The New Knighthood: A History of the Order of the Temple by Malcolm Barber (review)

BOOK REVIEWS779 The New Knighthood:A History of the Order of the Temple. By Malcolm Barber . (NewYork: Cambridge University Press. 1994. Pp. xxii, 441; 14 figures, 17 plates. $69.95.) There has long been a need for an up-to-date and reUable history ofthe Order of the Temple in English. Malcolm Barber has now suppUed that desideratum with The New Knighthood, a lucid account of the Order from its modest beginnings in the Holy Land around 1119 to its dramatic dissolution by papal decree in 1312. Although the loss of the main archive (probably during the Ottoman conquest of Cyprus in 1571) hampers discussion of the growth of the Order in the East, Barber argues for a more vigorous expansion ofthe nascentTemple than is suggested by WiUiam of Tyre's oft-quoted account of its foundation. Greater early success renders expUcable not only the recognition accorded to theTemplars at the CouncU of Troyes in 1129, but also the evidence from about the same time for the first of the grants of European lands that would rapidly transform theTemple into a great international order.Yet, some churchmen harbored reservations about the warrior monks. Bernard of Clairvaux hailed them as "the new knighthood," but it was not until the Templars received a succession of papal privUeges between 1 139 and 1 145 that doubts about the validity of their profession were effectively sUenced. By the mid-twelfth century, theTemplars had assumed a vital role in the miUtary affairs of the Latin East.They were known amongst Christians and Muslims alike for their bravery and devotion to the defense of the crusader principalities , and akeady held strategicaUy important fortresses and territories. As the military situation deteriorated in the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries, rulers granted even more extensive possessions to the Order. Barber treats these matters in detaU, and shows that as theTemple acquired greater lands and independence in the East it became more frequently embroUed in disputes with the rival Order of the Hospital and with secular rulers.TheTemplars may have believed that they were simply protecting their legitimate interests, but outside observers often interpreted these disputes as unedifying displays of pride and avarice. Barber does not attempt a thoroughgoing treatment ofthe Order in theWest, but surveys its possessions and outlines their organization and management in order to explain their crucial importance to Templar enterprises in Syria and Palestine.The majority ofTemplars spent their entire lives in the West, but the whole machinery of the Order was geared to the support of its presence in the East. Only by drawing upon the rich resources furnished by the European estates , could the Order sustain its ongoing warfare against the Muslims.The need to transfer revenues from the western lands stimulated the development of the Temple's financial institutions, and crusaders, secular rulers, and the papacy soon avaUed themselves of the Order's services and expertise. 780BOOK REVIEWS With the loss of the last Christian strongholds on the Levantine coast in 1291, theTemplars were, in the eyes of many, deprived oftheir raison d'être.Although they strove to continue their miUtary operations from Cyprus, they could no longer invoke their defense of the Holy Land to deflect criticism. In such circumstances, they were ill-equipped to defend themselves against the charges of heresy and moral corruption brought against them by Philip IV of France in 1307. Barber—whose The Trial of the Templars (Cambridge, 1978) remains the definitive study on the suppression of the Order—provides a concise analysis of the proceedings against the Order and its abolition, and concludes the book with a chapter on the literary and "pseudo-historical" legacy of the Temple. The New Knighthood is a welcome contribution to the scholarly Uterature on the Temple, and wiU long remain an essential work for anyone interested in the Order. William G Zajac University ofWales Swansea Templars, Hospitallers and Teutonic Knights: Images of the Military Orders, 1128-1291. By Helen Nicholson. (New York: Leicester University Press. Distributed in the United States and Canada by St. Martin's Press, NewYork. 1995. Pp. xvi, 207. $59.00 clothbound; $24.95 paperback.) The author begins by clearly stating her objectives and then sets out...