Bernard of Clairvaux and the 1138 Mediation
In 1138, Bernard of Clairvaux, the most influential churchman of his generation, intervened to prevent a conflict between Geoffrey of Anjou and Theobald, Count of Champagne. The episode is sometimes loosely referred to in popular Templar literature as “the Battle of the Standard”, but there was no battle — Bernard’s mediation at Chartres ended the crisis without bloodshed. The episode is part of the early history of the Knights Templar because of Bernard’s role as the Order’s principal early champion.
This article is a companion to Bernard de Clairvaux and the Templar Rule and to The Founding of the Order.
The Background
In 1137, Geoffrey of Anjou married Empress Matilda, the daughter of Henry I of England and the legitimate heir to the English throne. The marriage was the foundation of Geoffrey’s claim to the English throne, and it set the stage for the long civil war known as The Anarchy (1135–1153), which pitted Matilda and her Angevin supporters against her cousin King Stephen of England.
In 1138, Geoffrey invaded Normandy (which was under English control at the time) and began to lay siege to several Norman fortresses. King Stephen, who was in England at the time, was unable to respond, and the Norman defenders appealed to Theobald, Count of Champagne, for help. Theobald was a major patron of the Cistercian order and a close ally of Bernard of Clairvaux, and he was also the principal lay patron of the Knights Templar in northern France.
Bernard’s Mediation
Theobald, who was reluctant to engage Geoffrey’s forces, appealed to Bernard to mediate. Bernard, who had a long-standing relationship with both Theobald and Geoffrey, agreed to intervene.
In 1138, Bernard travelled to Chartres, where the two armies were preparing to engage. According to the contemporary account, Bernard met with both sides and used his authority to negotiate a truce. No battle was fought. The episode is recorded in Bernard’s letters and in the Vita Prima of St Bernard (the biography compiled by William of St-Thierry and others in the 1140s).
The story is a famous one in the history of the early Crusades and of the Order. Theobald, who was a major patron of the Templars, was reluctant to fight because he did not want to endanger his relationship with Bernard, and Bernard’s intervention was effective precisely because both sides respected him.
The “Battle of the Standard” — A Different Event
The “Battle of the Standard” is the name commonly given to a different engagement: the Battle of the Standard (22 August 1138) at Northallerton, in Yorkshire, between the forces of King Stephen of England and King David I of Scotland. The Scottish army was supporting Matilda’s claim to the English throne; the English army, under the leadership of the Archbishop of York, won a decisive victory. The battle is named for the standard (a ship’s mast mounted on a cart) that the English used as a rallying point.
This battle had nothing to do with the Knights Templar, the Cistercians, or Bernard’s mediation. It was part of the Anglo-Scottish dimension of The Anarchy. Bernard’s mediation at Chartres was a separate diplomatic episode, on the Norman–Champagne front, that ended without a battle.
The two events are sometimes conflated in popular literature — a confusion this article is intended to correct.
The Templar Connection
The Templar connection to Bernard’s 1138 mediation is through Theobald of Champagne, the principal lay patron of the Knights Templar in northern France. Theobald’s reluctance to fight was, in part, a reluctance to endanger his relationship with Bernard — and Bernard’s relationship with the Order was the reason Theobald valued the relationship in the first place.
The episode illustrates the close relationship between the Templars, the Cistercians, and the noble families of Champagne in the early years of the Order. The story of this relationship is told in Bernard de Clairvaux and the Templar Rule and in The Founding of the Order.
The Story in Modern Memory
The 1138 mediation is a quieter episode than the Battle of the Standard, but it is an important one in the history of the Order. The story of Bernard’s intervention is told in the Templar history as an example of the close relationship between the Order and the great Cistercian abbot. The story is also an important part of the mythology of Bernard of Clairvaux, who is venerated as a peacemaker as well as a champion of the Order.
Conclusion
The 1138 mediation is one of the better-documented episodes in the early history of the Order, and the “Battle of the Standard” is a separate and unrelated event. The conflation of the two in popular literature is unfortunate, and the correct attribution is straightforward once the documents are read carefully. The story of Bernard and the Templars. See Bernard de Clairvaux and the Templar Rule.