Today was a day of touring the Larzac, entering the time of
the Knights of the Templars and the Order of the Hospitallers, too. Christian pilgrims were Jerusalem-bound, once the First Crusade had it under control. The
Hospitallers were founded in 1113 to care for them there. The Templars were formed around 1120 to protect the pilgrims on their way there and back. Both were simultaneously military and religious orders, manifested by the church with peepholes in the tower for crossbows
and muskets when under attack.
In La Couvertoirade, the Templars built a castle in the 11th
century around which a village grew up. Water seeped through the ground surface of limestone, collecting in cisterns below. Then, as now, those who had water were the ones who had power. The story varies according to who’s doing the telling, but it sounds like those Templars got rough, exacting great tolls from the passing pilgrims for protection from bandits who might have demanded the same. The backstory can differ but everyone agrees that the pope disbanded the Templars in 1312. The Hospitallers got most of their holdings: money, land, buildings, and even some men. They continued to watch over the pilgrims, again with a mixture of monk-like nurture and military might. An aside: it’s still a living city with satellite dishes dotting the ancient rooftops.
Sainte-Eulalie de Cernon was the village of the commandery for the Larzac plateau, first for the Templars and then the Hospitallers. It ruled the religious and agricultural life from the 12th century until the 18th.
Saint-Jean D’Alcas is a fortified village of the same time. Yet when the Templars and Hospitallers were shunning women and their evil effect, the Cistercian abbess of Nonenque was responsible for building and governing Saint-Jean D’Alcas.
En route to all of this historical treasure, we stopped when a herd of ewes headed our way. We’d seen pictures of shepherds, held the bags that they hold, and even saw a local one stand in a pose. So imagine our surprise
to see these sheep goaded on with a small pick-up truck and nary a dog.
Seeming contradictions, like soldier religious, sheep herding trucks, and 15th century houses with satellite TV. Are they wrong and ridiculous or are my definitions too small for this world so complex?