Hugues was born around 1070 in a village named Payens near Troyes Franc, He was the son as the 3rd son of Theobald of Blois, a powerful nobleman. He was destinated to join a monetary, but because of the death of his brothers he became the succor of his father. In 1085 he was dubbed as a knight. He served in the court of the Count of Champagne. Hugues was married to Elizabet Chappes. They had at least one child named Thibaud.
It seemed that he accompanied Hugh, Count of Champagne, during 2 pilgrimages to the Holy Land. The firth time between 1104 and 1007 and the second time from 1114 till 1116. The count of Champagne returned to France, but Hugues stayed in Jerusalem. It still was dangerous for pilgrims to travel through the levant. Many were robbed or murdered on their way to Jerusalem or back. Hugues approached in 1119 King Baldwin II and Patriarch Warmund and proposed creating a Catholic monastic religious order for the protection of these pilgrims. Hugues got permission to found with 8 of his relatives a military order,
calling it the “Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and the Temple of Solomon”. He became the first Grand Master end helped to establish the Order's foundations to become an important and influential military and financial institution. King Baldwin II granted the Templars a headquarters in a wing of the royal palace on the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount and so the brotherhood quickly became known as 'the Order of the Knights of the Temple of Solomon' or simply the 'Templars'.
Together with Bernhard of Clairvaux, he created the Latin Rule, the code of behavior for the order. In the beginning the order didn’t have many financial resources and relied on donations to survive. According to a legend the Grand Master and Godfrey of Saint-Omer were so poor that together only had one horse. This is the reason why we have the famous image on the seal of the Knight Templars, two man riding one horse and on the other side the image of the headquarters on the Temple Mount. During his visit to Normandie, England, and Scotland in 1128, he raised men and money for the Order. He also founded their first House in London and other houses near Edinburgh. Together with Bernhard of Clairvaux, he created the Latin Rule, the code of behavior for the order. As Grand Master, Hugues led the Order for almost twenty years until his death in 1136. He probably died because of old age. He is probably buried in the Church of San Giacomo in Ferrara, Italia. Robert de Craon Succeeded him as Grand Master.
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