André de Montbard (10??-1156)

Master of the Temple from 1154 to 1156.

Andre de Montbard was the last of the nine Knights who initially founded the Templar Order.
He occupied the position of Seneschal for more than fifteen years before he accepted his nomination as Master of the Order. This occurred after Bernard de Tremelay died during the siege of Ascalon.
de Montbard accepted his nomination with the sole intention of blocking the election of Guillaume de Chanaleilles, who was a favorite of Louis VII, King of France.

Guillaume de Chanaleilles was son of Guillaume 1^er de Chanaleilles the hero of the First Crusade alongside Raymond IV de Toulouse. The election of de Chanaleilles would have permitted King Louis VII to control the Order of the Temple. In turn, that control could have been used settled the delicate problem of Aquitaine.

When King Louis VII married Alienor of Aquitany the territories of the kingdom essentially doubled, such was the estate that came with the marriage. But, in August 1152, in answer to a request by King Louis, the Pope annulled the marriage for reasons of consanguinity. When Alienor married Henry II Plantagenet of England, to whom she gave the same estate, the title to half of France was a delicate problem indeed. It took the Hundred Years war to end the ownership crisis.

When Andre de Montbard became Master he was already an old Knight. He was tired after spending around 25 years in the ranks of the Militia of the Temple of Jesus-Christ. As Master, he wasn’t particularly active and in 1156, he forsook his station and retired to the Claivaux Abbey, just as Evrard des Barres had done before him. Andre de Montbard died some months later, in October 1156.

Previous Master : Bernard de Tremelay - Next Master : Bertrand de Blanchefort

Back to Masters list

1. "Armorial des Maîtres de l'Ordre du Temple"
   

   Bernard Marillier; Editions Pardès 2000

2. "Histoire des Templiers"
   

   J.-J.-E. Roy ; Editions Pardes 1999