The Templar Rule: How Did the Knights of the Temple Live?

The Templars are often depicted as armored knights traveling through the Holy Land. Yet, behind the image of the warrior lay a much more regulated reality: that of men belonging to a religious and military order, subject to a rule that organized a large part of their existence.

Prayers, meals, clothing, travels, personal possessions, discipline, or conduct in combat: the life of a brother of the Temple was not left to his own will.

But how did the Templars really live? What did the Rule of the Temple impose on them, and how far did this discipline go? To understand this, one must go back to the 12th century and distinguish documented history from modern representations.

What is the Rule of the Templars?

The Rule of the Temple is the set of prescriptions that governed the life of the brothers belonging to the Order of the Temple.

It concerned both their religious life and their daily behavior and military organization. In particular, it defined rules relating to:

• prayers and religious services;
• meals and periods of fasting;
• clothing;
• obedience;
• personal possessions;
• horses and equipment;
• relations between brothers;
• faults and penances;
• the reception of new members;
• and the hierarchical functioning of the Order.

It would, however, be misleading to imagine a book entirely written all at once and left unchanged for nearly two centuries.

The primitive core of the rule was approved in the early 12th century. Subsequently, the experience acquired by the Order led to the addition of statutes, customs, disciplinary regulations, and prescriptions concerning conventual life.

The text that has reached us therefore reflects several stages of the history of the Temple.

The Council of Troyes and the birth of the Rule of the Temple

The Order of the Temple appeared in the Holy Land in the early 12th century, formed by Hugues de Payns and a small group of knights.

According to the chronology currently accepted by the National Archives, the Order was founded in 1120 at the Council of Nablus.

A few years later, Hugues de Payns traveled to the West in order to obtain support and to give this new community more solid recognition.

On January 13, 1129, the Council of Troyes approved the Rule of the Temple in the presence of numerous ecclesiastical authorities, including Bernard of Clairvaux.

Did Saint Bernard write the Templar Rule?

It is still frequently read that Saint Bernard of Clairvaux personally wrote the Rule of the Temple.

The reality is more nuanced.

Bernard occupied an important place in the recognition and defense of the new military order. His influence at the Council of Troyes was also considerable.

But it is more prudent to speak of his influence on the development and approval of the rule rather than attributing the complete writing of the text to him alone.

The rule itself reports that Hugues de Payns presented to the assembly the customs already followed by his companions and that these were examined, approved, or modified.

Why did the Templars need a rule?

The Order of the Temple brought together two worlds that had hitherto seemed difficult to reconcile: religious life and the practice of arms.

The brother of the Temple was not simply meant to be a knight fighting in the service of a lord. He renounced part of his autonomy to live within a community organized around obedience, prayer, and service to the Order.

The rule therefore had to transform the traditional behavior of the knight.

The ideal sought was no longer that of the warrior fighting for personal glory, wealth, or social prestige. The brother was to place his military skills at the service of the collective mission of the Temple.

This transformation explains the essential place given to obedience.

Were the Templars monk-soldiers?

The expression “monk-soldiers” is widely used today to refer to the Templars. It allows one to quickly understand their originality, but it simplifies a more complex institutional reality.

The brothers of the Temple belonged to a military religious order. Their daily life integrated prayers, community life, obedience, chastity, and the renunciation of individual possessions, but a portion of them was also destined for combat.

Their existence was therefore situated at the meeting point of two disciplines: that of the religious community and that of chivalry.

It is this dual identity that constitutes one of the major particularities of the Order of the Temple.

How did a Templar’s day unfold?

There is no single schedule that allows us to state that all Templars, in all commanderies and for nearly two centuries, performed exactly the same tasks at the same time.

Daily life varied according to the location, the period, the function of the brother, and the military circumstances.

The rule nevertheless shows that the day was deeply structured by religious services and the needs of the community.

The brothers were, in particular, expected to attend services when they had the opportunity. The texts mention, among others, Matins, Nones, Vespers, and Compline.

When a brother was traveling or in a situation that did not allow him to attend a service, specific prayers could replace it.

Between these religious times came the many activities necessary for the functioning of the Order:

• maintenance of horses and equipment;
• missions entrusted by superiors;
• military training and activities;
• administration of the Temple’s possessions;
• work within the commanderies;
• travel;
• communal meals;
• and, in the East, military operations and surveillance of territories.

Templar life was therefore less a permanent succession of battles than an alternation between religion, administration, military preparation, and community life.

What place did prayer occupy for the Templars?

The religious dimension was not a mere backdrop added to their military activity.

From the first articles of the rule, the divine office occupies an important place. The brothers must participate in the prayers of the community when they are able.

The religious rhythm also marks meals, periods of fasting, feast days, and the memory of deceased brothers.

Upon the death of a member of the Order, specific prayers were notably planned for the rest of his soul.

Prayer was therefore fully part of the Templar brother’s identity, even when he was engaged in military activity.

How did the Templars eat?

The Rule of the Temple provides particularly interesting indications regarding meals.

Meals taken in community

The brothers normally ate together in the refectory.

Silence occupied an important place during meals, and a religious reading could accompany dinner or supper.

The rules also insist on sharing and a certain equality between the brothers.

Did the Templars eat meat?

Contrary to an idea sometimes conveyed, the Templars were not strictly vegetarian.

The primitive rule provides for meat several times a week, with special provisions for certain Sundays and feast days.

Other days were devoted to vegetable dishes, soups, fish, or food suited to periods of fasting.

Practices could evolve, and later texts show a more detailed dietary organization than the first articles.

Did the sick receive the same diet?

No. The rule demonstrates particular attention to the sick, the elderly, and weakened brothers.

The infirmary could provide different food when a brother’s condition required it.

Austerity was therefore not intended to deliberately endanger the health of a member of the community.

What clothes did the Templars wear?

Clothing was also regulated.

The famous white mantle was reserved for brother knights. Sergeants were not to use the same white garment and wore, in particular, darker colors.

This distinction had a practical and hierarchical function: not all members of the Order occupied the same rank.

The rule also condemns the pursuit of luxury in clothing.

Clothing was to be adapted to the brother’s function and not become a means of displaying his wealth or pride.

A brother claiming a particularly beautiful outfit out of vanity could even be assigned a less prestigious one.

Did the Templars always wear a red cross?

The white mantle is associated very early with the knights of the Temple, but the famous red cross belongs to a later stage of the Order’s history.

One must therefore avoid projecting exactly the same attire onto the entire existence of the Temple.

To delve deeper into the meaning of the emblems associated with the Order, you can consult our guide dedicated to Templar symbols.

Could the Templars own personal property?

The answer is largely no.

The brother’s life was based on a principle of communal ownership.

The rule notably forbids a brother from keeping for himself certain goods, provisions, or objects received without authorization.

Even a gift offered personally by a loved one had to be submitted to the rules of the house.

This obviously does not mean that the Order of the Temple was poor as an institution. Throughout its history, it received significant lands, buildings, rights, and donations.

We must therefore distinguish between two realities:

• the Order could own and administer wealth;
• the brother, however, was not to consider the Order’s goods as his personal property.

This distinction is essential to understand the apparent paradox between the ideal of individual poverty and the economic power acquired by the institution.

Was obedience really essential?

Yes. Obedience constitutes one of the central principles of the Rule of the Temple.

The brother partially renounced the ability to decide his actions alone.

He could not necessarily go out, travel, exchange equipment, or modify his gear at his own will. Many decisions depended on the Master, a commander, or the competent official.

This discipline obviously had a religious dimension, but it also possessed an obvious military utility.

A combat unit in which every knight decided individually to charge, retreat, or abandon his position would have been extremely difficult to control.

The Templar ideal thus partially replaced the independence of the feudal knight with the discipline of the group.

Could the Templars do whatever they wanted outside of combat?

No. The rule also governed many behaviors that we might today consider to be part of private life.

It notably regulated:

• unauthorized travel;
• the reception of certain gifts;
• clothing;
• exchanges of equipment;
• certain leisure activities;
• relations with the outside world;
• and behavior between brothers.

Were the Templars allowed to hunt?

Leisure hunting was largely condemned by the rule.

The brothers were not to seek traditional aristocratic distractions linked to falconry or the pursuit of game.

This prohibition corresponded to the desire to distinguish the religious knight from the secular knight seeking entertainment and prestige.

Knights and sergeants: were all Templars equal?

All members of the Temple belonged to the same institution, but they did not all occupy the same function or the same rank.

Among the best-known categories were:

• brother knights;
• brother sergeants;
• chaplains;
• as well as various servants and personnel attached to the functioning of the Order.

The brother knights possessed military equipment corresponding to their function. Later texts describe, in particular, the horses, the squire, the sword, the lance, the shield, the helmet, and various pieces of armament that could be assigned to them.

But here again, this equipment belonged to the functioning of the house and was not to be considered as private property to be used freely.

How did one join the Order of the Temple?

Entering the Temple was not comparable to joining a simple chivalric fraternity.

The rule provided for a reception before the community and insisted on the need to verify the will of the person wishing to join the Order.

The rule was to be presented to him, and the candidate had to agree to submit to the obligations of the house.

Later reception texts show a structured ceremony during which the candidate was questioned about his situation and the commitments he was preparing to make.

He did not become a Templar simply because he knew how to handle a sword or possessed noble origins.

Joining the Temple implied accepting a new way of living.

What sanctions did a Templar risk?

A rule as detailed as this would have had little effect without a disciplinary system.

The texts of the Temple therefore devote significant space to faults, penances, and sanctions.

Not all infractions were obviously considered with the same gravity.

A relatively minor fault could lead to a limited penance. Other behaviors could cause a temporary exclusion from the community, a more significant sanction, or, for the most serious cases, the loss of membership in the house.

The chapter played an important role in this discipline.

The brother was expected to acknowledge certain faults and accept the correction imposed.

Why were sanctions so important?

Because individual fault could weaken the entire group.

In an institution that was at once religious, communal, and military, the refusal to obey could have consequences much greater than a simple personal failing.

Discipline therefore protected both the religious ideal of the Order and its collective efficiency.

Did the Templars really live in extreme austerity?

The answer must be nuanced.

The Rule clearly values sobriety, obedience, communal life, and the rejection of personal luxury.

But it does not systematically advocate absolute physical deprivation.

The sick were to be cared for. Elderly or weak brothers could benefit from accommodations. Meals sometimes included meat and wine. The knights also received the equipment, horses, and clothing necessary for their function.

The goal was therefore not to render the brothers incapable of fulfilling their mission.

Templar austerity consisted primarily of renouncing the personal pursuit of comfort, luxury, and distinction for the sake of the community's needs.

Was the Templar Rule secret?

The idea of a mysterious secret rule containing the true practices of the Temple belongs largely to the imagination developed around the Order.

There is, however, a reality that may have fueled this representation: the Rule of the Temple that we know today is made up of several sets of texts, and not all internal prescriptions were necessarily intended to circulate freely outside the community.

The preserved manuscripts attest to a complex corpus including the primitive rule, hierarchical statutes, conventual life, penalties, chapters, and reception procedures.

This does not, however, constitute proof of the existence of a hidden esoteric teaching.

As is often the case with the history of the Templars, one must distinguish the internal regulations of a medieval order from legends that appeared much later.

What the Rule teaches us about the real Templars

The Rule of the Temple allows for the discovery of a reality much more interesting than the simplified image of the mysterious knight.

It reveals an organization in which war constituted only part of existence.

The brother had to pray, eat with his companions, respect a hierarchy, take care of the sick, accept the clothing and equipment distributed by the Order, and acknowledge his faults.

The texts also show that the rule had to continually adapt to the concrete situations encountered by an organization established in both the East and the West.

It is precisely this combination of religious ideal, collective discipline, and military requirements that allows for a better understanding of the originality of the Order of the Temple.

Frequently asked questions about the Templar Rule

When was the Templar Rule created?

The primitive rule is associated with the Council of Troyes in 1129, during which the Order of the Temple and its usages received significant recognition. The regulatory corpus was subsequently developed and completed throughout the history of the Order.

Did Saint Bernard write the Templar Rule?

Bernard of Clairvaux played a major role in supporting the new order and participated in the context of the Council of Troyes. It is nevertheless an oversimplification to present him as the sole author of the entirety of the Templar Rule.

Did the Templars take a vow of poverty?

The brother had to renounce personal possession and live within the communal framework of the Order. This did not prevent the institution itself from owning lands, buildings, income, and other assets necessary for its operation.

Were the Templars allowed to eat meat?

Yes. The rule provided for meat on certain days, while other meals relied more on vegetables, soups, fish, or foods adapted to fasting periods.

Why did the Templars wear a white mantle?

The white mantle was reserved for knight brothers and symbolized, in particular, their religious commitment. Other members, such as sergeant brothers, did not wear the same white mantle.

Could the Templars leave their commandery freely?

Their freedom of movement was strictly regulated. Many outings and trips required the authorization of a superior.

Were all Templars knights?

No. The Order included, among others, knight brothers, sergeant brothers, and chaplains, in addition to various people necessary for the operation of the Temple houses.

Do manuscripts of the Templar Rule still exist?

Yes. The rule is known to us notably thanks to several medieval manuscripts and their study by historians. An important French edition was published in the 19th century by Henri de Curzon for the Société de l’Histoire de France.

A rule to transform the knight

The Templar Rule shows that joining the Order of the Temple meant much more than donning a mantle and taking up arms.

The brother accepted an existence in which individual will had to fade before the community, the hierarchy, and the mission of the Order.

Meals, clothing, prayers, movements, or equipment: very concrete aspects of daily life were regulated.

This is likely where one of the keys to understanding the power of the Templar model lies: attempting to transform the medieval knight, traditionally attached to his personal honor and independence, into a disciplined member of a collective institution.

More than seven centuries after the disappearance of the Order, this organization continues to fuel interest in its history and the values traditionally associated with its legacy.

Historical sources and further reading

• National Archives – The Templars: chronology, documents, and archives of the Order of the Temple.
• Henri de Curzon – The Rule of the Temple, Société de l’Histoire de France, 1886.
• National Library of France / Gallica – The Rule of the Temple: historical edition of the text.
• Raymond Oursel – The Templars by Themselves, Revue historique des Armées.
• Alain Demurger – Life and Death of the Order of the Temple, 1118-1314, reference work on the history of the Order.