View source for Council of Troyes (1129)

{{Short description|Council convened by Bernard of Clairvaux}}
{{Use shortened footnotes|date=September 2024}}
The '''Council of Troyes''' was convened by [[Bernard of Clairvaux]] on 13 January 1129 in the city of [[Troyes]]. The council, largely attended by French clerics, was assembled to hear a petition by [[Hugues de Payens]], head of the [[Knights Templar]]. [[Pope Honorius II]] did not attend the council, sending the papal legate, [[Matthew of Albano|Matthew, cardinal-bishop of Albano]]. The council addressed issues concerning the Templar Order and a dispute between the bishop of Paris and king of France.

==Background==
[[File:Baldwin II ceeding the Temple of Salomon to Hugues de Payens and Gaudefroy de Saint-Homer.jpg|thumb|right|300px|King Baldwin II of Jerusalem ceding the Temple to Hugues de Payens]]
Founded by Hugues de Payens in 1119, the Knights Templar had gained the backing of King [[Baldwin II of Jerusalem]] at the [[Council of Nablus]] in 16 January 1120.{{sfn|Riley-Smith|1998|p=160}} In 1126, Baldwin had commissioned two clerics to speak with Bernard of Clairvaux seeking papal recognition and a Rule for the Templar Order.{{sfn|Selwood|2001|p=59}} Later, Baldwin sent Hugues to Europe to convince Fulk of Anjou to marry his daughter Melisende and to raise an army for a [[Crusade of 1129|crusade against Damascus]].{{sfn|Read|1999|p=98}} Hugues's other objectives were to gain papal recognition, recruit members for the Order,{{sfn|Read|1999|p=98}} and establish a permanent Templar base in Europe.{{sfn|Barber|1994|p=13}} According to [[William of Tyre]], at the time of the council of Troyes the Order had only 9 members.{{sfn|Barber|1994|p=10}}

[[File:San Bernardo, de Juan Correa de Vivar (Museo del Prado).jpg|thumb|right|100px|Bernard of Clairvaux convened the Council of Troyes.]]

==Council==
Bernard convened the council on 13 January 1129.{{efn|Upton-Ward states the date of the council had been accepted as January 1128; however, R. Hiestand argues the date of the council as January 1129.{{sfn|Upton-Ward|1992|p=2}}}}{{sfn|Ben-Ami|1969|p=66}} The attendees, which were mainly French clerics,{{sfn|Read|1999|p=100}} consisted of the archbishops Renaud of Reims and Henry of Sens, ten bishops, four [[Cistercian]] abbots, a number of other abbots, and the clerical scholars, Alberic of Reims and Fulger.{{sfn|Barber|Bate|2002|p=33}} Pope Honorius was not in attendance at the council, instead sending his papal legate, Matthew, cardinal-bishop of Albano.{{efn|[[Piers Paul Read]] states the papal legate Matthew, cardinal-bishop of Albano, presided over the council.{{sfn|Read|1999|p=100}}}}{{sfn|Barber|Bate|2002|p=7}}

===Templar Order===
The head of the Order, Hugues de Payen, petitioned the council for a ''Rule'' for the Templars.
The council passed, with considerable influence from Bernard,{{sfn|Upton-Ward|1992|p=4}} the Templar rule, similar to that of [[Rule of Saint Benedict]].{{sfn|Upton-Ward|1992|p=12}}{{sfn|Howe|2016|p=21}} The [[Latin Rule|Templar Rule]] consolidated the monastic tenets of poverty, chastity, obedience and added a vow to defend the Holy Land.{{sfn|Phillips|2010|p=3}} The Rule was originally written in Latin, but was translated into French sometime after the [[Council of Pisa (1135)|Council of Pisa]] in 1135.{{sfn|Upton-Ward|1992|p=11-12}} Due to a petition by Pope Honorius II and Patriarch Stephen of Jerusalem, the Templars were required wear a white habit.{{efn|According to the papal bull ''Omne datum optimum'' (1139), the Templar [[Religious habit|habit]] also had a red cross on the left shoulder.{{sfn|Demurger|2020|p=130}}}}{{sfn|Barber|Bate|2002|p=26}}
[[File:Seal of Templars.jpg|thumb|Seal of the Knights Templar]]

===Disputes===
The Council addressed disputes concerning Bishop Stephen of Paris and King [[Louis VI of France|Louis VI]] of France.{{sfn|Ott|2015|p=319}}

==Aftermath==
Following the Council of Troyes' decision concerning the Templar Order, the Templars gained popularity throughout France, Portugal, Spain and Provence.{{sfn|Upton-Ward|1992|p=4}} The influx of gold, silver, grants of properties, and men, allowed Hugues de Payens to appoint Payen de Montdidier to oversee France.{{sfn|Upton-Ward|1992|p=4}} Even nobility were joining the Order, with [[Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona]], being accepted as a companion member on 14 July 1130.{{sfn|Upton-Ward|1992|p=4}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|3}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book |title=The New Knighthood |first=Malcolm |last=Barber |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1994 |author-link=Malcolm Barber}}
*{{cite book |title=The Templars: Selected Sources |editor-first1=Malcolm |editor-last1=Barber |editor-first2=Keith |editor-last2=Bate |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=2002}}
*{{cite book |title=Social Change in a Hostile Environment: The Crusaders' Kingdom of Jerusalem |first=Aharon |last=Ben-Ami |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1969 }}
*{{cite book |first=Alain |last=Demurger |chapter=The beard and the habit in the Templars' trial: membership, rupture, resistance |title=The Templars, the Hospitallers and the Crusades: Essays in Homage to Alan J. Forey |editor-first1=Helen J. |editor-link1=Helen J. Nicholson |editor-last1=Nicholson |editor-first2=Jochen |editor-last2=Burgtorf |publisher=Routledge |year=2020}}
*{{cite journal |title=The Rule: Military Secret of the Knights Templar |first=John |last=Howe |journal=Medieval Warfare |volume=6, No. 5 (Nov/Dec) |year=2016 |page=20-26}}
*{{cite book |title=Bishops, Authority and Community in Northwestern Europe, c.1050–1150 |first=John S. |last=Ott |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2015 }}
*{{cite book |title= The Second Crusade: Extending The Frontiers Of Christendom |first=Jonathan |last=Phillips |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2010 }}
*{{cite book |title=The Templars |first=Piers Paul |last=Read |publisher=Da Capo Press |year=1999 |author-link=Piers Paul Read}}
*{{cite book |title=The First Crusaders, 1095-1131 |first=Jonathan |last=Riley-Smith |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1998 }}
*{{cite book |title=Knights of the Cloister: Templars and Hospitallers in Central-southern Occitania, C.1100-c.1300 |first=Dominic |last=Selwood |publisher=The Boydell Press |year=2001 }}
*{{cite book |title=The Rule of the Templars: The French Text of the Rule of the Order of the Knights Templar |editor-first=J.M. |editor-last=Upton-Ward |publisher=The Boydell Press |year=1992 }}

[[Category:1129 in Europe]]
[[Category:Knights Templar]]
[[Category:12th-century Catholic Church councils]]