#russel erwood

[thebeauceantmagazine-blog]

Female Templars

by Fr. Russel Erwood

When we think of the Knights Templar most of us will imagine medieval sword wielding soldiers on horseback dressed in white with a bright red cross emblazoned across the chest protecting pilgrims in the Holy Land. Some might picture a secret organisation tasked with keeping the Holy Grail and other religious artifacts safe; whilst others may prefer the idea that the Templars were the epitome of chivalry, a fellowship of brothers who gallantly stood side-by-side against all odds.

The Knights Templar conjure up an almost infinite number of different images and appear in an equally vast number of stories. But how many of those stories focus on female Templars? Until recently I would’ve said none. That was until I stumbled across  Simon Turney’s book Daughter of War, which tells a tale of greed, lust, God and blood that is based around two real-life Templar sisters.

In an interview with HistoriaMag.com Turney says: “It will surprise many to know that there were women in the Order of the Temple. After all, they were the Knights Templar. Their remit was to be a sword-arm of the Church to protect pilgrims from heathen raiders. What place then did women have in the Order? The answer is officially none. Indeed the Order’s Rule, laid down by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, specifically forbade women, and went so far as to set rules that kept the members of the Order as far from the temptation of women as possible. There could be no female Templars.

“And yet at Mühlen in Austria we find a Templar nunnery, and officially labelled as such.”

He goes on to say that in the cartularies of the Templar houses there are many, many records of female members of the order, at least at the associate level of Consoror or Donat (lay sisters or women tied to the order through donations).

“This in itself is interesting enough to consider as the heart of a novel, but in further investigation into the role of women in the military orders, I found my two figures, and their existence simply flabbergasted me.”, said Turney.

Whilst digging through endless archives Turney discovered Ermengarda of Oluja. Who, along with her husband Gombau donated their land to the Templars when they both joined the Order.

Gomdau vanishes from the records after only a few years, but it turns out that Ermengarda is a very unique and interesting case.

Turney says: “She is noted in documents as a Sister of the Order. Not a lay sister, consoror or donat, but as a sister... Equivalent of a full brother.”

This alone would’ve been astonishing enough as it goes against everything we know when it comes to the Templars. But the historical records had even more to reveal.

Turney said: “Ermengarda is referred to as a preceptrix (female commander), commanding the house of Rourell in Catalunya. So not only do we have a female Templar which is forbidden in the rule, but she is no peripheral figure. She is a mover and shaker in the Order of that region and even commands a small Templar monastery.”

#simon turney #s j a turney #historiamag #daughter of war #knights templar #templars #women #female #female templars #women templars #ermengarda of oluja #oluja #spain #catalunya #rourell #russel erwood

[thebeauceantmagazine-blog]

Knightfall - A Review

by Fr. Russel Erwood

I write this as September comes to a close. The leaves on the trees are changing colour, children are collecting the first of this year’s conker harvest, and I think back to the phenomenal summer we’ve had this year. Long hot days, festivals, and for me a run of shows that started at Easter and ended this month where I got to entertain a mix of holiday makers, day trippers and locals (plus one ambassador, a stand-up comedian and a member of Goldie Looking Chain). I love my job and I feel lucky to be able to do it.

But the summer has to end and with it comes autumn. Darker nights, stew, big coats and the time to settle down and watch some telly.

But what to watch?

As a Brother of the Autonomous Sovereign Military Order of the Temple of Jerusalem Grand Priory of England and Wales (aka the Knights Templar of England and Wales) A&E’s Knightfall was an obvious choice. Originally broadcast by History (home of Black Sails) back in December 2017 in the US and only broadcast on the UK version of the channel in July 2018!

Not having Sky I discovered it via Amazon Prime Video just this week... And I’m so glad I did.

Currently in its 1st season; Knightfall’s 10 episodes tell the story of The Knights Templar, the Holy Grail and Landry du Lauzon (played by Downton Abbey’s Tom Cullen). And it doesn’t disappoint.

Swords, secret organisations, and conspiracies all combine to create a thrill-ride of a show. In fact I devoured the entire 10 episodes in just 48-hours!

As a caveat, I feel I should mention that this is a dramatisation. History does a great job of mixing historical figures with fictional characters, and then blending them together to create an exciting piece of television.

If you don’t have Amazon Prime Video, Apple iTunes or another video download service you can also get the entire season on DVD for about £15 and I think it’s well worth the money.

Season 2 is currently in the pipeline with an unofficial US release date of December 5th 2018.

#knightfall #templar #knights templar #television #television show #review #tom cullen #historical drama #history #russel erwood

[thebeauceantmagazine-blog]

How to use the archive...

The archive contains every article that has been written and submitted to The Beauceant Magazine and is the best place to go if you are looking for a specific article.

The archive is found by going to the menu at the top of the page and clicking ‘Archive’. You can also access it by clicking here.

The archive is sorted in to months and years starting with the most recent and going back in time as you scroll down the page.

At the top of the archive page you’ll also find two dropdown menus that allow you to further sort the articles within it. The first menu allows you to select the month of the year you want to look at. The second menu allows you to show posts of a particular type.

So if you know you’re looking for photographs from an event that took place in October of 2017 you can select October 2017 from the first menu and photo from the second. You’ll then be presented with only those articles of the type photo from October 2017.

#how to #the archive #archive #how to use the archive #russel erwood #tutorial

[thebeauceantmagazine-blog]

How to use tags...

Tags are really useful and you’ll find them at the bottom of every article posted to The Beauceant Magazine. Tags help you find articles relating to a specific subject, they also link together articles that are about related subjects or articles that have been written by the same author.

For example; if you click on the tag that says ‘how to’ at the bottom of this article you’ll be taken to a page that contains all the other articles that also have that tag. Likewise, if you click on the ‘russel erwood’ tag you’ll be taken to all the articles written by me.

Over time these tags will help you navigate your way around what will hopefully become a large database of all the articles that have been written by and for members of this Order.

#how to #tags #using tags #russel erwood #how to use tags #tutorial

[thebeauceantmagazine-blog]

How to submit an article on Tumblr...

Submitting your article, image or video to The Beauceant Magazine is super easy with the new blog format.

Here’s how:

First go to https://thebeauceantmagazine.tumblr.com/ the homepage will look something like the image below. Then click ‘MENU’ at the top of the page.

The menu will open. Click on ‘Submit an article’.

The page should automatically scroll down and look like the image below. If it doesn’t do that then simply use the scroll bar on the right to move the page. 

Then click the drop down menu to select text, photo or video. If you want to include text alongside your photos and / or videos use the text option. The photo and video options are just for photos and videos.

Now write your article (if you’ve written it in Word or other word processing software just copy and paste it into the box). There are buttons on the toolbar at the top that allow you to edit your article (bold, underline etc..) and also add extra features like photos and videos.

Once you’ve written your article you will need to accept Tumblr’s terms and conditions by clicking in the little check box before clicking on the blue ‘Submit’ button.

Once you have submitted your article you will be taken to a ‘Thank you’ page.

It usually takes 48-hours for submissions to be reviewed and posted. Any content deemed inappropriate will not be published.

If you have any questions regarding this tutorial please leave a comment or send an email to [email protected].

#tutorial #how to #submit an article #how to submit an article #russel erwood