Food and the Military Orders: Attitudes of the Hospital and the Temple between the Twelfth and Fourteenth Centuries

In an exemplum addressed to the Templars, Jacques de Vitry, bishop of Acre from 1216 to 1228, highlights the conflict faced by members of military orders trying to adhere to monastic values while meeting their military commitments:

1 The Exempla or Illustrative Stories from the Sermones Vulgares of Jacques de Vitry, ed. Thomas F. Crane (London, 1890; repr. New York, 1971), 38-39; English translation: Helen Nicholson, Jacques de Vitry: Sermons to a Military Order, at https://www.deremilitari.org/RESOURCES/SOURCES/vitry.htm

This story provides an apt demonstration of the inherent dichotomy of the military orders. The monastic regime was also constantly challenged by the orders’ new recruits. Many of these were men of noble birth used to a much less frugal way of life. They brought with them into the monastery their experiences from the world outside. However, they, in turn, were influenced by the monastic environment. The military orders, therefore, represent a dynamic environment of secular and monastic influence. The effect of these influences regarding food is demonstrated in the orders’ legislation.