 Hugues de Payens was elected their master and Warmund charged them with the duty of keeping the roads safe from thieves and others who were routinely robbing and killing pilgrims en route to Jerusalem.This they did for nine years until the Council of Troyes in 1129 when they became a military order sanctioned by the Church; the Knights Templar.Between – and along with Gerard, Prior of the Holy Sepulchre, possibly attached to the Canons of the Holy Sepulchre, Warmund wrote an important letter to Diego Gelmírez, Archbiship of Santiago de Compostela citing crop failures and being threatened by their enemies; they requested food, money, and military aid in order to maintain the kingdom of Jerusalem.