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Review: [untitled]

Author(s): William UrbanReviewed work(s):

La Commanderie, institution des ordres militaires dans l'Occident médiéval by AnthonyLuttrell ; Léon Pessouyre

Source: The Catholic Historical Review, Vol. 89, No. 4 (Oct., 2003), pp. 759-760Published by: Catholic University of America PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25026477

Accessed: 08/09/2009 08:16

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BOOK REVIEWS 759

La Commanderie, institution des ordres militaires dans l'Occident m?di?val.

Edited by Anthony Luttrell and L?on Pessouyre. [Arch?ologie et d'histoire

de l'art, Vol. 14.] (Paris: Comit? des travaux historiques et scientifiques,

Minist?re de l'?ducation nationale, Minist?re de la Recherche. 2002. Pp.

361. 46.)

All military orders relied on incomes raised in the European heartland to sup

port their activities on the frontiers of Christendom. Itwas impractical to ex

pect that contributions alone would cover expenses, especially during the long

truces when public enthusiasm for crusading was minimal. Moreover, several

military orders provided services such ashospitals for the general public that

had to be supported no matter what the condition of the local economy was,

but especially in difficult years. The logical source of the incomes was clear?

the estates given by pious donors or offered by knights as a "dowry" upon entry

into the order. The problem was how to supervise these estates so as to guar

antee honest stewardship of the resources and support a reserve army that

could be called upon in moments of crisis. The high officers of the order, who

Lived at a great distance from the scattered estates, could not relyon local clergy,

much less on local nobles (not even the heirs of the donors), though the most

powerful families made efforts to control these estates for their own benefit,

usually by having some relative enter the order with the understanding that he

would be assigned to the local commandery.

The answer was to reproduce in the heartland an hierarchical organization

that had worked well on the endangered borderlands?to entrust the com

mand of a castle and its surrounding lands to an officer who would be respon

sible to aprovincial supervisor and, if necessary, a nearly autonomous regional

supervisor (the Teutonic Knights had masters in Germany, Prussia, and Livonia,

and a

grand

commander in the

HolyLand, all

responsible

to the grand master

and his council). Each local commander could participate in important assem

blies of the order and would supervise the minor officers responsible for mili

tary preparedness, incomes and expenses, and the priests who directed the

daily round of religious services; those who were most successful would be

carefully considered for promotion. This officer (commander, komtur) and his

provincial superior are, therefore, extremely important for understanding more

fully the function of the military orders, which until relatively recently were

known only for the activities of their grand masters and regional masters.

This volume is comprised of the proceedings of the first international con

ference of the "Conservatoire Larzac templier et hospitalier" in October of 2000.

It is very much an Anglo-French product, reflected in the publication of all pa

pers either in French or English. The Germans, who have led the way into un

derstanding the role of the "Balleien" (provincial districts) are represented by

three scholars: Sven Ekdahl, who is Swedish but lives in Berlin, and Dieter Weiss,

both writing on the Teutonic Knights, and Karl Borchardt, whose short article,

"Urban Commanderies in Germany" could be read as a summation of the entire

book."Two Spaniards, Luis Garc?a-Guijarro Ramos and Carlos de ?tala Martinez,

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760 BOOK REVIEWS

and a Hungarian, Zsolt Hunyadi, make similar contributions that expand the

scope of the publication beyond the Rhine and the Pyrenees.

The papers aregrouped into five categories: (1) history of the institution and

its typology; (2) the personnel; (3) daily life; (4) economic aspects; and (5) a

study of a rural commandery, Saint-Eulalie in Larzac (where the conference was

held).

Jonathan Riley-Smith introduces the subject with a short article on the

twelfth-century origins of the provincial structure, when the practical prob

lems were worked out by a process of trial and error; the Hospitallers led the

way, followed by the Knights Templar. Eventually, the difficulties of managing

properties at a great distance, even from aprovincial center, were resolved by

giving local commanderies more autonomy. The remaining papers deal with

the thirteenth through fifteenth century, periods for which documents have

survived in greater numbers.

It is very difficult to make institutional history exciting, but the editors have

done their best to produce a handsome volume with appropriate photos of cas

tle ruins, ground plans of castles, and maps. Support of the Comit? des travaux

historiques et scientifiqueswas almost guaranteed by the star quality of the

contributors. The inevitable concentration on the knightly membership ismod

erated by Helen Nicholson's paper on women in the Templar and Hospitaller

commanderies and Dieter Weiss s study of priests.

This will be an essential addition to any library with a reasonable collection

of books on the crusades.

Monmouth College

William Urban

The Leper King and His Heirs: Baldwin TVand the Crusader Kingdom ofJerusalem. By Bernard Hamilton. (New York: Cambridge University Press.

2000. Pp. xxv, 288; 10 figs. $59.95.)

"The reason for the loss of the Kingdom of Jerusalem was the seizure of this

caravan," wrote the continuator of William of Tyre with reference to Prince Rey

nald of Ch?tillon's attack on a caravan traversing his territory en route from

Cairo to Damascus in the winter of 1186-87 (the Eracles, c. 22). This aggression

broke the treaty he had made with Saladin some months earlier and led in a

quick succession of events to Saladin's decisive victory over the Franks at Hat

tin onJuly 4,1187. Professor Hamilton has spent nearly two decades research

ing the background for this long and involved story, and the result is a highly

authoritative historical account and reinterpretation of the reign of King Bald

win IV of Jerusalem (1174-1185). His conclusions are that Baldwin played a

central role inholding his kingdom together to the very end of his reign despite

having come to the throne as aminor, and having been afflicted since boyhood