The Norman Templars, enumerated at the time of the ban on the order, had never fought in the Holy Land, but ruled their estates in a smart way.
The interrogations and inventories which followed the arrest of the Templars on October 13, 1307, today provide historians with valuable information on the Templar population. The archives make it possible to better understand who these formidable monks-soldiers were, in particular in Normandy, where research in particular by the historian Michel Miguet.
At the start of the 16th century, the province of Normandy had only around thirty Templars. Most of them are not knights, but only sergeants. In the diocese of Bayeux, the commanderies of Baugy, Bretteville le Rabet and Couval each house three sergeants. Only the commandery of Voismer is headed by a knight. In Lauvigny in the diocese of Sées, there is only one Templar, the commander. The most important house in Normandy, Saint-Etienne de Renneville, has only five Templars in its ranks and none of them is a knight. The sergeants are therefore more numerous than the knights.
At the time of questioning, from 1307 the Norman Templars were approximately thirty-five years old, with a majority between thirty-five and fifty years old. For most of them, Normandy is the country that gave them birth, and they have never left their province. They did not therefore fight in the Holy Land, from where the Templars were in fact driven out in 1291. They are much more expert in the management of agricultural estates than in the handling of weapons. According to a larger study, spanning the whole kingdom, the oldest Templar in 1307 was named Gautier de Paians, and he said he was in his eighties. However, the oldest in the order is a certain Guillaume de Liège, admitted in 1248 and therefore Templar for fifty-nine years. Historical research concerning the Vaour commandery between Quercy and Rouergue shows that the Knights Templar are all of noble origin, which is probably the case in all the commanderies.
The Norman Templars, who were few, on the other hand had a fairly abundant domestic service. In Courval, thirteen people work in the service of order without being part of it: a candle maker, a shepherd, a swineherd, a cowherd, a miller… The Bretteville-le-Rabet commandery, in the middle of very fertile land, employs four herdsmen, a clerk, a cook ... The commandery of Baugy has twenty-seven servants: six servants responsible for the maintenance of plows and harnesses, a cowherd, two pigmen, a goose keeper, a keeper of foals, a cook-brewer, a forester. In Courval and Baugy a few women also work, occupied in modest functions: servants, milkmaids ... However, the presence of women inside a commandery is not in accordance with the rules of order. Between Templars and domestics there are close relations, promiscuous, which does not sometimes exclude violence.
Source: Bruno Vincent