Omne datum optimum
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Knights Templar Template:Italictitle Template:Use shortened footnotes Omne datum optimum (Latin for "Every perfect gift", a quotation from the Epistle of James 1:17) 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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
BackgroundEdit
By the end of the 1130s, the Templars had prospered as a complete military order with a stratified structure, due to the efforts of Grand Master Robert de Craon.Template:Sfn Already facing ecclesiastical criticism for receiving tithes and alms, Robert de Craon reasoned that the Order could only flourish with papal support.Template:Sfn It was during one of Robert's visits to France and Italy that Innocent II issued the bull Omne datum optimum on 29 March 1139.Template:Sfn
ContentsEdit
The contents of Omne datum optimum:
- promised all spoils from Muslim conquest to the OrderTemplate:Sfn
- allowed the Order to build churches, cemeteries, and housesTemplate:EfnTemplate:Sfn
- permitted a chaplain in every houseTemplate:EfnTemplate:Sfn
- leaders of the Order could expel unworthy membersTemplate:Sfn
- allowed chapels for members and burialsTemplate:Sfn
- forbid the election of an outsider as Master of the OrderTemplate:Sfn
- no homage or tithes were to be extracted from the OrderTemplate:Sfn
Included in the contents of the bull was the creation of a group of chaplain brothers for the Order.Template:Sfn They were capable of hearing confessions and giving absolution, to all members of the Orders.Template:Sfn The Omne datum optimum gave the Order the papal sanction it needed to operate independently of ecclesiastical and secular authorities.Template:Sfn
AftermathEdit
Omne datum optimum 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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
See alsoEdit
- Pie postulatio voluntatis, a similar bull that gave papal protection to the Knights Hospitaller