Master of the Knights Templar and one of the founders of the Order. The Montbard family came from Hochadel in Burgundy in France. André was an uncle of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, He entered the Order in 1129 and went on pilgrimage/Crusade to the Holy Land.
In 1146, he became the Preceptor of the Templar province of Tripoli, He quickly rose to the rank of seneschal, deputy, and second-in-command to the Grand Master. (1148 -1151). After the Siege of Ascalon on 22 August 1153, André was elected to replace Bernard de Tremelay, who had been killed during an assault on the city on 16 August. He apparently accepted his nomination with the intention of blocking the election of Guillaume de Chanaleilles who was a favorite of Louis VII, King of France. When he became Grand Master, he already was an old knight tired after spending around 25 years of service. He retired in 1156 to the Cistercian monastery of Claiyaux in France, just as Evrard des Barres had done before him. He died shortly after his retirement.
He was succeeded by Bertrand de Blanchefort.
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