Omne datum optimum
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Omne datum optimum (Latin for "Every perfect gift", a quotation from the Epistle of James) was a papal bull issued by Pope Innocent II on 29 March 1139 that endorsed the Order of the Poor Knights of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon (Knights Templar), in which the Templar Rule was officially approved, and papal protection given.[1][2]
Contents
The contents of Omne datum optimum consisted of:
- promised all spoils from Muslim conquest to the Order, and made the Order exempt from tithes and taxes
- allowed the Order to build churches, cemetaries, and houses[a][4]
- permitted a chaplain in every house[1]
- leaders of the Order could expel unworthy members[1]
- allowed chapels for members and burials[1]
- forbid the election of an outsider as Master of the Order[1]
- no homage or tithes were to be extracted from the Order[1]
Aftermath
Omne datum optimum was an unusual bull in and of itself, it was followed by Pope Celestine II's Milites Templi in 1144 and Pope Eugene III's Militia Dei in 1145, which together gave the Templars an extraordinary range of rights and privileges. Among other things, the Order was permitted to bury their dead on those church grounds and collect taxes on Templar properties once a year.
See also
- Pie postulatio voluntatis, a similar bull that gave papal protection to the Knights Hospitaller
Notes
References
- ^ a b c d e f Barber 1978, p. 8.
- ^ Barber & Bate 2002, p. 59-.
- ^ Selwood 2001, p. 91.
- ^ Selwood 2001, p. 90.
Sources
- Barber, Malcolm (1978). The Trial of the Templars. Cambridge University Press.8
- Barber, Malcolm; Bate, A. K. (2002). The Templars: selected sources. Manchester University Press. pp. 59–. ISBN 978-0-7190-5110-4. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
- Nicholson, Helen J.; Burgtorf, Jochen, eds. (2020). The Templars, the Hospitallers and the Crusades: Essays in Homage to Alan J Forey. Routledge.
- Selwood, Dominic (2001). Knights of the Cloister: Templars and Hospitallers in Central-southern Occitania, C.1100-c.1300. The Boydell Press.