66 THE ORIGINS OF FREEMASONRY FROM ANCIENT TIMES TO THE MIDDLE AGES
of Christendom. During the time of the Council of Troyes, Hughes de
Payens went to London to found the first Templar house at Holborn
Bars, and during the second half of the twelfth century, the Templars
built their famous chapel on Fleet Street on the banks of the Thames.
In France, they had maintained an establishment in Paris since the reign
of Louis VI the Fat, who died in 1137.
The Templars devoted themselves to the laying out and mainte-
nance of roads and the construction of bridges and hospices, which
responded to their mission of protecting and facilitating journeys of the
faithful to the holy sites. According to F. T. B. Gavel's Histoire pit-
toresque de la Franc-Maconnerie:
One of the routes of Spain that comes out of the Pyrenees goes
through Roncevaux, and ends in Lower Navarre has retained the
name of the Path of the Templars. It owed its construction to these
knights, who, furthermore, protected travelers along its entire
length. The Templars were given the task of maintaining the three
Roman roads that existed beyond the Pyrenees. Also attributed to
them is the building of most of the bridges, hospices, and hospitals
from Rousillon all the way to Santiago of Compostella. One cir-
cumstance that should be noted, because it establishes the rela-
tionship this Order had with corporations of construction
workers, is that the old churches in Italy that had once belonged to
the Order traditionally retained the name churches della massone
or della maccione [of the masons]."^11The Templars most certainly gained their earliest knowledge of
architecture, and consequently its trade secrets, from the Benedictines
and Cistercians.* In fact, we have already pointed out the Romanesque
Cistercian style of the basilicas built by the Crusaders in the East.
The Templars behaved much as the monastic builders associations
had, though their construction talent was displayed in venues beyond
just churches intended to propagate the faith. The first concern of these
"warrior monks" was the erection of construction that could be used
- The Templars recognized themselves as "brothers and companions" of the Cistercians,
to whom they owed assistance and protection.