Children of the Crusades — the Militant Orders
By: Helena Schrader, PhD
The crusades, far from being exclusively destructive as is often suggested today, gave birth to many things. First and foremost, of course, they "sired" the new kingdoms in the Levant, which themselves were the birthplace of new forms of art and architecture. They spawned new trade with "the East," along with many new technological developments in warfare and shipping. They inspired romances and literature, including the very notion of the Grael Quest. But undoubtedly one of their most curious off-spring of the crusades were the "militant orders" -- religious orders for fighting men.
Initially, true to the Word of Christ, the Church of Rome
condemned violence of any kind. By the 5th century, however, the Church
conceded that there were circumstances under which the use of force – even
homicide – was necessary, excusable, and potentially pious. The concept of the
“just war” emerged and was recognized theologically by St. Augustine.
The fact that the Church drew its leadership from the ruling
class – the secular lords with strong military traditions – meant that most
clerics in the Middle Ages were themselves imbued with a warrior ethos. This
fact in underlined by the number of bishops who donned armor and took active
part in warfare — from the Battle of Hastings to the Battle of Crécy. Thus, it
is not surprising that by the end of the first Christian millennium,
Christianity recognized the need for armed force and men who wielded it, but
that did not mean the Church had completely abandoned its principles.
Balderic, one chronicler of Urban II’s speech calling for the
First Crusade, quotes the Pope as saying:
Christian warriors, who continually and vainly seek pretexts for war,
rejoice, for you have today found a true pretext. You, who have so often been
the terror of your fellow men, go and fight for the deliverance of the holy
places. You, who sell for vile pay the strength of your arms to the fury of
others, armed with the sword of the Maccabees, go and merit eternal reward ….
If you must have blood, bathe in the blood of the infidels …. Soldiers of Hell,
become soldiers of the living God!
What is remarkable in retrospect is the extent to which Pope Urban II struck a chord with his audience. Not only did they take the cross in great numbers (and proceed to bathe in the blood of infidels when they reached Jerusalem), but for the next 200 years fighting men flocked to serve Christ, not just in crusades, but as fighting monks bound by monastic vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience.
This was made possible by the creation of new monastic orders that enabled men to be both monks and knights. While members of these orders were expected to abjure all wealth and property, to attend Mass multiple times a day, to fast, pray, and eat in silence, and to live in controlled communities cut off from the outside world, especially women, members were not required to give up the profession of arms. Rather, these orders were designed to capture the religious zeal of the time and funnel the fervor and energy of fighting men into religious channels.
Before this spirit if militant Christianity had burned itself out, no less than 17 military orders, 8 on the Iberian Peninsula, 2 in what is now Italy, and 2 in German speaking Europe had been founded. The most famous and most powerful militant orders, however, were the Templars and the Hospitallers, both founded in the Holy Land and international in their structures and membership.
Pope Urban II Calling for the First Crusade
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