Food and the military orders: Attitudes of the hospital and the temple between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries

Templar and Hospitaller brothers had to balance a monastic life with their military commitments. Abstinence and the mortification of the body were part of a longstanding monastic regime aimed at fighting carnal desires and increasing spiritual alertness. However, warriors obviously had different requirements, they needed a rich and varied diet to fuel their military activities. This article studies attitudes to food and eating habits in the military orders of the Hospital and the Temple, as a tool for understanding social and cultural values of its members as well as the orders’ institutional development. The article focuses on these two great orders between the twelfth and the fourteenth centuries, based mainly on legislative and anecdotal evidence. It addresses similarities and differences in their customs, rules and statutes, although a point-by-point comparison between the two is not always possible.