Marvizn Preney
Mr. Emilio Perez
Mr. Juan Antonio Cabezos Martinez.
Ms. Claudia Llanes Beltrn
Ms. Fuensanta Santos de la Rubia

Murcia

Spain

Calendar of Events
September

Opening of the Third

of Andalucia HSDCT

November

Celebrate its First Templar

Elevation
The South Florida Priory of
Saint Martin de Porres"
of the OSMTJ-USA

Designer:

Ms. Fuensanta Santos de la Rubia

Mr. Jose Antonio Navarro

International Order Contact:

Mr. Agustin Ibaez Aguirre
Tfno: 0034 672 110 817
hispaniatemple@live.com

International Translator Contact:

Mr. Luis Antonio Coln Arce
marineronoble@icloud.com

Translators:

Mr. Luis Antonio Coln Arce

Ms.Natalia Ballesteros Huesca
Ms.Mary Angeles Santiago
Ms. Alba Navarro Salvador
Mr. Jess de las Heras Jimenez,

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Table of Contents
Index....................................................................................... 2

Editorial.................................................................................. 3

The First Templar Knight................................................. 4

The Sacred Shroud and The Templars.............................. 14

Jerez de los C. Bahiliato of Templar Order.................... 20

Compassion Christiand and Buddhist Contribution............. 25

Simbology of Sigillum Militum Xpisti............................... 29
Eleanor of Aquitaine Great Dame of Middle Ages......... 35
Calendar of Events............................................................... 41

The Grail Translator Team............................................... 42

Posting Rules........................................................................ 43

The Grail

Editorial

By Juan Antonio Cabezos

Dear brothers:
You have in your hands the ability to read in English the magazine that publishes the
Sovereign Grail Brotherhood of Ladies and Knights Templar.
Until now only published in Spanish but the Temple is universal and, therefore, its
publications are too.
The magazine is free because the employees are not paid, they do the work for the sake
of the Temple lending their talents, their time and their effort to expand the Temples
ideals and history.
Love her, because behind the magazine is a large organization with an editorial board that
selects and edits the proposed articles, layouts, distributions and above all, love, wisdom
and selfless enthusiasm of the great contributors to the magazine The Grail that make
editing possible.
Its free, love her, also because you are part of it, and a way of loving her is to transmit
her in the English-speaking nations.
Its free, love her, you love her if you , collaborate posting your articles in the magazine,
so you have an opportunity to make public your work on the Templars worldwide.
Its free, please; respect it, because we are committed to the scientific method and
documentary rigor in the published articles.
Dear friends of the Temple, you have a tool to study, disseminate and investigate the
issues related to the Temple before your eyes.
Its free, embrace it, because from this moment on, The Grail is also your child and we
all want the best for our children.
Aeneas Prior

The Firts Templar Knight

The Origin of the Temple
By Jos Maria Fernandez Nuez

Causes, When it was Created,

How it was Created,
Who Created It.

Seize what you can, when you can and defend as you
know how.

Causes
Following the conquest of Jerusalem, there was a great
deal of general discontent. Many of the combatants saw
their dreams go up in smoke, how they turned to dust on
the road and with but a light breeze, they vanished into
the air.
They found themselves on the streets of Jerusalem, lacking everything, absolutely everything. Some had lost
their patronage, as they became aware that their needs
were always tethered to the continued support and contribution of the personal preeminence of a determined
leader...afterwards to again forgotten, they were necessary instruments at critical moments, passing swiftly into
irrelevance, where they were perhaps promised a social
change within the new collective, they saw only a continuation of where they had started.
Other lords, second string there, landed gentry here,
some would rule with unprecedented tyranny, with no
superiors to rein them in, recreating the same social situation as before, saw their dreams dashed.
The same situation that existed under the Turks that destabilized the area.
They witnessed how relatived and the friends of friends,
were occupying positions of power and relevance in the
nascent state.
Many were the knights that wandered everywhere
through the narrow and winding streets of the city, easy
prey to forming groups of bagaudas (1), although not
their original intention, became, in many cases their fatg
At the onset enemies of their rivals, they soon coalesce
in order to seize greater combat capability, until an amalgam was achieved that tnited these people that were so
different by creed, race, nature and position.
The unprotected open air encampments, made them
bolder and more aggressive attacking even royal caravans of either side.
These, the disconnected of various places, accustomed
to battle, had no place to return to, thus, it was there,
in that place where they should seek their fortune, and
the paradigm offered:

When there was nothing left to sack, they set their sights
on the caravans and afterwards towards that which they
came to defend and protect...the palmists (pilgrims).
One of the reasons for the Crusades was precisely the
protection of pilgrims that journeyed to the Holy Land.
From their arrival by boat at Jaffa, and until their arrival in Jerusalem, they were subject to all sorts of abuse
and violence, that ranged from simple theft to murder, as
well as rape or kidnapping, in the strictest sense of the
word, what obliged them to integrate themselves into
caravans which offered them greater protection, not exposing themselves to the journey nor its real dangers on
their own.
These chronicles that never ceased to reach Christian
lands via the liberating crusaders of the holy city, apparently one of the objectives of the epic was not forthcoming. The outcome failed to please those that predicted
the Crusade, and thus it was made known to Baldwin
and his court, that never ceased from the times of the
Advocatus to demand of the west more soldiers to

sustain the incipient kingdom and the protection of the

Holy Sites.
It is common knowledge that the caravans were composed mainly, of merchants who transported their goods,
from one place to another.in the Middle East regions.
Some were from distant lands, such as the ones that traded in silk or spices, so crucial for the consumption and
commerce of that region.
The caravan as such, was an assorted amalgam of
people with no social or sedentary cohesion who, facing constant danger from these bands of thieves and
cutthroats, these travelers grouped together to cross certain territories, some more and others less, but always
with the specter of assault.
On occasion these travelers had their families and all
their wealth with them.
Having sold all their belongings at their point of:Ideparture
and were relocating to another in hopes of a better life.
These, were but tasty morsels for the highwaymen who
had at their disposal, spies and informers at key locations
along these trade routes.
Among these assailants, social composition was similar, as soon as natives encountered each other, be they
Christians, Greeks, Armenians, etc., they would form
veritable small armies so structured in hierarchy, as well
as anarchical in combat, unable to resist the onslaught
of an organized force, they appeared strong to face a
guard or escort, who in principle were no more than
former soldiers, who in times of peace were left without
employment, people that previously were hired by the
caravan organizers.
Generally their numbers were, according to the importance of the caravans.
They defended themselves with equal force to that of
the aggresors, without order or strategy, the important
thing was to cause the maximum of casualties among
the guards by the ones with the training and discipline of
well disciplined military units.
This is where our knights would lend support and protection in the event of an attack, this did not mean that
they alone would engage:an armed force impossible to
vanquish, this would have been certain and needless suicide, failing on the first attempt.
It was not just a matter of facing the attackers and overcoming them, but also to protect the caravan or pilgrims
(generally attached to them) to avoid another attack that
by strategy could occur, in addition, they had to regroup
it and lead it to a safe location, all the while, leaving the
rest of the knights to hold back with their weapons the
onslaught of the bandits, that was a labor of giants impossible to execute if one does not dispose of effective
and appropriate means.

WHEN IT WAS FIRST CREATED, CAUSAL

ASPECT, FIRST COUNTERPOINTS
Once Jerusalem was conquered, the most urgent task
was to endow the new territories with a structure similar to the previous one, with institutions to channel
the needs of the new society, in short create a kingdom,
but the syndrome of disagreement and misunderstanding
plus the false protection of its new propertys, would
cause them to be weaker, an endemic characteristic that
would follow them always.

The detonator to put an end to this situation that was

leading them towards a total debacle, ocurred during
one of those attacks which because of its crudeness, had
great transcendence.
The chaos that emerged from the rivalries and internal
animosities that threatened to pull apart and place in jeopardy all the military potential that swept them to the
first victories, coupled with the difficulty of governing the
lands envisioned by christian princes, eased the victory
of the Oghuz Tttks (2) at the battle of Sarmeda (Ager
Sanguinis), on 28 June 1119. It is then that King Baldwin II (3) and the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Garmond de
Picquigny (4) promote the necessary and urgent convening of the Aulic Synod in the city of Nablus, in Samaria
(5) to give greater and improved integrity to the tender
state as well as justifying to Rome, the implementation of
social and territorial realighnment in all is aspects.
At the same time that no less important but more impactful event was playing out in old Europe. The attack
and imprisonment of a group of seven hundred unarmed
pilgrims, traveling from Jerusalem to the River Jordan,
during Holy Week of 1119 (6).

They were taken prisoners by the Saracens (7), many

were killed and the rest sold into slavery.
It was an assembly of prelates and nobility of the kingdom of Jerusalem, it took place on 16 January 1120, in
it the first written laws of the kingdom were established.
In this Synod they brought up the dangers of carving up
into smaller states, the conquered lands.
Rivalries cropped up at an early stage, as in the case
of Edesa and Antioch, if this continued, all could be lost.
They see the need to create an official force of highway
police to protect the pilgrims as well as the caravans,
crucial to the survival of the conquered lands, all the
while silencing the voices of critics that arose in their
places of origin thatnthey still depended on and did not
accept that there was yet no solution, one of the reasons
of the Crusade, which provoked suspicion when it cane
time to send representatives in support. In the Middle
Ages, the notion of police was defined as:

were a Muslim and even then, only in self defense.

However, the decision had been made, and as of now
they would participate in the defense of the places just
the same as any other soldier,
Among other topics the creation of the canonical congregation, Militia Christi Hierosolimitana, was created,
and charged with guaranteeing safe passage to the palmists or pilgrims from the West, after the conquest of
Jerusalem.

The good order of civil society presided by a state

authority, leaving good moral and religious order in the
charge of ecclesiastical authority. (8)
Nablus was especially important as much for the recovery and final settling of ecclesiastical prestige and
authority, as well as for the rooting of its subjects and
institutions, avoiding being affected morally or sentimentally by the locals. In short they tried to prevent the
easternization of the Crusaders that could lead to the
dissapearance of the new realm.
Hotl debated during this synod, was the militarization of
all Christians including the clergy, the lack of ready funds
was made clear, the loss of human resources were numerous and with clear way of replacing them, therefore,
ecclesiastical norms would have to accept the imposed
mobilization of the religious community for the very survival of the Latin states.
This was of great concern for the crusader states. In ecclesiastical legislation, clergy were generally forbidden to
participate in wars, but for the Crusaders all available
human resources were necessary.
Just the prior year, Antioch had been defended by the
Patriarch Arnulf Malecorne de Chocques, after the battle of Ager Sanguinis (Field of Blood), a disaster that places in doubt the activity and solidarity of the newcomers.

They had already been at this task for several years when
the Easter disaster of 1119 occurred. After the approval
and in light of the lack of a solid, permanent and particular infrastructure that would lend support to the new
Brotherhood, the authorities did what was necessary to
cover the problem.
As much for the familial connections of its components
and their narrow relationship with the conquering elite,
owners of posts, titles and lands, (we will see later) such
as the fact that Hugh de Payens was related to the Count
of Champagne and probably a distant relative of Baldwin, who caused said king to give him_a place to rest
his bones at the end of an intense journey, granting him
certain rights and privileges.
Among these rights were lodgings within the kings palace, this unusual demand, was a defining moment of the
social position of the new Militia.
What is known today as the Al-Aqsa (the far) Mosque
which the crusaders called the Lords Temple, squarely
in its south wing. This was coupled with another that
was ceded by canons (not the Equestrian Order) of
the Holy Sepulcher, separately in the style of a patio, of
some 15 hectares (52 acres) of area that surrounded the
palace, where they could train with their arms and be
ready for combat.

Canon 20 was approved declaring that, a member of

the clergy will not be declared guilty if he takes up arms
in defense of self, but cannot bear arms for any other
reason, nor can he act as a knight.
Even thought the war against the infidels that occupied
the Holy Lands was just and legal. Canon law absoluThe knights would cede the stables and adjacent areas
tely prohibited the clergy, under penalty of excommuni- as barracks
cation, to kill another man with any weapon, unless he All this was directed towards, conceding the entire com-

plex to the new brotherhood. The king did not delay for
long to transfer his seat to the Tower of David, erected
by the gate of Jaffa, that was in the hands,by power of
conquest of Raymond de Saint-Gilles, IV Count of Toulouse, of whom it was requested to serve as the seat of
the kingdom and of the king. All the former installations
passed into the hands of the new Militia, who in this
manner, acquired not only their general headquarters,
but their name as well.

They were granted the first rule of St. Augustine (known

as the Latin as it came from the Latin kingdom of Palestine) for their close relationship with the Canons of the
Holy Sepulcher and for being the only one that viewed
belligerence as a proper defense of faith.
There were no others like this in the realm, beside, the
others had not yet reconciled themselves to this new
concept of warrior monks.
As a matter of fact the Templars as they were becoming
known after their recognition and the taking of temporal
vows, were not yet friars, later, in the Council of Troyes
and from the popes hand, they would confirm theitzstatus.
Their behavior during these nine years and the support
of the patriarch and king Baldwin, would constitute the
determining factors of acceptance by the Roman Curia.
The differences between the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher and the friars of the new Militia Christi Hierosolimitana (not yet known as the Templars) are several, not
only in their charisma, but also in their raiment (mode of
dress).
These (the newly minted) wore a drab white mantle
(that they would forever wear) as a sign of humility, with
the double beamed red cross thus indicating a presumed
dependence on the church of Jerusalem who created it.
Whereas the members of the Holy Sepulcher wore
pure white and others pale blue, which I believe to be
secular and these bore the Jerusalem or Tau cross of St.
Helena that was granted to the crusaders by Urban II,
and these added the four Greek crosses, separated by

the extensions of the Tau cross that symbolize the five

wounds of Christ.
This sign has its roots in that the mother of Constantine
the Great, had bestowed on the laity of the Holy Sepulcher in the year 313.
Paul Piers tells us the creation of the Templar militia had
as one of its objectives, aside of surrendering their lives
to God (living forever as regular canons, no personal
property and under vows of chastity and obedience), to
protect the high ways and routes to Jerusalem against
attacks from thieves and brigands in order to grant safe
passage to all, but specifically the palmists (pilgrims). (9).
Under the reformative tendencies of Nicholas the IIs
pontificate, many priests saw in the ascesis (10) a greater
perfection in the creation of regular canons, in conformity with the decree of Synod of Letran, in 1059, it
was approved by the canons that wish to pradtide an
apostolic life.
Thus the title of Regular Canons of St.Augustine The
Templars are the first to incorporate the figures of friars
and warriors.
For some authors, this is the date of foundation of the
Order of the Poor Knights of Christ and the Temple of
Solomon. (11) The concept of paupers (poor), on the
one hand is related to what is stated in the chronicle of
Ernoul, where it sates that these knights faulted themselves for leading a comfortable and licentious life, instead
of defending the faith and the pilgrims, in those, yet unsafe lands, comparing the poverty of spirit that does not
avoid that situation. It is more a case of self criticism than
of a lack of capital properly stated.
Another concept is better justified that poverty and misery provokes sin, moreso than the actual financial reality.
That they received alms? perhaps, but their condition
and position say that they had no need of these as we
shall see further on.
For other authors the creation commences as of 1118,
many take it to the Council of Troyes, but it will not be
until 1139 in the bull Omne Datum Optimum when the
Order becomes officially and definitely established, in
the time of Pope Innocent II.
William of Tyre also places it erroneously on this date
(1129) when he speaks of the reasons for its demise,
he says ...they disdained the Patriarch of Jerusalem for
whom their Order was founded and from whom they
received their first benefits and to whom was denied
the obedience that their precursors had offered... , he
speaks of Troyes in place of Rome where the bull of
1139, Omne Datum Optimum was published, where
they were released of said obedience to the patriarch
by will of the Pope, not the Templars. It was not the patriarch that created them. Their beginning is laic and not

qui intra Ecclesiam.

Williams errors are continuous, due to his utter disdain
towards the Order, therefore biased and it must be regarded as a source of scarce reliability.
Ralph de Caen, principal chronicler of the First Crusade,
does not name the christian militias of Jerusalem, in his
opus on the Norman campaigns of Cilicia that transpire
between the years of 1096 and 1105 nor of the exploits
of Tancred, between 1097 and 1108, which could serve us as a point of departure.
Simon, monk of Saint Bertin de Artois very close to the
vicinity of Saint-Omer, contradicts William of Tyres version, with his own writings (he is not alone) in relation to
the mode and date of the founding.
This one being closer in time (1135/37) and more certain in his explanations than William, he states that the
first Templars were crusaders that had decided to remain
in the Holy Land instead of returning to their homes,
with the counsel of the princes of the army of God they
took the vows of the Lords Temple always respecting
the following rule: renouncing the world, eschewing all
personal goods, they would surrender themselves to a
life of chastity and lead a communal life, donning a simple habit and using arms only in defense against Pagan
attacks(4th vow) (12).
Simon writes that 15 years after Nablus, distancing the
influence of the patriarchy of its founding and subsequent dependency, as Tyres version sustains.
The Anglo-Norman monk, Orderic Vitalis writes in
1125 that Fulk V of Anjou Milites ed Terminum of the
Temple, considered them to be more pious knights than
monks, he speaks not of the date of founding, but assures
us that in 1120 it was activated.
For Richard de Poitou, monk of the Great Abbey of
Cluny, who writes around 1153 about the death of
Bernard, making it coincide with the death of the Abbot
Hugh de Cluny, and in the year that Louis VI assumes
the throne of France. He dates the creation of the Order
(even in its brotherhood stage) as 1099.
For Walter Map, secular cleric, they wore austere garments from their very beginnings, even before their recognition at Nablus.
He speaks of palmist knights that invested all they owned
in the acquisition of the necessary accoutrements of war
for the defense of the faith (again the 4th vow), he offers
relevant data from the mouthsof Ernoul and Bernard,
treasurers of the abbey of Corbie in France, he sates
that the brothers still bore (before 1129) the distinction
of their origin, on their garments a two armed cross of
scarlet and the sign of the Holy Sepulcher.
The chronicler offers us yet more, he states that the Hospital granted themaa patron called Bausant (pius) (13).

As stated by Helen Nicholson, albeit a much later chronicle , (1187) and in this we are in agreement, this one
has a certain credibility, being that its founders were palmists.
-That it was created by the initiative of the knights
themselves.
-That they became aware of the need for a police
force in defense of the pilgrims.
_That the palace within Solomons Temple was
granted to them, and that they had the acknowledgment
of the king and the church of Nablus. It also delves into
the deep relation-ship that existed at the onset between
the Temple and the Hospitaliers as stated by Mexias,
from whom they received the standard that would accompany them into all their battles.
For Francisco P. Mellado when he speaks of the Order
of St. John Hospitalier of whom he qualified as glorious,
says that In the time of Raymond Dupuy, the Order
(Hospitalier) reached great glory.
This glory received a new splendor with the founding
of the new Military Order; that of the Templars, that
had just been elevated to the side of the Hospitaliers,
and although threatening at the beginning to eclipse it
through its valor and power, on the contrary, it raised it,
thanks to the ambition and covetousness that it displayed
from its very beginning. (14)
Raymond Dupuy, Second Master of the Hospitaliers,
serves from 1120 to 1160.
Upon the death of Gerard de Tom, he takes charge of
the Order of St. John of Jerusalem proposing that the
Order should carry out acts of war in defense of Christianity. (15).
He established the rules whereas by not abandoning
the primitive role of guardians and protectors of pilgrims,
they will come to constitute a Militia of Christ akin to
the Templars, founded around that time and although
fighting on the same side and for the same cause, they
never truly got along. (16) Faithful reflection,-of the contemporary secular world.
It is officially understood that the year of founding of a
religious order, cthat one where they receive approval
from the pope in Rome, (Council of Troyes) or he assigns them certain rules. Naturally, and first it must be
requested, (by the king and patriarch of Jerusalem of the
Holy See) for which there must previously be a group of
persons willing and of means, that demonstrate a good
disposition having taken temporal vows (Hugh and his
comilitants).
This is where the confusion usually arises as to the difference in dates from the moment
that the group of knights organizes itself, swears allegiance and enters battle, until such time in which its existence is officially confirmed as a military order.

JURISPRUDENCE, on what do they base

themselves to give legislative body to
its creation.

If they are received in 1120 by the patriarch as friar

according to William of Tyre, until 1129 when they are
officially established. During those nine years they abided by the rules set by the patriarch that they took to
France and in which the council, alone would add its
grain of sand, but this does not imply that it would abandon the primary Augustinian rule in favor of the Cister,
as suggested by one author or another (17).
Bernard, did not change the rule nor did he substitute
it with that of his Order, he was but one more member
of that council, his suggestions could be accepted or not,
just as equally as the others, as a matter of fact he was
drafted as a scribe from the onset, not as counsel or executive member.
On another note, sources gather that all orders including the one of the Holy Sepulcher, in its heroic phase,
adopted the rules the Temple and it is quite clear in their
constitutions that they are Augustinian.
On the other hand, to what means? based on what? and
under what argument was he to change these, precisely
for those of Cister. At Bernards suggestion and by petition of the council, the Cistercian monk Jean Michel
takes charge of the editing and makes it very clear.
There exists a translation of the primitive rule, based on
the 1886 edition by Henri Curzon, La Regle du Temple as a military manual, where the paleographer Judith
Upton Ward, informs us of the possible existence of a
previous one, although in all honesty we must say that
this document has undergone so many revisions that we
cannot know if it is original or a copy of a copy which
was copied. one must not forget that the order had

been in existence for several years and had developed

their own traditions and customs prior to the arrival of
Hugh de Payens at the Council of Troyes, therefore to a
certain degree the primitive rule is based on established
practices. )Judith Upton Ward. pp 11) (18)
At no point does she speak of the editing of a new rule,
but instead of approval and conformity of what they
have followed since its founding as a congregation, not
order (another error), had it been constituted as an Order, besides being illegal, why repeat the process? the
only one that has the power to elevate an order is the
pope in council, not the patriarch.
In its transcription it is only retouched placing its results
in writing.
The changes are of military character, with respect to
the life of the friars and not monastic. They approve the
white mantle for all its members that Etienne La Ferte
would later correct. It is definite that the Templars take
the the rule of san Augustine or Latin to Troyes where
it is modified but without substantial spiritual loss, giving
origin to what is known as primitive rule, it returns to the
patriarch, who also retouches it.
In 1140 there appears a French translation known as the
French rule in the same manner of the previous ones.
As we can see, the different versions correspond to the
adaptation of the Augustinian rule in its different sequences.
This monk has been credited with great involvement
with respect to the Temple. His publicity and support,
were important factors, for those who wish that their
congregation gain admission as an order within the bosom of the Catholic Church, and doing this through the
large door is important.
The Laude Novae Militiae, offers extensive information to how a Knight of Christ must be, that in no way
resembles a traditional monk, it is a literal copy of the
Augustinian rule, while at the same time a backing of the
measures taken at the Synod of Nablus, concerning the
clergy and its responsibility in armed defense of conquered lands.
There are authors that lean towards modification, total
overhaul and including the rewriting of the prime rule
(19), in the Council of Troyes adopting the Cistercian
one of Bernard the reformer and they even venture into
things and cases that never occurred, such as the creation of a rule in 1131.
They could not be Cister as they would have been contemplative, contrary to active. St. Thomas remarks this
dichotomy quite well in his opus Suma Teologica.
Bernard in his Laude makes it quite clear ...being that
it was illicit for me with the lance, I employ the quill,
assuring you all that it will not be of little help, if what I
cannot accomplish with weapons, I will help you with
writings.

This is a tacit acknowledgment of the impossibility of

arming the monks of his Order, as the labor concerning
his rule was focused on prayer and work, they were not
soldiers.
The Templars were Augustinians, from their inception
until their total disappearance. Later adaptations camouflaged in general, the rules principles, this often occurs
with these institutions that live through time, but their
essence, their Augustinian roots were not modified on
bit along the way. All the Orders of the Holy Land were
under the rules of Saint Augustine, none were Cistercian
or Benedictine.
They neither were monks. Monks normally never leave
their monastery, within where they dedicate themselves traditionally to prayer and daily chores, whereas
a brother differs from a monk in that his ministry and
apostleship takes him to work throughout the realm of
God and away from the convent or hermitage.
The monk identifies with his monastery, whereas the
brothers are usually sent to different locations according
to where their superiors need them (if you wish to be on
this side of the sea you will be taken to the other, process
of admission).
Templars are more brothers than monks. To understand
the difference one only has to analyze the etymology.
Monk comes from the Greeks root signifying.
Singular or isolated: monos. Friar on the other hand,
comes from the Latin frater or brother.
The monks were the first devout Christians that isolated
them-, selves from-the world and its sins. On occasion,
they spent their lives at a desk as scribes. Others in tree
tops, like dendrites. In many cases they simply went
into the desert and lived in caves like the eremites or
hermits. To be precise, a group of eremites was called
a monoi, from the Greek, living in caves on the side
of a hill in the desert, they formed a monastery, or a
residence of monoi or monks.
Much later, monasterys went up in different places
other than the desert, but always reflecting the idea of
devout Christians that wish to isolate themselves from
the world.
The friars, fratelli in Italian, are on the other hand
another very different thing. In fact, the total opposite.
They are preachers that act in a group to evangelize and
raise funds (Mendicant Orders).
-That is why they are justly called brothers, which
suggests an idea of plurality, not singulatity, as in the case
of monks. And the place where the friars congregate was
precisely a conventum, which is a word from the Latin
verb meaning to gather (convenire). Convent places
the emphasis on:a group of people, whereas monastery
places it in the realm of isolation.
Effectively it was the case of a new fashion very removed from the official one, until now not practiced nor

allowed, it caused the most orthodox to gnash their teeth.

The vanguard of the new postular vision headed by

Bernard de Clairvaux was more than ready to not only
recognize, but to empower this type of soldier of Christ,
that would fight to the death in defense of the purity
of faith. Bernard new ,perfectly well that his stance left
scratches upon the skin of those who contemplated
the teachings of the Master with greater sweetness. Lit
was not proper for clerics to brandish swords and thus
it becomes the subject of great debate during the 20th
prerogative of the Synod of Nablus, but he also knew
that before the unstoppable power of the new orthodoxy sprouting from the Book, the word was not enough.
Fancy words and proper manners were not going to
stop the warriors of the different Muslim states thirsty
for vengeance, more was required and that more, was
precisely the new Military-Conventual constitutions that
presented themselves as censoriis fidei, (legal and severe judges).
The Christian church went slowly from the established
pacifism of its founder and the martyrs of its early beginnings, to the warlike state of the holy war created by St.
Augustine of Hippo in his Civitatis Dei, through which
for almost 600 years of transition, support was given to
holy war, leaving behind the peace of God.
This brand of new christianization also created, at the
same time, a new concept, that of demonizing ones adversaries which rightly justified battling them, giving no
quarter and this becoming the main goal of the belligerent church.
The concept of holy war can be traced in christianity
through the conception of a doctrine of just war, which
is continued by other authors throughout the Middle
Ages, such as Thomas Aquinas (Suma Teologica, 1111, Qu. 40) (20) for the purpose of a phrase from the
Gospel of Luke:

...And the Lord said unto his servant, go out into the
highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that
my house may be filled. (Luke 14,23).

Augustine comments (in his Enciclica Gaudium):

Why cannot one force anyone to see the truth? the

Catechism of the Catholic Church considers that every
citizen and all governors should strive to avoid wars. Yet
still, as long as there exists a risk of war and lacking a
competent international authority with the means of corresponding force, once all means of peaceful settlement
are exhausted, one cannot deny governments the right to
legitimate defenses (21).
This same right was recently acknowledged by Pope
John Paul II (22), in his encyclical where he justified the
death of an adversary in a case of conflict and that this
would not be taken as a sin, in the just defense of life or
property.
The very founder of the rule, St. Augustine of Hippo
condemns violence and armed conflict as an excuse for
maintaining the peace of for the conversion of souls, but
at the same time he reflects and acknoTiledges that violence must be fought with violence, wherever negotiation has been exhausted and the perhicious action of the
first persists.

the most original German theologian of this time, a *German Bernard* (24).
Isaac de Etoile a Cistercian philosopher and theologian,
who was the Abbot of the Monastery of Etoile near Poitiers, composed a sermon for his followers in 1147, in
which he stated, there has appeared a new monster, a

certain knighthood whose order emanates from the fifth

Gospel (25) as it has been established to force the infi-

dels to convert to the christian faith by means of lances,

maces and swords and capable of freely stripping non
christians of their belongings and killing them, albeit, religiously, but if one of their own were to fall during these
acts of pillage, he is classified as a martyr of Christ (26).
He does not directly condemn them, but he does display
an absolute rejection of the use of arms as a substitute
for preaching.

For Walter Map Canon of St. Pauls in London and in

1196, archdeacon at Oxford. The only existing work of
this author that survives is De Nugis Curialium (superfltity_ofL:the courtiers) on pages 59/67, he wrote some
considerations in 1187, referring to Peter and the Teachings of the Master.
He pens a critique on the use of arms, and places an interdiction to the Templars vocation. He stated that Christ
and his message obliged preaching in place of the sword.
Christianity had gained more converts and lands with
the former than with the use of violence and that these
were motivated by their lust for war, in place of searching for the soul and spirit of Christ.
On the other hands were the defenders of the militarization of the Orders, who maintained that the use of arms
was as ancient as the presence of Christ on Earth, they
traced it back to war of Constantine the Great against
Magnentius and the incident of the Milvian Bridge in
Rome, there had always been a sword ready to defend
christians and their faith, without which the latter would
have been impossible to maintain.
Turold, the author of the Song of Roland, an epic poem
based on the Battle of Roncevaux, in the year 778 as
they crossed the port of Cisa, writes in the voice of
the bishop Turpin who perishes battling alongside his
Bernard de Clairvaux would say to this, which he would companions, You do well companion, dismembering
rely on to bolster his speech,:
the vile enemies of the cross, a knight must be fierce and

That is the sort of wars in: vhich the Order of the Temple were embroiled in, good!, evil requires a pulling out
by the roots, when you slay an infidel there is no homicide but instead malicide. (23; thus justifying and sanctioning without a doubt this situation that was not fully accepted especially by many clerics. For Gerard Winkler
in his work, he illustrates: Bernard de Clairvaux, himself
had much to do:with this college of canons of St. Victor in Paris. Gerhoe de Reichersberg (1093-1169), along
with Rupert de Deutz and Hildegatde Von Bingen, was

strong in battle, or he is worth nothing and better suited

to becoming a monk in one of those churches and dedicate himself to praying all day for oursins. (27)

For those who criticized the seizing of booty, Hugh Peccatore, stated that it was necessary for the upkeep of the
Soldiers of Christ, and it was rightly won, but not fought
over, it was a consequence that permitted the continued
effort in the defense of faith.
They firmly believed that God needed swords more than
supplications, in short, they placed a higher value on an

active religious life, rather than a contemplative one.

All these opinions, without being all, demonstrate how
long and difficult the process of the Militia was, its definitive acceptance never was realized, due to fear by some,
by envy of others and others less speculative, who were
made up of opponents that eased the fraternal rejection
of those that had sworn to pledge their lives to Christ
defending He Is faithful and his message.

3.
The bull Omne Datum Optimum of Pope Innocent II of 29 March 1139 for the purpose of officially creating the Order of the Temple. In it, aside from
recognizing the Order, granted its members any spoils
won from the Saracens in the Holy Land and they were
exempt from paying a tithe to the corresponding bishoprics, not having to explain their actions or behavior to
any one save the Pope.
The name of this bull corresponds to the first three
words of Chapter 1, Verse 17 of the Gospel of James:
OmneADatum Optimum et omne donum perfectum de
sursum est transmutatio nec vicissitudinis obrumbatio. (
All good presents and every perfect ability come from on
high, from the Father of lights, in whom there is no shift
or variation of shadows). Along with the bulls Milites
Templi and Militia Dei, constitute the lawful base of the
Order.
4.
The bull Milites Templi (Soldiers of the Temple)
was pro-mulgated by Pope Celestine II in 1144 with the
purpose of increasing the privileges of the Templars.
In it the clergy was ordered to protect the knights of the
Order andcto the faithful, contributing to their cause, for
which he allowed, once a year, an act of comparison of
virtues. This measure had very little appeal to the secular community, and it very likely, increased the already
heady dislike towards the Order.
5.
The bull Militia Dei (Soldiers of God) was promulgated by Pope Eugene III in 1145 with the purpose
of consolidating the privileges of the Order by reinforcing its independence with respect to the secular clergy.
In it is recognized the Orders right to collect tribute, to
bury its dead in their own ceme: teries and to have their
own churches. Many are the complaints of the bishops
and thus they decried it, upon seeing their congregations
flocking to Templar churches, with the resulting loss of
tithes and donations and adding to this the non obedience from those whom they considered their inferiors.

Besides, this novelty clashed with the most orthodox

tradition of the church who repudiating the spilling of
blood, declared irregular and suspended from any clerical office, not only any cleric who even in self defense,
had provoked wounds or death of another human being,
but also and including any sacred place where human
blood had been spilt, was defiled and it must be purified
before celebrating divine rites.
The legislative body by which the friars of the Temple
govern themselves underwent many logical adaptations
to suit the times, along its existence. In spite of this, they
channeled themselves in two different and complimen- END OF PART ONE PART TWO WILL CONTItary but equally valid points:
NUE IN NEXT ISSUE............
On the one side papal bulls and on the other the general
chapters.
1.
Aulic Synod of Nablus where the canonical congregation is formed or the Brotherhood of the Milithia
Christi Ierosolimitana , on 16 January of 1120, where
vows are sworn by a roomful of defenders of the faith,
they are given a rule, uniformity, a dwelling and a certain
charisma2.
Council of Troyes on 13 January of 1129, for
the sole purpose of officially creating the Order of the
Temple: Swearing of solemn vows, they fashion the primitive order based on the previous one, as of now
they are friars of full right.

The Footnotes of part one.

1 The word may have a double origin or a Latin root meaning
thief , or one of Celtic origin It means warrior. Although they
tended to attribute this movement to a mere purpose of banditry
in
his time, some authors acknowledged its nature social revolution.
2.
The Oghuz, a small Turkish tribe associated with the Seljuqs.
3. Baldwin de Bourcq or Baldwin II of Jerusalem, was one of
the leaders of the 1st Crusade who became Count of Edesa and
afterwards the second monarch and also the second to assume
the title of of King of Jerusalem. He was a cousin of the two
previous kings, Godfrey and Baldwin I de Bouillon.
4.
In 1120 he convened the Council of Nablus along with
King Baldwin II. He was an uncle of Godfrey and Hugh de
Saint-Omer.
5,
It was not a church council in all aspects, but it was not
a meeting of the royal court according to Hans Mayer, ggiven
the religious character of many of the canons, it may be considered as much a parliament as an ecclesiastical synod. The
agreement between the king and the patriarch was similar to the
one at Worms two years later.
6. They were attacked and many were killed, the rest were
sold as slaves, a fact that caused much pain among the Latin
community of Jerusalem.
7. Read, Piers Paul, Os Templarios, Rio de Janeiro. Ed.Imago
2001, pp 102
8. Durand, Julius Caesar. On the concepts of police, power
of police and activity of police (pdf). Commentary on opinion
of procurement of national treasury, 13 July 2004, Review of
Administrative Law (REDA) # 51, Lexis Nexis, consulted 22

June 2011.
10. It refers to the philosophical and religious doctrine that
seeks to purify the spirit by means of rejecting material pleasures
or abstinence.
15.
History of Malta and Gozoi Frederic Lacroix, 1840,
Barcelona, pp 65
19. Not only is this affirmation.jgrattitous, it contradicts
contemporary chroniclers, where they announce, not only the
canonical character but also the adopted rule, the Augustinian,
due to the impossibility of becoming an order of congregation
without the mandatory rule, which is why one must not take
into consideration any affirmations that are generally a product
of a lack of exhaustive research on the subject.
20. Text quotes of Thomas Aquinas, some referring to Augustine of Hippo. and other_authors in a traditionalist catholic
page.
21. Encyclical Gaudium et spes 79, 4
22.
Knowing that violence creates violence, the Pope seeks
that all, especially world leaders, prime ministers, representatives of different groups and organizations to say NO TO WAR,
NO! until all means of peaceful and diplomatic solutions are
cX hap 5 e A. http://encuentra.com/sin-categoria/juan_pablo_
ii_y_la_guerra 13352/
23. From Hail to the new Militia of the Soldiers of theiTemple, Bernard de Clairvaux. Works of St.Bernard Madris, 1947
pp 1427/1464 Chapter 3. Justifying the death of an infidel in
battle when there is no other course of action,..
24.
Gerhard Winkler, Monkhood and religious orders, the
Canons of St. Augustine.
25.
Refers to the positive value of a fact condemned by the
church and not accepted by the clergy.
26. Helen Nicholson, The Templars. Ed. Critica, Barcelona,
Jan 2010, pp 58/59
27. Manuscript 39, Monastery of Saint Milan of Cogolla

Jos Maria Fernandez Nez

Degree in History
Regional delegate of the UNEE (National Union of
Writers of Spain) to Zaragoza
Member of the Medieval Foundation for Genealogy.
University of Cambrigde

The Sacred Shroud of Turin and the Templars

By Julio Marvizn Preney

From Constantinople
to France.

one may see the figure.

None, neither Greeks nor Frenchmen, know what became of it when the city was conquered.
In the years 1200 and 1201, there ocurred an uprising
We know that the Sacred Shroud of Turin once was in
in the imperial palace. The historian Nikolaos Mesarites,
Constantinople via diverse accounts that have become
who was the official caretaker of the relics had to conknown to us.
front the insurgents to prevent them from defiling them.
He was able to dissuade them by invoking the sanctity
of the space.
The objects gathered there constituted a new Jerusalem
that connected heaven and earth and must remain outside of all political maneuvering.
Nikolaos describes the shroud in very clear terms:
A funerary cloth upon which the image of Christ is outlined as a silhouette without any contours. It is of linen,
a simple and humble material, and still emanates the fragrance of myrrh. It defies decay because it has swathed
the unspeakable corpse, naked and anointed after the
Passion.
Afterwards it is quite probable, not to say with any certainty, that the Holy Shroud of Turin was in Constantinople until the year 1204. But what occurred after that
date?
From that moment the Sindon (shroud) vanishes, and
Neither Greeks nor Frenchmen know what became of
it, Robert de Clari tells us.
* An act consisting of the prodigious elevation of the Sacred cloth, by a priest, and before an icon of the Blessed
Virgin.We have two theories in which the Templars are
The important relics that the emperor of Constantinople
very involved.
had in his possesion were stored in the chapel.of Pharos
and in the basilica of Blachernae and they had, logically,
a very well cared for status.
Anything that was done with them or any visits that took
place, was carefully noted in an official document. They
were kept in sealed cases to avoid theft or substitution,
and they were entrusted to keepers of great confidence.
They were documented with certificates of authenticity
that guaranteed their provenance, that bore the gold seal
of the Emperor of Byzantium.
One of Crusaders that entered Constantinople in 1204,
Robert de Clari, described an Ostentation of the Sindon.* celebrated in that city shortly before the mass.
Thus he recounts it: There also is, among them (churches) an abbey called Our Lady of Blachernae, wherein
we find the shroud that Our Lord was wrapped in.
Every good Friday, it is unfolded and held high so that

The first concerns a medieval Frenchman named Geoffroy de Charny (also spelt Charnay), eldest son of Jean
de Charny, Lord , of Charny, and of Marguerite de
Joinville, daughter of Jean de Joinville, celebrated biographer of St. Louis IX, King of France and who, according to some investigators, is connected with Geoffroy
de Charny.
Geoffroy de Charny was Preceptor of Normandy for the
Knights Templar. de Charny was accepted into the Order at a very early age by Brother Amaury de la Roche,
the Preceptor of France. Present during the ceremony
was Jean le Franceys,
Preceptor of Pedenac. De Charny was burned alive at
the stake, alongside Jacques de Molay (Grand Master)
for heresy in 1314, on the Isle de la Citein Paris.
The Templars fell into disgrace and Philip IV, King of
France, also called The Fair, decided to finish them off.
Thus he ordered their detention, imprlsonment, trial and
death for them, after suffering horrible questioning.
Gerard Castel, the historian tells us: It occured that two
Templar Knights, MonfocOn, Prior of Montfalcon in the
province of Toulouse and Nofey Dei Florentin, escaped
from the prisons they had been sentenced to by order of
the Grand Master and condemned to death, and who
uncovered that Philip of France had accused the Order
of horrible and heinous endemic crimes, such as no ears
had heard, eyes had seen, nor were ever harbored in
any mans heart.

The principle charges that the Templars were accused

of were: that novices upon entering the Order, blasphemed against God, against Christ, the Virgin Mary and
the Saints.
They were accused of spitting on the Cross and upon
the image of Jesus Christ that they trod upon stating that
This prince related said crimes to Pope Clement V, while Christ had been a false prophet, and that the Passion
together in the city of Poitiers, in which the latter issued a was false and that He had not been crucified for the
bull on 13 August of 1306, the same King Philip declared redemption of mankind.
the inquiry that he was to make concerning the case.
That they worshipped a half human head that did not
The king who considered that the Pope was slow in his belong to any saint (Baphomet) and which was adordecisions, sent, on 14 September of 1307, secret orders ned by black and curly hair, and that before it, they had
to Reynauld, Lord of Pinquon and Jean de Verenis and recited certain prayers and would bind it with bands,
to the Bailiff of Amiens, ordering the immediate arrest, which they afterwards wrap around their bodies as if
without personal distinction, all Templars, and that their they were meant as sort of pro tection. Against the Temproperty, without exception, be applied to the national plars that were priests, they stood accused of failing to
treasury.
speak the words of Consecration during the mass.
In carrying out this royal decree, dawn or sunrise of Fri- That the knights used the novices, committing against
day the 13th (hence the bad luck that this day portents) them all sorts of abominations.
of October, 1307, all the Templars that were present in They were also accused that under oath they promised
France, including the Grand Master of the entire Order to reveal to no man, what they did at dawn or at its
and lands beyond, were arrested and imprisoned.
twilight, this last charge was believed to be, according to
Cardinal Petra, the most serious.
The Grand Master was alone ordered held under house Was this image of a head, as some affirm, the face of the
arrest in the Templar castle in Paris.
Man of the Sacred Shroud?
At the same time King Philip sent missives to all the prin- In 1959, in a Templar church of Templecombe, U.K.,
ces and governments of Europe, informing them as to a tablet was discovered that showed the face of a man
what he had done in France, and exhorting them to fo- that bore a certain resemblance to the Man of the Sacred
llow suit in their respective states.
Shroud.

Was Baphomet a representtion of the

Man of the Sindon?

Geoffroy de Charny (1300-1356) was a French knight

and author of at least-,three works on knighthood.
Geoffroy, was also .a knight in the service of King JeanII
of France and a founding member of the Order of the
Star, an order of knighthood that was founded on 6 November of 1351 by Jean II of France.
It was nothing more than a copy of the Order of the Garter, created in 1347 by Edward III of England.
He was also the bearer of the Oriflamme, which was
the battle standard of the French Crown, an immense
privilege and honor, not to mention a dangerous one, as
it made its carrier, the key target of enemy forces on the
field of battle. Geoffroy de Charny was perhaps during
his lifetime, an example of a true European knight, with
a reputation of not only skill with weapons, but also of
compassion and honor. It was said that in his time he
was known as a true and perfect knight.
This condition alongside the King of France obliged him
to take part in numerous battles, thus losing his life at
Poitiers, using his body to shield that of the king, receiving
the fatal arrow that was directed towards the monarch.
Along the way during his great career, he was created
Lord of Lirey and there, he would build a church.
An account that has remained, until now unpublished,
of the Canons of the church of Lirey around 1525, credited the construction of the church to a promise made
by Geoffroy when he was held a prisoner of the English.
The legend states that the English had taken control
of the town of Calais in 1347 (this is factual) and that
Geoffroy had gained through bribery, the complicity of a

member of that citys garrison, so that he would open its

gates, to allow a small French detachment, led by Geoffroy, could enter and retake the city. The plan failed and
the traitor alerted King:Edward III who organized a raid
against the assailants who were defeated and Geoffroy
along with other French knights were taken prisoners.
According to the narration of the Canons, Geoffroy was
locked away in a tower and the English king treated him
inhumanely and would not return him to France in
exchange for any sum of money, whereupon at that time
Geoffroy made a promise that if he were saved he would
btild a church in Lirey in honor of the Virgin Mary.
The Canons, continue their tale, telling of the presence
of an angel in the form of a young servant of the tower
who opened up the doors , at nightfall.
His aid did not end at this, but provided him with the
means of disguise as an Englishman and urged him to
join a troop of them that were going out on a sortie
against the French.
Geoffroy trusted him, went out and allowed himself to
be captured by his countrymen, to whom he revealed
himself, thus safe and sound.
Historians do not accept this romantic narration, as it is
known that Geoffroy as well as his countrymen were
sent to England where they enjoyed a certain amount of
freedom and that, after several refusals, King Edward, at
last assented to their release, in July of 1351, in exchange of a 12,000 ecus ransom paid by King Jean the Good.
The tale of the Canons is nothing more than the fruit of
a vivid imagination.

But what is certain is that Geoffroy built a church in Li- The upper part seem to be the stoles of bishops that are
rey, a collegiate founded on 20 June of 1353.
displaying the Sindon, held in their hands by its upper
But, let us return to the Templars.
edges, which was the way it was displayed at that time.
According to the theory of Ian Wilson,Geoffroy de
Charny was a descendent of the Geoffroy de Charny,
immolated, as we have read, in 1314 along with Jacques de Molay.
Did the Templars possess the Sacred Shroud and what
they venerated was the face of the Man of the Sindon
and not that of an idol?
Did the Sacred Shroud pass into the hands of the latter
Geoffroy de Charny, as a descendent, and did not wish
to reveal where or how he had come to possess it, because his ancestor had been burned alive for having it?
It could be, but it seems that Geoffroy de Charny has no
ties of relationship with the Other Geoffroy.
But in all the books that speak to us of the manifestations of the Sacred Shroud, we are told that Geoffroy
de Charny inherited it from Geoffroy de Charnay who
had it because a Templar, one of which commanded the
ill named Fourth Crusade, stole and took it to France,
concealing it among the Templar treasures.
But, why does Geoffroy de Charny, not speak of it when
he erects his church that, in principle, would serve to entomb his family? why, when already deceased Geoffroy
I, his wife, Jeanne de Vergy and his son Geoffroy II, are
the ones that place it in the church of Lirey?
Now, many years ago a medal was found in:the River
Seine in Paris, a medal that was presented to pilgrims as
a souvenir upon visiting and venerating the Sindon, the
medal is known as Mereau, and its image is below.

At that time, was the woman so important that her crest

was depicted on the same level as that of her husbands
on a medal? why does her crest appear on this medal?
Does this mean something as to the ownership of the
Sacred Shroud?
These questions have no answers, but I believe that they
offer some clues as to how the Sindon came to Lirey.
According to his son Geoffroy II and his granddaughter
Marguerite, it had come to him as an act of grace or,
rather, as spoils of war. But we know not for certain.
We go on with these questions that have no answers.
Could it be that the true owner of the Sindon was Jeanne de Vergy and that she brought it into the marriage?
which is why her crest is represented on the Mdreau
granting her the same relevance as her husband?
How did the Sindons proprietorship come into her
hands?
We cannot overlook that Jeanne de Vergy is the Great
Granddaughter of Othon de la Roche.
Othon de la Roche was a Templar and one of the commanders of the Fotrth Crusade that, after the sacking of
Constantinople, was named Duke of Athens.

There is a theory, that Othon kept thez Sindon and,

being that it was a relic of the Passion, it should have
corresponded to King Baldwin I of Jerusalem, thus to
avoid discovery, he sent it to his family in France and
they guarded it in their castle of Montigny-Monfort, as
well as in the cathedral of Besancon.
Years later his great grand daughter, who wed Geoffroy
Mereau
de Charny in that cathedral, took it as part of her marriage dowry.
As one can see, it is a schematic and rough represen- Both theories could be true, but there is something that
tation of the Sacred Shroud. At its base there appear knocks them down. In 1247, Baldwin II, at that time Emtwo crests, one on the left, another on the right, and, peror of Constantinople, makes a gift of a fragment of
between them, an empty tomb and a cross.
the Sindon to his uncle, Louis IX of France.

The French king orders the construction of the Sainte

Chapelle (Holy Chapel) to place therein all the relics
that he had acquired such as: Christs Crown of Thorns,
a fragment of the True Cross, a portion of the Sacred
Shroud,etc. this last relic has vanished.
Later, the Sacred Shroud had to be sold due to a great
economic crisis between 1247 and 1261, as there is evidence that he no longer had it during this time.

The Sacristan at the cathedral gave us two versions:

one, that it had been there but was divided into pieces
during an epidemic, so as to heal the sick.
The second, thatiit was destroyed in a fire during an
uprising.
What seems probable is that this cathedral had a replica
of the shroud, and this was the one that suffered one of
the two fates that were offered to us, as to its disappearance.
But we must not forget that Jeanne de Vergy was the
great granddaughter of Othon de le Roche and that she
married Geoffroy de Charny in the cathedral of Besancon.
Was it part of her marriage dowry? is this why it is she,
who brings it into the marriage?
We do not know but there is a pervasive tradition that
the Sindon was in Besancn and the castle of MontignyMonfort, owned by the de la Roche family.
According to Daniel Raffard, President of the International Center of Studies on the Shroud of Turin, at
the International Scientific Conference on the Sacred
Shroud,in Nice, exposed
the possibility that Othon de la Roche, 1st Duke of
Athens, was one who confiscated the Sindon and sent
it to the castle of Ray, near Besancn, another property
of the de la Roche. According to this account the Sacred
Shroud turns up in this castle as the property of Pons de
la Roche, Othons father.
In another of their castles, at Rigny, there is an inscription
in stone, dating to that time, the XIII century, in which
it explains that the Sacred Shroud was brought from
Constantinople by Othon de la Roche.

It is most certain, and we come back to the Templars,

that he sold it to them as only they had ample means to
acquire it and an equally great desire of securing relics.
Through the Order of the Temple it could have come to
Geoffroy de Charny as well as to the family of Othon de
la Roche and end up in Lirey.
This would lead us to believe that the hypothesis of
Besancon is invalid. Albeit that within the cathedral of
that city there are numerous works of art and details that
speak to us of the Holy Shroud.
My wife and I have been in this beautiful city, on three
occasions, investigating the Movements of the Sindon
and have never discovered anything. At City Hall we
were told that there were no documents that corroborate-the presence of the Sacred Shroud in Besancon.

Following the knowledge of this gentleman, in Manuscript 826 of Besancpn cathedrals library, it states that
Pons de la Roche surrendered the Sindon to Amadeus
de Tramelay, Archbishop of Besancon, who deposited it
within the cathedral.

I have been able to see this manuscript.Historians the controversy and writes to the Pope a supposed
continue to say that, in order to better defend it, the linen memorandum in whieh he shows the Pope that the linen
was guarded during a certain period within the castle of is painted and that he knows the artist.
Montigny-Monfort.
After several disc cussions in which the Pope orders him
Jeanne de Vergy, great granddaughter of Othon de la to to keep his counsel under penalty of excommunication,
Roche, as already stated marries Geoffroy de Charny in the showings continue, although the Pope urges the
1340 at the cathedral of Besancon and according to these canons to not say that it is the shroud of Jesus, a mandate
historians, it is she who brings the cloth to the marriage that is soon forgotten.
and who deposits it at the church of Lirey.What is
certain is that there and on display for the veneration of The supposed memorandum of Pierre d Arcis is not
the faithful who, because of the plague that lay waste to considered to be factual as it does not bear a signature,
entry register number, bishops seal or heading, at most it
France in those years, they gather en masse in
is a draft that was never delivered. Afterwards, through
pilgrimage and deposit vast sums of alms. This fact will one way or another, the Sindon turns up in 1357 in Lirey
cause a confrontation between the canons of Lirey and and since that time, we most definitely ha a complete
the Bishop of Troyes, Henri de Poitiers, who forbids historic documentation as to all its movements.
such showings because the Gospels make no mention
that about the shroud of Jesus having an image, and Notes:
therefore, said cloth was but a painting that tricked the
faithful. Read between the lines, that it drew away This conference is for the Cap. Book VI.The Shroud
pilgrimages to his city as well as alms.
of Turin further progress in their study. Edic. Giralda
The Pope bids him to hold his tongue. Several years Nov.2012. And was held in Seville at the Conference
later, the now Bishop of Troyes, Pierre d Arcis, renews on the Temple in December 2013

Julio Marvizon Preney

Industrial engineer.
Journalist.
Lecturer and writer

Jerez de los Caballeros

Bahiliato of The Templar Order
By Emilio Prez

Templar Castle of Jerez de los Caballeros

To elder Jacques de Molay
Who died with dignity
At the stake 700 years ago .
The king of Len, Alfonso IX, won to muslins Villa Xerixa (Jerez) with the help in the battle of the knights of
the Templar Order in 1230; in gratitude for their help,
he donated them the city and he entrusted them the supervision of its borderlands with the powerful Arab kingdom of Sevilla and Niebla (Huelva ).
The Templars were strong in the Arab Castle rebuilding
and fortifying, raising an important network of walls and
towers to the defense of the town and organizing a large Templar Commandery; the biggest in south of the
Iberian peninsula, that the Christians had managed to
establish in their efforts to reclaim lands from the great
Muslim kingdoms of Sevilla and Granada.
The Templar Order defended and governed Jerez de
los Caballeros and surrounding lands, enlarging the
city, making it the most important Christian center of
southwestern Iberia. The Templar knights changed the
muslin name Xerixa by Xere Equitum (Jerez de los Caballeros), in order to be the head of its powerful com-

mandery, set to become the great Baylia of Jerez .

Jerez and its region, with the help and protection of
the Templar knights, expands and enlarges in size and
people, who are attracted by work in the news lands
conquered from the muslims, for the repopulation of the
farmhouse of the vast district of Jerez and the creation
of wealth and security offered by the Templar knights .
Templar guaranteed many privileges in their area of influence, which helped the expansion and repopulation
(many of those privileges still persist today). The Law of
Baylia is one of those; which consisted of the following:
the goods supplied by the spouses are common; and as
result of separation, divorce or death, the partition would
be half of the goods for each.
But what benefits brought this legal regime?
Nothing more and nothing less, in that time, the recognition of soldiers s women, ownership of the lands,
when husbands marched to war, and incentive for women to settle in the conquered lands and won by their
husbands.
In this way, the place of Jerez de los Caballeros became one of the most important enclaves for the Templars
on the peninsula, adding, in their donations, villas of Burguitos, Valencia del Ventoso and further south Fregenal
de la Sierra, and westbordering Portuguese lands, Olinveza, Alconchel, Villanueva del Fresno and Oliva de la
Frontera, reconquered from the arabs.

Given the huge expanse of land and populations and

rebuilding castles like Burguillos, Fregenal and Olivenza and creating new parcels inside, the area became a
Baylia , a word of French origin, Baillie( Baylia, hence,
bailiff or bailiato) which designates a large territory under the jurisdiction of the knights of the Templar Orden .
Complying with norms and the rules of the Templars,
with the regrouping of the vast resources of the area,
which governed the Templar knights, the administrative institution was called Baylia; which included several
parcels each one directed by a commander, which in
turn depended on a major or general commander from
Bayliato.
The territory ruled by the Templars from Jerez de los
Caballeros, south of Badajoz and north of the Sierra de
Huelva was almost 3000 square kilometers, an extension that exceeds 30% of the current province of Vizcaya, becoming so in the most important domain of the
Order in the Iberian peninsula
As Isidoro Terrn says in his book The Templars in Baylia of Xerex
: this double condition of entrustment and strength, plus the
inmense alfaz that possessed: three thounsand kilometers of
lordship and jurisprudence , gave it great power placing it in
a privileged position compared to other baylias of the Temple. It was , likewise main headquarters of the militia, mother
church and administrative center from where all farms, cattle
and mining which might be found, within the perimeter of its
alfaz, were headed .
According to Feliciano Correa in his book Territorio
Templario the Jerez city became the capital of the Templars in the kingdom of Len.
Authors like Campomanes, doubted if the head of the
party of the Templar knights, was the city of Zamora or
Jerez in the kingdom of Len.

expansion of the kingdom Castellano-leons , against the

Muslim kingdoms of Sevilla , Niebla y Granada .
The best testimony that Jerez was the capital of the Baylia of its name, is a record of the chapter that the Templars hold the day of San Juan ; the 24 of June, in 1272,
to mark the edge of the term Valencia del Ventoso ; in it
is said .the Baylia of Xerex..

The Contribution Of Baylia Of Jerez

De Los Caballeros To Conquer The
Kingdom Of Sevilla For Castilla

King Fernando III, started in 1246 the reconquest of the

kingdom of Sevilla in muslim power, with the invaluable
contribution of the Templar knights, estimated at about
five hundred armed men, from the Commandery of Caravaca de la Cruz (Murcia) and Baylia of Jerez de los
Caballeros (Badajoz).
The armies of king Fernando III besieged the city for
almost two long years, but to get the victory, the Templars collaborated taking neighboring populations with
the kingdoms of Niebla, La Rbida, Lepe and Villalba
del Ascor, for that way, they cut food supplies and reinforcement of armed men to Sevilla.
In taking Sevilla, the master Pedro Alvarez Alvito was in
command of the Templar force. Following the tradition
of all Christian kings, Fernando donated to the Order
several farms around the Aljarafe of Sevilla, La Rbida,
Salts, Lepe and Aracena.
Once established, by Fernando III, the Capital of the
kingdom of Castilla in the city of Sevilla, priors and commanders Templars settled in the city, being part of the
court of Castilian king.
Two Templar knights playing chess in the gothic palace
of the Royals Alcceres, can be master Juan Fernndez
Cay and the prior of Fregenal de la Sierra, Pay Gmez
But there is no doubt that Jerez de los Caballeros, was Barreto.
the capital of bayliato of its name, the most important of According to Juan A. Romero Gmez in The Templars
southern Spain and vital for the conquest of Sevilla and in the kingdom of Sevilla

THE DISHONOR HICTORIC TO

THE TEMPLARS OF JEREZ

Order and to hand over their lands, their property and

their weapons, otherwise they would die at the stake as
heretics.

The Templars helped king Fernando III to conquer Sevilla and his descendat Fernando IV sent army to finish
them.
With the bull PASTORALIS PRAEMINENTIAE (November 22, 1307) Pope Clemente V orders the Christian
kings and princes to arrest all the Templars, and to seize
their property in the name of the church.
Fernando IV, of Castilla is limited to ask for the castles of
the Templars, but the Pope Clemente V urges the king of
Castilla with the bull AD OMNIUM NOTITIAN , to
stop and seize assets to Templars in Castilla and provide
to bishops of the place before Dicember 30, 1308.
While king Jaime II of Aragn y Valencia imprisons and
tortures the Templars of Aragn, Fernando IV of Castilla takes the commandery of Alconetar in Extremadura,
with the help of Calatrava Order .
Fregenal castle is removed to the Templars, in august
1309 by the army council of Sevilla and troops of Fernando IV, after six months of siege.

They did so in all commandery , but the knights of the

great Baylia of JEREZ refused to give up the Templar
Order , which had sworn eternal loyalty, and they decide to defend the site until death.

The fence is closed to the capital of the powerful Bayliato of Jerez .

The Homage Tower of Jerez de los Caballeros was
witness the tragic end of the last knights of the Templar
Order in Extremadura.
The Christian kingdoms, of the Iberian peninsula, did
not believe the accusations against the Order, which
was surrounded by great prestige, which was won by
the honor of the spilled blood in the reconquest of the
lands to Islam; however, they were forced to obey the
bull of Clemente V, and ordered all the Templar parcels,
distributed by the Christian kingdoms, to denounce the

Though the fight was uneven; more than ten soldiers

against a Templar knight, they withstood the siege of the
fortress until finally, in the limit of their forces, they were
cornered in the Homage Tower, where they were finally
beheaded by the kings troops Fernando IV and Council
of Sevilla and their bodys thrown viciously vacuum, from
the battlements of the tower

HOMAGE TOWER ( BLOODY

TOWER )
Since then, the Homage Tower is known among people of JEREZ , Bloody Tower, and the spirit of those
gentlemen, demanding justice, was impregnated for the
eternity, in the castle walls they helped enlarge.

Thus it was consummated, after 62 years, the dishonor In that territory, full of megalitic remains and shelters in
to kill, by Fernando IV, the descendants of those who caves, where the primitive man expressed his idea of
helped Fernando III, to add Sevilla to Castilla.
transcendence, the knights Templars were established
in the thirteenth century, conveniently monitored by
Time does not forget
SANTIAGO and CALATRAVA orders, and there were
Jewish centers in which the Qabbalah was studied.
And the tower recolls
And it is precisely that part magic place of Jerez that
The injustice of a king
the Atienza master speaks us, who is expert like few
others in Spain, of which we will consider now.
To he noble knights
In conversation with writer and researcher Emilio CaThat in its sad battlements
rrillo, whom we have interviewed, several times on our
radio program (Live Earth) in the Seville town of QUITheir spirits wait
LLENA, he recounted us his discovery relating to the
Temple, the sacred geometry and JEREZ DE LOS CAThe repair of the affront
BALLEROS.
There is not clear documentation of when it was
taken by force, but the Pope, on November 25 of that
year, requires the return of templars property to king
Fernando IV. Setember, 9, 1312, died the king Fernando
IV of Castilla and Len at the age of 27 years, three
years after to finish unworthily with the Templar knights
of Jerez de los Caballeros.

JEREZ DE LOS CABALLEROS AND

SACRED GEOMETRY
About JEREZ and the Templars, the writer Juan Garca Atienza writes, in his book The secret goal of the
Templars, there are certain places that, not coincidentally, coincide with the magical landscapes of which I
have been talking about; where along the historical development are concentrated in a special way, facts and
circumstances that condition and typify the area, fix its
unusual nature and fertilize, century after century, with
special characteristics.
If I had to choose now the right place to serve as example..a typical area that lies in the limits of ANDALUCIA and EXTREMADURA and is limited, more or
less, by the localities of JEREZ DE LOS CABALLEROS
, ZAFRA, FREGENAL DE LA SIERRA, the mountains Carrillo was wondering, in his investigations, why the
of TENTUDIA and ARACENA.
Templars requested to king Fernando III lands located in
the province of HUELVA, which it was not bordering,
curiously, with the limits of their bayliato, but rather with
coastal towns, such as LA RBIDA, SALTES and LEPE.
Why these places? The answer is obvious and meridionally clear; because the temple wanted an outlet the Atlantic Ocean in the south of the peninsula, with access to
the MEDITERRANEO sea and the coasts of AFRICA.
We do not forget that Order had a supranational character and possessed the biggest and best prepared maritime fleet of any european Christian kingdoms and the
Middle East, hence they granted the highest priority to

this objective instead of to increase the limits of a bayliato, already sufficiently broad and strong.
But also the interest of the Templars by an exit to the
sea, E. Carrillo discovered something else: a triangle
between: JEREZ DE LOS CABALLEROS, LEPE and
SEVILLA .
Now is the time to remember the definition of GOD,
provided by the theological father of the Temple Order,
St Bernardo de Claraval: what is God? Is length, width,
height and depth, that is to say, God is geometry (of
Consideratione).
That is clicking with compass in Jerez de los Caballeros, an arc is formed that connects perfectly Lepe and
Sevilla through La Rbida and Salts island, thus is formed a triangle which we can call Templar triangle;
one of four that form the Temple cross, and if we draw
a straight line from Jerez to both locations, the distance is
the same and equidistant, 124 kilometers which translated to fit length of the time, gives us 23 castilian leagues.
Undoubtedly this situation emphasizes, the knowledge
of the Order by the sacred geometry, the design map
location of their parcels, forts and temples and other possessions ( such as seaports) and also it demonstrates that
they moved following a planned geostrategic model for
territorial expansion.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Notes on the location of the foster home of Templars in
Sevilla ( Fernando Vzquez Brea)
The secret goal of the Templars (Juan Garca Atienza)
The Templars in the kingdom of Sevilla (Juan A. Romero Gmez)
Historical dissertations about the Templars Order, and
their chivalry or historical summaries of their principles,
foundation, institution, progress and termination at the
Council of Viena.( Pedro Rodriguez de Campomanes)
The Templars in the Baylia of Jerez (Isidoro Terrn Calvo)
Templar Territory (Feliciano Correa)
Consideratione ad Eugenium Papam (Bernardo de Claraval )
History of the kingdom of Badajoz during the Muslim
domination (Matas Ramn Martnez)

Emilio Jose Perez Garcia

Knight Templar Order Encomienda Magistral San
Juan Macias de Olivenza (O.S.M.T.H.)
Creator of the blog The House of the Temple in
Jerez de los Caballeros.
This Templar brother died last June. Rest in the
Peace of Christ.

Compassion: Christian contribution,

Buddhist contribution
By Juan Antonio Cabezos

Abstract

characteristics of God, as a content of his being, because

God is merciful (Exodus 34.6) and further requests the
Compassion is one of the great contributions of both Jewish people it is because it must not abuse the stranger,
Christianity and Buddhism but the way to address nor vex the widow or the fatherless, nor charge interest
compassion is different, even if they share common on loans or return the material presented.
criteria. We approach compassion from both religious
perspectives, which apparently are different but really A first look at what is meant by compassion is to
protect the weak (the stranger, the widow, the orphan),
are more common than apart.

not to practice usury and return what was borrowed.

Christianity, which was born within Judaism as a religious
sect (school) as were the Sadducees, the Pharisees or the
Essenes, evolved quickly when the pagan world joined
the project of Christian life, why Christianity added to
its corpus belief compassion content found in the Old
Testament and also the concept so broad that transforms
the contents of compassion.

For the theologian Martin Gelabert Ballester all the

preaching of Jesus is moved with compassion (Martin
Gelabert Theological sense of compassion in Theology
number 215 selections, a great article where theological
studies the evolution of compassion is studied, and then
ether is the contribution by Pope Benedictus XVI defining
compassion as eros and agape).What Jesus transformed
the content of compassion in? Jesus, that great master of
knowledge, takes it into the human realm, because now
it is not God who is compassionate God, the one who
After nearly three hundred years of history Buddhism is has compassion as his quality, but people, individuals, as
a philosophy that has much echo in the West, not by the Mt. 6.34 reads:
figure of the Dalai Lama but by the internal elements of
Buddhism practiced in many of the first world countries. On landing he saw many people, he felt COMPASSION,

as they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he

Christianity is the religion with most followers in the began teaching them many things.
world if we add together the believers of the different
We see at once that in the group many people there
Christian Churches.
not only would outsiders or widows or orphans but a
We ran into a reality: Christianity is the first world collection of individuals, many people, so we can say
religion in the number of believers but Buddhism spans that many people means humanity.
the countries of Christian tradition.
One aspect of confluence of Christianity to Buddhism is
compassion. In this regard the Dalai Lama wrote:
All religions emphasize the improvement of human
beings, a sense of brotherhood, love, and all these things
they have in common. Therefore, if we consider the
essence of religion, there is not much difference among
them.
If the essence is the same or very similar, the way to
practice compassion is very different in both Christianity
and Buddhism.
Compassion appears in the Bible in Exodus as one of the

More beautiful and tender it is when fighting the disea- The first Christian groups were aware of poverty as a
se (one of the faces of evil) and so in Mt 1.41 to 42 we social evil, as a manifestation of evil about it, from the
read:
early days, they fed the hungry, protected widows and
orphans; why it should not surprise us that Christian
compassion has a social component lacking other religions and philosophical schools.
The Roman Empire collapsed for many reasons (historians have counted up to 300) and then the Middle
Ages came, when the nobles made war because they
were bored. Christianity imposed the truce of God,
opened monasteries for children not to be killed by their
parents through the winch system for which it is introduced to newborns in the wheel, the bell was played,
he turned and child a child was collected, fed, educated by the monasteries and convents.
Christianity, true to itself, rejected infanticide, morally
condemned such social practices as murder, and thousands of children had an opportunity to develop their
talents.
If housands of children were saved from the clutches of
A leper and begged on his knees:
death, they also gave a dish of food to the hungry, the
If you want, you can make me clean.
poor, they healed the needy in their hospitals while still
Feeling pity, he reached out and touched him, saying: protecting children.
I do; be clean.
Christians were the inventors and leaders of the Social
Security in the historical moments that it did not exist.
Then his leprosy was cleansed. He pushed him out

saying seriously:
Life is for Christianity a gift from God that must be proTell this to none; but go show yourself to the priest and tected. Thats why we should not wonder that exists
make a sacrifice for your cleansing, what Moses comin the affluent society like ours the institution of Caritas,
manded, so that they know (New Spanish Bible, page meaning love, who fights hunger and despair.
1554)
If compassion in the Old Testament was for groups of
The social component of compassion brought by
people(strangers, widows, orphans) and at first Jesus
Christianity is recognized by the Dalai Lama when he
felt compassion for humanity, now compassion becowrites:
mes the fight against one of the faces of evil: disease.

Christianity has for many practical methods
The Gospels reflect the continuing struggle of Jesus
against evil, against disease, against a social evil and
through the Gospels we see other social evil things
such as poverty and poor application of religious law to
oppress and not to release the people, the rejection of
exclusion of children, protecting prostitutes.
The sociological axis of Christianity are the poor; so in
the Beatitudes Jesus said:

Blessed are you poor,
because you have God as a King.
Blessed are those who are hungry now
because you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you those who weep now
because youre going to laugh.
Lc 6,20-21 (New Spanish Bible page 1602)

that are useful to the service of humanity, especially in

the fields of education and health (Dalai Lama Approach to the clear mind, page 23).

Finally on the contribution of Christianity to compassion

lets keep in mind that when talking about Christianity it
is safe to say Christianity is this and something more.

Perhaps it is strange the idea that Christianity is this and
something more but it is enough an example to understand this: When we say that Christianity is compassion
with social content and something more, we see is that
something else is written in the Bible in one of the most
tender parables, reaching the hearts of men, as is the
parable of the good Samaritan because in this parable
the good Samaritan helps the stranger, the unknown,
pays for his recovery and shares with him his pain and
suffering, therefore Christianity has a personal content,
inclusive of the social component of compassion.

Jesus teachings say this:
And who is my neighbor?
And Jesus answered:

The one who showed him mercy.

A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and was

attacked by bandits, who stripped him and battered him
with sticks and departed, leaving him half dead.
And it happened that a priest came down that way, and
as he saw him, he made a detour and went away.
So did a clergyman who came to the place; to see it
made a detour and passed. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where the man was and saw him, he had
compassion; he went to him and bandaged his wounds,
pouring in oil and wine; and then he mounted his own
animal led to an inn and took care of him.
The next day he took some money and gave them to the
innkeeper, saying look after for him, and if you spend
more than this I will pay on my return.

The four truths are made up of two groups of
cause and effect: the suffering and its sources and the
end of suffering and the ways to achieve this objective.
Suffering is like a disease; external and internal conditions that cause the disease are the sources of suffering

Jesus said:
Well, go and do likewise.
Buddhism lacks social content of compassion because
being a philosophy centered on the mind, it comes from
the fact that the individual is responsible for his situation while for Christianity it is both the individual and
something that transcends the individual: the structures
of sin.
Social structures that lead men to steal, kill and live in
sin and were exposed and denounced by the late Pope
John Paul II.
Buddhism considers suffering a noble truth, and it stems
from the Four noble truths, and so Dalai Lama writes:

(XIV Dalai Lama, an approach to lucid mind, page 24).

Later he tells of the three types of suffering, such as the
suffering of pain, suffering of change and suffering of the
future.
Bokar Rinpoche (the meditation pages 19 and 21) tells us
that it is true that some sufferings are related to external

circumstances and it is more or less possible to provide

materials solutions (in this coincides with Christianity).

How about this? Which one of these three became On the contrary, compared to the inner suffering any
neighbor to the one that fell among the robbers?
material remedy is useless ... just the spiritual path and
meditation allow freedom from suffering, anguish and
The lawyer replied:
internal difficulties .

We see the difference on the issue of compassion for

Buddhism compassion is individual, even if it may be
related to external circumstances.
Compassion is an individual issue, Bokar Rinpoche says,
and this is the way it has followed Buddhism, but what
are the sources of suffering if the social component is not
important ?
The Dalai Lama answers that are karmic sources and
sources of afflictive emotions.
Karma, or action, refers to physical, verbal and mental
actions of our action while emotions that cause suffering
are desire, hatred and darkness to overcome the sources
of suffering is necessary to eliminate through meditation
and good practice, ie with ethical principles whose principles are not to kill, steal, correct sexual behavior, not
lying, speak not to cause discord, violent words, talks
nonsense, greed, intent to harm and incorrect views.
Which Buddhism raises Christianity puts like what to
be compassionate you need to be ethical and base that
ethics in thou shalt not kill, though shalt not lie, so now
it may be better understood that when we the Brotherhood defend not producing suffering or damage.

It is a challenge that every day we must achieve if

we are aware, as the Bible says, that the just man
sins seventy times seven every day.

Notes and bibliography

Exodus 34.6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate
and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and
faithfulness.
Biblie Reina-Valera 1960 (RVR1960).Mt.9,36,38Mk 1.41 to 42 New Spanish Bible page 1602
Gelabert Ballester, M.: El sentido teolgico de la compasin, selecciones de teologa n 215
Dalai Lama Approach to the clear mind, page 23
XIV Dalai Lama, an approach to lucid mind, page 24
Bokar Rinpoche Tthe meditation pages 19 and 21

Juan Antonio Cabezos Martinez

High School Teacher; thirty five years of experience.
Degree in Geography and History from the University of La Laguna
Law Degree from the University of Murcia
Founder of the magazine thought Intellectuals
President of the Association of geographers and historians of the middle
teachings of the Murcia region.
Academy honorary of The Municipalistica Brazilian Academy of
Letters.

Symbology Of
Sigillum Militum Xpisti
By Fuensanta Santos
Advance in time of war, retreat in times one that has endured and has become archetypical of

the Templars, which is the reason that this present study

is being carried out.
Many theories have been penned as to the symbolism of
the Templar seal, in some it is affirmed that it was a sign
of the poverty in which the order lived. The same Rule
Jacques de Vitry, Bishop. of Acre states in Chapter XI:
How the knights must eat:
As a general rule, knights should eat two by two, thus
supplying each other with adequate sustenance, so that they
appreciate life in abstinence and in the act of breaking bread
in company. And it seems fair to us that each of the knights be
provided equal portions of wine seperately.

of peace, advancing for the action, retreating for the

contemplation, going to combat in war, returning
peacefully to prayer; thine are knights in battle, and as
monks in thine dwelling.

Bertrand de Blanchefort seal

Two knights upon one horse, that is the seal most identified with the poor knights of Christ, in spite of it not
being the first seal that they employed, the one that bore
the dome on the rock.
The seal of the two knights, encircled by the words SIGILLUM MILITUM XPISTI, Seal of The Soldiers of
Christ, was established and utilized for the first time by
the Grand Master Bertrand de Blanchefort in 1167.
Bertrand de Blanchefort was the reformer of the Rule,
who introduced the RetractionThfs Master received
frOmPope Alexander III, the right that the Masters of
The Temple would be referred to as Master b the Grace of God. and the right to bear the Staff of Command
or Abacus.
As of 1190, it became generally used by the Seneschal
and the Vissitatore, the appointed Sigillum Consuetum
according to the marvelous opus of Paulo Galisa.no, Il Sigilli dell Ordine del Tempio, who was generous enough
to send me said tome, which Eirserved me as a great
support in the writing of the present article. Evidently it
is not the only seal that:identifies the Order, but it is the

And in Chapter XXXV the strong reiteration of the prohibition on going about unaccompanied. XXXV. If it be
lawful for them to gcl about, alone
Dare not go about without a companion or knight, neither by
day or night; and, when you seek lodgings, no knight,squire
nor Sargent will go about,the_lodgings of others, seeking to
see or speak to them without license.
(as was already stated above)
It would seem that for this reason it was thought that
many_times_they would have to share a steed, but it
does not seem reasonable that two knights would ride
into battle on an overburdened horse, plus add to this
the additional weight of armor, sword, lance, etc. On
another note, we all know that in the same Rule it states
that each knight had three horses at their disposal.
It would seem that the Sigillum represents the Zodiac
sign of the Gemini, as a symbol of Templar esotericism
and duality.
Duality...ah! duality!
On many occasions the best
way to conceal something is
to place it in plain sight, and,
I believe with respect to the
Templar shield, this is a good
example.
When Hugues de Payens
and the eight knights arrived in
the Holy Land, the king
grants them the ruins of the
stables of the destroyed
Temple of Solomon, and, for
nine years they descend into
absolute silence.

Nothing is known of their work, but it would not be

foolish to think that they were scouting the area, bringing themselves up to date as to the problems of the holy
places, and, of course, organizing themselves... or does
it escape us that an organization on the scale of the Templars is not created overnight without a preconceived
plan?
It is also true, that commencing with the Papal Bull
Omne Datum Optimum, the
Temple was able to choose
the Master Chaplain and the
Master of the
chapter without the permission of the nearest eccesiastical authority, receiving said
authority to construct their
own chapels and cemeteries.
They answered only to Master and the Pope. This Bull
granted the Templarscomplete
independence(1).
The above clearly manifests the spiritual and theological
preparation that postulants received upon entering the
order and prior to being invested as knights, as well as
throughout their lives. it was not a life of sacrifice, as
they entered this life of their own free will and chose
this difficult path of preparation and disassociationof personal interests in exchange for the search of a personal
goal, a whole transformation and surrender to the highest ideals of alienation and purification.
If we forget for a moment, the obvious, and read between the lines, the path of the Templars, their behaviour, the strictness of the Rule that they were bound to,
it cannot escape us that there had to be another motivation more profound and secret, known only to the initiates and the closest collaborators, and, which represented
the base of such a magnificent organization; it is clear
and proven that, aside from their own physical preparation and superb training as soldiers, they must dedicate
themselves deeply in a spiritual work, an indispensable
and alchemistic process of a personal nature, in other
words, life altering.
To change rough stone into a diamond is not a one day
process, nor one of a lifetime, but it is an indispensable
exercise to become the protagonists of the great social
change that arose in Europe:
Change yourself and you shall change the world, or
as Saint Bernard himself would state in his Praise to the
new Militia.

As we can see, the language in which Saint Bernard

speaks is profoundly symbolic. It expresses itself clearly,
but the double meaning is profoundly pointed; not only
were they a new breed of militia, they also represented the great social, artistic, architectural and economic
changes in Europe. In this passage, Saint Bernard is referring to the Templars as worthy bearers of the Armor
of God:
Ephesians 6:12
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Undoubtedly these are the values that favored a revulsion towards the transformation of human values, a gradual change that intended to carry out until the extinction
of the Order. After that, inertia would do the rest. The
Templars marked the end of an era and the beginning of
a very different one, with its lights and its shadows, its
influence is incontestable.
The Sigillum Militum Xpisti reflects the ideals of the
Order: courage, poverty, humility and brotherhood, this
last, well recorded in the Rule.

Two Knights
Astride One Horse

Let us commence with the two knights.

During the autumn and winter months is when one can
clearly see the Gemini constellation (the twins). This
constellation can be found enshrined in the epic The
Way of the Moon scrolls of Mul-Apin (conventional
title given to a Babylonian compendium that deals with
many aspects of astronomy and astrology,likely compiled around 1000 BC) and it corresponds to the twins
Castor and Pollux of Greek mythology, the Dieuscour,
meaning children of the gods. Castor was mortal,
This is, I reiterate, the new breed of a militia never known
whereas Pollux was immortal and the finest boxer of his
in past centuries; in which at the same time, two struggles of
time, and his brother was hailed as a soldier and master
invincible courage, come into play: against flesh and blood
and against the spirits of evil that are scattered in the winds tamer of horses.

Thus sings Homer to Castor and Pollux in his Hymnos. flects the spirit in the service of personality, the mental
and the spiritual, the communion of opposites, the ying
Sing, o muse of clear voice, of Castor and Pollux,
and the yang.
The Tyndarians, born of the Olympian Zeus, and the
Janus, the two faced Roman god, was the one that
august Leda, in the foothills of the Taygetus. Taken in
looked to the past and to the future, forwards and back,
secrecy by the deceiver, covered in clouds. Salve Tyn- he, to whom was dedicated the month of January
darians, knights astride horses swift!
(Ianuarius) and opening of the solstice gates that mar(Leda was the wife of Tyndar, King of Sparta. Althou mother ked the start of the year and who taught the obligation
of both boys, Castor was the offspring of Tyndar, whereas
of living for love and justice.
Pollux was that of Zeus, who appeared unto Leda in a
dream, in the form of a giant swan)

Publius Ovidius in De Los Fastus (of the days), proclaims him as god announcer of a good year and of
all good commencements he dedicates the first day of
each month to him and states that it is he who blesses
the opening of sacred temples.
In this work it is Janus himself who proclaims that he is
guardian of the gates of heaven and of the world.
It is therefore, Janus who is the god of initiations, who
presided over the Conlegium Fabrorum, the guild of
Roman architects and the feasts dedicated to Janus
were celebrated on the two solstices according to Rene
Guenbn in his work, Fundamental Symbols of The
Sacred Science.

These twins are the very symbol of fraternal love, of

companionship, as it is said that Pollux, being immortal,
beseeched his father Zeus to not let him survive his
brother and the god, touched by such loyalty, granted
that they would be forever joined on another plain
between the Cosmos and Hades, below the earth, and
thus, placed their images among the stars.
Thus, was born the constellation Gemini and this is
why they symbolize duality: death and immortality; air
and land.
The Archetype of the twins therefore symbolize the
celestial and earthbound aspect of humanity and the
internal struggle of the positive and the negative, the
capacity of denial or surrender and the destructive part,
and, depending on the level of spiritual evolvement,
victory of one half over the other.
In Christianity, the celebration of the two solstices became the feastsof the two Saint Johns: the Baptist and
the Evangelist.
The name Yohanan in Hebrew signifies Mercy of
Gemini appears during the summer solstice, ruled by
God and Praise of God, in other words, mercy desMercury, the winged god, Hermes and his Caduceus,
cends whereas praise ascends, thus, it delivers us to
the messenger, the god of human interaction, diplomacy
balanced behaviour during both solstices.
and communication, the employment of the sword of
Saint John the Baptist represents he who prepares the
speech.
way of the Lord, the one who initiates the neophyte
Gemini, besides, represent the union of the feminine
and the masculine; intellect and emotion; the darkness into the new life, whereas Saint John the Evangelist
and the light. and, again, fire, after earth and sky, it re- reflects the esoteric aspect of Christianity.
That integrated duality, overcome and controlled is a
reflection of opposite forces in balance.

The Helmet

The helmet is a symbol of power that carries with it invulnerability and invisibility to the bearer who concealshis head and countenance, the ability to see without
being seen.
From the forge of Hephaestus came the helm of Hades,
which rendered him invisible and Hermes, in the war
among giants of Greek mythology triumphs over Hippolytus the giant because he was wearing the helm of Hades.
When it is associated with the Phrygian cap, it symbolizes the loftiness and wisdom of the knight, the lofty
ideals, the determination to wage battle against evil.
In Christianity, the helmet forms part of the Armor of
God, as protection of the mind of the initiate, a testament
of the power that God grants us in spiritual battle as affirmed by the Apostle Peter in his letter to the Ephesians:
6:17
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God.
And in the Book of Isaiah 59:17
It is Yahweh who arms those of Jacob. For he put on
righteousness as a breastplate, and the helmet of salvation
upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for
clothing, and he was clad with zeal as a cloak.

The Lance (spear)

The lance is an archetypical image, axle of heavenearth. In Christian symbolism it is a solar element that
represents the action and the strength of God against the
forces of evil, the divine essence against courseness. It is
one of the most ancient of known weapons.
The joining of stone points with a wooden shaft, heralded a key technological breakthrough amongst
the neanderthals and entered commonplace usage some
300,006 years ago.
It represents a sacred element of power in many cultures, for example the spear of Achilles, the Greek hero,

had the virtue of being capableoFhealing wounds that

were inflicted, but, at this time we shall cling to its symbolism in the Sigillum, and leave a more in depth study
for a later work.
Within the seal that .identifies us, within Christianity we
have two warriors armed with lances: Michael the Arcangel and Saint George, born in Cappadoccia (Turkey)
and who was a Roman soldier.
The two warriors of God, one a prince of a militia
against the devil; the other, Patron Saint of medieval chivalry, battling the dragon, in other words, Saint Michael
battles the lurking dangers from without, Saint George
against the dragon that we all have within ourselves. In
Christianity, figures that bear a lance personify virtue (2).

The Shield
The shield is a defensive weapon, the object that protects us from enemy assault. In symbolism it represents
the universe, whereas the warrior uses it as the Cosmos
that opposes the Chaos that the adversary represents.
It is the archtypical shield of good that defends us from
evil. In the XVIII Canto of The Iliad, Thetis describes
her sorrowful son, Achilles from whom the Trojan Hector, had stolen his armor and the commissionthat she
was to charge Hephaestus with, of_armor more magical
and powerful than the previous one. Thus, the god of
the forge, in the same Canto:
First he shaped the shield so great and strong, adorning it
all over and binding it round with a gleaming circuit in three
layers; and the baldric was wrought of silver. He made the
shield in five thicknesses, and with many a wonder did his
cunning hand enrich it.
He wrought the earth, the heavens and the sea; the
moon also at her full and the untiring sun, with all the signs that glorify,the face of heaven, the Pleiades, the Hyads,
huge Orion, and the Bear, which men also call the Wain and
which turns round ever in one place, facing Orion, and alone
never dips into the stream of Oceanus.

Thus the shield in the Sigillum, symbolizes the divine

armor destined to protect the knight in holy combat,
embodying the strength of virtue, of the righteousness
of a just struggle.
As also Paul affirms in his letter toThe Ephesians 6:16
forms part of the Armor of God, encouraging the
Christian to bear it as a symbol of faith and as a defense
against the heresies of the devil.
As well as covering and protecting, the shield, via its
shape and design, distinguishes the lineage and origins
of the knight, thus it came to evolve and form part of
familial crests.

The Horse.
The horse is perhaps the one animal with the richest
symbolism in all cultures, both beneficent and malicious.
The horse is by itself archetypical, and it alone would
require an exclusive and separate study, but let us define
what it symbolizes in the Sigillum Templi.
It is the noble animal by nature, it is the mount, that inseparable from the knight bears him to his destiny and aids
him in the fray, companion thus in peace and in war, and
therefore, in the same manner, symbolic of the internal
struggle between the mental and the inner soul.
Instinctive or intuitive, clairvoyant, it symbolizes the animal or primal nature of the human being, the one that
guides them forward, who reveals the secrets that are
not obvious, the part of intuition that sets you on the right
path and puts reason into action, the analytical part of
the mind, divine saddle of the battle spiritual.
Pegasus was the horse of Zeus, borne of the blood of
Medusa when Perseus decapitated her and aided Bellerophon in his battle against the Chimera, and also who
brings Zeus his lightning bolt, it is the sublimation of instinct that symbolizes the initiate.
In the Islamic tradition:the Burak, a name that means,
ray, blinding white light, was the horse that transported
Mohammed from earth to the heavens.

In the Apocalypse, they are represented in their four colors as symbolic of Victory, War, Hunger and Death and
it embodies in this episode of the Gospel of St.John its
positive as well as negative value, tectonic and uranic,
solar and lunar.
Apocalypse 6:0,
And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him
had a bow; and a crown was given unto him:and he went
forth conquering, and to conquer.
Apocalypse 6:4,-

And there went out another horse that was red: and
power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace
from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and
there was given unto him a great sword.
Apocalypse 6:5-6,
And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him
had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the
midst of the four beasts say, a measure of wheat for a penny,
and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt
not the oil and the wine.
Apocalypse 6:8,
And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat
on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power
was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill
with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the
beasts of the earth.
Thus in the Templar Seal, the horse symbolizes intuition as well as well as fertile and virile strength, well directed power via the spiritual will of the riders towards
sublime ideals of divine Justice, Law and Knowledge,
since it is the horse that gives name to the knight* when
this very one elevates himself to the nobility, generosity
and honor of his path.
*In Spanish and French, horse is caballo and cheval,
respectively In Spanish, a knight was called a caballero
(cabayero) and in French, chevalier. Today the word
generally means gentleman, which of course all knights
were just that..

IN CONCLUSION:
Within the legend that surrounds Sigillum Militum
Xpisti, or Seal of the Soldiers of Christ, the horse invariably walks towards the left, in the direction of the
heart, towards the center, indicating that a warrior of
Christ must walk seeking his inner self, which is where
the most difficult battles_ensue.

of the Sancte Santorum, the Holy of Holies, the place

where Yahweh dwelt, that is to say where the Shekinah
or Holy Presence manifested itself, thus it symbolizes
to all three monotheistic faiths, the center of spirituality
and, to a certain point, the primordial hill.
To this image we shall dedicate the second half of this
study.

Footnotes:

To conquer, guide and perfect oneself is the objective of

Georges Bordonove The Daily Life of the Temthe Soldiers of Christ, armed with loyalty and brotherly (1)
love:that must reign within the Order and harmony plars in the XIII Century, pp 26
(2)
Miranda B.Mittford, The Illustrated Book of
amongst the brothers, as stated in the 133rd Psalm.
Signs and Symbols, pp 91
Equipped with the Armor of God symbolized by the
helmet, the shield and the lance, the Soldier of Christ Bibliography:
always triumphs, no matter what the final result of the
battle, as indicated in Point 2 of Saint Bernards sermon I Sigilli delOrdine del Tempio by Paulo Galiano Simmetria Magazine #4 2000/2001
of admonishment in his De Laude:
The Daily Life of the Templars, by Georges Bordonove
As many times that you may enter the fray, you, who battle in the 13th Century, pp26
in the ranks of a profane militia, must fear slaying your enemy http://www.elolimpo.com/personage/hermes
physically and thy ,selves spiritually or perhaps he may slay Jerusalem Bible, Letter to the Ephesians, 6:12,17 and
you in both body and soul. The defeat or victory of the Chris- Book of Isaiah 59
tian must be prized not for fortune in combat, but rather for
Primitive Rule of the Order of the Temple De Laude,
the feelings of the heart.
Bernard de Clairvaux
Fundamental Symbols of the Sacred Science by Rend
The Knights Templar gain their name from taking up lod- Guen5n chapters 37-38
gings within the ruins of Solomons Temple. In spite of De los Fastus by Publius Ovidius, Book 1, pps 12,13,14
this, the image of the first seal of the Templars and the http://www.agenciasinc.es/noticias/Miguelon-yaobverse of the Sigillum, is the Dome of the Rock, the site fabricabalanzas-con-empunadera-hace-500,000-ailos
of which is believed to be where Abraham was to sacri- Dictionary of Symbols, By Ean Chevalier and Alain
fice his son, Isaac and the very site where Jacob had his Gheerbrant
vision of a ladder to Heaven as it is told in Genesis and The Illustrated Book of Signs and Symbols,pp91 by
where Muslim tradition places Mohammeds ascent into Miranda B. Mittford
Heaven.
The Iliad, Canto XVIII by Homer
Universitas Philosophica 56 year 28: January-June
Located in the center of Jerusalem,cradle and holy site 2011, Bogota, Kosmos and Polis in Achilles shield, By
to the three monotheistic religions and which houses the Alfonso Fidiez Fldrez. Vol. 28, No 56,pps 23-59 stone foundation where tradition holds as the location ISSN 0120-5323

Fuensanta Santos de la Rubia

Templar lady, Sovereign Brotherhood Ladies and Gentlemen of the Temple.

OSMTJ. SPAIN.
Researcher about The Temple, its history and symbolism.
Edited works about: The book of Chivalry; The magic square of The
Temple; The Templars in the first reconquest of Almeria; The Domus
Eclessiae; The first Christian basilicas.
Director and Editor of the magazine The Grail.
Academy honorary of The Municipalistica Brazilian Academy of Letters.

Eleanor of Aquitaine
The Grand Dame of the Middle Ages
By Claudia Llanes Beltran

Abstract

for love, she was loved and a lover. A Rebel??

Real, genuine, fascinating, innovative and indomitable!!!
It is fascinating to look at the picture of Eleanor d Aqui- Getting to know her historically is really challenging. It is
tanie, trotting on the beautiful steed, which like its ri- not easy to stay only on historical data.
der, displays its beautiful wavy long mane in the wind.
It seems it is raising its front legs on a whinny of joy, for The character and her importance raise thousands of
bringing in his rump such a beautiful and great Queen. questions. Some could dare to say they feel seduced and
Look at me !!! . Everybody look at me!! I am the most encouraged not only for her timeless beauty, but for her
beautifuls steed, I share her elegance and her free and strong personality and the extent of her influence on the
course of the political events of her time and of the coharmonious spirit. The queen among queens !!
ming centuries later.
A hawk on the raised right hand of Eleanor, could give Her contribution to culture and the communication betus a clue on the wit and intelligence which this woman ween men and women was massive.
She drove the leadership of women in social, religious
unfolded when she was alive.
Being majestic beyond two royal crowns, being power- and political classes, which were controlled and directed
ful beyond a great family legacy and heritage in a privile- only by men. In short, a human being who knew how
ged status, the artist (1 *) shows perfectly this great ladys to manage her privileges and their own talents since she
was born to act freely and influence the political, social
charism and spirit on the canvass.
and cultural spheres of the twelfth century in a practical
The Queen of the troubadours who inspired a new way.
code of conduct from a man to a woman in terms of
love. She was a political driving force due to her perso- She kept being like that until the end of her life thanks to
nal charisma and fate. Mother of kings and poets and her longevity, fitness and clear mind, which was unusual
granddaughter of the first troubadour William IX. Wife for the time.

Birth, Childhood And

Training:

grandfather. For this reason she became a patron of troubadours and poets, giving impetus to a new concept in
Art: courtly poetry.
She was as well a great Amazon and fond of physical
Leonor was born into one of the most powerful families exercise, especially the sport of falconry, typical of men
in the Middle Ages, in the most literate and educated at that time. It was then when the charisma and persokingdom of the time.
nality of this great woman was being shaped.
She was the eldest daughter of three children (two girls
and a boy) product of the marriage between William X,
Firts Marriage Queen of France:
Duke of Aquitaine and Count of Poitiers and Duchess
Eleanor of Aquitaine Chtellereant.
On November 19, 1122 in Poitiers (central France), The same year his father died (when she was 15 years
old), she married Luis VII, who was one year older and
beautiful Leonor was born.
Upon the death of his only brother, William, she beca- would become the future king of France. The wedding
me the recipient of the great heritage of his father, who was held in St. Andrews Cathedral, Bordeaux (France)
died in 1137 in a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. on July 4th.
Luis had received a deeply religious education and he
Then she became the richest heiress in Europe.
was not meant to become a king. It is said that both felt
love at first sight when they met, and in those times,
brides used to be introduced to grooms just not very long
before their wedding.
In December of that same year they ascended to the
French throne, at the Cathedral of Bourgeois, on the
death of King Louis VI Luis father.
It took almost eight years for them to have children.
Their eldest daughter, future Marie de Champagne,
would be considered in the next decades the first great
poet of France.
This happy marriage soon became a stressing one. Both
his mother, Adelaide of Savoy, and the ecclesiastical curia, did not approve of what they considered to be a far
too independent and liberal behavior by Leonor.
Moreover, she was said to be infertile, which was untrue and proven some years later. It is believed that Luis
This young Occitan aristocrat was educated in mathe- was not a man very keen on intimate relations, just the
matics and astronomy. She mastered eight languages opposite to his ardent and overwhelming wife.
fluently and used to discuss about Law and Philosophy Luis had a pious and devout character; however this did
not prevent him from committing some atrocities and inwith the doctors of the Church.
This was an exceptional training to be a woman, and justices during his reign. This matter will be dealt with
given that most of the rulers of the time were illiterate, sometime in the future.
it allowed her to develop analytical thinking and a great
political sagacity.
So, along with its heritage and its critical personality, she
would become the most powerful and influential woman of her century. And of course one of the most important women of the Middle Ages.
Also, one of the most innovative characters who would
make a difference in the historical and socio-cultural European outlook of that time.
She also was a beacon in the struggle for womens rights
and became a wife and a mother. Her behavior was the
planted seed which would become a great hope for all
future generations of women.
Of a great importance is the fact that she inherited a love
for poetry, music and social meetings from his father and

Despite the tensions caused by the opinion and pressure

from others, the Kings love for his wife never wavered.
In 1147, Luis set off to the Second Crusade moved by
Bernard of Clairvaux.
Leonor did not intend to stay still in court awaiting the
return of her husband. She encouraged him to travel to
Jerusalem and her adventurous spirit made her want to
go with him, so she organized the trip with great detail,
being the highest feudatory in France.

from the crusade in 1149. When the royal couple visited the Pope in Frascati, Louis VIIs refusal to accept the
divorce led to the papal decision to reject her request
and the solemn renewal of vows. Their divorce was not
appropriate at that certain time.
Their marriage was doomed to failure because of the
mixture of her passionate and idealistic character along
with her husbands religious and pious behavior in terms
of intimacy plus all the gossip about her.
Although her first attempt to stop being Luis wife, Leonor followed the advice of the Pontiff and reconciled
with her husband.
After their reconciliation, their second daughter, Alix of
France or Adelaide of France was born, in 1150.
Despite of her requests about cancelling their marriage
again, it is said that this time it was Luis who rejected
Leonor.
His reasons were again their consanguinity, her alleged
infertility (because she had not given birth to a male, only
a female), along with her affair with Geoffrey de Anjou,
who was the seneschal of France.
Needless to say that in spite of how things ended up, she
set a precedent when requested the divorce. And the
end she got it and also kept her estates.

SECOND MARRIAGEQueen of England:

Her real interest was not only to dazzle the Eastern
Court but being at the foot of the news.
The Queen never felt accepted in the court of Paris,
which at the time lacked intellectual refinement.
Leonor was charged with certain sensuality and southern
liberalism. Feeling like a foreigner, she created her own
court.
She sent for men, women and troubadours of Aquitaine and Poitou; this involved the renewal of the French
court and the new protocol literary sphere coming from
the south. This led to moral censorship at the time.
The Queen arrived in Antioch in 1148 and she was
welcomed in the house of her uncle Raymond of Poitiers, then Prince of the city.
Leonors stay at the home of his uncle provoked rumors,
which were never proven, of an incestuous relationship.
This increased Luis anger, who forced her to return to
France.
The real reason for the French kings behavior towards
his wife could be Leonors opposition to her husband
taking Jerusalem at that time.
Given these facts, Leonor asked the Pope Eugene III to
annul his marriage, basing her claim on the fourth degree of consanguinity between both of them. This was
proven by the account of John of Salisbury (Bishop of
Chartres), who met the Queen on her forced return

The same year she divorced, Eleanor returned to Poitiers, where she wrote to Henry Plantagenet, Duke of
Normandy and Count Mans Anjou, who was her alleged lovers son. She broke the rules again and asked the
young man in marriage.
Her dazzling beauty was enough incentive for that boy
who was eleven years younger. But keep in mind that
the marriages, especially the royal ones, were meant to
be alliances that allowed territories to expand and keep
the thrones established.

However, a strong attraction between them had emerged; Leonor was attracted to him because of his physical
beauty, his remarkable sensitivity and courageous character, male and tireless energy.
Of course Enrique fell in love because of her many
charms.
An agreement for love and politics was the perfect mix
for achieving both ambitions.
Finally they got married on May 18, 1152, two years
after Henry ascended the throne of England as Henry
II. At the time of her marriage Leonor was 29 and her
husband was 18.
The king was a lover of literature, and under the influence of his wife, the Occitan culture spread over their
continental and island territories.
In England, the new queen protected scribes who collected and compiled popular history, and the stories
and legends of the court of King Arthur and the Round
Table, the Gia; and also traditions of Celtic origin.
This way she earned the respect of scholars and affection of the people.
It was such a successful marriage in many ways, because
of the ardor and passion they felt for each other, that
they had eight children, denying indisputably late accusations about her fertility, who had haunted her on her
previous marriage experience.
His eldest son William died at an early age. His second
son Henry the young was born in 1155. And in 1157
she gave birth to her favorite son: Ricardo, future king of
England, called Richard the Lionheart.
In 1158 she had Geoffrey, the fourth of his sons. In
the first five years of marriage she also gave birth to a
daughter, Matilda, third in birth order and in the sixties,
she had two daughters, Leonor Platagenet, future queen
of Castile, and Joan of England, Queen of Sicily.

named John Landless, because he was the one who

inherited the least. By then Leonor was 45, but in spite
of her continuous maternity, her queen duties were not
altered, and was able to hold the regency of the throne
in the long-term absences of the king.

In 1163 Henry, now in his thirties with the maturity that

allows one to settle down and take control of the government, eclipsed Leonor momentarily. Their relationship
began to get cold.
Henry began searching love somewhere else but at
home. Then, Leonor decided to move to Poitiers and
settle there with his favorite son, Ricardo and her eldest
daughter Marie de Champagne.
From her new home, the queen increased her childrens
possessions. Leonor might have an intuition about the
course of events and would want to strengthen her
childrens positions against the power of Enrique, who
was still her husband.
In 1170 the King was forced to make the sharing of their
heritage, due to pressure from their children. In this forced decision, Enrique associated his favorite son, Henry
the young, to the throne.
Ricardo, the candidate for the throne of England, by Leonor, received all her estates. From this moment, Leonors
fight to protect the property rights of their children began, especially the throne of England. She wanted Ricardo for the throne of England because she considered he
was the closest to her in terms of political thought: less
bellicose and more sensitive to the arts and culture than
his brother Enrique.

It is in this period, and from her court in Poitiers, where

the concept of courtly love was born. It was created
with the help of troubadours, poets and her daughter
His youngest son, John, was born in 1166 and was later Marie de Champagne. She started to receive visits from

couples who requested advice about their marital pro- English barons to the new monarch.
blems or differences. Is this the first marriage bureau? In 1194 Richard I LionHeart returned to England. His
Some consider so.
beloved mother, Leonor, sought reconciliation between
the two brothers and then, being over 70 she retired to
Again we face the enormous creative capacity of this the Abbey of Fontevrault.
amazing woman, who was and is considered by many
experts as the greatest cultural driving force during the
A Mothers Pain:
twelfth century.

Rebellion against the king:

Leonor in 1173 encouraged the first of a series of rebellions of her sons against their father, Henry II, led by his
son, Richard.
Contrary to the provisions of the queen, Henry was able
to contain the rebellion and forgave his children, but he
confined Leonor in the castle of Chinon (France) where
he kept her until his death in 1189.
The heir to the throne, Henry the Young, died in 1183,
and since Henry II had not instituted the throne beyond
his favorite son, Leonor being a widow, took her power
to enthrone Ricardo and prepared the ceremony of his
coronation in Westminster in December 1189.

Five years later Leonor left her voluntary retirement

due to a painful reason, which would certainly be the
deepest wound this woman received in her life: her son
Richard was wounded by an arrow in his left shoulder.
It was spring of 1199 and Leonor went to help her beloved son, who, after several days of fighting an infection
caused by the wound, was about to die.
Leonor arrived on time to hold him in her arms and feel
Richard Is last breath, who died on April 6th.
There is a law of life about parents never surviving their
children, but for Leonor there were many times when
such law turned against her and the loss of her most
beloved son was such a big pain that obscured her heart
for the rest of her life.

And as expected by the magnitude of such a character,

the great queen overcame her pains, and went to help his
This was a coronation described in chronicles and part son John Landless to occupy the throne of England, enof the ceremony was preserved to this day in the coro- suring the loyalty of the duchy of Aquitaine and undoing
the intrigues of her own grandson, Arthur of Brittany,
nations of the kings of England.
Leonor had achieved its long-cherished dream: an son of the late Geoffrey, who claimed the throne.
England ruled under the Lion Heart. His sons accession
to the throne made her want to return to the political life Last Political Action:
at the age of 67.
Leonor then dealt with the regency government, while In 1200, Leonor travels to Castilla to finalize the maher son was in the Third Crusade and also when he rriage of her granddaughter, Blanca, (daughter of Leowas taken prisoner by the German Emperor Henry VI nor) and Alfonso VIII of England, the heir to the French
(1189-1194) on the way back.
crown. This link would ensure peace between the two
The Regent Queen, made sure that his favorite one powers: France and England.
could keep the crown and eradicated his youngest sons Leonor had completed her mission. There might be
plots, Juan, who was the leader of the opposition of the many critics and many fans, but certainly none could

deny the courage, bravery, determination and charisma only physically.

of this great Queen.
A woman who offered life what life had offered her.
A woman who thought as a man but never lost her female essence. A woman who as a mother did what she
thought was most fair and necessary. A woman who
passionately loved his men and exalted them.
A tremendous QUEEN.
Leaning on the concept of my admired and Clarissa Pinkola Ests in her book Women Who Run with
Wolves, I say: without a doubt, Lady, ye were and
shall be an authentic Wild Woman.
Thank you for your legacy Leonor !!.

Notes and bibliography:

(1 *) Japanese painter and illustrator Kinuko Y. Craft,
Eleanor of Aquitaine.
Biography (V. H. Ledesma)
Other sources:
Being 82 years old and in full possession of her capacities, she died on March 31st, 1204, in her beloved
Abbey of Fontevrault.
The chronicles read that his wavy white hair remained
long and beautiful, her skin translucent and despite her
age continued on his face despite the looming age vividness of his smart and vibrant look.
And her body kept intact teeth, which was abnormal for
the time.
A woman who took care of her health and hygiene, not

Jean Markale, Life, legend and influence of Eleanor of

Aquitaine, Barcelona, 1983.
Jean Flori, Eleanor of Aquitaine, the rebellious Queen
2005.
M. Gonzalez Arnao, Eleanor of Aquitaine, iron and
silk (the adventure in history).
Very History, biographies (2007), Eleanor of Aquitaine
Queen of France and England and mother of kings.
Passages of history-La compass, Eleanor of Aquitaine.
Juan Antonio Cebrin.

Claudia Llanes Beltran

Templar lady,
Sovereign Brotherhood Ladies and
Gentlemen of the Temple. OSMTJ. SPAIN.

Self- taught researcher of the History of Temple

Works about Ramon Llull and the book of Chivalr

Calendar of
Events

The

Grail
September

Sovereign Brotherhood of Ladies and Knights of The Temple

OSMTJ-SPAIN
Opening of the Third of Andalucia.
Prior Juan Antonio Cabezos. Chancellor Agustin Ibaez

November

The South Florida Priory of Saint Martin de Porres of the OSMTJ-USA,

Tampa, Florida, will celebrate its first Templar elevation on November 1st.
The following is a roster of the initiates about to embark
on their Templar lives.
Sergio Gonzalez, Bishop Erick Frank Martinez,
JoseVandervis, Esteban Reyes, all from Miami, Florida
Charles Calvert, Port Charlotte, Florida
Justin Sanderson, Jacksonville, Florida
Brian Olejniczak, Daytona, Florida
Mac Ivan Rivera, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Luis Antonio Colon-Arce, Orlando, Florida
Maurizzio Braga, Samira Otero, Elizabeth Malpartida, Javier Brou,
Edna Tuiran, all from Tampa Bay, Florida
The ceremony will take place in Tampa Bay Salon 2, of the Double
Tree Hilton Hotel at 11:00 AM.
The religious ceremony and blessing of the swords will be officiated by
Bishop Erick Frank Martinez of the Florida Diocese.
Prior Augusto Leon Braga
Sargent Danny Torres

Translators Team
Luis Antonio Coln Arce

New Jersey USA

University of Santiago
BA History
University of Naples
Studied local art history and architecture.
Member of the Scientific Committee of the Grail
Maria de los Angeles Len Santiago

Valencia SPAIN

PhD in chemistry from the University of South , Argentina

Professor of chemistry and physics in middle education
Templar lady, Sovereign Brotherhood ladies and Gentlemen of
the Temple. OSMTJ. SPAIN.

Natalia Ballesteros Huesca Valencia Spain

Degree in English from the University of Alicante.
Professor Maria Auxiliadora College in Alicante

Jesus de las Heras Jimenez Murcia Spain

Degree

in English at the University of La Laguna

Degree

in Esperanto at the University of La Laguna

Alba Navarro Salvador Zaragoza Spain

Workin in Administration
Degree in Englis at the UNED Calatayud-

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Grail

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