BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX AND THE TWO SWORDS TEMPLARS, CRUSADES, AND CONSIDERATION: A STUDY ON BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX'S ALLEGORY OF THE TWO SWORDS By TIMOTHY BASILE, B.A. A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Religious Studies, McMaster University In Partial Fulfilment For the Degree Master of Arts McMaster University © Copyright Timothy Basile, September 2009 MASTER OF ARTS (2009) McMaster University (Religious Studies) Hamilton, Ontario -, " TITLE: Templars, Crusades, and Consideration: A Study on Bernard of Clairvaux's AlIegory of the Two Swords AUTHOR: Timothy Basile, B.A. (Tyndale University) SUPERVISOR: Dr. Peter Widdicombe ~LJMBER OF PAGES: iv, 135 ii Abstract While most analyses of Bemar d's allegory ofthe two swords frame the discussion from the perspective of Bemar d's overall political theology, this approach often ignores the allegory's connection to the Knights Templar. This thesis examines Bemard ofClairvaux's allegory of the Two Swords from a literary and historical perspective. By examining each of Bernard's uses of the allegory separately and in their own contexts, this thesis aims to identify the various ways in which Bemard used the allegory. As well, this work seeks to understand what the allegory can and cannot tell us about Bernard's overall political theology. This thesis argues that Bernard employed the allegory in order to describe the authority by which the pope may protect the Church when it is threatened, but that the allegory's effectiveness for determining Bernard's political theology outside the context of the Church's defence remains limited. 111 Table of Contents Abstract iii Table of Contents IV Introduction: Questions of Bemar d's Intention Chapter 1: The Two Swords within the Context ofIn Praise of the 23 New Knighthood Chapter 2: The Two Swords in the Context ofthe Second Crusade 51 Chapter 3: The Two Swords within the Context of On Consideration. 81 Conclusion: In Case of Emergency 113 Bibliography 131 iv M.A. Thesis - T. Basile, McMaster - Religious Studies Introduction: Questions of Bernard's Intention The allegory of the 'two swords' has a long and storied involvement in the medieval understanding of the relationship between the church and the state. Interpreting Jesus' sardonic remark to his disciples on the eve of his crucifixion as establishing the manner in which society is to be ordered, medieval thinkers argued that the two swords represented the two powers established by God. These two powers correspond to the regal and sacerdotal powers wielded respectively by the prince and by the priest. The biblical passage is as follows: He said to them; 'But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. It is written: 'And he was numbered with the transgressors'; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.' The disciples said, 'See Lord, here are two swords.' 'That is enough,' he replied. l This passage in Luke was compared to a similar one in the book of Matthew in which Peter, upon cutting off the ear of the high priest's servant, is told by Christ to sheathe his sword: Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. With that, one of Jesus companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear. 'Put your sword back in its place,' Jesus said to him, 'for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. ,2 Since Peter appears to be given two swords in one passage but told to sheathe one of them in the other, it seemed logical to the medieval mind that another authority should wield this sword on his behalf, namely the temporal rulers personified by I Luke 22:36-38, New International Version. 2 Matthew 26:50-52. M.A. Thesis - T. Basile, McMaster - Religious Studies the emperor. Peter, having already been given the keys of heaven by Christ in Matthew 16: 19, is said to wield spiritual authority. He and his successors are therefore said to wield the 'spiritual' sword - the sword Christ did not tell Peter to sheathe. In the sword Christ told Peter to sheathe, medieval interpreters saw the theological basis of the temporal power. Since the clerical nature of Peter's office explicitly forbade the use of violence, it made sense that another, namely the emperor, received the authority to use violence to maintain order and to defend the Church. Here, it may be said that the material sword signified "the coercive power of secular government," while the spiritual sword signified "the ecclesiastical power of excommunication.,,3 Each power ideally presides over a separate sphere of authority, but given that actions by a temporal ruler often have repercussions elsewhere for the church and vice versa, conflict between the two powers is bound to arise. Ultimately, the issues are the question of allegiance and the ordering of society: does one owe ultimate allegiance to the pope or to the emperor? In the event of a conflict, which power should show deference to the other? What role, if any, should the pope play in the political fortunes of Christendom? Does one power legitimate the other? Medieval popes and jurists (as well as a few kings) alike drew on this passage in order to articulate their vision of Christian society. As a result, this allegory formed part of the basis for the medieval understanding of the papacy and Christian society itself. 31. S. Robinson, The Papacy 1073-1198 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990),296- 297. 2 M.A. Thesis - T. Basile, McMaster - Religious Studies In order to frame Bernard of Clairvaux's use of the allegory in its proper 1 I historical context, this introduction will offer a brief synopsis of the medieval -i understanding of the allegory of the two swords. Although the scale of this introduction limits the scope by which a history of the allegory may be discussed, it is nevertheless important to frame Bernard in his historical milieu. This thesis will therefore outline those medieval thinkers who may have exerted influence upon Bernard's thinking as well as later thinkers who interpreted Bernard to suit their own purposes. The doctrine of the two swords is based on the understanding that there are two powers, one spiritual the other temporal, which have been established by God for the proper ordering of society. In a letter to the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I (r. 491-518), Pope Gelasius I (1'. 492-496) wrote that "the world is chiefly governed by these two: the sacred authority ofthe bishops and the royal power.,,4 Ge1asius was concerned by the emperor's attempts to regulate doctrine on behalf ofthe Church and by delineating the two separate powers, he explained to Anastasius that his authority extended only over the temporal sphere. To Gelasius, the spiritual power was the greater of the two powers on account of its charge over men's souls.5 Furthermore, the pope argued that although the emperor's authority extends over all temporal affairs, he still remains subject to 41. S. Robinson, "Church and Papacy" in The Cambridge History of Medieval Political Thought edited by J. H. Burns (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988),288. 5lohn B. Morrall, Political Thought in Medieval Times (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1980),22. 3 M.A. Thesis - T. Basile, McMaster - Religious Studies the pope on matters of his own faith and salvation.6 Although Gelasius never made the link between the two powers and the two swords, his formulation became widely accepted and widely cited by the tenth century jurists who wished to understand [he manner in which God had ordered society.7 Although a few metaphors involving two swords surface prior to the ninth century, it is in the ninth century that the link between the two swords and the Gel asian powers was made. Robinson notes that it is at this time that "the classic interpretation of the two swords as the material sword of secular coercion and the spiritual sword of excommunication appears in papalletters."g Walter Ullman argues that the image of the two swords formed the basis of Pope Paschal 1's coronation of the Emperor Lothair I in 823 CE, where emperor was symbolically presented with a sword by the pope in St. Peter's basilica. Ullmann contends that later articulations of the two swords recapture this imagery.9 It is important to note that before the Investiture Contest of the eleventh century, the image was always intended to suggest harmony and mutual accord between the two powers. IO In other words, prior to this time the allegory was used simply to describe the manner in which God had ordered society rather than as an assertion of the superiority of one power over the other. 6 Robinson, The Papacy, 296. 7 Robinson, The Papacy, 291. Robinson notes that of those scholars who did cite the Gelasian definition ofthe function of the two powers, it was the cooperation of the regnum and the sacerdotium which was emphasized. 8 Robinson, "Church and Papacy," 303. 9 Walter Ullmann, A Short HistOl), of the Papacy in the Middle Ages (London: Routledge, 2003), 95. Of course, Morall notes a counter example where by the eleventh century, it became standard practice for the monarch to hand over to a newly installed bishop the ring and crozier, the visible signs of episcopal authority. See Morall 30-31. 10 Robinson, "Church and Papacy," 303. 4 M.A. Thesis - T. Basile, McMaster - Religious Studies It was during the conflict between the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV (1050-1106 CE) and Pope Gregory VII (r.