According to their Rule, for example, if you need further information just follow this link: [http://www.skateoss.theoss.nl/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2415756#2415756], the military religious order of the Knights Templar celebrated feast days (which included eating meat and drinking wine) on Christmas Day and the following three days, New Year’s Day, and January 5 (Epiphany). They were also expected to give alms to the poor in the form of leftover bread from their table every day. Indeed, it was a lively Christmas. Read more about Christmas in the Middle Ages.
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What did the Knights Templar do on Temple Mount? Popular views of medieval monasticism see it as highly disapproving of Christmas, portraying a monastery as a cold, dark place on Christmas Day. However, documents from some orders tell a different story. Repeated papal bulls (decrees written by the Pope) allowed the Templars to hold one Mass per year even in areas under interdict (excommunication). The Fourth Lateran Council set the minimum requirement for being a good Christian at attending at least one Mass per year, so those associated with the Templars would never find themselves cut off from the Christian Church as "bad" Christians. If a group in a Templar convent's area were in dispute with a bishop who excommunicated them, they could appeal to the Templars. The Templars had an advantage against episcopal grinches, so to speak, since some unscrupulous bishops used the threat of interdict to extort money or cooperation from recalcitrant parishes. To maximize its effect and the number of attending faithful, the Templars would most likely hold such a Mass during a major church celebration—like Easter or Christmas. Surviving financial documents (called "cartulary" documents) further show that people who rented land from the Templars tended to pay those rents on certain days fixed in the contracts—Christmas being especially popular. Tenants would generally pay with a combination of money and goods in kind. The Templars took in a fair amount of produce, clothing, and animals (particularly horses and their tack) as rental payment. Corroders (people who gave land to the Temple in exchange for a lifelong pension of money and/or food) and other dependents would come to the Templar convent on Christmas to celebrate the feast. Documents also show that lesser Templar brothers in places like northeastern Spain often came from near the houses where they served, with family and friends in the area who frequently visited them at the convent. Nor was all of this activity limited solely to Christians. In Spain, some of these renters, associates, and dependents were Jews and Muslims who benefited from their connection to the military order. The Count-Kings of Catalonia and Aragon were close associates of the Temple and might also spend Christmas at one of the major Templar convents within their realm. As such, while there are many things we don’t know about the Templars, we can ascertain that a Templar house on Christmas Day was probably a very busy place, with all manner of people coming and going, from kings down to slaves. The convent might be alive with people of all ages going to Mass, paying rent with everything from dinars to ducks, picking up alms or corrodies, and even sharing in the feast with the brothers.
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