Transcription
Heartily welcome. This is the video presentation about manuscript 131 from the Public Library Bruges. It is a 12th-century codex originating from the Cistercian Abbey of Ter Duinen, then located in Koksijde. We see on the binding from the 17th century the coat of arms of Ter Duinen and of Abbot Campmans. The manuscript was copied in the second half of the 12th century. Here we immediately see an ownership mark of Ter Duinen. Here I read "JP" and "Mariae de Tundis". This is a short table of contents of the complete manuscript.
The manuscript contains two remarkable Latin texts from the history of the Templars: the Rule of the Templars here, and part of the "De Laude Novae Militiae" here. And here again an ownership mark of Ter Duinen. The first important text begins here. This is the Rule of the Templars in Latin, known as "Regula S. Benedicti" or "Regula Templi". The copy we see here is the oldest known Latin copy of this text. This is the beginning of the prologue with an elegantly decorated initial. The script is proto-Gothic. After the prologue follows the table of contents, and then begins the actual text. Again, this is the oldest known Latin copy of the Rule of the Templars. The Rule was granted to the Order during the Council of Troyes in 1129, whereby the Order received official recognition.
From Barcelona, on folio 18, begins the second, more important text about the Templars: the "De Laude Novae Militiae", or "In Praise of the New Knighthood". In this, Bernard of Clairvaux discusses moral issues of our new combination of knighthood and monasticism. It is in fact a treatise on the fight for God that the Templars must wage with the sword and with weapons. The content of the text is quite controversial according to contemporary standards. The rest of the manuscript contains letters and short treatises by Bernard of Clairvaux, the Younger, and Peter of Poitiers, and Petrus Venerabilis.
This manuscript with the Rule and the "Laude Novae Militiae" of the Templars therefore comes from the library of the Abbey of Ter Duinen in Koksijde. From 1131 onwards, there were numerous commanderies of the Templars in Flanders, with main establishments in Ypres, in Slijpe near Koksijde, and in Arras. The Cistercian monks of Ter Duinen and the Templars must have regularly crossed paths. Furthermore, both groups were still connected in the person and work of Bernard of Clairvaux, the figurehead of the Cistercian Order and defender of the Templars.
In our online catalog, you can read an extensive description of the manuscript and, via a link there, you can also consult the complete manuscript digitally. This was the video presentation of manuscript 131 from the Public Library Bruges. Thank you for watching.