| Hugues de Payens | |
|---|---|
| Born | c.1070 Payns |
| Died | c.1136 Kingdom of Jerusalem |
| Nationality | Champenois |
| Known for | First Grand Master of the Knights Templar |
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Hugues de Payens (French pronunciation: [yɡ də pajɛ̃]), also Hughes de Payns ([yɡ də pɛ̃]), Hughes de Pagan (English: Hugh of Payens or Hugh Pagan) (c. 1070–1136), a French knight from the Champagne region, was the co-founder and first Grand Master of the Knights Templar. With Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, he created the Latin Rule, the code of behavior for the Order.
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There is no contemporary biography in existence and no later writers cite one that is still extant. Information is therefore extremely scanty and any embellishments often rely on people writing decades or even centuries after De Payens' death.
He was probably born at Château Payns, about 10 km from Troyes, in Champagne. Hugo de Pedano, Montiniaci dominus is mentioned as a witness to a donation by Count Hugh of Champagne in a record dated to 1085-90, indicating that the man was at least sixteen by this date—a legal adult and thus able to bear witness to legal documents—and so born no later than 1070. His name appears on a number of other charters up to 1113 also relating to Count Hugh, indicating that De Payans was almost certainly part of the Count's court and allowing speculation that he was related to the Count. Within this period he also married, to a woman recorded as Elizabeth de Chappes (or by later chroniclers as Catherine St. Clair), and fathered at least one child—Thibaud, later abbot at La Colombe.
Some sources suggest the Count went on the First Crusade in 1096, other sources do not. If he did it is reasonable to believe De Payens accompanied him and therefore it is likely that Hugues served in the army of Godfroi de Bouillon during the Crusade. Count Hugh did make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1104-07 and visited Jerusalem for a second time in 1114-16. It is probable that he was accompanied by Hugues, who remained there after the Count returned to France as there is a charter with "Hugonis de Peans" in the witness list from Jerusalem in 1120 and again in 1123. In 1125 his name appears again as a witness to a donation, this time accompanied by the title "magister militium Templi".
Later chroniclers write that De Payens approached King Baldwin II of Jerusalem with eight knights, two of whom were brothers and all of whom were his relatives by either blood or marriage, in order to form the first of the Knights Templar. The other knights were Godfrey de Saint-Omer, Payen de Montdidier, Archambaud de St. Agnan, Andre de Montbard, Geoffrey Bison, and two men recorded only by the names of Rossal and Gondamer. The ninth knight remains unknown, although some have speculated that it was Count Hugh of Champagne himself—despite the Count returning to France in 1116 and documentary evidence showing that he joined the Knights on his third visit to the Holy Land in 1125.
As Grand Master, De Payens led the Order for almost twenty years until his death, helping to establish the Order's foundations as an important and influential international military and financial institution.
On his visit to England and Scotland in 1128, he raised men and money for the Order, and also founded their first House in London and another near Edinburgh at Balantrodoch [1], now known as Temple, Midlothian.
He died in Palestine in 1136—May 24 is often stated—and was succeeded as Grand Master by Robert de Craon.
It has recently been claimed that the wife of Hugues de Payens was Catherine St. Clair within the context of the alternative histories of Rosslyn.[1][2]
A biography of Hugues de Payen by Thierry Leroy[3] identifies his wife and the mother of his children as Elizabeth de Chappes. The book draws its information on the marriage from local church cartularies dealing chiefly with the disposition of the Grand Master's properties, the earliest alluding to Elizabeth as his wife in 1113 and others spanning Payen's lifetime, the period following his death and lastly her own death in 1170.
Hugues is the main protagonist of the Jack Whyte novel Knights of the Black and White.
Cathedrale de Payens (situated in 14th arrondissement of Paris) is one of the game locations in Deus Ex. The protagonist - J.C. Denton - must reach MJ12 computer network terminal located in the cathedral.
Though overshadowed by several larger and more well-known cathedrals, the Cathedrale de Payens in the 14th arrondissement remains a historical curiosity of interest to many scholars. Construction was begun in 1218 and completed before the end of the century, financed by the Templar Knights -- an order of warrior monks -- as part of a similar network of churches, cathedrals, and forts (or "commanderies" as they were called) throughout Britain, Europe, and the Holy Lands.
In the cathedral's library player can find four books about Knights Templar contain mention of Hugues de Payens.
| Preceded by -- |
Grand Master of the Knights Templar 1118–1136 |
Succeeded by Robert de Craon |