ABSTRACT
Of all the new forms of monastic life that emerged from the religious ferment of the twelfth century none was more original or seemingly more paradoxical than that of the Military Orders. These were orders of knights, dedicated to fighting the infidel, who were also fully professed monks. They look like a contradiction in terms. Admittedly, ascetical writers were much given to using military imagery, but the warfare they referred to was spiritual combat, not the warfare of this world. Monks and clergy were forbidden by the canons to have any part in the shedding of blood. How could fighting and killing with carnal weapons be reconciled with the Gospel of peace and love? Professionally, the monk and the warrior stood at opposite poles. The reconciliation of these incompatible occupations in the orders of fighting monks can only be understood in the context of the crusading movement from which they sprang.
