The contests between Saladin and the Templars--The vast privileges of
the Templars--The publication of the bull, _omne datum optimum_--The
Pope declares himself the immediate Bishop of the entire Order--The
different classes of Templars--The knights--Priests--Serving
brethren--The hired soldiers--The great officers of the
Temple--Punishment of cowardice--The Master of the Temple is taken
prisoner, and dies in a dungeon--Saladin's great successes--The
Christians purchase a truce--The Master of the Temple and the
Patriarch Heraclius proceed to England for succour--The consecration
of the TEMPLE CHURCH at LONDON.
"The firmest bulwark of Jerusalem was founded on the knights of the
Hospital of St. John and of the Temple of Solomon; on the strange
association of a monastic and military life, which fanaticism might
suggest, but of which policy must approve. The flower of the nobility
of Europe aspired to wear the cross and profess the vows of these
respectable orders; their spirit and discipline were immortal; and the
speedy donation of twenty-eight thousand farms or manors enabled them
to support a regular force of cavalry and infantry for the defence of
Palestine."--_Gibbon._
[Sidenote: ODO DE ST. AMAND. A. D. 1170.]
The Master, Philip of Naplous, resigned his authority after a short
government of three years, and was succeeded by Brother Odo de St. Amand,
a proud and fiery warrior, of undaunted courage and resolution; having,
according to William, Archbishop of Tyre, the fear neither of God nor of
man before his eyes.[76]
The Templars were now destined to meet with a more formidable opponent
than any they had hitherto encountered in the field, one who was again to
cause the crescent to triumph over the cross, and to plant the standard of
the prophet upon the walls of the holy city.
When the Fatimite caliph had received intelligence of Amalric's invasion
of Egypt, he sent the hair of his women, one of the greatest tokens of
distress known in the East, to the pious Noureddin, who immediately
despatched a body of troops to his assistance, headed by Sheerkoh, and his
nephew, _Youseef-Ben-Acoub-Ben-Schadi_, the famous Saladin. Sheerkoh died
immediately after his arrival, and Youseef succeeded to his command, and
was appointed vizier of the caliph. Youseef had passed his youth in
pleasure and debauchery, sloth and indolence: he had quitted with regret
the delights of Damascus for the dusty plains of Egypt; and but for the
unjustifiable expedition of King Amalric and the Hospitallers against the
infidels, the powerful talents and the latent energies of the young
Courdish chieftain, which altogether changed the face of affairs in the
East, would in all probability never have been developed.
As soon as Saladin grasped the power of the sword, and obtained the
command of armies, he threw off the follies of his youth, and led a new
life. He renounced the pleasures of the world, and assumed the character
of a saint. His dress was a coarse woollen garment; water was his only
drink; and he carefully abstained from everything disapproved of by the
Mussulman religion. Five times each day he prostrated himself in public
prayer, surrounded by his friends and followers, and his demeanour became
grave, serious, and thoughtful. He fought vigorously with spiritual
weapons against the temptations of the world; his nights were often spent
in watching and meditation, and he was always diligent in fasting and in
the study of the Koran. With the same zeal he combated with carnal
weapons the foes of Islam, and his admiring brethren gave him the name of
_Salah-ed-deen_, "Integrity of Religion," vulgarly called Saladin.
At the head of forty thousand horse and foot, he crossed the desert and
ravaged the borders of Palestine; the wild Bedouins and the enthusiastic
Arabians of the far south were gathered together under his standard, and
hastened with holy zeal to obtain the crown of martyrdom in defence of the
faith. The long remembered and greatly dreaded Arab shout of onset, _Allah
acbar_, GOD _is victorious_, again resounded through the plains and the
mountains of Palestine, and the grand religious struggle for the
possession of the holy city of Jerusalem, equally reverenced by Mussulmen
and by Christians, was once more vigorously commenced. Saladin besieged
the fortified city of Gaza, which belonged to the Knights Templars, and
was considered to be the key of Palestine towards Egypt. The luxuriant
gardens, the palm and olive groves of this city of the wilderness, were
destroyed by the wild cavalry of the desert, and the innumerable tents of
the Arab host were thickly clustered on the neighbouring sand-hills. The
warlike monks of the Temple fasted and prayed, and invoked the aid of the
God of battles; the gates of the city were thrown open, and in an
unexpected sally upon the enemy's camp they performed such prodigies of
valour, that Saladin, despairing of being able to take the place,
abandoned the siege, and retired into Egypt.[77]
[Sidenote: A. D. 1172.]
The year following, Pope Alexander's famous bull, _omne datum optimum_,
confirming the previous privileges of the Templars, and conferring upon
them additional powers and immunities, was published in England. It
commences in the following terms:
"Alexander, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his beloved sons,
Odo, Master of the religious chivalry of the Temple, which is situated at
Jerusalem, and to his successors, and to all the regularly professed
brethren.
"Every good gift and every perfect reward[78] cometh from above,
descending from the Father of light, with whom there is no change nor
shadow of variety. Therefore, O beloved children in the Lord, we praise
the Almighty God, in respect of your holy fraternity, since your religion
and venerated institution are celebrated throughout the entire world. For
although by nature ye are children of wrath, and slaves to the pleasures
of this life, yet by a favouring grace ye have not remained deaf hearers
of the gospel, but, throwing aside all earthly pomps and enjoyments, and
rejecting the broad road which leadeth unto death, ye have humbly chosen
the arduous path to everlasting life. Faithfully fulfilling the character
of soldiery of the Lord, ye constantly carry upon your breasts the sign of
the life-giving cross. Moreover, like true Israelites, and most instructed
fighters of the divine battle, inflamed with true charity, ye fulfil by
your works the word of the gospel which saith, 'Greater love hath no man
than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends;' so that, in
obedience to the voice of the great Shepherd, ye in nowise fear to lay
down your lives for your brethren, and to defend them from the inroad of
the pagans; and ye may well be termed holy warriors, since ye have been
appointed by the Lord defenders of the catholic church and combatants of
the enemies of Christ."
After this preamble, the pope earnestly exhorts the Templars to pursue
with unceasing diligence their high vocation; to defend the eastern church
with their whole hearts and souls, and to strike down the enemies of the
cross of Christ. "By the authority of God, and the blessed Peter prince of
apostles," says the holy pontiff, "we have ordained and do determine, that
the Temple in which ye are gathered together to the praise and glory of
God, for the defence of the faithful, and the deliverance of the church,
shall remain for evermore under the safeguard and protection of the holy
apostolic see, together with all the goods and possessions which ye now
lawfully enjoy, and all that ye may hereafter rightfully obtain, through
the liberality of christian kings and princes, and the alms and oblations
of the faithful.
"We moreover by these presents decree, that the regular discipline, which,
by divine favour, hath been instituted in your house, shall be inviolably
observed, and that the brethren who have there dedicated themselves to the
service of the omnipotent God, shall live together in chastity and without
property; and making good their profession both in word and deed, they
shall remain subject and obedient in all things to the Master, or to him
whom the Master shall have set in authority over them.
"Moreover, as the chief house at Jerusalem hath been the source and
fountain of your sacred institution and order, the Master thereof shall
always be considered the head and chief of all the houses and places
appertaining thereunto. And we further decree, that at the decease of Odo,
our beloved son in the Lord, and of each one of his successors, no man
shall be set in authority over the brethren of the same house, except he
be of the religious and military order; and has regularly professed your
habit and fellowship; and has been chosen by all the brethren unanimously,
or, at all events, by the greater part of them.
"And from henceforth it shall not be permitted to any ecclesiastical or
secular person to infringe or diminish the customs and observances of your
religion and profession, as instituted by the Master and brethren in
common; and those rules which have been put into writing and observed by
you for some time past, shall not be changed or altered except by the
authority of the Master, with the consent of the majority of the chapter.
"... No ecclesiastic or secular person shall dare to exact from the Master
and Brethren of the Temple, oaths, guarantees, or any such securities as
are ordinarily required from the laity.
"Since your sacred institution and religious chivalry have been
established by divine Providence, it is not fit that you should enter into
any other order with the view of leading a more religious life, for God,
who is immutable and eternal, approveth not the inconstant heart; but
wisheth rather the good purpose, when once begun, to be persevered in to
the end of life.
"How many and great persons have pleased the lord of an earthly empire,
under the military girdle and habit! How many and distinguished men,
gathered together in arms, have bravely fought, in these our times, in the
cause of the gospel of God, and in defence of the laws of our Father; and,
consecrating their hands in the blood of the unbelievers in the Lord,
have, after their pains and toil in this world's warfare, obtained the
reward of everlasting life! Do ye therefore, both knights and serving
brethren, assiduously pay attention to your profession, and in accordance
with the saying of the apostle, 'Let each one of you stedfastly remain in
the vocation to which you have been called.' We therefore ordain, that
when your brethren have once taken the vows, and have been received in
your sacred college, and have taken upon themselves your warfare, and the
habit of your religion, they shall no longer have the power of returning
again to the world; nor can any, after they have once made profession,
abjure the cross and habit of your religion, with the view of entering
another convent or monastery of stricter or more lax discipline, without
the consent of the brethren, or Master, or of him whom the Master hath set
in authority over them; nor shall any ecclesiastic or secular person be
permitted to receive or retain them.
"And since those who are defenders of the church ought to be supported and
maintained out of the good things of the church, we prohibit all manner of
men from exacting tithes from you in respect of your moveables or
immoveables, or any of the goods and possessions appertaining unto your
venerable house.
"And that nothing may be wanting to the plenitude of your salvation, and
the care of your souls; and that ye may more commodiously hear divine
service, and receive the sacraments in your sacred college; we in like
manner ordain, that it shall be lawful for you to admit within your
fraternity, honest and godly clergymen and priests, as many as ye may
conscientiously require; and to receive them from whatever parts they may
come, as well in your chief house at Jerusalem, as in all the other houses
and places depending upon it, so that they do not belong to any other
religious profession or order, and so that ye ask them of the bishop, if
they come from the neighbourhood; but if peradventure the bishop should
refuse, yet nevertheless ye have permission to receive and retain them by
the authority of the holy apostolic see.
"If any of these, after they have been professed, should turn out to be
useless, or should become disturbers of your house and religion, it shall
be lawful for you, with the consent of the major part of the chapter, to
remove them, and give them leave to enter any other order where they may
wish to live in the service of God, and to substitute others in their
places who shall undergo a probation of one year in your society; which
term being completed, if their morals render them worthy of your
fellowship, and they shall be found fit and proper for your service, then
let them make the regular profession of life according to your rule, and
of obedience to their Master, so that they have their food and clothing,
and also their lodging, with the fraternity.
"But it shall not be lawful for them presumptuously to take part in the
consultations of your chapter, or in the government of your house; they
are permitted to do so, so far only as they are enjoined by yourselves.
And as regards the cure of souls, they are to occupy themselves with that
business so far only as they are required. Moreover, they shall be subject
to no person, power, or authority, excepting that of your own chapter, but
let them pay perfect obedience, in all matters and upon all occasions, to
thee our beloved son in the Lord, Odo, and to thy successors, as their
_Master_ and _Bishop_.
"We moreover decree, that it shall be lawful for you to send your clerks,
when they are to be admitted to holy orders, for ordination to whatever
catholic bishop you may please, who, clothed with our apostolical power,
will grant them what they require; but we forbid them to preach with a
view of obtaining money, or for any temporal purpose whatever, unless
perchance the Master of the Temple for the time being should cause it to
be done for some special purpose. And whosoever of these are received into
your college, they must make the promise of stedfastness of purpose, of
reformation of morals, and that they will fight for the Lord all the days
of their lives, and render strict obedience to the Master of the Temple;
the book in which these things are contained being placed upon the altar.
"We moreover, without detracting from the rights of the bishops in respect
of tithes, oblations, and buryings, concede to you the power of
constructing oratories in the places bestowed upon the sacred house of the
Temple, where you and your retainers and servants may dwell; so that both
ye and they may be able to assist at the divine offices, and receive there
the rite of sepulture; for it would be unbecoming and very dangerous to
the souls of the religious brethren, if they were to be mixed up with a
crowd of secular persons, and be brought into the company of women on the
occasion of their going to church. But as to the tithes, which, by the
advice and with the consent of the bishops, ye may be able by your zeal to
draw out of the hands of the clergy or laity, and those which with the
consent of the bishops ye may acquire from their own clergy, we confirm to
you by our apostolical authority."
The above bull further provides, in various ways, for the temporal and
spiritual advantage of the Templars, and expressly extends the favours and
indulgences, and the apostolical blessings, to all the serving brethren,
as well as to the knights. It also confers upon the fraternity the
important privilege of causing the churches of towns and villages lying
under sentence of interdict to be opened once a year, and divine service
to be celebrated within them.[79]
A bull exactly similar to the above appears to have been issued by Pope
Alexander, on the seventh id. Jan. A. D. 1162, addressed to the Master
Bertrand de Blanquefort.[80] Both the above instruments are to a great
extent merely confirmatory of the privileges previously conceded to the
Templars.
The exercise or the abuse of these powers and immunities speedily brought
the Templars into collision with the ecclesiastics. At the general council
of the church, held at Rome, (A. D. 1179,) called the third of Lateran, a
grave reprimand was addressed to them by the holy Fathers. "We find," say
they, "by the frequent complaints of the bishops our colleagues, that the
Templars and Hospitallers abuse the privileges granted them by the Holy
See; that the chaplains and priests of their rule have caused parochial
churches to be conveyed over to themselves without the ordinaries'
consent; that they administer the sacraments to excommunicated persons,
and bury them with all the usual ceremonies of the church; that they
likewise abuse the permission granted the brethren of having divine
service said once a year in places under interdict, and that they admit
seculars into their fraternity, pretending thereby to give them the same
right to their privileges as if they were really professed." To provide a
remedy for these irregularities, the council forbad the military orders to
receive for the future any conveyances of churches and tithes without the
ordinaries' consent; that with regard to churches not founded by
themselves, nor served by the chaplains of the order, they should present
the priests they designed for the cure of them to the bishop of the
diocese, and reserve nothing to themselves but the cognizance of the
temporals which belonged to them; that they should not cause service to be
said, in churches under interdict, above once a year, nor give burial
there to any person whatever; and that none of their fraternity or
_associates_ should be allowed to partake of their privileges, if not
actually professed.[81]
Several bishops from Palestine were present at this council, together with
the archbishop of Caesarea, and William archbishop of Tyre, the great
historian of the Latin kingdom.
The order of the Temple was at this period divided into the three great
classes of knights, priests, and serving brethren, all bound together by
their vow of obedience to the Master of the Temple at Jerusalem, the chief
of the entire fraternity. Every candidate for admission into the first
class must have received the honour of knighthood in due form, according
to the laws of chivalry, before he could be admitted to the vows; and as
no person of low degree could be advanced to the honours of knighthood,
the brethren of the first class, i. e. the _Knights_ Templars, were all
men of noble birth and of high courage. Previous to the council of
Troyes, the order consisted of knights only, but the rule framed by the
holy fathers enjoins the admission of esquires and retainers to the vows,
in the following terms.
"LXI. We have known many out of divers provinces, as well retainers as
esquires, fervently desiring for the salvation of their souls to be
admitted for life into our house. It is expedient, therefore, that you
admit them to the vows, lest perchance the old enemy should suggest
something to them whilst in God's service by stealth or unbecomingly, and
should suddenly drive them from the right path." Hence arose the great
class of serving brethren, (_fratres servientes_,) who attended the
knights into the field both on foot and on horseback, and added vastly to
the power and military reputation of the order. The serving brethren were
armed with bows, bills, and swords; it was their duty to be always near
the person of the knight, to supply him with fresh weapons or a fresh
horse in case of need, and to render him every succour in the affray. The
esquires of the knights were generally serving brethren of the order, but
the services of secular persons might be accepted.
The order of the Temple always had in its pay a large number of retainers,
and of mercenary troops, both cavalry and infantry, which were officered
by the knights. These were clothed in black or brown garments, that they
might, in obedience to the rule,[82] be plainly distinguished from the
professed soldiers of Christ, who were habited in white. The black or
brown garment was directed to be worn by all connected with the Templars
who had not been admitted to the vows, that the holy soldiers might not
suffer, in character or reputation, from the irregularities of secular men
their dependents.[83]
The white mantle of the Templars was a regular monastic habit, having the
red cross on the left breast; it was worn over armour of chain mail, and
could be looped up so as to leave the sword-arm at full liberty. On his
head the Templar wore a white linen coif, and over that a small round cap
made of red cloth. When in the field, an iron scull-cap was probably
added. We must now take a glance at the military organization of the order
of the Temple, and of the chief officers of the society.
Next in power and authority to the Master stood the Marshal, who was
charged with the execution of the military arrangements on the field of
battle. He was second in command, and in case of the death of the Master,
the government of the order devolved upon him until the new superior was
elected. It was his duty to provide arms, tents, horses, and mules, and
all the necessary appendages of war.
The Prior or Preceptor of the kingdom of Jerusalem, also styled "Grand
Preceptor of the Temple," had the immediate superintendence over the chief
house of the order in the holy city. He was the treasurer general of the
society, and had charge of all the receipts and expenditure. During the
absence of the Master from Jerusalem, the entire government of the Temple
devolved upon him.
The Draper was charged with the clothing department, and had to distribute
garments "free from the suspicion of arrogance and superfluity" to all the
brethren. He is directed to take especial care that the habits be "neither
too long nor too short, but properly measured for the wearer, with equal
measure, and with brotherly regard, that the eye of the whisperer or the
accuser may not presume to notice anything."[84]
The Standard Bearer (_Balcanifer_) bore the glorious _Beauseant_, or
war-banner, to the field; he was supported by a certain number of knights
and esquires, who were sworn to protect the colours of the order, and
never to let them fall into the hands of the enemy.
The Turcopilar was the commander of a body of light horse called
Turcopoles (_Turcopuli_.) These were natives of Syria and Palestine, the
offspring frequently of Turkish mothers and christian fathers, brought up
in the religion of Christ, and retained in the pay of the order of the
Temple. They were lightly armed, were clothed in the Asiatic style, and
being inured to the climate, and well acquainted with the country, and
with the Mussulman mode of warfare, they were found extremely serviceable
as light cavalry and skirmishers, and were always attached to the
war-battalions of the Templars.
The Guardian of the Chapel (_Custos Capellae_) had charge of the portable
chapel and the ornaments of the altar, which were always carried by the
Templars into the field. This portable chapel was a round tent, which was
pitched in the centre of the camp; the quarters of the brethren were
disposed around it, so that they might, in the readiest and most
convenient manner, participate in the divine offices, and fulfil the
religious duties of their profession.
Besides the Grand Preceptor of the kingdom of Jerusalem, there were the
Grand Preceptors of Antioch and Tripoli, and the Priors or Preceptors of
the different houses of the Temple in Syria and in Palestine, all of whom
commanded in the field, and had various military duties to perform under
the eye of the Master.
The Templars and the Hospitallers were the constituted guardians of the
true cross when it was brought forth from its sacred repository in the
church of the Resurrection to be placed at the head of the christian army.
The Templars marched on the right of the sacred emblem, and the
Hospitallers on the left; and the same position was taken up by the two
orders in the line of battle.[85]
An eye-witness of the conduct of the Templars in the field tells us that
they were always foremost in the fight and the last in the retreat; that
they proceeded to battle with the greatest order, silence, and
circumspection, and carefully attended to the commands of their Master.
When the signal to engage had been given by their chief, and the trumpets
of the order sounded to the charge, "then," says he, "they humbly sing the
psalm of David, _Non nobis, non nobis, Domine, sed nomini tuo da gloriam_,
'Not unto us, not unto us, O Lord, but unto thy name give the praise;' and
placing their lances in rest, they either break the enemy's line or die.
If any one of them should by chance turn back, or bear himself less
manfully than he ought, the white mantle, the emblem of their order, is
ignominiously stripped off his shoulders, the cross worn by the fraternity
is taken away from him, and he is cast out from the fellowship of the
brethren; he is compelled to eat on the ground without a napkin or a
table-cloth for the space of one year; and the dogs who gather around him
and torment him he is not permitted to drive away. At the expiration of
the year, if he be truly penitent, the Master and the brethren restore to
him the military girdle and his pristine habit and cross, and receive him
again into the fellowship and community of the brethren. The Templars do
indeed practise the observance of a stern religion, living in humble
obedience to their Master, without property, and spending nearly all the
days of their lives under tents in the open fields."[86] Such is the
picture of the Templars drawn by one of the leading dignitaries of the
Latin kingdom.
We must now resume our narrative of the principal events connected with
the order.
In the year 1172, the Knight Templar Walter du Mesnil was guilty of a foul
murder, which created a great sensation in the East. An odious religious
sect, supposed to be descended from the Ismaelians of Persia, were settled
in the fastnesses of the mountains above Tripoli. They devoted their souls
and bodies in blind obedience to a chief who is called by the writers of
the crusades "the old man of the mountain," and were employed by him in
the most extensive system of murder and assassination known in the history
of the world. Both Christian and Moslem writers enumerate with horror the
many illustrious victims that fell beneath their daggers. They assumed all
shapes and disguises for the furtherance of their deadly designs, and
carried, in general, no arms except a small poniard concealed in the folds
of their dress, called in the Persian tongue _hassissin_, whence these
wretches were called _assassins_, their chief the prince of the assassins;
and the word itself, in all its odious import, has passed into most
European languages.[87]
Raimond, son of the count of Tripoli, was slain by these fanatics whilst
kneeling at the foot of the altar in the church of the Blessed Virgin at
Carchusa or Tortosa; the Templars flew to arms to avenge his death; they
penetrated into the fastnesses and strongholds of "the mountain chief,"
and at last compelled him to purchase peace by the payment of an annual
tribute of two thousand crowns into the treasury of the order. In the
ninth year of Amalric's reign, _Sinan Ben Suleiman_, imaun of the
assassins, sent a trusty counsellor to Jerusalem, offering, in the name
of himself and his people, to embrace the christian religion, provided the
Templars would release them from the tribute money. The proposition was
favourably received; the envoy was honourably entertained for some days,
and on his departure he was furnished by the king with a guide and an
escort to conduct him in safety to the frontier. The Ismaelite had reached
the borders of the Latin kingdom, and was almost in sight of the castles
of his brethren, when he was cruelly murdered by the Knight Templar Walter
du Mesnil, who attacked the escort with a body of armed followers.[88]
The king of Jerusalem, justly incensed at this perfidious action,
assembled the barons of the kingdom at Sidon to determine on the best
means of obtaining satisfaction for the injury; and it was determined that
two of their number should proceed to Odo de St. Amand to demand the
surrender of the criminal. The haughty Master of the Temple bade them
inform his majesty the king, that the members of the order of the Temple
were not subject to his jurisdiction, nor to that of his officers; that
the Templars acknowledged no earthly superior except the Pope; and that to
the holy pontiff alone belonged the cognizance of the offence. He
declared, however, that the crime should meet with due punishment; that he
had caused the criminal to be arrested and put in irons, and would
forthwith send him to Rome, but till judgment was given in his case, he
forbade all persons of whatsoever degree to meddle with him.[89]
Shortly afterwards, however, the Master found it expedient to alter his
determination, and insist less strongly upon the privileges of his
fraternity. Brother Walter du Mesnil was delivered up to the king, and
confined in one of the royal prisons, but his ultimate fate has not been
recorded.
On the death of Noureddin, sultan of Damascus, (A. D. 1175,) Saladin
raised himself to the sovereignty both of Egypt and of Syria. He levied an
immense army, and crossing the desert from Cairo, he again planted the
standard of Mahomet upon the sacred territory of Palestine. His forces
were composed of twenty-six thousand light infantry, eight thousand
horsemen, a host of archers and spearmen mounted on dromedaries, and
eighteen thousand common soldiers. The person of Saladin was surrounded by
a body-guard of a thousand Mamlook emirs, clothed in yellow cloaks worn
over their shirts of mail.
[Sidenote: A. D. 1177.]
In the great battle fought near Ascalon, (Nov. 1, A. D. 1177,) Odo de St.
Amand, the Master of the Temple, at the head of eighty of his knights,
broke through the guard of Mamlooks, slew their commander, and penetrated
to the imperial tent, from whence the sultan escaped with great
difficulty, almost naked, upon a fleet dromedary; the infidels, thrown
into confusion, were slaughtered or driven into the desert, where they
perished from hunger, fatigue, or the inclemency of the weather.[90] The
year following, Saladin collected a vast army at Damascus; and the
Templars, in order to protect and cover the road leading from that city to
Jerusalem, commenced the erection of a strong fortress on the northern
frontier of the Latin kingdom, close to Jacob's ford on the river Jordan,
at the spot where now stands _Djiss'r Beni Yakoob_, "the bridge of the
sons of Jacob." Saladin advanced at the head of his forces to oppose the
progress of the work, and the king of Jerusalem and all the chivalry of
the Latin kingdom were gathered together in the plain to protect the
Templars and their workmen. The fortress was erected notwithstanding all
the exertions of the infidels, and the Templars threw into it a strong
garrison. Redoubled efforts were then made by Saladin to destroy the
place.
[Sidenote: A. D. 1179.]
At a given signal from the Mussulman trumpets, "the defenders of Islam"
fled before "the avengers of Christ;" the christian forces became
disordered in the pursuit, and the swift cavalry of the desert, wheeling
upon both wings, defeated with immense slaughter the entire army of the
cross. The Templars and the Hospitallers, with the count of Tripoli, stood
firm on the summit of a small hillock, and for a long time presented a
bold and undaunted front to the victorious enemy. The count of Tripoli at
last cut his way through the infidels, and fled to Tyre; the Master of the
Hospital, after seeing most of his brethren slain, swam across the Jordan,
and fled, covered with wounds, to the castle of Beaufort; and the
Templars, after fighting with their customary zeal and fanaticism around
the red-cross banner, which waved to the last over the field of blood,
were all killed or taken prisoners, and the Master, Odo de St. Amand, fell
alive into the hands of the enemy.[91] Saladin then laid siege to the
newly-erected fortress, which was of some strength, being defended by
thick walls, flanked with large towers furnished with military engines.
After a gallant resistance on the part of the garrison, it was set on
fire, and then stormed. "The Templars," says Abulpharadge, "flung
themselves some into the fire, where they were burned, some cast
themselves into the Jordan, some jumped down from the walls on to the
rocks, and were dashed to pieces: thus were slain the enemy." The fortress
was reduced to a heap of ruins, and the enraged sultan, it is said,
ordered all the Templars taken in the place to be sawn in two, excepting
the most distinguished of the knights, who were reserved for a ransom, and
were sent in chains to Aleppo.[92]
[Sidenote: ARNOLD DE TORROGE. A. D. 1180.]
Saladin offered Odo de St. Amand his liberty in exchange for the freedom
of his own nephew, who was a prisoner in the hands of the Templars; but
the Master of the Temple haughtily replied, that he would never, by his
example, encourage any of his knights to be mean enough to surrender, that
a Templar ought either to vanquish or die, and that he had nothing to give
for his ransom but his girdle and his knife.[93] The proud spirit of Odo
de St. Amand could but ill brook confinement; he languished and died in
the dungeons of Damascus, and was succeeded by Brother Arnold de Torroge,
who had filled some of the chief situations of the order in Europe.[94]
[Sidenote: A. D. 1184.]
The affairs of the Latin Christians were at this period in a deplorable
situation. Saladin encamped near Tiberias, and extended his ravages into
almost every part of Palestine. His light cavalry swept the valley of the
Jordan to within a day's march of Jerusalem, and the whole country as far
as Panias on the one side, and Beisan, D'Jenneen, and Sebaste, on the
other, was destroyed by fire and the sword. The houses of the Templars
were pillaged and burnt; various castles belonging to the order were taken
by assault;[95] but the immediate destruction of the Latin power was
arrested by some partial successes obtained by the christian warriors, and
by the skilful generalship of their leaders. Saladin was compelled to
retreat to Damascus, after he had burnt Naplous, and depopulated the whole
country around Tiberias. A truce was proposed, (A. D. 1184,) and as the
attention of the sultan was then distracted by the intrigues of the
Turcoman chieftains in the north of Syria, and he was again engaged in
hostilities in Mesopotamia, he agreed to a suspension of the war for four
years, in consideration of the payment by the Christians of a large sum of
money.
Immediate advantage was taken of this truce to secure the safety of the
Latin kingdom. A grand council was called together at Jerusalem, and it
was determined that Heraclius, the patriarch of the Holy City, and the
Masters of the Temple and Hospital, should forthwith proceed to Europe, to
obtain succour from the western princes. The sovereign mostly depended
upon for assistance was Henry the Second, king of England,[96] grandson of
Fulk, the late king of Jerusalem, and cousin-german to Baldwin, the then
reigning sovereign. Henry had received absolution for the murder of Saint
Thomas a Becket, on condition that he should proceed in person at the head
of a powerful army to the succour of Palestine, and should, at his own
expense, maintain two hundred Templars for the defence of the holy
territory.[97]
[Sidenote: A. D. 1185.]
The Patriarch and the two Masters landed in Italy, and after furnishing
themselves with the letters of the pope, threatening the English monarch
with the judgments of heaven if he did not forthwith perform the penance
prescribed him, they set out for England. At Verona, the Master of the
Temple fell sick and died,[98] but his companions proceeding on their
journey, landed in safety in England at the commencement of the year 1185.
They were received by the king at Reading, and throwing themselves at the
feet of the English monarch, they with much weeping and sobbing saluted
him in behalf of the king, the princes, and the people of the kingdom of
Jerusalem. They explained the object of their visit, and presented him
with the pope's letters, with the keys of the holy sepulchre, of the tower
of David, and of the city of Jerusalem, together with the royal banner of
the Latin kingdom.[99] Their eloquent and pathetic narrative of the fierce
inroads of Saladin, and of the miserable condition of Palestine, drew
tears from king Henry and all his court.[100] The English sovereign gave
encouraging assurances to the patriarch and his companions, and promised
to bring the whole matter before the parliament, which was to meet the
first Sunday in Lent.
The patriarch, in the mean time, proceeded to London, and was received by
the Knights Templars at the Temple in that city, the chief house of the
order in Britain, where, in the month of February, he consecrated the
beautiful Temple church, dedicated to the blessed Virgin Mary, which had
just then been erected.[101]