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Article NOTITIÆ TEMPLARIÆ, No. 4. ← Page 6 of 6
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Notitiæ Templariæ, No. 4.
dates as circumstances required . This constituted the permanent council at Jerusalem , and to the Conventual Chapter and Grand Master all the papal bulls , & c . were addressed . Each Grand Prior of a province had his provincial council , over which he presided , and promulgated the orders of the superior assemblies . Of course it took cognizance of the particular affairs of the province , and admitted members into the society . All
questions therein discussed were decided by a majority of votes . The officers and heads of houses in the district constituted this Chapter ! There were , however , Grand Visitors sent forth from time to time from , head-quarters , to inspect the state of affairs of the provinces , who were empowered to call a Chapter at ivill , and supersede the Prior in his command if he should be found incompetent . In like manner , descending m the scale , each house-prior , or master of an establishment , had his particular Council or Chapter , to which all the Brethren under him might be called , and give their vote on eeneral ouestions .
The grand , office-bearers of the Order remain to be mentioned , to complete the sketch of the constitution of the Temple . These were , first , the Grand Master , who possessed considerable powers individually ; but upon the exercise of which a sort of check was placed in the persons of tivo magisterial assistants , who , together with the Seneschal , or Depute Grand Master , were to form a part of every Chapter at ivhich the head was present . The Grand Master exercised , as vicar-general of the
Pope , episcopal jurisdiction over the clergy of the Order . The Grand Seneschal was next in rank to him ; then came the Grand Mareschal , or Adjutant-general ; the Treasurer , whose office explains itself ; the Drapier , who regulated the clothing department ; the Turcopolier , who commanded the light cavalry , or lancers of the squires ; and the Prior of Jerusalem , whose peculiar province it was , with a party of ten knights , to escort the pilgrims on their way to the river Jordan . It was likewise his duty to guard the cross whenever it was brought into the field . His personal appointments consisted of four chargers , two esquires , one serving-brother , a secretary , and a turconole orderly .
These were the chief officers of the Order at Jerusalem . Various subordinate offices were filled by the squires , such as the commissary , or prior of Acre , sub-mareschal , and the standard-bearer , whose post was in front of the banner of the Beauseant , and who was allowed two horses for his service . This latter office ivould seem to have been one of much honour , from the following mention , by Mathew of Paris , concerning the fatal fight at Antiochin 1237 : —
, " In illo infausto certamine illustris miles Tenrplarius , Anglicus natione , Reginaldus de Argentonia , ea die Balcanifer , qui ut alii qui ceciderunt , cruentissimam de se reliquit hostibus victoriam . Indefessus vero vexillum sustenebat , donee tibia ? cum cruribus et manibus fran--gerentur . "
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Notitiæ Templariæ, No. 4.
dates as circumstances required . This constituted the permanent council at Jerusalem , and to the Conventual Chapter and Grand Master all the papal bulls , & c . were addressed . Each Grand Prior of a province had his provincial council , over which he presided , and promulgated the orders of the superior assemblies . Of course it took cognizance of the particular affairs of the province , and admitted members into the society . All
questions therein discussed were decided by a majority of votes . The officers and heads of houses in the district constituted this Chapter ! There were , however , Grand Visitors sent forth from time to time from , head-quarters , to inspect the state of affairs of the provinces , who were empowered to call a Chapter at ivill , and supersede the Prior in his command if he should be found incompetent . In like manner , descending m the scale , each house-prior , or master of an establishment , had his particular Council or Chapter , to which all the Brethren under him might be called , and give their vote on eeneral ouestions .
The grand , office-bearers of the Order remain to be mentioned , to complete the sketch of the constitution of the Temple . These were , first , the Grand Master , who possessed considerable powers individually ; but upon the exercise of which a sort of check was placed in the persons of tivo magisterial assistants , who , together with the Seneschal , or Depute Grand Master , were to form a part of every Chapter at ivhich the head was present . The Grand Master exercised , as vicar-general of the
Pope , episcopal jurisdiction over the clergy of the Order . The Grand Seneschal was next in rank to him ; then came the Grand Mareschal , or Adjutant-general ; the Treasurer , whose office explains itself ; the Drapier , who regulated the clothing department ; the Turcopolier , who commanded the light cavalry , or lancers of the squires ; and the Prior of Jerusalem , whose peculiar province it was , with a party of ten knights , to escort the pilgrims on their way to the river Jordan . It was likewise his duty to guard the cross whenever it was brought into the field . His personal appointments consisted of four chargers , two esquires , one serving-brother , a secretary , and a turconole orderly .
These were the chief officers of the Order at Jerusalem . Various subordinate offices were filled by the squires , such as the commissary , or prior of Acre , sub-mareschal , and the standard-bearer , whose post was in front of the banner of the Beauseant , and who was allowed two horses for his service . This latter office ivould seem to have been one of much honour , from the following mention , by Mathew of Paris , concerning the fatal fight at Antiochin 1237 : —
, " In illo infausto certamine illustris miles Tenrplarius , Anglicus natione , Reginaldus de Argentonia , ea die Balcanifer , qui ut alii qui ceciderunt , cruentissimam de se reliquit hostibus victoriam . Indefessus vero vexillum sustenebat , donee tibia ? cum cruribus et manibus fran--gerentur . "