The History of the Knights Templars, the Temple Church, and the Temple

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

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

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

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

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

CHAPTER VIII

The conquest of Jerusalem by the Carizmians – The slaughter of the Templars, and the death of the Grand Master – The exploits of the Templars in Egypt – King Louis of France visits the Templars in Palestine – He assists them in putting the country into a defensible state – Henry II., king of England, visits the Temple at Paris – The magnificent hospitality of the Templars in England and France – Benocdar, sultan of Egypt, invades Palestine – He defeats the Templars, takes their strong fortresses, and decapitates six hundred of their brethren – The Grand Master comes to England for succour – The renewal of the war – The fall of Acre, and the final extinction of the Templars in Palestine.

“The Knights of the Temple ever maintained their fearless and fanatic character; if they neglected to live they were prepared to die in the service of Christ.” – Gibbon.

Hermann

de

Perigord.

A. D. 1242.

Shortly after the recovery of the holy city, Djemal’eddeen, the Mussulman, paid a visit to Jerusalem. “I saw,” says he, “the monks and the priests masters of the Temple of the Lord. I saw the vials of wine prepared for the sacrifice. I entered into the Mosque al Acsa, (the Temple of Solomon,) and I saw a bell suspended from the dome. The rites and ceremonies of the Mussulmen were abolished; the call to prayer was no longer heard. The infidels publicly exercised their idolatrous practices in the sanctuaries of the Mussulmen.”277

A. D. 1243.

By the advice of Benedict, bishop of Marseilles, who came to the holy city on a pilgrimage, the Templars rebuilt their ancient and formidable castle of Saphet. Eight hundred and fifty workmen, and four hundred slaves were employed in the task. The walls were sixty French feet in width, one hundred and seventy in height, and the circuit of them was two thousand two hundred and fifty feet. They were flanked by seven large round towers, sixty feet in diameter, and seventy-two feet higher than the walls. The fosse surrounding the fortress was thirty-six feet wide, and was pierced in the solid rock to a depth of forty-three feet. The garrison, in time of peace, amounted to one thousand seven hundred men, and to two thousand two hundred in time of war.278 The ruins of this famous castle crowning the summit of a lofty mountain, torn and shattered by earthquakes, still present a stupendous appearance. In Pococke’s time “two particularly fine large round towers” were entire, and Van Egmont and Heyman describe the remains of two moats lined with freestone, several fragments of walls, bulwarks, and turrets, together with corridors, winding staircases, and internal apartments. Ere this fortress was completed, the Templars again lost the holy city, and were well-nigh exterminated in a bloody battle fought with the Carizmians. These were a fierce, pastoral tribe of Tartars, who, descending from the north of Asia, and quitting their abodes in the neighbourhood of the Caspian, rushed headlong upon the nations of the south. They overthrew with frightful rapidity, and the most terrific slaughter, all who had ventured to oppose their progress; and, at the instigation of Saleh Ayoub, sultan of Egypt, with whom they had formed an alliance, they turned their arms against the Holy Land. In a great battle fought near Gaza, which lasted two days, the Grand Masters of the Temple and the Hospital were both slain, together with three hundred and twelve Knights Templars, and three hundred and twenty-four serving brethren, besides hired soldiers in the pay of the Order.279 The following account of these disasters was forwarded to Europe by the Vice-Master of the Temple, and the bishops and abbots of Palestine.

A. D. 1244.

“To the reverend Fathers in Christ, and to all our friends, archbishops, bishops, abbots, and other prelates of the church in the kingdoms of France and England, to whom these letters shall come; – Robert, by the grace of God, patriarch of the holy church of Jerusalem; Henry, archbishop of Nazareth; J. elect of Cæsarea; R. bishop of Acre; William de Rochefort, Vice-Master of the house of the soldiery of the Temple, and of the convent of the same house; H. prior of the sepulchre of the Lord; B. of the Mount of Olives, &c. &c. Health and prosperity.”

“The cruel barbarian, issuing forth from the confines of the East, hath turned his footsteps towards the kingdom of Jerusalem, that holy land, which, though it hath at different periods been grievously harassed by the Saracen tribes, hath yet in these latter days enjoyed ease and tranquillity, and been at peace with the neighbouring nations. But, alas! the sins of our christian people have just now raised up for its destruction an unknown people, and an avenging sword from afar…” They proceed to describe the destructive progress of the Carizmians from Tartary, the devastation of Persia, the fierce extermination by those savage hordes of all races and nations, without distinction of religion, and their sudden entry into the Holy Land by the side of Saphet and Tiberias, “when,” say they, “by the common advice, and at the unanimous desire of the Masters of the religious houses of the chivalry of the Temple and the Hospital, we called in the assistance of the sultans of Damascus and Carac, who were bound to us by treaty, and who bore especial hatred to the Carizmians; they promised and solemnly swore to give us their entire aid, but the succour came slow and tardy; the Christian forces were few in number, and were obliged to abandon the defence of Jerusalem…”

After detailing the barbarous and horrible slaughter of five thousand three hundred Christians, of both sexes – men, women, children, monks, priests, and nuns, – they thus continue their simple and affecting narrative:

“At length, the before-mentioned perfidious savages having penetrated within the gates of the holy city of Israel, the small remnant of the faithful left therein, consisting of children, women, and old men, took refuge in the church of the sepulchre of our Lord. The Carizmians rushed to that holy sanctuary; they butchered them all before the very sepulchre itself, and cutting off the heads of the priests who were kneeling with uplifted hands before the altars, they said one to another, ‘Let us here shed the blood of the Christians on the very place where they offer up wine to their God, who they say was hanged here.’ Moreover, in sorrow be it spoken, and with sighs we inform you, that laying their sacrilegious hands on the very sepulchre itself, they sadly disturbed it, utterly battering to pieces the marble shrine which was built around that holy sanctuary. They have defiled, with every abomination of which they were capable, Mount Calvary, where Christ was crucified, and the whole church of the resurrection. They have taken away, indeed, the sculptured columns which were placed as a decoration before the sepulchre of the Lord, and as a mark of victory, and as a taunt to the Christians, they have sent them to the sepulchre of the wicked Mahomet. They have violated the tombs of the happy kings of Jerusalem in the same church, and they have scattered, to the hurt of Christendom, the ashes of those holy men to the winds, irreverently profaning the revered Mount Sion. The Temple of the Lord, the church of the Valley of Jehoshaphat, where the Virgin lies buried, the church of Bethlehem, and the place of the nativity of our Lord, they have polluted with enormities too horrible to be related, far exceeding the iniquity of all the Saracens, who, though they frequently occupied the land of the Christians, yet always reverenced and preserved the holy places…”

They then describe the subsequent military operations, the march of the Templars and Hospitallers, on the 4th of October, A. D. 1244, from Acre to Cæsarea; the junction of their forces with those of the Moslem sultans; the retreat of the Carizmians to Gaza, where they received succour from the sultan of Egypt; and the preparation of the Hospitallers and Templars for the attack before that place.

“Those holy warriors,” say they, “boldly rushed in upon the enemy, but the Saracens who had joined us, having lost many of their men, fled, and the warriors of the cross were left alone to withstand the united attack of the Egyptians and Carizmians. Like stout champions of the Lord, and true defenders of catholicity, whom the same faith and the same cross and passion make true brothers, they bravely resisted; but as they were few in number in comparison with the enemy, they at last succumbed, so that of the convents of the house of the chivalry of the Temple, and of the house of the Hospital of Saint John at Jerusalem, only thirty-three Templars and twenty-six Hospitallers escaped; the archbishop of Tyre, the bishop of Saint George, the abbot of Saint Mary of Jehoshaphat, and the Master of the Temple, with many other clerks and holy men, being slain in that sanguinary fight. We ourselves, having by our sins provoked this dire calamity, fled half dead to Ascalon; from thence we proceeded by sea to Acre, and found that city and the adjoining province filled with sorrow and mourning, misery and death. There was not a house or a family that had not lost an inmate or a relation…”

“The Carizmians have now pitched their tents in the plain of Acre, about two miles from the city. The whole country, as far as Nazareth and Saphet, is overrun by them, so that the churches of Jerusalem and the christian kingdom have now no territory, except a few fortifications, which are defended with great difficulty and labour by the Templars and Hospitallers…

“To you, dearest Fathers, upon whom the burthen of the defence of the cause of Christ justly resteth, we have caused these sad tidings to be communicated, earnestly beseeching you to address your prayers to the throne of grace, imploring mercy from the Most High; that he who consecrated the Holy Land with his own blood in redemption of all mankind, may compassionately turn towards it and defend it, and send it succour. Do ye yourselves, dearest Fathers, as far as ye are able, take sage counsel and speedily assist us, that ye may receive a heavenly reward. But know, assuredly, that unless, through the interposition of the Most High, or by the aid of the faithful, the Holy Land is succoured in the next spring passage from Europe, its doom is sealed, and utter ruin is inevitable.

“Since it would be tedious to explain by letter all our necessities, we have sent to you the venerable father bishop of Beirout, and the holy man Arnulph, of the Order of Friars Preachers, who will faithfully and truly unfold the particulars to your venerable fraternity. We humbly entreat you liberally to receive and patiently to hear the aforesaid messengers, who have exposed themselves to great dangers for the church of God, by navigating the seas in the depth of winter. Given at Acre, this fifth day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand twelve hundred and forty-four.”280

The above letter was read before a general council of the church, which had been assembled at Lyons by Pope Innocent IV., and it was resolved that a new crusade should be preached. It was provided that those who assumed the cross should assemble at particular places to receive the Pope’s blessing; that there should be a truce for four years between all christian princes; that during all that time there should be no tournaments, feasts, nor public rejoicings; that all the faithful in Christ should be exhorted to contribute, out of their fortunes and estates, to the defence of the Holy Land; and that ecclesiastics should pay towards it the tenth, and cardinals the twentieth, of all their revenues, for the term of three years successively. The ancient enthusiasm, however, in favour of distant expeditions to the East had died away; the addresses and exhortations of the clergy now fell on unwilling ears, and the Templars and Hospitallers received only some small assistance in men and money.

William de

Sonnac.

A. D. 1245.

The temporary alliance between the Templars and the Mussulman sultans of Syria, for the purpose of insuring their common safety, did not escape animadversion. The emperor Frederick the Second, the nominal king of Jerusalem, in a letter to Richard earl of Cornwall, the brother of Henry the Third, king of England, accuses the Templars of making war upon the sultan of Egypt, in defiance of a treaty entered into with that monarch, of compelling him to call in the Carizmians to his assistance; and he compares the union of the Templars with the infidel sultans, for purposes of defence, to an attempt to extinguish a fire by pouring upon it a quantity of oil. “The proud religion of the Temple,” says he, in continuation, “nurtured amid the luxuries of the barons of the land, waxeth wanton. It hath been made manifest to us, by certain religious persons lately arrived from parts beyond sea, that the aforesaid sultans and their trains were received with pompous alacrity within the gates of the houses of the Temple, and that the Templars suffered them to perform within them their superstitious rites and ceremonies, with invocation of Mahomet, and to indulge in secular delights.”281 The Templars, notwithstanding their disasters, successfully defended all their strong fortresses in Palestine against the efforts of the Carizmians, and gradually recovered their footing in the Holy Land. The galleys of the Order kept the command of the sea, and succour speedily arrived to them from their western brethren. A general chapter of knights was assembled in the Pilgrim’s Castle, and the veteran warrior, brother William de Sonnac, was chosen Grand Master of the Order.282 Circular mandates were, at the same time, sent to the western preceptories, summoning all the brethren to Palestine, and directing the immediate transmission of all the money in the different treasuries to the head-quarters of the Order at Acre. These calls appear to have been promptly attended to, and the Pope praises both the Templars and Hospitallers for the zeal and energy displayed by them in sending out the newly-admitted knights and novices with armed bands and a large amount of treasure to the succour of the holy territory.283 The aged knights, and those whose duties rendered them unable to leave the western preceptories, implored the blessings of heaven upon the exertions of their brethren; they observed extraordinary fasts and mortification, and directed continual prayers to be offered up throughout the Order.284 Whilst the proposed crusade was slowly progressing, the holy pontiff wrote to the sultan of Egypt, the ally of the Carizmians, proposing a peace or a truce, and received the following grand and magnificent reply to his communication:

A. D. 1246.

“To the Pope, the noble, the great, the spiritual, the affectionate, the holy, the thirteenth of the apostles, the leader of the sons of baptism, the high priest of the Christians, (may God strengthen him, and establish him, and give him happiness!) from the most powerful sultan ruling over the necks of nations; wielding the two great weapons, the sword and the pen; possessing two pre-eminent excellencies – that is to say, learning and judgment; king of two seas; ruler of the South and North; king of the region of Egypt and Syria, Mesopotamia, Media, Idumea, and Ophir; King Saloph Beelpheth, Jacob, son of Sultan Camel, Hemevafar Mehameth, son of Sultan Hadel, Robethre, son of Jacob, whose kingdom may the Lord God make happy.

“In the name of God the most merciful and compassionate.

“The letters of the Pope, the noble, the great, &c. &c. … have been presented to us. May God favour him who earnestly seeketh after righteousness and doeth good, and wisheth peace and walketh in the ways of the Lord. May God assist him who worshippeth him in truth. We have considered the aforesaid letters, and have understood the matters treated of therein, which have pleased and delighted us; and the messenger sent by the holy Pope came to us, and we caused him to be brought before us with honour, and love, and reverence; and we brought him to see us face to face, and inclining our ears towards him, we listened to his speech, and we have put faith in the words he hath spoken unto us concerning Christ, upon whom be salvation and praise. But we know more concerning that same Christ than ye know, and we magnify him more than ye magnify him. And as to what you say concerning your desire for peace, tranquillity, and quiet, and that you wish to put down war, so also do we; we desire and wish nothing to the contrary. But let the Pope know, that between ourselves and the Emperor (Frederick) there hath been mutual love, and alliance, and perfect concord, from the time of the sultan, my father, (whom may God preserve and place in the glory of his brightness;) and between you and the Emperor there is, as ye know, strife and warfare; whence it is not fit that we should enter into any treaty with the Christians until we have previously had his advice and assent. We have therefore written to our envoy at the imperial court upon the propositions made to us by the Pope’s messenger, &c…

“This letter was written on the seventh of the month Maharan. Praise be to the one only God, and may his blessing rest upon our master Mahomet.”285

A. D. 1247.

The year following, (A. D. 1247,) the Carizmians were annihilated; they were cut up in detail by the Templars and Hospitallers, and were at last slain to a man. Their very name perished from the face of the earth, but the traces of their existence were long preserved in the ruin and desolation they had spread around them.286 The Holy Land, although happily freed from the destructive presence of these barbarians, had yet everything to fear from the powerful sultan of Egypt, with whom hostilities still continued; and Brother William de Sonnac, the Grand Master of the Temple, for the purpose of stimulating the languid energies of the English nation, and reviving their holy zeal and enthusiasm in the cause of the Cross, despatched a distinguished Knight Templar to England, charged with the duty of presenting to king Henry the Third a magnificent crystal vase, containing a portion of the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which had been poured forth upon the sacred soil of Palestine for the remission of the sins of all the faithful.