January 1129 A.D. – France – Troyes – Gaining Support

For two years after the Templars had received the Great Revelation, the Grand Master followed the plan he had outlined to Anselm. As requested, the scholar had spent many weeks in prayer and study, in order to formulate a code of Christian beliefs. A system based on the information they now had in their possession. All of the existing knights, had, somewhat to Hugh’s surprise readily agreed to follow the new way of worship.

Further, an initiation ceremony had been established for potential recruits to the Order. Word was getting round, throughout the lands surrounding Jerusalem which was controlled by Christians, of the protection provided by the Templars. And the support they were receiving from the King of Jerusalem. A steady stream of itinerant knights, arrived at the Temple Mount headquarters, and passed through the initiation rites to become full members.

However, despite the gifts of land and wealth that Hugh had received, a great concern remained. To the Grand Master, the Templars were still too dependent on the local nobility. If the Order was to establish itself as a permanent institution, he believed that it would need connections back to the Christian power base in the West.

And so in 1127, Hugh had embarked on a trip to try and rally just such support. His mission had produced results well beyond his expectations. He had been helped greatly, in that he had received an introduction from King Baldwin to Bernard of Clairvaux. This monk was one of the most influential theologians of his age. A man who was to be made a saint a mere twenty years after his death.

Bernard was delighted that a fighting force had been established in Jerusalem. And that it had rules, based in many ways on those of the European monasteries. He welcomed Hugh with open arms. Bernard’s reception was not lost on Europe’s nobility and the Grand Master was feted wherever he travelled. Many gifts were granted to the Templars. Even Henry I of England, had donated gold and silver. In addition, the King had provided land in Chancery Lane. This would allow the Templars to build their first house in London.

Now, in the first month of 1129, Hugh had reached the pinnacle of his trip, at Troyes, the capital of the counts of Champagne. A Convocation was being hosted there, of influential church leaders from across France. The Grand Master was given the opportunity to address the assembled clergy.

He spoke in the great square in the centre of the city. Hugh had developed into a practised orator, and had honed his address over the last two years. He eloquently described the situation of the Christians in Jerusalem. And across Outremer, which was the name given to those lands on the eastern Mediterranean under Christian control.

The Holy City was at present accessible to pilgrims from all over Europe. But in bloody detail, Hugh went over the horrors and atrocities that had been visited upon unarmed travellers, by the barbarous forces of Islam. He described the murder of devout monks, the brutal rape of good Christian women and the callous slaughter of babes and infants.

He went on to reveal how the Order of the Templar Knights had been created. Emphasised the vows of chastity and poverty that all the knights had sworn. He set out the strict prayer routine that was observed by the entire Order when they were at their headquarters.

The Grand Master spoke for over an hour. The weather was cold, but his clerical audience listened enthralled, to the stories from the Holy Land. Hugh finished with an impassioned appeal to all of them. To return to their own lands and to lobby their congregations in support of the Knights Templars. To cajole them to back the Holy Order who were engaged on the task of defending the Christian faith in the land of their Lord’s birth.