Hugues de Payens

In 1128, Hugues de Payens, first Grand Master of the Knights Templar, visited Normandy, England and Scotland on a recruiting drive. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states: ‘In this year (1128), Hugh of the Knights Templar came to the King (Henry I) in Normandy from Jerusalem; and the King received him with great ceremony, and sent him thereafter to England, where he was welcomed by all good men. He was given treasures by all, and in Scotland too; and by him much wealth, entirely in gold and silver, was sent to Jerusalem. He called for people to go out to Jerusalem. As a result more people went, either with him or after him, than ever before since the First Crusade, which was in the days of Pope Urban.’ King David I met Hugues de Payens and granted him the lands of Balantrodoch that became the principal seat of the order in Scotland...

Statue of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (Dijon), Hugues de Payens