Eco: Foucalt's Pendulum by eco foucault (important books to read .txt) 📗

probably idealists caught up in the mystique ofthe Crusade. But later recruits were most likely younger sonsseeking adventure. Remember, the new kingdom of Jerusalem was sortof the California of the day, the place you went to make yourfortune. Prospects at home were not great, and some of the knightsmay have been on the run for one reason or another. I think of itas a kind of Foreign Legion. What do you do if you're in trouble?You join the Templars, see the world, have some fun, do a littlefighting. They feed you and clothe you, and in the end, as a bonus,you save your soul. Of course, you had to be pretty desperate,because it meant going out into the desert, sleeping in a tent,spending days and days without seeing a living soul except otherTemplars, and maybe a Turk now and then. In the meantime, you rideunder the sun, dying of thirst, and cut the guts out of other poorbastards."

I stopped for a moment."Maybe I'm making it sound too much like a Western. There wasprobably a third phase. Once the order became powerful, people mayhave wanted to join even if they were well off at home. By thattime, though, you could be a Templar without having to go to theHoly Land; you could be a Templar at home, too. It getscomplicated. Sometimes they sound like tough soldiers, andsometimes they show sensitivity. For example, you can't call themracists. Yes, they fought the Moslems¡Xthat was the wholepoint¡Xbut they fought in a spirit of chivalry and with mutualrespect. Once, when the ambassador of the emir of Damascus wasvisiting Jerusalem, the Templars let him say his prayers in alittle mosque that had been turned into a Christian church. One daya Frank came in, was outraged to see a Moslem in a holy place, andstarted to rough him up. But the Templars threw the intolerantFrank out and apologized to the Moslem. Later on, thisfraternization with the enemy helped lead to their ruin: one of thecharges against them at their trial was that they had dealings withesoteric Moslem sects. Which may have been true. They were a littlelike the nineteenth-century adventurers who went native and caughtthe mal d'Af-rique. The Templars, lacking the usual monasticeducation, were slow to grasp the fine points of theology. Think ofthem as Lawrences of Arabia, who after a while start dressing likesheiks...But it's difficult to get an objective picture of theirbehavior because contemporary Christian historiographers, Williamof Tyre, for example, take every opportunity to vilifythem."

"Why?"

"The Templars became toopowerful too fast. It all goes back to Saint Bernard. You'refamiliar with Saint Bernard, of course. A great organizer. Hereformed the Benedictine order and eliminated decorations fromchurches. If a colleague got on his nerves, as Abelard did, heattacked him McCarthy-style and tried to get him burned at thestake. If he couldn't manage that, he'd burn the offender's booksinstead. And of course he preached the Crusade: Let us take up armsand you go forth..."

"You don't care forhim," Belbo remarked.

"If I had my way, SaintBernard would end up in one of the nastier circles of the inferno.Saint, hell! But he was good at self-promotion. Look how Dantetreats him: making him the Madonna's right-hand man. He got to be asaint because he buttered up all the right people. But to get backto the Templars. Bernard realized right away that this idea hadpossibilities. He supported the nine original adventurers,transformed them into a Militia of Christ. You could even say thatthe heroic view of the Templars was his invention. In 1128 he helda council in Troyes for the express purpose of defining the role ofthose new soldier-monks, and a few years later he wrote an elogiumon them and drew up their rule, seventy-two articles. The articlesare fun to read; there's a little of everything in them. DailyMass, no contact with excommunicated knights, though if one of themapplies for admission to the Temple, he must be received in aChristian spirit. You see what I mean about the Foreign Legion.They're supposed to wear simple white cloaks, no furs, at most alambskin or a ram's pelt. They're forbidden to wear the curvedshoes so fashionable at the time, and must sleep in theirunderwear, with one pallet, one sheet, and oneblanket..."

"With the heat there, Ican imagine the stink," Belbo said.

"We'll come to the stinkin a minute. There were other tough measures in the rule: one bowlfor each two men; eat in silence; meat three times a week; penanceon Fridays; up at dawn every day. If the work has been especiallyheavy, they can sleep an extra hour, but in return they must recitethirteen Paters in bed. There is a master and a whole series oflower ranks, down to sergeants, squires, attendants, and servants.Every knight will have three horses and one squire, no decorationsare allowed on bridles, saddles, or spurs. Simple but well-madeweapons. Hunting forbidden, except for lions. In short, a life ofpenance and battle. And don't forget chastity. The rule isparticularly insistent about that. Remember, these are men who arenot living in a monastery. They're fighting a war, living in theworld, if you can use that word for the rat's nest the Holy Landmust have been in those days. The rule says in no uncertain termsthat a woman's company is perilous and that the men are allowed tokiss only their mothers, sisters, and aunts."

"Aunts, eh?" Belbogrumbled. "I'd have been more careful there...But if memory serves,weren't the Templars accused of sodomy? There's that book byKlossowski, The Baphomet. Baphomet was one of their satanicdivinities, wasn't he?"

"I'll get to that, too.But think about it for a moment. You live for months and months inthe desert, out in the middle of nowhere, and at night you share atent with the guy who's been eating out of the same bowl as you.You're tired and cold and thirsty and afraid. You want your mama.So what do you do?"

"Manly love, the Thebanlegion," Belbo suggested.

"The other soldiershaven't taken the Templar vow. When a city is sacked, they get torape the dusky Moorish maids with amber bellies and velvet eyes.And what is the Templar supposed to do amid