William of Tyre, "The Foundation of the Order of Knights Templars," in the Internet Medieval Sourcebook, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/tyre-templars.html">
"In [1118] certain noble men of knightly rank, religious men,...promised to live...without possessions, under vows of chastity [purity] and obedience. Their foremost leaders were the venerable Hugh of Payens and Geoffrey of Saint Omer."
—William of Tyre, "The Foundation of the Order of Knights Templars," in the Internet Medieval Sourcebook, http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/tyre-templars.html.
Hugh (also called Hugues) de Payens was a French nobleman who fought in the Holy Land during the First Crusade (1095–99), the initial stage of what became a two-hundred-year conflict between the Christian West and the Islamic Middle East over control of Jerusalem and Palestine. Staying on after the fall of Jerusalem to the Crusader forces, Hugh and a small group of other knights, or trained soldiers of noble birth, founded a protective service that would escort pilgrims, or religious visitors, from the port city of Jaffa to Jerusalem. Given quarters in what was formerly the Temple of Solomon, built by the Jews in Jerusalem, this group of knights adopted the name of Knights Templars in 1118. Ten years later this unofficial group was made a Catholic order of military monks (religious believers) who promised to live a simple life without family and away from society. By the time of Hugh's death in 1136, the Knights Templars had become one of the strongest fighting forces in the Holy Land. The order lasted for almost two hundred years, until in 1314 it was finally disbanded, or broken up, by the French king Philip IV.
From France to Jerusalem
Not much is known of the early career of Hugh of Payens. It appears he was born to the lower nobility in the
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Hugues II de Payens 1st Grand Master of the Knights Templar
When Hugues II de Payens 1st Grand Master of the Knights Templar was born on 9 February 1070, in Champagne, France, his father, Hugues de Payens, was 41 and his mother, Emmeline de Montigny LE GANELON DE TOURS-DE MONTIGNY LE GANELON, was 40. He married Elizabeth de Chappes in 1108, in Champagne, France. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 1 daughter. He died on 24 May 1136, in Jerusalem, Jerusalem Mutasarrifate, Ottoman Empire, at the age of 66, and was buried in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy.
Hugues de Payens
Co-Founder and Grand Master of the Knights Templar
Hugo de Paganis, better known by the French translation Hugues de Payens or Payns (c. 1070 – 24 May 1136), was the co-founder and first Grand Master of the Knights Templar. In association with Bernard of Clairvaux, he created the Latin Rule, the code of behavior for the Order.
Name
The majority of the primary sources of information for his life are presented in medieval Latin, French or Italian. Latin sources call him Hugo de Paganis. Some of his earliest purported appearances in documents are under the part-Latin, part-French name Hugo de Peans (1120–1125; details below), or in Italian as Ugo de' Pagani or Ugo dei Pagani. In later French works his name usually appears as Hugues de Payens or Payns (French pronunciation:[yɡdəpɛ̃]), often translated into English as Hugh of Payens or Hugh de Payns.
Remarkably, Italian Ugo de' Pagani and French Hugues de Payens are literal translations of each other, both literally meaning 'Hugh of the Pagans' (Medieval Latin: Hugo de Paganis). Moreover, both his presumed origins (Nocera de' Pagani and Payns) are located in regions which were then named Campania in Latin (Italian: Campania, French: Champagne).
Origin and early life
There is no known early biography of Hugo de Paganis in existence, nor do later writers cite such a biography. None of the sources on his later career give details of his early life. Information is therefore scanty and uncertain; embellishments depend partly on documents that may not refer to the same individual, and partly on histories written decades or even centuries after his death.
There is long-dated claim that Hugo de Paganis (Italian: Ugo de' Pagani) came from Nocera de' Pagani in Campania, Southern Italy, historically supported by authors like Carlo Sigonio, Heinrich Pantaleon, Scipione Mazzella, Filiberto Campanile,Marco Antonio G
Hugh de payens commandery
Hugues de Payens, also de Payns (English: Hugh of Payens) (c. 1070–1136), a French knight from the Champagne region, was the co-founder and first Grand Master of the Knights Templar. With Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, he created the Latin Rule, the code of behavior for the Order. The "Rule" was in fact written solely by St. Bernard, with little or no imput from the Templar Grand Master.
Biography[]
He was probably born at Château Payns, about 10 km from Troyes, in Champagne. He was originally a vassal of Count Hugh of Champagne, whom he accompanied on the First Crusade. It is likely that Hugues served in the army of Godfroi de Boullion during the Crusade. Count Hugh of Champagne visited Jerusalem for a second time in 1108, accompanied by Hugues, who remained there after he returned to France. He organized the original nine monk-knights to defend pilgrims to the Holy Land in response to the call to action of Pope Urban II.
De Payens and his brother Knights approached King Baldwin II of Jerusalem with the intent of joining the Cannons of the Holy Sepulchre. The would-be Templars wanted to put down their arms and become monks. The King convinced them to act as gaurds for pilgrims and these brothers became the Knights Templar.
The other knights were Godfrey de Saint-Omer, Payen de Montdidier, Archambaud de St. Agnan, Andre de Montbard, Geoffrey Bison, and two men recorded only by the names of Rossal and Gondamer. The ninth knight remains unknown, although some have speculated that it was Count Hugh of Champagne himself.
As Grand Master, he led the Order for almost twenty years until his death, helping to establish the Order's foundations as an important and influential international military and financial institution.
On his visit to England and Scotland in 1128, he raised men and money for the Order, and also founded their first House in London and another near Edinburgh at Balantrodoch, now known as Temple, Midlothian, where, w