"POOR FELLOW-SOLDIERS OF JESUS CHRIST " 2J
body of soldier monks would be the best reply to these
criticisms.
Honorius therefore assured the Templars of his sympathy,
and instructed the brethren to present their petition to the
Council of the Church, which was to be held at Troyes in
Champagne at the beginning of 1128. The council opened
early in January under the presidency of Cardinal Matthew
of Albano, the papal legate, and among others who attended
were the Archbishops of Rheims and Sens, the Bishops of
Chartres, Soissons, Paris, Orleans, Troyes and Beauvais. St.
Bernard, however, was not present at the deliberations of the
council. He was ill—for most of his life he suffered from
fevers and was a semi-invalid—and he sent a characteristic
letter in reply to the summons to attend. " Your reason for
invading my peace is either on account of matters that are
easy or difficult. If easy, my assistance is not necessary. If
difficult, I am not in a state to attend to them—at least, I
cannot do anything that is impossible to other men."
The Templars made their request before the Council with
the explanation that from their foundation they had followed
a Rule approved by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, but that, as
it was not now adequate for the needs of a growing organisa-
tion, they hoped that the Council would lay down a way of
life for present and future members. The Council shared
the views of the Pope regarding the value and potentialities
of the Order, and felt that the protection of the holy places
was a sacred trust in which the Church should play a
prominent part. It granted the petition and could do no
greater honour to the Templars than to entrust the revision
and amplification of the existing constitution to the most
famous churchman in Christendom, St. Bernard. What part
of the Rule was prepared by him is a matter of doubt. He
belonged to the Benedictines and the regulations for the
government of the Temple are largely based upon the Rule
of St. Benedict; but while much of the Rule bears marks of