7The templars and theParisian Builders^The Domain and Sovereignty
of the TempleFrom the very beginning of the formation of their Order, the
Templars sought to establish themselves in Paris.
King Louis VI, who ruled from 1108 to 1137 and had the sobriquet
Louis the Fat, received a visit at his palace in the city one day from
Father Bernard (the future Saint Bernard), abbot of Clairvaux. The
abbot had come in the name of Baldwin II, king of Jerusalem, to ask if
two Templars, Andre and Gondomard, whom Baldwin had sent as
envoys of Jerusalem, could hope to find aid and protection in France
and whether Louis was disposed to give them a roof for shelter and a
chapel where they could pray to God.
"I understand," the king answered, "that it is a church you are ask-
ing me for. I will think on the matter." The result of his thought was
that he gave them a house next to the Saint Gervais Church, which was
then outside the city walls. The two Templars settled in and soon
invited other members of the Order until gradually the Order took root
in Paris and the king gave them a large piece of land that was known
as the Temple's field. It extended from the current entry into the
Faubourg du Temple* to the rue de la Verrerie. The Templars saw to it
that within their walls—the Enclos, as it was known—a church was
- [Now the Place de la Republique and the rue Faubourg du Temple. —Trans.]
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