La Commanderie Templière

On the way to the course. Not open to visitors. Originally, the Commanderie de Beauvais was a defensive castle with towers and a covered way, now destroyed, where the Knights Templar lived. The Order of the Knights Templar was founded in 1118. The Knights Templar were nobility and religious knights who collected money to go on crusades and fight to defend the tomb of Christ in Jerusalem. Guillaume de Mauzé is thought to have built the commandery at Beauvais-sur-Matha in 1150, and on 28 September 1150 he gave the Knights Templar all the land he owned and all his rights in the vicinity of Beauvais. The Knights Templar ensured the order and protection of pilgrimages and took part in all defensive or offensive assaults. They built fortresses and became farmers, looking after the crops so that they could be shipped to the Orient with livestock. By the end of the 13th century, there were around 3,000 commanderies in France. On 13 October 1307, all the Knights Templar in France were arrested on the orders of Philippe Le Bel. In 1312, the Order was dissolved and the Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem inherited the Beauvais commandery. Several commanders succeeded one another, some of whom became Grand Prior of Aquitaine, and several small commanderies in the Angoumois region were attached to it, including the House of the Temple of Boixe, the House of Fouilloux, the House of Angoulème, the House of Sallerit in Lupsault and the House of Bourcelaine. Around 1500, the house of Beauvais became one of the great prior chambers of the Grand Prieuré d'Aquitaine, and remained so until the Revolution in 1790. It was one of the largest commanderies in Aquitaine. A document from 1745 describes the Commanderie castle, which is still very important. In 1840, the Napoleonic cadastre still shows the importance of the castle, with its defensive towers and numerous buildings. Most of the buildings had to be demolished in the late 19th or early 20th century. All that remains of the Commanderie de Templiers are the magnificent well with its monolithic coping, the large tithe barn, a tower with an archway and a dwelling converted in the 19th century, adjoining the church. All these remains are privately owned and not open to visitors.