The Everyday Life of the Templars: The Knights Templar at Home - Hardcover

Helen J. Nicholson

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1781553734 ISBN 13: 9781781553732

Publisher: Fonthill Media, 2017

The Knights Templar did not write about themselves, or keep diaries, so you would be forgiven for thinking there would not be much to know about their everyday lives. However, the records of the Templars' estates tell us how they lived-from the buildings they lived in and their furnishings, to the books and ornaments in their chapels, and their clothes and crockery. These early fourteenth-century records tell us about the men and women who worked for the Templars on their lands and in their houses, their tenants, and the people who owed them money. We can see what animals they kept, from fine warhorses to hard-working plough animals, alongside cattle, pigs, and vast flocks of sheep. Drawing on these records, along with archaeological evidence and the Templars' own regulations, Helen Nicholson sets out to reconstruct how the Templars lived from day to day, in both the Middle East and Western Europe. The result is a fascinating insight into the everyday lives of these pious men, who were not powerful nobles or churchmen, yet held great influence in medieval Europe.

Review:

The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, also known as the Order of Solomon's Temple, the Knights Templar or simply as Templars, were a Catholic military order recognized in 1139 by papal bull Omne Datum Optimum of the Holy See. The order was founded in 1119 and active from about 1129 to 1312. The Knights Templar did not write about themselves, or keep diaries. However, the records of the Templars' estates tell us how they lived -- from the buildings they lived in and their furnishings, to the books and ornaments in their chapels, and their clothes and crockery. These early fourteenth-century records tell us about the men and women who worked for the Templars on their lands and in their houses, their tenants, and the people who owed them money. We can see what animals they kept, from fine warhorses to hard-working plough animals, alongside cattle, pigs, and vast flocks of sheep. Drawing on these records, along with archaeological evidence and the Templars' own regulations, 'The Everyday Life of the Templars: The Knights Templar at Home' by Helen J. Nicholson (who teaches at the University of Cardiff and is a leading international researcher on the history of the Knights Templar) sets out to reconstruct how the Templars lived from day to day, in both the Middle East and Western Europe. The result is a fascinating insight into the everyday lives of these pious men, who were not powerful nobles or churchmen, yet held great influence in medieval Europe. An impressively informative and seminal work of compelling scholarship, 'The Everyday Life of the Templars' is unreservedly recommended for personal, community, and academic library History Collections in general, and Knights Templar supplemental studies reading lists in particular. --The World History Shelf: http://www.midwestbookreview.com/lbw/jan_18.htm#WorldHistory

About the Author:

Professor Helen J. Nicholson teaches at the University of Cardiff and is a leading international researcher on the history of the Knights Templar. She has written several books on the Templars, including 'Knight Templar' (2004) and 'A Brief History of the Knights Templar'.

• Publisher: Fonthill Media
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1781553734
• ISBN 13: 9781781553732
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 192