Richard Coeur de Lion joins the Templars before Acre--The city
surrenders, and the Templars establish the chief house of their order
within it--Coeur de Lion takes up his abode with them--He sells to
them the island of Cyprus--The Templars form the van of his
army--Their foraging expeditions and great exploits--Coeur de Lion
quits the Holy Land in the disguise of a Knight Templar--The Templars
build the Pilgrim's Castle in Palestine--The state of the order in
England--King John resides in the Temple at London--The barons come to
him at that place, and demand MAGNA CHARTA--The exploits of the
Templars in Egypt--The letters of the Grand Master to the Master of
the Temple at London--The Templars reconquer Jerusalem.
"Therefore, friends,
As far as to the sepulchre of Christ
(Whose soldier now under whose blessed cross
We are impressed and engag'd to fight,)
Forthwith a power of English shall we levy,
Whose arms were moulded in their mother's womb,
To chase these pagans, in those holy fields,
Over whose acres walked those blessed feet,
Which, fourteen hundred years ago, were nail'd,
For our advantage, on the bitter cross."
[Sidenote: WALTER. A. D. 1191.]
[Sidenote: ROBERT DE SABLE. A. D. 1191.]
In the mean time a third crusade had been preached in Europe. William,
archbishop of Tyre, had proceeded to the courts of France and England, and
had represented in glowing colours the miserable condition of Palestine,
and the horrors and abominations which had been committed by the infidels
in the holy city of Jerusalem. The English and French monarchs laid aside
their private animosities, and agreed to fight under the same banner
against the infidels, and towards the close of the month of May, in the
second year of the siege of Acre, the royal fleets of Philip Augustus and
Richard Coeur de Lion floated in triumph in the bay of Acre. At the period
of the arrival of king Richard the Templars had again lost their Grand
Master, and Brother Robert de Sable, or Sabloil, a valiant knight of the
order, who had commanded a division of the English fleet on the voyage
out, was placed at the head of the fraternity.[221] The proudest of the
nobility, and the most valiant of the chivalry of Europe, on their arrival
in Palestine, manifested an eager desire to fight under the banner of the
Temple. Many secular knights were permitted by the Grand Master to take
their station by the side of the military friars, and even to wear the red
cross on their breasts whilst fighting in the ranks.
The Templars performed prodigies of valour; "The name of their reputation,
and the fame of their sanctity," says James of Vitry, bishop of Acre,
"like a chamber of perfume sending forth a sweet odour, was diffused
throughout the entire world, and all the congregation of the saints will
recount their battles and glorious triumph over the enemies of Christ,
knights indeed from all parts of the earth, dukes, and princes, after
their example, casting off the shackles of the world, and renouncing the
pomps and vanities of this life and all the lusts of the flesh for
Christ's sake, hastened to join them, and to participate in their holy
profession and religion."[222]
On the morning of the twelfth of July, six weeks after the arrival of the
British fleet, the kings of England and France, the christian chieftains,
and the Turkish emirs with their green banners, assembled in the tent of
the Grand Master of the Temple, to treat of the surrender of Acre, and on
the following day the gates were thrown open to the exulting warriors of
the cross. The Templars took possession of three localities within the
city by the side of the sea, where they established their famous Temple,
which became from thenceforth the chief house of the order. Richard Coeur
de Lion, we are told, took up his abode with the Templars, whilst Philip
resided in the citadel.[223]
When the fiery monarch of England tore down the banner of the duke of
Austria from its staff and threw it into the ditch, it was the Templars
who, interposing between the indignant Germans and the haughty Britons,
preserved the peace of the christian army.[224]
During his voyage from Messina to Acre, King Richard had revenged himself
on Isaac Comnenus, the ruler of the island of Cyprus, for the insult
offered to the beautiful Berengaria, princess of Navarre, his betrothed
bride. The sovereign of England had disembarked his troops, stormed the
town of Limisso, and conquered the whole island; and shortly after his
arrival at Acre, he sold it to the Templars for three hundred thousand
livres d'or.[225]
During the famous march of Richard Coeur de Lion from Acre to Ascalon, the
Templars generally led the van of the christian army, and the Hospitallers
brought up the rear.[226] Saladin, at the head of an immense force,
exerted all his energies to oppose their progress, and the march to Jaffa
formed a perpetual battle of eleven days. On some occasions Coeur de Lion
himself, at the head of a chosen body of knights, led the van, and the
Templars were formed into a rear-guard.[227] They sustained immense loss,
particularly in horses, which last calamity, we are told, rendered them
nearly desperate.[228]
The Moslem as well as the christian writers speak with admiration of the
feats of heroism performed. "On the sixth day," says Bohadin, "the sultan
rose at dawn as usual, and heard from his brother that the enemy were in
motion. They had slept that night in suitable places about Caesarea, and
were now dressing and taking their food. A second messenger announced that
they had begun their march; our brazen drum was sounded, all were alert,
the sultan came out, and I accompanied him: he surrounded them with chosen
troops, and gave the signal for attack."... "Their foot soldiers were
covered with thick-strung pieces of cloth, fastened together with rings so
as to resemble coats of mail. I saw with my own eyes several who had not
one nor two but _ten darts sticking in their backs_! and yet marched on
with a calm and cheerful step, without any trepidation!"[229]
Every exertion was made to sustain the courage and enthusiasm of the
christian warriors. When the army halted for the night, and the soldiers
were about to take their rest, a loud voice was heard from the midst of
the camp, exclaiming, "ASSIST THE HOLY SEPULCHRE," which words were
repeated by the leaders of the host, and were echoed and re-echoed along
their extended lines.[230] The Templars and the Hospitallers, who were
well acquainted with the country, employed themselves by night in
marauding and foraging expeditions. They frequently started off at
midnight, swept the country with their turcopoles or light cavalry, and
returned to the camp at morning's dawn with rich prizes of oxen, sheep,
and provisions.[231]
In the great plain near Ramleh, when the Templars led the van of the
christian army, Saladin made a last grand effort to arrest their progress,
which was followed by one of the greatest battles of the age. Geoffrey de
Vinisauf, the companion of King Richard on this expedition, gives a lively
and enthusiastic description of the appearance of the Moslem array in the
great plain around Jaffa and Ramleh. On all sides, far as the eye could
reach, from the sea-shore to the mountains, nought was to be seen but a
forest of spears, above which waved banners and standards innumerable. The
wild Bedouins,[232] the children of the desert, mounted on their fleet
Arab mares, coursed with the rapidity of the lightning over the vast
plain, and darkened the air with clouds of missiles. Furious and
unrelenting, of a horrible aspect, with skins blacker than soot, they
strove by rapid movement and continuous assaults to penetrate the
well-ordered array of the christian warriors. They advanced to the attack
with horrible screams and bellowings, which, with the deafening noise of
the trumpets, horns, cymbals, and brazen kettle-drums, produced a clamour
that resounded through the plain, and would have drowned even the thunder
of heaven.
The engagement commenced with the left wing of the Hospitallers, and the
victory of the Christians was mainly owing to the personal prowess of King
Richard. Amid the disorder of his troops, Saladin remained on the plain
without lowering his standard or suspending the sound of his brazen
kettle-drums, he rallied his forces, retired upon Ramleh, and prepared to
defend the road leading to Jerusalem. The Templars and Hospitallers, when
the battle was over, went in search of Jacques d'Asvesnes, one of the most
valiant of King Richard's knights, whose dead body, placed on their
spears, they brought into the camp amid the tears and lamentations of
their brethren.[233]
The Templars, on one of their foraging expeditions, were surrounded by a
superior force of four thousand Moslem cavalry; the Earl of Leicester,
with a chosen body of English, was sent by Coeur de Lion to their
assistance, but the whole party was overpowered and in danger of being cut
to pieces, when Richard himself hurried to the scene of action with his
famous battle-axe, and rescued the Templars from their perilous
situation.[234] By the valour and exertions of the lion-hearted king, the
city of Gaza, the ancient fortress of the order, which had been taken by
Saladin soon after the battle of Tiberias, was recovered to the christian
arms, the fortifications were repaired, and the place was restored to the
Knights Templars, who again garrisoned it with their soldiers.
As the army advanced, Saladin fell back towards Jerusalem, and the
vanguard of the Templars was pushed on to the small town of Ramleh.
At midnight of the festival of the Holy Innocents, a party of them sallied
out of the camp in company with some Hospitallers on a foraging
expedition; they scoured the mountains in the direction of Jerusalem, and
at morning's dawn returned to Ramleh with more than two hundred oxen.[235]
[Sidenote: A. D. 1192.]
When the christian army went into winter quarters, the Templars
established themselves at Gaza, and King Richard and his army were
stationed in the neighbouring town of Ascalon, the walls and houses of
which were rebuilt by the English monarch during the winter. Whilst the
christian forces were reposing in winter quarters, an arrangement was made
between the Templars, King Richard, and Guy de Lusignan, "the king without
a kingdom," for the cession to the latter of the island of Cyprus,
previously sold by Richard to the order of the Temple, by virtue of which
arrangement, Guy de Lusignan took possession of the island and ruled the
country by the magnificent title of emperor.[236]
When the winter rains had subsided, the christian forces were again put in
motion, but both the Templars and Hospitallers strongly advised Coeur de
Lion not to march upon Jerusalem, and the latter appears to have had no
strong inclination to undertake the siege of the holy city, having
manifestly no chance of success. The English monarch declared that he
would be guided by the advice of the Templars and Hospitallers, who were
acquainted with the country, and were desirous of recovering their ancient
inheritances. The army, however, advanced within a day's journey of the
holy city, and then a council was called together, consisting of five
Knights Templars, five Hospitallers, five eastern Christians, and five
western Crusaders, and the expedition was abandoned.[237]
The Templars took part in the attack upon the great Egyptian convoy,
wherein four thousand and seventy camels, five hundred horses, provisions,
tents, arms, and clothing, and a great quantity of gold and silver, were
captured, and then fell back upon Acre; they were followed by Saladin, who
immediately commenced offensive operations, and laid siege to Jaffa. The
Templars marched by land to the relief of the place, and Coeur de Lion
hurried by sea. Many valiant exploits were performed, the town was
relieved, and the campaign was concluded by the ratification of a treaty
whereby the Christians were to enjoy the privilege of visiting Jerusalem
as pilgrims. Tyre, Acre, and Jaffa, with all the sea-coast between them,
were yielded to the Latins, but it was stipulated that the fortifications
of Ascalon should be demolished.[238]
After the conclusion of this treaty, King Richard being anxious to take
the shortest and speediest route to his dominions by traversing the
continent of Europe, and to travel in disguise to avoid the malice of his
enemies, made an arrangement with his friend Robert de Sable, the Grand
Master of the Temple, whereby the latter undertook to place a galley of
the order at the disposal of the king, and it was determined that whilst
the royal fleet pursued its course with Queen Berengaria through the
Straits of Gibraltar to Britain, Coeur de Lion himself, disguised in the
habit of a Knight Templar, should secretly embark and make for one of the
ports of the Adriatic. The plan was carried into effect on the night of
the 25th of October, and King Richard set sail, accompanied by some
attendants, and four trusty Templars.[239] The habit he had assumed,
however, protected him not, as is well known, from the cowardly vengeance
of the base duke of Austria.
The lion-hearted monarch was one of the many benefactors to the order of
the Temple. He granted to the fraternity his manor of Calow, with various
powers and privileges.[240]
[Sidenote: GILBERT HORAL. A. D. 1195.]
Shortly after his departure from Palestine, the Grand Master, Robert de
Sable, was succeeded by Brother Gilbert Horal or Erail, who had previously
filled the high office of Grand Preceptor of France.[241] The Templars, to
retain and strengthen their dominion in Palestine, commenced the erection
of various strong fortresses, the stupendous ruins of many of which remain
to this day. The most famous of these was the Pilgrim's Castle,[242] which
commanded the coast-road from Acre to Jerusalem. It derived its name from
a solitary tower erected by the early Templars to protect the passage of
the pilgrims through a dangerous pass in the mountains bordering the
sea-coast, and was commenced shortly after the removal of the chief house
of the order from Jerusalem to Acre. A small promontory which juts out
into the sea a few miles below Mount Carmel, was converted into a
fortified camp. Two gigantic towers, a hundred feet in height and
seventy-four feet in width, were erected, together with enormous bastions
connected together by strong walls furnished with all kinds of military
engines. The vast inclosure contained a palace for the use of the Grand
Master and knights, a magnificent church, houses and offices for the
serving brethren and hired soldiers, together with pasturages, vineyards,
gardens, orchards, and fishponds. On one side of the walls was the salt
sea, and on the other, within the camp, delicious springs of fresh water.
The garrison amounted to four thousand men in time of war.[243]
Considerable remains of this famous fortress are still visible on the
coast, a few miles to the south of Acre. It is still called by the
Levantines, _Castel Pellegrino_. Pococke describes it as "very
magnificent, and so finely built, that it may be reckoned one of the
things that are best worth seeing in these parts." "It is encompassed,"
says he, "with two walls fifteen feet thick, the inner wall on the east
side cannot be less than forty feet high, and within it there appear to
have been some very grand apartments. The offices of the fortress seem to
have been at the west end, where I saw an oven fifteen feet in diameter.
In the castle there are remains of a fine lofty church of ten sides, built
in a light gothic taste: three chapels are built to the three eastern
sides, each of which consists of five sides, excepting the opening to the
church; in these it is probable the three chief altars stood."[244] Irby
and Mangles referring at a subsequent period to the ruins of the church,
describe it as a double hexagon, and state that the half then standing had
six sides. Below the cornice are human heads and heads of animals in alto
relievo, and the walls are adorned with a double line of arches in the
gothic style, the architecture light and elegant.
To narrate all the exploits of the Templars, and all the incidents and
events connected with the order, would be to write the history of the
Latin kingdom of Palestine, which was preserved and maintained for the
period of ninety-nine years after the departure of Richard Coeur de Lion,
solely by the exertions of the Templars and the Hospitallers. No action of
importance was ever fought with the infidels, in which the Templars did
not take an active and distinguished part, nor was the atabal of the
Mussulmen ever sounded in defiance on the frontier, without the trumpets
of the Templars receiving and answering the challenge.
[Sidenote: PHILIP DUPLESSIES. A. D. 1201.]
The Grand Master, Gilbert Horal, was succeeded by Philip Duplessies or De
Plesseis.[245] We must now refer to a few events connected with the order
of the Temple in England.
Brother Geoffrey, who was Master of the Temple at London at the period of
the consecration of the Temple Church by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, died
shortly after the capture of the holy city by Saladin, and was succeeded
by Brother Amaric de St. Maur, who is an attesting witness to the deed
executed by king John, A. D. 1203, granting a dowry to his young queen,
the beautiful Isabella of Angouleme.[246] Philip Augustus, king of France,
placed a vast sum of gold and silver in the Temple at Paris, and the
treasure of John, king of England, was deposited in the Temple at
London.[247] King John, indeed, frequently resided, for weeks together, at
the Temple in London, and many of his writs and precepts to his
lieutenants, sheriffs, and bailiffs, are dated therefrom.[248] The orders
for the concentration of the English fleet at Portsmouth, to resist the
formidable French invasion instigated by the pope, are dated from the
Temple, and the convention between the king and the count of Holland,
whereby the latter agreed to assist king John with a body of knights and
men-at-arms, in case of the landing of the French, was published at the
same place.[249]
[Sidenote: A. D. 1213.]
In all the conferences and negotiations between the mean-spirited king and
the imperious and overbearing Roman pontiff, the Knights Templars took an
active and distinguished part. Two brethren of the order were sent by
Pandulph, the papal legate, to king John, to arrange that famous
conference between them which ended in the complete submission of the
latter to all the demands of the holy see. By the advice and persuasion of
the Templars, king John repaired to the preceptory of Temple Ewell, near
Dover, where he was met by the legate Pandulph, who crossed over from
France to confer with him, and the mean-hearted king was there frightened
into that celebrated resignation of the kingdoms of England and Ireland,
"to God, to the holy apostles Peter and Paul, to the holy Roman church his
mother, and to his lord, Pope Innocent the Third, and his catholic
successors, for the remission of all his sins and the sins of all his
people, as well the living as the dead."[250] The following year the
commands of king John for the extirpation of the heretics in Gascony,
addressed to the seneschal of that province, were issued from the Temple
at London,[251] and about the same period the Templars were made the
depositaries of various private and confidential matters pending between
king John and his illustrious sister-in-law, "the royal, eloquent, and
beauteous" Berengaria of Navarre, the youthful widowed queen of Richard
_Coeur de Lion_.[252] The Templars in England managed the money
transactions of that fair princess. She directed her dower to be paid in
the house of the New Temple at London, together with the arrears due to
her from the king, amounting to several thousand pounds.[253]
[Sidenote: A. D. 1215.]
John was resident at the Temple when he was compelled by the barons of
England to sign MAGNA CHARTA. Matthew Paris tells us that the barons came
to him, whilst he was residing in the New Temple at London, "in a very
resolute manner, clothed in their military dresses, and demanded the
liberties and laws of king Edward, with others for themselves, the
kingdom, and the church of England."[254]
King John was a considerable benefactor to the order. He granted to the
fraternity the Isle of Lundy, at the mouth of the river Severn; all his
land at Radenach and at Harewood, in the county of Hereford; and he
conferred on the Templars numerous privileges.[255]
[Sidenote: WILLIAM DE CHARTRES. A. D. 1217.]
The Grand Master Philip Duplessies was succeeded by Brother WILLIAM DE
CHARTRES, as appears from the following letter to the Pope:
"To the very reverend father in Christ, the Lord Honorius, by the
providence of God chief pontiff of the Holy Roman Church, William de
Chartres, humble Master of the poor chivalry of the Temple, proffereth all
due obedience and reverence, with the kiss of the foot.
"By these our letters we hasten to inform your paternity of the state of
that Holy Land which the Lord hath consecrated with his own blood. Know
that, at the period of the departure of these letters, an immense number
of pilgrims, both knights and foot soldiers, marked with the emblem of the
life-giving cross, arrived at Acre from Germany and other parts of Europe.
Saphadin, the great sultan of Egypt, hath remained closely within the
confines of his own dominions, not daring in any way to molest us. The
arrival of the king of Hungary, and of the dukes of Austria and Moravia,
together with the intelligence just received of the near approach of the
fleet of the Friths, has not a little alarmed him. Never do we recollect
the power of the Pagans so low as at the present time; and may the
omnipotent God, O holy father, make it grow weaker and weaker day by day.
But we must inform you that in these parts corn and barley, and all the
necessaries of life, have become extraordinarily dear. This year the
harvest has utterly disappointed the expectations of our husbandmen, and
has almost totally failed. The natives, indeed, now depend for support
altogether upon the corn imported from the West, but as yet very little
foreign grain has been received; and to increase our uneasiness, nearly
all our knights are dismounted, and we cannot procure horses to supply the
places of those that have perished. It is therefore of the utmost
importance, O holy father, to advertise all who design to assume the cross
of the above scarcity, that they may furnish themselves with plentiful
supplies of grain and horses.
"Before the arrival of the king of Hungary and the duke of Austria, we had
come to the determination of marching against the city of Naplous, and of
bringing the Saracen chief Coradin to an engagement if he would have
awaited our attack, but we have all now determined to undertake an
expedition into Egypt to destroy the city of Damietta, and we shall then
march upon Jerusalem...."[256]
[Sidenote: Peter de Montaigu. A. D. 1218.]
It was in the month of May, A. D. 1218, that the galleys of the Templars
set sail from Acre on the above-mentioned memorable expedition into Egypt.
They cast anchor in the mouth of the Nile, and, in conjunction with a
powerful army of crusaders, laid siege to Damietta. A pestilence broke out
shortly after their arrival, and hurried the Grand Master, William de
Chartres, to his grave.[257] He was succeeded by the veteran warrior,
Brother PETER DE MONTAIGU, Grand Preceptor of Spain.[258]
James of Vitry, bishop of Acre, who accompanied the Templars on this
expedition, gives an enthusiastic account of their famous exploits, and of
the tremendous battles fought upon the Nile, in one of which a large
vessel of the Templars was sunk, and every soul on board perished. He
describes the great assault on their camp towards the middle of the year
1219, when the trenches were forced, and all the infantry put to flight.
"The insulting shouts of the conquering Saracens," says he, "were heard on
all sides, and a panic was rapidly spreading through the disordered ranks
of the whole army of the cross, when the Grand Master and brethren of the
Temple made a desperate charge, and bravely routed the first ranks of the
infidels. The spirit of Gideon animated the Templars, and the rest of the
army, stimulated by their example, bravely advanced to their support....
Thus did the Lord on that day, through the valour of the Templars, save
those who trusted in Him."[259] Immediately after the surrender of
Damietta, the Grand Master of the Temple returned to Acre to repel the
forces of the sultan of Damascus, who had invaded the Holy Land, as
appears from the following letter to the bishop of Ely.
[Sidenote: A. D. 1222.]
"Brother Peter de Montaigu, Master of the Knights of the Temple, to the
reverend brother in Christ, N., by the grace of God bishop of Ely, health.
We proceed by these letters to inform your paternity how we have managed
the affairs of our Lord Jesus Christ since the capture of Damietta and of
the castle of Taphneos." The Grand Master describes various military
operations, the great number of galleys fitted out by the Saracens to
intercept the supplies and succour from Europe, and the arming of the
galleys, galliots, and other vessels of the order of the Temple to oppose
them, and clear the seas of the infidel flag. He states that the sultan of
Damascus had invaded Palestine, had ravaged the country around Acre and
Tyre, and had ventured to pitch his tents before the castle of the
Pilgrims, and had taken possession of Caesarea. "If we are disappointed,"
says he, "of the succour we expect in the ensuing summer, all our
newly-acquired conquests, as well as the places that we have held for ages
past, will be left in a very doubtful condition. We ourselves, and others
in these parts, are so impoverished by the heavy expenses we have incurred
in prosecuting the affairs of Jesus Christ, that we shall be unable to
contribute the necessary funds, unless we speedily receive succour and
subsidies from the faithful. Given at Acre, xii. kal. October, A. D.
1222."[260]
The troops of the sultan of Damascus were repulsed and driven beyond the
frontier, and the Grand Master then returned to Damietta, to superintend
the preparations for a march upon Cairo. The results of that disastrous
campaign are detailed in the following letter to Brother Alan Marcel,
Preceptor of England, and Master of the Temple at London.
"Brother Peter de Montaigu, humble Master of the soldiers of Christ, to
our vicegerent and beloved brother in Christ, Alan Marcel, Preceptor of
England.
"Hitherto we have had favourable information to communicate unto you
touching our exertions in the cause of Jesus Christ; now, alas! such have
been the reverses and disasters which our sins have brought upon us in the
land of Egypt, that we have nothing but ill news to announce. After the
capture of Damietta, our army remained for some time in a state of
inaction, which brought upon us frequent complaints and reproaches from
the eastern and the western Christians. At length, after the feast of the
holy apostles, the legate of the holy pontiff, and all our soldiers of the
cross, put themselves in march by land and by the Nile, and arrived in
good order at the spot where the sultan was encamped, at the head of an
immense number of the enemies of the cross. The river Taphneos, an arm of
the great Nile, flowed between the camp of the sultan and our forces, and
being unable to ford this river, we pitched our tents on its banks, and
prepared bridges to enable us to force the passage. In the mean time, the
annual inundation rapidly increased, and the sultan, passing his galleys
and armed boats through an ancient canal, floated them into the Nile below
our positions, and cut off our communications with Damietta."... "Nothing
now was to be done but to retrace our steps. The sultans of Aleppo and
Damascus, the two brothers of the sultan, and many chieftains and kings of
the pagans, with an immense multitude of infidels who had come to their
assistance, attempted to cut off our retreat. At night we commenced our
march, but the infidels cut through the embankments of the Nile, the water
rushed along several unknown passages and ancient canals, and encompassed
us on all sides. We lost all our provisions, many of our men were swept
into the stream, and the further progress of our christian warriors was
forthwith arrested. The waters continued to increase upon us, and in this
terrible inundation we lost all our horses and saddles, our carriages,
baggage, furniture, and moveables, and everything that we had. We
ourselves could neither advance nor retreat, and knew not whither to turn.
We could not attack the Egyptians on account of the great lake which
extended itself between them and us; we were without food, and being
caught and pent up like fish in a net, there was nothing left for us but
to treat with the sultan.
"We agreed to surrender Damietta, with all the prisoners which we had in
Tyre and at Acre, on condition that the sultan restored to us the wood of
the true cross and the prisoners that he detained at Cairo and Damascus.
We, with some others, were deputed by the whole army to announce to the
people of Damietta the terms that had been imposed upon us. These were
very displeasing to the bishop of Acre,[261] to the chancellor, and some
others, who wished to defend the town, a measure which we should indeed
have greatly approved of, had there been any reasonable chance of success;
for we would rather have been thrust into perpetual imprisonment than have
surrendered, to the shame of Christendom, this conquest to the infidels.
But after having made a strict investigation into the means of defence,
and finding neither men nor money wherewith to protect the place, we were
obliged to submit to the conditions of the sultan, who, after having
exacted from us an oath and hostages, accorded to us a truce of eight
years. During the negotiations the sultan faithfully kept his word, and
for the space of fifteen days furnished our soldiers with the bread and
corn necessary for their subsistence.
"Do you, therefore, pitying our misfortunes, hasten to relieve them to the
utmost of your ability. Farewell."[262]
[Sidenote: A. D. 1223.]
Brother Alan Marcell, to whom the above letter is addressed, succeeded
Amaric de St. Maur, and was at the head of the order in England for the
space of sixteen years. He was employed by king Henry the Third in various
important negotiations; and was Master of the Temple at London, when
Reginald, king of the island of Man, by the advice and persuasion of the
legate Pandulph, made a solemn surrender at that place of his island to
the pope and his catholic successors, and consented to hold the same from
thenceforth as the feudatory of the church of Rome.[263]
[Sidenote: A. D. 1224.]
At the commencement of the reign of Henry the Third, the Templars in
England appear to have been on bad terms with the king. The latter made
heavy complaints against them to the pope, and the holy pontiff issued (A.
D. 1223) the bull "DE INSOLENTIA TEMPLARIORUM REPRIMENDA," in which he
states that his very dear son in Christ, Henry, the illustrious king of
the English, had complained to him of the usurpations of the Templars on
the royal domains; that they had placed their crosses upon houses that did
not belong to them, and prevented the customary dues and services from
being rendered to the crown; that they undutifully set at nought the
customs of the king's manors, and involved the bailiffs and royal officers
in lawsuits before certain judges of their own appointment. The pope
directs two abbots to inquire into these matters, preparatory to further
proceedings against the guilty parties;[264] but the Templars soon became
reconciled to their sovereign, and on the 28th of April of the year
following, the Master, Brother Alan Marcell, was employed by king Henry to
negotiate a truce between himself and the king of France. The king of
England appears at that time to have been resident at the Temple, the
letters of credence being made out at that place, in the presence of the
archbishop of Canterbury, several bishops, and Hubert, the chief
justiciary.[265] The year after, the same Alan Marcell was sent into
Germany, to negotiate a treaty of marriage between king Henry and the
daughter of the duke of Austria.[266]
At this period, Brother Hugh de Stocton and Richard Ranger, knights of the
convent of the New Temple at London, were the guardians of the royal
treasure in the Tower, and the former was made the depositary, of the
money paid annually by the king to the count of Flanders. He was also
intrusted by Henry the Third with large sums of money, out of which he was
commanded to pay ten thousand marks to the emperor of Constantinople.[267]
Among the many illustrious benefactors to the order of the Temple at this
period was Philip the Second, king of France, who bequeathed the sum of
one hundred thousand pounds to the Grand Master of the Temple.[268]
[Sidenote: HERMANN DE PERIGORD. A. D. 1236.]
The Grand Master, Peter de Montaigu, was succeeded by Brother HERMANN DE
PERIGORD.[269] Shortly after his accession to power, William de
Montserrat, Preceptor of Antioch, being "desirous of extending the
christian territories, to the honour and glory of Jesus Christ," besieged
a fortress of the infidels in the neighbourhood of Antioch. He refused to
retreat before a superior force, and was surrounded and overwhelmed; a
hundred knights of the Temple and three hundred cross-bowmen were slain,
together with many secular warriors, and a large number of foot soldiers.
The _Balcanifer_, or standard-bearer, on this occasion, was an English
Knight Templar, named Reginald d'Argenton, who performed prodigies of
valour. He was disabled and covered with wounds, yet he unflinchingly bore
the Beauseant, or war-banner, aloft with his bleeding arms into the
thickest of the fight, until he at last fell dead upon a heap of his
slaughtered comrades. The Preceptor of Antioch, before he was slain,
"_sent sixteen infidels to hell_."[270]
[Sidenote: A. D. 1237.]
As soon as the Templars in England heard of this disaster, they sent, in
conjunction with the Hospitallers, instant succour to their brethren. "The
Templars and the Hospitallers," says Matthew Paris, "eagerly prepared to
avenge the blood of their brethren so gallantly poured forth in the cause
of Christ. The Hospitallers appointed Brother Theodore, their prior, a
most valiant soldier, to lead a band of knights and of stipendiary troops,
with an immense treasure, to the succour of the Holy Land. Having made
their arrangements, they all started from the house of the Hospitallers at
Clerkenwell in London, and passed through the city with spears held aloft,
shields displayed, and banners advanced. They marched in splendid pomp to
the bridge, and sought a blessing from all who crowded to see them pass.
The brothers indeed uncovered, bowed their heads from side to side, and
recommended themselves to the prayers of all."[271]
[Sidenote: A. D. 1239.]
Whilst the Knights Templars were thus valiantly sustaining the cause of
the cross against the infidels in the East, one of the holy brethren of
the order, the king's special counsellor, named Geoffrey, was signalising
his zeal against infidels at home in England, (A. D. 1239,) by a fierce
destruction and extermination of the Jews. According to Matthew Paris, he
seized and incarcerated the unhappy Israelites, and extorted from them
immense sums of money.[272] Shortly afterwards, Brother Geoffrey fell into
disgrace and was banished from court, and Brother Roger, another Templar,
the king's almoner, shared the same fate, and was forbidden to approach
the royal presence.[273] Some of the brethren of the order were always
about the court, and when the English monarch crossed the seas, he
generally wrote letters to the Master of the Temple at London, informing
him of the state of the royal health.[274]
It was at this period, (A. D. 1240,) that the oblong portion of the Temple
church was completed and consecrated in the presence of King Henry the
Third.[275]
[Sidenote: A. D. 1242.]
The Grand Mastership of Brother Hermann de Perigord is celebrated for the
treaty entered into with the infidels, whereby the holy city was again
surrendered to the Christians. The patriarch returned thither with all his
clergy, the churches were reconsecrated, and the Templars and Hospitallers
emptied their treasuries in rebuilding the walls.
The following account of these gratifying events was transmitted by the
Grand Master of the Temple to Robert de Sanford, Preceptor of England, and
Master of the Temple at London.
"Brother Hermann de Perigord, humble _minister_ of the knights of the poor
Temple, to his beloved brother in Christ, Robert de Sanford, Preceptor in
England, salvation in the Lord.
"Since it is our duty, whenever an opportunity offers, to make known to
the brotherhood, by letters or by messengers, the state and prospects of
the Holy Land, we hasten to inform you, that after our great successes
against the sultan of Egypt, and Nassr his supporter and abettor, the
great persecutor of the Christians, they were reluctantly compelled to
negotiate a truce, promising us to restore to the followers of Jesus
Christ all the territory on this side Jordan. We despatched certain of our
brethren, noble and discreet personages, to Cairo, to have an interview
with the Sultan upon these matters...."
The Grand Master proceeds to relate the progress of the negotiations, and
the surrender of the holy city and the greater part of Palestine to the
soldiers of Christ ... "whence, to the joy of angels and of men," says he,
"Jerusalem is now inhabited by Christians alone, all the Saracens being
driven out. The holy places have been reconsecrated and purified by the
prelates of the churches, and in those spots where the name of the Lord
has not been invoked for fifty-six years, now, blessed be God, the divine
mysteries are daily celebrated. To all the sacred places there is again
free access to the faithful in Christ, nor is it to be doubted but that in
this happy and prosperous condition we might long remain, if our Eastern
Christians would from henceforth live in greater concord and unanimity.
But, alas! opposition and contradiction arising from envy and hatred have
impeded our efforts in the promotion of these and other advantages for the
land. With the exception of the prelates of the churches, and a few of the
barons, who afford us all the assistance in their power, the entire
burthen of its defence rests upon our house alone....
"For the safeguard and preservation of the holy territory, we propose to
erect a fortified castle near Jerusalem, which will enable us the more
easily to retain possession of the country, and to protect it against all
enemies. But indeed we can in nowise defend for any great length of time
the places that we hold, against the sultan of Egypt, who is a most
powerful and talented man, unless Christ and his faithful followers extend
to us an efficacious support."[276]