ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the question of historical agency (initiative, action-reaction) in the relationship between the religious military orders and the papacy in the twelfth century. Its first part considers the so-called maior-libertas documents, the second part addresses the interaction between the orders and the pope (focussing on military identity and lordship roles), and the final part assesses the pontificate of Lucius III and its significance for the papal privileges issued to both Hospitallers and Templars.
