1st Grandmasters of the Knights Templar - Hugues De Payns & St. Bernard de Clairvaux my 29th great-uncle
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The Knights Templars, also known as, The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, were co-founded by Knights Hughe De Payens, (9 February 1070 - 24 May 1136) and St. Bernard of Clairvaux, (1090 – 20 August 1153).
Latin: Bernardus Claraevallensis
Hughes de Payens is my 4th cousin by marriage to Catherine St. Clair. Historians cannot agree if she is real or if the marriage was real. His genealogy is not dialed in. I am a novice genealogist.
He was a vassal of Comte de Champagne, Hugues de Blois, whom joined the Knights Templar in 1124. (He is my 29th great-uncle). He was married to Constance the daughter of King Philip I of France, (my 27th great-grandfather), King of the Franks. I’m descended from both of his wives, Queen Consorts Bertha of Holland and Bertha of Montfort.
St Bernard de Clairvaux is my 29th great-uncle.
St. Bernard is the nephew of the 5th Grandmaster André de Montbard. Montbard is my 30th great-uncle.
Initial B from a 13th century illuminated manuscript: Legenda Aurea (Keble MS 49, fol 162r)
Believe me, for I know, you will find something far greater in the woods than in books. Stones and trees will teach you that which you cannot learn from the masters.
~Bernard de Clairvaux
The symbol of the Knights Templars was supposed to be two poor Knights, Hughes de Payens and his other Knight friend, Godfrey de Saint Omer, that were so poor they could only afford one horse in battle. These guys weren't poor. They were cousins and descendants of the Anglo-Norman and Frankish Royals and were very wealthy. The official story says that they gave up their riches and took vows of chastity. They created an assets pool, and thus started the first organized “banking system”. Their genealogy, even though they were born into nobility, is not dialed-in compared to Western European royals of title and rank of the same era.
1066 - William the Conqueror (my 27th great-grandfather), the Anglo-Noman Vikings from France, descendants of King Rollo (my 29th great-grandfather), invade England.
1070 - Hughes de Payns is born, about 10 km Northwest of Troyes.
1090 - St Bernard de Clairvaux is born at Fontaine-lès-Dijon. Burgundy, France. According to Freddy Silva, he was the nephew of Hughes de Payns.
1098 Robert Molesme of Citeaux, France - founded the Cistercian Order.
1099 - The Catholic Church under Pope Urban II (my 1st cousin (30xR)) and the Crusaders, massacre Jerusalem. They murder every man, woman and child. Godfroi de Bullion (my 28th great-uncle) is elected King of Jerusalem with help from the Priory of Sion. De Bullion is cousins with the future King Fulk V (my 27th great-grandfather), whom will go on to join the Knights Templar.
1108 - Hughes goes to the Holy Land with the Count de Champagne.
1111 - The Knights Templar travel to Portugal. This is also the year the future King Alphonso I is born, (my 26th great-grandfather).
1113 - Bernard joined the Clairveaux Cistercian order with over two dozen family members. According to Scott Wolter, a current member of the Knights Templar, it was a coup d'état.
1114 - Hughes de Payns & Hughes de Champagne visit the Holy Land.
1115 - Hughes the Count de Champagne gives his land to Bernard to build Clairvaux Abbey.
1118 - The mainstream narrative says this is the year the Knights Templar go to Jerusalem.
1125 - Hughes I, Compte de Champagne becomes a Knights Templar.
1128 - St Bernard writes the Charter for the Knights Templar.
1129 - Counsel of Troyes.
The Cistercians venerated Mother Mary, as did many from France that claimed lineage to Mary Magdalene, the Cathars, the Troubadors and Essenes (the Nazareans).
They claim that St. Bernard’s miracle is that milk dripped out of a statue of the Virgin Mary into his mouth. (Wolter)1.
It seems strange to me that he venerated the Virgin Mary, but was against the story of the Virgin Birth.
A quote from:
https://www.dhi.ac.uk/cistercians/cistercian_life/women/index.php
Mary was first celebrated in the Cistercian liturgy in 1152, when she was commemorated in the Daily Office, but her feasts and commemorations increased over the centuries, in accordance with the general amplification of the liturgical calendar. The Little Office of Our Lady was sanctioned as a community prayer in 1185, her votive Mass celebrated on Saturdays from 1220, and by the thirteenth century the Salve Regina, in many ways a defining feature of the Order, was sung at the end of Compline to conclude the liturgical day. By 1540 she was celebrated on seven feast days. Bernard of Clairvaux was particularly noted for his devotion to the Virgin and was buried before the her altar at Clairvaux. He did much to propagate the cult, yet vehemently opposed the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. Bernard’s devotion to Mary is celebrated by the Italian poet, Dante Alghieri, (1265-1321), in his monumental work, The Divine Comedy:
And from Heaven’s Queen, whom fervent I adore,
All gracious aid befriend us;
for that I Am her faithful Bernard.
(Paradise: Canto 31)
https://www.templarsnow.com/2021/01/the-relationship-between-hugues-de.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh,_Count_of_Champagne
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Bernard-of-Clairvaux
Gaia Network - Conscious Life Expo - Season 1, Episode 3 - Scott Wolter: Criptic Code of the Templars in America. released: February 29, 2020.
Footnotes:
(1) - Hooked X is the symbol for the Goddess. (Scott Wolter).