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[thebeauceantmagazine-blog]

Female Templars

by Fr. Russel Erwood

When we think of the Knights Templar most of us will imagine medieval sword wielding soldiers on horseback dressed in white with a bright red cross emblazoned across the chest protecting pilgrims in the Holy Land. Some might picture a secret organisation tasked with keeping the Holy Grail and other religious artifacts safe; whilst others may prefer the idea that the Templars were the epitome of chivalry, a fellowship of brothers who gallantly stood side-by-side against all odds.

The Knights Templar conjure up an almost infinite number of different images and appear in an equally vast number of stories. But how many of those stories focus on female Templars? Until recently I would’ve said none. That was until I stumbled across  Simon Turney’s book Daughter of War, which tells a tale of greed, lust, God and blood that is based around two real-life Templar sisters.

In an interview with HistoriaMag.com Turney says: “It will surprise many to know that there were women in the Order of the Temple. After all, they were the Knights Templar. Their remit was to be a sword-arm of the Church to protect pilgrims from heathen raiders. What place then did women have in the Order? The answer is officially none. Indeed the Order’s Rule, laid down by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, specifically forbade women, and went so far as to set rules that kept the members of the Order as far from the temptation of women as possible. There could be no female Templars.

“And yet at Mühlen in Austria we find a Templar nunnery, and officially labelled as such.”

He goes on to say that in the cartularies of the Templar houses there are many, many records of female members of the order, at least at the associate level of Consoror or Donat (lay sisters or women tied to the order through donations).

“This in itself is interesting enough to consider as the heart of a novel, but in further investigation into the role of women in the military orders, I found my two figures, and their existence simply flabbergasted me.”, said Turney.

Whilst digging through endless archives Turney discovered Ermengarda of Oluja. Who, along with her husband Gombau donated their land to the Templars when they both joined the Order.

Gomdau vanishes from the records after only a few years, but it turns out that Ermengarda is a very unique and interesting case.

Turney says: “She is noted in documents as a Sister of the Order. Not a lay sister, consoror or donat, but as a sister... Equivalent of a full brother.”

This alone would’ve been astonishing enough as it goes against everything we know when it comes to the Templars. But the historical records had even more to reveal.

Turney said: “Ermengarda is referred to as a preceptrix (female commander), commanding the house of Rourell in Catalunya. So not only do we have a female Templar which is forbidden in the rule, but she is no peripheral figure. She is a mover and shaker in the Order of that region and even commands a small Templar monastery.”