Templar Edification

The Templars were Latin—that is, Catholic—Christians. Their faith was the faith of pre-Reformation Europe, a broad Church which expected believers to attend church only three times a year and did not expect the laity to take an active role in church services. The Templars were not educated in theology and would not have been aware of or even interested in the complex theological debates that were taking place in the Latin Church in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Their function was to serve the Holy Land, not to engage in intellectual debate. The Templars’ admission ceremony instructed that new members should make their vows to “God and Our Lady” (the Blessed Virgin Mary, Christ's Mother). They swore to be obedient to the master of the order, to preserve their physical chastity, and live without personal property. They also promised to keep the customs of the order, to help to conquer the Holy Land of Jerusalem, never to leave the order without permission from the master, and...

In Western Christendom, and especially Roman Catholicism, the month of October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary, due to the 7 October 1571 Battle of Lepanto, at which the naval powers of Europe soundly defeated the Ottoman Turks, definitively settling the question of which empire would dominate the Mediterranean. The Holy League dedicated their victory to the Virgin Mary, whose intercession they had sought by praying the Rosary—though the presence of newly-developed Venetian galleasses surely didn’t hurt. When given the choice between devotion and firepower, Europe historically has opted for both. The resultant sinking of the Turkish fleet massively popularized the Rosary throughout Italy and Spain. Humans have been using prayer beads for thousands of years. The ancient Greeks, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Ba’hai, and neopagans all have their own variations. Indeed, the Old English “bede” means a bid, or a prayer. Christians classically speak of three broad forms...