List of grand masters of the Knights Templar

Coat of arms of the Grand Master.

The grand master of the Knights Templar was the supreme commander of the holy order, starting with founder Hugues de Payens in 1118. Some held the office for life while others resigned life in monasteries or diplomacy. Grand masters often led their knights into battle on the front line and the numerous occupational hazards of battle made some tenures very short.

Each country had its own master, and the masters reported to the grand master. He oversaw all of the operations of the order, including both the military operations in the Holy Land and Eastern Europe, and the financial and business dealings in the order's infrastructure of Western Europe. The grand master controlled the actions of the order but he was expected to act the same way as the rest of the knights. After Pope Innocent II issued the bull Omne datum optimum on behalf of the Templars in 1139, the grand master was obliged to answer only to him.

List of grand masters

No. Arms Name Time in office Seat
1 Armoiries Hugues de Payens.svg Hugues de Payens 1118–1136 Jerusalem
(Kingdom of Jerusalem)
2 Armoiries Robert de Craon.svg Robert de Craon 1136–1147
3 Armoiries Evrard des Barres.svg Everard des Barres 1147–1151
4 Armoiries Bernard de Tramelay.svg Bernard de Tremelay
(KIA)
1151–1153
5 Armoiries André de Montbard.svg André de Montbard 1153–1156
6 Armoiries Bertrand de Blanquefort.svg Bertrand de Blanchefort 1156–1169
7 Armoiries Philippe de Milly.svg Philip of Milly 1169–1171
8 Armoiries Eudes de Saint-Amand.svg Odo of St Amand
(POW)
1171–1179
9 Armoiries Arnaud de Toroge.svg Arnold of Torroja 1181–1184
10 Armoiries Gérard de Ridefort.svg Gerard of Ridefort
(KIA)
1185–1189 Acre
(Kingdom of Jerusalem)
11 Armoiries Robert de Sablé.svg Robert of Sablé 1191–1193
12 Armoiries Gilbert Hérail.svg Gilbert Horal 1193–1200
13 Armoiries Philippe du Plaissis.svg Phillipe de Plessis 1201–1208
14 Armoiries Guillaume de Chartres.svg William of Chartres 1209–1219
15 Armoiries Pierre de Montaigu.svg Peire de Montagut 1218–1232
16 Armoiries Armand de Périgord.svg Armand de Périgord
(KIA/POW)
1232–1244
17 Blason Bures-sur-Yvette.svg Richard de Bures 1245–1247
18 Armoiries Guillaume de Saunhac.svg Guillaume de Sonnac
(KIA)
1247–1250
19 Armoiries Renaud de Vichiers.svg Renaud de Vichiers 1250–1256
20 Armoiries of Thomas Bérard.svg Thomas Bérard 1256–1273
21 Armoiries Guillaume de Beaujeu.svg Guillaume de Beaujeu
(KIA)
1273–1291
22 Armoiries Thibaud Gaudin.svg Thibaud Gaudin 1291–1292 Cyprus
(Kingdom of Cyprus)
23 Coat of arms Jacques de Molay.svg Jacques de Molay 1292–1314

This page was last updated at 2023-02-05 07:06 UTC. Update now. View original page.

All our content comes from Wikipedia and under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.


Top

If mathematical, chemical, physical and other formulas are not displayed correctly on this page, please useFirefox or Safari