Abacus (templar order)
The insignium of the Grand Master of the Knights Templar is traditionally referred to as the abacus stick .
It is a stick crowned by a disc. Similar to the pastoral staff of a bishop , the abacus staff symbolizes the spiritual and secular authority of the Grand Master.
The meaning of the stick and the origin of its name are the subject of various theories. According to the most plausible explanation, the abacus staff refers to a stylistic feature of the Doric column order . As the cover plate of a column, the so-called abacus rests on the capital and supports the architrave . The stick thus refers to the tradition of architecture, as a symbol of the status of "the master of all builders". In this function, the abacus staff was especially the object of the Masonic Templar reception . According to the rule of the order, all Knights Templar had to keep a distance of three steps from the staff and bow before it. They weren't allowed to touch him.
Pictorial representations of the abacus stick are a rarity. Three tombstones from former Templar graves kept in the Sainte-Anne chapel in Le Pallet ( Département Loire-Atlantique ) depict the staff as the hallmark of the temple, each together with the sword, in one case also with the shield, as the hallmark of the knighthood . On two of the three grave slabs you can also see a base at the lower end of the stick, probably a stand in which the abacus stick was kept for certain ceremonies.
literature
- Hartwig Sippel: The Templars. History and mystery . Vienna-Munich, 1996.
- Le Pallet, patrie d'Abélard, ed.ACPA, Le Pallet 2003.