Banned, too, was the company of women, which the rule scorned as “a dangerous thing, for by it the old devil has led man from the straight path to paradise . . . the flower of chastity is always [to be] maintained among you. . . . For this reason none of you may presume to kiss a woman, be it widow, young girl, mother, sister, aunt or any other. . . . The Knighthood of Christ should avoid at all costs the embraces of women, by which men have perished many times.” Although married men were permitted to join the order, they were not allowed to wear the white cloak and wives were not supposed to
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