The Council of Troyes was the institutional turning point in Saint Bernard’s account of the Templars: in 1128, he convened a council to define the role of the new soldier-monks and establish the discipline that would govern them. The episode presents the order not simply as a band of fighters but as an organized religious institution shaped by Bernard’s advocacy and rules.

Background and Purpose

The council followed Bernard’s support for nine original adventurers, whom he transformed into a Militia of Christ. In the conversation recounting this history, Bernard is described as a powerful organizer who recognized the possibilities in the Templars’ unusual combination of religious commitment and military service. The council at Troyes was held expressly to define what these new soldier-monks were to be.

The Rule and Daily Discipline

A few years after the council, Bernard wrote an encomium to the Templars and drew up their rule, consisting of seventy-two articles. The account treats these provisions as a detailed design for life in the order, combining worship, austerity, hierarchy, and military readiness. Brothers were to attend daily Mass, avoid contact with excommunicated knights, and receive a knight seeking admission to the Temple in a Christian spirit.

The rule regulated clothing and sleep as well as religious observance. Templars were to wear simple white cloaks without fur, except for a lambskin or ram’s pelt, and to avoid the fashionable curved shoes of the period. They slept in their underwear, with one pallet, one sheet, and one blanket. Meals were shared under strict conditions: one bowl for every two men, silence at table, and meat three times a week. Friday penance and an early daily rising were required; after especially hard work, a knight might sleep an additional hour, but had to recite thirteen Paters in bed.

Military Organization and Vocation

The regulations also set out a chain of command, from the master down through lower ranks that included sergeants, squires, attendants, and servants. Each knight was assigned three horses and one squire. Equipment was to be practical rather than ornamental: bridles, saddles, and spurs were to have no decorations, while weapons were to be simple but well made. Hunting was prohibited except for lions. Together with the rule’s insistence on chastity, these requirements framed Templar existence as a life of penance and battle, conducted not in a secluded monastery but in the contested world of the Holy Land.

Significance in the Templars’ History

The Council of Troyes represents the move from an improvised band of adventurers to a defined order of soldier-monks. Bernard’s role was both organizational and interpretive: he helped establish the institution and, in the account’s view, also shaped the heroic image through which the Templars would be understood. The council’s regulations made that vision concrete, translating religious ideals into everyday rules for worship, clothing, food, hierarchy, and warfare.