Cultural and Legal Historical Analysis of the Statutes of the Military Orders, Using the Example of the Knights Templar in Comparison with the Knights of St. John and the Cistercians.

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Christian Vogel
• Subject Area: Principles of Law and Jurisprudence ; Medieval History
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 539891605

The aim of the project is the comparative classification of the internal legal texts of the military orders in a legal and intellectual-historical context. The temporal framework is formed by the 12th and 13th centuries, the historical context by the Crusades, whose consequences and concomitants are represented by the military orders. The study focuses in particular on the organisational and penal provisions of the above-mentioned orders. Starting with the Templars, the Order of St. John, the other importan military order of the time, is chosen as an object of comparison, as well as, on the other hand, the Cistercians, to whom there is a connection via Bernard of Clairvaux, whereby the Cistercians also showed a clear affinity to other knightly orders (affiliation of Spanish orders). The manifold changes and developments of the High Middle Ages also influenced the military orders or are reflected in their legal texts. The religious-military orders stand between the spiritual and secular spheres in a special way. They are therefore uniquely suited for researching open questions, such as the emergence of the provincial structure from the perspective of the history of ideas, organisational aspects (ecclesiastical elections, legal persons), the interplay of monastic and knightly worldly influences within the orders (rank thinking, way of life, command structures) or the handling of deviant behaviour using the example of concrete definitions of offences and considerations of punishment against the background of changing principles, especially in canonical criminal law. The project thus makes an important and innovative contribution to a legal and structural history of Latin Europe interpreted in terms of the history of ideas, in that connections of tradition and the historical context of widespread contemporary phenomena in the texts of the statutes are made visible for the first time.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants