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The Templar Rule of the Order.

Jacques de Molay

This translation of the original, or primitive, Rule of the Templars is based on the 1886 edition of Henri de Curzon, La Régle du Temple as a Military Manual, or How to Deliver a Cavalry Charge. It represents the Rule given to the fledgling Knights of the Temple by the Council of Troyes, 1129, although "it must not be forgotten that the Order had been in existence for several years and had built up its own traditions and customs before Hugues de Payens' appearance at the Council of Troyes. To a considerable extent, then, the Primitive Rule is based upon existing practices." (Upton-Ward, p. 11) This translation is excerpted from Judith Upton-Ward's The Rule of the Templars, Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1992,. The Rule of the Templars includes an introduction by Upton-Ward; it also contains the Templars' Primitive Rule and the Hierarchical Statutes; regulations governing penances, conventual life, the holding of ordinary chapters, and reception into the Order; and an appendix by Matthew Bennett, "La Régle du Temple as a Military Manual, or How to Deliver a Cavalry Charge." The book is highly recommended to those interested in the Templars or any other military order. It is now available in paperback. The notes to the Primitive Rule, supplied by Mrs. Upton-Ward in The Rule of the Templars, are not included below. They are of considerable interest and should be consulted by those wishing to study the Rule in more detail, however.

Council of Troyes, 1129 Rule

Choose between 3 writers the Rule you want to View.

  • Judith Upton-Ward's The Rule of the Templars, Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1992     VIEW 
  • 1886 edition of Henri de Curzon,  LA RÈGLE DU TEMPLE     VIEW
  • The Original Rule of the Knights Templar: A Translation with Introduction: by Robert T. Wojtowicz , 1991     VIEW