How Accurate Are The Women Templars On Mrs. Davis?
Contains spoilers for "Mrs. Davis" Season 1, Episode 1 — "Mother of Mercy: The Call of the Horse"
"Mrs. Davis," the fantastical new Peacock series on which a nun named Simone (Betty Gilpin) decides to take on an artificially intelligent algorithm that has gained the trust and worship of the world, makes many subtle and not-so-subtle references to history, social media, and religion, one of which completely flips everything audiences thought they knew about the Knights Templar on its head: that the order consisted solely of men.
So nothing could've been more surprising than Clara (Mathilde Ollivier) declaring, "We ARE the Templar!" While the scene that follows is obviously embellished for the sake of the series, it begs the question of whether or not there were female Templars. Despite Knights Templar patron Saint Bernard of Clairvaux's Latin Rule stating, "The company of women is a dangerous thing ... let not ladies be admitted as sisters into the house of the Temple," ample proof has been uncovered that proves women were part of the Templar.
Women in certain orders were full Templar members
Whether or not female Templars actually fought is another subject that has been debated, with Muslim writers noting that there were women among the infantry and Christian writers asserting that they were only on the battlefield to bring water to the soldiers. Regardless of their active or non-active military roles, women could definitely become Templar members, whether to pray, bring in donations, or help care for the sick.
While Episode 1 of "Mrs. Davis" shows a group of female Templars decimating the soldiers attacking them, the reality is that women probably weren't involved in much actual fighting. Whether a woman was able to become a Templar in the first place was also dependent on who or where their local order was, with some — such as the Order of the Temple — excluding women altogether and others — such as the Hospital of St. John and the Order of Santiago — having no issue with women. If someone was willing to take the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, they became full members, regardless of sex.