TableofContents

TitlePageCopyrightPageAcknowledgementsIntroductionPARTONE-ThePoorKnightsofChrist

CHAPTERONE-TheBeginningoftheOrderCHAPTERTWO-HughdePaynsCHAPTERTHREE-BaldwinII,KingofJerusalemCHAPTERFOUR-Hugh,CountofChampagneOneoftheearliestmembersofthe...CHAPTERFIVE-BernardofClairvauxCHAPTERSIX-Hughde

PaynsTakestheTemplarsontheRoadCHAPTERSEVEN-TheCouncilofTroyesCHAPTEREIGHT-GoForthandMultiplyCHAPTERNINE-TheLifeofaTemplar,AccordingtotheRuleCHAPTERTEN-Melisande,QueenofJerusalemCHAPTERELEVEN-FulkofAnjou,theQueen’s

HusbandCHAPTERTWELVE-TheTempleinJerusalemCHAPTERTHIRTEEN-ThePopesGetInvolved(YouKnewTheyWould)CHAPTERFOURTEEN-TheSecondCrusadePARTTWO-TheGloryYears

CHAPTERFIFTEEN-GrandMasters1136-1191CHAPTERSIXTEEN-BetweentheSecondandThirdCrusades(1150-1191)CHAPTERSEVENTEEN-WhoWeretheSaracens,Anyway?Inthefirstparagraphof...CHAPTEREIGHTEEN-SaladinCHAPTERNINETEEN-RichardtheLionheart

CHAPTERTWENTY-TheAssassinsCHAPTERTWENTY-ONE-TheHospitalersCHAPTERTWENTY-TWO-GrandMasters1191-1292/93CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE-TheTemplarsandtheSaint,LouisIXofFranceLouisIX,...CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR-TemplarsandMoney

CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE-TheTempleinParisCHAPTERTWENTY-SIX-TheTempleinLondonCHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN-TheLastStands;TheFalofAcreandLossoftheHolyLandPARTTHREE-TheEndoftheOrderofthePoorKnights

CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT-JacquesdeMolay:TheLastGrandMaster1292-1313CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE-PhiliptheFairCHAPTERTHIRTY-FridaytheThirteenth;theArrestandTrialsoftheTemplarsCHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE-TheChargesAgainsttheTemplarsCHAPTERTHIRTY-TWO-

GuillaumedeNogaretCHAPTERTHIRTY-THREE-TheCouncilofVienneandtheEndoftheOrderCHAPTERTHIRTY-FOUR-TimeLineoftheTrialsCHAPTERTHIRTY-FIVE-TheTrialsOutsideofFranceCHAPTERTHIRTY-SIX-TheSecretRiteofInitiationCHAPTERTHIRTY-SEVEN-MargueritePoreteCHAPTERTHIRTY-EIGHT

-WhoWeretheTemplars?CHAPTERTHIRTY-NINE-TheOtherGuys;RegionalMilitaryOrdersCHAPTERFORTY-BaphometCHAPTERFORTY-ONE-TheCatharsPARTFOUR-TheBeginningoftheLegends

CHAPTERFORTY-TWO-TemplarsinFictionCHAPTERFORTY-THREE-WhatHappenedtotheTemplars?CHAPTERFORTY-FOUR-TheHolyGrailCHAPTERFORTY-FIVE-TemplarsinDenmark:BornholmIslandCHAPTERFORTY-SIX-TheTemplarsandtheShroudofTurin

CHAPTERFORTY-SEVEN-TemplarsinScotland:RosslynChapelCHAPTERFORTY-EIGHT-TheFreemasonsandtheTemplarsEpilogueHowtoTellifYouAreReadingPseudohistoryTemplarTimeLineRecommendedReadingIndex

PraiseforTheRealHistoryBehindtheDa

VinciCode:“If,likeSamCookesang,you‘don’t know much abouthistory,’ Newman’sencyclopedic, A-to-Z look attopics ranging from‘Apocrypha’ to ‘Wren,Christopher’ providesperspective and insight.” —

PittsburghTribune-Review“Witty and charming, butnonetheless rational inexplanation and complete inbackground research, TheReal History Behind the DaVinciCodeseeksnotsomuchto refute the novel, but toelucidateonthetruth,andnotso much to disparage themistakesofMr.Brownbuttomake readers realize that the

historyisbiggerthananyoneperson, popular novelistsincluded.”—BusinessWorld“Thebook...givesthetruthabout topicsused inBrown’sfiction....Well-writtenandprecise,itisthe work of a woman whowrites what sheknows.”—Statesman Journal

(Oregon)“For fans of Dan Brown’spopular The Da Vinci Code,Sharan Newman’s The RealHistory Behind the Da VinciCode is a must-havecompanion.”—TheSundayOregonian“Newman has arranged herdiscussion of the people,

places, andevents inTheDaVinci Code in anencyclopedicformat,creatingabookthatisbothaccessibleand fun to read.Recommended for alllibraries.”—LibraryJournal

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THEREALHISTORYBEHINDTHE

TEMPLARS

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AcknowledgmentsProfessor Malcolm Barber,for his generosity now andover the years in sharing hisprofound knowledge of theTemplars and for enduringmy many e-mail questionsandventings.Professor Paul Crawford,California University ofPennsylvania, forhishelpon

theTemplars,PhiliptheFair,andtheUniversityofParis.Dr.RozanneElder,CistercianInstitute, for giving meinstant information onBernardofClairvaux.Professor Norman Hinton,University of Illinois,Springfield, emeritus, forMiddle English references totheTemplars.Professor Janus Moeller

Jensen, University ofSouthernDenmark,forgivingme literary background onTemplar ideals in Danishsagas.Professor Kurt VilladsJensen, University ofSouthern Denmark, foradvice on the likelihood ofTemplarsinDenmark.Courtney de Mayo, RiceUniversity, for spending a

tediousdaycopyingalloftheMarquisD’Albonforme.Professor Brian PatrickMcGuire, RoskildeUniversity, for checking mysection on Denmark and theCistercians.Professor Helen Nicholson,CardiffUniversity,foradviceonTemplarsandHospitallersand for referringme to otherexcellentsources.

ProfessorJeffreyRussell,UCSantaBarbara, emeritus, (butnotwithme)forcheckingmyLatin translations and givingadviceonmedievaltheology.Mme. Alessandra Tchernikfor checking my Italiantranslations.Kyle Wolfley, Ball StateUniversity, for copyingseveral books I couldn’t findinmyownlibrary.

And all the members of theMediev-L list, who debatedjustwhat“interdict”consistedof when I couldn’t find asolidanswer.All of these people kindlyhelped me in my research.Any errors in this book aretotally my own. They didtheirbest.

Map drawn by MarciaNoland

IntroductionLast year I was in France tospeak about Dan Brown’sbook The Da Vinci Code,explaining the places wherethe fiction diverged fromhistory. At one stop ateenaged boy from theNetherlands asked me (inexcellent English) about theTemplars. I went into my

standard lecture about theirliterary connection to theGrail and the mythssurrounding their dissolutionin 1312. He listened politelyfor a while and theninterrupted to ask, “Yes, butwhatweretheTemplars?Didtheyreallyexist?”I came to a full stop.That

youngmanhadaccepted thatthe novel was fiction.Therefore, he had assumed

that the Templars were alsofiction.When I started to think

about it, it made perfectsense. When I read sciencefiction, I can’t judge what’sbasedoncutting-edgescienceandwhattheauthormadeup.Why should I expect readersof historical fiction to knowwhich characters in a bookreallyexisted?

The story of the Templarsis definitely the stuff of epicromance. From the time ofthe creation of the order,legendsbegantoswirlaroundthem. Some of these legendsthe Templars createdthemselves. Others appearedin popular chronicles of thelate twelfth and earlythirteenth century. Over theyears the Templars wereadmired and reviled, adored

and loathed. They wereconsideredbysometobetheclosest that a fighting mancould come to salvation andby others nothing more thanmaterialisticmoney-grubbers.TheirmassarrestonOctober13, 1307, shocked theWestern world. Somedefended them; othersbelieved they were heretics.Manywhothoughttheywereprobably innocent of the

chargesstillfelttheTemplarshad gotten a comeuppancethattheyrichlydeserved.Since the Order of the

Knights Templar wasdissolved, the stories aboutthem have grown andmutated until they are hardlyrecognizable. For threehundredyearsaftertheendofthe order, theTemplarswerelargelyforgotten.Ifanything,they were seen as an

anachronism that had endedwellafter ithadceased tobeofanyuse.Theothermilitaryorders survived by changingand adapting to the newworld.Then therewere two great

spurts of interest in theTemplars.Thefirstwasattheendof theeighteenthcenturywhen theywere rediscoveredby Protestant Europe. Theybecame a symbol of

resistance to papal tyrannyand,inFrance,thetyrannyofthe monarchy. Catholicsresponded by rememberingthe Templars as the lastdefense against the enemiesofChrist.At the end of the

eighteenth century, thecreation of Templar mythstook a huge leap. The newsociety known as theFreemasons was spreading

across Europe. Through theenthusiastic efforts of aGerman baron, Karl vonHund,whopublishedunderapen name, the story of theTemplars was grafted on toMasonic ritual and lore.Thisopened thedoor for awealthof imaginative theoriesregardingtheTemplars,allofwhich had more to do withthe political situation inEurope at that time than the

historyoftheTemplars.The second great

development in the Templarmyth came in the twentiethcentury. Late Victorianwriters, such as JessieWeston, had woven theTemplars into Europeanfolklore. But it was not untilthe latter part of the centurythat the general publicbecame intrigued by theorieslinking the Templars to

everything from the HolyGrail, toCathar Heresy, tomodern secret societies.Currently, there are somanybeliefs about the Templarsthat I find it impossible tokeep up with them. Theyseem to have been involvedwith everything except theKennedy assassination, andthatmightbenext.This book is an attempt to

give the known facts about

the Knights Templar, fromtheir beginnings in 1119 or1120 to the dissolution in1312 and beyond. It is myhope that this will make iteasier for people who arereading the latest Templarbook,eitherfictionorhistory,to separate fact from fictionand give them a base fromwhich to evaluate the ideaspresented.Ihavearrangedthebook chronologically, with

some chapters being anoverviewofeventsandothersfocusingonindividualpeopleor subjects. When there arewords in bold type, thatmeans there is a sectiondevoted to that one topic.Some sections overlap insubject matter, giving adifferent view of people andevents.I have often heard that

readers are put off by

footnotes. Please don’t be.Youdon’thavetoreadthem.They are there to let youknow that I’ve donemybestto find the most accurateinformation available. Theyare also there so that if youwish, you can go to thesesources and check them foryourselves. Then you candecideifI’mrightornot.Butif you’rewilling to trustme,then just ignore them. I’ll be

very flattered. Studyinghistorymeansthatonehastobe part scientist, partdetective, and partpsychologist.Theevidenceisnot always complete andthat’s why, when historianscome to conclusions, theyalways letpeopleknowwhatsources thoseconclusionsarebasedupon.So don’t worry about my

citations.I’llbeveryhappyif

yousimplyenjoythebook.

PARTONE

ThePoorKnightsofChrist

CHAPTERONE

TheBeginningoftheOrder

Howdoesa legendbegin?InthecaseoftheKnightsoftheTemple of Solomon atJerusalem, it began inobscurity. No contemporarychronicler mentions theirexistence.Weonlyknowthey

existedby1125becausethereis a charter from that yearwitnessedbyHughdePaynsin which he is called the“MasteroftheTemple.”1

Later generations wouldtell the story of the firstTemplars, each one a littledifferently:At thebeginningof the reignof Baldwin II, a Frenchman

came from Rome toJerusalem to pray. He hadmade a vow not to return tohis own country, but tobecomeamonkafterhelpingthe king in thewar for threeyears; he and the thirtyknights who accompaniedhim would end their lives inJerusalem.Whenthekingandhisbarons saw that theyhadachieved remarkable thingsin the war . . . they advised

theman to serve in thearmywith his thirty knights anddefend the place againstbrigands rather than tobecomeamonkinthehopeofsavinghisownsoul.2

Thatistheexplanationforthebeginning of the TemplarsgivenbyMichael, theSyrianpatriarchofAntioch,inabout1190.Ataboutthesametime,an Englishman,Walter Map,

gave a somewhat differentaccount:AknightcalledPayns,fromadistrict of Burgundy of thesame name, came as apilgrim to Jerusalem. Whenhe heard that the Christianswhowateredtheirhorsesatacistern not far outside thegates of Jerusalem wereconstantly attacked by thepagans,andthatmanyof the

believers were slain in theseambuscades, he pitied them,and . . . he tried to protectthem as far as he could. Hefrequentlysprangtotheiraidfrom well-chosen hidingplaces and slew many of theenemy.3

Walter views the founder ofthe order as a sort of LoneRanger who eventuallyenlisted other knights to join

him in hiswork. Thiswouldmake a goodmovie plot, butitisunlikelythatamandoingthis would live long enoughto establish an order ofknights.Yet another story of the

firstTemplars is froma laterwriter, Bernard, a monk atCorbie. He wrote in 1232,overahundredyearsaftertheorder began, but he wasdrawingonanowlostversion

byanoblemannamedErnoulliving in Jerusalem about thesame time as the otherwriters.Bernardwrote:When the Christians hadconquered Jerusalem, theyinstalled themselves at theTemple of the Sepulcher andmany more came there fromeverywhere.And theyobeyedthe prior of the sepulcher.The good knights there took

counsel among themselvesand said, “We haveabandonedourlandsandourfriendsandhavecomeheretoelevateandglorifytheruleofGod. If we stay here,drinking, eating and hangingaround, without doing work,then we carry our weaponsfor nothing. This land hasneed of them. . . . Let us gettogether andmake one of usthe master of us all . . . to

lead us in battle when itoccurs.”4

So Bernard believed that themen had originally beenpilgrims, perhaps staying atthe church of the Sepulcherunder the supervision of apriest, and it was onlythrough boredom that theydecided to form a fightingunit.

Finally we have theaccount of William,ArchbishopofTyre.Heistheonemost often quoted and itis his version that has mostoftenbeenaccepted.Sincehewas born in Jerusalem andeducated in Europe, he hadbothaccesstotherecordsandthe polished style necessarytopresentthehistory.In that same year [1119]

some noblemen of knightlyrank, devoted to God, piousand God fearing, placedthemselvesinthehandsofthelordpatriarch for theserviceofChrist,professingthewishto live perpetually in themanner of regular canons inchastity, and obedience,without personal belongings.Theleadingandmosteminentof these men were thevenerableHughofPaynsand

GodfreyofSt.Omer.As theyhad neither church nor fixedabode, the king gave them atemporaryhomeinhispalacewhich was on the south sideoftheTempleoftheLord,...Theirmain duty, imposed onthembythepatriarchandtheother bishops for theremission of their sins, wasthat theyshouldmaintain thesafety of the roads and thehighways to the best of their

ability, for the benefit ofpilgrims in particular,againstattacksofbanditsandmarauders.5

These explanations have afew things in common.TheyallimplythatHughdePaynswas the first of theTemplarsand thatKingBaldwin IIofJerusalem was the one torecognize them, either asknights committed to the

protectionofpilgrimsorasagroup of religious men whowished to devote theirmilitaryskilltothedefenseofthe Christian settlements.They also agree that at firsttheTemplars livedat thesitethe crusaders believed to bethe temple of the HolySepulcher, the place whereJesushadbeenburied.Itwasonly after they became amilitary order that the men

movedtotheking’spalace,inwhat was believed to be theTemple of Solomon. Theymay have shared quarters atthe beginning with theHospitallers, who had beenestablished in theHoly Landsince1070.The chronicles are unclear

onwhose idea itwas tohavean order of men who livedlike monks and fought likesoldiers. After all, fighting

monks? That didn’t makesense.Menwhofoughthadtoshed blood; shedding bloodwas a sin.Monks prayed forthe souls of warriors whiledeploring their violence. Theidea was that fighting menwere a necessary evil toprotect society from thelawless.Someofthemwouldfind religion, give up theiraggressive ways, and join amonastery, but who ever

heard of a religious orderwhosemissionwastogointobattle?It was an idea born of

desperation.Withthesuccessofthefirstwaveofcrusaders,JerusalemandthesitesoftheBible were once again opentoChristianpilgrims.Andthepilgrimscameindrovesfromall the corners ofChristendom.

But, while the cities ofJerusalem, Tripoli, Antioch,andAcrehadbeentaken, theroads that connected themwere still, for the most part,in thehandsof theMoslems.And there were a number oftowns that had not beenconquered.Thepilgrimswerefair game for raiding parties.At Easter in 1119 a party ofsome seven hundred wasattacked while going from

Jerusalem to the JordanRiver.Threehundredofthemwerekilledandanother sixtycaptured and sold intoslavery.6

Walter Map’s story ofHugh de Payns single-handedlyguardingawateringholemayhavecomenotfromthe Templars but from theexperiencesofaRussian, theabbot Daniel. In about 1107,he told of a place between

JaffaandJerusalemwherethepilgrims could get water.Theywouldstaythereforthenight“ingreatfear”foritwasnear the Moslem town ofAscalon from “whence theSaracens would issue andmassacrethepilgrims.”7

Despitethedangers,peoplewerestilldeterminedtomakethe journey. The initialconquest of the Holy Landhad been meant to reopen

Jerusalem to pilgrims.Somethinghad tobedone toprotect them. But KingBaldwin and the othercrusaderlordsdidn’thavethemenortheresourcestopatrolall the routes to the sites ofthe Bible that the pilgrimswere determined to see.Whoeverhadtheideafor theTemplars,itwasgreetedwithenthusiasmby local lords. Inthe end it was decided that

Hugh and his friends couldserve God best by keepingHispilgrimssafe.TheTemplarswereat first

a local group with noconnection to the papacy.Theyreceivedtheapprovalofthe patriarch of Jerusalem,Garmund, 1 and may havebeen presented at a churchcouncil held at the town ofNablusonJanuary23,1120.

The council was notconvened to establish theKnightsof theTemplebut todiscuss problems that haddevelopedinthetwentyyearssince the founding of theLatin kingdoms. The mainworry was that grasshoppershadbeendestroyingthecropsfor the four years past. Thegeneral feeling was that thiswas a divine punishmentbecausemoralshadslackened

since the conquest ofJerusalem. So most of thetwenty-five pronouncementsthat the council passedaddressed the sins of theflesh.8

It is interesting that eventhough this was a religiouscouncil, there were as manylay lords as bishopsparticipating.Thisshowsthattheconcernswerewidespreadand needed to be solved by

allthoseinpower.This council interests me

because several historians oftheTemplarsmention it as ifit were important to theformation of the Templars,but, when I went to theofficial records, nothing wassaid about them.9Instead, thecanons (laws) that wereenacted at Nablus dwell onwhich sins the lords andclerics of Jerusalem thought

were the worst. Seven ofthem forbid adultery orbigamy and four concernsodomy.Fivemoredealwithsexual and other relationsbetween Christians andSaracens, which were notallowed unless the Saracenhad been baptized. Thegeneral implication seems tohave been that if peoplestopped doing these things,the next harvest would be

better.There is no official report

as to whether the decrees ofthe councilwere followed orif the next year’s cropswereunmolested. From othersources,itappearsthatsinsofthe flesh were committed asusual.The only canon thatmight

relate to the Templars, agroup still in its infancy, is

number twenty: “If a clerictakesuparmsin thecauseofdefense, he is not held to beguilty.”10Itdoesnotmentionknights becoming militaryclerics.All the same, this was a

radicaldeparture.Despite theloosening of the commandagainstgeneralwarfareinthecase of thosewho fought forGod, priests and monks hadalways been absolutely

forbiddentofight.However, at Antioch, the

year before the council,CountRogerandmostofhisarmy had been killed outsidethewallsofthecityinabattlestill known as the “Field ofBlood.” In order to saveAntioch, the Frankishpatriarch, Bernard, issuedarms to anyone who couldcarry them, including monksand priests. Luckily, the

clerics didn’t have to fight,but the precedent had beenset.11

Thiswastheatmosphereinwhich the Order of theTemplewasformed.ONE of the myths that theTemplars told about theirown beginning was that forthefirstnineyearstherewereonlynineknights.Thisisfirst

mentionedinWilliamofTyrebut was often repeated bylater chroniclerswho learnedit from theTemplars of theirowntime.12

Were there only ninemembers? Probably not.While the Order of theTemple didn’t seem to havegrownverymuch in the firstfew years, it wouldn’t havelastedatallwithsofewmen.The number ninemight have

been chosen because it wentwith the nine years from thefoundinguntiltheCouncilofTroyes,where the orderwasgivenformalrecognition.Some scholars think the

Templars may have beeninfluenced by medievalnumbersymbolism.Nineisa“circular number”: nomatterhowmuchitismultiplied,thedigits always add up to nineor a multiple of it, “and

therefore could be seen asincorruptible.”13 Many yearsafter the founding, the poetDante surmised that thenumber nine was chosenbecause “nine is the holycipherof theorderofangels,three times the holy cipherthreeoftheTrinity.”14

I don’t think that the firstknights were well enougheducated to come up withsomething that esoteric.

However, William of Tyrewas,anditisinhischroniclethatwefirstfindthisidea.It’sverypossiblethatthenumberwasWilliam’s invention andthat it was taken up by theTemplars of his time andaddedtotheirownversionoftheir legend. There’s nowayto tell, but the number ninedid become part of Templarlore and was used in theartwork in some Templar

chapels.15Fromthereitcametobeconsideredafactsimplybecause the legend had beenrepeatedsooften.So we know very little

about the first years of theKnightsTemplar.Thereareafew charters from Jerusalemand Antioch that arewitnessed by the earlymembers. But these are notgifts to theTemplars,merelyevidence that these men

existed andwere in theHolyLand.Thereareno survivingrecords of donations to theorderbefore1124.16

It is humannature towantto fill in the gaps, the blankspacesonthemaps, thepartsof the story that don’t seemenough. This is whathappened to the story of thefirst Templars. At the time,they weren’t consideredimportant enough for the

chroniclers to mention. Butsixty-odd years later, whenthey were an important partof society, people wanted toknowhowitallbegan.And so the legends were

born and started to grow.Theyaregrowingstill.1Charters of the HolySepulcherno.105,inThierryLeroy, Huges de Payns(Troyes,2001)p.194.

2 Michael the Syrian, inMalcom Barber and KeithBate,TheTemplars:SelectedSources Translated andAnnotated (ManchesterUniversityPress,2002)p.27.TakenfromtheChroniquedeMichel le Syrien, PatriarcheJacobited’Antioch(1166-90),ed.andtr.J.B.Chabot(Paris:ErnestLerous,1905)p.201.3 Walter Map, De nugiscurialium/Courtiers’ Trifles,

tr. Frederick Tupper andMarbury Bladen Ogle(London,1924)p.33.4 Text in Anthony Luttrell,“The Earliest Templars,” inAutour de la premièrecroisade.ActsduColloquedelaSocietyfortheStudyoftheCrusades and the Latin East(Clerment-Ferrend, 22-25juin 1995) ed. M. Balard(Paris: Publications do laSorbonne, 1996) p. 196.

“Quant li Chrestiien orentconquis Jherusalem, si serendirent asses de chevaliersau temple del Sepucre; etmout s’en I rendirentpiusdetoutes tieres. Es estoientobeissant au prieux douSepucre. Il i ot de boinschevaliers rendus; si prisentconsel entr’iaus et disent:“Nous avoumes guerpies noztieresetnosamis,etsommeschi venu pour la loy Dieu i

lever et essauchier. Sisommeschiarrestepourboireet pour mengier at pordespendre, sans oevre faire;nenoientnefaisonsd’armes,etbesoingeenestenletiere:.. .Prendonsconselet faisonsmestre d’un de nos, . . . kenous conduie en bataillequant lius en sera.” (mytranslation)5William of Tyre in Barberand Bate, pp. 25-26. Text in

Guillaume de Tyr,Chronique, ed. R. B. C.Huygens, 2 vols. CorpusChristianorum ContinuatioMediavales 63 and 63A(Turnholt, 1986) 12.7 pp.553-54“Eodemannoquidamnobilesvirideequstriordine,deo devotei religiosi ettimentes deum, in monudomini patriarche Christiserviciosemancipantes,morecanonicorum regularium in

castitate et obedientia et sinepropriovellepertpetuovivereprofessisunt.Interquosprimiet precipui fuerenut virivernerabiles Hugo dePagainis et Gaufridus deSancto Aldemaro. Quibusquoniam neque ecclesia eratneque certum habebantdomiciliumrexinpalatiosuo,quodsecusTemplumDominiasaustralemhabetpartem,eisad tempus concessit

habitaculum,...Primaautemeorumprofessio,quodqueeisa domino patriarcha etreliquis episcopis inremissionem peccatoruminiunctum est, ut vias etitinera maxime ad salutemperegrinorumcontralatronumet incursantium insidias proviribusconservarent.”6Malcolm Barber, The NewKnighthood (CambridgeUniversityPress,1994)p.9.

7Quoted in Edward Burman,The Templars, Knights ofGod (Rochester,VT:DestinyBooks,1986)p.16.8Charles-Joseph Hefele andH. Leclerq, Histoires deConciles d’apres lesdocuments Originaux, t. Va(Paris: Letouzey et Ané,1912)p.592.9BenjaminZ.Kader,“OntheOrigins of the Earliest Laws

of Frankish Jerusalem: TheCanons of the Copuncil ofNablus, 1120,” SpeculumApril 1999 (Latin Canonsreproduced from BibilotecaApostolicaVaticana,MSVat.Lat. 1345 Fols. 1r-3r) pp.331-34.10 Ibid. p. 334. “Si clericuscausadefenssionis [sic] armadetulerit, culpa nonteneantur.”(mytranslation)

11Ibid.p.332andinarticle.SeealsoStevenRunciman,AHistory of theCrusades Vol.II (Cambridge UniversityPress,1952)pp.150-52.12William of Tyre, p. 554.“Cumque iamannisnoven ineofuissentproposito,nonnisinovemerrant.”13BarberandBate,p.3.14Quoted in Marie LuiseBuist-Thiele, “The Influence

of St. Bernard of ClairvauxontheFormationoftheOrderof theKnights Templar,” ed.MichaelGerversThe SecondCrusade and the Cistercians(New York: St. Martin’sPress,1992)p.58.15Ibid.16 Marquis d’Albon,Cartularie Général del’Ordre du Temple 1119?-1150 (Paris, 1913) p. 1. It

was a donation made inMarseille and there areseveraluncertaintiesaboutit.

CHAPTERTWO

HughdePayns

Amid all the differenttheories about the beginningof the Templars there is oneconstant. The founder of theorder was a certain Hugh dePayns,knight.Some say he and a few

comradesfirstapproachedthe

patriarchofJerusalem,askingto live amonastic life in thecity. Others report the menwent toBaldwin II, king ofJerusalem. Still otherssuggest that it was Baldwinwho asked Hugh and hisfriends toactasprotectors tothe many pilgrims comingfromtheWesttoJerusalem.In all of these, the main

constantisHugh.

ButwhowasHugh?Whereis Payns? What was hisbackgroundandwhowerehisfamily?What could have ledhim to devote his life tofightingforGod?Despite his importance,

even in his own day, acontemporary biography ofHugh has never been found.Nor has any medieval writereven mentioned reading one.Ifindthisinterestingbecause

it indicates to me theuneasiness people felt aboutthe idea of warrior monks.Other men who foundedorders, like Francis ofAssisior Robert of Arbrissel, hadbiographies written aboutthem immediately after theirdeaths. The main purpose ofthis was to have aneyewitness account of theirsaintliness in case they weresuggested for canonization.

Of the little that was writtenabout Hugh, nothing wasnegative,butthere

HughdePaynsandGodfreyofSt.Omerbefore

KingBaldwinII.(Bibliotheque

Nationale)does not seem to have beenany sense thathewas in lineforsainthood.So how do we find out

more about this man whostarteditall?The first clue we have is

from the chronicler Williamof Tyre. He says that HughcamefromthetownofPayns,near Troyes in the county of

Champagne.1 William alsomentionsHugh’s companion,Godfrey of St. Omer, inPicardy,nowFlanders.Thesetwo men seem, in William’seyes, tobe cofoundersof theTemplars, but it was Hughwho became the first GrandMaster. This may have beenthrough natural leadership,but it also may have beenbecause Hugh had the rightconnections.

Payns is a small town inFrance, near Troyes, the seatof the counts ofChampagne.It is situated in a fertilefarmlandthateventhenhadareputation for its wine. It’snot known when Hugh wasborn, or who his parentswere. The first mention ofhim in the records is fromabout 1085-1090, when a“HugodePedano,Montiniacidominus,”orHughofPayns,

lordofMontigny,witnessedacharterinwhichHugh,countofChampagne,donatedlandtotheabbeyofMolesme.2 Inorder to be a witness, ourHugh had to have been atleast sixteen. So he wasprobablybornaround1070.Over the next few years,

four more charters of thecount are witnessed by a“Hugo de Peanz” or “Hugode Pedans.” Actually, the

placenameisspelledslightlydifferently each time itappears.3 It is also spelled“Hughes.”Spellingwasmuchmore of a creative art backthen. However, it’s fairlycertain that these are all thesame man. These show thatHughwaspartofthecourtofthe count of Champagne,perhapsevenrelatedtohim.Thelastofthesechartersin

Champagne is from 1113.

The next time we find thenameHughdePayns, it is in1120 in Jerusalem. This ishighlysuggestive,asHughiswitness to a charterconfirming the property ofthe Order of St. John (theHospitallers).4 So now wehave confirmation of thestory that Hugh was inJerusalem in 1119-1120 tofoundtheTemplarsoutsideoflater histories.However, it is

not until five years later thatHugh witnesses a charter inwhich he lists himself as“Master of the KnightsTemplar.”5 In between, he iswitnesstoadonationmadein1123byGaramond,patriarchof Jerusalem, to theabbeyofSanta Maria de Josaphat.Here Hugh is listed only bythe name “Hugonis dePeans.” There is no mentionof theTemplars andHugh is

near the end of the list ofwitnesses, showing that hewas not one of the mostimportantpeoplepresent.6

How did Hugh get toJerusalem?Whathappenedinthose five years betweenwitnessing a charter as alaymanandbecomingMasterof the Templars? We canguess, but unless moreinformationappears,wecan’tknowforcertain.

Themost likely reason forHugh to have gone to theHoly Land was in thecompanyofCountHugh.Thecount made a pilgrimage toJerusalem, his second, in1114.7There is no list of hiscompanions, but it would fitthat Hugh de Payns wouldhave been in his company.Hugh was already amongthoseatcourtoftenenoughtobe a witness to the count’s

donations and therefore oneofhisliegemen.Buthemusthave been released from hisobligation to his lord for,when Count Hugh returnedhome, Hugh de PaynsremainedinJerusalem.Why?Again, Hugh hasn’t left

anything to tell us.Was it aspenance for his sins? Mostpilgrimageswere intended as

aquestfordivineforgiveness.Many people have insistedthat knights onlywent to theHoly Land for wealth, eitherin land or goods looted fromthose they conquered. But inHugh’scase,oncehedecidedto remain in Jerusalem heresolved to live the life of amonk,owningnothing.It is even more surprising

becauseHugh apparently leftawifeandatleastoneyoung

child behind. His wife wasnamed Elizabeth. She wasprobably from the family ofthe lords of Chappes, landquite close to Payns.8 Theirson, Thibaud, became abbotof the monastery of LaColombe.9Hugh may havehad two other children,Guibuin and Isabelle, but Idon’t find the evidence forthem completely convincing.10

In principle, any marriedperson wishing to join areligious order had to havethe permission of his or herspouse and that spouse wasalso to join a convent ormonastery. In practice,however, this didn’t happenthat often, especially amongthenobility.WhenSybillaofAnjou, countess of Flanders,remainedinJerusalemtojointhe nuns at the convent of

Bethany in 1151, herhusband,Thierry, returned toFlanders and continued hislife.11Sometimes, the spouseremarried. It is not knownwhat happened to Elizabeth.PerhapsshediedbeforeHughleftChampagne.Hugh did not abandon the

place of his birth. When hereturned to Europe to drumupsupportfor theKnightsofthe Temple, he received his

greatest support inChampagne. It was at theCouncil of Troyes, only afewmilessouthofPayns,thatthe order received officialpapalapproval.There were also several

Templar commanderies nearPayns.One of them, at least,was founded by Hugh.Donations continued to theTemplars of Payns until theearly fourteenth century, just

before the arrest of theTemplars.12 Many of the“donations” are clearly salesunderanothername,aswhenin 1213, a knight namedHenri of Saint-Mesmin gavetwofieldsnearthepreceptoryto the Templars of Payns. Inreturn, the Templars gaveHenri fourteen livres. Inanother case, Odo of Troyes“gave” the Templars somemills.Odowasabouttoleave

on Crusade and so theTemplars gave him fortylivres with the promise oftwenty more when (or if )Odoreturned.However, after founding

the commandery, it appearsthat Hugh donated nothingmore to it. He returned toJerusalem, probably around1130,anddied in1136.May24isthetraditionaldate.

The recordswe have fromtheearlytwelfthcenturygivenomoreinformationonHughde Payns. Of course, muchhas been lost over the years.Someof theTemplar recordsin Europe were destroyedafter the dissolution of theorder at the Council ofVienne.Thisdoesn’tseemtohave been because theinformation was secret orheretical, simply that it was

no longer needed and theparchment could be scrapedandreused.The main Templar

archives, which might havehad more information onHugh, were not in Europe,however, but in Jerusalem.They were moved to Acreand thenCyprus,where theywere in 1312. War andconquest ensured thatanythingleftwasscatteredor

destroyed.Perhaps there was once a

biographyofsortsofHughdePayns. It seems to me thatsomeone would have wantedto tell the world more abouthim. What we can deducefrom his actions is that hemust have been a strong-willedman, very devout andwith the ability to convinceothers to see and follow hisvision. He does not seem to

have been particularly welleducated. Nothing in his lifeorbackgroundwouldindicatethat he was involved inanythingofamysticalnature,nor that he founded theTemplars to protect somenewly discovered treasure orsecret,asmodernmythsstate.Hugh de Payns was most

likelyadeeplydevoutlaymanwhowanted to serveGodbyprotecting His pilgrims and

His land. Hugh used hiswealth,suchasitwas,andhisfamilyandsocialconnectionsto make this possible.Nothingmore.1WilliamofTyre, ed.R.B.V. Huygens, CCCM 6312.7.6 (Brepols, Turnholt1986) “Inter quos primus etprecipui fuerunt virivenerabiles Hugo de Paganiset Gaufridus de SanctoAldemaro.”

2 Thierry Leroy, Hughes dePayns, ChevalierChampenois, Fondateur deL’Ordre des Templiers(Troyes: La Maison duBoulanger, 2001) p. 194.Cartulaire de Molesme, n.230p.214.3 Leroy, p. 194. CharterslistedareforabbeysallintheareaofTroyes.4Henri-François Delaborde,

Chartres de Terre-SainteProvenantdel’AbbayedeN.-D. de Josaphat. B.E.F.A.R.29. (Paris: Ernst Thorin,1880)no.101.5Leroy,p.194.CartulairedeSaint Sépulcre no. 105,“magistermilitiumTempli.”6Chartres de Terre-SainteProvenantdel’AbbayedeN.-D. de Josaphat, ed. H-Francois Delaborde, (Paris,

1880)p.38.Charterno.12.7MichaelBur,La formationdu comté de Champagne(UniversitédeLilleIII,1977)p.275.8Leroy,p.98.Despiteseveralpopular modern books offictionandsomethatsaytheyare nonfiction, there is notruth to the tale that Hugh’swifewasnamedCatherineSt.Clair.

9Thibaud was elected abbotin1139.“ThibauddePahens,filiusHugonis primimagistritemple Jerosolymitani.”QuotedinLeroy,p.95.10Leroy,pp.95-114.Neitherofthechildrenislistedassonor daughter of Hugh. Theymightbefromanotherbranchof the family who took overPayns after Thibaud enteredthemonastery.

1111 Karen Nicholas,“Countesses as Rulers inFlanders,” in AristocraticWomen in Medieval France,ed. Theodore Evergates(Philadelphia: University ofPennsylvania Press, 1999) p.123.1212Leroy,p.120.

CHAPTERTHREE

BaldwinII,KingofJerusalem

Baldwin of Le Bourqaccomplished the dream ofmany of the knights of theFirst Crusade. Hewent frombeing a shirttail relative ofGodfrey of Bouillon and hisbrother,BaldwinI,theheroes

of the crusade, to becomingking in his own right,marrying a princess andruling a realm that had beenconquered for the glory ofGod.He also was the man who

first gave the Temple ofSolomon toHugh de Paynsand his knights, thus startingboth the reality and thelegendoftheTemplars.

Baldwin was the son ofHugh,countofRethel, andacousin of the Lotharingianbrothers Eustace, Godfrey,and Baldwin. He went withthemontheFirstCrusadeandremained. When Eustacereturned home to becomecount of Boulogne, Godfrey,“the Protector of the HolySepulcher,”diedandBaldwinbecame the first king ofJerusalem; their cousin was

giventhecountyofEdessatorule.When the crusaders

arrived,EdessahadonlybeenunderMoslemcontrolashorttime,andthree-quartersofitspopulation was Christian. 1MostofthemwereArmenianMonophysites, who wereconsidered heretics by theGreek Orthodox Byzantines2Thoros, the Orthodoxprevious ruler of the county,

had been deposed by hispeople shortly after thearrivalof the crusaders.3TheArmenianswerewillingtoberuled by the Westerncrusaders as long as theycould practice their form ofChristianity.Unlike many of the early

settlers, Baldwin seems tohave adapted to the customsofhisnew land.Heacceptedthe Armenian patriarch with

“allthehonorsduetohishighecclesiastical dignity, gavehim villages, loaded himdown with gifts and showedhim great friendship.”4 Thedifferent Christian sects ofthe county were allowed tocontinue their forms ofworship, not forced toconformtotheRomanrites.In his desire to assimilate

with his new subjects,Baldwin also took an

Armenian bride. Her namewas Morfia and she was thedaughter ofKhoril, prince ofMelitene. Although it was apolitically sound move andshe came with an excellentdowry, there also seems tohave been genuine affectionbetweenBaldwinandMorfia.The rest of the marriagesamong the noble families oftheLatinkingdomsmake thesteamiest soap operas look

tame, but in their yearstogether Baldwin andMorfiaprovoked no scandal and notalk of divorce. When onlydaughterswereborn to them,Baldwin saw no reason whythe eldest one shouldn’tinheritEdessa.When in 1118, Baldwin I,

king of Jerusalem, diedwithout an heir, he left noprovision for the successionto the throne.5 The patriarch

of Jerusalem, Arnulf, calledthe lords together to decidewhattodo.Somefeltthattheking’slastremainingbrother,Eustace, should besummoned fromBoulogne totake up the kingship. Othersfelt that itwasunsafetowaitfor Eustace. The time itwould take to send amessenger to Europe andback would leave thekingdomopentoanarchyand

attack6

Jocelyn of Courtenay,anotherearlycrusader,put ina vote for Baldwin of LeBourq. Baldwin was of thesame family as the late king,hehaddoneagoodjobrulingEdessa, and, even if hischildrenwereallgirls,hehadproved he could producechildren.Therewasstillhopeforaboy.7

Justbychance (orperhapsnot), Baldwin of Le Bourqwas visiting Jerusalem at thetime. He accepted thenominationandwascrownedwithoutdelay.It turned out that Eustace

wasn’t thrilled with the ideaoftakingoverthegovernanceof Jerusalem. He had startedout for the Holy Land whenhe heard of his brother’sdeath, but had only reached

Italy when he learned ofBaldwin’s coronation. Hewas apparently quite contentto go back to his home inBoulogne.8

Eustacemay have realizedthat the Kingdom ofJerusalem was a prize thatwould need constantdefending. Or he may haveremembered what thesummersun in theNearEastdoestofairnorthernskin.So

Baldwin became the secondking of Jerusalem without aserious struggle. He gaveEdessa to his supporterJocelynofCourtenay9

The new king faced amountain of problems, bothmilitary and economic. Thecapital city of Jerusalem hadbeen cleared of all non-Christians by the firstcrusaders and there hadn’tbeenmuchinterestamongthe

Franks to repopulate it. Thecitywas a place for pilgrimsto visit, see the sights, buysome souvenirs, and gohome. Baldwin gaveconcessions to anyone“Latin” who would set upshops and homes. He alsogave Syrians, Greeks, andArmenians—everyone exceptSaracensandJews—therightof free trade, especially infoodstuffs.10 It worked to

some extent, but Jerusalemwas important more for itshistorical and religiousconnections rather than as amajor center of trade. It wastheportcitiesthatmaintainedthe crusaders’ hold on theland and most of theWesterners lived along thecoast.Outside of the cities, there

was little control over thearea. The pilgrims, who

brought cash in, were beingwaylaid on the road byrobbers. Itwas impossible topatrolthewholeareabetweenJerusalemand theport cities.Also, many of the pilgrimscouldn’t seem to understandthattheycouldn’tjusttrotoffto spend a day inBethlehemor go for a dip in the Jordanwithout guards. Baldwin hadneither the men nor theresources to protect them.

Andyet,withoutthepilgrims,Jerusalemcouldnotsurvive.It’s not certain whether it

was Baldwin or Hugh dePayns who first suggestedthat a group of knights takeonthejobofpilgrimherding.11Ineithercase,Baldwinwasundoubtedly thrilled to turnthe problem over to the newOrder of knights. TheHospitallers had long beenestablished within Jerusalem

toprovideshelterandcaretothe pilgrims, many of whomcame with the intention ofdying in the Holy Land. Butin 1119, when the Templarswere founded, the hospitalhad no military duties. Sotherewasadefinitenichefortheknightstofill.King Baldwin gave them

the use of a section of theroyalpalace,thoughttobeonthe site of the Temple of

Solomon, and left them tosettleinasbesttheycould.The next few years for

Baldwin were spent outsideof Jerusalem.Hehad tomopup after Roger of Antiochdecided to ride out and fightthe Ortoqid Turk Ilghaziwithout waiting forreinforcements. The placewhere Roger realized thathe’d made his last mistakewas ever after known as the

“FieldofBlood.”12

Baldwin took over thegovernance of Antioch untilRoger’s heir, Bohemond,could reach adulthood andarrive from his home inApulia. He also kept an eyeonEdessaandwhen,in1123,Count Jocelyn was capturedby Ilghazi’s nephew Balak,Baldwin rushed north tomaintain order in the city.Unfortunately, Baldwin fell

into the same trapas Jocelynhad and became Balak’sprisonerinApril1123.The barons of Jerusalem

chose a regent, Eustace deGarnier, lord of Sidon andCaesarea. He held thingstogether quite well untilBaldwin was released in1124, after paying a heavyransom and giving Balak hisfive-year-old daughter,Yveta,asahostage.

During his captivity thecity of Tyre was capturedfromtheTurksbytheFranksand the Venetians. TheunimportanceoftheTemplarsat this time is clear from thefactthatthetreatywassignedbythepatriarchofJerusalem,the archbishop of Caesarea,threeotherbishops,theabbotof Santa Maria of Josaphat,and the priors of the HolySepulcher, theTempleof the

Lord, and Mout Sion. Themaster of the Temple isn’tevenamongthewitnesses.13

As soon as he was free,Baldwin needed to reasserthisauthority.Heimmediatelygathered his troops to fightthe Turks in northern Syria.He then attempted to takeDamascus, but, like all thecrusadersafterhim,failed.14

In between battles,

Baldwin was busy marryingoffhisdaughter,Alice,tothecount ofAntioch,BohemondII, now old enough to takecharge. His third daughter,Hodierna, was then marriedto the count of Tripoli. Forhis eldest daughter,Melisande, Baldwin sent adelegation back to Europe toask for the hand of thewidowed count of Anjou,Fulk. Although there isn’t

much mention of theTemplars in Jerusalem up tothispoint,HughdePaynsandGodfreyofSt.Omer,thetwofirst knights of the order,wereintheparty.15

This mission back toEuropewas the turningpointfor the Templars. Hugh andGodfrey returned with men,money, and papal approval.This last allowed them tocollect donations and set up

branch houses to manageproperty. The houses, calledpreceptories orcommanderies, providedhorses, fodder and food aswell as cash for the constantneeds of the front lineTemplarknights.The trip was also good

public relations for Baldwinand the Kingdom ofJerusalem.HughandGodfreyreminded people of the

purpose of the crusades. TheTemplar knights were notlooking for individualwealthor land or political power.The order itself wound uphaving all three but no onecould have foreseen that in1125, when the men set out.What people in Europe sawweremen of good birthwhohad abandoned their landsand families in order todefend the places where

Christ had livedanddied forall people. The example ofthe Templars was a shamingreminder to those who hadstayedbehind.When Baldwin II died in

August1131,theKingdomofJerusalem was firmlyestablished.Hisdaughterandson-in-law had given him agrandson, the futureBaldwinIII, who would carry on hisline.Constructiononthenew

ChurchoftheHolySepulcherhadbegun.Hemusthavefeltthathehadgivenhispeopleagood base to continueexpandingtheterritory.He may not have

considered the Templars oneofhismajoraccomplishmentsbut they would outlast theLatin city of Jerusalem bymore than a hundred yearsand their legend wouldsurvive longafter themighty

castles of the crusaders hadbecome only crumbling pilesofstone.1RenéGrousset,HistoiredesCroisades et du RoyanmeFranc de Jérusalem (Paris,1934)p.388.2Monophysites: This is aChristiansectthatstressesthedivine nature of Jesus overthe human one. TheArmenian Monophysites

beganinthefifthcenturyandstillexist.3Hans Eberhard Mayer, TheCrusades (Oxford UniversityPress,1988)p.49.4Grousset, p. 259 (quotingMatthewofEdessa).5He had beenmarried twice,oncetoanArmenianprincesswhom he had refused toaccept because she had beencaptured for a short time by

Moslemsandhesaidshehadbeen raped by them. Thesecond timewas toAdelaideof Sicily, whom herepudiated. Mayer says that“to all appearances, the kingwas homosexual” (p. 71) buthe doesn’t say what thoseappearances were. Baldwinwas buried next to hisbrother,Godfrey.6WilliamofTyre,Chroniqueed.R.B.C.Huygens,CCCM

63 (Turnholt, 1986) 12, 3 p.549.7Ibid., p. 549 (I added thepart about his daughters).William listed the otherreasons.8Ibid.,p.550.9Grousset,p.537.10William of Tyre, p. 565.“DeditetiamSurianis,Grecis,Armenis et harum cuiuslibetnationum hominibus,

Sarracenis etiamnichilominus, liberampotestaem sine exactionealiqua inferendi in sanctamcivitatem triticum, ordeum etquodlibetgenusqequminus.”11Please see chapter 1, TheBeginningoftheOrder.12Mayer,p.73.13WilliamofTyre,12,28,p.581.14Mayer,pp.79-80.

15Pleaseseechapter2,HughdePayns.

CHAPTERFOUR

Hugh,CountofChampagneOneoftheearliestmembersoftheTemplarswasalso

oneofthe

few members of the highnobility to join. Hugh ofChampagne remains one of

the more mysterious of thefirstTemplars.As with so much of the

politics in the eleventh andtwelfthcenturies, thestoryofHugh, first count ofChampagne,isthatoffamily.When he was born, thecounty of Champagne didn’texist. Formost of his life hecalled himself the count ofTroyes, which was the mainholdingofhisancestors.

HughwastheyoungestsonofThibaud I,whowas countofBlois,Meaux,andTroyes,and of Adele of Bar-sur-Aube. Thibaud had gainedsome of his property bytaking over lands belongingto a nephew.1 Therefore, hehad something to give toHugh, his last-born son.Hugh’s older brother,Stephen-Henry, got the bestproperty, that of Blois and

Meaux. Hugh inheritedTroyesandotherbitsfromhismother and the property ofhismiddlebrother,Odo,whodiedyoung.2

Hugh did not go on theFirst Crusade in 1096,although Stephen-Henry did.He may not have beeninterested or he may havebeen too busy subduing allhis far-flung properties. Oneof these properties was the

town of Payns not far fromTroyes. A son of the lord ofthe town, Hugh de Payns,became one of Hugh’ssupporters and a member ofhiscourt.3

Hugh scored a coup in1094 by his marriage toConstance,daughterofPhilipI,kingofFrance.Shebroughtwith her the dowry ofAttigny, justnorthofHugh’slands.

As the twelfth centurydawned, Hugh seemed to bean up-and-coming youngnobleman,withanexpandingamount of land and royalconnections.In 1102, Stephen-Henry

diedinbattleinPalestine.Heleftseveralyoungsonsandaformidable wife, Adele, thedaughter of King Henry I ofEngland. Thiswas Stephen’ssecondtriptotheHolyLand.

Itwassaid thatAdelewasn’tpleased with her husband’smilitary exploits on the firsttrip. He had deserted thecrusader army beforereaching Antioch. Adeleinsisted he return and fightmorebravelybefore showinghis face at home again.4Stephen-Henry’s death inbattleapparentlysatisfiedher.At about the same time,

1103, Hugh had a very

strange encounter. One daywhilehewas traveling in thevalley of Suippe, a mannamed Alexander, a pilgrimfromtheHolyLand,cametosee him. A charter from theconventofAvenaytellswhathappened next. “Hugh . . .used to ransom captives andaid the destitute. Amongthese was a certainAlexander, an impoverishedmanfromoverseaswhomthe

count took into his ownhousehold. The most noblecount and his family treatedthismansowellthatheevenate and often slept in thecount’spersonalquarters.”5

Hugh’s confidence inAlexanderwasmisplacedfor,one night, “judging the timeand place appropriate, [he]tried to slit the throat of thesleepingcount.”6

The records don’t give areason for the attack, nor dotheysayanythingmoreaboutthepilgrim.Thisisoneofthefrustrations of historicalrecords.Hugh only survived the

attack because his men tookhim directly to the nearbyconventofAvenay,wherehespent several monthsrecovering. In returnhegavea large donation to the nuns,

whose care and prayers hefelt had saved his life whendoctorscouldn’t.It may have been the

combination of his brother’sdeath and his own nearmissthatconvincedHughtomakea pilgrimage to the HolyLand. He left in 1104 andreturnedaround1107.7It’snotclear whether he and hisretinue aided in the ongoingfighttokeepthelandwonby

the first crusaders or simplyvisitedthepilgrimsites.WhileHughwasoffonhis

journey his wife, Constance,decided she’d had enough.She and Hugh had beenmarriedelevenyearsandhadnochildren.Fortunately,mostofthenobilityofFrancewererelatedinonewayoranotherand so she was able to havethemarriagedissolvedonthegrounds that they were

cousins. This was themedieval way around theprohibition of divorce and itwas used all the time.Constance later marriedBohemond I, ruler ofAntioch, and ended her daysthere.8Her descendants,especiallythewomen,playedimportant roles in thehistoryoftheLatinkingdoms.So upon his return to

Champagne in 1107, Hugh

foundhimselfsingle.Hesoonmarried again, this time toElizabethofVarais, daughterof Stephen the Hardy ofBurgundy. Elizabeth wasrelatedtoanumberofstrong,powerfulwomenof the time.She was the niece ofClemence, countess ofFlanders, and also Matilda,duchess of Burgundy. HerfirstcousinwasAdelaide,thewife of Louis VI, king of

France.In October 1115, Count

Hugh was attending PopeCalixtus II at the Council ofReims,whereheandhismenprovided an escort to thebishop of Mainz.9 The popewas, by the way, Elizabeth’suncle. Life was going wellagain for the count ofChampagne.Therefore, it was strange

thatwhenElizabethpresentedHugh with a son, he refusedtobelieve itwashisandsaidsopublicly.Thedatingoftheblessed event is uncertain,around1117.Hughhadgoneon his second pilgrimage toJerusalem in 1116 and itcouldhavebeenthathiswifetriedtoconvincehimthatshehad had a fourteen-monthpregnancy. But the reasonHugh gave was that his

doctors had all told him thathe was sterile, so he mayhave thought that it waschronologically possible forhim to be the father.10In anyevent, the child, Eudes, andhismotherwererepudiated.Apparently, there was

enough doubt among othersof the family as to thelegitimacyofthebabythatnogreat storm of protest hitHugh. While Eudes had

friendswhotookhissideoverthe years, he was never ableto attract enough support tobe a threat to the next countof Champagne, Hugh’snephew,Thibaud.Eudeswasgivenasmallfiefandallowedtoliveouthislifeinpeace.Hugh did not try another

marriage. In 1125 heabdicated as count andreturned to Jerusalem, wherehe joined the newly formed

Templars. 11 He died theresometimeafter1130.The story of Hugh, count

ofTroyesandChampagne,isone of the real mysteries ofthe Templar saga.Accordingto legend, the order wasformed in 1119, after HughdePaynsdecidedtoremaininJerusalemwhile CountHughreturned to Troyes. Did thecount have any influence onthe decision of the future

founder of the order to staybehind?AsHugh’s overlord,CountHughwould have hadto give his permission forHugh to leave his service.Was the count part of thisinitial decision to form amonasticmilitaryorder?We don’t know. None of

the chroniclers mention him,except to note that he endedhis life as a Templar. Is itbecause they were

embarrassed to say that thecountofChampagnechosetobecomesubservient toamanwhohadoncebeenoneofhisvassals? Count Hugh seemsto have been a consummatewarrior.Hespentmostofhislifefightingoronpilgrimage.Heseemsamuchmorelikelycandidate for being thefounderof theTemplars thanHughdePayns.Buthewasn’t.Hediedasa

memberoftheorder,nothingmore. Champagne went toThibaud, the great-grandsonofWilliamtheConquerorandthe son of Count Stephen-Henry, who had died as asoldier of God. And Hughfaded into a footnote toTemplarhistory.1MichelBur,La formationducomté de Champagne

(UniversitedeLilleIII,1977)p.259.2Bur,p.267.3Thierry Leroy, Hughes dePayns, ChevalierChampenois, Fondateur del’Ordre des Templiers(Troyes: La Maison duBoulanger,2001).4

Bur, 473-74, quoting theanonymous historian of theFirstCrusade.5Theodore Evergates, tr.,Feudal Society in MedievalFrance: Documents from theCounty of Champagne(University of PennsylvaniaPress, 1991) p. 124.Translation of text found inLalore, Cartularie de

l’abbale de Saint-Loup deTroyes (Paris: E. Thorin,1875)14-16no.4.6Ibid.7Bur,p.274.8Ibid.Constance’slifestoryisreally much more interestingthanHugh’sinmyopinion.

9Oderic Vitalis, TheEcclesiastical History ofOrderic Vitalis Vol. VI, p.252.10Bur,p.275.11Ibid.

CHAPTERFIVE

BernardofClairvaux

Hecalledhimselfthechimeraofhisage.Hewasamassofcontradictions. Bernard,abbot of Clairvaux, was amonkwho spentmost of histime out of the cloister, aspiritual man who seemedalways embroiled in politics

and a man of peace whoconvinced thousands to fightand die for their faith. Therearemanywho believe that itwas his championship of theTemplars that made theirsurvivalpossible.Bernard enters history in

1113when he appears at thegates of the monastery ofCiteaux demanding tobecome a monk. This is acommon theme in stories of

medieval saints. ButBernard’s story is slightlydifferent. Instead of fleeingthe world, he seems to havebroughtitalong.Bernardhadconvincedthirtyofhisfriendsand relatives to enter themonasterywithhim.1

Bernardwasborn in1090,the third son of Tecelin deTroisFontainesandhiswife,Aleth de Montbard. Theywereof the lowernobilityof

the area around Dijon.Bernard’s brothers were alltrained warriors who foughtfor their lords, usually theduke of Burgundy.2 Hischildhoodseemstohavebeenhappy. He was devoted toboth parents, particularly hismother, who died when hewasinhisteens.3

Itwascommonintheearlytwelfth century for at leastonechild ina largefamilyto

enter the Church. Bernardwas the one appointed forthis.Andyet,whenhearrivedat Citeaux, his brothersGuy,Gerard, Bartholomew,Andrew, and Nivard and hisuncle Gaudry also becamemonks. Guy was alreadymarried and had smalldaughters and yet Bernardhad convinced him to leavehis family and join him.Notonly that, he also convinced

Guy’s wife to agree to thisandenteraconvent.4

Such enthusiasm couldn’tbe contained in one place.Within three years, Bernardhad left Citeaux to found aCistercian abbey of his ownat Clairvaux, just north ofDijon.It’sclearthatfromanearly

age, Bernard had incrediblepowersofpersuasion.

But how did this devoutmonk become involved withtheTemplars?Atfirstglance,itseemsanunlikelypairing.However,whenwe look a

bit closer, the distancebetweenBernardofClairvauxand the Knights of theTemple isn’t so far. Thefounder of the Templars,Hugh de Payns, came fromanareanearthatofBernard’sfamily. Theymay even have

known each other beforeBernard left for Citeaux.BernardcertainlyknewCountHugh of Champagne, whohadabandonedhislordshiptojoin the Templars inJerusalem.5In a letter toHugh, written about 1125,Bernard laments that thecounthasdecidedtotravelsofarawaytodevotehimselftoGod, and, even though he iscertainthatitisthewillofthe

MostHigh, he stillwillmissthe count, who has been sogenerous to the Cistercianorder.6

Thestrongestconnectionisthat the first Templars camefrom the same world thatBernardwas born into. Theywere generally from thelower nobility, men trainedfor war in the service ofgreater lords. They were notwell educated, perhaps

learning to read French butnot Latin.Yetmany of themfeltuneasyabouttheroletheywereaskedtoplayinsociety.They received mixed signalsfrom the Church, whichforbade the killing of otherChristians, but honoredknights as protectors of theweakandtheliteratureofthetime, which praised valiantand successful warriors. Theknights knew that success in

battle was the key toadvancingtheirposition.That was all very well for

this life, but what about thenext?Even though Bernard

would have preferred thatevery man become a monk,heknewthatwasn’t likely tohappen. An order of knightswhofoughtforChristwasthenext best thing. Perhaps it

was Count Hugh whosuggestedtoBaldwinII,kingof Jerusalem, that theTemplars ask Bernard to usehis influence to convince thepope, Innocent II, and thegreat lords of Europe, tosupporttheneworder.7

As one might guess,Bernard never did anythinghalfway. He was present atthe Council of Troyes in1129 to see the official

recognition of the Templars.Even before that, he mayhave written his passionatedefense of the order,On theNewKnighthood.On the New Knighthood

waswritten in the form of aletter to Hugh de Payns, inresponse to his request for a“sermon of exhortation” tothe brothers of the Temple.Scholars have puzzled overthis open letter for centuries.

In it, Bernard writes like aRoman general sending thecenturions off to battle thebarbarians.He begins by comparing

theKnightsof theTemple tosecular knights. The secularknight fightsandkills forhisown benefit and glory. Healso dresses like a dandy,with long hair, draggingsleeves, pointed shoes, andhis body bedeckedwith gold

and jewels.Bernardcontraststhis with the simple andpractical gear of theTemplars.BoththeLatinandFrench Rules of the orderreflect this concern withextravagantclothingandmayshowBernard’sinfluence.But Bernard is just

warming up. He soon goesbeyond even the crusadingidea that it is meritorious tofight for God. He states

several times that killing theenemyofGodisagoodthingand dying while doing someans instant admission toheaven.“FordeathforChristisnosin,whetheronekillsoris killed, but merits greatglory.”8Againhe says, “If hekills an evildoer, it is nothomicidebut,ifImightputitso,evilcide.”9

This is not only a classiccase of making the enemy

something inhuman, it alsoimplies that dying whiledoingsomeansastraightshotto heaven. “If those who diein the Lord are blessed, howmuch greater are those whodie for the Lord?”10 Eventhose who have committedterrible crimes can findredemption—“impiouswretches, sacrilegiousplunderers and rapists,murderers, perjurers and

adulterers.” He adds that it’sa win-win deal. Europe isglad to be rid of these menandthedefendersoftheHolyLandgladtoreceivethem.11

Ofcourse, thatdoesn’tsaymuch for the pool theTemplars have to recruitfrom.After praising the lifestyle

and mission of the knights,Bernardthentakesthereader

on a tour of the mainpilgrimage sites: the Templeof Solomon, Bethlehem,Nazareth, the Mount ofOlives and the Valley ofJosaphat, the Jordan River,Calvary, theHoly Sepulcher,Bethpage,andBethany.What is going on here?

Why is this monk tellingthese men that it’s not onlyall right to kill non-Christians, it’s actually a

good thing? Bernard doesrein in a bit at one point,saying that the infidelsshouldn’t be destroyed ifthere is some other way tokeepthemfromattackingthepilgrims, but better infidelsdiethanus.12

Certainly, the “letter” tothe Templars fits in with thecrusading tradition. ThreehundredyearsbeforetheFirstCrusade, Charlemagne

invaded and conquered theSaxons several times, underthe excuse of “converting”them. But Bernard doesn’tmention persuasion whendealing with the Saracens.He seems determined toglorifyslaughteringthem.Was this letter really

written to stiffen thebackbones of the Templars?Did they doubt therighteousness of their cause?

Or was this for the rest ofChristendom, including thosewhowereuneasyabouttheseknight-monks? Bernard saysthathewrote the letterat theinsistenceofHughdePayns.But who was the realintendedaudience?Itseemsclearthatthiswas

Bernard’s attempt to makesure that the Order of theTemplars would be acceptedin Europe. It’s possible that

heevenwrotehisexhortationbeforetheofficialrecognitionoftheorderattheCouncilofTroyes.13Everythingaboutitsounds like a recruitingspeech. First Bernard pointsouthowmuchmorenobletheKnightsTemplararethanthefops hanging around castlesat home and causing trouble.Thenhe tells the listener thatthe Order of the Templecould make even the worst

criminal shapeup—anddo itfar, far away. Finally, hewinds up with a tour of thepilgrim sites, places he hadnever seen but the Templarsknew well. This was likelymeant as a reminder of whythe Templars were so muchneeded. Did Christendomwant thesitesof theBible toremain in the hands ofunbelievers?Finally, why was it so

important that this abbot getthe word out? Why not aletter by the pope or at leastanarchbishop?One answer is that from

about 1120 through 1147,Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux,was probably the mostinfluential man inChristendom. The sameintense passion thatconvincedmostofhisfriendsand family to give up a

worldly life for a strictmonastic one had been letlooseupontherestofEurope.Bernard was a tireless writerand he never minced words.Hegaveadvicetomostoftherulersoftheday,chidedotherabbots for laxity, and luredthe rowdy students of Parisaway from the brothel andintothecloister.Ihavebeen trying togeta

handle on Bernard for more

than thirty years now and hestillslipsaway.Themanwasobviously immenselycharismatic. He had a waywithwordsthatnotranslationcan completely evoke. It’sworth learning Latin just towatch Bernard play with thelanguage. His personal lifeseems to have been abovereproach.On the other hand, hewas

a terrible nag. Some of his

letters are so critical thatpeople must have cringedwhen they saw his seal onthem. He also tended to gooverboard for causes hebelieved in. The exhortationto the Templars is oneexample.AnotherthingthatIhaven’t quite forgiven himforishisdeterminationtoseethat the work of the teacherand philosopher PeterAbelardwascondemned.

His enthusiasm finallybackfired on him with thefailure of the SecondCrusade, in 1149, which hehad preached. The first signthat things were unravelingwas when he learned that amonk named Radulf wasencouraging the crusaders tomassacre the Jews in theRhineland. Bernard washorrified and he immediatelyraced there to stop the

murders, with much success.Ephraim, a Jew from Bonn,whowas a child at the time,laterwrote, “The Lord heardour outcry, andHe turned tousandhadmercyuponus...He sent a decent priest, onehonored and respected by allthe clergy in France, namedAbbé Bernard of Clairvaux,to dealwith this evil person.Bernard . . . said to them: ‘Itis good that you go against

the Ishmaelites. Butwhosoever touches a Jew totake his life, is like onewhoharmsJesushimself.’”14

What are we to make ofthisman? Inhisown life,hewas considered a saint bysome and an opinionatedbusybody by others. He wascanonized shortly after hisdeath and, even before hedied, at least one of hisfriends started writing his

biography with an eye tosainthood.Therewerethosewhoalso

vilifiedhimforhispreachingof the crusades and for hisintolerance of Peter Abelardandotherscholars.Oneofthemost vicious of Bernard’sdetractors was the EnglishwriterWalterMap.Mapwasonly about thirteen years oldwhen Bernard died in 1153,but his later association with

Cistercian monks and hisadmirationforAbelardseemsto have soured him on theabbot. He calls Bernard aLucifer,shiningbrighter thanthe other stars of night, andtells stories of how he failedto perform miracles,including howBernard couldnotraiseaboyfromthedead.“Master Bernard bade thebodybecarriedintoaprivateroom, and, ‘shutting every

oneouthe layupon theboy,and after a prayer arose; butthe boy did not arise, for helay there dead.’ Thereupon I[Map] remarked, ‘He wassurely the most unlucky ofmonks;forneverhaveIheardofamonklyingdownuponaboy without the boy arisingimmediately after themonk.’”15

Walter Map also despisedTemplars,Hospitallers, Jews,

andhereticsbuthe savedhismost acid comments for theCistercians and their reveredabbot.Hisgreatest complaintabout Bernard and, byextension, the Templars,wasnot that they were depravedor sacrilegious but that theywere proud and greedy. Thisview of theTemplarswas tocontinue throughout theirexistence.It may be that Bernard’s

fame did go to his head,althoughhispridewasmostlyinhisabsoluteconvictionthatheknewbest.TheCistercianswhocameafterhimmaywellhave done their best to getandkeepallthepropertytheycould, but in that they wereno different frommost othermonasticorders.Whatever opinion one has

of Bernard, he is far toocomplex a person to label

simply. His influence oversocietyin thefirsthalfof thetwelfth century wasincredible and, to me, stillhasn’t been satisfactorilyexplained, although manyhave tried. This is a pitybecause, in order tounderstand the early yearsandastonishinggrowthoftheTemplars,theroleofBernardof Clairvaux must be takenintoaccount.

1WilliamofSt.Thierry,VitaPrima Bernardi, Books IV-VIII.2Robert Fossier, “LaFondation de Clairvaux et laFamille de Saint Bernard, inMélanges Saint Bernard(Dijon,1953)pp.19-27.3BrianPatrickMcGuire,TheDifficultSaint.4William of St. Thierry,Book V, Sancti Bernardi

Abbatis Clarae-Vallensis,Opera Omnia Vol. I (Paris:Mabillion, 1839). Guy couldnot become a monk withouthis wife’s permission. TheconventofJullywasfoundedfor other female familymembers and wives of menwishing to becomeCistercians.5Thierry LeRoy, Hugues dePayns (Troyes: Maison duBoulanger,1999)p.71.

6Bernard of Clairvaux,“Epistola XXXI,” SanctiBernardi Abbatis Clarae-Vallensis,OperaOmnia Vol.I (Paris: Mabillion, 1839) p.175.7Marquis d’Albon,Cartularie Général dul’Ordre du Temple 1119?-1150(Paris,1913)p.1.8Bernard of Clairvaux,“Exhortatio ad Milites

Templi,” ibid. Caput III 4,cols. 1256-57. “Quando-quidemmors proChristo velferenda,velinferenda,etnihilhabeat criminis, et pluimumgloriaemereatur.”9Ibid. “Sane cum occiditmalefactorum, non homicidased,utitadixerum,malicida.”10Ibid.,Caput I1,col.1255.“Namsibeatiqui inDominemoriuntur, num multo magis

quiproDominomoriuntur?”11Ibid., Caput V 10, col.1262.12Ibid.,CaputII4,col.1257.“Non quidem vel Paganinecandi esset, si quo modoaliter possent a nimiainfestione seu oppressionefidelium cohiberi. Nuncautem melius est utoccidantur, quam cartereliquaturvigaextendantjusti

ad iniquitatemmaunussuas.”Mine is a loose translation,butthat’sthegistofit.13Thework is not dated andcould have been writtenanytime between about 1125and1130.14Ephraim of Bonn, SeferZekira,tr.ScholmoEidelmanin The Jews and theCrusaders (University ofWisconsin Press, 1977) p.

122.15Walter Map, De NugisCurialium tr. FrederickTupper and Marbury BladenOgle (London: Chatto &Windus,1924)p.49.

CHAPTERSIX

HughdePaynsTakestheTemplarsonthe

Road

By 1127, the Knights of theTemple were established intheHolyLand.Even in theirearly state, they had soimpressed Fulk of Anjou

that, in 1124, he had giventhem thirty thousand livresfrom the rents of his lands.1Other lords had also donatedproperty, especially in Hughde Payns’ home county ofChampagne.But the number of men

who had decided to devotetheir lives to the order wasstill far too few. So it wasdecidedthatHugh,alongwithfellowknightsGodfreyofSt.

Omer, Payns of Montdidier,and Robert of Craon, wouldundertake a journey ofrecruitment.2 It is interestingthat the men chosen werefromvariouspartsofFrance.GodfreywasfromPicardy inthe north and Robert was aBurgundian.Thegroupprobablymadea

stop atRome, although thereis no record of it or of ameeting with the pope,

Honorius II. They then wenton to Troyes, the seat of thecounts of Champagne.Although Hugh ofChampagne was still alive,he did not accompany theparty. His nephew, Thibaud,was now count. Thibaudwelcomed the knights andhereHughmayhaveseenhisfamily for the first time inover ten years and madefurther arrangements for the

disposalhisownland.Next, in early 1128, the

men went to Anjou, wheretheiroldfriendFulkrenewedhis donation to the order.Healso made a new donationthat was split among theTemplars, the bishop ofChartres, the abbey of theTrinity at Vendome, and theabbeyofFontevrault.3Atthispoint,Fulkprobablyreceivedthe offer fromKingBaldwin

tomarry his eldest daughter,Melisande. On AscensionDay (May 28) of 1128 Fulkdecidedtotakethecross(andthe kingdom). Hugh waspresent for this ceremony, aswas Gautier de Bure, theconstable of Jerusalem, whohad been sent expressly tobringthemarriageproposal.4

The party went on to thecounty of Poitou, northwestofAnjou,wherevariouslords

gave generously to the neworder. It would be nice tothink that at this time Hughmay have seen the youngEleanor of Aquitaine, whowould one day make thepilgrimage to theHolyLand,on the Second Crusade, asthe wife of Louis VII ofFrance. But there is noevidence that she or herfather, the count of Poitou,metwiththeTemplars.

Hugh then visited KingHenry I of England at hiscourt in Normandy, beforegoing on to England andScotland. Henry apparentlygave theTemplars “gold andsilver” and annually added“many subsidies in arms andotherequipment.”5

The chronicles ofWaverley Abbey in Englandtell ofHugh’s trip “with twoknights of the Temple and

two clerics.” The knightswentalloverEnglandandasfar north as Scotland, “andmanytookthecrossthatyearand thosefollowingand tookthe route for the Holyplaces.”6

Atthenextstop,Hughfeltconfidentofagoodreception.Thierry, count of Flanders,was well disposed to theTemplars. He alsoencouraged his barons to be

generous. On September 13,1128, Thierry held a solemnassemblybeforethebishopofThérouanne at which heconfirmed the donationsmade to theTemplars by hispredecessor, William Clito.Present to witness it wereHugh, Godfrey of St. Omer,Payns of Montdidier, “andmany other brothers.”7 It’snever made clear, but Ibelieve that these “other

brothers” were some of thenew recruits that theTemplars so desperatelyneeded. A public gatheringsuch as this would be aperfect place for a rousingspeech.Ayoungmancarriedaway by the moment wouldfindithardtorenounceavowtakenbeforesomanypeople.Finally the party returned

to Troyes sometime aroundJanuary 1129. There they

received a house, a grange,land and fields near thesuburbofPreizefromaRaoulCrassus(thefat)andhiswife,Hélène.Thisdonationalmostcertainly became thecommandery of Troyes.8Witnessing it were Hugh,Godfrey, and Payns alongwith Templars named Ralphand John. It seems that thetriphadbeenworthit.Only one thing more was

needed to make sure theOrder of the Knights of theTemple of Solomon wassecurely established. AndHughwasabouttogetit.1Orderic Vitalis, TheEccesiastical History ofOderic Vitalis vol. VI, ed.and tr. Margery Chibnall(Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress,1978)pp.310-11.2Thierry LeRoy, Hugues de

Payns. (Troyes: Maison duBoulanger,1999)pp.72-76.3Ibid.,p.195.4Ibid.,p.76.5Robert of Torigni, GestaNormannorum Ducam Vol.II, Book VII, pp. 32-34, ed.and tr. Elisabeth M. C. VanHouts (Oxford: OxfordMedieval Texts; 1995) p.257.Isayapparentlybecausethere isn’t any record of

Henry’s generosity, exceptRobert’saccount.6QuotedinLeRoy,p.76.7Marquis d’Albon, Charterno.16.8Ibid.,Charterno.22.

CHAPTERSEVEN

TheCouncilofTroyes

Attheendof1128,HughdePayns made his way backfrom the tour of northernFrance, England, andFlanders to his birth-place inChampagne. Here he wouldat last receive officialrecognition of the Templars

asamonasticorder.Achurchcouncilconvened

at the town of Troyes onJanuary13,1129.1Thepope,Honorius II, did not attend.Instead he sent his legate,Matthew, cardinal-bishop ofAlbano, who had been apriest in Paris. There weretwo archbishops, Renaud ofReims and Henry of Sens.Therewere also anumberofabbots, four from the

Cistercianorder,amongthemBernard of Clairvaux.2There were also ten bishopsand two “masters,” that is,scholars, Alberic of ReimsandFulger.3

Abbot Bernard supportedthe Templars but he doesn’tseem to have been eager toattend the council. He askedtobeexcusedonthegroundsof ill health.4 But there was

nowayhecouldgetoutofit.Even in 1128,Bernard had areputation for wisdom andpiety. His support was allimportant. And after thecouncil, that support wouldcoutinue.The council heard Hugh

tellthestoryofhowhebegantheorder and itsmission.Heasked the clerics for anofficial habit to mark theTemplars as knight-monks

andalsoaRuletolivebylikethat of other monks. Theclerics deliberated and gavethe Templars permission towear a white habit, as theCistercians did. They alsoprovided a monastic Rule inLatin, based on that of othermonasticorders.5

However, the clerics werenotreallypreparedtomakeamonasticRuleformenwhosemainfunctionwasnottopray

but to fight. Wisely, theyaskedtheadviceofmenwhounderstood the active life.Along with the clerics,Thibaud, count ofChampagne and nephew andheirofHughofChampagne,and William, count ofNevers, were present. Thesecretary of the council,Matthew, explains thepresenceof these“illiterates”by saying that they were

lovers of the Truth whocarefully went over theTemplar Rule and threw outanything that didn’t seemreasonable. “It was for thisthat they were at thecouncil.”6

The Latin Rule madeprovisions for the needs ofthe knights. Unlike othermonks,whoatefishandeggs,Templars were allowed redmeat three times a week.7If

they were too tired, theyneedn’t get up in the middleofthenightforprayers.8TheRulealsoallowedtheknightstohavehorsesandservantstomaintainthem.The clerics did take the

opportunity to come outstrongly against currentfashion. They forbade theknightstowearimmoderatelylong hair and beards, shoeswithlongcurlingpoints, lacy

frills, or excessively longtunics.9Obviouslytheaverageknight on the roadwas a bitofadandy.The noble pursuits of

hunting and hawking werealso forbidden, with theexception of lion hunting,“because he [the lion] isalwayssearchingforsomeoneto devour and his strength isagainst all so all strength isagainst him.”10 This shows

that not all the danger in apilgrimage was from humanattackers. However, thecouncil may have beenthinkingofabiblicalanalogyhere, of the lion falling upontheflockoffaithfulpilgrims.Other sections of the Rule

concern behavior at meals,caring for brothers whobecome ill, and othercommoncustomsofmonasticlife; for instance,allproperty

was kept in common andprayersweresaidseventimesaday.Sincetheknightswerenot expected to understandLatin, they were told tosimply repeat the Lord’sPrayeratthecorrecttimes.One subject that the

council was extremely firmabout concerned associationwith women. Knowing thereputation of knights forsexual conquests, two

sections of the Rule make itclear that theywerenotevento kiss their own mothers orsisters. “We believe itdangerous for any man ofreligion to pay too muchattention to the faces ofwomen; therefore no brothermay take the liberty ofkissingawidow,noravirginnorhismother,norhissister,nor his friend, nor any otherwoman.”11Thiswastakenfor

granted in most monastichouses, where the monksspentmostof their timewellout of sight of any femaletemptation.But it’sclear thatthecouncilworried that aftera hard day of fightingSaracens , it might bedifficult for a Knight of theTemple to remember that,while he could still pillage,rapewasnolongeranoption.While theLatinRule soon

provedtoneedalotofeditingandadditions, for thepresentHugh de Payns was satisfiedwith the results of thecouncil. He returned toJerusalemby1131,withfreshrecruits, donations, and aformal Rule for the KnightsTemplar to live by. Theywerenowanacceptedpartofthe religious life in theWestaswellastheEast.1

Olderaccountsgive thisdateas 1128 but this was causedbyconfusion surrounding thefact that many people in thetwelfth century started theNew Year in spring, not themiddleofwinter.2Charles-Joseph Hefele andDomH.Leclercq,HistoiredeConciles d’après lesDocumentsOriginauxVol.V

(Paris: Letouzey et Ané,1912)p.670.3Laurent Dailliez, Règle etStatusde l’OrdreduTemple,2nd ed (Paris: ÉditionsDervy, 1972). Reprint of theLatin Rule from 1721, pp.325-26. The bishops werefrom Chartres, Soissons,Paris, Troyes, Orleans,Chalons,Laon,andBeauvais,

allroughlyfromthenorthandeast of France. William ofNevers’sson,Raynald,diedaprisoner of the Turks duringtheSecondCrusade.Williamended his days as aCarthusianmonk.4Bernard of Clairvaux,OperaOmnia Vol. 1 (Paris, 1839)letter 21, col. 164-65.“Savientis siquidem acutae

febris exusta ardoribus, etexhausta sudoribus.” That is,hehada fever thatworehimout.5Dailliez,pp.327-59.6Ibid.,p.326.7Ibid.,p.332,capitula10.8

Ibid.,pp.335-36,capitula18.9Ibid.,p.340,capitula29.“Derostris & laqueis manifestumest & Gentiles: & cumabominabile, hoc omnibusagnoscatur, prohibimus . . .capillorum superflitaten &vestium immoderatanlongitudinem barbere nonpermittimus.”10

Ibid., p. 348. “Quia ipsecircuit, quaerens quemdevoret,&manusejuscontraomnes, omniumque manuscontraeum.”11Ibid., p. 359, capitula 72.“Periculosum esse credimusomni Religioni vultummulierum nimis attendere, &ideo nec vicuam, necvirginem, nec matrem, nec

sororum, nec amitam, necullamaliamfoeminamaliquisFraterosculipraesumet.”

CHAPTEREIGHT

GoForthandMultiply

One can trace the recruitingjourney of Hugh and hiscompanionsbyrecordsofthegifts donated to them. Bothgreat lords and minor oneslineduptomakedonationstothe Templars. This was notonlybecausetheybelievedin

the cause but, as is still true,the support of importantpeople brought in gifts fromtherankandfile,whowishedto associate themselves incharity with their localrulers.1

After the Council ofTroyes, Hugh de Paynsreturned to Jerusalem, butother Templars continued tocrisscross Europe seekingsupportfortheneworder.

Inthesouth,HughRigaud,another Templar, was busycanvassing for the order. Asearly as 1128, he was inToulouse, where PeterBernardandhiswife,Borella,gave themselves andeverything theyowned to theTemplars, with the provisionthat,iftheyhadchildrenwhowantedtojointheorder,theywouldbeallowedto.2Rigaudspent the next several years

getting donations for theTemple, ranging from lands,tithes, and vineyards to “ashirt and pants” from atownswoman “and, after herdeath,herbestcloak.”3HughRigaud can be foundacceptingdonationchartersinsouthernFranceandnorthernSpainthroughthe1130s.However, unlike other

monastic groups, theTemplars had no system in

place for receiving andmaintaining the donations.4Remember, these mostlydidn’t come in the form ofmoney, but goods. It’s allverywell toreceivegrantsoffields, houses, vines, horses,old clothes, and even serfs,but these weren’t things thatcould be put in an onlineauctionforquickcash.Manyof the gifts couldn’t be useduntil the donor had died.

Others consisted of a certainpartofaharvesteachyearorsomanycheeses.The nature of the gifts to

the order meant that theTemplars needed to establishway stations of some sort toreceive goods and transferthem from Europe to theCrusader States. Greatmonastic houses like Clunyand Citeaux would establishpriories, which were

dependent houses, staffedwith only a few monks. Butthe Templars were desperateformoremenof fightingageto join in the battle, so newrecruits were encouraged toleaveforJerusalemassoonaspossible. That didn’t leaveanyone to direct thecollection and processing ofsupplies.The fact that the earliest

Templarsweren’tallthatwell

organized is evident by thevarious titles that HughRigaud is given in thecharters. Sometimes he is abrother of the society,5sometimes he is mentionedonlybyname,andsometimesby the title“procurator,”6which seems agooddescriptionofhiswork,although it’s not listed in theRule as an administrativeposition.

The Templars may haveeventually establishedhousesonthemodelofthosealreadyrunby theHospitallers,whohadbeenreceivinggiftsintheWestsincejustaftertheFirstCrusade (around 1100),particularly in Spain and thesouth of France as well asItaly.7

Eventually, the orderorganized itself in territoriesthat were grouped according

to the languages of thebrothers. These were mostlyFrench,Spanish,andEnglish,with some Italians andGermans. The Templarsnever established themselvesinScandinaviabutthereweresome commanderies inHungaryandCroatia.

OCCITANIA

For thepurposeof thisbook,I’mdefiningOccitaniaas thesouthern part of France fromthe Atlantic Ocean on thewest, along the PyreneesMountains in the south,roughly to Marseille in theeast. I’m not interested inprecision; the people wholived there in the twelfthandthirteenth century were usedto flowing borders. Theregion was divided among

various counties andlordships in the west and aloose attachment to theHolyRoman Empire in the east.The language, calledOccitanor Provençal, was closer tothatofnorthernSpainthantoFrance.Theearliestrecordedgiftto

the Templars is fromMarseille. There is noindication of how the donor,William of Marseille, even

knewabout the order, but hegave them a church on theCôte d’Azur in the early1120s.Itshowshowstronglythe Templars believed in notliving the soft life on thebeach that they gave it backin 1124.8Actually, it’s likelythat the gift was moreexpensive tomaintain than itwasworth.It wasn’t until afterHugh

de Payns had secured papal

approvalfortheorderthatthedonationsinOccitaniastartedrolling in. This was due inlarge part to the promotionalactivity of Templar brothersHugh Rigaud and RaymondBernard.AftertheCouncilofTroyes they spent severalyears traveling through theregiondrummingup support.WhileHughworkednorthofthe Pyrenees, Raymondconcentrated on Spain and

Portugal.9

Between about 1130 and1136HughRigaudseemedtobe everywhere in the south.Either on his own or withotherbrothersof theTemple,hereceiveddonations,boughtland, and establishedcommanderies .10 Theamount of organization thisimplies makes me think thatHughmusthavebeenacourtofficialinhispreviouslife.

Hugh Rigaud was presentin1132whenoneofthemostpowerful families in theregion, the Trencavels, gavetheTemplarstheservicesofaperson, Pons the Gascon,alongwithhisfamily.11Ponshad a house and otherproperty near the town ofCarcassonne, which theTrencavelspromisednevertoharass.12

Members of this family

werestrongsupportersof theTemplarsinthoseearlyyearsand their prestige in the areameant that others wereencouraged to donate, aswell. In1133, thefamiliesofBernard de Canet andAymericofBarbairagavetheTemplars the castle ofDouzens, which was tobecomeamajorcommanderyin Occitania.13 Moreimportantly,Aymericandhis

brotherWilliam Xabert gavethemselves to the Templars.They did not agree to serverightawaybutatsomefuturedate,andiftheyweren’tableto, the Templars would getonehundredsous.14

ThesefamiliescontinuedtogivelandtotheTemplarsforat least twenty years andperhapslonger.15

Hugh de Rigaud vanishes

from the records in 1136,presumably because he died.His successor was Arnold ofBedocio. Arnold came fromCataloniaandsotherewasnoproblemwith languagewhenhecametoOccitania.Arnoldlived at the commandery atDouzens but continued thework of acquiring moreproperty in the area. Hereceived the donation ofHugh de Bourbouton that

wouldbecometheothergreatcommandery in Occitania,Richerendes.16

As in other regions, mostof theTemplars living at thecommanderiescamefromtheregion.Youngmenweresenteastassoonas theycouldbeready and older or infirmrecruits stayed behind toprovidethefightingmenwithprovisions.

CROATIAANDHUNGARY

Templar commanderies firstbegan appearing in Croatia afew years after the SecondCrusade(1148-1150).Atthesame time, the firstHospitallers were alsoestablished there.17It’s not atall clear what prompted this,althoughit’spossiblethatthemaster of the Templars in

France, Everard de Barres,who accompanied the armyofLouisVII,sawtheneedtoprotect pilgrims taking theroutethroughCroatiaontheirwaytotheHolyLandandthelordsthereagreed.18

By 1169, the pope hadgiven the Templars the oldBenedictine monastery ofVrana.Theonlycatchtothisgift was that the Templarshad to house any papal

legates who happened to bepassing through along withtheir sometimes largeentourages. The bishop ofZagreb, Prodanus, also gavetheTemplarsproperty inandaround Zagrebwhich had nostrings attached since thebishopalreadyhadaplacetosleepthere.19

In 1173, Bela III becamekingofHungaryandCroatia.Instead of allying himself

totally with the ByzantineEmpire, as earlier kings haddone, Bela looked to theWest. He was a strongsupporter of the ThirdCrusade (1189-1192) andtookanoathtogooncrusadehimself, although he neverdid.20In 1185, Bela sentambassadors to Philip II, thekingofFrance,askingforthehand of the king’s sister,Margaret. Bela had been

“lured by the honor of analliance with the ancienthouse of the kings of Franceand by the good reputationfor religion and wisdom ofthis princess.”21 Margaretwas the widow of HenryPlantagenet, “the YoungKing”whosedeathhadmadeRichard the Lionheart heirtothethroneofEngland.Sheand Philip agreed to themarriage and she returned

with the ambassadors toHungary.Bela III died in 1192 and

wassucceededbyEmeric,hisson from a previousmarriage.22 Margaret,widowed again, with nochildrenofherown, soldherdower. Then “she took thecross and, bringing a finecompany of knights, camewith the Germans to Syriaand arrived at Tyre.”23 She

diedshortlyafter,presumablynot in battle. The chroniclerdoesn’t mention anyTemplarsinhercompanybutitwouldhavebeenstrange iftherehadn’tbeenany.The highest responsibility

ever accorded to a TemplarwasinCroatiawhen,in1217,King Andrew II went oncrusadeand,insteadoftakingthe Templars with him, leftthem in charge of the

kingdom. Pontius de Cruce,GrandMasterofHungaryandCroatia, governed thecountries from thecommanderyinVrana.24

It is intriguing that, whilethere must have been nativeTemplars and Hospitallers,most of the commanders inCroatia were French orItalian.25 Croatian Templarsalsoservedinothercountries,bringing to mind the lines

from the ceremony ofreception into the orderwarning that Templars wentwheretheywereposted.26

THEBRITISHISLES

While King Henry I isreportedtohavegivengiftstothe Templars, it was his

successor, Stephen, whodonated the first land inEngland. Stephen wasHenry’s nephew and the sonof Stephen-Henry, the countof Champagnewho had diedwhile on his secondcrusade.27 Stephen’s wife,Matilda,was thenieceof theheroes of the First Crusade,Godfrey of Bouillon andBaldwin I. The king andqueen were already

predisposedtogivewhattheycouldtoaidinthedefenseoftheHolyLand.Matilda gavethe first donation in 1135, inhonor of her father, Eustace,count of Boulogne, who hadalmost become king ofJerusalem when his brotherBaldwin had died.28Stephenconfirmed the donations ofhis vassals and then gavepropertyhimself.Although the Templars

were in existence inEnglandfrom at least 1135 andcertainly before, the firstmaster of the Templars inEnglandweknowofisHughofArgentenin1140.29

In1185,theTemplarstookacensusoftheirpropertiesinEngland. This document hassurvived and shows that theTemplars’propertywasmuchlike that of other religioushouses. They had fields and

flocks of sheep, tithes fromchurchesand rents from landand houses. They were asmuchapartofthecommunityas the monks and nuns oftraditionalmonasticorders.Inthe town of Bristol, theweavers’guildevenhadtheirchapel in the Templarchurch.30

In Ireland the Templarsheldmostoftheirpropertyinthe east after the land was

conquered by King Henry IIof England. Henry gave thefirstgiftoflandin1185.TheAnglo-Norman settlers inIrelandfollowedhis leadandby1308“theIrishlandswerethe thirdmostvaluableofallthe Templar holdings andworthoverL400ayear.”31

ThemasteroftheTemplarsin Ireland was one of thefinancial overseers of theIrishexchequer.Althoughthe

native Irishprobably saw theTemplars as part of theEnglish invasion, the masterseems to have acted as amediator between the Irishand theEnglish from time totime.32

Apart from collecting theusual tithes and rents inIreland, the Templars alsoused their land to breed andraisehorsesfortheknights.33

At the time of the firstTemplar foundations,Scotlandwas an independentnation, although the royalfamily was tied to that ofEngland throughintermarriage. King David I(1124-1153)gavetheTemplethe tithes of the church inRenfrewshire.34 He musthave given them otherproperty but most of thechartershavebeenlost.There

doesn’t seem to have been amaster for Scotland at thebeginning, all administrationcomingfromEngland.The most important

commandery inScotlandwasBalantrodoch, just south ofEdinburgh. It was not awealthy community; most ofthe income was from sheepandawatermilltheTemplarsoperated.Inthepartial listofpreceptors of the

commandery, all the namesareNorman.35

Evelyn Lord commentsthat“WeknowlessabouttheTemplars in Scotland thanelsewhereintheBritishIsles.. . .Perhapsbecauseofthisapanoply of myth hasdeveloped around them thathas obscured reality andcloakedtheminmystery.”36

Weshalllookatthemyths

and mysteries later in thisbook.

SPAINANDPORTUGAL

Many of the earliest andlargest donations to theTemplars came from theIberianPeninsula.This isnotsurprising. The rulers of

Aragon,Navarre,Castile,andwhatwouldsoonbePortugalhad been slowly retakingterritory from the Moslemsfor over four hundred years.Thecrusading fervor focusedon Jerusalem had increasedinterest in thestrugglenearerto home. One of the earliestIberian gifts to the Templarsis from Queen Teresa ofPortugal,daughterofAlfonsoofCastile.Shegavethemthe

castle of Saur with all thesurrounding lands.37Presumably, she intendedthemtomaintainitpersonallyand supply warriors in herbattlesagainsttheMoors.In1122,whenfew, ifany,

hadheardoftheOrderoftheTemple, Alfonso I, king ofAragon, had founded amilitary confraternity atBelchite.38It wasn’t asstructured as the Templars

and other military orderswouldbeanditwasunderthecontrol of the king, not abishop. Members could joinfor a limited time and couldparticipate in the spiritualbenefitswithoutfighting.“The cofradía of Belchite

is clearly amilitary religiousinstitution, composed ofbrothers who defendedChristendom against itsMuslim enemies. Anyone

rendering this meritoriousservice or any otherassistance in the form ofpilgrimages, donations ofalms, bequests of horses andweapons, and bequests tohouses of captives, receivedindulgences. In addition, themembers of the confraternitycould retain any lands theyhad captured from theMuslims.”39

It’s unlikely that Alfonso

hadheardabouttheTemplarswhen he founded the order.This is an indication that thecrusadingidealoffightingforGod was leading to theformation of military ordersnot just in Jerusalem. TheTemplarsmighthavebecomeso popular and so widelyimitatedbecausetheyfilledalongfeltneed.Unlikethegiftsfromother

parts of Europe, which were

intended to produce fundsand supplies for the supportof the Templars in the Latinkingdoms, the donations inSpain and Portugal wereoften fortified castles. Oftenthese were either on theborders of Moslem Moorishterritoryoreveninsideit.TheIberian rulers expected theTemplars to fight theSaracens on their owndoorstep, not on the other

sideofthesea.In 1130, the count of

Barcelona gave theTemplarsthe castle of Grañena. Thiswas “inmy frontier oppositetheSaracens.”40It’s clear thatthe count expected theTemplarstodefendthecastleand participate in thereconquestofSpain.Thiswasmany years before theTemplars were assigned thedefense of border castles in

theLatinkingdoms.41

The Templars don’t seemtohavebeeneagertotakeona war on two fronts. Theywere pulled into the defenseof Spain eventually, partlythrough the will of KingAlfonso of Aragon, who lefthis entire kingdom to theHospitallers, the Church ofthe Holy Sepulcher, and theTemplars, to share. All threeoftheheirseventuallysettled

for large donations ratherthancontrolofAragon.TheTemplarswerethelast

to do so. As part of thesettlementwiththenewruler,RaymondBerengar, count ofBarcelona and “lord ofAragon,” they acquiredseveral castles in Spain, atenth of all the royal incomefrom taxes and judicial fees,andathousandsolidosayear.Count Raymond also

promisedthemone-fifthofallland conquered from theMoors,iftheytookpartintheexpeditions. RaymondBerengar encouraged theTemplarstobuildnewcastlesand promised not to make atreatywiththeMoorswithouttheirapproval.42

The Order of the TemplewasnowfirmlycommittedtotheSpanishcause.

1The best study of this isStephen D. White, Custom,Kinship and Gifts to Saints(UniversityofNorthCarolinaPress, 1988). For a morespecific study, Barbara H.Rosenwein, To Be theNeighbor of St. Peter: TheSocial Meaning of Cluny’sProperty, 909-1049 (CornellUniversityPress,1989).

2Marquis d’Albon, CartulaireGénéral de l’Ordre duTemple 1119?-1150 (Paris,1913)p.12,no.18.3Ibid., p. 14, “camisiam etbracas et, ad obitum suummelioremmantellum.”4I am grateful to ProfessorMalcolm Barber for pointing

this out to me. Privatecorrespondence, July 18,2006.5“Fratris societatis TempliSalomonis,”Albon,p.25,no.33.6Ibid., p. 45, no. 62.“Procurator” is actually acrossbetweenalawyerandabusinessmanager.

7Helen Nicholson, TheKnights Hospitaller(Woodbridge, Eng.: BoydellandBrewer,2001)p.9.8D’Albon,pp.1-2,charter1.9Ibid.,pp.7-8,charters10and11. See below, “Spain andPortugal.”

10Cartulaires des Templiers deDouzens ed. PierreGérard etÉlisabeth Magnou (Paris,1965) charters A 1, 21, 36,38,40,115,171,185,186,C1,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11.11Douzens, charter A 171, p.158.12I think there is more to this

story,butthecharterisallwehave.13Douzens,charterA1,p.314Ibid.,charterA1,p.5.15I’m not sure if the WilliamSigari de Canet, whowitnessed a charter in 1170,is a relative or just from the

sameplace.Douzens,B71,p.246.16Dominic Sellwood, KnightsoftheCloister:TemplarsandHospitallers in Central-Southern Occitania c. 1100-1300 (Woodbridge, Eng.:BoydellandBrewer,1999)p.67.17Leija Dobronic, “The

Military Orders in Croatia,”inVladimirP.Goss,ed.,TheMeeting of Two Worlds:Cultural Exchange betweenEast and West during thePeriod of the Crusades(Kalamazoo, MI: MedievalInstitute,1986)p.432.18ForEverarddeBarres,pleasesee chapter 15, GrandMasters1136-1191.

19Dobronic,p.433.(Thebishopmay have dropped by fordinnernowandthen,though.)20Ibid.,p.432.21Eudes Rigord, Vie dePhilippe Auguste ed. and tr.M.Guizot(Paris,1825).22

Somesourcessayhisbrother.23The Continuator of Williamof Tyre, in The Conquest ofJerusalem and the ThirdCrusade tr. PeterW. Edbury(Ashgate,Aldershot 1998) p.143.24Thomas of Spalato,ExThomae HistoriaPontificum Salonitanorum et

Spalatinorum, MonumentaGermania HistoriaScriptores, ed. G. H. Pertz,Vol. 29, p. 578. “Sedaccersito quodam Pocio, cuierat magister milicie domusTempliperregnumHungarie,comsisit ad manus eiuscustodiam et tutelam ispiuscastri.”25Dobronic, p. 435. I found no

more information on this butwouldliketoknowifanyonehasdonemoreresearch.26Ibid.,p.437.27See chapter 4,Hugh, CountofChampagne.28D’Albon, p. 86, charter no.123.

29Evelyn Lord, The KnightsTemplar in Britain (London:Longman,2002)p.16.30Lord,p.119.31Ibid.,p.138.32Ibid.,p.140.33

Ibid.,p.141.34TheCharters ofDavid I, ed.G. W. S. Barrow(Woodbridge, Eng.: BoydellPress,1999)p.164.35Lord,p.145.36Ibid.,p.143.37

Ibid.,p.7,no.10.38AlanForey,TheTemplars inthe Corona of Aragon(London,1973)p.15.39Theresa M. Vann, “A NewLookattheFoundationoftheOrder of Calatrava,” inCrusaders, Condottieri, andCannon:MedievalWarfareinSocieties around the

Mediterranean,ed.DonaldJ.Kagay and L. J. AndrewVillalon (Leiden,Netherlands: Brill, 2003) p.110.40Marquis d’Albon, p. 25,charter no. 33, “in meamarchiacontraSarracenos.”41Forey,p.16.42

D’Albon, pp. 204-5,document314,November27,1143.

CHAPTERNINE

TheLifeofaTemplar,AccordingtotheRule

In the firstdaysof theorder,whiletheirnumberswerestillfew, the Templars seem tohave lived by the same RuleasthecanonsattheChurchofthe Holy Sepulcher, wheretheyfirstfoundshelter.Butat

theCouncilofTroyes,alongwith recognition as a quasi-monasticorder, theTemplarsalso received a list ofseventy-nine rules detailinghow they should conducttheir lives. The collection ofthese rules is known as theRule.This firstRulewaswritten

in Latin, but most of themonks couldn’t read Latin.Actually, only a fewof them

could read at all. So, shortlyafter the council, the Rulewas translated into French.Very soon after the firsttranslation, new problemsarose thatweren’t covered inthe original list and theRulewas expanded until, by themiddle of the thirteenthcentury, the Templars hadalmost seven hundredseparate directives coveringeveryaspectoftheirlives!1

Noonecouldkeeptrackofall of these and the knightsweren’t expected to. Thecommanders of eachgeographical region had acopy of the list.Most of theknights, sergeants, andservants only knew as muchas theyneeded to in order todo theirwork and follow theregulationsfordailyliving.2

ManypartsoftheTemplarRule were the same as those

for all monks. They were toattend the reciting of themonastic hours—matins,prime, terce, nones, vespers,and compline—although itwas understood that theyneedn’t learn the Latin;instead they were to recite anumberofOurFathers.Theyate together in silence,listening to a devotionalreading. They met once aweek in Chapter, where

assignments were given outand discipline administered.Monks were encouraged toconfess their lapses, begforgiveness, and take theirpunishment. If a monk wasaccused by others ofinfractions of the Rule anddenied his guilt, then a minitrial would take place. Thefaults could range fromtearing one’s habit onpurpose or hitting another

Templar to patronizing abrothel or converting toIslam. The penalties rangedfrom extra fasts to having toeat on the floor in theinfirmary to outrightexpulsionfromtheorder.Templarswerenotallowed

to own anything individuallyand to carry money only forimmediate needs whiletraveling or doing businessfor the order. If a Templar

diedandwasfoundtohaveahidden cache of gold orsilver, “hewill notbeplacedin the cemetery, but thrownout for the dogs.”3 If hishoarding was discoveredwhile he was alive, he wasimmediately thrown out oftheorder.Every article of clothing

andequipmentforthemonkswas specified, including thematerial. Only the “true”

knights, those who were ofnoble birth and also hadsigned on for life, wereallowed to wear the whitecloak.4 Sergeants, servants,andmenwhoonly signedupfor a certain period woreeitherblackorbrowncloaks.Because of the heat in theeastern Mediterranean lands,Templars were permitted towear linen shirts fromEastertoAllSaints’Day(November

1).Unlike othermonks, theywere permitted meat threetimes a week but not onFriday, when they ate“Lenten meat”—that is, fishoreggs.Particular attention was

paid to the militaryequipment of the Templars.Eachknightwastohavethreehorsesandonesquire to takecare of them. And if thesquire was serving without

pay for the sake of charity,theknightcouldnotbeathim,no matter what he didwrong.5 The knights wereexpected to oversee the careof their horses andequipment,checkingonthematleasttwiceaday.Of course, all of this

happened when the knightswereresidentsin

TwoTemplarsononehorsewiththeBeausant,the

Templarstandard.(MatthewParis©TheBritish

Library)

the Temple house, thecommandery or preceptory.But it was understood thatthey would spend much oftheirtimeinthefield.Amongthe crimes that would meritimmediateexpulsionfromtheorder were running awayfrom the battle or letting thestandard fall. Here the ruleswere different for thesergeantsandtheknights.Ifasergeant or servant lost his

weapons, he was allowed toretreat without dishonor. Aknight,however,“whetherheis armed or not,must not letthe standard fall, but stay byit nomatterwhat, even if heis wounded, unless givenleave.”6

The Templars lived up tothis. Theywere the first intobattle and the last to retreat.Ofallthenegativethingssaidaboutthemovertheyears,no

one ever questioned theirbravery. The number ofTemplar knights killed inbattlewasenormous.This was probably the

reasonfortwochangesintheRule. The Latin form of theRule forbid men who hadbeen excommunicated by theChurch to becomeTemplars.Often the reasons forexcommunicationwere thosethat Bernard of Clairvaux

had given in his exhortationto the Templars: murder,rape, and theft. This wasmodified in the French tostate that if the crime hadbeen minor so that the manhad only been forbidden tohear Mass, one might makean exception, if thecommander of the houseallowedit.Of course, becoming a

Templarmightwellbepartof

one’s penance for murder. Itwas rather like a medievalForeign Legion in thatrespect.Another way in which the

Templars differed frommostmonastic houses was thatthey had a very shortprobationary period for newrecruits. The time betweenapplying to become aTemplar and acceptance intothe order was originally left

to the discretion of thecommanderortheMasterandthe other brothers.7But atsome point any trial periodseems tohavevanished.Thismay be due to the desperateneedformorefightingmenintheEast.Therewasn’ttimetotest the men either forunderstandingorforabilitytocopewiththelifestyle.8

This meant that, for manyof the Templars, the only

instruction they receivedwasa listof rules recited to themonthedayoftheiradmission.Thiswasmademuchofatthevarious trials of theTemplars in the earlyfourteenth century, where itwas shown that each manseemedtohavehadaslightlydifferent introduction to theTemple.9 However, all newrecruits seem to haveunderstood that there was a

Rule and, in manycommanderies, it was one ofthe books read aloud duringmeals, so they eventuallylearnedwhatwasexpectedofthem.Even if individual

Templars or even remoteTemplarhousesdidn’tfolloworevenknowalloftherules,they existed, and in manycopies. They weren’t secret.Brotherswhocouldreadwere

given copies to study.10So iftheywereaskedbyoneofthecommanders todosomethingcontrary to religion ordecency, they would haveknownitwasn’tofficial.TwoofthefaultsthatwouldearnaTemplarimmediateexpulsionfrom the order were heresyand sodomy, and yet thesewere the most serious of thechargesmadeagainstthemin1307.

This will be discussedmore elsewhere in this book,but it’s important to knowthat these were offensesforbidden by theRule, alongwithkillingahorseor lettingthe standard fall. Is it likelythat the entire order brokethosefundamentalrules?Isitpossible that such a thingcouldhavebeengoingonforyears, with Templarstraveling all over Europe,

with no one finding out thattheyweresecretheretics?Theactivities of the knightswereknown to the sergeants andthe servants, many of whomwere not members of theorderbuthiredhelp.These people lived in a

society where one had to gointo the desert and become ahermit to get a little privacy(and even that didn’t alwayswork). If the Rule of the

Templars was being soflagrantly broken, someonewould have found out andspread the word around longbefore Philip the Fairdecidedtoaccusethem.1There are a number ofeditions of the Rule of theTemplars.TheearliestIknowof is Maillard de Chambure,Règle et status secrets des

Templiers (Burgundy, 1840),then Henri de Curzon (seenote 2 below). LaurentDailliezdidaneditioninbothOld and Modern French(Paris: EditionDervy, 1972).AModern French translationalong with an introductiongiving the social backgroundof the Crusades is AlainDegris, Organisation & Viedes Templiers: SociologieFéodale d’Orient &

d’Occident (Paris: GuyTrédaniel, 1996). There isalsoanEnglishtranslation,J.M. Upton-Ward Rule of theTemplars:TheFrenchTextofthe Rule of the Order ofKnights Templar(Woodbridge, Eng.: BoydellandBrewer,1992).2HenrideCurzon,LaRègleduTemple (Paris: Librairie

Renouard,1886)p.xxvii.3Regle no. 225, “Il ne seroitmie mis en simittire, maisseroitjeteshorsachiens.”4Regleno.9, “Et a trestoz lesfrereschevaliersenyveretenesteseesterpuet,avoirblansmantiaus, et a nul nest otriedavoirblancmantel.”5

Regle no. 33, “Et si celuiescuier sert de sonbongré ala charité, le frere ne le doitbatre por nule colpe que ilface.”6Regle no. 419, “Mais I frerechevaluers ne le porroit pasfaire en tel aniere, ou fustarmé de fer ou non: quar cilde doit laissier le gonfanonpour nule chose sons congié,

ni par bleceure n p or autrechose.”7Regle no. 7, “Ét de ci ennavant soit mis en esproveseloclaprovoiancedumestreetdesfreres.”8A.J.Forey,“Novitiate in theMilitary Orders,” SpeculumVol. 61,No. 1, Jan. 1986, p.5.

9Ibid.,pp.10-17.10Forey,p.13.

CHAPTERTEN

Melisande,QueenofJerusalem

The second king ofJerusalem, Baldwin II, hadthe wisdom to marry not abride imported from Europe,but an Armenian princess,Morfia, whom he met whilehewasruleroftheArmenian

city of Edessa. Themarriageseems to have beensuccessful in all respects butone.BaldwinandMorfiahadonly daughters—four ofthem. As a matter of fact,many of the crusader stateswere inherited by women.Fortunately, they all seem tohave been smart and strong.And the men around them,for themostpart,were smartenoughtoletthemrule.

Baldwin’s eldest,Melisande, was the first ofthe new generation of rulerswho had been born in theLatin kingdoms. Jerusalemwas the only home she everknew. On her mother’s side,she had a rich heritage of anEastern Christian culture.Fromher fathershe inheritedafamilynetworkthatcoveredthe Crusader kingdoms andreached back to the royal

familiesofEurope.In a world where family

loyaltywasonlyexceededbyfamily betrayals, it’s apleasure to report thatMelisande and her threesisters seem to have beendevoted to eachother. Itwasgoodthattheyhadeachother,for all four of them ledtumultuouslives.Theseconddaughter,Alice

(orAlix),marriedBohemondII, the son of Bohemond,prince of Antioch, andConstance,sisterofLouisVIof France.2 Bohemond wasabout eighteen at the time ofthemarriage, tall, blond, andgood looking.1 Alice seemeddestined for a happily everafter, when Bohemond waskilled inbattle, leavingAlicewith a young daughter,named Constance for her

grandmother. While it isn’tpart of the story of theTemplars, it should be notedthatAlicehadnointentionofletting anyone rule for herchild.Overtheyearsshetriedseveral times to regaincontrolofAntioch,evenafteryoungConstancewasmarriedtoRaymondofPoitiers.2

The third sister, Hodierna,married Raymond, count ofTripoli, in about 1133. She

had a daughter, Melisande,and a son, Raymond. Themarriagewentwellforatimebut the count apparentlywasextremely jealous and droveHodierna crazy with hissuspicions. In 1152,Melisande went to Tripoli tohelp her sister work out areconciliation with herhusband and then bring herback to Jerusalem for avisit.Shortly after, Raymond of

Tripoli became the firstknownChristianvictimofanAssassin. Hodierna becameregent for her son, who wastwelve at the time.3 Shegoverned Tripoli on her ownformanyyears.Yveta, the youngest, had

themosttraumaticchildhood.At the age of five she wassent to be a hostage inexchange for her father,whohad been captured by the

OrtoqidTurkBalak.Shewaskept by the Turks untilBaldwin could raise theransom money. It may havebeen that experience, or theknowledge of her sisters’chaoticmarriages and familyentanglements, that madeYveta opt for the monasticlife. That didn’t mean sheretired completely from theworld. Her big sisterMelisande built the convent

of Bethany for her, at thesupposed site where JesusraisedLazarusfromthedead.Abbess Yveta becamepowerful in the church andalso at the court ofJerusalem.4

Baldwin was content tohave his younger daughtersmarry locally to increase theties between the Crusaderstates, but his eldest,Melisande,washeiress tohis

kingdom, Jerusalem, and forher he needed someone whowas not only a proven battleleader, but also outside theconstant family squabblesamong those same states.HesettledonFulkofAnjou.Baldwin had met Fulk

when the count made apilgrimage to Jerusalem in1120andhadbeenimpressedwith him. By 1127, whenMelisandewasoldenoughto

marry, Fulk was a widowerwith children of her age.Baldwin sent his constable,Gautier de Bures, to Anjouwithanofferofmarriageanda kingdom. This was thesame party that includedHugh de Payns on hisjourney to recruit more menfortheTemplars.Fulk liked the idea and

returned with Gautier, to thegreatjoyofthepopulace.5At

thetime,Fulkwasstillonthesunny side of forty,Melisandeabouteighteen.Hewas stocky and redheaded,not exactly a princess’sdream man. It seems thatMelisande wasn’t thrilledwith the match, especiallyafterseeing theyoung,good-looking husband her sisterAlicehadsnagged.However,shemadethebestofit.King Baldwin died two

years later, on August 21,1131.Whenheknewhewasdying, he had himself takentothehomeofthepatriarchatthe church of the HolySepulcher, so that he coulddie asnear aspossible to theplace where Christ wasburied. At that time heformally called Melisandeand Fulk with their year-oldson and entrusted thekingdomtothem.6

Unlike England a fewyears later, there was noprotest against Melisande’sright to rule.This isamazingbecause she was both awoman and quite young.Also, thecrownofJerusalemhad up until then beendecidedbyanelectionamongthe barons and the bishops.Thechoicehadalwaysbeenarelative of the conqueror ofthecity,GodfreyofBouillon,

but not the closest one.Baldwin II had been chosenoverGodfrey’s last survivingbrother, Eustace ofBoulogne.7 So the fact thatMelisande was accepted soeasily was likely due toFulk’smilitaryability.That doesn’t mean that

Melisande ever let herhusband take over thekingdom. While he certainlytook care of the defense of

the realm, Melisande heldcourt,intheoriginalsenseofhearing disputes anddispensingjustice.Shewouldhave heard arguments overlandrightsamongthenobilityandthechurchandalsocasesofrape,murder,andtreason.8

Melisande and Fulk werecrowned on September 14,1131.9Shortly afterward, thenewly widowed Alicedecided that her brother-in-

lawmightruleJerusalem,buthehadno say in the regencyof her daughter, Constance.She revolted against Fulk,putting Melisande in theposition of having to favorhersisterorherhusband.Sheseemstohaveputthestabilityof the kingdom over sisterlylove.Alicewas defeated andretired to the town ofLatakiya,althoughshewouldbeheardfromagain.

However,Melisandedidn’tlet Fulk have his way ineverything. William of Tyrerelates with great relish astory of how the queen washaving an affair with hercousin, Hugh of Le Puiset.10Thetalesaysthat,onedayatdinner, one of Hugh’sstepsons accused him ofbeing Melisande’s lover andplotting to kill the king. Theyoung man challenged Hugh

to prove his innocence incombat.When thedaycame,Hugh was nowhere to befound. He was judged guiltyandhislandsforfeit.Now,WilliamofTyrewas

three years old when all thistook place so it’s likely helearned all of this throughlocal gossip long aftereveryone concerned wassafely dead. It is certain thatHugh lost his lands and

wound up in Sicily.What isintriguing isMelisande’s roleinallthis.If the story of the

accusation is true thenMelisande seems to havesurvivedwithoutanystainonher character. She eitherconvincedeveryonethatpoorCousin Hugh was imaginingthe relationship or else Fulkand the rest of the courtsuddenly remembered that it

was Melisande who was thelegitimateheirandsoitdidn’treallymatterwhofatheredherchildren.Without more evidence,

we’llneverknow.Itiscertainthat after the incident, Fulkdeferred to his wife a greatdealmore.Melisandeandherfriends may have taken thisopportunity to let him knowthattheywereincharge.

Fulk died in a huntingaccidentin1143,leavingtwosons, Baldwin III, agethirteen, and Almaric, agenine.11

Instead of remarrying,Melisanderetainedcontrolofthe government. Shemade itclear thatshewasn’taregentbut queen in her own right,ruling alongside her son.William of Tyre, who wasgenerallynastyaboutwomen

who exercised power, wasvery positive toward herabilityasqueen.Hesaid thatshe maintained thegovernment and ruledcompetently, by right oflaw.12

Melisanderuledforherselfand her son with nocomplaintsuntilBaldwinwasinhis early twenties.Hewastiredofbeingakinginnameonlyandmountedarebellion

against his mother. TheyagreedtodividetheKingdomofJerusalem inhalfbutafterafewweeksBaldwindecidedtotakeitall.HebesiegedhismotherinJerusalemuntilshegave in and retired to herproperty in the region ofNablus.13

She was soon back, butmore subdued. Mother andsoneventuallyreconciledandshe regained some power,

issuing charters of donationsto various religiousinstitutions.Melisande also intervened

to return land that theFrankish invaders had takenfromnativeChristianowners.HerArmenian heritagemadeher sympathetic to the rightsof the MonophysiteChristians, whose ancestorshad never left the HolyLand.14 She made donations

to the Greek/Syrian hospiceofSt.SabasinJerusalem.15

In1161Melisandesufferedwhat seems to have been astroke, which left her unableto participate in government.She lingered for severalmonths, dying on September11. Her sisters Hodierna andYvetacaredforherinherlastdays.16

So, what does Queen

MelisandehavetodowiththeTemplars?Whenmostpeoplethinkof

the Templars and theCrusader States, a verymasculine society comes tomind. It’s true that the Latinkingdoms were constantlyeither at war or anticipatingone.Butitwasnotaworldofmen. For some reason, morefemale than male babiessurvived in that place and

time. And, of course, thenumber of young men killedin battle was much higherthan the average for westernEurope. So, by default, formuchof the twocenturiesofthe kingdoms, women weretheinheritors.Most of these women

marriedmenwhocouldwielda sword and lead an army.Buttheywereoftenwidowedyoung with underage

children. Once they left thebattlefield, the Templarsfound themselves in a worldrun by women. In order tounderstand the order, it’snecessary toknowmore thanjust the highlights of theirmilitary exploits but also thesociety that they were a partof.A specific example of this

is Philip, lord of Nablus.Philipwas thesonofGuyof

Milly and, like Melisande,hadbeenbornintheEast.Hefirstappearsinthedocumentsin 1138. Formost of his lifehe was a soldier and animportant part of the defenseof the country. He was alsoone of the few people whostood by Melisandethroughout her struggle withher son.Hemarried and hadthreechildren.Then,in1166,he decided to join the

Templars. He gave them alarge part of his land, whichwas now near the Egyptianborder. In August 1169, hebecameGrandMaster.17

But even as GrandMasterof the Templars, Philip ofNablus was clearly moredevoted to the land of hisbirth than to an internationalorder.In1171,heresignedasmasterso thathecouldgo toConstantinople on a mission

for King Almaric. He diedthereonApril3,1171.When the Templars are

studied as an independentgroup with only military orfinancial ties to the countriesthey lived in, it results in anincomplete picture. Philip ofNablus lived a full life as amilitary leader and royaladviser before he joined theorder. He was very much apartofthepoliticallifeofthe

Kingdom of Jerusalem. Hisstory shows that becoming aTemplar was a naturalprogressionforamaninlateryears, perhaps growingfearfulforthestateofhissoulbutunwillingtoturnhisbackonasociety inwhichhewasstillneeded.Withoutknowingwhatthat

society was, we can’tunderstandtheTemplars.

ONEoftheraretreasuresleftfromMelisande’sreignisherpsalter,orprayerbook.Itwascreated by the monks of theChurch of the HolySepulcher, probably around1140.18It is beautifullyillustrated and it not onlygives images from Jerusalematthetime,butalsoaportraitof

“TheHarrowingofHell,”theMelisandePsalter.FulkandMelisandeareontheright.(TheBritishLibrary)

Melisande and Fulk, clearlyshowing the difference intheir ages. It is interesting tonote that the king and queenare dressed in the Byzantinestyle, rather than that ofEuropeanroyalty.1

Regine Pernoud, Les femmesau temps des Croisades(Paris: Stock/LaurencePenoud,1990)p.76.2William of Tyre,Chronique,ed.R.B.C.Huygens,2vols.Corpus ChristianorumContinuatio Mediavales 63(Turnholt, 1986) pp. 623-24(13, 27). William calls Alixan “insane woman.” For the

life of Alix see ThomasAsbridge, “Alice ofAntioch:Acasestudyoffemalepowerin the twelfth century,” inPeter Edbury and JonathanPhillips,eds.,TheExperienceof Crusading, Volume Two:Defining the CrusaderKingdom (CambridgeUniversity Press, 2003) pp.29-47.3

Ibid., vol. 63A, pp. 786-87(17,19).4Pernoud,pp.87-88.5William of Tyre, p. 593 (14,24).6Ibid., vol. 63A, p. 625 (13,28).7

Joshua Prawer, TheCrusaders’ Kingdom:European Colonialism in theMiddle Ages (London:PhoenixPress,1972)p.96.8Ibid.,p.120.9William of Tyre, pp. 633-34(14,2).10

Ibid.,pp.64111Ibid.,p.711(15-27).12Ibid., “reseditque rengipotestas penes dominamMilissendem deo amibilemreginam, cui iure hereditariocompetebat.”13Ibid.,pp.777-81(17,13-14).

14Prawer,p.222.15Ibid.,p.224.16Bernard Hamilton, “Queensof Jerusalem,” in DerekBaker, ed.,Medieval Women(London:Blackwell,1978)p.156. My sisters might takenoteofthisexampleoffamilydevotion,justincase.

17MalcolmBarber,“Thecareerof Philip of Nablus in thekingdom of Jerusalem,” inPeter Edbury and JonathanPhillips,eds.,TheExperienceof Crusading, Volume Two:Defining the CrusaderKingdom (CambridgeUniversity Press, 2003) pp.60-75, for the full story ofPhilip’s life. Barber suggeststhat Philip was elected after

the king, Almaric(Melisande’s younger son)putpressureontheTemplars.If so, it would indicate thatthe Templars were not asautonomous as they havebeenseen.18Hamilton,op.cit.

CHAPTERELEVEN

FulkofAnjou,theQueen’sHusband

Fulk, count of Anjou, camefrom a family that was bothmilitant and eccentric. Hisfather, Fulk Rechin, wascountofAnjouandTouraine.Fulk’smother, Bertrada,wasthe scandal of Christendom.

When her children were stillquiteyoung, she ranoffwithPhilip I,kingofFrance,whodumpedhisfirstwifeforher.No amount of threats, notevenexcommunication,couldseparatethecouple.Theyhadthree children together,includingadaughter,Cecilia,who married Tancred, countof Tripoli, and would havemany encounters with herhalfbrotherwhenhebecame

kingofJerusalem.1

Unlike his parents, Fulkhad a fairly quiet andapparently happy firstmarriage to Eremberga, theheiress to the county ofMaine. They had fourchildren: Geoffrey, Hélie,Sybilla, and Matilda. BeforeFulk left for Jerusalem, hesaw to it that Geoffreymarried the daughter ofHenry I of England. Sybilla

had already married Thierry,count of Flanders. Matilda,whohadbrieflybeenmarriedto Henry, crown prince ofEngland,waswidowedwhenhedrowned in thedisasterofthe White Ship. She enteredthe convent of Fontevraud.2Hélie seems to have diedyoung. These familyconnections were to beimportant to the Latinkingdoms for the next three

generations.Inhismidthirties,afterthe

death of his wife, Fulk wentonapilgrimagetoJerusalem,where he first encounteredthe Templars. He was veryimpressedwiththem.Fulk, count of Anjou . . .became very anxious to seekreconciliation with God andprocure his salvation. He

devoted himself to penancefor the crimes he hadcommittedand...,hesetoutfor Jerusalem, where heremained for some time,attachedtotheKnightsoftheTemple. When he returnedhome, with their consent, hevoluntarily became theirtributary, and paid out tothem thirty livres a year inthe money of Anjou. So bydivine inspiration the noble

lord provided an annualrevenue for the admirableknightswhodevotetheirlivesto the bodily and spiritualservicesofGod,andrejectingall the things of this world,facemartyrdomdaily.3

Fulk was in his late thirtieswhentheembassycamefromBaldwin II asking him toleave his home and childrenfor the crown of Jerusalem

and the hand of its eighteen-year-oldheiress.Itisnotrecordedhowlong

ittookFulktodecide.He left the county in the

handsofhis son,Geoffrey,ayear younger than his newfiancée. Geoffrey’s wife,Matilda,waseightyearsolderthan her new husband andhadalreadybeenanempress.The young count may have

been envious of his father’sluck.One of the men who

brought the invitation to thecount was Hugh de Payns,whomFulkmusthaveknownwell from his stay with theTemplars inJerusalem.Hughwas at the beginning of histour of England, Flanders,and France in a search forsupport for the new order.Theknowledgethatthesoon-

to-be king of Jerusalem wasalready in favor of theTemplars could only haveencouragedHugh.Fulk confirmed his

donation to the order beforehewenttoJerusalemtomarryMelisande.4

Melisande was probablyawareofwhoFulkwas,eventhough she had been aboutten when he had lived in

Jerusalem. Whatever herprivate feelings were, sheseems not to have protestedthe match. William of Tyrewrites,“Fulkwasaredhead.. . faithful,gentle,andunlikemostofthatcoloring,affable,kind and merciful.”5Perhapskindnesswonoutover looks.ThetwoweremarriedassoonasFulkarrived.Asaweddingpresent, Baldwin gave themthe towns of Tyre and Acre.

They repaid him byproducing a son almostimmediately.6

Fulk was apparentlycontent to hold the title ofcount until the death ofBaldwinonAugust21,1131.Three weeks later he andMelisandewerecrownedkingandqueenofJerusalemintheChurch of the HolySepulcher.7

One of the first tasksbeforeFulkwas to dealwithhis sister-in-law Alice, whowas determined to ruleAntioch for her youngdaughter. One of hersupporters was the count ofTripoli, Pons, who justhappened to be married toCecilia, Fulk’s half sister byhismotherandKingPhilipofFrance.Sohisfirstbattlewasnot fought against Saracens

butfamily.8

Fulk won the battle andalso managed to patch up apeace with the count andsettleaffairsinAntiochundera constable, although Alicewas not a woman to staydownforlong.In 1133, Fulk heard that

the Turks had invaded fromPersia and were attackingAntioch. Hewas on his way

to help them when he wasmetbyCecilia.Shehadcometobeghimtocometotheaidof her husband, who wasbeingbesiegedinhiscastleofMontferrand by Zengi, theatabeg of Aleppo. Fulkapparently had no grudgeagainst his sister for theattack two years before anddetoured to help Pons. Now,William of Tyre says thatZengi learned that Fulk and

his army were approachingand abandoned thesiege.9However, Ibn al-Qalanisi reports that Zengimarched out to meet Fulk’sarmy and nearly beat them,but they retreated.10 At anyrate, Pons and his men wererescued. The Templars aresaidtohavebeeninthearmyatthattimealthoughtheyarenot singled out for anyimportantroles.

Fulkspentalotofhistimeover the next year or sofendingoffattacksonthecityofAntioch.Hiswife seemedto be keeping things runningwellenoughinJerusalem,butthe nobles of Antioch reallywanted their own ruler. Therightful heir, Constance, wasstill only nine years old, butdesperate times call fordesperatemeasures.Aftermanysecretmeetings

between the king and thenobles, as well as thepatriarch of Antioch, it wasdecidedtosendforRaymond,the brother ofWilliam, dukeof Aquitaine. Raymond wasabout twenty and not yetattached. So a HospitallernamedJeberruswassentwithletters asking Raymond howhefeltaboutmarryingalittlegirl and becoming lord ofAntioch.11

Raymond thought itwouldbefine.Accordingtolaw,themarriage couldn’t beconsummated beforeConstancewas twelvebuthemust have thought the titlewasworththeinconvenience.Just to be sure thatConstance’s mother, Alice,didn’t find out about theseplans, the patriarchapparentlyconvincedherthatRaymond was coming to

marryher.12Youcanimagineher feelings when Raymondarrived and was very hastilymarriedtolittleConstance.Fulk,however,waspleased

toturnthemilitaryprotectionof Antioch over to someoneelse.Hewaslearningthatthepolitics of the Holy Landwere not very different fromthoseofEurope.Hewasalsolearning that the Moslemstates were not alike, nor

weretheyunified.In1129,hewas able to acquire the townof Banyas from theAssassins. They preferredpayingtributetotheFrankstobeingatthemercyofZengi.13He also established a treatywith Damascus to fight offthe same Zengi who hadcome from Mosul to ruleAleppo and was rapidlycarving out territory forhimself from both the lands

of the Franks and those ofsects of Islam that did notagreewithhis.14

Fulkspentmostofhistimeaskinginwarfareofonekindor another, againstMoslems,Greeks, and relatives. Hecertainly must have used theTemplars to help him, butthereisalmostnomentionofthem in surviving records.We are not even sure howHughdePaynsdied,although

we know that it was inMay1135or1136.Hugh’s successor, Robert

ofCraon,hadbeenamemberofFulk’sentourageinAnjou.He witnessed a charter ofFulk’s in 1127, in theTouraine,15 but he seems tohave been one of those whostayedinEuropetohelpwiththe establishment of localcommanderies, for hewas inFrance in 1133, where he is

listed as seneschal of theorder.16HemusthavebeeninFrance when he was electedGrandMaster,forhewasstillaccepting donations there in1136.17HewasintheEastby1139. He was also at thecouncilofwarheldnearAcrein 1148, long after Fulk’sdeath.18

Itmaybethatinthe1140sthe number of Templars still

wasn’t very great. Eventhough membership hadgrown considerably since theCouncilofTroyes there stillweren’t enough men willingto become fighting monks.Butit’smorelikelythatthereonce was more informationon the Templars duringFulk’s reign that might havetoldusabout theactivitiesofthe Templars. Time and warhave destroyed many of the

documents that the Templarsin the Latin kingdomsundoubtedly preserved, aswellastheroyalrecords.One indication that the

Templars were earningrespect in their chosenprofession comes from anaccount of a siege in 1139.Robert,masteroftheTemple,foughtunderBernardVacher,one of the king’s knights.They were chasing some

Turks who had attacked avillage.Thinkingtheyhadtheenemyontherun,thesoldiers“wandered off in alldirections, shamelesslyhunting out spoils of warinstead of pursuing theenemy.”19

The Turks took advantageof this and returned to theattack. Some of the knightshastily tried to organize adefense but the lines broke.

The Christians were chasedthrough rocky and harshterrain outside of Hebron.Among the dead was “themostexcellentman,abrotherof theknightsof theTemple,Odo of Montfaucon. Hisdeath brought tears andsorrowtoall.”20

While this defeat doesn’tspeak well for the crusaders,it is clear that the Templarswere not in charge of the

knights and they are notmentioned as being amongthose out looking for booty.The fact that Odo wasconsidered an example of abrave andworthy knight is asign that the Templars werebecomingknown.Sowecanonlyassumethat

King Fulk trusted his formerfollower, Robert, as GrandMaster of the Temple. Heneeded all the help he could

get to maintain a semblanceoforderinhischaoticrealm.Fulk did not die in battle,

asmighthavebeenexpected.He was out riding withMelisandenearAcreonefineautumn day when someonespotted a rabbit runningacrossthefields.Inaspurtofboyishzeal,thekingjoinedinthe chase. His horse threwhimandhewasthenhitintheheadbythesaddle.Helayin

a coma for four days beforedying.21

Fulk’s legacy to Jerusalemwas a sound defense,supported by the Templars.Healsolefttwochildrenwhowould carry on his line andaddtotheincrediblycomplexweboffamilytiesthatcausedconflicts even the Templarscouldnotavoid.1

Les Crandes Chroniques deFranceVol.V,ed.JulesViard(Paris,1928)pp.82-84.2Alfred Richard, Histoire desComptes de Poitou t. IV1086-1137 (Pau: PrinciNegue,2004)p.163.3Orderic Vitalis, TheEcclesiastical History ofOrderic Vitalis Vol. VI, ed.

and tr. Marjorie Chibnall(Oxford: Medieval Texts,Oxford University Press,1978)BookXII29(pp.308-311). “Fulco Andegavoruncomes postquam pacem cumRegisAnglorumpepigit, . . .desalute sollicius Deonichilominus reconciliariperoptauit. Scelrum ergofecerat penitentiamagerestuduit, . . . Jerusalemperrexit, ibique militibus

Templi associates aliquandiupermansit. Inde cum licenciaeorum regressus trributariusillis ultro factus est. Sicvenerandis militibus quorumvita corpore et mente Deomilitat, et comtemptisomnibus mundanis sesemartirio cotidie preparat,nobilis heros annum vectigaldivinoinstinctuarogavit.”4

Marquis d’Albon, CartulaireGénéral de l’Ordre duTemple 1119?-1150 (Paris,1913)pp.5-6,no.7.5William of Tyre,Chronique,ed. R. B. C. Huygens(Turnholt, 1986) CCCMLXIIIA Book 14, 1, p. 631.“EratautemFulcovirrufus... fidelis, mansuetus et contraleges illius coloris affabilis,

benignusetmisericors.”6The marriage was in 1129.BaldwinIIIwasborninearly1130.7WilliamofTyre,p.634.8Ibid.,pp.635-37.9Ibid.,p.638.

10Ibn Al-Qalanisi, TheDamascus Chronicle of theCrusades, tr. H. A. R. Gibb(London,1932)p.222.11WilliamofTyre,pp.640-41.12Ibid.,p.641.SinceAlicewasstillinherearlytwenties,thiswasn’t that unlikely. But shewasn’ttheheiress.

13Please see chapter 20, TheAssassins.14René Grousset, Histoire desCroisades et du RoyaumeFranc de Jérsualem Vol. II(Paris, 1935) pp. 21-22; Ibnal-Qalanisi,pp.259-60.15Malcolm Barber, The NewKnighthood (Cambridge,

1994)p.8.16Marquis d’Albon, CartulaireGénéral de l’Ordre duTemple 1119?-1150 (Paris,1913)p.44,charterno.61.17Richard,p.163.18Barber,p.35.19

WilliamofTyre,p.683,“sedad diversa incaute nimistendentes, fugientium spoilsmagis quam stragi hosiuminsistebantimprudenter.”20Ibid., “vir eximus, fratermilitiaTempliOdodeMonteFalconis, omes morte suameroreetgemituconficiens.”21WilliamofTyre,pp.710-11.

CHAPTERTWELVE

TheTempleinJerusalem

When the first crusadersconquered Jerusalem, theywereeagertofindandrestoreall the sites from the life ofJesus as well as places

important in the OldTestament.Theproblemwas,they weren’t sure where theplaceshadbeen.Byaprocessthat was part tradition andpart guesswork, they decidedthat the Dome of the Rockwas the Holy Sepulcher orTemple of the Lord and thenearby mosque of al-Aqsastood on the ruins of theTempleofSolomon,althoughitmighthavebeenSolomon’s

palace. Something“Solomon”wascloseenough.In the thirteenth century,JacquesdeVitryguessedthatithadbeennamedtheTempleof Solomon simply todistinguish it from the otherbuilding.1

King Baldwin I ofJerusalemwasthefirstoftheLatin kings to live in themosque. He seems to havebeen a terrible tenant. The

chronicler of the FirstCrusade,FulcherofChartres,was embarrassed by theneglect.“Itisnowamatterofserious regret that the fabricof the roof needs repairing,ever since it passed into thehands of King Baldwin andourpeople.”2By1119,whenKing Baldwin II invited theTemplars to share the space,it was falling down and bitsofthebuildinghadbeenused

for other projects, like therebuilding of the Church oftheHolySepulcher.3

The new rulers ofJerusalem were buildingeverywhere.Thecanons

TempleMountinJerusalem.ThegolddomeattherearistheDomeoftheRock,andthesmallerone

againstthewallinthefrontis

theal-Aqsamosque,thesiteofthe

Templarheadquarters.Totheleftisthespace

wherethestableswouldhavebeen.(Albatross)

of the Holy Sepulcher builtthe Church of the AscensionontheMountofOlives.Likemany churches, both in theHolyLandandintheWest,itwasoctagonal in imitationoftheDomeoftheRock.4

The Templars startedrefurbishing their mosque assoon as they could afford tohire the workers andmaterials. They built a newcloister, a new church, andthe buildings necessary forgroup living, such as storagesheds, granaries, and abathhouse.5

They didn’t need to digdown to create the stables,though. That had been done

during the Fatimid rule ofJerusalem. At least theFatimids had cleared out thevaults of the ancientpalace.6Whether the vaultshadbeenbuiltbySolomonorKingHerodorsomeoneelse,they were ideal for thenumber of warhorses,packhorses, and camels thatthe Templars needed. Inaround 1170 Jewish pilgrim,Benjamin of Tudela, noted

that three hundred knightslived in the Temple ofSolomon.He alsomentionedthe stables, which he alsothoughtwerefromthetimeofSolomon.7

Over the years theTemplars were continuallymaking repairs on thebuildings. Nearby, theystartedbuildinganewchurch.They also did work on theexterior walls of the Temple

Mount and the Single Gate,leadingtothestables,aswellas the Hulda Gate, throughwhich one could go into theunderground rooms of themosque.8

A thirteenth-centurypilgrimdescribed theTempleMount:“On theright,asyoucame through the gates, wasthe Temple of Solomon,where the brothers of theTemple lived. Directly

between the Precious GatesandtheGoldenGateswasthechurch of the TempleDomini. This was high up,above steep steps. Going upthem, you came to anotherPavement, . . .pavedover itswholeextentwithmarbleandentirely surrounding theTemple church. The churchwascompletelycircular.”9

If theTemplars spent timeindiggingdowntowhatthey

thought would be the secretinnerchambersofSolomon’sTemple as some people havesuggested, they don’t appearto have left any evidence ofit. If Solomon had left atreasure, the Fatimids wouldhave found it during theirexcavations. In their firstyears in al-Aqsamosque, theTemplars probably had alltheycoulddojusttokeeptheplace from falling down on

theirheads.While many of the

surviving Templar andHospitaller churches in theWest are roundor octagonal,both military orders alsoconstructed more traditionalchurches. The TemplarcastlesatTortosaandChastelBlanc were rectangular, aswere many in England andFrance.10

When Saladin conqueredJerusalemin1187,oneofthefirst things he did was toeradicate any trace of theTemplars.Thismeant tearingdownthechurchtheyhadjustfinishedbuildingandclearingout the space around andwithintheal-Aqsamosquesothat it could be used again.“East of the qibla they hadbuiltabighouseandanotherchurch. Saladin had the two

structures removed andunveiledthebridalfaceofthemihrab.Thenhehadthewallin frontof it takendownandthe courtyards around itcleared so that the peoplecoming in on Friday shouldhaveplentyofroom.”11

IwonderifthepeoplewhothinkthattheTemplarsfoundartifacts in Jerusalem havebeen confusing it with thebuilding done at Chateau

Pelerin (Athlit). When theywere digging the foundationsfor the church there, theyuncovered a number ofPhoenician coins. Thechronicler at the time wasintrigued by these pieces ofmoney with unknownmarkings on them.12 Thechapel there was twelve-sided.13

TheKnightsoftheTempleof Solomon only had the

Temple for sixty-eight years.After the loss of Jerusalem,they moved theirheadquarterstoAcre.1Jacques de Vitry, HistoireOrientale,tr.Marie-GenvièveGrossel(Paris,2005)p.179.2Quoted in Adrian J. Boas,Jerusalem in the Time of theCrusades:Society,Landscape

and Art in the Holy Cityunder Frankish Rule(London:Routledge,2001)p.79.3Ibid.4Denys Pringle, “Architecturein the Latin East, 1095-1300,” in The OxfordIllustrated History of theCrusades,ed.JonathanRiley-

Smith (Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press, 1995) p.167.5Boas,p.91.6Ibid.,p.93.7Benjamin of Tudela, inTravels in the Middle Ages:The Itinerary of Benjamin of

Tudela, tr.A.Asher(Malibu:Panglos Press, 1987) reprintof1840edition,p.83.8Boas,p.48.9Crusader Syria in theThirteenth Century: TheRothelin Continuation of theHistory of William of Tyrewith part of the Eracles orAcre Text, tr. Janet Shirley

(Ashgate,Aldershot,1999)p.17.10Pringle,p.169.11Ibn al-Athir, in ArabHistorians of the Crusades,ed. and tr. FrancescoGabrielli (Dorset, 1969) p.164.12

Oliver of Paderborn, TheCaptureofDamietta,tr.JohnJ. Gavigan (University ofPennsylvania Press, 1948)chapter5,p.18.13Pringle, p. 169. There couldbe all sorts of mysticalreasons for this or it couldhavesomethingtodowiththelandthecastlewasbuilton,apromontory sticking into the

sea.

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN

ThePopesGetInvolved(YouKnew

TheyWould)

One of the moderncomplaints about theTemplars, and the basis formany of the conspiracy

theories about them, is thatthey were solely under thedirection of the pope, owingallegiance to no local bishopor lord. They’ve been madeout to be a sort of papalmafia,freetocarryoutsecretmissionstofurthersomedarkVaticanagenda.It is true that theTemplars

were free of control by thelocal bishops. However, thisis also true of the

Hospitallers. Also, many ofthe great monastic orders,such as the Cistercians, theFranciscans, and theCluniacs,wereunderthesoleauthority of the pope. All ofthese orders had houses inmany territories and thisliberation from local bishopswas an attempt to keep themonks from becominginvolved in local politics. Itdidn’t always work but that

wastheplan.Let’slookat theprivileges

thatvariouspopesgavetotheTemplarsandotherorders.The first papal bull, or

confirmation of privileges,for the Templars was issuedbyPopeInnocentIIonMarch29, 1139, ten years after theCouncil of Troyes approvedthe Templar Rule. The delayindoingthiswasentirelydue

to lack of interest. Innocenthadspentmostofhispapacywandering through Francebecause the Romans hadelected another man,Anacletus II, as pope andthey refused to let Innocentinto Rome. He didn’t getback there until Anacletusdied.1 The Templars weren’tallthathighonhisagenda.By tradition, papal bulls

are known by the first few

words in them. The bull of1139wastitledOmneDatumOptimum or “every goodgift.” The gift in question isthe Templars themselves,whom God had turned fromlives of secular violence tothe protection ofChristianity.2

Normally suchpronouncements from popesfor monastic orders coveredtopics such as freedom from

payingtithestolocalbishops,therightofthemonkstoelecttheir own abbots, and othermatters that freed themonastic orders from localdomination. This liberty wasextremely important asmanymonasteriesandconventshadbecome little more thanoutposts for the noblefamilies of the region andtheir property was all toooftenusedforthegoodofthe

clan,nottheChurch.OmneDatumOptimumhad

somewhat different wordingfrom the usual monasticgrant. Most monks were nottold, “You laborwithout fearin fighting the enemies ofChrist. . . .Those things thatyoutakefromtheirspoilsyoumayinallconfidenceconvertfor your own uses, and weforbid that you should beforced togiveapartof them

toanyoneagainstyourwill.”3Basically, thismeant that theTemplars could keepwhatever they could grabfrom the Saracens. Theaverage European monasteryrarely,ifever,raisedanarmyorplunderedtowns.Bootywascertainlyagreat

motivator for soldiers and ahandy way of gettingoperating funds, but thiswastocauseresentmentlater.The

Templars were sometimesaccusedoflettingtheirdesirefor plunder overcomecommon sense. A classicexample is whenWilliam ofTyre accused Grand MasterBernard of Tremelay ofcharging into the city ofAscalon first and not lettinganyone but Templars followhimbecausehedidn’twanttoshare. We don’t knowBernard’ssideofthisbecause

heandallhismenwerekilledinthecharge.4

Otherprivilegesweremoreconventional. The Templarswereputundertheprotectionof theHoly See.Any crimesthey might be accused ofweretobejudgedbythepopealone.5Themenwere to livea monastic life, “in chastity,withoutpersonalgoods,” andobedient to themaster of theorder. Only the master had

the right to change anythingintheRule.Nobrotherwastobe allowed to leave theTemplars for anotherreligious order.6 Theseprivileges were shared byothermonasticorders.Innocent added his

personalsupportfortheorderbydonatinganannualgiftofonemarkofgold.7

One thing that the

Templarswerenotallowedtodo was preach. This musthave been comforting to thelocal priests and bishops.8Templars could have theirown chapels but theimplication is that Masswould be said by a localpriest.However,anexceptionwaswhen theywenton theirrecruitingtours.Atleastthereare many records indicatingthat they did preach in their

effortstogainnewmembers.The Hospitallers already

had a similar charter, minusthebooty,asearlyas1113.Init they were given papalprotection, freedom fromlocal tithes, and the right toelecttheirownmaster.9

The right to choose themasters of the commanderieswas an important one. Thepopes and the lay rulers of

Europe had been fightingover this for many years.Princes wished to nominatetheir own candidates asabbotsorbishops.Oftenthesewere relatives or men towhomtheyowedfavors.Thepopes andmany of the localchurchmen were opposed tothis for many reasons, theleast of which was that thecharacter and intelligence ofthe upper clergy went down

when kings chose them.Bishopswere supposed tobeelected by the people andclergy of their communities,as was the pope. In practice,this was rarely the case andthe popeswere never able tocompletely free the electionofbishopsfromthecontrolofthe lay rulers. But withmultinational monasticorders, such as theCistercians, Franciscans,

Hospitallers, and Templars,they had much moresuccess.10

All of these orders wereresented at one time oranother because of theseprivileges. But in 1144 theTemplars received one morethat really had local bishopsandpriestsseeingred.This bull is known as

Milites Templi (Knights of

theTemple).Itacknowledgesthatkeepingamonkinhorsesand armor costs a lot morethan robes and sandals.Thereforethepope,CelestineII,encouragedall the faithfulto donate as much as theycould. Even more, to thosewho were willing to donatean annual amount, the popewould allow them to reducebyone-sevenththeamountofany penance imposed on

them.11

Thispartwasacceptabletothe bishops and priests, whocould always just up thepenance by a seventh if theyfelt like it. The seriousproblemcamenext:When the brothers of thatTemplewhohavebeensenttoreceive the contributionsenteracity,castleorvillage,

if any place should be underan interdict, churches shouldbe opened once a year togreet them in a friendlymanner in honour of theTemple and in respect forthese knights, and divineoffices should be celebratedwithout the presence ofexcommunicants.12

Popes and bishops had twoweapons to convince

Christians to obey Churchlaw. The first wasexcommunication. Thatmeant that the individualoffender could not enter achurch or receive thesacraments.Italsomeantthatno other Christians couldassociate with him. It washoped that the socialproblems this would causewould bring the personaround.

The second was interdict.This was particularly usefulagainst kings and otherimportant people who foundexcommunication no morethan an annoyance. The ideawas to punish the people ofthe land for the sins of theruler. So in a country underinterdict, nomasses couldbesaid and no one married.People could not go toconfession or receive

communion. All that waspermitted was baptism and,for those not personallyexcommunicated,lastrites.13

What Pope Celestine wasallowing meant that thepeople in a town underinterdictcouldrushinonceayear and take care of theirsacramental needs. It alsomeant that the Templarsreceived the little thank-youdonations for this thatwould

normally have gone to thelocal priests and which theyhadn’t been able to collectwiththechurchesallclosed.Onecanseehowthismight

causebadfeelingbetweentheTemplars and the localclergy. This only increasedwhen the Templars acquiredchurches of their own, indirect competition with thenativepriests.

Therighttobuildtheirownchurches came the next yearwith thenextpope,EugeniusIII.In1145,heissuedthebullMilitia Dei (Knighthood ofGod). Eugenius knew thatthis wouldn’t go over wellwiththeregularclergy,sohetriedtosugarcoatthemessagetothem:We believe that it does notescape the notice of your

fraternity how useful to theeastern church, . . . howpleasing to God is theknighthood of God, which iscalledoftheTemple....Andsince they live in a religiousmannerandstrivelovinglytoattend divine services, weconcede to them the right torecruit anywhere priestssuitablefortheirservicewhoare properly ordained andwho have been granted

permission by their bishop.To these brothers wishing toprovide for this more fullyandnotinanywaywishingtodiminish your parochialrights or remove tithes orofferings of burials we grantthem permission to buildoratoriesinplaceadjacenttoit [the Temple], where thehousehold lives, in which tohear the divine services andindeeditisalmostfataltothe

souls of religiousbrothers tomingle with crowds of menand to meet women on theoccasion of going tochurch.14(italicsmine)

Thesethreebullsarethemaingrants given to the Templarsby the popes. For the mostpart,theycontainnothingthatother orders hadn’t received.Especially in the twelfthcentury,themainfocusofthe

popes in regard to the Latinkingdomswastogetmenandmoney enough to keep thelands won by the firstcrusaders. The popes clearlystate that the work of theTemplars is for thepreservation of the ChristianstatesintheHolyLand.However, it seems that

both the Templars and theHospitallers took advantageof their privileges. At the

Third Lateran Council in1179, at which PopeAlexander III presided, thecomplaintsoftheclergywereaddressed. Both militaryorders were accused ofaccepting churches fromlaymen and of allowingpeople who had beenexcommunicated to receivethe sacraments in theirchurches and to be buried intheir cemeteries. Both orders

had also hired and firedpriestswithouttheconsentofthelocalbishop.Inshorttheyweresappingtheauthorityoftheregularclergy.15

The council decreed thattheTemplarsandHospitallerswere to stop this at once orthey would find themselvesunderinterdict.16

This was not the last timethatthemilitaryorderswould

be criticized for takingadvantage of papalexemptions. The complaintsin1179wereagainstboththeHospitallersandtheTemplarsbutin1207,PopeInnocentIIIfelt the need to write to theTemplars, specifically thatthey“aresounbridledintheirpridethattheydonothesitateto disfigure theirmother, thechurchofRome,whichbyitsfavours has not ceased to

cherish the brethren of theknighthoodoftheTemple.”17

One of the statementsmade about the Templars insome fiction and even insupposed nonfiction anddocumentaries, is that theyhad some sort of hold overthepapacythatallowedthemtogetawaywithagreatdeal.There is nothing in therecords that indicates this atall. The Templars were only

one of several monasticorders that answered directlyto the pope. And, as thecouncildecreesand the letterfrom Pope Innocent show, ifthey abused their privileges,theywouldbeslappeddown.It’s quite possible that

some, even many, of theTemplars were arrogant andtookadvantageofthegrantofopening their churches tothose under interdict. They

certainlydidalltheycouldtoget funds.18 Pride and greedwere the two sinsmostoftenattributed to both theTemplars and theHospitallers. This problemgrew directly from the giftsthat the popes had bestowedontheminordertoensurethesafety of pilgrims toJerusalem.But as to some dark and

secret alliance between the

papacyandtheTemplars,thatis never even hinted at, notduring their two hundredyearsofexistence,notattheirtrial,notevenafterthetrial.Once again, twentieth-

centurywritersseemtobethesourceofthismyth.1This happened all the time.Forahistoryof themedievalpapacy see I. S. Robinson,

The Papacy 1073-1198,Continuity and Innovation(CambridgeUniversityPress,1990), and Walter Ullmann,AShortHistoryofthePapacyin the Middle Ages(Routledge, 2003).Anacletuscame from a Jewish familybut thatwasn’t the reasonhewasn’t accepted by northernEurope.Itwaspolitics.2

“Omne Datum Optimum” inThe Templars, tr. andannotated Malcolm Barberand Keith Bate (ManchesterUniversity Press, 2002) pp.59-64.Averyhandybookforthe most important Templardocumentsintranslation.3Ibid.,p.60.4William of Tyre, 17, 27, pp.

797-99.5This was a large bone ofcontention when Philip theFair ordered the arrest andtrial of the Templarswithout the permission ofPopeClementV.6Barber and Bate, p. 61. Thislast was not followed whenMasterEverarddeBarresleft

the Templars to join theCisterciansin1153.7Charles-Joseph Hefele andDomH.Leclercq,HistoiredeConcilesVol.V(Paris,1912)p.713.8BarberandBate,p.63.9Cartulaire General de

l’OrdredesHospitaliersdeS.Jean de Jerusalem 1100-1310, Vol 1, ed. J. DelavilleLeRoulx(Paris,1894).10Although several of theGrandMastersoftheTempleseem to have been electedbecause of their connectionstorulers.SeethetwochaptersontheGrandMasters.11

Isupposethiswasrather likegetting a tax break forcharitabledonationstoday.12BarberandBate,p.65.13I am grateful to Prof. JamesBrundage for clarifyinginterdict for me. His booksLaw, Sex and ChristianSociety in Medieval Europe(Chicago: University of

Chicago Press, 1987) andMedievalCanonLawandtheCrusader (University ofWisconsin, 1969) are bothtremendously useful andinteresting.14BarberandBate,p.66.15Hefele-Leclercq, p. 1095,“roburepiscopalisauthoritatisenervant.”

16Ibid.,“SiveroTemplariisiveHospitalariiasecclesiasticuminterdictumvenerint.”17Quoted in Alan Forey, TheMilitary Orders (London,1992)p.203.18Please see chapter 24,Templars and Money, formoreonthis.

CHAPTERFOURTEEN

TheSecondCrusade

For some time the leaders ofthe crusader states had beentelling anyone who wouldlisten that they needed help,not just money, butmanpower.Theresponsewasslowuntil the fall of the city

ofEdessatotheSeljukatabegZengi in 1144. Edessa wasthefirstofthecrusaderstatesto be settled. It had alwaysbeen a Christian town andwasstillpopulatedmostlybyEasternChristians.Itwasalsothe farthest east of thecrusader lands, in an areadifficult to defend and farfromaid.TheshockoflosingEdessa

seemed to come at the right

time to push the king ofFrance,LouisVII,theninhismid twenties, to declare thathe would take the cross. Acouple of years before, in analtercation with Thibaud,count of Champagne, Louishad been carried away withyouthfulenergyandsetfiretoachurchinthetownofVitry.Thatwasbadenough,butthechurchhappenedtobefullofthe townspeople, who had

gonethereforrefuge.1Aboutthirteen hundred peoplewereburnedalive.Louis was a sensitive

person and this weighed onhis conscience. “Some saythattheking,touchedbypityand flowing with tears ...soon decided on undertakingapilgrimagetoJerusalem.”2

Ofcourse,Louisdidn’tacton this at once. But when

Edessa was taken, and PopeEugenius III issued a bullcalling for theWest to cometo the aid of the Latinkingdoms,Louiswasthefirstone to sign up. At hisChristmascourtinBourgesin1145, he told his followersthat he was going to answerthecall.The response was a big

yawnanda return toholidayfun.

Louis didn’t have thecharisma to convince hisfriends to leave their homesfor an arduous journey east.Heneededsomeonetofireupthetroops.Pope Eugenius wanted to

betheonetodoit.HehopedtocometoFranceandpreachthe crusade as hispredecessor, Urban II, haddone in 1095, but he washavingsome troublewith the

populationofRome,whohadthrown him out andreestablished the Senate, sothepopeturnedtohismentor,BernardofClairvaux.So, on Easter of 1146,

Louis and his court gatheredat the Church of MaryMagdalene at Vézelay,France, to hear AbbotBernard preach the crusade.Pope Eugenius had gladlysentalong therequisitepapal

letters promising theremissionofsinsforanywhowent with the king and alsoprotection for the familieswhostayedbehind.3

Bernard’s well-known giftof persuasion worked. Thecrowdwas so thick that theyknockedovertheplatformthekingandabbotwerestandingon but, miraculously, no onewashurt.Theenthusiasmwassuch that even the queen,

Eleanor of Aquitaine, tookthecrossalongwiththewivesofmanyof thenobles andatleastoneofLouis’unmarriedfemalecousins.4

As preparations began forthe great expedition, AbbotBernard learned that anothertime-honored crusadingcustom was being observed:the massacre of Jews in theRhineland. He rushed toGermanytoputastoptothis.

While he was there, hemanaged to convince theHolyRomanEmperorConradIII of Germany tomount hisown expedition. 5 In hisfifties,Conradwasoriginallynot interested in a trip toJerusalem; he’d already beenthere.6He also had enoughproblemsinhisownland.ButBernard was too publiclyinsistent.Templars were most

involved with the Frencharmy. The master of theTemple inParis,EverarddeBarres,wasprevailedupontohelp with organizing theexpedition. By April 1147,just before the king and hisarmy left, Everard hadgathered together 130Knights of the Temple,“wearingthewhitecloaks”toaccompany the king andqueen.7 That means there

were at least three times asmany sergeants and servantsof theTemple inParis at thetime,aswell.Thatmayhavebeen the largest number ofknights in one place outsideof theLatin kingdoms and itmusthavebeenanimpressivesight.The Templars received

donations great and small atthis time,butnotasmanyasone might think. In one

charter, Bernard of Balliolgave the order land inEngland thathehad receivedfrom Henry I. That was agoodhaul.Buttheonlyothercharters from this timerecorded in Paris are fromBartholomew, a dean ofNotre Dame, who gave theTemplars sixty sous, andfromawomannamedGenta,who gave them a mill, butonly after shewas dead.8She

lastedalongtime.Despitethefact thatRoger

ofSicilyhadofferedships totake the French to the HolyLand, Louis and his armydecidedtotakethelandroute,astheFirstCrusadehaddone.They left Paris on June 11,1147,andarriveda fewdayslater in Metz, where thegeneralmustertookplace.9

THETEMPLARSANDTHEARMYOFTHEFRENCH

The Germans under Conradhad gone on ahead of theFrench crusaders and thatcreated some problems forLouis and company, as theinhabitants of the lands theywent through were runningout of supplies and goodwill

by the time the Frencharrived.OdoofDeuil,amonkfrom St. Denis whoaccompanied Louis,complains that the moneychangers cheated them andthat the citizens refused tosell goods at a fair price.“Therefore, the pilgrims,unwilling to endure want inthemidst of plenty, procuredneeded supplies forthemselves by plunder and

pillage.”10

Master Everard de Barreswasn’t present when thishappened. He had been sentaheadtoConstantinople,withother ambassadors, to helpsmooth the way for thedemandingpilgrims.11

Itwasadifficulttask.Odoblamed the Greeks for beinggreedy and treacherous but Iimagine that even readers in

his own time might havewondered what they woulddo if overrun by armed“pilgrims” who were furiousatnotbeingfedandshelteredatwhattheyconsideredafairprice.Everardwonagreatdealof

praise for his calming of thesituation when the Frenchwere attacked as theyapproached Constantinople.The emperor, Manuel, was

smart enough not to let thecrusaders inside the city butallowedthemtocampoutsideandsetupamarketforthem.He did invite Louis andEleanorandfewnoblesinforan audience but was clearlyrelieved when the expeditionleft.

JOURNEYTO

ANTIOCH

Once the French leftConstantinople the Templarsformed the front and rearguardforthearmy.12Everardmust have felt that he washerding cats. It wasn’t justQueen Eleanor and herwomen, although a laterchronicler blamed them forcoming along at all. “Thewives could not manage

without theirmaids, and thusin thatChristianarmy,wherechastity should haveprevailed, a horde ofwomenwasmillingabout.”13

There were also hundredsof hangers-on among thesoldiers: pilgrims, craftsmen,familiesofthesoldiers,campfollowers, and others. Thesepeople, including the youngand rowdy knights, had nodiscipline and many were

weakened by illness and theweather, which was turningcold and rainy as winterapproached.The worst of the early

setbacks occurred in January1148atCadmusMountain,inwhatistodaywesternTurkey.Ifanyonestillsupposedthatapilgrimagewasagoodwaytoevade punishment for theirsins, this would haveconvinced them that

purgatory could providenothing worse. They mayhave thought it easier tospend a few centuries therethan endure another day onthecrusade.The army was already

weakened by cold, lack offood, and disease when theycame to Cadmus. Thevanguardofthearmycrossedthemountainandbegantosetup camp on the other side.

The rest followed, slowedbypack animals and panickynoncombatants.Theyclimbedanarrowridgeup thesideofthe mountain with a steepdrop on one side. Odo ofDeuildescribesthescene.Here the throng becamecongested while ascending,pushed forward, thencrowded close together,stopped, and, taking no

thoughtforthecavalry[equo,perhaps the horses] clungthere insteadofgoingahead.Sumpter horses slipped fromthe steep cliffs, hurling thosewhom they struck into thedepths of the chasm. . . .Moreover, the Turks andGreeks, their arrowspreventing the fallen fromrising again, throngedagainst the other part of ourarmy and rejoiced at this

sight, . . . They crossedagainst us, since they nolonger feared the vanguard[that was already on theother side of the mountain]and did not yet see the rearguard. They thrust andslashed, and the defenselesscrowdfelllikesheep.14

Onecanimaginethehorrorofthis,therainmakingthepathslick, the people pushing at

eachother,screamsofhorsesand humans as they fell intothe abyss.Added to thiswastheterrorofthearrowsflyingtoward them in the dimmingJanuarylight.Odowas sent back to find

KingLouisandtellhimwhatwashappening.Thekingandhis men rushed to help buthad to pass through theenemy in order to do so.Louis lost his horse and

barely escaped. It was not agooddayfortheFrench.Itwasgenerallyconsidered

thatGeoffreyofRancon,whowas leading the vanguard,was responsible for thedisaster.Hehadbeentoldnottocrossthemountainpassbutto protect the body of thearmy.15Geoffrey was one ofthe queen’smen, so shewasalso criticized and some saiditwasshewho toldGeoffrey

to go on so that she and herladies could settle in for thenight. This is something thatwe’llneverknowthetruthof.I imagine that everyone didwhat made sense to them atthe time without realizingwhatmighthappen.Actually, the only ones

whocameoutof the episodelooking good were Everardde Barres and the Templars.“The Templars and the

Master of the Temple, LordEverard of Barres, whoshould be revered for hispiety and who furnished thearmyanhonorableexample ...protected the people as

courageously aspossible.”16Actually, at thetime, Everard was onlymasteroftheTempleinParis.Robert of Craon was stillmasterintheHolyLand.But

asfarasOdowasconcerned,Everard was the one callingtheshots.The next day it was

decided that the Templarswould lead the army the restof thewayand thateveryonewould obey them, even theking. This worked wellenoughthatthearmymadeitto Adalia on January 20,1148.Tosurvive,manyofthehorses were slaughtered for

stew. Only the Templarsrefused to kill theirwarhorses, although the menwere starving. This alsoprovedimportant,asitmeantthat the Templars were ableto fight off another TurkishattackandconvincetheTurksthat the army was strongerthanwasreallythecase.17

After thisadventure,Louiswas convinced to finish thejourneytoAntiochbyboat.

ANTIOCHINTERLUDE

Louis and Eleanor’s stay inAntioch doesn’t immediatelyconcern the Templars, but itdid affect the course of thecrusade and, indirectly, thefuture of France. They werewelcomed to Antioch byRaymond, Eleanor’s uncle,who had been brought fromPoitiers ten years earlier to

marry Constance, the heiressof Antioch, who was thenaged about nine.18Constance,by the way, was Louis’secondcousin,soitwasabigfamilyreunion.OdoofDeuil letsusdown

as towhathappenednext;hestopped his chronicle beforethearrivalatAntioch.JohnofSalisburywasinRomeatthetime and reported thegossip.“Thekingbecamesuspicious

ofthefamiliarityoftheprincewiththequeenandhisnearlyconstant conversation withher.”19SoonLouisdecidedhehad stayed long enough atRaymond’s court andprepared to head on forJerusalem, but Eleanor hadhad enough. She told herhusband that she’d wait forhiminAntioch.Louis,knownforhavingashortfuse,forcedhertocomewithhim.20

Although there is noevidence that the queencommittedadultery,thisstoryhas entered the legend ofEleanor of Aquitaine, apersonwhoisthecenterofasmany myths and legends asthe Templars. Personally, Idoubt it. Eleanor may wellhaveflirtedwithherunclebutshewouldhavefoundithardto do much more. She wassurrounded by servants and

companionsmostofthetime.Also this episode was notmentioned three years laterwhen Eleanor and Louisfinally divorced. ForRaymond’s part, he wouldhave remembered that heonlyheldAntiochthroughhiswife and not wanted to risklosing it.But hormones haveoften overwhelmed commonsense. An affair is possible,but not proven. That didn’t

stop the rumors from flying,ofcourse.AswiththeTrialsof theTemplars, sex alwaysspicesupastory.Thinking that everything

was fine, Everard de Barresleftthekingandhispartyandwent to Acre to try to gettogethermoneytolendto

LouisandConradenteringAntioch.AlateandfancifuldepictionoftheSecond

Crusade.(TheBritishLibrary)

Louis.21 The king had not

counted on losing horses,property,orbattlesandfoundhimself a bit short on cash.Hewasforced towritehometo Suger, abbot of St. Denisand regent while he and thequeenwere gone. The letterssound very much like acollege student who has justdiscoveredthepriceofbooksand beer. “I couldn’t haveknown how much it wouldcost in so short a time,” he

writes.22

LouiswoundupowingtheTemplars thirty thousandsolidos, about half his yearlyincome.23 And he owedothersbesidetheTemplars.Aspecialtaxhadbeenleviedtopayfortheexpeditionbut,asleaders have discoveredsince, wars always run overbudget,especiallyifyoulose.This seems to have been thefirst time that a king of

France entered into aneconomic arrangement withtheTemplars.Itwasthestartofalongand,ultimately,fatalrelationship.

DISASTERATDAMASCUS

While Louis was fretting atAntioch,ConradofGermany

was back in Constantinople,recovering from illness.Meanwhile Alphonse Jordan,count of Toulouse, who hadbeen born in the Holy Land,arrived at Acre by ship withhisforces.Afterherecovered,Conrad

arrived in Jerusalem a littleaheadoftheothers.Hestayed“in the palace of theTemplars, where once theroyalhouse,whichisalsothe

Temple of Solomon, wasbuilt.”24After playing touristfor a while, Conrad wentback toAcre,where he triedto convince his fed-upknightstostaylongenoughtoattackDamascus.“Forhehadagreed with the king of thatLand [Baldwin III] and thepatriarch and the Knights ofthe Temple to takeDamascus.”25

We have accounts as to

what happened next bothfromtheChristianchroniclersandfromIbnal-Qalanisi,whowasinDamascusatthetime.Both sides agree that therewasatruceineffectbetweenJerusalem and Damascus.Nur ad-Din, Zengi’ssuccessor, who had capturedEdessa, was Sunni andanswered to the caliph ofBaghdad, while the majorityof people in Damascus were

Shi’ite and supported theFatimidcaliphsofEgypt.TheDamacenes feared Nur ad-Dinasmuchasthecrusadersdid. So there is someconfusion about why Louisand Conrad were advised toinvadethecity.It was a warm day in late

May1148whenthearmysetout.KingBaldwin IIIwas inthe lead, since he knew theway,followedbyLouis,with

Conrad bringing up therear.26 They decided tobesiege the city by goingthrough the orchard thatstretchedout formiles to thewest andnorth andup to thecity walls. William of Tyre,whowas in school inFranceat the time, says that theypicked this route “so that thearmy would not lack for theconvenience of fruit andwater.”27

Thearmyhadnochancetopicnic, however, as it wasattacked first by the peasantstendingtheorchardsandthenby cavalry from the city.However, the crusadersmanaged to reach the riverand set up camp.28 The nextday therewas a fierce battle.The end was undecided butthe citizens of Damascusseemed to be getting theupperhand.

Now the two chroniclesdisagree. Ibnal-Qalanisisaysthat theChristians hid out intheirstockadesforadayorsobecause the defense was sostrong that they couldn’t gooutwithoutbeingbombardedby stones and arrows. Then,upon learning that Nur ad-Dinwasonhiswaytorelievethecity,theywenthome.29

William gives a muchmore complicated

explanation.He says that thecitizens of Damascus bribed“certain of our nobles” toconvincethearmytomovetothe other side of the citywhere there was nowater orfruitbutaplainthatwasclearof trees and where the wallsofthecitywerenotasstrong.The kings and the emperorwere convinced. But whenthey got to the plain, theybegan to runoutof foodand

when they tried to return tothe orchard, they found thatall the paths had beenbarricaded. Cut off fromsupplies, theywere forced toreturntoJerusalem.30

The end was the same inbothversions.Damascuswasnot taken by the crusaders.Personally,IthinkthatIbnal-Qalanisi isprobablyclosertothetruth.Baldwin,Louis,andConrad found themselves

outnumbered with rumors ofmoredefendersarrivingsoon.The story of bribery soundstoomuchlikeanexcuse.OnereasonI thinksois that thereis no record of these nobleswho purposely gave badadviceeverbeingpunished.William doesn’t name

names, but someone in thedisgruntled army must havedecided to blame theTemplarsforthefailure.John

of Salisbury heard of it inRome shortly after. Hewrites, “Some say that theTemplars were responsible;others that it was some whowished to return home; butthekingalwaystookpainstoexonerate the brothers of theTemple.”31

In1147,theyearbeforetheking of France and theemperor of Germany werebeaten at Damascus, English

and Flemish crusaders hadlandedinIberiaandtakenthecityofLisbon.TheTemplarsfoughtwithKingAlfonsoandreceived both honor and allthechurchpropertyinthecityof Santarem.32 Germanarmies moved eastward intopagan lands with the crossand the sword.33 Both theseaspects of the SecondCrusade were successful interms of expanding the

borders of Christendom. Butwhat people rememberedthen, as most do now, wasthat the twogreatestkings inEurope came back withouthaving accomplishedanything.The crusade was a dismal

failure so someonehad tobeblamed.OdoofDeuilfeltthattheGreekshadsabotagedthekings.34 Others, likeWilliamof Newburgh, writing many

years later, thought that thecrusaders were too weigheddown by sin to deserve towin. Henry of Huntington,who wasn’t there either,agreed. He thought that theyindulged in “openfornications, and even inadulteries . . . and finally inrobbery and all sorts ofevils.”35

But it wasmore satisfyingto make someone other than

the crusaders guilty of theirfailure. Conrad was sure itwas treachery.Hementionedthe Templars, but alsoBaldwin III or the princes ofSyria.36

People seemed toremembertheTemplarsmost.For all their hard work,despite their successes inSpain, they were stillcriticized. Why? I suspectthatBernardofClairvauxand

the Templars themselves haddone their propaganda toowell. They were the knightsofChrist,pureandinvincible.They should have been ableto surmount any obstacle,even a disorganized andbickering army coming fromEurope and feuding familiesintheEast.The trouble with being a

hero is that you’re notallowedanoffday.

1Yves Sassier, Louis VII(Paris:Fayard,1991)p.113.2Guillaume de Nangis,Chronique, ed. M. Guizot(Paris,1825)p.25.3OdoofDeuil,Deperfectioneludovici VII in orientum, ed.and tr. Virginia GinerickBerry (New York: Norton,

1948)pp.8-9.4Ibid., p. 76. The unnamedcousin was saved by herrelatives frombeing given inmarriage to a Greek lord.This isoneof thoseepisodesthat I really wish there weremoreinformationon.5AdriaanH.Bredero,Bernardof Clairvaux: Between Cult

and History (Grand Rapids,MI:Eerdmans,1996)p.24.6Hans Eberhard Mayer, TheCrusades (Oxford: OxfordUniversityPress,1988)p.98.7CartulaireGénéral de Paris,Tome Premier 528-1180, ed.Robert de Lasteyrie (Paris,1887)charterno.334,p.307,“albaclamideinductis.”

8CartulaireGénéral,nos.321,p.297,and270,p.265.9Sassier,pp.162-63.10OdoofDeuil,BookIII,p.41,“Peregini ergo, in rerumabnudatia penuriam nonferentes, praedis et rapinussibinecssariaconquirebant.”

11Ibid.,BookII,p.29.12Malcolm Barber, The NewKnighthood (Cambridge,1996)p.67.13William of Newburgh, TheHistory of English Affairs,Book I, ed. and tr. P. G.Walsh and M. J. Kennedy(Warminster:Aris&Phillips,

1988)pp.128-29.14OdoofDeuil,pp.116-17.15Ibid.,pp.122-23.Well,thisiswhatOdosays.16Ibid.,pp.124-25.17Ibid.,pp.134-35.18

Please see chapter 10,Melisande, Queen ofJerusalem.19John of Salisbury, HistoriaPontificalis, tr. and ed.Marjorie Chibnall (London:ThomasNelson,1956)p.52,“familiaritas principis adreginam et assidua fere sineintermissione colloquia regisuspicionemdederunt.”

20Ibid.,p.53.21Sugerii Abbatis S. Dionysii,“Epistola” PL Letter 50, col.1374-1375 “Dilectionivestrae mandamus quaetenusea qua Ebrardis magisterTempli vobis mandaverit,certa habeatis. Nos siquidemab Antiocha admutopecuniam nobis necssariam

seto Idus Maii Acaronmisimus.”22Sugerii, Letter 58, col. 1378,“Non enim video nec viderepossum quomodo etiam perparvi temporis spatium inpartibus illis permanere velmoran facere potuissem, nisieorum praecedente auxilio etsustentations.” There’s morebutyougetthegist.

23Sugerii, Letter 71, col. 1585.For fraction of income seeBarber,p.67.24Otto of Freising, The Deedsof Frederick Barbarossa, tr.Charles Christopher Mierow(NewYork:Norton,1953)p.102.25Ibid. It’s interesting thatOtto

doesn’t mention Melisande,who was still very much inchargeinJerusalem.26WilliamofTyre,Book17,3,p. 763. “Primusitaque cumsuis Ierosolimorum rex, eomaxime quod locorumpericiam . . . secundum etmedium locum rexFrancorum . . . tercium . . .imperator.”

27Ibid., Book 17, 3, p. 763,“tum ut expeditionibusfructum et aque non deessetcommoditas.”28Ibn al-Qalanisi, TheDamascus Chronicle of theCrusades,ed.andtr.H.AR.Gibb (Dover, 2002; reprintfrom1832)pp.283-84.29

Ibid.,pp.284-87.30WilliamofTyre,Book17,5-6,pp.765-67.31John of Salisbury, p. 57,“quod alii Templariis diuimposuerunt; alii vero hisquos amor parie revocabat;sedrexfratresTemplisemperstudiutexcusare.”32

Quoted in Giles Constable,“TheSecondCrusadeasSeenby Contemporaries,”Tradition Vol. IX (NewYork: Fordham UniversityPress,1953)p.235.33Mayer,pp.99-100.34Odo of Deuil, pp. 109-45.Actually, the treacheryof theGreeks is a thread running

through the whole of Odo’schronicle.35Constable,p.273.36Ibid.

PARTTWO

TheGloryYears

CHAPTERFIFTEEN

GrandMasters1136-1191

ROBERTTHEBURGUNDIAN(DECRAON),C.1136-

1149

The successor to Hugh dePayns, Robert of Craon isalso known as “theBurgundian,”butheseemstohave roamed about a bit. Hewas certainly living at thecourtofFulkofAnjouinthe1120s.Anjouhas never beenpart of Burgundy. Some saythat Robert was married buthe left his wife to join the

Templars. He may havestayed in Burgundy for awhile before going overseasor he may have returned in1133, when he accepted thegift of a village near thecommandery of Bure onbehalf of the Templars. Atthat time, he was listed asseneschal of the order.1 Hebecame Grand Master in1135.2Hewasstill inFrancea while later when he

accepted the service ofseveral men to be supportedbyLordBertranddeBalm.3

Asyoucansee, the lifeofmost Templars before theyentered the order was rarelyimportantenoughtobenotedwith any certainty. Most ofthe evidence comes fromcharters that these menwitnessedforothers.Robert was master during

the time when many of theimportant papal concessionswere made to the Templars,sohisyears in theWestmayhave been useful. In 1139,Pope Innocent II in his bullOmne Datum Optimuminformed thebishops that theTemplars were under hisprotection.4Thatwasalsotheyear in which Robert led a“singularly rash anddisastrous raid in the

neighbourhoodofHebron”—thefirstengagementweknowof in which the Templarsparticipated.5

Robert also seems to havebeen the master whonegotiated the agreement fora final settlement of the willof Alfonso I of Aragon andNavarre, inwhichhedividedhis kingdom among theTemplars, the Hospitallers,and the canons of the Holy

Sepulcher in Jerusalem.6 Thefinal agreement is addressedtohim.Allinall,heseemstohave been the administratorthat the order needed duringthe first years of itsexpansion, even though hismilitaryabilityleftsomethingtobedesired.

EVERARDDE

BARRES,1149-1152

Everard de Barres had themisfortunetobethemasterofthe Temple in Paris in 1147,whenKingLouisVIIdecidedto set off on the SecondCrusade. The story of hisexperiences during thatexpedition is told in chapter14.Everard was elected while

serving in the Holy Land,

perhaps because of hisexemplary behavior inprotecting the pilgrims,including King Louis andQueen Eleanor. In warfare,diplomacy, and piety heshowedhimselftobeamodelTemplar.After his election, he

returned with Louis toFrance.7But Everard decidedthat he was not suited toTemplar life. Perhaps he felt

he’d had enough of thepolitics of the job. Hismotivations are not recordedbut he retired from the ordersoon after coming back toParis,despite thepleasofhisseneschal to return toJerusalem. It has been saidthatEverardeventuallyjoinedtheCisterciansbutIhavenotbeen able to find proof ofthis.Ishallcontinuelooking.An odd side note on

Everardisthatheshowsupinanepicwrittenthreehundredyears after his death. In thepoem, Saladin, composed inthe middle of the 1400s,Everard’s son, William deBarres, goes to Jerusalemwith King Philip II in 1191andtheremeetshisfather,themaster of the Temple.8Now,Everard was long dead by1191andthereisnorecordofhis ever having a son named

William. But it is intriguingthat thisfairlyobscureGrandMaster should suddenlysurfaceinaworkoffiction.

BERNARDOFTREMELAY,1153

Bernard of Tremelay mayhave come from the Doleregion ofBurgundy. 9That’s

allwe know of him.Hewaselected Grand Master afterEverarddeBarresdecided toleave the Templars. It’s notcertain at what time he tookoverthepositionorevenifhewasintheEastatthetimeofhis election. However, hearrived in time for the battleofAscalon,althoughhemusthavewished he hadn’t.10 OnthenightofAugust15,1153,the king of Jerusalem was

leading a force in an attemptto take the city-fort ofAscalon from the Egyptians.During the attack a wall ofthe city was breached.Bernard rushed to the spotandledtheTemplarsthroughthe hole in thewall and intothecity.William of Tyre says that

the Templars rushed in andrefused to let others followsince they wanted the booty

forthemselves.ThisgavetheMoslems time to reblock thewall. The Templars weretrappedinsideandallofthemkilled. The next day theirbodies were hung from thetowersofAscalon.11Williamwasnot thereat the timeandIbn al-Qalanisi, writing fromthe point of view of thecitizens of Ascalon, onlymentions that the wall wasbreached.“At length theway

wasopenedtothemtodeliveranassaultuponitatacertainpointinthecitywall.Havingbattered itdown, they rushedintothetown,andagreathostwere [sic] killed on bothsides.”12 Of course, al-Qalanisi wasn’t there, either.So the only thingwe can becertainofisthatBernarddiedinthefighting.TheTemplarswere again without a GrandMaster.

ANDREWOFMONTBARD,1154-

1156

The fifthgrandmasterof theTemplars is one of the mostillustrious, not because ofanything he did but becauseof his connection to one ofthe best-known men of thetwelfthcentury.It’s not certain when

Andrew of Montbard wasborn, but he was the sixthchild of Bernard, lord ofMontbard, and his wife,Humberge. Two of his olderbrothers, Miles and Gaudry,joined the monasteryestablished by their nephewBernardofClairvaux.13 It’spossible that Andrew mayevenhavebeenyounger thanhisfamousnephew.It’s amazing that Andrew

managed to hold out so longagainstthefamilypressuretoenter monastic life. Bernardmanaged to convince all butone of his brothers andmostof his uncles and cousins tojoin him at his abbey ofClairvaux. EventuallyAndrew decided that heshould also embrace thereligious life.But rather thanbecoming a cloistered monk,spending his days in prayer,

he decided to join theTemplars.Whetheritwashisown idea or he was nudgedbyBernard,Idon’tknow.It’sknownthatthetwomenwereclose and Bernard seems tohave approved of his uncle’schoice.14

There is some confusionabout when Andrew went toJerusalem. Sometime before1126, Baldwin II, king ofJerusalem, sent two

messengers to Bernard ofClairvaux. He explained thatthey were brothers of theTemple who wanted to getconfirmation from the popefor their order and also aRule to live by. The kingbegged Bernard to use hisinfluence with the pope andthe“princesofChristendom”to aid them. The two mensentbyBaldwinwerenamedAndrew and Gundemar.15

ThiswasbeforethetripmadebyHughdePayns.Some authors have

assumed that the Andrewmentioned was Andrew ofMontbard.However,thisisn’tlikely. Bernard’s unclewouldn’thaveneededaletterof introduction to his ownnephew. Also, there’s nomention of Andrew ofMontbard in connectionwiththe Templars before the

1140s. In 1148 “Ándreas deMuntbar,” seneschal of theTemplars, witnessed a giftfrom Barisan d’Ibelin to theOrder of St. Lazarus. 16

That’s the first mention ofhimthatI’vefound.It’s more likely that

Andrew joined the order inthe rush to enlist after theCouncilofTroyesandbythe1140s had made his way upthe ranks to become

seneschaloftheorder.Andrewapparentlykepthis

nephew up-to-date withmatters in Jerusalem, as twolettersfromBernardtoQueenMelisandeprove.Inthefirst,written sometime in the1140s, Bernard tells her,“And if the praise of mydearestuncleAndrewis true,and I believe him implicitly,youwillrulebythemercyofGod both here and in

eternity.”17

The second letter voicesBernard’s concern overreports he has receivedconcerning Melisande’sbehavior, perhaps having todo with her unwillingness togive up power once her son,BaldwinIII,hadcomeofage.However,Andrewhaswrittento Bernard to say that thegossip is false. “My uncleAndrew has happily

intervened, and I can in noway disbelieve him. Hewrites sayingbetter thingsofyou, that you have behavedpeacefully and mildly. Yourule wisely and with wisecounsel; have loved thebrothers of the Temple andarefriendlywiththem.”18

At the same time,Bernardwrote to Andrew himself,lamenting the internalproblems that were afflicting

the Kingdom of Jerusalem.Andrew may have believedthat Bernard’s influence andcharisma could bring thesquabbling crusader familiestogether, for he asked hisnephewtocometoJerusalem.Bernarddithersonquiteabitbeforedecidingthathereallycan’t make a trip like that,even thoughhewoulddearlylovetoseeAndrewagain.19

He never did. Abbot

Bernard died at Clairvaux in1153, a year before AndrewbecameGrandMaster.Andrewmayhavebeenthe

seneschal of the Templarswhenhewrotetheselettersorstill only a knight brother. Itis clear that he was in theconfidence of the queen and,like Philip of Nablus, whohad not yet joined the order,was one of her supporters.Both Andrew and Philip

appear as witnesses onMelisande’s donations to St.Lazarusin1150and1151.20

In the struggle betweenMelisande and her son,Andrew seems to havesupported the queen and heryounger son, Almaric.However,hewasabletostayon the good side of BaldwinIII, as well.21 In 1155Andrew witnessed one ofBaldwin’s charters to the

abbey of Santa Maria ofJosaphat and was a frequentwitness to other charters oftheking.22

Andrew was certainly apart of the Second Crusadefrom 1148 to 1150 andseneschalof theorderby theend of it. In about 1150, hewrites a plaintive letter toEverarddeBarre,theGrandMaster, who has returnedwith King Louis VII to

France. Things are not goingwell in the Holy Land.Andrew tells Everard, “weareconstrainedonallsidesbylackofknightsand sergeantsand money, and we imploreyourpaternity to return tousquickly.”23

Everard did return toJerusalem, but not for long.Commanddidn’tsuithimandhe became the first GrandMaster ever to retire.24 He

was replaced by Bernard ofTremelay while Andrew ofMontbard continued asseneschal.Andrew’s opportunity

came in 1154, after thegallant but pointless death ofBernard of Tremelay at thesiegeofAscalon.25

BERTRANDOF

BLANCFORT,1157-1169

As with many of the GrandMasters,nothing isknownofBertrand’s life before hebecame a Templar. It ispossible that he was of thesame family who donatedproperty to the Templars ofDouzens.The land theygavewasintheAudeValley,northof Limoux in southern

France, about twenty-fivemiles north of thePyrenees.26Actually, thedonation was made bysomeone who held the landfor them.Theyjustagreedtoit.Bertrand is not mentioned

inanyofthesevenchartersoftheBlancfort—orBlanchefort—familytotheTemplars.27Amisreading on these chartershas led some people, not

historians, to attach Bertrandto this family. They saw thename “Bernard deBlanchefort” on the chartersof Douzens and, perhapsthrough wishful thinking,decided that it was just amisspelling of“Bertrand.”28However, thetwo names are as differentand distinct as “Kelly” and“Kyle” and are not usedinterchangeably. Bertrand’s

originsarenotcertain.Bertrand had only been

GrandMasterforaboutayearwhen, alongwithOdo of St.Amand, another futureTemplar and Grand Master,he was captured by Nur-ad-Dinat thesiegeofBanyasinJune 1157.29He was releasedattheendofMay1159.Sohespent his first two years asleader of the Templars incaptivity.

AsGrandMaster,hewroteback to Europe, giving thestateofaffairsandaskingforaid for the cause.30A few oftheseletterssurvive.Themostdramaticeventof

Bertrand’s tenure as GrandMasterwasin1168,whentheTemplars refused to helpKing Almaric on hisexpedition toEgypt.AlmarichadlongbelievedthatcontrolofEgypt,particularlytheport

of Alexandria, was essentialto the safetyof theKingdomof Jerusalem. Unfortunately,he had a treatywith Shawar,the sultanofEgypt.BertrandrefusedtoallowtheTemplarsto break the treaty.31 Thecampaign was a failure andforced Shawar to seek theprotection of his adversary,Nur-ad-Din,provingBertrandcorrect. Relations betweenthe king and the Templars

were not cordial during thistime.Bertrand of Blancfort died

in 1169. His successor wasmuch more inclined tosupport the king, mainlybecausehehadstartedoutastheking’sman.

PHILIPOFNABLUS,1169-1171

PhilipofNabluswasborn inthe Holy Land. He was theson of Guy ofMilly and hiswife, Stephania “theFleming.” The familyprobably came fromNormandy.32 They settled inthe town of Nablus in theearly1100sandestablishedalordshipthere.Philiphadtwobrothers, Guy andHenry theBuffalo.33

As a young man, Philip

was very much involved inthe activities of the court ofMelisande, queen ofJerusalem. He supported herduring the time she reignedforandwithherson,BaldwinIII.WhenBaldwindecidedhewasoldenoughtoruleonhisown,Philipstayedonthesideof the queen. It was toPhilip’s town of Nablus thatMelisande retired afterBaldwinhadtakenJerusalem.

However, once Baldwinand his mother had come toan understanding, Philipbegantoappearontheking’scharters as a witness,meaning that he again hadsomepositionatcourt.SohemusthavebeenabletopacifyBaldwin to some extent. In1153, when the city ofAscalon was finally takenfrom the Egyptians, Philipwas among the noblemen

whofoughtfortheking.34Hemust have been there for thedisastrous charge that led tothe death of Templar GrandMaster Bernard of Tremeley(see page 000). But thisdidn’tseemtodeterhimfromjoiningtheorder,himself.Sometime before 1144,

Philip married a womannamed Isabella. They hadthree children, Rainier,Helena, and Stephania.35

Rainier, the only son, didn’tsurvive his father, althoughhe lived at least until 1168,when he witnessed a charterat the abbey of Notre-Dameof Josaphat. 36In 1148,BarisanofIbelinconfirmedadonation made by Philip’smaternal grandfather, RainierofRama, to the abbey of St.Lazarus, just outsideJerusalem.Philipwasnotoneof the witnesses. However,

the charterwas signed at thechapel of the Templars withseveral of the brothers inattendance.37

Philip, still a layman, didwitness a charter ofMelisande’s to the lepers ofSt. Lazarus in 1150.38But, itisn’t until 1155 that we findPhilip in connectionwith theTemplars. In thatyearPrinceAlmaricconfirmedadonationmade by Philip, his brothers,

and his wife and children,again to St. Lazarus. Thisdonation was made inJerusalemandmayhavebeenmade at the Templar chapel,astheoneof1148was.HereAndrew of Montbard, nowGrand Master, and severalother Templars arewitnesses.39

This is not an indicationthat Philip was planning tojointheorder,fortheTemple

wasusedasacentralmeetingpoint in Jerusalem for manybusiness transactions. It doesassume that Philip was atleast on speaking terms withtheTemplars.Melisande died in 1161

and around that time,Baldwin III arranged forPhilip to give Nablus to theKingdom of Jerusalem. Inexchange,Philipbecamelordof the Transjordan. It’s not

clearifthiswasarewardorademotion.TheTransjordanistheareato theeastandsouthoftheDeadSea.Muchofitisin modern Jordan. Part ofPhilip’s territory probablyincludedwhatisnowthecityof Amman and stretcheddowntotheRedSea.40Itwaslarger than Nablus, butdefinitely frontier territory,onthecaravanroutebetweenAlexandria and Baghdad.

King Baldwin realized thatthe tolls thecaravansand theBedouins paid for a safecrossingweretoolucrativetogive up to Philip, so he keptthem for himself. Philip goteverything else, though,includingtheresponsibilityofdefending the Syriac nativesoftheareafromattack.41

Philip’sdecisiontojointheTemplars is starting to makemoresense.

Nevertheless, for a time atleast, Philip of Nablusbecame Philip ofTransjordan.Two years later, Baldwin

III died. As he had nochildren, his brother,Almaric, became king ofJerusalem.Almaric had beenon Melisande’s side in thebattle for the throne and hewas friendly toward themanwhohadnotdesertedher.He

must have been attached tothewholefamily,forPhilip’sbrother, Guy, was madeseneschalofthekingdom.42

Philip joined the Templarson January 17, 1166,“probablyonthedeathofhiswife.”43 When he did so, hegave the northern part of theTransjordan to the order,including Amman and theareaaroundit.44 Itmusthave

beendifficult forhim to staybehind when the Templarmaster,BertrandofBlancfort,refused to accompany KingAlmaric on his 1168expedition to Egypt, for hislands bordered on those thatAlmaricwantedtoconquer.It was also about the time

that Philip’s daughterHelenadied. Itwouldbenatural thatbeing in the Templarswouldbe important to a man who

had lost so many people heloved. He could continue toserve his king but also hisprayers and sacrifice couldhelpthesoulsofhiswifeanddaughter.Philip did take part in the

campaign in Egypt againstthe Kurd Shirkuh and hisnephew Saladin.45 WhenBertrand of Blancfort died,it’s possible that KingAlmaric influenced the

election of Philip as GrandMaster. On the other hand,the brothers of the Templemayhavethoughtitwouldbea good idea to have a leaderwhogot alongwith theking.There’snowaytotell.But Philip was Grand

Master for only a short time.His loyalty to the king wasstronger than his devotion totheTemplars.He resigned in1171inorder toreturnto the

service of King Almaric, asan envoy to Constantinople.He apparently died there inAprilofthesameyear.46

Philip’s family continuedin their support of St.Lazarus. In 1183, Philip’sgrandsonHumphreyofTorongave the lepers twentybezantsayearfor thesoulofLord Philip. No Templarswere witnesses to this, but aBrother Guido Hospitaller

wasinattendance.47

Philip’s career is not thatunusual for a Grand Master,although only Everard deBarres also resigned. But heis not the only one to havebeenelectedbecausehehadagood working relationshipwiththesecularrulers.

ODOOFST.

AMAND,1171-1179

Odo(orEudes)ofSt.Amandstartedhiscareer in thecourtofKingBaldwinIII.OnJune19, 1157, he was the king’smarshal. Along with severalother important members ofthecourtandsomeTemplars,hewastakenprisonerbyNur-ad-Din at the siege ofBanyas.48

OnApril25,1164,Odoof

St.AmandwasnotlistedasaTemplarwhenhewitnessedacharter of Almaric, king ofJerusalem, along with Philipof Nablus and others.49Soonafter, as the king’s butler, hewassenttoConstantinopletoescort Almaric’s fiancée,Princess Maria, thegrandniece of the emperor,back to Jerusalem. So, in1165,OdowasclearlyoneofAlmaric’strustedofficials.50

It’s not certain when OdojoinedtheTemplars.Ithadtohave been after Almaric’swedding. Iwonder if hewaschosentobeGrandMasterbythe king before he had evenbecomeaTemplar.Ifso,likeHenry II’s nomination ofThomasBecketasarchbishopof Canterbury at about thesame time, it turned outbadly.For whatever reason, Odo

of St. Amand becameGrandMaster on the retirement ofPhilip of Nablus. Odo’s firstchallenge came from a“renegade Templar,” a mannamed Malih, who wasbrotherofthekingofCilicianArmenia. Malih hadapparentlyconvertedfromtheEastern to the WesternChristian beliefs and joinedtheTemplars.Thisistheonlymention I know of a native

Christian becoming aTemplar. At any rate, hedidn’t stay one for long.When his brother the kingdied, Malih went to Nur ad-Dinforhelp.Withthemenhewas given, Malih took thethrone of Armenia from hisnephew and threw theTemplars out of thekingdom.51

It wasn’t an auspiciousbeginning for Odo. Things

gotworse.Some time later an envoy

came to Jerusalem from thesectoftheAssassins.HetoldKing Almaric that theAssassins were tired ofpaying tribute to theTemplars and Hospitallers.Instead, they would like tobecomeChristian.WilliamofTyre says, “Thekinggreetedthe legates with a glad heartand granted the request, like

theintelligentmanhewas.”52I reserve judgment on that,but, again according toWilliam of Tyre, the envoywas on his way back toAssassin territory when hewas attacked and killed by agroupofTemplars.53

Upon learning that theTemplars had ruined histreaty, King Almaric wasfurious. He went to his oldfriendOdoofSt.Amandand

demanded that the men inquestionbeturnedovertohisjustice.Odo refused, saying that

Templars could only bejudgedby themasterand thepope. He sent word toAlmaricthathehadgiventheleader of the murderers,Walter of Mesnil, a penanceand would send him to thepopeforsentencing.Thisdidnot sit well with Almaric,

who took a force to Sidon,whereWalterwasbeingheld.Hehad themandraggedout,put in chains, and sent toTyre. Presumably he diedthere.54

The friendship betweenOdoandKingAlmaricwasatanend.This story has often been

repeated but it seems verystrange to me. Some people

say that it must, at least inpart, be true because WalterMapwrote the same story atabout the same time inEngland. However, in 1179,only two or three years afterthis was supposed to havehappened,therewasacouncilin Rome. Two of thedelegates were William ofTyreandWalterMap.55NowWalter didn’t say in hisaccount,“Igotthisstoryover

lunchwithWilliam.”But it’sjust possible that Williamvented his annoyance aboutOdo’s actions in this willingear.Odomight have been in a

lot more trouble over thisepisode but Almaric diedsoon after this, leaving hisson, Baldwin IV, a sick boyof thirteen, to handle theproblem.

Since William, archbishopof Tyre, wrote almost theonly chronicle of this time,we are often stuck with hisprejudices.WilliamwasnotafanofOdo’s.He thought theTemplar master arrogant anddidn’tattempttoshowhimina good light. However, Idon’tthinkhewouldmakeupall of the stories about Odo.I’m just not surewhichpartsaretrue.

In 1179 in an encounterwith Saladin, Odo “led acharge of knights that by itssheer force so divided theChristianranksthatthebattlewas lost.”56William certainlyblamed him. “Among thoseofourmencapturedherewasOdoofSt.Amand,theMasteroftheKnightsoftheTemple.Hewasabadman,proudandarrogant, having the spirit offuryinhisnostrils.Heneither

feared God nor respectedmen.”57

William adds with relishthat Odo died in captivity inEgyptayearlater.It’s not good to make an

enemyofamanwithapen.

ARNOLDOFTORROJA,1181-

1184

Arnold was an experiencedTemplar who had beenmasterof“Provenceandpartsof Spain” since 1167.58HecamefromCataloniaandmayhave entered the order therebut all information on himcomes from his years inProvence.Even before he joined the

Templars, Arnold gave the

order vineyards and otherproperty from his familyestates near Lerida. Hisbrother,Raymond,wasalsoapatron of the Templarsalthough he did not becomeone.59Arnold was a Templarby1173,whenhewaspresentto receive a donation fromPonsofMolièesoftwoserfs,partoftherentofavilla,andsome forestland. Arnold islisted first in the charter, but

still as a “knight of theTemple”notanofficialoftheorder.60By 1179, he isdefinitely the master of theKnights of the Temple inProvence and parts of Spain,accordingtoabullfromPopeAlexander III confirming allthe property of the TemplarsinProvenceandSpain.61

The date of thisconfirmation is March 1179,which makes me wonder if

Arnold was a Templarrepresentative to the ThirdLateranCouncil, takingplacethat month. Odo of St.Amand was busy fightingSaladin. Perhaps no one elsecould be spared from theEast. As I mentioned above,William of Tyre was there,along with the bishops ofBethlehem and Caesarea.62One of the laws decided atthis council concerned the

complaints of the bishopsabout how the Templars,Hospitallers, and otherexempt orders were abusingthe privileges the popes hadgiven them.63 What bettertimeforArnoldtomakesurethat therightsofTemplars inSpainwereallspelledout?And, when the Templars

mayhave been looking for aGrand Master who hadn’tbeen attached to the court of

Jerusalem, Arnold wouldhavebeenagoodchoice.Hewas someone who had donewell inanotherareainwhichfightingwasgoingonandheknew how to deal with theauthorities.Whatever the thinking,

Arnoldwaselected.One of his first and more

unpleasant duties was to bepart of a group that included

themasteroftheHospitallers,the patriarch of Jerusalem,and various nobles that wentto Antioch in about 1181 toconvince the prince of thecity, Bohemond, to give upthemistresshehadmovedinwith and return to his wife.Bohemond promised to doeverything the committeeasked, but as soon as theyweregone,wenthome tohismistress and threw the

noblemen out of towninstead. He wasexcommunicatedandAntiochput under interdict but theprincewas not daunted.64 Somuchforthefearofhell.Whatever the Templars

were expecting when theyelected Arnold, there isn’tmuchmentionofwhathedidasGrandMaster.Inthethreeyears Arnold served, Saladinmade further inroads into the

Latin kingdoms and poorBaldwinIVbecamemoreandmore debilitated as hisleprosyprogressed.Asthingsgotworse,Arnold,alongwithHeraclius, the patriarch ofJerusalem, and Roger desMoulins, master of theHospitallers, went on a tourof Italy,France,andEnglandin an attempt to get moresupportfortheEast.65

Arnold never returned to

Jerusalem.HediedinVeronain1184,justbeforethestormbroke.66

GERARDOFRIDEFORT,1185-

1191

After the professionalcompetence of Arnold ofTorroja, the Templars went

back to someone with morepersonalitythansense(inmyopinion). Gerard of RidefortwaseitherFlemishorAnglo-Norman. He came toJerusalem to seekhis fortuneandby1179wasmarshalloftheKingdomofJerusalem.According to one story

GerardhadfirstservedCountRaymond of Tripoli. As areward, he expected to begiven an heiress inmarriage.

However, Raymond decidedto have the woman Gerardhad selected marry a Pisanmerchant instead, possiblyone he owed money to.Gerard was understandablypiqued, especially because aPisan merchant didn’t havethesocialstatusofa landlessknight. It was a dreadfulinsult. Sometime later, ratherthan try for another heiress,GerardjoinedtheTemplars.67

This story may not be true,but Gerard did have a deepdislike for Raymond ofTripoli.The new Templar

immediately got involved inlocalpolitics.IthappenedthatRaymondofTripolihadbeendeclared guardian for thechild king Baldwin V,successor to the leperBaldwin IV. Little Baldwindiedbeforeheturnedsix.His

mother, Sybilla, the daughterof King Almaric, wasconsideredbymanytobetheheir to the throne. Others,including Raymond ofTripoli, thoughtthathecoulddo a better job.GuesswhichoneGerardsupported?Alongwiththepatriarchof

Jerusalem, Gerard saw to itthat Sybilla was crownedruleralongwithherhusband,Guy of Lusignan. But the

Latin kingdoms were nowdivided and Saladin, whosepower was growing, wouldmakethemostofthis.68

The first sign of the riftwaswhenGerardencouragedKingGuytotakeanarmyuptoTripoliandmakeRaymondobey him. Wiser headsprevailed but Raymond hadalready made a treaty withSaladin in anticipation of aninvasionbyGuy.

Bythespringof1186,Guyand Sybilla were willing tomake peace with Raymond.Gerard, Roger, theHospitaller master, alongwith severalotherswere sentto see if Raymond wouldmake peace. At the sametime,Saladin’seldestson,al-Afdal, took advantage of thetrucewithRaymond to bringsomemenintoTripoli.Thereare various explanations for

this,dependingonwhichsideistellingthestory.Intheend,Gerard learned about theMoslem incursion and wenttothenearestTemplarhouse,where he gathered up someeightyknights,alongwithtenHospitallers and forty menfrom the royal garrison.69According to the chroniclers,both the Hospitaller masterand the marshal of theTemple tried to stop Gerard

from attacking.He overruledthem.It was called the Battle of

Cresson Springs. Roger desMoulins, master of theHospital, was killed, aswerealltheroyalsoldiersandmostoftheTemplars.70

Gerard of Ridefortsurvived.The next day a few men,

including Gerard and the

archbishop of Tyre, went toseeaboutburying thebodies.Halfway there,Gerard turnedback, “so painful andgrievous were his woundsfromthedaybefore.”71CountRaymondhad tocomeout tohelp with the cleanup, “verysorrowfulandgreatlyangeredat the events of the daybefore,andallbecauseofthepride of the master of theTemplars.”72

The one good thing thatcame out of this was thatKing Guy and CountRaymond were reconciled.Gerard doesn’t seem to havehad any sort of reprimandfromeitherofthem.The main source for this

event is an unknownchronicler who clearlyfavored Raymond. PerhapsGerard didn’t always adviseunpreparedattacks.Itwashis

survivingthemthatmadehimlookbad.When Saladin learned that

Count Raymond had madepeace with the king, heattackedthecount’smaincityof Tiberias while Raymondwas away. Raymond’s wife,Eschiva, sent word to himthat she was holding out inthecitadelofthecitybutthatthingsweredesperate.

Reading the Moslem andChristian accounts of whathappenednext,Iamstruckbythe similarity of the reasonsfor battle, at least accordingto the authors of that time.King Guy is advised to “goand chase Saladin out of thekingdom at the firstopportunity;[because]hewasin the early days of hiskingshipand,ifhelethimselfappear a fool in the eyes of

the Saracens, Saladin wouldtake advantage of him.”73Saladin’s advisers told him“to pillage the FrankishterritoriesandtogivebattletoanyFrankisharmythatmightappearintheirpath,‘BecauseintheEastpeoplearecursingus, saying that we no longerfight the infidels but havebegun to fight Moslemsinstead. So we must dosomethingtojustifyourselves

andsilenceourcritics.’”74

TheBattleofHattinandthe

lossoftheTrueCross.(TheBritishLibrary)

So, being men, they tooktheir armies and rode out tosaveface.Whatbecameknownasthe

BattleofHattintookplaceonJuly 4, 1187. The crusadersweredefeatedinthespaceofsix hours. King Guy, GerardofRidefort, andmany otherswere captured. The True

Cross, which was alwayscarried intobattle,waseitherlostortakenbySaladin.75

All the Templars taken atHattin were beheaded—exceptGerardofRidefort.The Grand Master was

heldcaptiveforaboutayear,during which time Saladin’sarmies rolled over thecountry,takingJerusalemandmany of the coastal cities. It

was said that Gerard tradedhis freedom for the TemplarfortatGaza.Itsurrenderedathisorder.76

Once released, Gerardjoined King Guy in theattempt to regain the city ofAcre. This time he did notsurvive. He died in battle inOctober1191.Werehisrashactsandbad

advice responsible for many

ofthedecisionsthatledtothefallofJerusalem?It’shardtosay. The anonymouschronicler seems to blamehim.But if so, thenwhy didthe king keep taking himback? Why did the otherTemplars still obey him?Maybe he was slandered. Ormaybehewas suchavibrantand charismatic person thathecouldgetawaywithalot.Now the spotlight moves

from the master of theTemple to the twomen whostill define crusading in theminds of most people,Saladin and Richard theLionheart.But firstweneedtosetthestage.1Marquis d’Albon, CartulaireGénéral de l’Ordre duTemple 1119?-1150 (Paris,1913)p.44,charterno.61.

2Alfred Richard, Histoire desComtesdePoitout.IV1086-1137 (Pau: Princi Negue,2004)p.163.3Albon,p.87,charterno.125.4Rudolf Heistand,Papsturkunden für Templaerund Johanniter (Göttingen,1972)pp.205-10.

5T.S.R.Boase,KingdomsandStrongholdsof theCrusaders(London: Thames andHudson,1971)p.86.6Albon, no. 145, p. 102; no.72,p.55;no.324,pp.204-5.Also see chapter 24,Templars and Money, andchapter 8, Go Forth andMultiply.

7Malcolm Barber, The NewKnighthood (CambridgeUniversityPress,1994)p.70.8Suzanne Duparc-Quioc, LeCycle de la Croisade (Paris,1955)p.203.9Barber,p.74.10

Please see chapter 16,Between the Second andThird Crusades (1150-1191).11William of Tyre, 17, 27, pp.797-99.12Ibn al-Qalanisi, TheChronicles of Damascus ed.and tr. H. A. R. Gibb(London: Dover, 2002;

reprintof1935ed.)p.316.13Barber,p.71.14See below for Bernard’sletters to and about Andrew.It’s too bad that we don’thaveAndrew’stohim.15Albon,CartulaireGénéraldel’Ordre du Temple 1119?

-1150(Paris,1913)p.1.16“Fragmentd’unCartulairedel’Ordre de Saint Lazare, enTerre-Sainte,” Archives del’OrientLatinTomeII(Paris,1884)p.126,charterVI.17Bernard of Clairvaux, OperaOmnia Vol. 1 (Paris, 1889)col. 435, letter CCVI, “et siverum est testimonium quod

de vobis perhibit charissimusaunclus meus Andreas, cummultumcredimus,ethic,etineaterum Deo miseranteregnabatis.”18Ibid., cols. 374-375, letterCCLXXXIX. “Saneintervenit Andreascharissimus avunculus meus,cui in nulo decrederepossimus, scripto suo nobis

significans meliora; quodscilicet pascifice etmansuetete habeas; fraters de Templodilegasetfamiliarshabeas.”19Ibid., cols. 572-574, letterCCLXXXVIII.20“Fragment d’un Cartulaire,”129-130,chartersVIIIandX.21

Barber,p.70.22Chartes de Terre SainteProvenant de L’Abbaye deN.-D. de Josaphat, ed. H-François Delaborde (Paris,1880)p.70.23Quoted in Barber,Knighthood,p.70.24

Ibid.25WilliamofTyre.26Cartulaire des Templiers deDouzens,ed.PierreGardandElisabeth Magnou (Paris,1965) charter 200, pp. 172-73.27Douzenscharters,A38,185,

200, 207;C 4, 5, 6; see alsochapter41,TheCathars.28Michael Baigent, RichardLeigh, and Henry Lincoln,TheHolyBloodandtheHolyGrail (RandomHouse,1982)p.514,note12.29WiliamofTyre,book18,14,p. 831. Also in al-Qalanisi,The Damascus Chronicles of

the Crusades, ed. and tr. H.A. R. Gibb (Dover, 2002;reprint of 1932 ed.) pp. 366-67.30Recueil des historiens desGaule et de la France Vol.XVI, ed. Bouquet, et al.(Paris, 1878), letters 123,125,144,145.31For more on this, please see

chapter 16, Between theSecondandThirdCrusades(1150-1191).32MalcolmBarber,“Thecareerof Philip of Nablus in thekingdom of Jerusalem,” TheExperience of Crusading,Vol.2,DefiningtheCrusaderKingdom (CambridgeUniverstiy Press, 2003) pp.62-63.

33I have no idea why he wascalled that and would give agreatdealtofindout.34William of Tyre,Chronicon,Vol.II,ed.R.B.C.Huygens(Turnholt, 1986), book 17,21,p.790.35Barber,“PhilipofNablus,”p.63. Stephanie had the

misfortune to lose threehusbands, the last being theRaynald de Chatillon whowas personally beheaded bySaladin.36H.-François Delaborde, ed.,Chartes de Terre Sainteprovenantdel’AbbayedeN.-D. de Josaphat (Paris, 1880)p.84,charterno.36.37

“Fragment d’un Cartulaire,”126-27.Oneof thewitnesseswas Andrew of Montbard,futureGrandMaster.38Ibid.,p.129.39Ibid.,p.134.40Barber,“PhilipofNablus,”p.68.

41Ibid.,p.69.42Ibid.,p.71.No,Idon’tknowwhat happened to Henry theBuffalo.43Barber,Knighthood,p.106.44William of Tyre, p. 1146,“dominus Arabie Secunde,

queestPetracensi...etSyrieSobalquilocushodieMontisRegalis . . . utque transJordanum.”45Ibid.,19,22,p.893.46Ibid., 20, 22, p. 942,“PhilippumNeapolitatum,quiiammilitiaTemplideposueritmagistrum.”47

“Fragment,” pp. 146-47,charterno.29.48WiliamofTyre,book18,14,p. 831. Also in al-Qalanisi,The Damascus Chronicles ofthe Crusades, ed. and tr. H.A. R. Gibb (Dover, 2002;reprint of 1932 ed.) pp. 366-67.49“Fragment,” p. 140, charter

no.22.50WilliamofTyre,p.913,book20,1.51Ibid.,p.949,book20,26.52Ibid., p. 954, book 20, 30.“Rex autem legationemeorumletoanimoetgrantatorsuscipiens, petitionibus

eorum, sicut virdiscretissimuserat.”53Ibid.,p.955.54Ibid.55Peter W. Edbury and JohnGordon Rowe, William ofTyre: Historian of the LatinEast (Cambridge University

Press,1988)p.23forWalterMap,DeNugisCurialem.56John L. La Monte, FeudalMonarchy in the LatinKingdom of Jerusalem(Cambridge, MA: MedievalAcademy of America, 1932)p.219,WilliamofTyreXXI,xxix.57William of Tyre, 1002, book

21,28.“CaptisuntdenostrisOdo de Sancto Amandomilitia Templi magister,homo nequam, superbus etarrogans, spiritum furorishabens in naribus, nec demtimens nex ad hominemhabens reverentiam.” I don’tknowwhatthepartaboutfuryin the nostrils means. Odomayhavejusthadallergies.58

Dominic Sellwood, KnightsoftheCloister:TemplarsandHospitallers in Central-SouthernOccitaniac.1100-c.1300 (Woodbridge: Boydell,1999)p.155.59AlanForey,TheTemplars inthe Corona of Aragon(Oxford University Press,1973)pp.55-56.60

Cartulaire des Templiers deDouzens, ed. Pierre GérardandElisabethMagnou(Paris,1965) p. 246, charter no. B74.61Rudolph Hiestand,Papsturkunden für Templerand Johnniter (Göttingen,1972)pp.288-90.62Charles-JosephHefeleandH.

Leclercq, Histoire deConciles, Tome V, Part 2(Paris,1913)p.1087.63Ibid.,pp.1095-96.64WilliamofTyre,pp.1015-17,book22,7.65Barber,Knighthood,p.109.66

Peter W. Edbury, TheConquest of Jerusalem andthe Third Crusade: Sourcesin Translation (Ashgate,Aldershot,1998)p.39.67Ibid.,p.38.68Please see chapter 18,Saladin, and chapter 16,Between the Second andThird Crusades (1150-

1191),formoreinformation.69Edbury,p.32.70Ibn al-Athir, in ArabHistorians of the Crusades,tr. Francesco Gabrieli(Dorset,1969)p.117.71Edbury,p.34.72

Ibid.73Ibid.,p.37.74Ibnal-Athir,p.119.75Please see chapter 16 for amore complete discussion ofthe battle ofHattin, althoughnot too complete because Ithink it was stupid to begin

with and none of themseemed to give a thought toanythingbeyondtheirhonor.76Barber,Knighthood,p.117.

CHAPTERSIXTEEN

BetweentheSecondandThirdCrusades

(1150-1191)

In 1149, Louis VII and hisarmy returned to France.They had ac-complishednothingexcept todestroy the

truce between Jerusalem andDamascus and encourage theMoslems, who now saw thatthe Western warriors werenotallthatfearsome.Things just got worse. On

June 29, 1149, the dashingRaymond of Antioch whohad charmed his niece,Eleanor of Acqutaine, waskilled in battle. Nur ad-Dinhad his head and right armsent to Baghdad; the rest of

his body was taken back toAntioch for burial.1 He leftbehindawife,Constance,andfour young children.2 LikeMelisande, Constance wasthe heir of Antioch so shecould rule in her own right.But her cousin, Baldwin III,stillhadtocomeupandhelpwith the transition. Then, inMay 1150, Jocelyn, count ofEdessainexile,wascapturedby Nur ad-Din. He died in

captivitynineyearslater.Hiswife,Beatrice,heldoutinthefortress of Tel Bashir forsome time, but was finallyconvinced to turn over herlands to the Greeks, whocouldn’t hold them, either.3William of Tyre wrote,“Therefore,foroursins,bothcountieswerescarcelyabletosurvive,lackinggoodcouncil,undertheruleofwomen.”4

Nur ad-Din was the real

winner of the SecondCrusade.Becausethecitizensof Damascus had been soangered by the attack of thecrusaders, theyhadagreed in1154 to let the atabeg takeover the city.5 Nur ad-Dinwas then able to bring all ofMoslem Syria under hiscontrol.With the north solidly in

control of Nur ad-Din, KingBaldwin looked to the south.

The town of Gaza had beenabandonedandafortresswasbuilt nearby to block thesouthernroutefortradetothecoastal city of Ascalon.Ascalon was ruled by theFatimid caliphs and wasessential to trade betweenEgypt and the Middle East.When the fortress wasfinished,itwasturnedovertothe Templars to maintain.WhileWilliamofTyreisnot

always kind to the Templarshe states that in this case,“These strong and intrepidmen have held this trustfaithfullyandwiselyuntilthisvery day.”6Now, Everard deBarres was Grand Master ofthe Temple at this time, butprobably back in France. Soit’s not clear who was incharge.Therecordsareprettysparse.By 1153, it was obvious

that Everard wasn’t going tocome back. So Bernard ofTremelay was elected GrandMaster.Nothing is known of

Bernard and his time asGrand Master was so shortthattherearen’tanyexamplesof his administrative ability.His death, however, was anexample of both the positiveand negative images of theTemplars.

According to William ofTyre, King Baldwin hadn’tplanned on capturingAscalon. Itwasanextremelysolid fortress. He was justgoing to annoy theinhabitants by ravaging theirorchards.7But things went sowell that he decided tobesiegethecity.Since this was more than

he had intended, Baldwincalledforreinforcements.All

theprincesof theland,alongwith the patriarch ofJerusalem, various bishopsand archbishops, theTemplars, and theHospitallers, answered thecall.With them they broughtthe True Cross.8As the mostholy relic in Christendom, itwas brought to all the majormilitary engagements. TheTemplars were alwaysentrusted with its care and

protection.9

Thesiegelastedforseveralmonths.Atonepointagroupof pilgrims arrived fromEuropeandwerepressedintoservice as mercenaries.10Finally one of the walls ofthe city was breached.Bernard ofTremelay and theTemplars rushed in first. Forsome reason still debated, noone followed them. TheTemplars were all trapped

inside and killed.11 Despitethis setback, the siegecontinued and in June 1153,thecityfell.Thecitizenswereallowed to leaveunmolested.12

The capture of AscalonachievedwhattheFrenchandGerman crusaders had notbeen able to manage. TheLatin kingdoms nowcontrolled the entireMediterranean coast from

Egypt up to what is nowTurkey. Finally, thingsseemedbegoingwellagain.However, it wasn’t to last

long. In early 1157, a groupofChristiansattackedapartyof nomadic Turkomen nearthetownofBanyas,despiteatruce in effect. Nur-ad-Dinimmediatelybroughthisarmyto besiege the town. In theensuing battle the Frankisharmy was defeated. King

Baldwin barely escaped andseveral of the leaders weretaken hostage, including theking’s marshal and futureTemplar,Odo of St. Amand,andthecurrentGrandMaster,BertrandofBlancfort.13

Baldwin III spent the nextfewyearsshoringupdefensesaround his kingdom andmaking alliances that wouldprotect the territory ofJerusalem from Nur ad-Din.

His work was cut short,however, by his death in1163.WilliamofTyreswearsthatthekingwaspoisonedbythe doctor who gave him atonic against theapproachingwinter. But William issuspicious of the custom inthe East of trusting “Jews,Samaritans, Syrians andSaracens,”whomhefeltwere“absolutely ignorant of thescienceofmedicine.”14

Since Baldwin had nochildren,hisbrother,Almaric(or Amaury), became king.There was a slight glitchabout the succession becauseAlmarichadmarriedhisthirdcousin, Agnes. This wasconsidered incest,although ifshe had been his fourthcousin, it would have beenokay. However, Almaricobliginglyletthemarriagebeannulled as longas their two

children, Sybilla andBaldwin, were consideredlegitimate.Don’t feel too sorry for

Agnes. Almost immediatelyshe married her childhoodsweetheart,HughofIbelin.William of Tyre knew

KingAlmaricwell and givesa very interesting portrait ofhim. Like most of theFrankishkings,hewasblond.

He was slightly abovemedium height, say aboutfive feet and six to eightinches. He had a bit of aspeech impediment, whichmade him uncomfortablespeaking in public.Althoughhedidn’tovereator-drink,hewasmuch too fat “so thathehadbreasts [that]were likeawoman’s, hanging down tohis belt.”15Almaric was onlyin his late twenties! William

also thought Almaric wasgreedy, not very congenial,and a seducer of marriedwomen.And this is someonethatWilliam worked for andsupposedlyliked!Almaric was, however, a

strong ruler who insisted onjustice within the kingdom.His most importantaccomplishment was theAssise sur la liege. Thispronouncement made all the

small landholders and minorlordssubjectultimatelytotheking. In a dispute, the needsof thekingoutweighed thoseoftheliegelord.16

WhattheTemplarsthoughtof Almaric may have beenworse than William’sopinion, although they didn’trecord it. Most of Almaric’sreign was spent in trying toconquerEgyptandinkeepingNur ad-Din’s lieutenant,

Shirkuh,fromencroachingonhis kingdom. In 1165,ShirkuhcapturedacastlethatwasintheguardianshipoftheTemplars. Almaric believedthat they had made a dealwith the Saracens and hadtwelve Templarshanged.17Since thedisciplining of Templarbrothers was the business ofthe Grand Master and thepope, this did not go down

well with the current GrandMaster, Bertrand ofBlancfort.At this time, the Shi’ite

sultanofEgypt,Shawar,wasalsohavingproblemswiththeSunni Shirkuh.18 So Almaricsent an envoy to Cairo tonegotiate a treaty withShawar against the commonenemy.ItwasledbyHughofCaesarea,who spokeArabic,and the Templar Geoffrey

Fulcher.19Geoffrey neverbecame Grand Master butwas the procurator of theorder, something like anattorney. He was also anaccomplished diplomat whowas in contact with rulers intheWest.20

The men concluded atreaty and, for a time,Moslem andChristian joinedforces. However, in 1168,Almaric decided to invade

Egypt again.His excusewasthatShawarhadswitchedhisallegiance to Nur ad-Din, oratleastthattherewererumorsto thiseffect.21As the leaderof the Templars, Bertrand ofBlancfortrefusedtoallowhismen to join the expedition,especially to break a treatythat a Templar had helpedbroker. It seemed wrong tothe Templars to attack afriendly kingdom that relied

on them.Bertrand felt itwasagainstthetermsofthetreatyand against the laws ofreligion.22

Now,Williamthought thatthe real reason Bertrandrefusedtogowasbecausetheman who had suggested theinvasionwas the commanderof the Hospitallers, Gilbertd’Assaily.23 I couldn’t say.But the bad blood betweenthe Templars and the king

wasbuilding.The Templars were

fighting the Third Crusadelong before the ultimatecrusader king, Richard theLionheart, decided to cometo the Latin kingdoms andliberate Jerusalem. The FirstCrusade had succeeded inpart because the Europeanshappened to arrive when thevarious Moslem states werebusy fighting each other.

They were never to be thatluckyagain.By this time Shawar had

been defeated and Damascusand Egypt had been unitedunder oneman, Salah-ed dinYusefibnAyub,orSaladin .And the crusader kingdomswere in disarray. They werefighting among themselvesworsethanusualand, insteadof a strongwarrior, they hadonly a boy as king, Baldwin

IV.AndBaldwinwasaleper.One of the saddest stories

of theKingdomofJerusalemis that of Baldwin IV, onlyson of Melisande’s sonAlmaric.WhenBaldwinwasnine years old his tutor,WilliamofTyre,sawthefirstsigns of leprosy in the child.He says that he noticed thatwhen Baldwin was playingwithotherboysandtheywerepoking and pinching each

other, as boys do, Baldwinseemedtobeextremelybraveabout it. Then he realized itwasbecausetheboycouldn’tfeelthepain.24

Baldwin IV led his armiesand governed the kingdomuntilhis illnessprogressed tothe point of completedisability. When the “LeperKing” died in 1185, thethronewent to the sonofhissister, Sybilla. King Baldwin

Vwasaboutsixyearsoldandonly“ruled”forafewmonthsafter thedeathofhisuncle.25Thechilddiedin1186.After Baldwin V’s death,

his mother, Sybilla, was therightfulheirtothethrone,butthere was another group thatbelievedRaymond of Tripolishould rule. Sybilla wassupported by the currentGrand Master of theTemplars,GerardofRidefort.

The Templars and theHospitallers, along with thepatriarch of Jerusalem, wereentrustedwiththe

WilliamofTyreexaminingthewoundsofBaldwinIV.(TheBritishLibrary)

keys to the chest in whichthe royal crowns werekept.26Gerard convinced themasterof theHospitallers tohelp him open the chest sothat Sybilla could beofficiallycrowned.One objection to Sybilla

was her husband, Guy of

Lusignan. Guy had madeenemies. In return forRaymond’s support, Sybillapromised to divorce Guy, ifshe could be allowed tochoose her second husbandherself. Raymond and hissupporters agreed to this.SybilladivorcedGuyandwascrowned queen. Then shemarriedGuyofLusignan.27

So Guy was now king ofJerusalem. He was to rule

over the disintegration of thekingdom and the loss of thecity.THERE are many chroniclesof the Third Crusade, mostwritten within fifty years ofthe events. So we have thebenefit of many points ofview, not only Christian butalso Moslem. The role thatthe Templars played in theeventsofthetimeistherefore

given from severalperspectives. The trick isdecidingwhichone,ifany,isaccurate.One writer seems to be

impressedbythevalorof theTemplars during the timeleadingup to the crusade.Atthe battle of the Springs ofCresson, which took placetwomonthsbeforethefallofJerusalem, “a certainTemplar, . . . Jakelin de

Mailly by name, brought allthe enemy assault uponhimself through hisoutstanding courage. Whiletherestofhisfellowknights...hadeitherbeencapturedorkilled,heboretheforceofthebattlealoneandshoneoutasa glorious champion for thelaw of his God.”28 Theanonymous chroniclerdescribes thebattle asone inwhich the masters of the

Temple and Hospital withtheir fewmen facedan armyof thousands coming toravagetheland.However, another

chroniclerhasadifferenttakeon the battle. According tohim,SaladinhadatrucewithRaymond, count of Tripoli.The Saracens, under thecommand of Saladin’s son,cameintothecounty,harmedno one, and were leaving

when the master of theTemple, Gerard of Ridefort,insisted that they attack.Raymond had forbiddenanyone to break the truce.“The master of the Templewas a good knight andphysically strong but hetreated all other peoplewrongly as he was toopresumptuous.”29

According to thischronicler, Gerard convinced

the others to attack. Theresult was disaster. ThemasteroftheHospital,RogerdesMoulins,hadhisheadcutoffalongwithall theknightsof the Temple. Only threeescaped,onebeingthemasterof the Temple, Gerard deRidefort.30

Oddly,Gerardwasallowedto continue to give advice toKing Guy. His next counselled to the disaster known as

the Horns of Hattin and thecapture of Jerusalem bySaladin.1WilliamofTyre,Chronichon,ed. R. B. C. Huygens(Turnholt,1986)book17,10,p.772.2Ibid. Constance was thecousin of Baldwin III, whohad been married at the age

ofnine,muchtotheshockofhermother,Alice.3M. W. Baldwin, ed., TheCrusades:TheFirstHundredYears (Wisconsin UniversityPress,1969)pp.533-34.4WilliamofTyre,book17,11,p. 775. “Sic igitur peccatisnostris exigentibus utraqueregio, melioribus destituta

consiliis vix in se subsistens,femineoregebaturimperio.”5Jonathan Riley-Smith, TheCrusades (New Haven: YaleUniversity Press, 2005) p.105.6WilliamofTyre,book17,12,p.776.7

Ibid., book 17, 21, p. 789.Isn’t it interesting how oftentheneedforfreshfruitcomesintothesecampaigns?8Ibid., book 17, 21, “lignumdominice crucis vivificum etvenerabilesecumhabentes.”9Laurent Dailliez, Régle etStatus de l’Ordre du Temple(Paris:Dervy, 1996) p. 1 38,

rule no. 122, “Quant l’enporte le verais crois enchevauchée,leComandourdeJerusalemet lesXchevaliersla doivent garder nuit etjour.”10WilliamofTyre,book17,24,p.793.11Pleaseseechapter15,GrandMasters1136-1189.

12WilliamofTyre,book17,30,p. 803. This is confirmed bytheArabhistorianal-QalanisiinThe Damascus ChroniclesoftheCrusades,ed.andtr.H.A. R. Gibb (Dover, 2002;reprint of 1932 ed.) pp. 316,“and all of them who coulddepart left the city andproceeded by land or sea toEgyptandelsewhere.”

13Ibid.,book18,14,p.831.14Ibid., book 18, 34, p. 859,“phisicarumrationumprorsusignaris.”15Ibid., book19, 3, p. 868, “utmore femieo mamillashaberet cigulotenusprominentes.”

16Hans Eberhard Mayer, TheCrusades (Oxford UniversityPress,1988)p.117.17Hellen Nicholson, TheKnights Templar (London:Sutton,2001)pp.62-63.18For more on this situation,please see chapter 18,Saladin.

19William of Tyre, 19, 18, p.887.20Malcom Barber, The NewKnighthood (Cambridge,1994)p.96.21William of Tyre, 20, 5, p.917.22

Ibid., 20, 5, p. 917. Theyweresonaïve!23Ibid.24Ibid.25John L. La Monte, FeudalMonarchy in the LatinKingdom of Jerusalem 1100-1291 (Cambridge, MA:

Medieval Academy ofAmerica,1932)p.33.26Ibid.,p.34.27Peter W. Edbury, TheConquest of Jerusalem andthe Third Crusade: Sourcesin Translation (Ashgate,Aldershot,1998)pp.154-55.28

The Chronicle of the ThirdCrusade, ed. and tr.Helen J.Nicholson (Ashgate,Turnholt,1997)p.25.29Edbury,p.32.30Ibid.

CHAPTERSEVENTEEN

WhoWeretheSaracens,Anyway?InthefirstparagraphoftheLatinRuleoftheTemplars,theorder’s

purpose was stated thus: to

“defend the poor and thechurches”oftheHolyLand.1TheRule never actually saysagainst whom, but it wasunderstood that the greatestdanger to the poor and thechurches came from theSaracens.But who were the

Saracens? It’s not certainwhere the word came frombut itwas inuseby the timeof theRomans to refer to the

people of theArab peninsulaand,byassociation,itcametomean Moslems.2 It was ahandy term for the crusadersto use since they were fairlyvague on variations of beliefandethnicoriginsintheNearEast.The people of the area

were, and still are, a mix ofeverymigrationoftheworld.TheNearEastisthepathwayconnecting Europe, Africa,

andAsia,andevenarmiesontheir way to conquersomething else had to gothrough it to get there. Thefirst people to venture out ofAfrica went through on theirway topopulating the rest ofthe earth. The area has beenruledbyHittites,Phoenicians,Greeks, Persians, Jews,Romans, and Arabs. So bythe end of the eleventhcenturythestripoflandfrom

Suez to Constantinoplecontained ArmenianChristians, JacobiteChristians, Greek OrthodoxChristians, Orthodox Jews,Karaite Jews, Samaritans,ArabMoslems,PersianSunniMoslems, Druze, EgyptianShi’iteMoslems,andthenewguys, the Turks, who wereultraorthodox Sunni. Andthat’s just the religions. Thecomingof theFrankswasno

morethananewingredienttothemix.However, one problem the

Western invaders had wasthat they weren’t up on allthese variations. They didn’tunderstand that the JacobiteChristians were lessoppressed by the Moslemsthan by the Byzantines, orthat the Shi’ite city ofDamascus preferred dealingwith Christians than coming

under the dominance of theSunnicaliphsofBaghdad.In some ways, the

Templars as a group learnedtheropessoonerthanthenewprinces and counts of thecrusader kingdoms. In hisautobiography,deUsamaibnMunqidh, emir of Shaizar,relates a tale about visitingthe church that had beenmade next to theTemple inJerusalem (the Templars’

headquarters—before andafterthecrusades,themosqueof al-Aqsa). “Whenever Iwent into themosque,whichwas in the hands of theTemplarswhowerefriendsofmine,theywouldputthelittleoratoryatmydisposal,sothatI could say my prayersthere.”3 Usama was notparticularly fond of theFranksbuthesawandjudgedthem as individuals and did

have friends among them,includingTemplars.The Templars and

Hospitallers also had groupsofMoslemswho paid tributeto them. For instance theAssassins paid two thousandbezants a year to each order.In 1230, the two militaryorders joined forces to exactretribution from the town ofHamah, which refused topay.4

However, themaincontactthat the Templars had withthe “Saracens”was in battle.Among the Turks, their firstopponents, they came upagainst three very differentleaders: Zengi, Nur ad-Din,andSaladin.

ZENGI(IMADAL-DINATABEG)

Thefirstof thegreatTurkishadversaries of the crusaderswas known to the Franks asZengi (Zangi, Zanki), atabegof Mosul. For most of hisearly career Zengi, workingfor the Sunni caliphs ofBaghdad, concentrated ondefeating the Shi’ites ofEgypt and Damascus.5Hisfirst known contact with theTemplars was in 1137 nearMontferrand,inTripoli.

At that time Zengi hadcome to the defense of theMoslem fortress of Homs,anddefeatedPonsofTripoli,who died in the battle. As aresult,KingFulk came northwith a force that includedseveral Templars. TheNorman historian OrdericVitalisrelatesthestoryofthebattleanditsaftermath:Countless thousands of the

Pagansfell,butbythewillofGod, whose judgments arejust and right, almost thewhole Christian forcecrumbledandallexceptthirtyknights were slain. Only thekinghimselfescaped,withtenof his household knights andeighteen knights of theTemple,andfledtoacastle... called Montferrand wheretheystoutlyresisted,althoughbesieged for some time. . . .

Zengi, although he had lostthousands of his men by theswordsoftheChristians,wasnevertheless elated atwinning the victory he hadhopedfor.6

Atthispoint,Zengiwasmoreconcerned with conqueringShi’ite towns than attackingtheFranks.But,sincehewasin the neighborhood, theopportunity was too good to

passup.Hehadn’thadmuchluckwith theShi’ite townofHims, and so the defeat ofFulk and his army wasespeciallysatisfying.He thenbesieged the remnant of thearmyatMontferrandandhadreduced them to eating theirhorses and dogs, when areliefforceappeared.7

The Chronicles ofDamascus reports that Zengiwas still the victor, even

though he had to leave thefield:It became necessary underthe circumstances to grantthebesiegedtheirliberty,andhe made an agreement withthem, on the grounds thatthey acknowledged hissuzerainty,and stipulated fora sum of fifty thousanddinars,whichtheyshouldpayhimforthwith.8

Orderic doesn’t mention apayment or that King Fulkagreed that Zengi should behis lord. He states that thetwo men agreed to anexchange of prisoners andthat Fulk, not knowing thatrelief was on the way,surrendered the castle inreturnforfreedom.9

It’s interesting to me thatboth the Moslem and

Christian accounts use thesame language and that bothZengi and Fulk are fightingby the same conventions.Foot soldiers are killed;leaders and noblemen heldfor ransom. However faraparttheworldsmayseemtobe,thesearemenofthesamewarrior culture. The fact isthat they are part of a longtradition of Romans, Greeks,and Persians invading each

other over many centuries.Even though Fulk was ofGerman stock and ZengiTurkish,theyhadeachgrownup in a society in which therulesofwarwereidentical.Zengi then turned his

attention back to his mainobjective of gaining controlof Shi’ite towns. In 1139 hebegantoprepareforthesiegeof Damascus. After sometime and several bloody

battles outside the walls ofthe city, the leaders ofDamascus sent to Fulk ofJerusalem for aid. Fulkagreedandmadeatreatywiththe city.10On hearing this,Zengi backed off, contentinghimselfwithraidsonsmallervillages, both Moslem andChristian, from which helooted “an innumerablequantity of horses at pasture,sheep and goats, cattle and

furnishings.”11

YouseewhatImeanaboutthe rules of war. That’sexactly what the Christianforcesweredoing.Even though he was more

concerned with uniting theMoslem towns under Sunnigovernment, Zengi stillattacked Christian outposts.The Templar castle near theJordan River was built as a

resultofZengi’smassacreofsixmonkswhowerelivinginachurchthere.12

Whileheneverwasabletotake Damascus, Zengi’sgreatest triumph was theconquestofthecityofEdessaonChristmasEve1144.Thiswas the event that led to theSecondCrusade.

NURAD-DIN

ThesonofZengi,Nurad-Din(Nural-Din,Nurandin)wasafitsuccessortohisfatheranda daunting opponent to thecrusaderstates.Inappearancehe was “a tall, swarthy manwith a beard but nomoustache and a pleasantappearance enhanced bybeautiful,meltingeyes.”13

Unlike Zengi, who was

basically interested in thepolitical conquest of Shi’itesaswellasChristians,Nurad-Din saw his mission as theelimination of the Latinkingdoms and the return ofJerusalemtoMoslemcontrol.He left a number ofinscriptions on publicbuildingsthatemphasizethis.Onesignofhisdeterminationto return to a pure form ofIslam is that the language of

these inscriptions is Arabic,not Turkish or Persian, likethose of his father.14He hasbeen credited withreintroducing the idea ofjihad, or religious war, intotheMoslemworld.15

His most remarkable featwas in 1154 when he tookover the government ofDamascus throughpropagandarather thanforce.The leaders of Damascus

feared him enough to makean alliance with the Franksbut the people of the townhad been listening to stories,songs, and sermons abouthowNur ad-Dinwas a “truemujahid” and the only onewho could assure a victoryfor Islam.16 They decided tooverthrow their leaders andinviteNurad-Dinin.Nur ad-Din died in

Damascus onMay 15, 1174.

Despitethenearlythirtyyearsof war between him and theLatin states,WilliamofTyrestill wrote that “he was ofgreat renown, a just prince,persecutor of the Christianfaith, cunning and prudentandreligiousaccordingtothetraditionsofhispeople.”17

Nur ad-Din would besucceeded not by the son heleft behind,butby the leaderwho, for the West, is the

archetypal Saracen, theKurdSaladin.1“Paupers aut Ecclesiasdefendere,” in LaurentDailliez, Règle et Status del’Ordre du Temple (Paris:Dervey,1996)p.324.2Oxford English Dictionary(Oxford University Press,1971)p.2639.

3“Usama,” in FrancescoGabrieli, Arab Historians ofthe Crusades (New York:Dorset,1989) tr. fromItalianbyE.J.Costellop.79.4Ph.GourdinandG.Martinez-Gros (dirs) Pays d’Islam etmonde latin 950-1250(Tourai,2001)p.263.5

Abua’lá Hamzah ibn AsadIbn al-Qalanisi, TheDamascus Chronicles of theCrusades, tr. H. A. R. Gibb(NewYork:Dover,2002).p.227ff.6Orderic Vitalis, TheEcclesiastical History ofOrderic Vitalis ed. and tr.Marjorie Chibnall (OxfordUniversity Press, 1978) Vol.

VI,bookXIII,v.94,pp.496-97.7Ibid.8IbnAl-Qalanisip.243.9Orderic Vitalis, op. cit., pp.500-03.10IbnAl-Qalanisi,pp.259-60.

11Ibid.,p.262.12Malcom Barber, The NewKnighthood (CambridgeUniversityPress,1996)p.89.13Ibn Al-Athir, in Gabrieli p.68. Ibn Al-Athir (555/1160-630/1233) wrote a history ofthe Moslem world. He wasfourteen when Nur ad-Din

died.14Yasser Tabbaa, “Monumentswith aMessage: Propagationof Jihad under Nur Al-Din,”inVladimirP.Gross,ed.,TheMeeting of Two Worlds(Kalamazoo, MI: MedievalInstitute,1986)p.224.15Ibid.,pp.223-37.16

GourdinandGros,p.195.17William of Tyre,Chronicon,ed. R. B. C. Huygens(Turnholt, 1986) 20, 31, p.956. “Noradinus, maximusnominis et fidei christianepresequutor, princes tamenjustus, vafer et providus etsecundum gentis suetraditionesreligiosus.”

CHAPTEREIGHTEEN

Saladin

In medieval and modernlegend, he was the mostchivalrous of all thoseinvolved with the crusades.Hewasmightyandmerciful,wise and brave.Hewas alsothe man who destroyed the

dream of a ChristianJerusalem and started theslow retreat of the Latinkingdoms.Inthewestheisknownas

Saladin.Salah-ed din Yusef ibn

Ayub was born in the year1138.1His familywasof theRawadiyaclanofKurdswhohadmigratedtoBaghdadandentered the service of the

caliphs. They were devoutSunni Moslems and Yusef,thatis,Saladin,wasashiningexample of the ideal warriorfororthodoxIslam.Saladin’sfather,Ayub,was

governor of the town ofBaalbekinSyria.Saladinwasborn in Tikrit, north ofBaghdad, and spent hischildhoodinMosul.2In1152,at the age of fourteen, heenteredtheserviceofNurad-

Din, the son of Zengi, whohad captured Edessa,precipitating the SecondCrusade.3

Shi’ite Damascus wasoften a reluctant ally of thekingsofJerusalemagainsttheincursions of the newlyconverted Sunni Turks.When, in 1157 Nur ad-Dintook Damascus the onlymajor Shi’ite stronghold leftwas Egypt. The country had

been weakened by internalbattlesforpower.TheShi’iteFatimid dynasty was failing.Around1162,theviziertotheFatimidcaliphs,Shawar,wasunseated in a palace coup.Shawar fled to Syria andconvinced Nur ad-Din tosupport him in an attempt toregain power. Nur ad-Dinsent his lieutenant Asad al-DinShirkuhtoleadthearmy.With him Shirkuh took his

nephewSaladin.4

Shawarwasrestoredtohisposition in1164andShirkuhandSaladinreturnedtoSyria.However, Shawar was“obsessed by the fear of aTurkish invasion.”5Nottrusting his Turkish-Sunniallies, he contacted theFrankish king, Almaric, whohad already been innegotiations with theEgyptiansandaskedtheking

toprotecthimfromShirkuhifnecessary. The king’srepresentatives to the vizierwereHugh,lordofCaesarea,and Geoffrey Fulcher, aTemplar.6

Almaric agreed to joinforces with Shawar. Thecombinedarmieswereabletoroust Shirkuh from the townof Balbis, which he hadrecently taken. But, whileAlmaricandhismenwere in

Egypt, Nur ad-Din tookadvantageofthesituationandattacked the Latin city ofBanyas.7 Thiswas typical ofthe problems of the Latinkingdoms. There were toomanyfrontstodefend.In1167,KingAlmaricand

Vizier Shawar again metShirkuh in battle. In thisbattle Saladin distinguishedhimself, capturing the envoy,HughofCaesarea, andmany

others.8However, afterdefending the city ofAlexandria during a longsiege, Saladin and his unclewere forced to retreat onceagain.Finally in 1168, Almaric

was told that Shawar wassendingmessages toNur ad-Din, asking for his help tomaintainpowerinEgypt.Itisnotatallcertainthatthiswastrue.AccordingtoWilliamof

Tyre,theTemplarsrefusedtotake part in this expeditionbecause they didn’t believeShawarhadbrokenthetreaty.He also suggests that theTemplars were annoyedbecause the invasionwas theideaofGilbertd’Assaily, themaster of theHospital.9Williamalwayshadmixed feelings about theTemplars.Whatever the reason,

Shawar was seriouslyweakened by the Christianattack. After he had madeanother truce with Almaric,the king retreated back toJerusalem, leaving the wayopenforShirkuhandSaladin.Shawar greeted the Turks

as rescuers but Shirkuh washighly suspicious of a manwho made treaties withidolaters against otherMoslems. He felt that this

was because the caliphs ofEgypt were, in his mind,Shi’iteheretics.Therefore,hedecidedtooustthevizier.10

Saladin was dispatched toarrestShawar.ThevizierwasbeheadedandhisheadsenttoCairo. Shirkuh was madevizier in his place.11 TheFatimid caliphs were kept aspuppet kings for the timebeing.

Saladin’s biographer statesthat Shirkuh “was a greateater, excessively given topartaking of rich meats. Hesuffered many bouts ofindigestion.”12OnMarch22,1169, Saladin’s uncle died,perhaps after a particularlyrich meal, and Saladinbecame vizier of Egypt. Henever looked back. In 1170he captured Gaza, a frontiertown long held by the

Templars.Like Nur ad-Din, Saladin

was devoutly orthodox andbelieveditwashisdutytoridthe Holy Land of infidels.Like the Christians, he alsobelieveditnecessarytoeitherconvert or silence hereticswithinhisown faith, like theShi’ites.Oneofhisfirsttasksin Egypt was “strengtheningthe Sunni cause and plantingin the local population pious

learning, law, Sufi practiceand [true] religion.”13 Thisincluded the crucifixion oftheSufihereticalSuhrawadiin 1180 because “itwas saidthatherejectedtheHolyLawanddeclareditinvalid.”14

When the last Fatimidcaliph died in 1171, Saladinreplaced him. His dynastywould be known as theAyyubids, after Saladin’sfather,Ayub.

Onceestablished inEgypt,Saladin put his energy intodrivingout theFranksand inestablishinghisindependencefrom Nur ad-Din withoutcausinganoutrightruptureintheir relations. Hewas aidedin both these things by thedeaths in 1174 of both Nurad-Din,onMay15,andKingAlmaric,onJuly11.15Nurad-Din’s heir was a young boy.Almaric’s was the thirteen-

year-old Baldwin IV, whohad suffered from leprosysincetheageofnine.Neitherwas able to provide theleadership needed, althoughpoorBaldwintried.Saladin seems to have felt

that he was the spiritual heirofNur ad-Din.He took overthe city of Damascus andmarriedNurad-Din’swidow.Now he controlled bothEgyptandDamascus.Hewas

able to attack the Latinkingdoms from both the eastand the west.16Jerusalembraced for the blow. Instead,to the great relief of theChristians,

Saladin.(ArtResource,NY)

Saladin turned east tofinish taking over the landsthatNurad-Dinhadlefttohisyoung son, including thecitiesofMosulandAleppo.In 1180, Saladin made an

alliancewiththeSeljuksultanofAnatolia,KilijArslanII,inordertofightagainstthetownofMosul.17Hemarriedoneof

his daughters to Kilij’s son,whoslowlypushedhisfatherout of office and proved astrongsupporterofhisfather-in-law.While still working to

capture Mosul, Saladin wasabletotakeAleppo,whichhegavetohisbrother,al-Adil,togovern.18

Mosul still heldout, so, in1185, Saladin made a four-

year truce with youngBaldwin, despite his earlierreservations about thosewhomake treatieswith infidels inordertofightotherMoslems.What happened next

depends on one’s point ofview. But, in one of theunpredictable quirks ofhistory, the fate of Jerusalemmayhavebeendecidedbytheactions of one hotheadedman.

Once upon a time therewas a knight namedReynaldde Chatillon. He was goodlooking and adventurous, butpoor.So,perhapsseducedbyromance tales popular inFrance,hecametoAntiochinthe1150stoseekhisfortune.Amazingly,hefounditinthepersonofConstance,princessofAntioch.Shehadbeenthelittlegirlmarriedattheageofnine toRaymond of Poitiers.

Raymond was dead andConstancewasnotinclinedtomarry again for the good ofthe realm. Instead, she choseReynald.19

Hewasn’tpopularwithhisin-laws. When Reynald wascaptured by Nur ad-Din in1160, no one bothered toransomhim.20By the timehewas freed in 1176, his wifehad died. Since she was theheiress of Antioch, Reynald

hadnoclaimonherproperty.The soldier of fortune wasonceagainwithoutfunds.Captivity seems to have

done nothing to diminish hischarm.ThenextyearReynaldmarried Stephanie of Milly,the daughter and heiress ofTemplar Philip of Nablus.Throughher,Reynaldgainedcontrol of the province ofOutrejordan.

According to most of thechronicles, Reynald felt thatthe truce with Saladin didn’tapply to him. He behavedmuchliketheMoslemraidershad in the first part of thecentury.Heattackedpilgrimson their way to Mecca,burnedtowns,and,asthelaststraw, in 1187 he pillaged aMoslem caravan going fromCairotoBaghdad.“Heseizedit treacherously, maltreated

andtortureditsmembers....They reminded him of thetruce, but he replied, ‘Tellyour Mohammad to releaseyou.’”21

Reynald was handsome,charming, adventurous, andstupid.This either gave Saladin

theexcusehe’dbeen lookingfor or tried his patience forthelast time.Itwasprobably

alittleofboth.By 1187 Baldwin IV had

died.Hisreplacementwashissister, Sybilla, and herhusband, Guy of Lusignan.Guy was another adventurerand not universally popular.He and his supporter,Templar Grand MasterGerard of Ridefort, hadproblems with CountRaymondofTripolithatwereserious enough for Raymond

to make his own truce withSaladin.22But,whenReynaldabsolutely refused to returnthe booty he had taken fromthe caravan, even thoughKing Guy insisted, everyoneknew that Saladin had theperfectreasontoattack.The result was the

disastrousbattleoftheHornsofHattinonJuly4,1187.23

Among the men captured

at Hattin were King Guy,Master Gerard of Ridefort, alarge number of TemplarsandHospitallers,andReynaldde Chatillon. The worst losstotheChristians,though,wasthe True Cross, carried intobattleinagoldreliquary.Saladin had the important

prisoners brought to his tent.HeofferedKingGuyacupofwater. When the king hadfinished drinking, he handed

the cup to Reynald. Saladinwas furious. “This godlessman did not have mypermission to drink!” heroared. “And I will not savehis life in that way.”24Withthat he took his sword andbeheaded Reynald ofChatillonhimself.25

It must have been verysatisfying, ifdamaging to thecarpets.

King Guy and Gerard ofRidefort were ransomed butthe rest of the Templars andHospitallers were alsobeheaded. “He had theseparticularmenkilledbecausethey were the fiercest of allthe Frankishwarriors, and inthis way he rid the Muslimpeopleofthem.”26

Afterthis,Saladinwasableto roll across the countrypractically unhindered. He

took Acre on July 10,Ascalon on September 4.Although Queen Sybilladefended the city ofJerusalem as best she could,there were no more fightingmen left. Saladin captured iton October 2, 1187. Heallowed the people of thetown to pay their ownransoms. The patriarch ofJerusalem asked theHospitallers for thirty

thousandbezantstocovertheransoms of seven thousandpoor people. That wasdelivered, but some peoplewere still unredeemed. TheTemplars, Hospitallers, andthe burgesses of Jerusalemwere asked to donate moreandtheydid,“buttheydidn’tgive as much as they shouldhave.”27

Even the Christianchroniclers remarked on the

generosityofSaladinandthatof his family in theirtreatment of the people ofJerusalem. Saif al-Din,Saladin’s brother, asked forthe freedom of one thousandmorepeopleand,onhisown,Saladin freed thousandsmore.28However there weremanywhocouldnotpayandthey were sold as slaves.29One Moslem chroniclerrelates thefateof thewomen

ofthecitywithdelight.“Howmany well-guarded womenwere profaned, . . . andmiserly women forced toyieldthemselves,andwomenwho had been kept hiddenstrippedoftheirmodesty,andserious women maderidiculous, . . . and virginsdishonoured and proudwomen deflowered . . . anduntamed ones tamed andhappyonesmadetoweep!”30

On all sides, it seemschivalryonlygoessofar.Then Saladin set out to

purify the city. “TheTemplars had built theirliving quarters against al-Aqsa, with storerooms andlatrines and other necessaryoffices, taking up the area ofal-Aqsa.Thiswasallrestoredtoitsformerstate.”31

When Europe learned of

thefallofJerusalemthepope,UrbanIV,issaidtohavediedfrom the shock. Henry II ofEngland and Philip II ofFrancewereconvincedtocalla truce in their constantbattles and establish a tax,knownastheSaladintithe,tofinance armies to retake thecity.32

Eventually FrederickBarbarossa, the Holy RomanEmperor, Philip Augustus,

king of France, andRichardthe Lionheart, king ofEngland, came to retake theHoly Land. In the chroniclesoftheEuropeans,Saladinisadangerous but magnanimousruler.Inthechroniclesof theMoslems, Richard is adangerous but cultivatedruler. Perhaps both sides feltthat their respective heroesdeserved a worthy opponent.Each seems to have been

more respected by theirenemiesthantheirownside.Ihaveoftenheardandread

that, when Richard was ill,Saladinwassograciousastosend his own doctor to theking. However, in goingthrough the firsthandaccounts from both sides, Ihaven’t found any referenceto it. What I did find was acomment from Ba’ha al-Dinthat Richard asked Saladin

forfruitandice,ashecravedthem. The sultan “wassupplying him with [these,]while intending to gainintelligence by the to-and-froingofthemessengers.”33

Saladin was in his earlyfifties at the time of thecrusade and his beard hadturnedwhite.Richardwas inhis early thirties and Philipsome ten years younger. Thesultan must have felt that he

was going to war againstschoolboys.Richardseemstohave surprised him with hismilitary and diplomatic skill.Reading through thechronicles, especially theinterminable negotiatingthrough envoys, interspersedwith skirmishes, I get theimpression that this was acontest between equals.Bothmen fought in the name of areligionthateachbelievedin.

Theyhad the same rules andmuchthesamebattletactics.Whether they were

gentlemen or barbarians isentirelyamatterofopinion.Eventually Saladin

accepted a division of thecountryandallowedChristianpilgrims to come again toJerusalem. He returned toDamascus to resume thegoverning of his far-flung

territory. In late February1193, he fell ill and, despiteall the efforts of his doctors,diedonMarch3,attheageoffifty-five.34He left manychildren and grand-children,but his dynasty would onlylast three generations.Without his guidinginfluence, brothers andcousins would fight eachother until they wereovercome by the Mamluks,

the equivalent of the palaceguardofEgypt.Saladin was such a grand

figure that he was respectedaswellasfearedintheWest.Unlike the Templars, hewasthe subject of romanceliterature. By the fifteenthcentury, there were severalstories about him, includinghowhehadmadeajourneytoFrance as a young man andhad an affair with the queen

ofFrance.35

It seemed impossible tosomethatsuchamagnificentman could be totally fromanotherculture.Theauthorofthe thirteenth-centuryromance “The Daughter ofthe Count of Pontieu”decidedthathemusthavehadsome European ancestry. Inthe story, the heroine iskidnapped by a Saracen kingwho treats her well and by

whom she has children.However, she longs to returntoChristian landsand finallyescapes. One of the childrenshe leaves behind becomesthe grandmother of the“chivalrous Saladin.”36Ofcoursethereisnotruthtothestory. But it does show howthe legend of the “chivalrousSaladin” penetrated even inthelandsofhisenemies.Thelegendsurvivestothis

day.1Stanley Lane-Poole, Saladinand the Fall of the Kingdomof Jerusalem (NewYork: G.P.Putnam’sSons,1898)p.6.2Baha’ al-Din Ibn Shaddad,The Rare and ExcellentHistory of Saladin, tr. D. S.Richards (Ashgate,Aldershot,2002)p.17.

3Hans Eberhard Mayer, TheCrusades (Oxford UniversityPress,1988;2nded.)p.121.4Ba’haal-Din,p.17.5Ibid.,p.18.6Malcolm Barber, The NewKnighthood (Cambridge

UniversityPress,1994)p.96.7William of Tyre,Chronicon,ed. R. B. C. Huygens(Turnholt, 1986)19,5-11,pp.872-79. Banyas had been anAssassin town but they hadturned it over to the FranksratherthanlettheSunnihaveit.8William of Tyre, 19, 25, p.

899.9Ibid.,20,5,p.918.10Ba’haal-Din,p.44.11Ibid. They were alwayssendingheads toBaghdadorCairo. Don’t you wonderwhattheydidwiththemall?12

Ibid.,p.45.13Ibid.14Ibid.,p.20.15William of Tyre, 20, 31, pp.956-57.16Mayer,p.124.17

Ibid.,p.125.18Ba’haal-Din,p.63.19Thisstoryisinmosthistoriesof the crusades, as well asWilliam of Tyre. One of thebest summaries of his life isin René Grousset, HistoiredesCroisadesetduRoyaumeFranc de Jérusalem (Paris,1935) p. 699ff. For more on

Constance, see chapter 10,Melisande, Queen ofJerusalem.20Mayer,p.115.21Ba’haal-Din,p.37.22Barber,p.113.23Pleaseseethereferencetothe

Third Crusade elsewhere inthisbook.24Imad ad Din, in ArabHistorians of the Crusades,tr. Francesco Gabrieli(Dorset,1969)p.124.25Ibid.Ba’haal-Din,p.75,saysthat Saladin only cut off hisarm and others finished himoff.Itturnedoutthesamefor

Reynald.26Ibid., p. 124. Otherchroniclers agree that themembers of the militaryorders were killed, but onlythisonegivesareason.27Chronique d’Ernoul et deBernard le Trésorier, ed. m.L. De Mas Latrie (Paris,1871) p. 226, “et li Temples

et leHospitaus idonna;maisn’idonnerentmietantcomeildeussent.”28Ernoul, p. 228. This waswrittenlongaftertheevent.Itmayormaynotbetrue,butitdoes show that theWest sawSaladinasachivalrousman.29Ibn al-Athir in Gabrieli, p.163.

30Ibid.31Ibid.,p.144.32Mayer,pp.139-40.33Ba’haal-Din,p.228.34Ibid.,p.244.

35Suzanne Duparc-Quioc, LeCycle deLaCroisade (Paris,1955)pp.170-205.36LaFilleduComtedePontieu(Paris: Société des AnciensTextesFrançais,1923)p.50,“ensicomveritéstesmoingne,de cele fu nee le mere aucourtoisSalehadin.”

CHAPTERNINETEEN

RichardtheLionheart

He was lofty of stature, ofshapely build, his hairhalfway between red andyellow,hislimbsstraightandsupple. His arms weresomewhat long and,therefore, better fitted than

thoseofmostmentodraworwield a sword. He also hadlong legs in keepingwith thecharacterofhiswholeframe.. . . He far surpassed othermen in courtesy and thegreatnessofhisstrength.”1

Richard I, count of Poitouand king of England, betterknown as “the Lionheart,” isanother figure whose legend

hasobscuredhis realhistory.Like theTemplars,Richard’slegend began in his ownlifetime and continued togrowlongafterhisdeath.Richard was born at

Oxford on September 8,1157.2 His mother, Eleanor,was countess of Poitou andduchess of Aquitaine in herown right as well as havingbeen queen of France beforeshe became queen of

England.3 His father, HenryPlantagenet, was descendedthrough his mother, Matilda,fromWilliam the Conquerorand through his father,Geoffrey of Anjou, from thedevil.4

The story is that a distantancestress of Richard wasMelusine, a demon indisguisewhomarriedacountof Anjou. She seemedperfectlynormalexcept fora

habit of leaving churchhalfway through the Mass.One day, suspicious vassalsforced her to stay in thechurchfortheconsecrationoftheHost, atwhich point, sheshrieked and vanishedforever, leaving a startledhusbandandchildrenbehind.The Plantagenets alwaysseemed very proud of her.However,thissamestorywastold about a number of

medieval families as well asbeing a popular theme infiction so they were notunique in their fascinatingancestry.Nevertheless, according to

acontemporary,Richardwasknown tohavesaid,“It’snotstrange that, with such afamily history, the childrenare always attacking theirparents and each other forthey all came from the devil

and to the devil they willreturn.”5

But Richard also hadstrong ties to the earlycrusaders and to the Latinkingdoms. His great-grandfather Fulk of Anjouhad started a second life asking of Jerusalem when hemarried Melisande, theheiress to the kingdom. Andhismother’suncle,RaymondofPoitiers,haddonethesame

thing when he married theheiress of Antioch.6And, ofcourse, his mother Eleanorhad scandalized half thecontinentwithheradventureswith her first husband,LouisVIIofFrance,ontheSecondCrusade.Richard was the third son

of Henry and Eleanor. Thefirst, William, had died as ababy.Thesecond,Henry,wasbeinggroomedtobethenext

kingofEngland.Richardwasto inherit hismother’s lands.Therefore, he spent much ofhis time in Poitou andAquitaine. This territory wasnotonly larger thanEngland,but much more prosperousand produced much betterwine. I don’t blame Richardforbeingattachedtoit.Oneoftenrepeatedstoryis

thatRichard passed less thanayearofhis life inEngland.

That’s not exactly true. Hespent less than a year inEngland as king. In his earlyyearshewentbackand forthacross the channel severaltimes. His parents probablyleft him with his nanny,Hodierna, much of the time.ShemayhavecomefromtheOxfordarea.Hewascertainlyfond of her, and when hebecame king he gave her alargepensionthatallowedher

toretiretoWiltshireinstyle.7

Like most of the Anglo-Norman nobility, Richardnever learned to speakEnglish. He did, however,learntoreadandwriteFrenchand Provençal and “wassufficiently well-educated inLatin to be able to crack aLatinjokeattheexpenseofaless learned Archbishop ofCanturbury.”8

He became king in July1189attheageofthirty-two.His elder brother Henry haddied.AtthetimeRichardwasatwarwithhisfatherandnoton great terms with hisyounger brothers, Geoffreyand John. His mother hadbeenimprisonedbyhisfatherforseveralyearsasaresultofherplotsagainsthim.Maybethere is something to thedemonstory.

The year before heassumed the throne, Richardhad been one of the first toanswerthesummonsofPopeGregory VII for the ThirdCrusade.Asking,henotonlystillhadtofulfillthisvowbutalso to honor that of hisfather,HenryII,whohadalsopromisedtogo.9

But before that hewent toWestminster for his officialanointingandcoronation.On

September 13, 1189, hebecameRichardIofEngland.He then immediately setabout collecting as muchmoneyashecouldtofinancehis expedition to the HolyLand.10 “He put up for saleeverything he had—offices,lordships, earldoms,sherriffdoms, castles towns,lands,thelot.”11Hewasalsoable to collect the tax thatHenry II had started, known

as the “Saladin tithe,” whichshows that the people ofEurope knew who had takenJerusalem from them. Thiswas not always paidcheerfully, especially by theclergy,butRichardknewhowto convince them. Both heand his father made theTemplars his tithecollectors.12 This didn’tendearpeopletothem.The intense demand for

money from the people ofEngland,alongwiththeusualcrusading fervor, may havebeen responsible for anoutbreak of violence againsttheJewsinEngland.Itseemsto have started when someJews arrived at Richard’scoronation with gifts andweretoldtheycouldn’tcomein.WomenandJewshadnotbeen invited. The crowdoutside, who apparently also

hadn’t been invited in,attacked the Jews, killingsome of them. This led to ageneral riot in London.Jewishhomeswereransackedand burned andmany peoplemurdered.13

Richard was notparticularly pro-Jewish, butall the JewsofEnglandwereunder the king’s specialprotectionandhadbeensincetheyfirstcame toEngland in

the time of William theConqueror.Theywere also agreat source of revenue. Hewas furiousabout theattacksand tried to stop thedestructionbut,over thenextfew months, the violencespread to other towns ofEngland.This culminated in a

horrifying massacre onFriday, March 16, 1190,Shabbat ha-Gadol, during

which150peoplewerekilledinthecityofYorkwhentheytook refuge in a tower there.The chronicler William ofNewburgh lived nearby andreports, “And there were notlackingamongthemobmanyclergymen, among whom acertain hermit seemed morevehement than the rest . . .frequently repeating with aloud voice that Christ’senemies ought to be

crushed.”14 The instigatorsseem tohavebeen friendsofthe bishop of Durham,Richard Malebysse andWilliam Percy. Richard sawthat the men were fined andhad their lands takenaway.15Nooneseemstohaveoffered to help the Jewsrebuild.By the time thishappened,

Richard had already leftEngland.

On the way to the easternMediterranean as part of theThird Crusade, Richarddecided to forge an alliancewith Sancho VI, king ofNavarre,andbecameengagedtohisdaughter,Berengaria.16This immediately proved aproblem with Philip II, kingof France and Richard’sstepbrother.Richardhadbeenengaged to Philip’s sister,Alix, formostofhis lifeand

Alix had been raised at theEnglish court, effectivelykeeping her from meetinganyonenew.The two kings met on

Sicily and Philipwas boughtoff.QueenEleanor,whowasinher latesixtiesat thetime,brought Berengaria toRichard and they weremarried in Cyprus May 12,1191.Richard seems to havespentmostofthetimebefore

the wedding conquering theisland. It later proved to betoomuch trouble tomaintainso he sold it to theTemplars.17 The TemplarsalsofoundCyprusdifficulttoholdand so itwaspassedonto Guy of Lusignan, thewidowed husband of Sybilla,queenofJerusalem.King Philip and Richard

finally arrived at the city ofAcre, which had been taken

bySaladin four years before.They joined the besiegersand,aftera longandhorriblewinter,thecityfinallyfell.18

Here two things happenedthat would come back tohaunt Richard. The first wassomething thatseemedminoratthetime.Leopold,

RiChardtheLionhearttakesACre,fromLesGrandesChroniquesde

France.Notethattheotherlordsarenotshown.(The

BritishLibrary)duke of Austria, had beenfighting at Acre longer thanthe twokings.When the cityfell, he had his standardsraised along with those ofRichard and Philip. Richard,believing that Leopoldintendedtotakeathirdofthebooty, had them torn down.He and Philip had already

decided on a fifty-fifty split.Leopold was naturallyoffended by this and decidedto take his soldiers and gohome. With him, he took agrudgeagainstRichard.19

The second thing wasmuch more immediatelydamaging to Richard’sreputation. He had capturednearly three thousandMoslemcitizensofAcrewhowerebeingheldforaransom

of one hundred thousandbezants. At some point hedecided that Saladin wasn’tgoingtopay.Richardwantedto leave Acre but couldn’tuntilthecaptivesweregotridof. So one morning he tookthem outside the city andslaughtered them all.20Boththe Arab and Christianchroniclers agree that thishappened. The Arabchroniclerstates:

Manyreasonsweregiven forthis slaughter. One was thatthey had killed them as areprisal for their ownprisoners killed before themby theMuslims.Anotherwasthat theKingofEnglandhaddecided tomarchonAscalonand take it, and he did notwant to leave behind him inthe city a large number [ofenemy soldiers]. God knows

best.21

Whateverhisreasons,thisactdid not reflect well onRichard, among his ownpeopleor theMoslems.Eventheking’schronicler,thepoetAmbroise, who thoughtRichard was practicallyperfect, seems to stutter overthisevent.“AndRichard, thekingofEngland,whohadonearth killed so many Turks,

did not wish to be botheredany longer, and so to lessontheprideof theTurksand todisheartentheirbeliefsandtoavenge Christianity . . .” hehadthemkilled.22

It must have soundedprettythineventohim.Richard soon realized that,

evenifhetookJerusalem,hecouldn’t hold it. In 1191, hemade a three-year truce with

Saladin and set out forhome.23 While he had somesuccess in securing thecoastal cities, the Holy City,the goal of the crusade,remainedinMoslemcontrol.On the way back he was

forcedbyshipwrecktotravelthrough the landsofLeopoldof Austria. He and hiscompanionswentindisguise,as simple pilgrims returningfrom the Holy Land.

However, they weren’t verygood at disguise. The menwerefarricherthantheusualpilgrims and always wantedto get the bestaccommodations. Richardwas recognized and capturedby Leopold’s men. He spentthenextyearandahalfinthecustodyof theGermans, firstLeopold and then the HolyRoman Emperor, Henry VI.The pope immediately

excommunicatedLeopoldbutthis doesn’t seem to havemade much difference toanyone.24

Richard’s behavior duringthis time amazed both friendand foe. He passed his dayswriting poetry, playing jokeson his guards, and charmingoneandall.25

Henry VI put Richard upfor ransom. This was one of

thethingsthatwasNotDoneamongChristianrulers,butifthepopecouldn’tstopHenry,nooneelsecould,either.Richard’s youngest

brother,John,hadno interestin seeing him comehome soit fell to Eleanor to raise themoney,onehundredthousandpounds. This was more thantheannualincomeofthekingand had to be found in acountrythathadjustcollected

ahugeamount to finance thecrusade.No one should

underestimate thepowerofamotherwhose favorite son isbeing held captive. Eleanortore off letters to PopeClement III, reminding himthat thekingofEnglandwasalso“thesoldierofChrist,theanointed of the Lord, thepilgrim of the cross.”26Shetook charge of raising the

cash. Taxeswere assessed at25 percent on all moveablegoods.Churcheswere told tosurrender all their gold andsilver. The Cistercian andGilbertine orders may havethoughttheywouldbesparedfortheydidn’tbelieveinsuchextravagance, using plainornaments in their churches.Eleanor told them theycouldhand over that year’s woolcropinstead.

She then took the treasureand the hostages that HenryVIhadalsodemandedandsetout for Germany, arriving atRichard’sprisoninSpeyeronJanuary 17, 1194.27She wasseventy-one years old.Richardwasreleasedamonthlater. She then returned toEngland with him, where hehad a ceremonial wearing ofthe crown, just to remindeveryone that he was back

and in charge.28Oddly, hiswife, Berengaria (rememberher?) was not with him. Shehad stayed on the continent.Eleanor was at his side forRichard’s triumphantreturn.29

TherestofRichard’sreignwas spent inmoppingup themess caused by his babybrother, John, and Philip ofFrance. They had done theirbest to carve out asmuch as

they could from Richard’spropertywhile hewas away.Johnhadeveninsistedatonepoint that Richard was deadand that he, John, should beking.Eleanorhadputherfootdown on that one but, evenso, there were rebellions inRichard’s southern territoriesand he soon left England,nevertoreturn.The story of Richard’s

death is also the stuff of

legend.Thebaldfactsarethathe was shot in the shoulderwhile besieging the castle ofChalus-Chabrol in theLimousin area of southernFrance. Twelve days later hedied of complications fromthe wound. It was April 6,1199.Hewasforty-oneyearsold.Almost before he was

buried (at the convent ofFontevraud, where his

mother, Eleanor, wasspending her last years) therumors were flying. It wassaid that Richard had beenbesieging the castle becausehe had heard there was atreasure there and wanted itfor himself. This was mademorereprehensiblebecauseitwasLent and the churchhadforbidden war during theEasterseason.30

The treasure might have

been a group of goldenstatuesleftbytheRomansora hoard of coins or just a lotof gold and silver.31No onecould agree. The interestingthing is that none of thestories mention whathappened to the “treasure”after Richard died trying togetit.While Richard did indeed

diewhilefightingduringLentand it may have been divine

judgment, the treasure storyseemstohavecomefromthesamesortofwishfulthinkingthat led to the tales of aTemplar treasure. Richardwasputtingdowna rebellionof the viscount of Limogesand Chalus-Chabrol was oneofseveralcastlesthatRichardwasbesieging.32Therewasn’tanything special about it.Like many kings who ledtheir own armies, Richard

diedinbattle.He is remembered as a

hero, a barbarian, a protectorof the poor, a greedy andabsent king, and a valiantknight.Likemanypeople,myfirst introduction to RichardwasattheendofRobinHoodwhen Good King Richardcomes home to save hiscountry from Bad PrinceJohn. It’s hard to shake agloriousimagelikethat.

But it is just an image.Robin Hood is a legend andthe Richard of the story islegend,too.Despitenotbeingable to retake Jerusalem, thecrusade was Richard’s finesthour. He must have been tosome extent a charismaticperson. He certainly inspireddevotionandrespectfromhisfollowers and even fromsomeofhisenemies.The burning question

seemstobewhetherhewasahomosexual. I don’t thinkthere’s enough evidence todecide and actually, I don’tthink it’s important. Heapparentlydidhaveabastardson in Aquitaine, namedPhilip.33 His name wasn’tlinked to any man inparticular, as was the casewith Edward II. He andBerengaria spent very littletime together and, although

they were married eightyears, they had no children.But there might have beenotherreasonsforthisthanhisdistaste for women. Shemight have been unable tohave children. Richard mayhave found her unattractive.The fact that he didn’t leaveanheirwasaseriousproblemfor the stability of hiskingdom. But evenhomosexual kings (and

queens,I imagine)havedonetheir duty and producedchildren.Does it really have

anything to do with whatRichard accomplished orfailedtoaccomplish?The only person it might

have mattered to wasBerengaria.She isoneof thelostchildrenofhistory.AfterRichard’sdeath,sheretiredto

LeMansinNormandy,whereshe founded an abbey. Shediedthereinabout1230.34

Richard’swifehadaslittlepart inhis lifeasshedoes inhis legend. Richard wasdefinitely a “man’s man,” astrong warrior, a brilliantstrategist,notafraidtogethishands dirty and yet stillcultivated, a lover of musicand poetry. His exploits onthe Third Crusade, his

nobility while in captivity,and the dramatic tragedy ofhis death are all the stuff ofhighadventure.As with the Templars, it’s

hardnot toprefer thefantasyof Richard’s life to thereality.1Richard of Aldgate,ItninerariumPeregrinorumetGestisRegisRecardi,tr.A.F.

Scott,inThePlantagenetAge(New York: Crowell, 1976)p.4.2JohnGillingham,Richard theLionheart (NewYork:TimesBooks,1978)p.24.3There are numerousbiographies of Eleanor ofAquitaine.Manyof themareentertainingbut Ihave found

none that are historicallysatisfying.4Gabrielle M Spiegal,“Maternity and Monstrosity:Reproductive Biology in theRoman de Mélusine .” InDonald Maddox and SaraSturm-Maddox, Melusine ofLusignan: Founding Fictionin Late Medieval France(Georgia University Press,

1996)p.101.5Giraud deBarri,DePrincipiInstructione, III 27, p. 301,quoted in Laurence Harf-Lancer, Les Fées au MoyenAge: Morgane et Mélusine,La naissance des fées (Paris,1984) p. 399, “non essemirandum,sidegeneretalietfilii parentis et sese adinvicem fratres infestare non

cessent: de diabolo namqueeos omnes venisse et eddiobolum...iturosesse.”Ofcourse the same thing wassupposed to have been saidaboutthembySaintBernard,in the form of a curse. Thehistoryof this legenddoesn’tbelong here but it’s lots offun. By the end of thethirteenth century, Eleanorhas been demonized as theFairyQueen.

6Fortheproblemsthiscaused,please see chapter 10,Melisande, Queen ofJerusalem, and chapter 14,TheSecondCrusade.7Gillingham,p.32.8Ibid.,p.33.9

Jonathan Riley-Smith, TheCrusades (New Haven: YaleUniversity Press, 2005) p.141.10Gillingham,pp.129-34.11RogerofHowden.12Malcolm Barber, The NewKnighthood (Cambridge

University Press, 1994) p.278.13Gillingham,p.130.14William of Newburgh, TheHistoryofEnglishAffairs.15A.L.Poole,FromDomesdayBook to Magna Carta 1087-1216(Oxford,1955;2nded.)

p.353.16Gillingham, p. 139. It’s notclear if Richard saw herbefore the marriage or if helethismotherpickherout.17Barber,pp.119-220.18PleaseseethereferencetotheThird Crusades elsewhere in

thisbook.19Gillingham,p.176.20Ambroise, Estoire de laGuerre Sainte, ed. MarianneAiles and Malcolm Barber(Woodbridge, UK: BoydellPress, 2003) p. 89, ll. 5508-36.21

Baha’ al-Din, in FrancescoGabrieli, Arab Historians oftheCrusades, tr. from Italianby E. J. Costello (Dorset,1989)p.224.Iknowthisisatranslation of a translationand am not happy about it,butwetakewhatwecanget.22Ambroise, ll. 5524-30. “ERichardzlireisdeEngleterre,Qui tanz Turs ocist en la

terre, Ne volt plus sa testedebatre, Mais por l ’orgoildesTursabatre,Etporlorleidesaëngier, Et por cristïentévengier.”23Hans Eberhard Mayer, TheCrusades (Oxford UniversityPress,1988;2nded.)p.149.24Gillingham,pp.223-28.25

Ibid.,pp.217-40.26Quoted in Ralph V. Turner,“Eleanor of Aquitaine in theGovernments of Her SonsRichard and John,” EleanorofAquitaine,LordandLady,ed.BonnieWheelerandJohnCarmi Parsons (PalgraveNYC,2003)p.85.27Ibid.

28Gillingham,p.242.29Turner,p.86.30Gillingham, p 11. This wassmart of the church since itwas traditional for thenobility to get out of itswinterstuporbyridingouttofight someone, and thisdelayed them at least until

afterEaster.31According to Eudes Rigord,Guillaume le Breton, andRoger of Howden,respectively, in Gillingham,pp.11-13.32Gillingham,pp. 9-23.This isan excellent example of howhistoriansstudythesourcesinorder to come up with the

mostprobablefacts.33Gillingham,p.162.Thechildmust have been born beforeRichard and Philip II brokeup.34Anne Echols and MartyWilliams, The AnnotatedIndex of Medieval Women(New York: MarkusWiener,1992)p.79.

CHAPTERTWENTY

TheAssassins

The word “assassin” is,unfortunately, so commonnow, that we rarely wonderwhere it comes from, why,and when. While the act ofhired murder is as old ashistory and myth, the first

people to be called assassinslived in the late eleventhcenturyinwhatisnowIran.They did not call

themselves Assassins. Thatnamewasonlygiventothemby theSyrianswhensomeofthemsettledinthemountainsof Syria in the eleventhcentury.The Assassins were

foundedbyHasan-iSabbah,a

Shi’ite Moslem born around1060 in the Persian city ofQummwhomovedasachildto the city of Rayy, present-day Tehran.1Hasan’s familywere Twelver Shi’ites, notmembers of the dominantgroupbutwellintegratedintothe society there. In hisautobiography, Hasan relateshow he came to follow amoreradicalpath:“From the days of my

boyhood, from the age ofseven, I felt a love for thevarious branches of learning,and wished to become areligious scholar; until theage of seventeen I was aseeker and searcher forknowledge, but kept to theTwelverfaithofmyfathers.”2

This ended when HasanmetamanwhotaughthimoftheIsma’iliheresy,aformofShi’ite Islam that followed

the descendants of Isma’il,the son of the eighth-centuryimam Ja’far al-Sadiq. OverthecenturiestheIsma’ilishaddeveloped a very differentphilosophy and worldviewfrom the mainstream ofIslam.3

Aftermuchstudyandsoulsearching, Hasan wasconverted at last during aserious illness. “I thought:surely this is the true faith,

andbecauseofmygreat fearI did not acknowledge it.Now my appointed time hascome,andIshalldiewithouthavingattainedthetruth.”4

Now, in order tounderstand the place of theAssassins in the Islamicworld, both then and now, ithelpstoknowthebackgroundof the divisions within thefaith.5

The twomain branches ofIslam are the Sunni and theShi’ites. This split occurredalmost immediately after thedeath of the prophetMohammed. The first debatewasoverwhoshouldsucceedhim. Those who wanted tofollow his uncle, Abu Bakr,became the Sunni. TheShi’ites followedMohammed’scousinandson-in-law, Ali, married to his

daughter, Fatima. Within afairly short time, afundamental differencedeveloped. It was not somuchaboutbeliefaspractice.The Shi’ites felt that it wasnecessary for individualMoslems to have a teacher(imam) rather than try tointerpret the Koran forthemselves. The Sunnibelieved that the head of thecommunity could be chosen

by the community and, aslongasthemainteachingsoftheKoranwereobeyed,therewas room for a certainamount of variety inbehavior.The Shi’ites then divided

among themselves on whowas the most worthy imam.At first they were chosenfrom the descendants of Aliand Fatima. This group thensplit over the leadership of

thegrandsonsof theProphet,Hasan and Husain. ThosewhobelievedthatHusainwasthe genuine imam looked tohisdescendantsforleadershipuntil themiddleof theeighthcentury.The trouble started when

the imamat that time, Ja’far,disinherited his elder son,Isma’il, perhaps because hewas too fond of wine. Theyounger son, Musa, was

accepted by most of thecommunity, but a few feltthatIsma’ilshouldhavebeenchosen.Isma’il died before his

father and that should haveended the matter. However,the Isma’ili refused to rejointhose who followed Musa.Instead,theytaughtthat,eventhough the “visible” imamsnolongerexisted,therewasaline of hidden imams who

sent out agents to continueteaching the faithful. Whenthetimewasright,thehiddenimamwouldappear to leadaworldofjustice.6

In the meantime, thefollowers of Musa and hisdescendants adapted to lifeunder Sunni rule. When thetwelfth of their imams,Muhammad al-Mahdi,vanished around 874, hisfollowers decided that he

wouldreturnintheendtimesand theyneedednoone else.They settled in to wait forhimand took little interest inearthlypolitics.Theybecamethe Twelvers and theyconsidered the Isma’ili to bethe darkest heretics, hardlyMoslematall.7

SoitwasabigleapfortheTwelver Hasan-i Sabbah todecidetojointheIsma’ili.Heleft his home and spent

several years traveling,learning and eventuallypreachingtheIsma’ilifaith.At this time the Seljuk

Turks had taken over a greatportion of the Islamicworld.They were fiercely orthodoxSunni who did not have thetraditional Moslem toleranceforChristiansandJews.TheywerealsodeterminedtoforcealltheShi’itestoreturntotheSunni path. Not surprisingly,

there was a great deal ofresentment toward themamong the Shi’itecommunities.Hasan’s Isma’ili sect

branchedoffagaintobecomethe Nizari, named afteranother man whom they feltshould have been the trueimam.InmostoftheMoslemdocuments, theAssassins areknown as the Nizari. Theyeventually made their

headquarters in Alamut, innorthern Iran, in about1090.8Itwas at this time thatthelegendsofthesectbegan.At first the Nizari were

concernedwithdestroyingthepoweroftheSeljukinvaders.They did this by infiltratingthe courts of the Seljuksultans until they could getclose enough to them to killthem.Itwasapointofhonorthat they face their victims,

who were usually wellguarded. For this reason, theassassinations wereconsideredsuicidemissions.9

The secrecy andsuddenness of the attacksmade the Nizari feared andhated throughout the Seljukand Sunni people. “To killthem is more lawful thanrainwater,” said one. “Toshed thebloodofaheretic ismoremeritorious than to kill

seventy Greekinfidels.”10Often the murderof an important dignitarywould result in the massacreof local Isma’ili althoughthey were not Nizari. Thedivisions among Sunni,TwelverShi’ites,andIsma’iligrewwider.

THENIZARI

BECOMEASSASSINS

Itwasn’tuntilthelatetwelfthcentury that the crusaderstook much notice of theNizari. At that point theywere known by their Syrianname of Hashishiyya, orAssassins. William of Tyrewrites of them in the 1180s,“intheprovinceofTyre...isacertainpeoplewhohaveten

castlesandsurrounding landsandwehaveoftenheard thatthere are sixty thousand ofthem or more. . . . Both weand the Saracens call themAssassins, but I don’t knowwhere the name comesfrom.”11

It wasn’t until the earlynineteenth century that aFrench historian namedSylvesterdeSacydeterminedthattheword“assassin”came

from the word “hashish.”This led to a number offanciful stories. Oneexplained that young Nizarimenweredruggedinordertobelieve that theyhadbeen toheavenandcouldonlyreturnthere after achievingmartyrdom. Another,repeated even by modernhistorians, is that they weregiven hashish to give themthe courage to go out and

kill.12

I first heard thisexplanation in my collegedaysandeventhenitseemedodd to me. For one thing,hashish doesn’t normallyincreaseaggressiveness,quitetheopposite.Ikepthavinganimage of giggling men indark cloaks gliding throughpalaces, stopping to admirethecolorsof thegardensandfountains as they hunted

down their target. However,most historians today thinkthat the name was given theNizariasatermofcontempt,implying that they were asworthless as those whosuccumbedtodrugs.It is interesting that, as

with the stories of theTemplars, the legends of theAssassins are better knownthantheiractualhistory.

THEASSASSINSANDTHETEMPLARS

William of Tyre wasn’tparticularly concerned withthe Assassins, as they rarelyattacked Christians. As amatter of fact, the SyrianAssassins sometimes alliedthemselves with crusaderlords to fight their mutual

enemies. In 1128 theAssassins living in the townofBanyaswerethreatenedbythe city of Damascus. Theirleader anda fewotherswerecrucified on the battlementsof thewall ofDamascus, “inorder that it might be seenhow God had dealt with theoppressorsandbroughtsignalchastisement upon theinfidels.”13Ratherthanletthetown of Banyas fall to the

Damascenes, the Assassinsturned the town over toBaldwin II, king ofJerusalem.14

From about 1152, theAssassins in Syria paidtributetotheTemplarsoftwothousand bezants a year.15This may have been broughtabout in retribution for theassassination of CountRaymond of Tripoli in thatyear, but the facts aren’t

certain. Soon after, theHospitallers, now inpossession of the fortress ofKrak des Chevaliers, on theborder of Assassin territory,also demanded two thousandbezantsayear.This leads toanother story

fromWilliamofTyre,oneofthemostpuzzlingconcerningthe early days of theTemplars.

According to William, theleader of the Assassins,whomhecalled“theoldmanof the mountain,” wished tomake an alliance with thecrusaders. He sent arepresentative named“Boabdelle” toAlmaric,kingof Jerusalem, asking forinstruction in Christianity.The catch was thatconversion hinged on theremissionofthetwothousand

bezants that the Assassinspaid theTemplars each year.Almaricwasopentotheidea,buttheTemplarswereagainstit.TheywaylaidtheemissaryonhiswaybacktoSyriaandmurderedhim.16

William continues todescribe the anger of theking.Almarictriedtoputtheleader of the attackers,WilliamofMesnil, inprison.The Templars would have

noneofthisandappealedthematter to the pope.Where itwould have gone from thereis hard to say, for Almaricdied. One of the regents forhis son, Baldwin IV, wasRaymond, son of themurderedcountofTripoli.Hewas not interested inpunishing those who killedAssassins. So the Assassinsremained Moslem and thetributecontinuedtobepaid.

Historians have puzzledover this for many years.SomethinkWilliammadethewholestoryup.It’snotfoundinanyotherrecordsfromthetime.ItseemsstrangethattheAssassins would suddenlywish to convert just to savemoney. It seems equallystrange that the Templars,knights of God, would wanttolosethechancetobringsomany souls to baptism.

William believed that theirgreed overcame their pietyandusedthisepisodeasproofof how far the order hadfallen since its humblebeginnings.Unlessnewdocumentsturn

up, the truth will never beknown. William’s story wasbelieved inhisown timeandit reflects the mixed feelingspeople had begun to haveabouttheTemplars.

The Assassins were stillpaying tribute in the middleofthethirteenthcenturywhenthey again tried to have itendedbysendinganenvoytoKing Louis IX of France,whowas then inAcreonhiscrusade.One theoryas towhy they

felt compelled to pay thistributeinsteadoffightingwasthat their normal method ofeliminating troublesome

leaders wouldn’t work withthe military orders. Thebiographer of Louis, Jean deJoinville, explains, “forneither the Templars nor theHospitallers had any fear oftheAssassins,sincetheirlordknew well that if he hadeither the Master of theTemple or of the Hospitalkilled, another, equallygood,would be put in his place;therefore he had nothing to

gain by their death.Consequently,hehadnowishtosacrificehisAssassinsonaproject that would bring himnoadvantage.”17

King Louis refused toeliminate the tribute and themastersoftheTempleandtheHospital threatened theenvoy.Hesoonreturnedwithgifts for theking in aneffortat conciliation.18Louis sentgifts in return along with a

Syriac-speaking priest, Yvesle Breton, who failed toconvince the Assassins toconvert.19

Eighty years afterWilliamof Tyre, Joinville saw theTemplars as heroes anddefendersof thefaithin theirrelationswiththeAssassins.WhiletheChristiansdonot

seem to have understood thedifferences among the sects

of Islam, they did have theidea that the Assassins werenot Moslem. Joinville saysthat they did not followMohammed but his uncle,Ali.20Benjamin of Tudela, aSpanish Jew, also assumedthat the Assassins were agroupapart. Inhis taleofhistravels through the MiddleEast in 1169, Benjaminstates, “it is four days to thelandofMulahid.Herelivesa

peoplewhodonotprofesstheMohammedan religion, butlive on high mountains, andworship the Old Man of theland of the Hashishim. Andamong them there are fourcommunitiesofIsraelwhogoforth with them in war-time.Theyarenotundertheruleofthe king ofPersia, but residein the high mountains, anddescend from thesemountains to pillage and to

capturebooty,andthenreturnto the mountains, and nonecanovercomethem.”21

“Mulahid” is a word thatChristian commentators alsoused for the land of theAssassins. They learned itfrom the Moslems. It means“heretic.”The belief that the

Assassins could strikeeverywhere and anywhere

spread throughout theChristianandMoslemworld.The French chroniclerGuillaume deNangis tells ofhow the Old Man of theMountain sent an assassin toFrance to killKingLouis IX(Saint Louis). “But, in thecourse of their journey, Godchanged his heart, inspiringhimto thinkofpeace insteadofmurder.”22

The Assassins stopped

paying tribute only after thefalloftheHospitallerfortressof Krak des Chevaliers in1271.23

Despite the Westernfascination with the sect, theAssassins were much moreconcerned with theestablishment of theirtheology among otherMoslemsthantheywerewiththeChristians.Eventually,theAssassin strongholds were

conquered and the peopledispersed during theMongolinvasions of the fourteenthcentury.Intheirtime,theAssassins

managed to spread terrorthroughouttheIslamicworld.Nooneknewwhenorwherethey would strike. Storiesweretoldofthefanaticismofthe Assassins and of theimmoral lives they led. Onefrequently repeated tale is of

themotherwhoheardthatherson’s party had succeeded inassassinating a sultan. Sherejoiced that he was now amartyr.When shediscoveredthat he had survived, she putonmourning.All through history there

have been cadres of peoplewho try to change the worldthrough judicious removal ofkey leaders. The killing ofArchduke Ferdinand and his

wife is a good example. Itresulted in the First WorldWar.Ofcourse, it’snotclearifthatwaswhattheassassinsintended.It might be noted that

Assassins, while prepared todie in the execution of theirduty,didnotpracticerandomkilling but prided themselveson only eliminating theirmaintarget.Theirhistoryisacomplex one composed of

faith, altruism, fanaticism,mysticism,andpragmatism.In many ways, they were

not that different from theTemplars.1Bernard Lewis, TheAssassins: A Radical Sect inIslam (London: WeidenfieldandNicolson,2001)p.38.2QuotedinLewis,op.cit.

3Lewis,pp.26-27.4QuotedinLewis,p.39.5This is a very quick outline.For more completeinformation please consultyourlocallibrarian.6J. J. Saunders, A History of

Medieval Islam (London:Routledge and Kegan Paul1965)p.127.The idea thatasecretsavioriswaitinginthewingsisaveryoldone.7Lewis, p. 39; Saunders, p.127.8Marshall G. S. Hogan, TheSecret Order of Assassins:The Struggle of the Early

Nizari Isma’ ilis Against theIslamicWorld (University ofPennsylvania Press, 2005;reprintof1955ed.)p.77.9Ibid., pp. 110-13; Lewis, pp.47-54.10QuotedinLewis,p.48.11William of Tyre, 20, 29. “In

provincial Tyrensi . . . estquondam populus, castelladecemhabenscumsurburanissuis, estque numerus eorum,ut sepiusaudivimus,quasi assexagintamiliavelamplior. .. . Hos tam nostril quamSarraceni, nescimus undenominee deducto, Assissinosvocant.”12Hogan, pp. 134-37; Lewis,

pp.11-13.Bothauthorspointouttheflawsinthistheory.13Ibn al-Qalanisi, TheDamascus Chronicles of theCrusades, tr. H. A. R. Gibb(London, 1932) p. 193.Herethe Assassins are called“Batani.”14Ibid.,p.194.15

Malcolm Barber, The NewKnighthood (CambridgeUniversity Press, 1994) p.103.16William of Tyre, 20, 29 and20,30,pp.953-54.17Joinville,LifeofSt.Louis, tr.Margaret R. B. Shaw(Penguin,1963)p.277.18

Reginald of Vichiers wasprobably the Templar masterat this time. William deChateauneuf was master oftheHospitallers.19Joinville,p.278.20Ibid. Since the Assassinswere an offshoot of theShi’ite and it was the SunniwhofollowedtheruleofAli,

Joinville had it backward, aswellasnotunderstandingthatall theMoslemsfollowed theteachingsofMohammed.21Benjamin of Tudela, Travelsin the Middle Ages, tr. A.Asher (Malibu: PanglossPress, 1983; reprint of 1840ed.) p. 110. I have readnowhereelseofJewishforcesfightingwiththeAssassins.If

anyone finds a reference,pleaseletmeknow.22Guillaume de Nangis,Chroniques capétiennesTomes 1. 1113-1270, tr.FrançoisGuizot(Paleo,2002)p.169.23AlainDemurger,JacquesDeMolay: Le crepuscule destempliers (Paris: Biographie

Payot,2002)p.73.

CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE

TheHospitalers

As their name implies, theOrder of the Knights of St.John, or Hospitallers, beganas a charitable group,intended to assist pilgrims toJerusalem who were in needof care and shelter. They

seem to have been startedsometimeinthelateeleventhcentury by some merchantsfrom the Italian town ofAmalfi. I say, “seem to”because there are no recordsof the foundation andbecause, like the Templars,the Hospitallers invented amythology of their own inwhich, in some versions, theorderwasfoundedbeforethetimeofChristandtheparents

of John theBaptist had oncebeenassociatedwithit.1

In the 1070s, the mostlikely time of establishment,Jerusalem was under thecontrol of the Fatimid caliphof Egypt. He allowedpilgrims from the West tocome to the city to visit thesites of Jesus’ life. ThecanonsoftheHolySepulcherwere Syrian OrthodoxChristians, under the control

of the Orthodox patriarch ofJerusalem. Pilgrims fromItaly felt the need of a placefor pilgrims to rest and becared for where there wouldbe people who spoke theirlanguage and practiced theirreligiousrites.2

The military side of thehospitallersmay have startedas an additional service forthe pilgrims, especially thosegoing to the Jordan River to

wade in the water whereJesushadbeenbaptized.TheHospitallers set up a hostelknown as the Red Cisternwhere pilgrims could getwater and stay the night insafety on their way to theriver.3 Naturally, the cisternneeded to be protected fromraiders and one thing led toanother until theHospitallershad a contingent of knights.However, theynevergaveup

the tradition of hospitalityand often stressed that thiswastheirmainfunction.By the late twelfthcentury

the Templars and theHospitallers were oftenspoken of in pairs, as if theywere interchangeable. Rulerswouldsendonememberfromeach order on diplomaticmissions. But there wereseveral differences betweenthe orders. From the early

days of both, the Templarswere largely drawn fromFrench-speaking areas andtheirs was solely a militaryorder, whereas theHospitallers were mostlySpanish-andItalian-speakingandfocusedonthecareofthesick and the protection ofpilgrims. As the Hospitallersgrew,theorderattractedmoreFrench speakers until it waslargelyFrench-speaking.

It’s clear that the militarysideoftheorderbeganearly.In 1144, Raymond, count ofTripoli, gave theHospitallersthe fortress known as theKrak des Chevaliers.Eventually the Hospitallersacquiredmorepropertyinthecrusader kingdoms than theTemplars.4

The Templars andHospitallersareoftenseenasrivals, even enemies. I think

of them more as brothers.Sometimes they got alongfine, supporting each otheragainst the rest of theworld.Sometimes they were onopposite sides of a questionandfoughteachotherbitterly.In the end, the gallant deathof the Templar masterWilliam of Beaujeu at thesiege of Acre ismourned bytheHospitallerGrandMaster,“On that day the Master of

the Temple also died of amortalwoundfroma javelin.God have mercy on hissoul!”5

Many donation chartersgave property equally to theTemplars and Hospitallers.Themostastonishingoftheseis that of Alfonso I, king ofAragonandNavarre,madein1131 in which he left hisentire kingdom to theTemplars, Hospitallers, and

the Church of the HolySepulcher.6 They weren’tallowedtokeepthekingdom;the heirs that Alfonso hadignored protested and asettlementwas arranged. Butit shows dramatically howeven at that early date, thetwo orders were united inpopular thinking andconnectedwiththeChurchoftheHoly Sepulcher. It didn’thelpintellingthemapartthat

both the Templars and theHospitallers often built theirchurches with a round nave,in imitationof theChurchoftheHolySepulcher.7

The Hospitallers evenloaned money, just as theTemplarsdid.OntheSecondCrusade,LouisVIIofFranceborrowed from the FrenchTemplar master, Everard deBarres, and also theHospitaller master, Raymond

duPuy.8

TheHospitallersalsocameinfortheirshareofcriticism,especially from that late-twelfth-century defender ofthe secular clergy, WalterMap. He was furious at theprivilegesgrantedtoboththeTemplarsandtheHospitallersat theThirdLateranCouncil.Walter saw both orders asequally wicked. “By manytricks they supplant us and

keepus from the churches.”9He felt that they luredimpoverished knights intojoiningtheordersbyrefusingto give them money unlessthey signed up. In that waythey kept donations fromcoming to local parishes.Thereisnoevidencethatthischargewastrue.Even popes would

occasionally chide theHospitallers. In 1209,

InnocentIIIscoldedthemforkeeping concubines and“shamefully involvingthemselves in secular affairsasiftheywerelaymen.”10

There is a general beliefthat the Templars andHospitallers were constantlyin competition and rarely ongood terms. While they didhave their differences,particularly over land, on thewhole they seem to have

worked together quite well.During the crusade ofRichard the Lionheart theTemplars and Hospitallersswitched each day from therearguardtothevanguardofthearmy.11Also theRuleofthe Temple makes it clearthat, in a pinch, the Templarknight should make for thenearestunitofHospitallers:Rule 167. “And if it happens

that any brother cannot gotowards his banner becausehehasgonetoofaraheadforfear of Saracens who arebetweenhimand thebanner,or he does not know whatbecameof it,heshouldgotothefirstChristianbannerthathe finds. And if he finds thatof the Hospital, he shouldstay by it and should informthe leader of thesquadron.”12

The main issues thatdivided the two orders werepolitical. Although in theorythey were supposed to beoutsideof local squabbles, inreality it was impossible notto get pulled into them. Oneof the nastiest was when theordersbecameinvolvedintheconstant rivalry between theItalian city-states of GenoaandVenice.ThecityofAcrewas largely divided among

the military orders and theItalians,withasmallareaforotherreligiousgroupsandtheEnglish. In a struggle thatwent on between 1256 and1258,oversomepropertythatwasownedby themonasteryof St. Sabas, theHospitallerssupported the Genoese andtheTemplarstheVenetians.13This more than once led toblowsbetweentheknights.The most dramatic

divisions had to do with theseveral conflicts over whowas to inherit the crown ofJerusalem.Oneof these tookplace later in the history ofthe Latin kingdoms, longafterJerusalemhadbeenlost.In 1277, the claimants wereHugh III, king of Cyprus,descended from Sybilla, thesister of Baldwin IV, andCharlesofAnjou,thebrotherof the king of France, who

had bought rights to thethrone from Maria ofAntioch, Hugh’s cousin.14The Hospitallers supportedHugh; the Templarssupported Charles. Onereason the Templars did thisis that the Grand Master,William of Beaujeu, wasrelatedtoCharles.The Hospitallers had one

edge over the Templars:when the criticism got too

hot, they could retreat intotheir hospices. They seem tohave done this after thedebacle of the SecondCrusade,althoughtheydon’tseem to have played a largemilitaryroleintheexpeditioninanycase.15

Theideathat theTemplarsand the Hospitallers weremuch the same wasemphasized in the way theywere viewed by chroniclers.

“So the Hospitallers and theKnights Templar armedthemselves taking with thema great many very strongTurcopoles.”16King Richardorders“theTemplarsand theHospitallers to come tohim.”17“Count Raymond ofTripoli wanted the fortressesand castles to be in thekeeping of the Temple andthe Hospital.”18 TheTemplarsandHospitallersare

given joint custody of thetownofMessina, until it canbe decided who should haveit.19

This is reflected in thenumber of times that anenvoy included a Templarand a Hospitaller apparentlyaswitnesses or perhaps evenbodyguards. They are rarelynamed; they are simply seenas representatives of theirorders. The popes, including

Clement V, customarily hadone Templar and oneHospitaller as chamberlains.Thepapacyusedthebrothersindiscriminately asmessengers and relied onloans from both orders toshoreuppapalfinances.20

Even negative remarkswere aimed at the militaryorders as if theywere all thesame. Pierre Dubois, one ofPhilip theFair’semployees,

wrote that the Templars andthe Hospitallers should beable to liveoff their lands inthe Holy Land and Cyprusand donate the money theygained in the West to startschools for missionaries andpay for mercenaries tofight.21

It’s possible that in 1307King Philip the Fair wasinterested in condemning theHospitallers as well as the

Templars, or it may be thatthe Templars were just moreaccessible.WhenJacquesdeMolay was summoned tomeet with Pope Clement Vand the king, the master ofthe Hospitallers, Fulk deVilleret, was supposed to bethere as well. But he was“stopped in his way atRhodes by the Saracens . . .and could not come on thedate set and was given a

legitimate excuse by themessengers.”22Whew!SoFulkescapedthefateof

Jacques de Molay and theHospitallers actually gainedsomething by the dissolutionof the Templars at theCouncil of Vienne, sincemost of the Temple propertyeventually reverted to them,although they had to makedeals with the various kingsinordertogetit.

At the same time that theTemplartrialsweregoingon,the Hospitallers were busyorganizing the conquest ofthe island of Rhodes. OnAugust 11, 1308, PopeClementproclaimedaspecialcrusade to be undertaken bythe Hospitallers for thedefense of Cyprus andArmenia. 23 He offeredindulgences to those whogave to the cause and had

boxes put in the churchesparticularly marked for theHospital.24Fulk de Villeretthought Rhodes was a bettergoal and so took that island.He was right in that it waseasier to hold on to. TheHospitallers would be basedatRhodesuntil1522.Now that they were

headquartered on an island,the Hospitallers concentratedon sea power. They hired a

fleet of pirate corsairs thatwere licensed to harryMoslem trading ships andthose of the Italianswho didbusiness with Moslems. Thebooty made a welcomeadditiontotheirincome.25

In thefifteenthcentury thearrival of theOttoman Turksin the east put theHospitallersonthefrontlinesagain. They had come toterms with the familiar

enemies, like the Mamluks.Now they were faced withanother batch of newlyconverted conquerors. Underthe sultan, Selim, theOttoman armies expandedinto eastern Europe andattacked Rhodes. The lastHospitaller Grand Master onRhodes was forced tosurrender the island to SelimonJanuary1,1523.26

The remnants of the

Hospital had no base forseven years. In 1530, theSpanish Holy RomanEmperor gave the order theislands of Gazon, Camino,and Malta. From there, theChristiansstillhaddreamsofreconquering the HolyLand.27

The Hospitallers becameknown as the Knights ofMalta, the name they bear tothis day. The next time they

wereconquered, itwouldnotbebytheMoslemsbutbythenatural force known asNapoleonBonaparte.For the next two hundred

yearsandmoreafter arrivingin Malta, the Hospitallerscontinued their rear-guardcrusade throughpiracy.Thenthe French Directorate, stillfinding its feet after theRevolution, learned thatMaltamightbetakenoverby

itsenemies,theAustriansandtheRussians.28

TheysentNapoleontotakecare of matters. He tookMalta without a fight. Themaster and the brothers lefton June 17, 1798, takingsome of their relics withthem. Many other relics andall the records theHospitallers had inheritedfrom the Templars wereamong the loot taken by the

French soldiers.Much of theloot was put aboardNapoleon’sshipl’Orient.29

Napoleonsetofftotakehisarmy for a fun summer inEgypt. “On the evening of 1AugusttheBritishfleetunderNelson caught up with theFrench fleet in Aboukir Bayoff the north Egyptian coastanddefeateditinthebattleoftheNile.L’Orientwasblownupandsunk,withtheOrder’s

relicsonboard.”30

Just think how manyquestions could be settled ifthatshipcouldbefound.The next years of the

former Hospitallers wereexceedingly strange andincluded having Paul I, theRussian tsar and son ofCatherinetheGreat,asGrandMaster. That experimentdidn’tlastlong.

In1834PopeGregoryXVIgave the Knights of Malta ahospital,where they returnedtotheiroriginaldutyoftakingcare of poor and sickpilgrims. In this form theorder has spread over theworld, and even hasProtestantaffiliates.31

Why did the Hospitallerssurvive when the Templarsdidn’t? I believe that it wasbecause of the things that

made them different. Theyalways said that the care ofthe poor and sick was theirfirst responsibility. Whentimesgottough,theyhadthatto fall back on. While, likethe Templars, they wereinvolvedinbanking, theydidnot have such high-profiledepositors. So the averageperson did not associate theHospitallers with untoldwealth.

Perhaps the Templarsmight have been saved ifthey’d simply founded a fewhospitals....Perhapsnot.1Helen Nicholson, TheKnights Hospitaller(Woodbridge, UK: BoydellandBrewer,2001)p.3.2William of Tyre,Chronicon,ed. R. B. C. Huygens

(Turnholt, 1986) book 18, 4-5,pp.814-17.3Malcolm Barber, “TheCharitable and MedicalActivities of the Hospitallersand Templars, Eleventh toFifteenth Centuries.” TheWhichardLecture,March23,2000, p. 6. Text at:www.ecu.edu/history/whichard/MBarberCharitable.htm4

Joshua Prawer, TheCrusaders’ Kingdom:European Colonialism in theMiddle Ages (London:PhoenixPress,1972)p.260.5Quoted in Nicholson, p. 37(Cartulaire 4, no. 4157) tr.Edwin James King, TheKnights Hospitaller in theHolyLand(London,1931)p.301.

6The text of this charter istranslated inMalcolmBarberand Keith Bate, TheTemplars: Selected Sourcestranslated and annotated(ManchesterUniversityPress,2002) pp. 161-62. See alsochapter 8, Go Forth andMultiply.7Nicholson,p.6.

8Suger, abbot of St. Denis.OmnittOpera,p.27.9Walter Map, De NugisCurialium tr. FrederickTupper and Marbury Ogle(London:ChattoandWindus,1924)bookxxiii,p.44.10Alan Forey, The MilitaryOrders (London: McMillon,

1992)p.199.11Helen Nicholson tr., TheChronicle of the ThirdCrusade(Ashgate,Aldershot,1997)pp.240-62.12J. M. Upton-Ward tr., TheRule of the Templars(Woodbridge:Boydell,1992)p.60.13

Malcolm Barber, The NewKnighthood (CambridgeUniversity Press, 1994) p.155.14Nicholson,p.37.FormoreonCharles of Anjou please seeTheTemplarsandtheSaint.15Ibid.,p.20.16

Helen Nicholson tr., TheChronicle of the ThirdCrusade(Ashgate,Aldershot,1997)p.258.17Ibid.,p.370.18Peter W. Edbury tr., TheConquest of Jerusalem andthe Third Crusade (Ashgate,Aldershot,1998)p.14.19

JohnGillingham,Richard theLionheart (NewYork:TimesBooks,1978)p.153.20I. S. Robsindo, The Papacy1037-1198 (CambridgeUniversity Press 1990) p.243.21Forey,p.218.22

Guillaume de Nangis,Chroniques capétiennesTome II 1270-1328, tr.FrançoisGuizot(Paris:Paleo,2002).23Sylvia Menache, Clement V(CambridgeUniversityPress,1998)p.105.24Ibid.,p.109.25

Nicholson,p.57.26Ibid.,p.67.27Ibid.28Ibid., p. 135. The Austrianswere especially angrybecause the French haddecapitatedMarieAntoinette,who had been born an

Austrianprincess.29Ibid.,p.136.30Ibid.31Ibid.,p.144.

CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO

GrandMasters1191-1292/93

ROBERTOFSABLÉ,1191-

1193/94

Robert of Sablé came fromAnjou, the core of the landsthatRichard the Lionheartcontrolled before he becameking of England. Robertwasa follower of the Lionheartwho supported the revolt ofRichardandhiselderbrotherHenry, “the Young King,”againsttheirfather,HenryII.1He was in Richard’sentouragewhenthenewkingwent on crusade and served

both as treasurer of the kingandasamessengerduringthecrusade.2

Hemust have been a veryrecent member of theTemplars when he waselected to succeed Gerard ofRidefort, who was killed atthe 1191 siege of Acre. TheEracles chronicler states,“Afterwards, the Templarselected a man of high birthwho was in their house,

named Brother Robert ofSablé as their master.”3 Theway they express it, he mayjust have been visiting at thetime.On the way to the Holy

Land, Richard had taken afew days off to conquer theisland of Cyprus. He reallydidn’t need another islandandsoheofferedtosell it tohis friend Robert and hisTemplars.Heaskedonlyone

hundred thousandbezants forthe whole thing, a realbargain. 4 The Templarsdidn’thavethatmuchmoneysotheygavethekingadownpayment of forty thousandbezants’ worth of propertyandsentsomementoCyprusto tell the natives about thedealandcollectthetaxes.This turnedout tobeabig

mistake.

[T]hey thought they couldgovern the people of theisland in the same way theytreated the rural populationin the land of Jerusalem.They thought they could ill-treat, beat and misuse themand imagined they couldcontrol the island of Cypruswith a force of 20 brothers.The Greeks hated their ruleandwereoppressedbyit....

They rose in rebellion andcame to besiege them in thecastle of Nicosia. When theTemplars saw such amultitudeofpeoplecomingtobesiege them, they weregreatly taken aback. Theytold them that they wereChristians, justas theywere,that they had not come thereby their own strength, andthat, if they would let themquittheislandofCyprus,they

wouldgowillingly.5

The Cypriots, still smartingfrom the injuries inflicted byRichard’s army, preferred totakerevengeontheTemplars.However,thetwentybrothersmanaged to defeat the mobandgetbacktoAcre,whereitwas decided that Cypruswasn’t worth the manpowerneededtotameit.

Robert of Sablé went toRichard and asked him toreturnthedepositandtakehisislandback.Richardsaidhe’dbehappytotakebackCyprusbut he had decided that theproperty the Templars hadgivenhiminpaymentwasn’tworthwhattheyhadsaidandsohewasn’t going to give itback.6Inthosedaystherewasno grace period to rethink apurchasesotheTemplarsjust

hadtogrinandbearit.Richard then sold the

island to Guy of Lusignan.Guy had been king ofJerusalem through his wife,Sybilla.Sybillaand their twodaughters had died around1190, presumably in anepidemic.Thecrown,suchasit was, since Jerusalem hadfallen to Saladin in 1187,passed to Sybilla’s sister,Isabelle.7Guyhadneverbeen

all that popular with anyonebut Sybilla. He went toRichard and offered to buythe island on the same termsas those given to theTemplars.Guythenborrowedmoney from somemerchantsin Tripoli and paid Richard,whohadnowmanagedtoselltheislandtwice.8

Guy remarried and hisdescendants ruledCyprus forthenextthreehundredyears.

I don’t know if therelationship between Richardand Robert of Sablé cooledafterthis.Kingscangetawaywith a lot. In 1192, whenRichard decided to return toEngland,heaskedRobert fortenknightsandfoursergeantsto guard him on thetrip.9Forced to travel throughthe land of his enemy,Leopold of Austria, Richardwas taken captive and held

two years before his ransomcouldbepaid.Robert did not neglect the

administrativesideofhisjob.In1191hemadesurethatthenew pope, Celestine III,confirmed all the rights thatprevious popes had grantedthe Templars.10Other thanthat,histimeasGrandMasterwasoneof themore tranquilones.

Robert de Sablé died onSeptember 28, in either 1193or1194.

GILBERTERAIL,1194-1200

Gilbert was another careerTemplar. He had served inJerusalem, where he wasgrand commander of the city

in 1183.11 He then went toSpain, where he was livingwhen he learned of hiselectionasGrandMaster.One of the first things

Gilbertdidin1194wastogeta papal confirmation of theprivilegesoftheorder.12Thiswas something that noTemplarmasterevertookforgranted. Those privilegeswerethebaseof theTemplareconomy.

Hewas in Acre byMarch5, 1198, perhaps before.13During his tenure theTemplarsbecameinvolvedinproperty disputes with theHospitallersoverrightsinthetownofVilania.Thisbecamesointensethatthematterhadto be settled by the pope,InnocentIII.14

When Gilbert wasexcommunicated by thebishop of Sidon, Innocent

stepped in again, saying thatonlyhecouldexcommunicateTemplars.15I haven’t beenable to find outwhatGilberthaddonetooffendthebishopbutI’msurehewasgladthathe had been to renew theregulation that only the popecould excommunicate aTemplar.Gilbert died on December

21, 1200. His time as GrandMaster seems to have been

oneofconsolidationafter theloss of so much land toSaladin. The fleetingmentions of his argumentswith others in Acre aretantalizing but they don’tseemtohavebeeninterestingenough for chroniclers tomakemuchofthem.

PHILIPOF

PLESSIS,1201-1209

Philip was another Angevinwho came to the Holy Landwith Richard I. He was ayoungersonwhohadalreadymarried and had sons of hisownwhenheleftoncrusade.Heencouragedfightingratherthan making truces with theMoslems.16While InnocentIII supported him, the popealso wrote that he had

succumbedtothesinofprideand abuse of hisprivileges.17Philip diedNovember12,1209.

WILLIAMOFCHARTRES,1210-

1219

William of Chartres is alsoknown asWilliam of Puiset.

He was from a family thathad a tradition of supportingthe crusading movement.Before becoming GrandMasterhewaswoundedinanambush by the Armeniansunder Leo, Roupenid princeof Cilicia.18In 1215 Williamwas one of the signers of anagreement concerningproperty rights among theTemplars, Hospitallers, andthe Order of Santiago,

brokered by Pope AlexanderIII.19He was also the GrandMasterduringthefirstpartofthe Fifth Crusade in whichthe Christian armies underAndrew of Hungary and theexcommunicatedFrederick IIattempted to defeatEgypt.20William’s father,CountMiloofBar-sur-Seine,and his brother,Walter, bothfoughtanddiedon thatsamecrusade.21Williambecameill

while with the crusaders inDamiettaanddiedAugust26,1219.

PETEROFMONTAIGU,1219-

1231

Peter of Montaigu wasprobably elected in anemergency meeting of the

order at Damietta, followingthe death of William ofChartres. Like William,Peter’sfamilywasverymuchinvolved in the religious lifeof the East. Peter’s brother,Guérin,wasGrandMasterofthe Hospital, giving a wholenewmeaning to the fraternalrivalry between the twoorders.OneofhisuncleswasEustorge, archbishop ofNicosia. 22 Another uncle,

Bernard, was bishop of Puy,intheFrenchAlps.Peteralsohadacousinwhodidn’tenterthe religious life butmarriedon Cyprus and died there,fightingimperialtroops.23

Although his family wasfrom theAuvergne region ofFrance, Peter spent his earlycareerinSpainandProvence,becoming master of theTemplars of the region in1206.24He distinguished

himself in battle in Spain,especially at the battle of al-Aqsa, where he and hisTemplars arrived in time tosavetheday.25

The Fifth Crusade wasanotherresoundingdefeatandPeter was one of those whohad to mop up. He wrote aletter of frustration to thepreceptor in England, AlanMartel. In it he describes themiseryof the armywhen the

Egyptians opened the sluicegates in the Nile Delta,cutting off the supply routes.“Destitute of provisions, thearmy of Christ could neitherproceed further nor retreatnorfleeanywhere,...Itwastrappedlikeafishinanet.”26

The letter ends like mostfromthecrusades,withapleaformorefunds.Peterwasalsocaughtupin

thestrugglebetweentheHolyRoman Emperor, FrederickII, and the popes. This wasthe old battle between thetemporal and spiritualpowers. Italy was part ofFrederick’s inheritance,which brought him intoconflictwiththePapalStates.ThenhemarriedIsabelle, theheiress to the throne ofJerusalem, which gave himsome interest in retaking the

city.Frederickmanagedtobeexcommunicatedbyanumberof popes, dying unrepentantin1250.When Frederick arrived in

Acre, after the defeat of thearmy at Damietta, theTemplarsandtheHospitallersrefused to follow him, sincehe was shunned by theChurch. This eventually ledto a nasty scene in which,according to some, Frederick

accused the Templars oftrying tomurderhim.27Theyaccusedhimoftreachery.28

Although Frederick soonleftAcre, he got his revengeon the Templars and theHospitallers by confiscatingall theirproperty in Italyandimprisoning many of thebrothers there. The propertystill hadn’t been returnedwhenPeterdiedin1231.Thetreaty of reconciliation

between Frederick and thepopewasn’tmadeuntil1239,when Armand of Périgordwas Grand Master. As weshall see, this may not havebeenaccidental.

ARMANDOFPÉRIGORD,C.

1231-1244

ArmandofPérigordprobablycame from Guienne, in thesouthofFrance.HehadbeenTemplar preceptor in SicilyandCalabriabeforebecomingGrand Master and it waswidely believed that hiselection was influenced bythe Holy Roman Emperor,Frederick II, who controlledSicilyatthattime.29However,thereseemstobenoproofofthat.

Most of Armand’s careerasGrandMasterwasspentinskirmisheswithbothMoslemandimperialforces.Frederickhad arranged throughnegotiationsfortheChristiansto have most of Jerusalemback, as well as signing aneight-year truce with thesultanofCairo.Armand did nothing to

uphold the truce. The mostnotableofhisactionsresulted

inanotherTemplarslaughter.In1237,againsttheadviceofWalter,countofJaffa,heleda band of knights againstMoslem troops who were“foraging in the regionbetweenAtlitandAcre.”TheTemplars were badlydefeated. Only the GrandMaster and nine of his menescaped.30

Armandslowlylearnedthereality of life in the Latin

kingdoms, what was left ofthem.Hebegantounderstandthe complexity of therelations among thedescendantsofSaladin.Theywere arguing over who hadthebestclaimtotheAyyubidkingdoms;choosingupsides,and fighting each other, justas the Christian lords did.And there were some whowere willing to allythemselves with the

Christians in order to defeattheirbrothersandcousins. In1237, Armand believed itwould be possible to divideandconquertheAyyubids.31

InNovember1239anotherforce of fresh blood arrivedfrom the West, this timeunder the command ofThibaud, count ofChampagne. The knights hebroughtwith himwere eagerfor battle and plunder and

annoyed by the hard-learnedcautionthatthemastersoftheTempleandHospitalshowed.Henry, count of Bar,announced that he hadn’tcome all this way to sitaround and that he and hismenwere ridingout thenextdayto“forage.”They[theMasters]knewverywell that neither theirintentions nor their motives

were good, that they wereinspired by envy, malice,pride and greed. . . . Theytold them [the knights]clearly that if they rode towar as they intended, theywould well be . . . killed ortaken prisoner, to the greatshame and harm ofChristendom. The foragersreplied forcefully that theywoulddonothingofthekind;they had come there to fight

unbelieversanddidnotmeanto keep putting off anyencounter.32

Henry and his men salliedforth to the plain near Gazawheretheyhadheardthatthelocalpeoplehadsentmanyoftheiranimalsforsafekeeping.Theydecidedtocampawhile,have dinner, sleep, and thensneakout inthemorningandcapturethehorses.“Suchwas

their pride and theirarrogance that they felt littleor no concern about theirenemies,intowhoselandtheyhad thrustsofar forwardandwho were very near them.ThentheylearnedindeedthatOur Lord will not be servedinthatway.”33

The sultan Al-Adil AbuBakr II happened to be inGaza and learned of theslowly approaching raiding

party. He summoned allfightingmen from the regionand they went to meet theinvaders. By morning, someof the crusaderswere gettingnervous and decided to turnback. But Henry of Bar andmanyothersdecidedtofight.Theywere surrounded and

annihilated. Any survivorswere taken toCairo and soldintoslavery.34

Although the Rothelinchronicler,livinginAcre,feltthat the men got what theydeserved, some in Europesaw it differently. Both theTemplarsandtheHospitallerswere criticized for failing tosupport Henry of Bar.35There was even a poem,supposedly written by theenslaved count of MonfortandsmuggledtotheWest.

IftheHospitallersTemplarsandbrotherknightsHadshownourmentheway,Hadriddenastheyshould,ThenallourchivalryWouldnotinprisonlie.36

Perhaps itwas to quell thesenegative views of the orderthat a year later Armand, onbehalf of the Temple, gavethemasterandthebrothersofSt. Lazarus the rents from

property they owned in theEnglishquarterofAcre.37

Thesettlers from theWesthad learned a lot about NearEastern politics in the fivegenerations they had beenthere.Inthe1240stheywerekeenly aware of the strugglethatwasgoingonamong theheirsofSaladininEgyptandDamascus. The Templarssupported Damascus; theHospitallers, Egypt. In 1244,

the Templars, under Armandof Périgord, apparentlyconvinced the Christianforces to support Damascuswith military aid. Thecombined armies marchedintoGazaand,onOctober18,were soundly defeated at thebattle of La Forbie(Harbiya).38

Among the dead werePeter,thearchbishopofTyre,and the bishop ofSt.George

of Ramla. Walter ofChâteauneuf, master of theHospitallers, was captured.He didn’t regain his freedomuntil1250.Armand of Périgord was

also captured at La Forbie.He died in prison; no oneknowswhen.

WILLIAMOF

SONNAC,1247-1250

William of Sonnac was thepreceptor of Aquitaine whenhe was chosen as the newGrandMaster.Before thathehad been the commander ofthe Templar house atAuzon.39Since no one wascertain if Grand MasterArmand was dead, Williammay have felt that he wasalways just an acting Grand

Master.Ifso,itwasonehardact.William accompanied

King Louis IX on hisexpedition to Egypt, wheretheGrandMasterwas forcedinto a battle in the town ofMansourah, inwhichRobert,the brother of the king, waskilled. Everyone agreed thattheattackwasamistake,withmost of the blame going toRobert. Jean de Joinville,

seneschal of Champagne,says,“TheTemplars,as theirGrand Master told me later,lost on this occasion sometwohundredandeightymen-at-arms, and all mounted.”40Thereseemssuchaweightofdespair in that simplestatement. In all the years ofthe Templars, the totalnumberofknightsintheEastnever averaged more thanthree hundred. Even

assuming that many of thedead were sergeants, theTemplars had still lost morethanaquarteroftheirfightingmen.William, who had already

lost the use of one eye in anearlierencounter,wasblindedand killed in battle in EgyptonFebruary11,1250.

RENAUDOFVICHIERS,1250-

1256

WhenWilliamofSonnacwaskilled, Renaud of Vichierswasmarshaloftheorder.Notonlywas there no time for aproper election, there alsoweren’tenoughTemplarsleftalive to hold one. Renaudtook over until their return

from Egypt to Acre whereenough men could becollected.When King Louis of

France and many of hisnoblemen were held forransom,Renaud took it uponhimself to allow Jean deJoinville to takemoney fromthe chests that the Templarswere holding for variousdepositors,inordertofreetheking.41

When the king and theremnants of the armyreturned to Acre, “the king,on account of theconsiderationtheTemplehadshownhim,helpedmakehimMaster of the Temple.”42There may not have beenmuch protest from theremaining Templars. Renaudhad done well under terriblecircumstances.Louis seemed to think that

madethescoreevenbetweenthem. He certainly showedRenaud no further favors. In1251 Renaud sent hismarshal, Hughes de Jouy, tonegotiate an agreement withthe sultan of Damascus toshare a rich farming regionbetweenthetwolands.WhenHughescamebacktoAcretohaveKingLouisIXratifythetreaty,Louiswasfurious thatit had been donewithout his

authority. He had theTemplars parade barefootthrough the camp to his tent.Renaud was forced to handthetreatybacktothesultan’srepresentative and say loudlythat he regretted actingwithout the king’spermission. Hughes wasbanished from the kingdomofJerusalem.43

Renaud died January 20,1256.44Louis lasted long

enough to lead anotherruinous crusade. Renaud ismostly forgotten. Louis wasmade a saint. I think thereshouldbearecount.

THOMASBÉRARD,1256-1273

When Thomas BérardbecameGrandMaster,hewas

faced with a terrifying newthreattoallthepeoplesoftheNearEast andalso the lesserbut more immediate troublesof the incessant squabblingamong the inhabitants of thevarioussectionsofAcre.Mostofthequarrelingwas

among the merchants of theItalian city-states Genoa,Pisa, and Venice. They allhad financial stakes in Acreand were fierce competitors

for trade throughout theeasternMediterranean.“In 1258, during the civil

disturbance known as theWar of St. Sabas, themasterof the temple, ThomasBérard, took refuge in thetowerofSt.Lazaruswhenhisownstrongholdwassubjectedto crossfire between thePisans, Genoese andVenetians.”45

This seems tohavebeenanormal day at the office forThomas.Buthealsohadtocontinue

the effort to regain land lostover thepasteightyyears. In1260, the Templars and theIbelin lords attacked a largeencampment of Turks nearTiberias. They were routedand many Templars werekilledorcaptured.Amongtheprisoners were future Grand

Masters William of Beaujeuand Thibaud Gaudin. Themarshal of the Templars,Stephen of Saissy, survivedand, perhaps because of this,Bérard believed that he hadshowed either cowardice ortreachery. He strippedStephenofhishabit andsenthimbackhome.46Consideringthe shortage of manpower,Stephen must have been apretty poor example of a

Templar.But these were all small

matterscomparedtothelong-dreaded arrival of theMongols in the Near East.Under Genghis Khan, theyhad already conquered muchof China and were nowmoving into the ancientPersianEmpire.Talesoftheircruelty flew like crowsthrough the towns in theirpath. However, since they

were considered “pagans”there was hope among theleaders of the Church thattheycouldbebroughtintotheChristian community andwould join forces to liberateJerusalem again. FranciscanmissionariesweresenteastastheMongolsdrewnear.From his vantage point

Thomas saw that this was aforlornhope.Hewrotemanytimes to the West, trying to

make them see theseriousness of the situation.Oneletter,sentin1261totheTemplar treasurer inLondon,hassurvived:Althoughinourusualwaywehavepreviouslyinformedyouon many occasions of theterrible and awesome arrivalof theTartars[Mongols] . . .theyarenowhere in frontofour walls, knocking at our

gatesandnowisnotthetimetohidetheirskirmishesunderabushelburratheropenlytoreveal their stupendous andamazing exploits that haveshaken Christendomexternally with the weaponsofgreatpainandfear.47

The letter continues with arecitation of all the lands theMongols had taken; how thepeople of Antioch begged to

be allowed to pay tributeratherthanbedestroyed;howthe city of Aleppo wasflattened. Then Thomascomes to theessential reasonforhisletter:Because of the poverty andweaknessoftheChristianswedo not see the possibility ofholdingon to theother landsand places unless the Lordshowhismercy....Mayyou

be in no doubt that unlesshelpcomesquicklytousfromyour countries, whatever ourabilitytoresisttheattackandonslaught of such a greathorde, there is no doubt thatthewholeofChristendomthissideoftheseawillbesubjecttoTartar rule.Added to this,youshouldknowthatbecauseof the important andcountless expenses incurredin fortifying our said castles

and the city of Acre toimprovematters,ourhouseissuffering and has sufferedsuchhugerunsonourmoneythat it is recognized that weare in a dangerous financialsituation.48

Thomaswasseriousaboutthedire financial situation. Hewould have been willing totake out loans from theItalians but they had all left

the city. He was ready topawnthecrossesandincenseburners and anything else inthehouse.While waiting for help,

Thomas did everything hecouldtofindcash.In1261henegotiated with thearchbishopofNicosia for thepaymenttotithesowedtotheorderfromlandinCyprus.49

He sold Templar land in

Lucca to theFranciscans.50When the heirsof Saint Francis have moremoney than the Templars,youknowtheworldisupsidedown.Thomas Bérard died on

March25, 1273.51 After himthe sky fell in on the last ofthecrusaderstates.

WILLIAMOFBEAUJEU,1273-

1291

The election of William ofBeaujeu [or Clermont] asGrandMasterwasannouncedby Hugh Revel, the GrandMasterof theHospitallers, ina letter to the count ofFlanders. “The good men ofthe Temple have chosen, as

master and governor of theTemple, Brother Guillaumede Beaujeu. . . . Themessengers of the Templehave left for France, takingthe purse [empty, no doubt]andthenews.”52MasterHughcontinues to say that thingsarebadintheHolyLandand“the funds that the lord kingof France requested of thelord pope for the sustenanceofthelandarenowaslost.”53

It was not an auspiciousbeginning.William was born,

probably in France, about1230.54He was connected tothe family of Beaujeu-Forez,whichwasdistantlyrelatedtothe royal family of France.William joined the Templarsas a young man and was inthe East by the time he wasthirty when he was capturedby the Turks at a battle near

the town of Tiberius.55Evenbefore that, in 1254, he mayhave been preceptor of acommandery inLombardy.56In 1272, he islisted as the master of theKnights Templar inSicily.57He was there whenhewaselected.Knowing how bad the

situation was in Acre,William spent two years

“visitingallthehousesoftheTemple in the kingdoms ofFrance and England andSpain” rather than going tothe city at once.58Hissecretary reportsproudly that“he amassed a great treasureandthencametoAcre.”59

Butwoulditbeenough?Aswithmanyof theother

GrandMasters,Williamcamefrom a family with strong

crusading traditions. Arelative,HumbertofBeaujeu,had died with Saint Louis atDamietta in Egypt.60WhileWilliam was trying topreserve the last of theLatincities in theEast, his brotherLouis, constable of France,diedoncrusadeinSpainwithKingPhilipIII.61

Despitetheoutsidethreats,the Templars still foundthemselves getting caught up

in local politics. Because thelord of Jubail had become alay brother of the Temple,William took his side in afeud with the bishop andprince of Tortosa. Williamsent thirty Templars to helpthe lord of Jubail. As aconsequence, “theprincehadthe house of the Temple inTripoli knocked down, andcut down the Templars’woods.”62

After all the fear of aMongol invasion, the end ofthe Latin kingdoms camefrom Egypt, just as many ofthe later kings and crusadershadfeared.WilliamofBeaujeudiedat

thesiegeofAcrein1291,runthrough with a spear as herodeintobattle.63

THIBAUDGAUDIN,1291-1292/93

The next-to-last GrandMaster of the Temple hadspentmanyyearsintheEast.He had been captured by theTurks and, after his release,was commander of the ever-diminishing land ofJerusalem.64During the siegeofAcre,Thibaudandafewofthe Templars escaped from

the city in ships andwent tothe Templar castle of Sidonfarther up the coast. Thesultansent“oneofhisemirs,Sanjar al Shuja’i, whobesiegedthecastleontheseawith siege engines.”65Thibaud “saw his positionassaulted and thought heoughtnottobeginhistermofoffice by abandoning thecastle.”66

But guess what? “He took

counselwiththebrethrenandwiththeirconsenthewentoffto Cyprus, promising themthat he should send themrelief.”67I suspect that theanonymous Templar of Tyrewent with him or wewouldn’t know anything ofthis. When Thibaud got toCyprus, he didn’t seem allthat energetic about gettinghelp for themen left behind.Finally, other Templars who

hadmadeittotheislandsentword back to Sidon that nohelpwascoming.68

The castle of Sidon wasabandoned to the Mamluksultan,whohaditrazed.Thibaud Gaudin remained

in Cyprus and sent back toEurope for more men toreplace those who had fallenat Acre. Amazingly, theycame.69

It’s hard to say if, havingabandoned two Templarbases, Thibaud could haveinspiredhismenwithfightingfervor. But we are not toknow, for he died April 16,probablyin1292.70

Now the whole mess wasin the hands of Jacques deMolay, the last GrandMaster. His fate deserves achapter of its own, but firstwemustreturntootherviews

of the thirteenth-centurycrusades.1Malcolm Barber, The NewKnighthood (CambridgeUniversity Press, 1994) p.119.2Helen Nicholson tr., TheChronicle of the ThirdCrusade(Ashgate,Aldershot,1997)p.165.

3Peter W. Edbury tr., TheConquest of Jerusalem andthe Third Crusade [Eracles](Ashgate,Aldershot,1998)p.83.4Ibid.,p.112.5Ibid.6

Ibid.7Hans Mayer, The Crusades,tr. John Gillingham (OxfordUniversity Press, 1972) p.146.8Edbury,p.113.9Ibid.,pp.121-22.10

Rudolf Heistand ed.,Papsturkunden für Templerund Johanniter (Göttingen,1972-84)p.402.11Barber,p.122.12Heistand, p. 407. (FromCelestineIII,whohadalreadygiven a confirmation toRobert, but it never hurts tobesure.)

13Barber,122-23.14Ibid.,p.125.15Ibid.16Ibid.,p.123.17Ibid.,p.126

18Ibid.,pp.121-22.19Heistand,p.278.20Formore onWilliam, pleasesee chapter 23, TheCrusadesofLouisIX.21Oliver of Paderborn, TheConquest of Damietta, tr.

John J. Gavigan (Universityof Pennsylvania Press, 1948)p.30,note16.22Ibid.,p.68.23“Histoire des ArchevequesLatin de l’Île deChypre,” inArchives de l’Orient LatinTomeII(Paris,1884)p.214.24

Barber,p.128.25JamesM.Powell,Anatomyofa Crusade 1213-1221(University of PennsylvaniaPress,1986)p.126.26QuotedinBarber,p.130.27Lionel Allshorn, StuporMundi:TheLifeandTimesof

Frederick II, Emperor of theRomans, King of Sicily andJerusalem, 1194-1250(MartinSecker,1912)p.95.28Barber,p.135.29Ibid.,p.136.30Ibid.,pp.137-38.31

Ibid.32TheRothelinContinuation ofthe History of William ofTyre,inCrusaderSyriaintheThirteenth Century, tr. JanetShirley (Ashgate, Aldershot,1999)p.46.33Ibid.,p.48.34

Ibid.,p.50.35Barber,p.139.36Rothelin,p.53.37“Fragmentd’unCartulairedel’Ordre de Saint Lazare, enTerre-Sainte,” Archives del’OrientLatinTomeII (Paris,1884)pp.156-57,charterno.

39.38John France, WesternWarfare in the Age of theCrusades1000-1300 (CornellUniversity Press, 1999) p.217.39Alain Jacquet, Templiers etHospitaliersenTouraine:surles traces des monineschevaliers (Sutton Saint-Cyr-

sur-Loire, France 2002) p.143.40Joinville, “ViedeSt.Louis,”inChroniclesoftheCrusadestr. Margaret R. B. Shaw(Penguin,UK1963)p.219.41Ibid.,p.258.42Ibid.,p.267.

43Ibid.,p.294.44AlainDemurger,JacquesDeMolay: Le crepuscule destempliers (Paris: BiographiePayot,2002)p.61.45David Marcombe, LeperKnights (Boydell, UK 2003)p.11.

46The Templar of Tyre ed andtr. Paul Crawford (Ashgate,Aldershot,UK2003) pp. 36-37.47Thomas Bérard in TheTemplars: Selected SourcesTranslated and Annotated,Malcolm Barber and KeithBate (Manchester UniversityPress,2002)p.101.

48BarberandBate,p.104.49“Histoire des ArchevequesLatin de l’Île de Chypre,” p.237.50Fulvio Bramato, Storiadell’Ordine Dei Templari inItalia Vol. II Le Inquisizioni,Le Fonti (Rome: Atanò,1994)p.131.

51“Etudes sur les DerniersTemps de Royaume deJérusalem,” in Archives del’OrientLatinTomeII (Paris,1884)p.398.52“Six lettres relatives auxcroisades,” in Archives de l’Orient Latin Tome I (Paris,1884)p.390.53

Ibid.,p.391.54Barber,p.178.55TheTemplarofTyre,p.37.56Bramato,p.127.57Ibid.,p.146.58

TheTemplarofTyre,p.69.59Ibid.60Demurger, pp. 64-66. Seechapter 23, The TemplarsandtheSaint.61TheTemplarofTyre,p.85.62Ibid.,p.72.

63For a more complete tellingof this please see,The LastStands.64TheTemplarofTyre,p.37.65Ibid,p.118.66Ibid.67

Ibid.68Ibid.69Barber,p.291.70Ibid.,p.288.

CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE

TheTemplarsandtheSaint,LouisIXof

FranceLouisIX,KingofFrance,whomwenowknowasSaint

Louis,

wasbornin1214,thesecondson of Louis VIII and hiswife, Blanche of Castile. In1226, Louis VIII, onlytwenty-eight, died ofdysentery on his way backfrom fighting heretics in thesouth of France, leavingLouis IX, a boy of nine, asheirtothekingdom.1

Luckily, the regency washeld by the dowager queen,Blanche. At twenty-seven

years old, she had beenmarried more than half herlife and had borne twelvechildren, of whom sevensurvived. And, like herredoubtable grandmother,Eleanor of Aquitaine,Blanche was good at ruling.Not only that, but unlikeQueen Melisande ofJerusalem, all her childrenwere apparently devoted toher. She kept the country in

handuntilLouiscameofageand then, carefully, let himtakethereinsofgovernment.The entire family was

pious,Louisespeciallyso.Hearranged for relics of thePassion of Christ to bebrought from ConstantinopletoParis: thecrownof thorns,apieceoftheTrueCross,andthe sponge soaked invinegarthat the Roman soldiers heldto Jesus’ lips at the

crucifixion. He then built aspecial church to hold them.TheexquisiteSainteChapellestill stands on the Île de laCitéinParis.Then, in 1244, Louis was

struck down with an illnessthat nomedicinewas able tocure. Sure that hewas goingto die, Louis “put his affairsinorder,andearnestlybeggedhisbrotherstotakecareofhiswife and children, whowere

veryyoungandhelpless.”2

At one point, those caringfor him thought he had died,but he rallied. According tothe chroniclers, Louis’ firstwords were to the bishop ofParis, William of Auvergne.“Iwanttotakethecross!”hecroaked.3

When Louis hadcompletely recovered, bothhismother, Blanche, and the

bishoptriedtotalkhimoutofgoing; “When you took thecross . . . you were ill. . . .Blood had rushed to yourbrainso thatyouwerenotofsoundmind,”theyinsisted.4

But Louis would not bedissuaded.Wordhadcomeofthe conquest of Jerusalem inJuly1244,bytheKhorezmianTurks, who were beingpushedwestbytheadvancingMongols, and the defeat of

the Christian forces at Gaza.ItseemedtoLouisthathehadbeen called to save the HolyLand.Healsoconvincedhisthree

younger brothers, Robert,Alphonse, and Charles, tocome with him along withmanyofthegreatlordsofthekingdom. The only holdoutwas Thibaud, count ofChampagne and king ofNavarre, who had just

returnedfromhisowntotallydisastrous crusade and feltthat he’d had enough offoreigntravel.5

Louis also took his wife,Marguerite of Provence. Forthe good of the succession,they left behind their twoyoungsons,LouisandPhilip,in the care of theirgrandmother.6

The rest of the family set

sail from France in August1248, except for Alphonse,who stayed behind to watchout for the kingdom and totake care of Robert’s wife,who was too pregnant for asea voyage.7 Both of themfollowedlater.The family was smart

enough not to have all threebrothers take the same ship,but each one arrived safely.Louisandhispartywentfirst

to Cyprus, landing there onSeptember 17. They weregreeted by William ofSonnac, theGrandMaster oftheTemplars,whohad comefromAcre to accompany thekingonhiscrusade.Itwasdecidedtospendthe

winter in Cyprus. Whileplanning for the campaign inthespring,Louistooktimetosettle a dispute between theHospitallers and the

Templars.8

William accompaniedLouis and the army whenthey shipped out the nextsummer. It had been decidedthat Egypt held the keys toJerusalem and so LouisplannedtoattackthetownofDamietta in Egypt first,therebycuttingoffthesupplyroutesnorth.The landing was a little

tricky. The French armywasfired upon as they cameashoreinsmallboats.“Itwasa sight to enchant the eyes,”the chronicler, Jean deJoinville, remembered. “Forthe sultan’s armswere all ofgold and where the suncaught them they shoneresplendent.” 9Joinville, whoseemstohavebeencousintoalmost everyone, includingKing Louis, was in his early

twenties at the time and thecrusadewasthebigadventureofwhatwastobeaverylonglife.As they approached

Damietta, the Frenchdiscoveredthatthegateswerewide open and the towndeserted. The people of thetownhadrememberedthelasttime Damietta was besiegedby the Franks and theydecided they would rather

abandon it than go throughthatagain.Eventhegarrison,under Fakr ad-Din, chose toflee.When theSultan,onhisdeathbed, heard of this, heorderedthesoldiershanged.10

Louis was delighted. Hesettledintothetownwithhisarmy and his wife. Damiettawasagoodplace towaitoutthe annual flooding of theNileandagoodbaseforraidsintoEgypt.

Aswinterneared,thearmybegan to move through theNileDeltatowardthetownofMansourah. On December 7they were attacked by theEgyptian Turks. “But theTemplars and the others ofoursinthevanguardwerenotin the least startled ordismayed,” Joinville assureshisreaders.11

Of the many things saidabout the Templars, no one

who saw them in battle eversaidtheywerecowards.But all too soon came the

first disaster for the Frenchand the price the Templarspaidforitwashigh.On February 8, the king’s

brother Robert, count ofArtois, was in the vanguardof the army along with theTemplars.TheyhadcrossedariverandLouishadtoldthem

to wait for the rest of theforce before moving on.Instead, Robert and his menraced ahead and beganattacking the Saracen camp.They slaughtered everyonethey found there, regardlessofageorsex.12

William of Sonnac, theGrandMasterof theTemple,“a good knight, valiant,hardy,wiseinwarandclear-sighted in such matters,

advisedtheCountofArtoistowait and rally his men.”13Robert apparently sneered athim and set out. TheTemplarscouldn’t lethimgooff and be killed on his ownso they rode with him,perhaps still hoping toconvincehimtoturnback.Count Robert and the

vanguardenteredthetownofMansourah and were sooncaught in the twisting streets

where they became easytargets for thedefenders. “Atthe moment of supremedanger, the Turkish battalionof theMamluks . . . lions inwarandmighty inbattle . . .drove themback.TheFrankswere massacred one andall.”14

It was said that theTemplars lost 280 men atMansourah.15

Louishopedforafewdaysthathisbrotherhadonlybeencaptured and was being heldforransom,butatlasthewastold that Robert had died.“‘MayGodbeworshiped forall he has givenme,’ repliedthe king and then big tearsbegantofallfromhiseyes.”16

The few Templars thatwere left continued to fightfor Louis. Although he hadlost the use of one eye

previously, William ofSonnac was still at the frontof every fight. On February11hewasat abarricade thathe had made out of parts ofcapturedsiegemachines.TheTurksthrewGreekfireat thetinder-dry barricade and itcaughtatonce.“TheTurks... did not wait for the fire toburn itself out, but rushed inand attacked the Templarsamidsttheflames.”17

In the course of the battle,William’s other eye was putout. He soon died from hiswounds.Until a newGrandMaster

couldbe chosen, themarshalof the order, Renaud ofVichiers,tookcharge.But there were to be no

more glorious battles inEgypt. Louis’ army wastrapped in the delta,

surroundedbyenemysoldiersand attacked daily by flies,fleas, and disease. Supplyships sent from Damiettawere taken and plunderedbefore they could reach theFrench. Scurvy broke outamong the men. Even theking’s diet wasn’t enough toprotect against it. Louis triedto arrange a truce but it wasclearthattheyweredefeated.

LouissickinCaptivity(TheBritishLibrary)The Turks attacked on

April 7. By this point Louisnot only had scurvy but alsodysentery so constant that“they had to cut away thelower part of his

underwear.”18If the kingwasthisbadoff,youcanimaginethe state of the rest of thearmy.Theywererouted.Louis and his two

remaining brothers wereamongthosetakenprisoner.Queen Marguerite was at

that time in Damietta andclose to the end of apregnancy. It was she whohadtodecidewhattodo.Her

main goalwas the release oftheprisoners.After some haggling, the

sultanagreedthat theransomforLouisandhismenwasthesurrenderofDamiettaandthepayment of five hundredthousand livres, or onemillion gold bezants. It waslater reduced to fourhundredthousand livres, which wasstillmorethanLouismadeinayear.

Unfortunately, the nextday, the sultanwas killed byhis body-guard. This was asetback for the negotiationsand the French thought theymight be killed, but the newgovernment was willing toaccept the terms of theransom.19

An interesting note inJoinville’s memoir is that,according to him, Louis wasaskedtoswearanoaththathe

would deliver the ransom.Part of the oath was, “if theking did not keep faith withthe emirs he should bedishonored as a Christianwho deniesGod and his lawandincontemptofHim,spitson a cross and tramples itunderfoot.”20

Now,theseweretwoofthemain charges against theTemplars at theirarrest andtrials. The question is, was

this something that reallyhappened and perhaps wasspoken of by Louis’ family?He refused to take that oathand might have told this tohis children proudly. ThenPhilip IV, Louis’ grandson,might have already knownaboutitandthoughtitagoodthing to charge those infidel-lovingTemplarswith.On the other hand,

Joinvilleliveduntil1317,ten

years after the arrest of theTemplars. He began writinghis memoir in 1305, orperhaps earlier, but it wasn’tfinished until just before hisdeath at the age of ninety-one.Couldhehave confusedtheoathLouisrefusedtotakewithwhathehadheardabouttheTemplars?The Templars had another

role to play in the finding ofLouis’ ransom.When all the

money in Damietta wascounted up, they were stillthirty thousand livres short.The first thought at the courtwas to get a short-term loanfrom the Templars. Themaster having died, Jean deJoinville, the seneschal ofChampagne, went to theTemplarcommander,Étienned’Orricourt. He refused togive the loan, saying, “Youknow that all the money

placed in our charge is leftwith us on condition of ourswearing never to hand itover except to those whoentrusted it to us.”21 TheTemplarsdidnothavemoneyof their own with them atDamietta.Joinville was not going to

stand for that and the twomen were arguing loudlywhen the marshal of thetemple and acting Grand

Master, Renaud of Vichiers,came by and suggested that,while the Templars couldn’tmakea loanof themoney, ifitwerestolenfromthemtherewasn’t much they could doaboutit.HedidpointoutthatLouiscouldrepay themfromhisaccountinAcre.22

And so, thanks to thecreative thinking of Renaudof Vichiers, the ransom waspaid. Louis handed over

Damietta and took his wifeand newborn son to Acre.23Most of the lords, includingLouis’ two remainingbrothers,wenthome.Louis stayed in the East

until 1254. His crusade hadcost a king’s ransom andthousands of lives. Themostthatheaccomplishedwastherebuilding and fortifying ofsome towns in the KingdomofJerusalem.

He seems to have felt thatthis wasn’t enough, for tenyears later he began to plananother crusade. This was inresponse to the arrival of aTemplar messenger fromAcre, telling of the ongoingconquestsoftheMongols.24

Again Louis’ two brotherswentwithhim,aswellashissons,Philip,whohadmissedthe last crusade, along withJean Tristan and Peter, who

hadboth been bornwhile onit.Healso tookhisdaughter,Isobel, and her husband,another Thibaud ofChampagne. This time,Marguerite decided to stayhome. Prince Edward ofEngland also agreed to go,but he arrived too late andeventually went to Acre tofulfillhiscrusadingvow.25

For Louis did not go toAcreagain,nor toEgypt,but

toTunis.Heapparentlydidn’ttellanyoneaboutthisuntilhisships had put to sea. Thelogicbehindthisisstillbeingdebated.SomesaythatLouisbelieved that the emir therewas willing to convert toChristianity but neededmilitary backing.26At onetime it was thought that theking’s brother, Charles ofAnjou,whohadsincebecomeking of Sicily, suggested the

invasionasameansofgettinga foothold inAfrica.27However, it hassince been proven thatCharles wasn’t aware thatLouiswasplanningongoingto Tunis and had to changehis own plans toaccommodatehim.28

For whatever reason, thecrusade was again a dismalfailure. The army wasn’tdefeatedbytheMoslems,but

by the summer heat. Theylanded in August in NorthAfrica.Therewaslittlewaterand no shelter from the sun.Sicknessfilledthecamp.Thefirst of Louis’ family to diewas his son Jean Tristan.Then Philip, the eldest son,becamesick.Louis,whohadnever really recovered fromhis suffering in Egypt,became ill next. Soon herealized that he was dying

andsohehadhimselflaidouton a bed of ashes, armsoutstretched in the form of across. He died August 25,1270.29

Charles of Anjou arrivedshortly afterward. Hearranged for his brother’sbody to be rendered and hisbones taken home forburial.30 Charles conductedthe business side of thecrusadeandarrangedatreaty

with the emir that was veryfavorabletoSicily.31

That was the last majorcrusade ever launched by aEuropeanking.Louis’ son Philip III

survived, but Philip’s wife,Jeanne,diedfromafallfroma horse followed by astillbirth. One wonders iftheir son, Philip the Fair,would have been a warmer

person if his mother hadlived. As a result of thecrusade, Louis’ brother Peterandhiswifealsodied,asdidLouis’ daughter and son-in-law.32

Almost immediatelymiracles were reported atLouis’ grave. His remainingbrother, Charles, built ashrinetohiminhispalace.Itmaybesaidthattheonly

thing theTemplarshad todowith Louis’ last journey isthattheytransferredthefundsforit.Byallaccounts,Louiswas

almostalwaysongood termswiththeTemple.HundredsofTemplars were killed orenslaved in the Egyptiancampaign.Their courage andmilitary wisdom werepraised.So thatdoesn’tseema likely reason why Louis’

grandson, Philip the Fair,would want to condemnthem.However, the popular

feelingthat theTemplarsandthe Hospitallers should havefought harder to protect theHoly Land was onlyincreased by the debacles ofSaintLouis.1Margaret Wade Labarge,

Saint Louis: Louis IX MostChristian King of France(Boston:Little,Brown,1968)p.25.2TheRothelinContinuation ofthe History of William ofTyre,inCrusaderSyriaintheThirteenth Century, tr. JanetShirley (Ashgate, Aldershot,1999)p.66.3

JeandeJoinville,“LifeofSt.Louis,” in Chronicles of theCrusades tr. M. R. B. Shaw(Penguin, 1963) p. 191;Matthew Paris, Chronica tr.RichardVaughn(NewYork,1984)p.131;Rothelin,p.66.4Matthew Paris, p. 131.Matthew wasn’t there butJoinvillealsosaysthatQueenBlanche and BishopWilliam

wereupsetsothismaybethegistoftheirargument.5Rothelin, p. 67. For thedetailsofthatcrusadeseethesection on Armand ofPérigordinchapter22.6Philip was born on May 1,1245, and so was only threeyearsoldwhenhisparentssetoffoncrusade.

7Guillaume de Nangis,Chronique tr. M Guizot(Paris,1825)p.156.8Paris,p.181.9Joinville,p.201.10Jamal ad-Din Ibn Wasil,Mufarrij al-Kurub fi akhbar

Bani Ayyub in ArabHistoriansoftheCrusadestr.Francesco Gabrieli (Dorset,1982)p.286.11Rothelin,p.91.12Ibid.,p.95.13Ibid.14

IbnWasil,p.290.15Joinville,p.219.16Ibid.,p.226.17Ibid.,p.232.18Ibid.,p.240.19

IbnWasil,p.298.20Joinville,p.254.21Ibid.,p.258.22Ibid.,p.259.23Marguerite gave birth threedays after she learned ofLouis’ capture. She named

the boy Jean Tristan, “triste”meaningsadness.Bythetimeshe returned to France, shehad had another child andwas pregnant again. I thinkher story is fascinating but,since no Templars wereinvolved, itwill have towaitforanothertime.24Jonathan Riley-Smith, TheCrusades (New Haven: Yale

University Press, 1987) p.208.25Labarge,pp.227-44.26Riley-Smith,p.210.27Labarge,pp.239-40.28HansMayer,TheCrusadestr.John Gillingham (Oxford

University Press, 1988) p.282.29Labarge,p.243.30Ibid.31Nangis,p.187.32Ibid.

CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR

TemplarsandMoney

“The whole country of theEast would have beenconqueredlongagohaditnotbeenfortheTemplarsandtheHospitallers and others whocall themselves religious....But the Templars and the

Hospitallers and theirassociates, who are fattenedbyamplerevenues,areafraidthat if the country [Egypt] issubjected to Christian laws,theirsupremacywillcome toanend.”1

These words were put inthe mouth of Robert ofArtois, brother of Louis IX,by the English chroniclerMatthewParis.Matthewwaswriting shortly after the end

of Louis’ useless and veryexpensive crusade in 1250.Robert is supposed to havesaid this in response to theadvice of the master of theTemplars,WilliamofSonnac,that they should put offattacking the Saracens at thetown of Mansourah inEgypt.2

It’s highly unlikely thatRobert actually said thesewords.JeandeJoinville,who

was there, doesn’t mentionanything of the kind. ButMatthew may have beenreflectingpopularhomefrontopinions on the wealth ofboth the Templars and theHospitallers. Matthew was amonkattheEnglishabbeyofSt. Albans and his onlycontactwithTemplarswouldhave been in their role ascompetitors for laydonationsandtithes.

“Everybody knows” thatthe Templars were rich.3They had piles of treasurehiddeneverywhere.Whentheorder was dissolved, notreasure was found.Therefore,it’sstillhidden.There are a lot of

assumptions in the abovestatements.TheTemplarsdidhave a reputation for beingboth greedy andmiserly, butwas it true?Were they rich?

What form did their wealthtake? What was theirfinancial situation when theorderwasdissolved in1312?What’s the real story of theTemplarsandmoney?Let’s start at the end. On

October 13, 1307, theTemplars of Baugy, inCalvados, Normandy, werearrestedalongwiththerestoftheTemplars inFrance.Thatsame day an inventory was

made of their goods. It wasdone in the presence of thethree Templars assigned toBaugyandfiveofficersoftheking.4

The commandery ownedfourteen milk cows, fiveheifers, one ox, seven calvesmore than a year old, twobulls, one calf still nursing,one hundred sheep, ninety-nine pigs, and eight piglets.There was a good horse for

thecommanderandfournagstopullcarts.Therewasalsoagood supply of grain, theharvest just having beenfinished and tithes paid twoweeks before, half a tun ofwine, and a supply of beer“for the boys and theworkers.”5

The chapel had the bareminimum of equipment forservices: vestments, onechalice, books, and altar

linen. The chamber of thecommander had some plainsilvercupsandsomewoodenones. He had bed linen andclothes, including a raincloak. He also had a blueoverdress “belonging to thewife ofM. Roger de Planes,which was being held for adebt, so said the commanderand Bertin du Goisel.”6 Theking’s men seemed to thinkthat women’s clothing in the

commander’s chamber wassuspicious, but there wasother clothing belonging tomen of the neighborhood sothey decided to believe theTemplars.While the Templars in

Paris and London may havemade major loans to kings,theTemplarsintheprovincesseemedtohavefunctionedaslocalpawnbrokers.

There was nothing else atthe commandery thatwouldn’thavebeenfoundonany well-run farm inNormandy. The threeTemplars were the onlymembers of the order livingthere. There were twenty-sixservants, including achaplain, GuillaumeDurendent,whodoesn’tseemtohavebeenaTemplarpriestsince he and the other

servants reminded theofficials that they stillexpectedtobepaid.7

AlltheotherinventoriesofTemplar property gave thesame results. The prestigiousTemple inLondonhad littlemore than the provincialcommandery had. The cellarcontained some maple cups,twenty-two silver spoons,some canvas cloths, and fourtankards. There were seven

horses in the stable, three forfarm work. The master hadsome clothes and bed linen,one gold buckle, and acrossbowwithoutbolts.8

TheTemplarsseemtohavelivedsimply.Theyhadplentyto eat and drink but most oftheircashwenttopaybillsorto the headquarters of theorder in Cyprus. Even inParis there were no greatcaches of jewels or coins.

MostofthevaluablepropertywaseitherheldassecurityforloanstheTemplarshadmadeor was on deposit as inmodernbanks.IftheTemplarsreallywere

terribly rich, thenwherewasallthemoney?Before speculating on

missing pots of gold andmidnight runs through thestreets, it would be a good

idea to try to find out justhowmuchtheTemplarshad.

WHEREDIDTHETEMPLARS’

MONEYCOMEFROM?

The first gift to theTemplars, according totradition,wasthe“Templeof

Solomon”itself.“Astheyhadneitherachurchnoraregularplacetolive,thekingallowedthem to live temporarily in apartofhispalace,whichwason the south side of theTemple of the Lord. Thecanons of the Temple of theLordgavethemthecourtyardthat they had that was nearthe palace, under certainconditions, for the saying oftheOffice.”9

The kingwasBaldwin II.He was living at the time(around 1120) in the al-Aqsamosque and may haveplannedtohavetheTemplarsstay only until they couldaffordaplaceoftheirown.Itturned out that the kingmoved first and let theknights have the wholebuilding. 10Of course, thebuilding was falling downand needed the roof repaired

among other things, so itwasn’t quite such a generousdonation as it might haveseemedatfirst.11

The king and the patriarchof Jerusalem also gave theTemplars funds to supportthemselves, in return for theknights’ promise to protectpilgrims on the road againstthieves and highwaymen.12We don’t know what thesefunds consisted of since the

recordshavebeenlostbutthemost likely gifts would havebeen something that reneweditself,likerentsortithes.Thefirstdonationrecorded

in Europe is from a certainWilliam of Marseille. Thiswasmadebefore1124,whenthe Grand Master, Hugh dePayns, arrived fromJerusalemtodrumupsupportfortheorder.Williamdividedthe gift of a church in

Marseille and all its propertybetween the Knights of theTemple of Solomon, theChurch ofSt.Marie, and themonksofSt.Victor.13

A thirdof a church isn’t abad start. However, theTemplars soon sold theirshare to the bishop of Fréjusin return for eight sestiersofwheat, to be paid annually.14That is about as much as adonkey could comfortably

carry. It wouldn’t have beenenough to make bread for amantolastaweek.Itwasn’t until 1127,when

Hugh de Payns and hiscomrades came back toEurope, that the order begantogetsomeserioussupport.Hugh went first to Fulk,

count of Anjou, who hadlivedwiththeTemplarsforatime when he was on a

pilgrimage to Jerusalem andgave them thirty livres ayear.15It is said that KingHenry IofEnglandmetwithHugh and his comrades inNormandy and gave themgoldandsilverandsentthemon with letters ofintroduction.16 There are norecords of Henry’s exactdonations, but it is certainthathissuccessor,Stephen,orto be more accurate,

Stephen’s wife, Matilda ofBoulogne, made one of thefirst donations of land inEngland. She gave theTemplarsamanorandchurchin the townofCressyngwithall that pertained to it,including woods and fields,ponds and rivers, as well asthe toll from mills and alsolocaltaxes.17

Lords in Flanders,Champagne, Poitou, and

Aragon gave similardonations.AfterHughdePaynswent

back to Jerusalem, severalTemplars, perhaps newlyrecruited,stayedontospreadtheword.18By1150,theorderhad lands in France,Aragon,Castille, Flanders, England,Portugal,thevariouscountiesofProvence,andGermany.19

An example of typical

propertyistheTemplarhousein the Rouergue, a fairlyremote area near thePyrenees, which wasestablishedin1140.Howeverthe Cistercians and theHospitallershadarrivedtherefirst. Though the Templarsestablished a network ofhouses, cleared land, andreceivedmanygifts,theotherordersstillhada largersharein most places and there

wasn’t always enough to goaround. The Cistercians ofSylvane and the Templarsand Hospitallers fought overtherights to tithes fromlocalchurches for over a hundredyears. It came to the pointthat Templars began to beasked to witness donationsmade to the monks ofSylvane in the hope that themonkswouldn’t later contestthe gifts.20 Perhaps this

tendencytodisputetherightsofotherstoreceivedonationswas another case that gavethe order a reputation forgreed.Southern France was one

of the areas in which theTemplars became wellestablished.Thelandhadsentmanyof its noblemenon theFirst Crusade and the countsof Toulouse and St. Gilleshad relatives among the

counts of Tripoli. Actually,mostoftheimportantcentersof Templar commanderies—Flanders, France,Champagne, Aquitaine, andProvence—were the sameareas that produced many ofthe settlers in the Latinkingdoms.InmostofwesternEurope,

the land theTemplarsownedwas used for farming andlivestock. The Templar lay

brothers, men who donatedtheir services withoutbecoming monks, did muchofthefarmwork.Therewerealso paid servants and, inSpain,evenMoslemslavestodo the work.21A few of theTemplar knights lived at thecommanderies, which wereusually buildings that hadbeen donated, but many ofthe houses were run bysergeants. Men of fighting

age and ability wereimmediatelysentoverseas.In the British Isles the

Templars had farms thatproduced wheat, oats, rye,andbarley.Someof thiswasfor their own use, but somewas sold. They also raisedsheep and exported wool.22They had an edge over laywoolsellersinthattheywereexcused from having to paycustoms duty. Of course, the

Cistercians had the sameexceptions and much largerholdings so the Templarscould only capture a smallshareofthemarket.23

They did make somemoneybyrentingoutthelandthey were given to smallfarmers. In some cases thiswasinreturnforaportionoftheharvest, but theTemplarspreferredcashand,especiallyin good years, it was to the

advantage of the farmer topayasetamountannually.Wehaveawindowintothe

Temple lands in Englandfrom a survey of theirproperty made in 1185. Itshows that the Templarsowned and rented out manysmall plots of land. Therenters paid in shillings andalsoinkind.Examplesofthisare not only ale and “2capons at Christmas” or “15

eggs at Easter,” but alsopromises to serve on a localjury, reap half an acre ofTemplar fields, shoe sixTemplar horses, or ploweitherinspringorautumn.24

Someofthecommanderiesmust have raised horses fortheknights overseas. JeandeJoinville comments on thehorses loaded in the hold oftheshipatMarseilleforLouisIX’sfirstcrusade.25Thereare

other accounts of shipsbringinghorsesfortheuseofthe Templars. Thewarhorsesused by European knightswerespeciallybredtohandlethe weight of men andarmor.26However, sincemostof the horses would havebeen used by the Templarsthemselves, breeding themprobably didn’t producemuchincome.Thebest income-producers

of the time were mills andovens. Many people gaveTemplars the rights to watermills, and one of the worstbattles between theHospitallers and Templars intheLatinkingdomswasoverwaterandmillrights.27

Another source of incomewas the right to hold fairs.Theseweremarketsatwhicheverything from localproduce to imported luxury

goods were sold. Merchantscomingtothefairshadtopayfor a spot to set up shop aswell as a tax on the goodsthey brought to sell. TheTemplars could collect thesefees as well as selling theirown goods at the fairswithout having to pay thesamefees.Again, there were

complaints that the Templarswere abusing this privilege.

In around 1260, in the townof Provins, in Champagne,the local tradesmencomplained to the count thatthe Templars were chargingfees to merchants bringingwool into town for the fairs.The merchants reminded thecountthatforapennyaweek,theyhadalwaysbeenexcusedfrom paying what wasbasicallysalestax.Asaresultof the fees imposed by the

Templars, wool sellers weretaking theirgoodselsewhere.“Sir,” theybegged thecount,“[w]e know truly that if youknewthegreatdamagewhichyou are suffering here fromloss of rents, from yourovens,yourmills,yourfabricmanufacturersandyourotherfactorieswhichyouhavehereat Provins, and the greatdamagewhichyourbourgeoisare suffering . . . for God’s

sake, help us.”28Unfortunately, we don’tknow how the count,Thibaud, responded to thispoignant plea. Nor do weknow how much theTemplars earned from theirextortion.Another big source of

income was from theprivileges given to theTemplars by the variouspopes. The first, given by

Pope Innocent II, on March29, 1139, was that theTemplars could keep all thebooty they captured.29 Thiswas a privilege that theBenedictines and Cistercianshadn’t even thought of. InSpain especially, this wasextremely profitable,although the order was oftengiven land by the kings onconditionthattheyconqueritthemselves.30Booty also

brought ina lotof income intheHolyLand,at leastat thebeginning. It was because ofthis that William of Tyreaccused Grand MasterBernard of Tremeley ofrefusing to let anyone butTemplars inside the walls ofAscalon when they hadbroken in. William insistedthat Bernard was too greedyto let anyone else have achancetolootthecity.31

The pope also gave theTemple the right to build itsownsmallchurchesandburyits members and “family” inthem. The “family” was avery loose term,meaning therelatives of the brothers butalso servants, their relatives,andanyonewhohadbecomea lay brother or lay sister ofthehousethroughadonation.One of theworst bones of

contention between the order

andthelocalclergygrewoutoftheprivilegegivenbyPopeCelestine II on January 9,1144. Celestine encouragedpeople to donate to theTemple by allowing them toignore one-seventh of anypenance a priest had giventhem. That wasn’t so bad. Itdidn’t cost anyone anything.The priest could adjust thepenance.ButthenheallowedtheTemplarstocomethrough

villagesonceayearandopenthe churches in places thatwere under interdict. Thismeant that theKnightsof theTemplegotthedonationsthatwere given at marriages andburials that the local clergycouldn’t perform while theinterdict lasted.32 This wasliterally a godsend for theorder.The biggest donation that

the Templars ever received

was one-third of a country.Theydidn’tgettokeepit,butthey traded it back to theiradvantage.In 1134, Alfonso I of

Aragon and Navarre, knownas“theBattler,”diedwithoutdirectheirs.Insteadoffindingsome distant cousin to ruleafter him, he left the wholekingdom of Aragon to bedivided between theTemplars, the Hospitallers,

and the canons of the HolySepulcherinJerusalem.33

Before the celebrations inthecommanderieswereover,the beneficiaries of the willrealized that the nobility ofAragon weren’t going tostand for that. They draggedAlfonso’s brother, Ramiro,out of a monastery, marriedhim off, and crowned himking.34In Navarre, CountGarcíaRamíreztookover.

Pope Innocent II tried toget the terms of the willenforced, but it wasimpractical from thebeginning. The Hospital andthe canons of the HolySepulchercametotermswiththe Spanish nobles by 1140.The Templars held out until1143. Their settlementincluded castles, a tenth ofroyal revenues, one thousandsolidos every year, a fifth of

all lands conquered from theMoors, and exemption fromsometaxes.35

So the Templars (and theHospitallers) had a widevarietyof sourcesof income.Butwasitenough?

WHEREDIDTHEMONEYGO?

CriticssuchasMatthewParisseem to have had theimpression that the Templarsand Hospitallers had morethan enough money toconquer Saracen lands fromCairo to Baghdad. He andothers were certain that theTemplars spent all theirmoney on a luxuriouslifestyle and orientaldecadence.Eitherthatortheywere misers, hoarding cash

thatshouldgotothestruggletoregaintheHolyLand.Were they?What did they

spendtheirmoneyon?First of all, the Knights

Templar did not live likeordinarymonks. Each knightbrother had to have threehorses and tack and onesquire, a ration of barley forthehorse,andarmor,aswellas regular clothing. He

needed his own napkin andwashcloth.36He also had acookpotandbowltomeasurethebarley,drinkingcups,twoflasks, a bowl and spoonmade of horn, and a tent,amongotherthings.37

The sergeants got most ofthe same things as theknights, except for the tentand cook pot. They wereallowedonehorseeach.

The average cost of awarhorse during the twelfthand thirteenth centuries wasthirty-six livres.38 That’smore than the value of agood-sized manor. There aremany stories about poorknights who sold ormortgaged their patrimonyfor a good horse. MostTemplar knights brought atleast one horse with themwhentheyentered,buthorses

were just as often casualtiesofwarasmenandbothwerecostlytoreplace.The Templars also hired

Turcopoles to fight withthem. These men wereChristian Syrians or sons ofGreeksandTurks.Theyweretrainedasmountedarchersinthe Eastern style. Some ofthem were brothers of theorder but most were paidmercenaries. The Templars

had a master in charge ofthem, called a Turcopolier,who also was commander ofthesergeantbrothersintimesofcombat.39

Added to these, there wasthecostof shippingmenandequipmentfromWesttoEast.By the middle of thethirteenth century, theTemplars had some ships oftheir own, but they werecostly to maintain, even if

they took on payingpassengers.Also, not all of those

donations came withoutstrings.For example, in April

1145, two women of Arles,Maria and Sclarmandia, and,ohyes,theirhusbandsandalltheir children, sold propertyto the Templars. They wereveryspecificaboutthemoney

theywouldreceiveasa“gift”in return: 250 sous ofMelgueil in new money and150sousinsmallchange.40

Generally, the chartersaren’tasup frontabout salesas thisonewas.Mostpeoplewanted it to appear that theyweregivingpropertyorrightsfor the good of their souls.For instance, in 1142, amannamed Arnaud gave theTemplars “willingly, of my

ownaccordall that Ihaveorshould have in the town ofBurcafols.”41Headdsthathedoesthis“fortheloveofGodand the remissionofmy sinsandthoseofmyfamilyandtoreceive life everlasting,Amen.”42It’sonlyinthefinalsentences that it’s mentionedthat the Templars are givinghim fourteen livresmorebetani and ten sous anda carton of wheat of the

measureofToulouse.43

Manytimesthepriceoftheproperty being “donated” iscalled a “charity.” In 1152,BernardModulreceivedfortysous from the Temple ascharity for some land hisbrother had given theTemplars of Douzens.Apparently Bernard also hadaclaimtotheland.Inreturn,Bernardreleasedhisclaim.44

Reading through thesurviving charters, it appearsthat a large part of the“donations” to the Templarswereactuallysales.Also, the Templars

accepted what were called“corrodians.” This systemwas something like theretirement homes that take alargefeeupfrontandpromiseto house and feed theresidents until they die. An

early example of a Templarcorrody comes from 1129.Pierre Bernard and his wifegave themselves and theirproperty to the Temple. Inexchange for this, theTemplars promised to feedandclothethemfortherestoftheirlives.Pierreandhiswifeweren’t that old at the time,fortheyputinaclauseaboutthe care of their children, “ifwe have children.” 45 That

meant that, while theTemplars did get everythingthedonorsowned,theymightwellbesupportingthefamilyfortwogenerations.Insomecasesthecorrodies

alsoincludedasetamountofmoney to be paid by theTemplars every year alongwith“atallowcandlenightly,firewood as needed, and agroom assigned by thepreceptortoservethem.”46

The Rule of the Templarsimplies that there are timeswhen they expected to runshortofreadymoney.“Whenthe time after Easter comesforthegreatexpensesthatthehouses have to pay from theharvests,andthecommanderstelltheMasterthattheydon’thaveenoughmeat,theMastermay go to the brothers andask their advice. And if thebrothers agree to give up

meat on Tuesday, then theymay do without. But whenthe wheat is harvested, thenthe meat should berestored.”47Although theTemplars tried toget rents inmoney,mostofthetimetheyseem to have been land richandcashpoor.

BANKERSTOTHE

KINGS

Outside of their militaryactivity,theTemplarsarebestremembered as financiers,holding the treasuries ofEngland and France in theircommanderies, making loansto all the best families ofEurope,andtransferringlargeamounts of funds from oneend of the continent to theother.

TheTemplarsseemtohavegotten into the bankingbusiness almost by accident.ItstartedwithKingLouisVIIof France. On his expeditionto Jerusalem in 1148, he ranshortofmoneyandborrowedfromtheTemplars.Hehadtowrite home to his regent, theabbot Suger, telling him topay the Templars in Paris“thirty thousand sous in themoney of

Poitou.”48Fortunately, Sugercamethroughwiththecash.When Louis came home,

he placed the royal treasury,what was left of it, in thesafekeeping of the Templarsin Paris.49 He made aTemplar, Theirry Galeran,royal treasurer.50Galeran hadbeen in Louis’ service formanyyears and had gone onthecrusadewithhim.

Fromthat time, theFrenchroyal treasury was generallyin the care of the Templars.Under Louis’ son PhilipAugustus,thetreasureroftheTemple took in and countedthemoney theking received,underthewatchfuleyesofsixof theburgessesofParis anda M. Adam.51 The Templarbrothers Giles and Hughseem to have filled the sameoffice under Saint Louis.52

Right up through the earlyyears of King Philip theFair, the Templars not onlyheldthetreasurefortheking,but also kept an account ofcreditors and debtors and theamountsowed.53

However, the Temple inParis was never more than aholding place for cash. ThetreasureroftheTemplarswasnot normally a royal official.He did not have any part in

financial planning nor did heaudit accounts. The Templetookmoney in, stored it, andpaiditout.54Mostofthetimethe Templarsweremore likewarehouse guards thanbankers.Statementsweresenttothe

kings(andotherclients)threetimes a year, at Candlemas(February 2), Ascension(forty days after Easter; thedatechanged),andAllSaints’

Day(November1).Thereareonlyafewfragmentsofthesestatements for the Frenchkings.Fromonefragmentwelearn, however, that, in1202/03theprovostsofParisdeposited18,000livresinthecare of Brother Haimard atthe Temple. The bailiffsdeposited 37,000 livres withBrother Haimard and afurther 5,000 livres withBrother Guérin.55In 1292 at

Candlemas, the treasury tookin72,517 livres, 19 sols, and7 denarii. Expenses were125,000 livres, 1 sol, and 0denarii.AtAscension,ittookin121,806livres,18sols,and3 denarii and paid out111,073 livres, 9 sols, and 3denarii.56

If it was good enough forthe king of France, it wasgoodenoughfor thenobility,too. Louis IX’s brother

Alphonse of Poitiers had allhis revenues sent directly tothe Temple inParis.57Alphonse even sentunrefined silver to theTemple from his mines inOrzals through thecommanderinRouergue.58

TheTemplarsevenobligedbycarryingdepositors’ fundsfor them while on crusade.When Louis IX went on hisfirst crusade and was

unfortunate enough to becaptured, Jean de Joinvillebroke into the money boxesbelonging to some of thenoblemen(overtheprotestofthe Templar guardingthem).59

There is some record ofkingsinothercountriesusingtheTempleasasafeplacetokeeptheircash.In1203,KingEmericofHungaryreceivedaquantity of silver from

Archbishop Urane anddeposited it with theTemplars.60

The Templars must havehad some sort of holding feeforthis,buttheycouldn’tanddidn’t charge interest onloans and they also didn’tlend money left in theirkeeping.It isn’t clear howmuch of

the Templar income came

from banking. They keptmoney for people at theircommanderies and moved itfromonesideoftheseatotheother. They made loans,especially to royalty. Butkingsarenotoriously slow torepay. It seems that most ofthe money kept in Paris andLondon belonged todepositors. When Hubert deBurgh, the justiciar of KingHenry III of England, fell

from power, Henry tried toappropriate the money thatHubert had deposited at theTemple. The master refusedto turn it over withoutHubert’s permission.61Hubert was “convinced” togiveit.There are several other

cases where depositors’money was stolen by thekings or nobleman. In 1263,Prince Edward went to the

NewTempleand“brokeopena number of chests andcarried off a large sum ofmoney belonging toothers.”62

Banking may have beenmore high profile thanlucrative, and the dangersinvolved in transportingvaluableswerehigh.Thereisno indication that theTemplarseverhadmoundsofcash and treasure for their

ownuse,especiallynotintheLondonandParishouses.The Templars did not

invent modern-style banking.For centuries Jews had beenarranging among themselvesto deposit funds at one placeand pick them up at another.Most monasteries acceptedgoods for safekeeping andalsoloanedmoneyatinterest,despite prohibitions onusury.63 The Italian city-

states, particularly Venice,Genoa, and Pisa, had atrading empire that includingbanking. The Templars weresimply one group amongmany.The difference is that the

Templars were trusted byroyalty,particularlythekingsof France and England, tohandle their business affairs.TheTemplecommanderiesinbothLondonandParisserved

as the royal treasuries. Thismeantthatthetreasurestoredtherebelonged to theking. Itcould be retrieved at anytime.TheTemplarstookafeeforguardingitbuttheydidn’tdare use it to invest in otherloansorenterprises.Sometimes the Templars

themselvesneededtotransmitfunds. In 1304,Walter de laMore, Templar master ofEngland, needed to travel to

see the Grand Master. Hepaid a sum to a group ofFlorentine bankers, theMari,whohadanofficeinLondon.Walter was supposed toretrieveitattheMaribankinParisbut theParisofficersofthe company had skippedtown.64No reason is given astowhyWalterhadn’thandledthe matter through theTemple,but it’spossible thathewasn’tsuretherewouldbe

enough cash in the Pariscommandery to take care ofhisneeds.The Templars did indeed

have a lot of property inwestern Europe, but theyusuallydidn’treceiverentforit in money, but in produce.Partof theirearningswent tofeedthepoorandthemselves.Also, one-third of everythingthatwas taken inwent to theEast to maintain the fighting

force.FORyearssomepeoplehavebeenassuming that somehowin1307allthecommanderiesin France got wind of theimpending arrests and eitherhidorremovedeverythingofvalue.Thentheyalljustwentto bed and waited for theking’smentocomeforthem.I find this hard to believe.First of all, it implies anamazing lack of self-

preservation among theknights.Butmostly, it seemsvery unlikely that all thebustle of collecting andsendingawayvaluablescouldhave been accomplishedwithout someone noticing.The streets of Paris werenarrow and crowded. Cartsbig enough to carry tons oftreasure couldn’t have madeit through. Also, there werecity gates that were shut

everyeveningandguarded.Ifanyone had tried to get outwithalargeamountofgoods,they would have beenstopped and the boxessearched.IftheTemplarshadtriedtogetawaybytheSeineRiver, they still would havehadtocrosstowntodoit.Theentirecitywouldhave

heardthem.Finally, the supposed

treasure not only has neverbeen found but it has nevereven been described. Allthese things together makeme think that nothing leftParisfromtheTemplebeforethearrests.The treasure of the

Templars, if there was any,wouldn’t have been inLondon or Paris in any case,but inCyprus in theTemplarheadquarters. On the day of

their arrest in Cyprus, aninventory was taken ofTemplar goods. At Nicosia,alongwithalotofcrossbowsand foodstuffs were 120,000whitebezants (coinsmadeofa mix of silver and somegold).Thatseemslikealottome but legends begin early,and a near contemporarychroniclerinsiststhat“nooneknewwhereintheworldtheyhid the rest, nor has anyone

beenabletofindout.”65

1Matthew Paris, Chronicles,ed. and tr. Richard Vaughan(Gloucester: Sutton, 1894) p.241.2Please see The Templarsand the Saint for more onthisepisode.ForWilliam,seeGrand Masters 1191-1292/93.

3Please see How to Tell ifYou Are ReadingPseudohistory.4GeorgesLizerand,LeDossierde l’Affaire des Templiers(Paris,1923)p.47.5Ibid.,p.50,“cervoisepourlesgarsonsetpourlesouvriers.”

6Ibid.,“quiestalafamemons.Roger de Planes et est engages, si comme lecammandoour et Bertin deuCouiseldisoient.”7Ibid.,p.52.8Evelyn Lord, The KnightsTemplar in Britain (London,2002)pp.27-30.Ifinditvery

responsible of themaster nottokeepa loadedcrossbowinthehouse.9William of Tyre,Chronique,ed. R. B. C Huygens(Turnholt, 1986) 12, 7, p.553. “Quibusquoniamnequeeccesia erat neque certumhabebant domicilium, rex inpalatio suo, quod secusTemplum Domini ad

australemhabetpartemeisadtempus concessit hibiaculum,canoniciveroTempliDominiplateam, quam circapredictumhabebantplatinum,ad opus officiarum certisquibusdam conditionibusconcesserunt.”10This often happens. Baldwinmoved into what was calledthe “Tower ofDavid.” Since

he had four daughters, hemayhave been looking for aplacewithmorebathrooms.11Adrian J.Boas, Jerusalem inthe Time of the Crusades:Society,LandscapeandArtintheHolyCityUnderFrankishRule (London: Routledge,2001) p. 79.Boas quotes thechronicler, Fulcher ofChartres. “Because of our

lackofresourceswewerenotable even to maintain thisbuilding in the condition inwhich we found it. For thisreason it is mostlydestroyed.”12William of Tyre, 12, 7, p.554.13Marquis d’Albon, Cartulairede l’Ordre duTemple (Paris,

1912)p.2.14Ibid.15Please see chapter 11, FulkofAnjou.16Thomas W. Parker, TheKnightsTemplarsinEngland(UniversityofArizonaPress,1983)p.15.

17D’Albonno.124,p.87.18Please see chapter 8, GoForthandMultiply.19D’Albon listed every charterhe could find from 1119through 1150. Thecompilationis500pages.20

PaulOrliac,LaCartulairedeLa Selve, La Terre, LesHommes at le Pouvior enRouergue au XIIe Siècle(Paris,1985)p.76.21AlanForey,TheTemplars intheCoronaofAragon.22Parker,pp.52-53.23

Ibid.,p.56.24Malcolm Barber and KeithBate,TheTemplars:SelectedSources Translated andAnnotated (ManchesterUniversity Press, 2002) pp.184-90.25Jeande Joinville,HistoiredeSaint Louis tr.M. Natalis deWailly(Paris,1865)p.57.

26R.H.C.Davis,TheMedievalWarhorse(London,1989)pp.65-97.Page62alsohasaneatillustrationofhowthehorseswereboardedontheships.27Helen Nicholson, TheKnights Templar (London,2001)p.183.28Nicholson, p. 191. One

interesting thingabout this isthat the wool the merchantswere selling was still on thesheep. They were beingcharged for selling woolfutures.29Omne Datum Optimum, ind’Albon, p. 376. “Ea etiamque de eorum spoiliisceperitis, fidenter in ususvestros convertatis, et, ne de

his, contra velle vestrum,portionem alicui darecogamini,prohibemus.”30AlanForey,TheTemplars inthe Corona of Aragon(Oxford University Press,1973)p.25ff.31William of Tyre, 17, 27, pp.797-99.32

Milites Templi, in RudolfHeistand, Papsturkunden fürTemplar und Johanniter(Göttingen, 1972) p. 215, “siforte locus ipse indterdictussit, . . . in anno aperianturecclesie et et exclusisexcommunicates divinaofficialcelebrentur.”33Forey,p.17.34

Joseph F. O’Callaghan, AHistory of Medieval Spain(Cornell University Press,1975) pp. 233 and 258.Ramiro did his duty, had adaughter to inherit, andreturnedtothemonastery.35Forey.p.22.36Contrary to popular opinion,people in the Middle Ages

didwash.37Laurent Dailliez, Régle etStatutsde l’OrdreduTemple(Paris, 1972)p. 143, ruleno.140.38Charles Gladitz, HorseBreeding in the MedievalWorld (Dublin: Four CourtsPress,1997)p.158.39

Dailliez,p.152,rulesno.169and170.40D’Albon, p. 227, no. 352,“ccl solidos Melgoriensisnovemonete et cl solidos denumis.”41Cartulaire des Templiers deDouzens ed. Pierre Gérardand Élisabeth Magnou(Bibliothéque Nationale,

1965)p.114,no.121.42Douzens,p.115,no.121.43Ibid.44Ibid.,p.51,no.41.45Ibid.,p.269,no.11.46

Parker,p.23.47Dailliez,p.130,ruleno.96.48Sugerii Abbatis S. Dionysii,Opera, Episotolae LVII andLVIII, columns 1377-1378.“Debet autem eis redderetriginta milia solidorumPictaviensis monetae, dequisbus licet mihi bonumresponsumdederit.”

49Achille Luchaire, InstitutionsFrançaises (Paris, 1892) p.588.50Sugerii, column 1402, in aletterfromtheArchbishopofSens. “Vidimusenim fratremGeleranum, qui custodietParisiu domum Templi,redeuntemadominusrege.”51

Ferdinand Lot and RobertFawtier, Histoire desInstitutions Franaise auMoyen Age: Tome II—Institutions Royale (Paris,1958)p.18852Luchaire,p.589.53Ibid.54

Bryce Lyon and A. E.Verhulst, Medieval Finance(Brown University Press,1967)p.41.55John W. Baldwin, TheGovernment of PhilipAugustus: Foundations ofFrench Royal Power in theMiddle Ages (CaliforniaUniversity Press, 1986) p.166.

56LotandFawtier,p.191.Untileverything was put on thedecimalsystem,thel,s,anddbecame the shorthand for“pounds,shillingsandpence”in England, just in case youeverwondered.57Boutaric, Louis IX etAlphonse de Poitiers(Brionne,1879)pp.181-312.

ThereisnoindicationthattheTemplars were financialadvisers.Theysimplytookinthemoneyandkeptaccounts.58Boutaric, pp. 208-10. Therecordsdon’tsaywhorefinedthesilver.59JeandeJoinville,“LifeofSt.Louis,” in Chronicles of theCrusades tr. M.R.B. Shaw

(Penguin,1963)p.259.60Thomas of Spalato,ExThomae HistoriaPontificum Salonitanorum etSpalatinorum in MonumentaGermaniaHistoriaScriptoresed. G. H. Pertz. Vol. 29, p.577.61Parker,p.60.Fromhisprisoncell,Hubertgavetherequired

permission. What a goodsport!62Ibid.,p.61.63BernardofClairvaux.64Demurger,p.121.65Amaldi, quoted in AlainDemurger, Jacques de

Malay: Le crepuscule destempliers (Biographie—Payot, Paris, 2002) p. 319,note 27. “Il resto havevanonascoso cosi secramente chealcun del mondo non hapossuto saver niente diquello.” Demurger adds,“Courage treasure seekers!It’stoCyprusonemustgo!”

CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE

TheTempleinParis

The closest one can cometoday to the Templecompound in which Jacquesde Molay and the otherTemplars were arrested is totake the ParisMetro (line 3)tothestoplabeled“Temple.”

But don’t expect to findanything of the Templarsthere. The buildings weredestroyed during or shortlyafter the French Revolution.“Oftheimposinggroupofitsmonuments, church, donjon,cloister and monasticbuildings, and constructionsofallsorts,homesandhousesof commerce that wereencircledandshelteredby itsvast enclosure, not one stone

remains.”1

When did the TemplarsfirsthaveabuildinginParis?The commandery of the

Knights Templar in Paris isfirstnotedduring the timeofLouis VII. A woman namedGente, the daughter of thephysician of Louis VI,donated a water mill, underthe Great Bridge in Paris, tothe Templars. Unfortunately,

we can only date this withinthe years 1137 and 1147.2The Templar who accheptedthe gift was Everard deBarres,masterof theTemplein Paris and later GrandMaster.King Louismade a gift to

the Temple in 1143, oftwenty-sevenlivrestobepaidonce a year. However, thedonation charter doesn’tspecify that this is to the

Temple in Paris, only to theTemplars. Neither does adonation made to theTemplars in 1145 byBartholomew, deacon ofNotreDame.3 It’s frustrating,butpartofhistoricalresearchisnot toassumeanything,sowhile it makes sense thatthere would have been acommandery, there is stillnoproof.4

Ameetingwiththeking

outsidetheTemplewallsinParis.The

pointedtowersinthebackgroundaretheLouvre.

(ArtResource,NY)Finally,in1146/47,thereis

a record of a donation fromSimon, thebishopofNoyon,to the Templars. It statesclearly that this was done atthe Temple in Paris, in thepresence of the master andthe “convent of knights.”

Now we can be certain thattherewas a building in PariswheretheTemplarmasterforFrance and the knightslived.5Whether it is the sameas the one that became thecenter of the Templarcompound in Paris still isn’tsure,butwe’recloser.In August of 1147, there

was a great gathering ofTemplars. Pope Eugenius IIIwasintownandpreparations

were being made for theSecond Crusade. LordBernard of Balliol gave theTemplars lands that hepossessed in England. Thiswas witnessed by the pope,King Louis VII, severalarchbishops,and130brothersof the Knights Templar,“wearing the white cloaks.”6This means that there werethatmanynoblybornknightsof theTempleinParis.Since

the fighting force inJerusalem at that timeaveraged from three to sixhundred it’s a good bet thatthese knights had arrivedfrom all over France, andperhapsEngland,before theyleftfortheEast.If we had the charters of

theTempleitself,alotofthemystery surrounding theorderwouldbeclearedup.Asit is, the next major gift in

Paristhatweknowofwasnotuntil 1172, when Constance,sisterofKingLouis,gavetheTemplars a house inChampeaux.Inthiscase,nineTemplars of the house inParisarelistedbyname.7

By the end of the twelfthcentury, the Temple in Pariswas being used for the royaltreasury. Louis’ son Philip II(Philip Augustus) used theTemple as a depository for

taxesandotherrevenues.Hisofficialsthendrewmoneyoutfor personal expenses for thekingandhisfamily.8

This was continued underhis son, Louis VIII, andgrandson,LouisIX.Even though thekingshad

theirownpalace,manytimesthe entire royal family choseto stay at the Templarcommanderywhiletheywere

in Paris. Philip III stayedthere with his wife andchildrenin1275andagainin1283 and 1285.9In order fortheTempletohousethekingand court, they would haveneeded a spacious guesthousewithinthegrounds.The Temple in Paris also

servedasasafeplacetokeeproyal documents, such astreaties.In1258,HenryIIIofEngland agreed to renounce

his claims to Normandy,Maine,Anjou, Touraine, andPoitou,aboutaquarteroftheterritory of modern France.The treaty was deposited atthe Temple. In return, Louispromised to pay a certainamount to Henry, to bedeposited toHenry’s accountattheTempleinParistwiceayear.10

HenryIIIalsostayedintheTemple when he came to

Paris in 1254. He may havejustwantedtobeclosetohismoney,buthe seems tohavebeen on good termswith theTemplars, as well. In 1247,theGrandMaster,WilliamofSonnac, sent the king “acrystal vase allegedlycontaining a portion of thebloodofChrist.”11

As the government of thekingsofFrancebecamemorecomplex, a special section

was created called theChamber of Accounts. “ThisbodymetthreetimesayearattheTemple inParis toactonagenda prepared by a sub-committee which met at theChambre des Deniers in theLouvre.”12 The memberswere not Templars; they justused the house for theirmeetings.The Paris Temple was the

heart of the financial

connectionbetween theLatinkingdoms and the West.When the patriarch ofJerusalem (in exile in Acre)needed to arrange formoneyand weapons to defend thecity, he wrote to Amaury dela Roche, commander of theTemple in Paris. ThepatriarchneededfundssenttoAcre to pay cross- bowmen,knights, and soldiers.13 Heexpected Amaury to be able

tomakethearrangementsforthe loans and the transfer ofthemoney.In1306, just ayearbefore

the arrest of the Templars,KingPhiliptheFairfeltsureenough of the loyalty of theTemplars to seek refuge inthe Paris Temple during theriots caused when hedevalued the money.14Bythen the Templar compoundwas surrounded by thick

walls and included severalbuildings as well as thechurchandlivingquartersforthe brothers. In that year,Philip issued charters thatweremade“attheTemple.”15

It was rumored that Philipeven spent the night ofOctober 13, 1307, at theTemple so that he could bethe first to start counting theloot after the arrests.16It’s anice image but there is no

evidence.After the fall of the

Templars, the Templarenclosure was taken over bythecrownforatimebeforeitwasfinallyturnedovertotheHospitallers. The survivingdaughter-in-law of Philip theFair, Clemence, seems tohave lived there starting in1317untilherdeathin1328.Inapieceofpoeticjustice,

one of the architects of thedownfall of the Templars,Enguerrand deMarigny,wasbriefly imprisoned at theTemple by King Louis X.17Enguerrandhadbeenaccusedoftakingbribesandfalsifyingaccounts. When he wasproved innocent of thosecharges,hewas thenaccusedofsorceryandhanged.EventhoughtheTemplein

Pariswas in thehandsof the

Hospitallers until the FrenchRevolution,itcontinuedtobecalled the Temple. It wasused as a prison off and on,the most famous prisonersbeing King Louis XVI andhis wife, Marie Antoinette.Theywere imprisoned in thetower of the Temple and itwasfromtherethattheyweretakentotheguillotine.18

The church of the Templehas also vanished but an

eighteenthe

From Henri de Curzon,La Maison du Temple deParis,1888.century sketch remains.Thechurchwasmuchliketheone at the Temple inLondon, with a round naveand a long choir. Parts of itmay have been added to inthemid thirteenth century sowecan’tknowwhatitlookedlikeoriginally.

Apart from the buildingsused exclusively by theTemplars,therewasanentirevillagewithinthewallsmadeupofthepeoplewhoworkedfororweredependenton theTemplars and then after theorder was dissolved, theHospitallers. It wasmade upof kitchen gardens, sheds,storehouses,smallshops,andhouses. The Templars mayhavelivedintheirownworld

withinParis,butitwasabusyone.Withallthecomingsandgoings of the wealthy, thenobles, and all of the rest ofsociety that took care ofthem, it would have beendifficult for the Templars tokeepmanysecrets.Oh yes, when the Metro

system was dug for theTemple station, no treasurewasfound.

1Henri deCurzon,LaMaisondu Temple de Paris (Paris,1888)p.1.2CartulaireGénéral de Paris,TomePremier, ed.RobertdeLasteyrie (Paris, 1887) p.265,charterno.270.3Ibid.,p.297,charterno.321.This was made in the

presence of Bernard ofClairvaux and witnessed byother men from Notre Dameand officials of the king, butnoTemplarsarenamed.4Ibid.,p.288,charterno.303.5Ibid.,p.299,charterno.324.“Actum Parisius in Temple,presentemagistroetconventumilitum.”

6Ibid.,p.307,charterno.334,“albaclamideindutis.”7Ibid., pp. 422-23, charter no.507.8John Baldwin, TheGovernment of PhilipAugustus (CaliforniaUniversity Press, 1986) p.165.Also,please seechapter

24,TemplarsandMoney.9Curzon,p.240.10G. P. Cuttino, EnglishMedievalDiplomacy (IndianaUniversityPress,1985)pp.9-12.11Thomas W. Parker, TheKnightsTemplarsinEngland

(UniversityofArizonaPress,1983)p.48.12JohnL.Lamonte,TheWorldof the Middle Ages: AReorientation of MedievalHistory (NewYork,1949)p.468.FormoreontheTemplarand French finances pleaseseechapter24.13Malcolm Barber, The New

Knighthood (Cambridge,1994)pp.266-67.14Curzon,p.241.15Ibid.,p.240.16Ibid., p. 242. He cites thisstory but doesn’t seem tobelieveit.17

Ibid.,p.259.18SaulK.Padover,TheLifeandDeath of Louis XVI (NewYork: Appleton, 1939) pp.285-91.

CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX

TheTempleinLondon

Tuckedawayintoacourtyardin Temple Bar on the banksof the Thames is one of theoldest churches in London,Temple Church. The roundchurchwasoncethecenterofTemplar activities in

England, surrounded byliving quarters, stables,meeting rooms, and storagefacilities. Today one has tofollow a pathway betweenlaw offices until one finds asmall sign pointing to thechurch.This is actually known as

the “NewTemple.” The firstwas built around 1128, soonafterHugh de Payns visitedonhisgrand tour todrumup

interest in the order. The oldTemple was in Holborn inLondon, then a rural area.When the foundations wereuncovered in 1595, it wasfound that this church wasround,madefromstonefromCaen, in northern France.1Many of the Templarchurches were round, inimitationoftheChurchoftheHoly Sepulcher in Jerusalembuilt in the time of

Constantine.2 Roundchurches were also built forthe same reason by theHospitallers.TheTemplarsmovedtothe

present site, between FleetStreet and theThamesRiver,in 1161 and began to buildtheNewTempleChurch.Thechurch was consecrated onFebruary 10, 1185, byHeraclius, patriarch ofJerusalem and dedicated to

the Virgin Mary.3 In time a“hallofpriests”wasbuiltandconnected to the churchbyacloisterand,abitfartherfromthe church, therewas a “hallof knights” to house theTemplarbrothers.4In1240therectangular choir was added(seephoto

TempleChurchnave.(SharanNewman)

above) as well as a chapeldedicated to Saint Anne, the

Virgin’smother.5

This would have been abusyplace,withabakehouse,smithy, stables, and otherdomestic buildings. Theknights would have takencareof repairs to their armorand other equipment in theTemple area. For serioustraining, they had a field ofabout fifteen acres on theother side of the Thames,knownasFickettscroft.6

During the trials of theTemplars in England, oneaccusationmadeagainstthemwas that they had murderedan Irish Templar by puttinghim in the “penitential cell”inthenorthwestcornerofthechoir. The cell is four and ahalf feet long and two feet,nine inches wide. There aretwo window slits that wouldhave allowed the prisoner tosee the round part of the

churchandthealtar.7

At the dissolution of theTemplars in 1313, all theirgoodsweretobeturnedoverto the Hospitaller Knights.However, Edward II ofEngland instead gave theTemple property in LondontohiscousinThomas,earlofLancaster. Thomas, however,lost his head (literally) as aresult of a rebellion againstthe king. Edward then gave

the property to the earl ofPembroke, Aylmer deValence.8It passed throughseveralotherhandsbeforetheHospitallers finally receivedthe property. Since theyalreadyhadaheadquartersinLondon, the Hospitallersleased the Inner and MiddleTemple to a group oflawyers.9

The former servantsof theTemplars stayed on during

the transition, Edward IIpaying their wages andpensions.10

Over the years, throughchanges in kings andgovernmentsthelawyersheldon to the Temple.11 In 1677they were finally rewardedfor their tenacity by beingallowed to buy the propertyfrom King Charles II.12During the sixteenth century,

the church was used inbetween services for lawyer-client conferences, whichtook place while walkingabout between the knightlyeffigiesonthefloor.13

DuringtheReformationthechurch was whitewashedover, then the floor wascovered with “hundred ofcartloads of earth andrubbish.”14A restorationwasmade in 1840, including

clearing the floor andreconstructing the shatteredeffigies.The effigies in the church

are of nine knights and abishop. Unfortunately, it isnotcertainwhichsculptureiswhichknight.Theyhavebeenmoved around so much overthe centuries that theidentifications have beenscrambled. They have alsobeen“restored”severaltimes.

The originals date from thetwelfth and thirteenthcenturies.We know that oneof them is Sir Geoffrey deMagnaville, earl of Essex,who died in 1144 and wasfirstburiedintheOldTempleand moved to the New.Others are of WilliamMarshal, the first earl ofPembroke,whowasadmittedtothesocietyoftheTemplarson his deathbed, and two of

his sons. Marshall isconsidered the prototype ofthe perfect knight, loyal,brave,andvaliant.Hewasthesubject of stories and songseven in his lifetime. TheTemplars must have beenpleasedtohavehispatronage.Most of the other effigies

arejustknownas“knight”or“crusaderknight.”15

The effigies represent not

Templarsbuttheirconfrators,or “associates,” nobles whowished to support the orderwithoutactuallyjoining.

Astraight-leggedknight attheTempleChurch. (SharanNewman)

TempleChurchin1837,beforebombsandrestorations.

(ArtResource,NY)The men were buried inTemplar cemeteries andcommemorated in stone inthe church. The cross-leggedknights are those who haveeithergoneonacrusadeoratleasttakenavowtodoso.The church survived intact

until 1941, when it wasbombedbytheGermans.Thevault survived but thecolumns cracked in the heatandhadtobereplaced.Muchof what we see today isrestorationandre-creation.It’s difficult these days to

imaginetheTemplechurchinits proper setting. Brickbuildings crowd around itnow. Originally, it wouldhave had a grassy courtyard

between all of the buildingsof the Templars. Inside thechurch, Templar knightswouldhaverecitedtheHoursby daylight and candlelight.The wind might have blownin from the river or from thedirection of the stables, ascent theknightswouldhavepreferred. The greatest lordsand the richest merchantswould have come to deposittheir treasure for safekeeping

ortobegaloan.There would have been

noise and color andexcitement. But now all thatremainsisasmallandlonelychurch.1George Worley, The Churchof the Knights Templars inLondon:ADescriptionof theFabricandItsContents,witha ShortHistory of theOrder

(London,1907)p.14.2Malcom Barber, The NewKnighthood (Cambridge,1994)p.195.3Worley,p.15. “Dedicatehececclesia in honore BeateMarie.” The inscription wasdestroyed during repairs in1695 and rewritten on aninsidewall.

4Thomas W. Parker, TheKnightsTemplarsinEngland(UniversityofArizonaPress,1963)p.24.5Worley,p.15.6Parker,p.24.7Worley, pp. 49-50. This

doesn’t mean that theTemplars were all four feettall, but that the cell wasintended to be horriblyuncomfortable.8Worley,p.16.9Ibid.10C. G. Addison, The Temple

Church (London, 1843;reprint)p.11.11Addison,pp.3-4.12Worley,p.16.13Ibid.,p.21.14Ibid.,p.43.15

Ibid.,pp.30-37.

CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN

TheLastStands;TheFalofAcreandLossoftheHolyLand

By the end of the thirteenthcentury the principalitiesestablished by the firstcrusaders were reduced to a

few small settlementsclingingtotheMediterraneancoastandthecitiesofTripoliandAcre.ThetitleofkingofJerusalem was almost anafterthought, tacked on as anhonorific to more substantialones, such askingofCyprusor emperor of Germany.There were still some traderoutesthatbroughtinenoughrevenue to make the landworth putting up a fight for,

butnotmuchmore.1

Of course, there wasalwaysthepossibilitythatthelost territory could berecovered. Jerusalem hadbeenlostandregainedbeforeashadAcre.Sotherewasstillinterest in the title. In 1277one of the people claimingthe right to the throne ofJerusalem was Maria ofAntioch. She was convincedto sell it to the younger

brother of Saint Louis,Charles of Anjou.2After hisdeath the title reverted to theLusignanfamily,descendantsof Baldwin II. Theycontinued to call themselveskings of Jerusalem, but theyand many of the noblefamilies of the Latinkingdoms had by thenestablished themselves onCyprus.3

In 1289 the city ofTripoli

fell to the Mamluk sultanMalik al-Mansour. TheTemplar commander of thecity, Peter of Moncada, waskilled along with otherTemplars and Hospitallers.4The king of Jerusalem at thetime, Henry II, arrived inAcre from his home inCyprus.Hedidn’tcomeattheheadofanarmytotakebackTripolibut toarrangea trucewith the sultan.5 This truce

wassignedbyOdo,thebailiffofAcre;WilliamofBeaujeu,Grand Master of theTemplars; Nicholas Lorgne,Grand Master of theHospitallers;andConrad,therepresentative of the GrandMaster of the TeutonicKnights.6

We have an eyewitnessaccount of what happenednextmadebythesecretaryofTemplar Grand Master

William of Beaujeu. Thewriter is known as theTemplar ofTyre although hewasn’t a Templar and heprobably wasn’t from Tyre,butCyprus.Butonceanameis attached to someone, it’shard to change it withoutconfusion. So, here is thestory according to thesecretary of William ofBeaujeu, who wasn’t fromTyre:

It happened that, because ofthe fall of Tripoli, the popesent twentygalleys to theaidof the city of Acre. Thesegalleys were armed inVenice; their captain was agreat nobleman of VenicenamedJacopoTiepole....Agreat number of commonpeople of Italy also took thecrossandcametoAcre.Whenthesepeoplecameto

Acre,thetrucewhichthekinghadmadewiththesultanwaswell-maintained between thetwo parties. Poor Saracenpeasants came into Acrecarryinggoodstosell,astheywere accustomed to do. Ithappened one day, . . . thatthecrusaders,whohadcometo do good and to armthemselves for the succor ofthe city of Acre, broughtabout its destruction, for one

day they rushed throughAcre, putting all the poorpeasants who had broughtgoods to sell in Acre to thesword. They also slew anumber of bearded Syrianswho were of the law ofGreece. (They killed thembecause of their beards,mistakingthemforSaracens.)This was ill-done indeed,

for Acre was taken by theSaracensbecauseofit,asyou

shallhear.7

WordofthisoutragewassentatoncetothesultaninCairo,who demanded retribution.WilliamofBeaujeusuggesteda pragmatic solution for this.Rather than turn over themisguided crusaders to thesultan, he suggested that thecitizens of Acre sendcondemned men from thelocalprisons,sincetheywere

todieanyway.8

However, William wasoverruled and the sultan wastold the truth, adding that,since the perpetrators of theatrocity were Italians, theyweren’tsubjecttothelawsofAcre so they couldn’t beprosecuted.In hindsight, honesty may

nothavebeenthebestchoice.“The Sultan took this

answer badly, and gatheredhis forces and his siegeengines, and also collectedhis host of armed men.”9Hetook his time preparing amassive expedition in orderto drive the Franks out ofAcreforever.The Templar of Tyre and

thevariousArabicChroniclesagree on the basics of thesiege and taking of the city.ThesultanofEgyptarrivedat

Acre on the fifth of April,1291, with a large army andmanysiegeengines.10

By the beginning of May,the sultan had managed toundermineanddestroyoneofthemajor towers of the city.Some negotiating went on,but no agreement wasmade,and so “the two sides beganagain their labors, firingmangonels at one another,and doing the things that are

usually done betweenenemies.”11

Amajor assaultwasmadeon thecity and themasteroftheTemple,William,tookhismenandwenttothegatethatwas being attacked. ThemasteroftheHospitalandhismenjoinedthem.12

They were overwhelmedbythenumberofsoldiersandby the Greek fire that was

being thrown at them. TheTemplar of Tyre must haveseen thishappenforhegivesa gruesome picture of theburning to death of anEnglishmanwhowasunluckyenough to be caught in theflames.13

The fate of William ofBeaujeuwas not so dramaticbut equally fatal. He wasstruck by a javelin and “theshaft sank into his body a

palm’s-length; it camethrough the gap where theplates of the armor were notjoined.”14

The master must havestayed upright enough toappear unharmed, for whenhe turned his horse to go,some of the other defenderspanickedandbeggedhimnottoleave.Heanswered,“‘Mylords, I candonomore for Iam killed, see the wound

here!’...andashespokehedropped the spear on thegroundandhisheadslumpedto one side.”15Before hecould fall fromhishorse, hismen caught him and carriedhim to the Templar fortress.Helingeredfortherestoftheday, dying in the evening.“And God has his soul—butwhat great harm was causedbyhisdeath!”16

Itseemedthat thecitywas

about to fall, so thekingandhis men went to their boatsand left. The remainingpeople in the city rushed tothe Templar fortress, thestrongest in Acre. They heldout for ten days but werefinallyforcedtoaskfortermsof surrender, including safepassage for the women andchildren inside. However,when the Moslem soldierscame in, they began

molesting the women andyoung boys. At this theTemplars went after thesoldiers and killed or drovethemoutofthefortress.Theythen decided to fight to theend.17

All the defenders of theTemple fortress were killed.The remainingnoncombatants were takenprisoner. Abu al-Mahasinnotes that the city fellon the

same day and hour exactlyone hundred years afterRichard the Lionheart hadfirst captured Acre. He addsthat itwas a just revenge forRichard’s slaughter of hisprisonersatthattime.18

The property of theTemplars, Hospitallers, andTeutonic Knights was takenas booty. There is noindication that any treasurewas on the ships that left

before the city fell. A fewTemplars, including the nextGrand Master, ThibaudGaudin, managed to escapeby boat. They went to thefortress of Sidon and then toCyprus. But the idea, oftenstated as fact bypseudohistorians, that theycouldhavebroughtahoardoftreasure with them is highlyunlikely.The entire coastlinewas full of the sultan’s

soldiers and archers. Menburdenedwithanythingmorethan theirclothesandswordswould not have been able togetthrough.19

AuniqueviewofAcrejustbeforethefallcomesfromanItalian Dominican priest,Ricoldo de Monte Croce.BornnearinFlorencearound1240, he joined theDominicans at the age oftwenty-five and spent the

next few years in study. Atsometime around 1288, hedecided to embark on amission of conversion to theEast. We find him first inAcre.20

In many ways Ricoldorepresents the change in theapproachtothenon-Christianworldthathadoccurredsincethefoundationofthe

William of Beaujeu

defendingAcre,asdepictedbyDominiqueLouisPapétyin1845.William iswearingthe red tunic and whiteCross of a Hospitaller andhe’s standing when he wasactually on horseback.Hollywood isn’t the onlyplace where history isadapted to make a betterpicture.(ArtResource,NY)Templars. The Dominicanswere founded byDominic of

Castile and the order wasgivenpapalapprovalin1216.The plan of the Dominicanswas to take the word ofChristianitytopeoplealloverthe world. To this end, theDominican monks wereamong the best educated oftheclergyinlanguages.Theydreamed of bringingChristianity to the massesthrough persuasion, passion,and logic. In this they were

the exact opposite of theTemplars.Under the direction of the

popes, the Dominicans alsobecame the chief inquisitorsin Europe, but this was notthefirstdesireofmanyofthepriests of the order andRicoldo seems to havepreferred converting theheathen to prosecutingheretics.

Ricoldo stayed at theDominicanhouseinAcreandalso befriended the patriarchof Jerusalem, Nicholas,another Dominican. Then hesetoutintoMoslemterritory,where his preaching waslargely ignored. He was inBaghdad in 1291whenwordcame of the fall of the city.So his information wasgained through Moslemaccounts.

His letter about the fall ofthe city is addressed to thepatriarch, who was killed inthetakingofthecity,and“toall the brothers who died inthe capture of Acre.”21 Hisshockandgriefcomethroughin every sentence. Thisoutpouring of emotionreminds the reader of thehuman face of war. Morethan once he anguishes overthe fate of thenunswhohad

now become slaves ofMoslemmen,ofchildrenwhohad been torn from theirmothersandsoldtoberaisedasMoslems.Particularly chilling is

Ricoldo’sexperiencewiththesellersofspoilsfromthecity.From a Saracen peddler, hebought a tunic that had beenpierced “by a sword or alance that was partly stainedwith blood.”22 He wondered

ifithadbelongedtosomeoneheknew.Theletteralternatesbetween Ricoldo’s attemptsto rejoice that his friends arenowmartyred and in heavenand his intense misery.“Where is Tripoli?” he cries.“WhereisAcre,wherearethechurches of the Christiansthat once were here? . . .Where are the multitudes ofChristians? . . . I have heardthat on the sixth day, in the

third hour, you wereslaughtered.”23 The wordstumbleovereachother inhisdeepandpersonalagony.In the midst of Ricoldo’s

lamentation,henotesthat themaster of the Temple waspierced in the stomach andlungs,“aswasAhab,kingofIsrael,” and died aroundvespers, as is also related bythe Templar of Tyre. Thenext day the city was

taken.24Onescholarfeelsthatthis allusion to King Ahab,whowasn’t one of the betterkingsof Israel, isacommenton the weakness of theTemplars.25 This is notimpossible, but I think itmore likely that it wasbecause Ahab was shot withan arrow in a battlewith theSyrians and died in theevening, as did William ofBeaujeu.26

However, throughoutRicoldo’s letter there are therepeated questions: Why didthis happen? Why did thebulwark fail? Why did Godallow this? Ricoldo assumesthatitmustbebecauseofthesins of the people. One ofthese passages is just beforethe reference to the death oftheGrandMaster.This undercurrent of

feeling—that someone must

be to blame for the fall ofAcre—seems to have beenshared by many people inboth the East andWest. TheTemplars were seen as theinvincible warriors, theprotectors of the Holy Land.The loss of Acre damagedthem more than any of theothermilitaryorders.After the loss ofAcre and

the death of William ofBeaujeu, the heart seemed to

gooutoftheTemplars.Someof them tried to hold on toSidon, but they learned thatthe Templars on Cyprusconsidered them a lost causeand soSidonwas abandonedby night. Shortly thereafter,Chateau Pelerin was alsoabandoned.Thatwas the lastof the Templar holdings inwhathadoncebeentheLatinkingdoms.The Templars made one

more attempt to regain themainland, at the time of thelast Grand Master, Jacquesde Molay. They built astockadeonthetinyislandofRuad, not far from the townof Tortosa. From there, theyplanned on invading thetown, but they werecompletely overrun by theMamluk Sayf al-DinEnsendemür in 1302. Thesurviving Templars were

taken to Egypt and sold intoslavery.27

It was with thisbackgroundoffailurethattheTemplars had to face theincreasing belief in Europethat theywereatbestuselessand at worst traitors to theChristiancause.1Jonathan Riley-Smith, TheCrusades (New Haven: Yale

University Press, 2005) p.231.2Ibid., p. 203. For more onCharles please see TheTemplarsandtheSaint.3Hans Eberhard Mayer, TheCrusades (Oxford UniversityPress,1972)p.243.4

TheTemplarofTyre, tr.PaulCrawford (Ashgate,Aldershot, 2003) p. 101,section477.5TheTemplarofTyre, p. 101,section479.6Ibn Abd Az-Azhir, “TheTreaty with Acre,” in ArabHistoriansoftheCrusadestr.Francesco Gabrieli (New

York: Dorset, 1989) p. 326.The chronicler was mistakeninthenameoftheHospitallermaster. He was John ofVilliers. Conrad was Conradof Feuchtwangen (TheTemplarofTyre,p.104,note3).7TheTemplarofTyre,pp.101-2,section480.8

TheTemplarofTyre, p. 102,section481.9Ibid.10TheTemplarofTyre, p. 105,section 489; Abu al-Fida inGabrieli, p. 344; Abu al-MahasininGabrieli,p.349.11TheTemplarofTyre, p. 109,

section493.12TheTemplarofTyre,p.110-11,section498.13Ibid. If you feel the need toknowexactlywhathappened,getacopyofthebook.14Ibid.,p.112.15

Ibid.16TheTemplarofTyre,p.113.17ThisisrecountedinbothAbual-Mahasin in Gabrieli, p.348,andtheTemplarofTyre,p.117,section507,aswellasotherchronicles.18Gabrieli,p.149.

19All accounts mention thedifficulty of getting away bysea and stress the number ofpeoplewhodiedtryingtogettoboats.20Cecilia Manetti, “ ‘ComeAchab al Calar del Sole’ unDomenicano Giudica ITemplari La Caduta d’Acrinella Testimonianza di Fra

Riccoldo da Monte Cruce,”Acri 1291: La fine dellapresenze degli ordinimilitariin Terra Santa e i nuoviorientamenti nel XIV secolo(Quattroemme, Perugis,1996)pp.171-72.21Ricoldo de Monte-Cruce,“Lettres de Ricoldo deMonte-Cruce,” Archives del’OrientLatinTomeII(Paris,

1884; rpt. Brussels, 1964)Letter IV p. 289, “et aliisfratribus qui motui sunt incaptione Accon.” Ricoldodoesn’t mention, and mightnot have known, that thepatriarch drowned whiletryingtoescape(TheTemplarofTyre,p.115,note7).22Ibid., p. 289. “Gladio vellanceaperforatuam,queetiam

modicosanguineroseaerat.”23Ibid., p. 291. “Ubi estTempolis, ubi estAccon, ubisunt ecclesie christianorum,que ibi erant . . . Ubi estmultitudo populi chriniani,qui ibi erant? . . . Audivienim, quod feria exta, horatertia,occisifuistis.”24Ibid., p. 292. “Percussit

magistrum Templi interstomachum et pulmonenquasi alterum Achab regemIsrael,wtmortuusesteaodemsero vesperi . . . et statimsequenti mane capta estcivitassubiter.”25Manetti,p.174ff.261Kings22,34-35.27

TheTemplarofTyre,pp.160-61,sections635-38.

PARTTHREE

TheEndoftheOrderofthePoorKnights

CHAPTERTWENTY-EIGHT

JacquesdeMolay:TheLastGrandMaster

1292-1313

Jacques de Molay, the finalGrand Master of theTemplars, has become afigureof legend.Tosomehe

was a martyr, to others aheretic. He was either thevictim of a plot or justlypunishedforthecrimesoftheorder. Plays have beenwrittenabouthim.AMasonicyouth group is named afterhim. Was he the last masterofasecretsociety?Washeaheretic who denied thedivinityofChrist?Orwashejust a devout soldier caughtupinthesnaresofthekingof

France, a relic of a dyingworld?Who was this man who

presidedovertheTemplarsintheirlastdays?In many ways, the last

GrandMaster of the Templeis also the least well known.Almost all the personalinformation on him comesfrom his own depositions,which were made after he

wasarrestedin1307.In the first record that we

have, made on October 24,1307, eleven days after thearrest, Jacques states that hehasbeenaTemplarforforty-two years. He was receivedinto the order in the town ofBeaune, in the diocese ofAutun, by Humbert dePairaud and Amaury de laRoche.1 If he had beenaround seventeen when he

became a Templar, thatwould put his age at aroundsixtyatthetimeofthearrests,but he could have beenslightly younger or mucholder.Theplaceofhisbirthisnot

certain, either. He seems tohave been from a village inBurgundy, but there areseveral there named Molay.His biographer, AlainDemurger, has narrowed it

downto two towns.2Butonecan’t be certain about eventhat.If he was born in

Burgundy, then he was notunder the jurisdiction of thekingofFrance,forBurgundywas then part of the HolyRoman Empire. But it islikelythatJacquesconsideredhimselfFrench.Jacques’ family and early

life are a complete mystery.We don’t know why hedecided to join theTemplars.There isn’t amentionofhimin any surviving Templardocuments that might tell uswhat he did before he waselected Grand Master. Itseems ironic that the mostfamousoftheTemplarGrandMasters is also the one wehavetheleastinformationon.It’sverylikelythattherewas

much more about his earlyyears in the documents lostwhen the isle of Cyprus wasconquered by the Turks in1571.Butknowingwheretheinformationwas doesn’t helpustoknowwhatitwas.Jacques de Molay became

Grand Master at a criticaltimefortheTemplarsandthecrusader kingdoms. He musthave been in the East at thetime of the Fall of Acre in

1291.Hemayhaveevenbeenone of the few who escapedfromthecity,althoughitwasnever mentioned. It’s morelikelythathewasstationedatone of the outposts, such asSidonorCyprus.After thedeathofWilliam

of Beaujeu, who felldefending Acre, thecommanderintheEastat thetime, Thibaud Gaudin,became master. He was

probably elected because hewas the highest-rankingmember surviving after theslaughter.3Onlya fewletterssurvive from Gaudin’s shorttenure in office. Heapparently died sometimebeforeApril1292, forat thattimeJacquesdeMolaysentalettertoSpainauthorizingthesale of some property inAragon. He signed it asmasteroftheTemple.4

Butwhatwasthereleftforhimtobemasterof?AlthoughtheTemplarshad

foughtbravelyatAcre,whenthecityfelltheyseemtohavetakenmostoftheblameforit,at least in the eyes of theWest.5 Therefore, Jacques’firstorderofbusinesswas toregain as much of the oldLatin kingdoms as he could.To do this, he had to ensurethesurvivalof the lastof the

Eastern Christian kingdoms,that of Armenia, now thesoutheasternpartofTurkey.Early in 1292, Pope

Nicholas IV had written totheTemplarsandHospitallersordering that “They mustcome to the aid and defenseof the Kingdom of Armeniawiththegalleyswhich,bythecommand and ruling of theapostolic see, they hold tocounter the enemies of the

cross.”6UnfortunatelyArmenia had been weakenedbypower struggleswithin itsruling family and the loss ofsupport from the Latinkingdoms. The attempts toaid the Armenians were alsohampered by awar going onbetween the Venetians andthe Genoese.7 These twomerchantpowerscontrolledagreat deal of the shipping ofmen and supplies. Their

privatewar hampered all seatravel in the easternMediterranean.For a time the Templars

still held the island of Ruad,just across from the town ofTortosa. From here, JacquesdeMolayhopedtoprepareaninvasion force to begin thereconquest. Ruad was neverintendedtobeanythingmorethanajumping-offplaceforagarrison. It is a small, rocky

island,withnofreshwater.8In1300theislandwasastagingground for a proposedinvasion in which thecrusader forces would attackfromthewestandtheMongolarmywouldcomeinfromtheeast.Foravarietyofreasons,including weather andproblems among theMongolleaders, the invasion neveroccurred. The Templars andtheir allies did capture the

city of Tortosa but, withouthelp, they couldn’t hold it.They had to retreat to Ruadagain.The Templars managed to

hold Ruad until 1302, whenthe islandwas invadedbyanEgyptian fleet. Itwasheadedby an emir, Sayf al-DinEsendemür, who was “bornof a Christian man andwoman in a land calledGeorgia.”9 That is, he came

from slavic lands and hadbeen captured as a slave tothe Egyptians. The Templarshadno ships large enough tofight at sea or to escape in.After a short battle, theTemplars and theirdependents were forced intosurrender. They werepromised safe passage but“the Saracens had the headsofall theSyrianfootsoldierscutoff, because theyhadput

up such a stiff defense andhaddonegreatdamagetotheSaracens and the brethren ofthe Temple weredishonourably conducted toBabylon.”10 This is thechronicler’s metaphor to tellthe reader that, like the Jewswhowere stolen from Israel,the Templars were also soldintoslavery.Inthiscase,theywere probably taken to theslavemarketsinEgypt.

Jacques wasn’t on Tortosawhenitwastaken.HewasinCyprus trying to arrange forshipstobesenttorelievethegarrison. But he might havewishedthathehadbeen.Theloss ofRuad and the captureof the Templars were to beused against the order at thetrials.11

In the face of disaster andchaos in the East and a lackof funds or reinforcements

coming from the West,Jacques deMolay felt itwasnecessary to do somepersonal recruiting for theorder. He left the newTemplar headquarters inCyprus in 1293 to see if hecould spark someenthusiasmamong the heads of Europefor retaking Jerusalem. Healso needed to oversee somedisputes about variousproperties held by the

Templars. Finally, heintended to hold a generalmeeting of the commandersand other officials inEurope.12

The next two years werespent in a tireless crisscrossof the countries inwhich theTemplarsweremostinvested:France, Provence, Burgundy,Spain, Italy, and England. InAugust 1293, he held thegeneral meeting of the order

inMontpellier. InJune1295,he held another generalchapter meeting in Paris.13Since it was traditional thatthese meetings be held insecret, we don’t know whatwasdiscussedatthem.We do know that Jacques

was in Naples for thecoronation of Pope BonifaceVIII and that he seems tohave had a good workingrelationship with the pope.

Thiswouldnothaveendearedhim to the pope’s mortalenemy,King Philip IV, butthe friendship doesn’t seemenough to explain why theTemplars and Jacques weresingled out for the king’svendetta.However, there is a

possibility in something thathappened around 1297 tomake the king think thatJacques had to go. A short

time before, King Philip hadborrowed 2,500 livres fromtheTemple.Thatwasausualamount for theFrenchkings.But, according to a Cypriotchronicler,thetreasureroftheTemplars also gave Philip aloanof200,000florins.WhenJacques found out about thisenormous loan, he expelledthe treasurer. Even the pleasof the king could not changehismind.14

The trouble with accountslike this is that we don’tknow if they are true orsomething the chroniclermade up. The records werelost long ago. However, if itis true, it would mean thatJacques knew that KingPhilip was a bad credit risk.For Philip, it would be areason to have the Templarrecords convenientlymisplaced. It would also

indicate that there was badblood between the king andtheorderbeforethearrests.JacquesreturnedtoCyprus

inlate1296andstayedintheEastforthenexttenyears.Heconducted naval raids onEgypt and participated inanotherill-fatedexpeditiontoArmenia around 1299, inwhich the last Templarholding in that kingdomwaslost.

Byearly1306,Jacqueswasaware of the effect that allthese losses were having onpublic opinion in the West.Hewasalsoembroiledinthepolitics of the kingdom ofCyprus, just as hispredecessors had letthemselves become involvedin the feuds among the lordsoftheLatinkingdoms.Whenthe letter came from thenewpope,ClementV,tellinghim

to come up with a plan formergingtheTemplarsandtheHospitallers, his heart musthave sunk. The idea ofcombiningthemilitaryordersinto one had been around atleast since the SecondCouncil of Lyons in1274,15but Jacquesmayhavefeared that this time therewould be no reprieve for theKnightsoftheTemple.Ifhecouldn’tconvincethe

pope that there was a reasonfor theTemplars tocontinue,he knew they would beswallowed up by theHospitallers, their old rivals.If so, he could see no placeforhimselfintheneworder.When Pope Clement V

ordered Jacques to come tothe papal court at Poitiers todiscuss the matter, Jacqueswrote a letter explaining hispositionon thesubject.16His

arguments against the unionmust have seemed thin eventohim.Hetellsthepopethatit’s not right to ask a manwho has joined one order tosuddenly become part ofanother and that there wouldbe bickering and nastinessbetween the members of thetwoorders if theyhadto livetogether. The famous (orinfamous)rivalrybetweenthetwoorderswouldbelost,and

with it healthy competitionfor each to be braver, morehonorable, and morecharitable than the other.“For, when the Hospitallersmadeanarmedsortieagainstthe Saracens, the Templarswould stop at nothing untilthey made a better one, andlikewise for theHospitallers.”17

Jacques does admit that itmightbecheapertohaveone

order, but he feels that theresultantsquabblingwouldn’tbe worth it. All in all, itwasn’t the most forcefuldefense he could havemade.But, while he was extremelyconcernedabouttheproposal,Ibelievethathismaingoalinreturning to Europe was stillto raise enough men to putJerusalem back in Christianhands.An interesting point in the

opening to Jacques’ letter issomethingthatcastsdoubtonthereliabilityofhismemory,even when he was notsubjected to imprisonmentand the threat of torture. Hementions that in1274hehadattended the papal council atLyon with William ofBeaujeu, who had recentlybecomeGrandMaster.Now the inquisitors might

have done well to study this

letter before they beganquestioning Jacques, for hetells Pope Clement that heremembersseeingKingLouisIX (Saint Louis) at thecouncil.18Louisdied in1270,four years before the councilwas held. If this had beenpointed out at the trial, itmight have put an entirelydifferent spin on the case. Aman who has a vision of adeadsaint isn’t likely tobea

heretic.On the other hand, amanwhoremembersaneventthat incorrectly might not beveryreliableonothermatters.It wasn’t until Jacques

reached the port ofMarseillein late summer of 1307 thathe heard about the rumorsthatwere being spread aboutthe Templars. Up until then,he had assumed that anycomplaints were just the oldones: Templars were proud;

theyweregreedy;theydidn’tgive enough to charity; theywouldn’t tell anyone aboutwhat happened in theirchapter meetings, etc., etc.Imagine his horror at beingtold that they were beingaccused of denying Christ,spitting on the cross, andgrossobscenity.19

Howthesestoriesbegan isimpossible to say, whichdoesn’t mean that scholars

haven’ttried.Somesaythatabrother with a naggingconscience confessed to afriendaboutwhathehadbeenrequired to do upon joiningtheTemple.Others, thatmenwho had been expelled fromtheordermadeup thestoriestogeteven.20

Some sort of tale aboutirregularities in the Templarinitiation seems tohavebeencirculating by early in 1307.

But Jacques de Molay actedas if he were no more thanmildly concerned. He toldPopeClementthathewantedapapalcommissionsetup toinvestigate and disprove theslanders.21 He then went onabout his business. This wasaslateasAugustofthatyear.The secret order for the

arrest of the Templars wassentoutamonthlater.

All of the contemporarychroniclers state that theTemplars, Jacques de Molayinparticular,hadnoideathatthey were about to be takenbytheking’smen.Therewasno warning. There was notime to prepare, to flee, tohide any importantdocuments or treasure. OnThursday the twelfth ofOctober, Jacques went tosleep as the head of a

prestigious religious order.On Friday the thirteenth, hewas in prison beinginterrogated for infamouscrimesagainstChrist.What must he have felt

whenGuillaumedeNogaretand the soldiers startedbeatingdownthedoorsattheParisTemple?Didhethinkitwasa fire, an invasion,newsof some disaster in Cyprus?When the soldiers burst into

his sleeping quarters anddragged him out into thestreets, did he understandwhatwashappening?The report of his first

interrogation was made onOctober24.It isastarklegaldocument, a confession thatwhenhewasreceivedintotheTemplars, forty-two yearsbefore, he had been told todenyChristand“he,althoughunwillingly, did it.”22 When

asked if he then spit on thecrossheanswered,no,hehadspitontheground.23

Jacques admitted to thesethingsbutdenied thathehadbeen told he could “joincarnallywiththebrothersandheinsistedunderoaththathehad never done such athing.”24

That was all. But it wasenough for his adversaries.

The next day they hadJacques repeathis confessionbefore the masters of theUniversityofParis.TheyalsomadehimwriteanopenlettertotheotherTemplars,statingthathehadadmittedhisguiltand repented. He beggedthemtodothesame.Someofthem did, but by no meansall.25

Why did Jacques confess?Helatersaidthathehadbeen

starved and threatened withtorture.26I suspect that inthose first days, he wassimplyinastateofshock.At some point he must

haverealizedthat thekingofFrance had no legal powerover him or the order. In alllater interrogations, herefused to answer any of thequestions,insistingthathebetaken to thepope,whoalonecouldjudgehim.27

For the next six years,Jacques de Molay stuck tothat position. The trials anddefense of the Templarscontinued without him as heremainedsilentinprison.There is no doubt that his

“confession,” such as it was,damaged the defense of theorder. I think that if he andtheotherofficersoftheorderhad held fast, it would havebeenmuchhardertoconvince

the general public of theTemplars’guilt.Manypeoplewere doubtful that theywereas evil as Philip and hiscouncilors insisted and theknowledge that themasterofthe order refused to admit tothe truth of the accusationsmight have kept the popefrom issuing the commandfor the arrest of Templarsoutside France. Sadly, we’llneverknowwhatmighthave

happened.Jacquesgavenoleadership

to themore than sixhundredTemplars who soon cameforwardtodefendthemselvesandtheorder.OnOctober25,1307, he did recant hisconfession in thepresenceoftwo cardinals sent by PopeClement.However,inAugust1308, the cardinalsquestioned him again atChinon, where he was now

imprisoned. At this time, headmittedtothesameerrorsasbefore.28

Hadhebeentorturedinthemeantime? Was prisonwearing him down? It isintriguing that he neveradmitted to more than theirregularity of his receptionintotheorder.Hespatnexttothe cross and denied Christand then got onwith the jobasagoodChristianknight.

At the interrogation of1309, he again insisted thathe be judged only by thepope.When reminded of hisconfession, “he seemed tobestupefied by this.”29 Theimage is of a manemotionally and mentallybroken.It’s hard not to be critical

of Jacques de Molay, sittingsilent in his cell while somany others risked, and lost,

their lives defending theTemplars.30Heseemstohaveplaced his entire defense onthe belief that only the popecould judge him. He did atonepointdefendtheorderasa whole, saying that thepriestswereorthodox,thatheknew of no other religiousorder that gave so much tocharity and that he knew ofno other order, nor people,whowerewillingtoput their

livesonthelinedefendingthefaithagainstinfidels.31Butheretreated back into horrifiedsilence as the accusationsbecame more numerous andmore bizarre: that theTemplarsworshippedablackcat; that they worshipped anidol that they believed couldmake them rich as well ascause crops to flourish; thatevery Good Friday theyurinatedonacrucifix.32

After being questioned bythe papal commission,Jacques was imprisoned forthe next four years at theroyal chateau at Gisors.Along with him wereRaimbaud de Caron, thegrand commander; Geoffreyof Charney, the commanderof Normandy; Geoffroy deGonneville, commander ofAquitaine-Poitou; and Hughde Pairaud, Templar Visitor

of France. These were thehighest-ranking Templars incustody and Pope Clementhad insistedon judging themhimself.33

The pope took his timeaboutit.There is no information

about Jacques and hiscolleagues during the timethat the pope was decidinghow to handle the matter.

Finally, inDecember1313,ayear after the Order of theTemple had been officiallydisbanded, Clement decidedto delegate the problem ofJacques and the others tothree of his cardinals. Theygathered in Paris in March1314.Before a group of church

dignitaries, including thearchbishop of Sens,who hadallowed fifty-four Templars

to be sent to the stake in1310, Jacques and the othersconfessed to everything. “OntheMondayafter thefeastofSt.Gregory[March18]inthepublic place before thecathedral of Notre Dame,they were condemned toperpetual imprisonment. But,just when the cardinalsthought the whole affair wasfinished, all at once, two ofthe Templars, the Grand

Master and the Master ofNormandy, defendedthemselves tenaciouslyagainst the cardinal whopronounced the sentence andagainst the archbishop ofSens. And without anyrespect, they deniedeverything they hadpreviously sworn, whichcaused many people to begreatlysurprised.”34

King Philip was at his

palace nearby and wasimmediately informed of thestand taken by Jacques andGeoffrey of Charney. Theking had had enough. Thechronicler, Guillaume deNangis,says,“Withouttellingthe clergy, by a prudentdecision,thatevening,he[theking] delivered the twoTemplars to the flames on alittle island in the Seine,betweentheroyalgardenand

the church of the Hermitbrothers.”35

Guillaume continues bysayingthat“theyenduredthesufferingwith such an air ofindifferenceandcalmthat...to all the witnesses it was amatter of admiration andastonishment.”36

One of the witnesses wasGeoffrey of Paris, a cleric inthe employ of King Philip.

Heincludedtheepisodeinhisverseaccount:TheMaster,whosawthefirenearRemovedhisclothingwithoutfearAnd then, as I saw with myowneyesHewent,nakedinhisshirtFreelyandwithabraveface;Neverdidhetremble,Even when they shoved him

thiswayandthatAstheytookhimandtiedhimtothestake.Helet thembindhimwithoutfear.They tied his hands with aropeBut he said to them, “LordsatleastLetmejoinmyhandsalittleTomakeaprayertoGodForitisnowtheseasonHereIseemyjudgment.

Anddeathsuitsmewell.GodknowswhoiswrongandwhohassinnedThe time will come soon forevilTo those who have wronglycondemnedusGodwillavengeourdeaths...And he went so softly to hisdeathThateveryonetheremarveledatit.37

Jacques de Molay made agood death. Whether heactuallygaveaspeechonthepyre, I don’t know.Geoffreyof Paris is the only witnesswhomentionsitandhewasapoetandthereforeinclinedtolicense. But it is agreed thatthe manner of his deathcaused many to question hisguiltandthatoftheorder.After reading the few

records that are left—theletters he wrote, hisstatements duringinterrogations, the accountsof his travels—I get theimpression that Jacques deMolaywasamanofaverageintelligence and courage. Hewas reasonably pious andgenuinely devoted to theTemplars and the goal ofrecapturing Jerusalem forChristianity.Heknewthatthe

order needed reform, but notbecauseof heretical rites.Heseems to have had in mindmakingtheRuleclearertothemanyTemplarswhowerenoteducated and may havemisunderstoodthings.Atno timedidhegive the

impression that he had asecret agenda. On thecontrary, Jacques appearedstunned by the chargesagainst the Templars. This

may have been because hewasnotthekindofmanwhowas good at intrigue. Hismisfortune was to come upagainst a king who was amasteratit.1GeorgesLizerand,LeDossierde L’Affaire de Templiers(Paris,1923)p.34.2Alain Demurger, Jacques de

Molay: Le crepuscule destempliers (Paris: BiographiePayot,2002)pp.1-5.3Ibid., p. 94. For more onGaudin, please see chapter22, Grand Masters 1191-1192/93.4Ibid.,pp.96-97.5

MalcolmBarber,TheTrialofthe Templars (CambridgeUniversity Press, 1978; rev.ed.Canto2006)p.233.6Reg.NicholasIVt.II,p.913,n. 6834-35, quoted inDemurger,p.114, translationmine.7TheTemplarofTyre, tr.PaulCrawford (Ashgate, 2002) p.

130ff. The Templar wasneither a Templar nor fromTyre but someone in thenineteenthcenturycalledhimthat and the name stuck. Hewas in Acre and Cyprusduring the timeof the eventshechronicles.8Paul Crawford, privatecorrespondence, Aug. 26,2006.

9TheTemplarofTyre,pp.160-61.10Ibid., p. 161. The Templarswerenotactuallytakentothecity of Babylon. This is abiblical reference meaningthat they were sold intoslavery. They were probablytakentoEgypt.11

J.Micheleted.,LeProcèsdesTempliers (Paris, 1841) pp.36-39.12Demurger,p.118.13Ibid.,p.364.14Henri deCurzon,LaMaisondu Temple de Paris (Paris,1888)p.257.

15HefeleandLeclerq.16TextinLizerand,pp.1-15.17Lizerand, p. 8, “quia siHospitalarii faciebantaliquodbonum exercitium armorumcontra Saracenos, Templarinumquam cessabant nisifecissent tantumdem vrl pluseteconverso.”

18Lizerand, P. “Certe recoloquod papa Gregorius, dumesset in concilio Lugdunensiet sanctus Ludovicus cumeo.”—“I definitely rememberthatPopeGregorywasat thecouncilwith Saint Louis andothers.”19Whether you believe theTemplarswereguiltyofthese

things or not, it still musthavebeenashock.20Demurger, pp. 214-19.Demurger seems to feel thatthe allegations were true butthattheentryritualwasjustatestoftherecruit’sobedience,a sort of fraternity prank. Idisagree.Igivemyreasonsinchapter 30, The Arrest andTrialsoftheTemplars.

21Ibid.,p.230.22Ibid., p. 34, “qui, licetinvictus,fecit.”23Ibid.,“sedspuitadterram.”24Ibid.,p.36.“Interrogatus...si sibi fuit aliquid dictumquodcommiceretsecarnalier

cum fratribus, dixit perjuramentum suum quod nonnecumquamfecit.”25Guillaume de Nangis,Chroniques capétiennes:Tome II (Paris: Paleo, 2002)pp.93-94.26Lizerand.27

JulesMichelet,LeProcèsdesTempliers (Paris, 1841; rpt.Paris: Éditions du C.T.H.S.,1987) pp. 32, 42, and 87 forthreedifferentinterrogations.28Demurger,pp.246-49.29Michelet,p.34,“videbaturseesse valde stupefactum dehiis.”30

Pleaseseechapter30.31Michelet,p.45.32MalcolmBarber,TheTrialofthe Templars (CambridgeUniversity Press, 1978; rev.ed.Canto,2006)pp.248-52.33Demurger,p.265.34

GuillaumedeNangis,p.128.35Ibid.36Ibid.,pp.128-29.37Quoted in Demurger, pp.268-69(mytranslation).

CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE

PhiliptheFair

Philip IV of France wasknownasleBelor“theFair,”notforhissenseofjustice,aswillbeseen,but forhis lightcoloring and good looks. Hewas the grandson of LouisIX, who died while on

crusade,andmuchofPhilip’sreign was directed at seeingthat Louiswas recognized asasaint.1

Philip was born around1267. His mother, Isabella,died in1270,while returningfrom the crusade. Philip’sstepmother, Marie deBrabant, was apparently notsympathetictothechildrenofherhusband’sfirstmarriage.2She seems to have resented

her husband’s sons becauseofthefactthatherswouldnotinheritthethrone.Philip became king of

France in 1284, shortly afterhis marriage to Jeanne,heiress of Navarre andChampagne. Philip’s bridebrought with her a territorynearly the size of herhusband’s, which shemanaged in her own right.More importantly, she seems

tohavelovedhimandheher.Unfortunately this seems tohavehappenedtoolate inhislife to make Philip a nicerperson. By all accounts hewas withdrawn anduncomfortable in public.Notthe best personality traits fora ruler. He acquired areputationforbeingaloofandperhaps not very bright. Buthe was at least ornamental.Severalpeoplecommentedon

hisgoodlooks.PhilipandJeannehadthree

sons andonedaughter.Fromhis later actions, it doesn’tseem that Philip cared muchforhissons,buthe

Philip’s happy family.(ArtResource,NY)may have just had strangeways of showing it. Isabellawas in every sense daddy’slittle princess.Even after shemarried Edward II ofEngland, he kept in closetouchwithherandoftengavepresentstoherhusbandatherrequest.3

In October 1285, when

Philipwaseighteen,hisfatherdied, leaving him thekingdom, a disastrouswar inAragon, and a mountain ofdebt.4 So, besides beingobsessed with thecanonization of thisgrandfather, Philip was alsodriven to find new ways toget cash.Themajor conflictsof his reign are all tied tothesetwogoals.

PHILIPTHEFAIRANDPOPE

BONIFACEVIII

Money was at the heart ofPhilip’s conflict with thePope Boniface. To supporthis war against Edward I ofEngland, Philip had levied atax on lands owned by theChurch. This was notunknown and usually the

Churchallowedtaxes“forthedefense of the realm,”although previous kings andclerics had always pretendedthat it wasn’t a tax but avoluntarycontribution.5

Philip got carried awaywith the percentage of theirincome that he charged theChurchesofFranceandKingEdward, seeing that no onewas complaining too much,decided to do the same in

England. At this pointBoniface stepped in and, in1296, issued a bull,ClericosLaicos, forbidding the clergytopayoragreetoany“aidsorsubsidies”toanylordwithoutthe permission of the HolySee.6

Since the church owned alargeshareofthelandinbothFrance and England, Philipand Edward weren’t happywith this. But it was Philip

who went ballistic. Heorganized a media campaignagainst the pope. Pamphletsbegan to appear castigatingBoniface and the clergy.Since the authors weregovernment employees, theydidn’t have to worry aboutlibellaws.This tacticworked sowell

thatPhilipwoulduseitagainwhen he decided to go aftertheTemplars.

At first Boniface backeddown, but then decided tofightback.Asisthecasewithmanymajorevents, thesparkwas something minor. Abishop in the Languedoc,Bernard Saisset, was in thehabitofgettingabittipsyandrunning down the king. Thiswasacommonapastimethenasitistoday.ButLanguedocwas the home of theCatharheresy and it had also only

recently been added to theFrench possessions. ThismadePhilipmoresensitivetocriticism coming from thatregion. One comment thatSaissetmade became famousthroughoutEurope:“Ourkingresembles an owl, the fairestofbirds,butworthless.He isthe handsomest man in theworld, but he only knowshow to look at peopleunblinkingly, without

speaking.”7

This and other pithyremarkscaused thebishop tobe charged with treason.Now,ithadbeentheruleforcenturies that clerics chargedofcrimescouldonlybe triedinChurchcourts.Iftheywereguilty of major crimes, likemurder, theymightbe turnedover to civil authorities forpunishment, but the decisionto do so was made by other

clerics. However, instead offinding some bishopswillingto try Saisset in their courts,Philiphadthebishoparrestedand brought to Senlis fortrial.8

Boniface had had enough.He issued one bull afteranother declaring that thepapacy was above anymonarch and that Philip hadbetterturnSaissetovertohimor else. This declaration of

papal supremacy was an oldissue. The popes keptinsisting that they were theleaders of Christendom andthat kings were merely theirlieutenants. This never wentoverwellwiththekings,whothought the popes weremeddlers.Soonthis ledtoanall-outwarbetweenBonifaceand Philip. It was clear tomost people that the popewouldlose.Thewisestcourse

would be to come to somesort of compromise, butBoniface refused. He metPhiliphead-on.Why did Boniface set

himself on a suicide course?One historian suggests that“he had gallstones and thatsouredhischaracter.”9

The battle did not confineitself to words. Philip,through his adviser

Guillaume de Nogaret,accused Boniface of heresy,sodomy, and other unclericalbehavior.10Theyalsoimpliedthathewasn’treallya lawfulpope, having driven hispredecessor,CelestineV, outof office. 11 There wasenough truth in theiraccusations to put Bonifaceonshakyground.Hewasoneof the many popes who hadbeen elected as part of a

power struggle between thegreatfamiliesofRome.WhenPhilip needed help tocondemn the pope,Boniface’s enemies, theColonna family, were happytooblige.Nogaret thenwent to Italy

and led a band that arrestedand imprisoned Boniface athis home town of Anagni.However, after a short time,the citizens of Anagni

became nervous aboutlocking up a pope. PublicsympathyoutsideFrancewaschanging in support ofBoniface, if not his policies.But we’ll never know whowould have won. Bonifacewas released and went backtoRomeanagedandbrokenman. He died a month lateronOctober11,1303.12

Thisisaquicksummaryofaverycomplexissue,butthe

arrest of Boniface isimportant to understandingwhat happened to theTemplars because there is apattern being establishedhere. Philip’s battle withBoniface began with theking’s need for money tosupporthisvariouswars.Theneed came first. The moraland legal justificationsfollowed.Thesewerebackedup by accusations of

wrongdoing, some provable,some clearly made up, likeheresy and sexualmisconduct. From Philip’spointofview,everythingwasjustified.

PHILIPANDTHEJEWS

Money still being a problem,

Philip’s next target was theJewish population. Thesituation of the Jews inFrance was always unstable.As non-Christians, theywerealreadysetapartfromtherestof the population and couldbemoreeasilytargeted.Theywere not numerous andconcentrated mostly in themajor cities, living in theirown enclaves and followingtheirowncustoms.Jewswere

also considered a separatesociety, with their owncourts. In most places theywere under the directprotection of the king orbishop, to whom they paidhugetaxesfortheprivilege.Although there had been

sporadic accusations of ritualmurder, the worst being inBlois in 1171,13 there hadbeennomasspersecutions inFrance.PhilipIIhadexpelled

theJewsfromhis territory in1180 but invited them backby 1198.14 Since then, theJews were generally left inpeaceinFrance.Even in the thirteenth-

century determination tostampoutheretics,Jewswereleft relatively alone. Neverhaving been Christian, theycouldn’t be heretics. But, bythe end of the century, therewas once again a general

feelingthat theyshouldn’tbeallowed to live in Christianlands. Edward I expelledthem from England in 1290andmanywenttoFrance.By1306,PhilipIVhadlost

the county of Gascony toEdward and the county ofFlanders to CountessMargarite along with therevenuefromthoselands.Hebegan looking around for anew source of cash. In the

Jews he suddenly noticed asectionof thepopulation thathadagooddealofdisposableincomeandwhowouldn’tbemissedatall.Philip felt that this was a

chance to kill twobirdswithone stone. Along with hisconstant need formoney, hisapprovalratingintheeyesofthe French people was at anall-timelow.Notlongbefore,he had debased the coinage,

causing rampant inflation.We all know how popularthat makes politicians. InParis this caused “fatalsedition.”“Theinhabitantsofthat townwereforced to renttheir houses and receive therental payments in the newcoin, according to royaldecree.Most of the commonpeople found this veryonerousforittripledtheusualprice.”15

Philipmadeaplantoexpelthe Jews and take theirproperty.Hisexcusewasthatthey were known to beusurers who gouged honestChristians with exorbitantinterest. Actually, the ratesthe Jews charged were oftenlower than those of theChristian lenders but thatmadethegeneralangerworsesince that meant they weretaking business from

Christians.16

Philip and his advisersdecided that it was better tokeepthematterquietuntilthedayofthearrests.Theydidn’twant nobles protesting, Jewsfleeing with their valuables,orlocalmobsgettingintothespirit of things and lootingJewish property before theking’smenarrived.17

Thelightningarrestsdidn’t

go as smoothly as planned.Some Jews got away withtheir goods.Some lords triedto protect them. But Philipgotenoughoutoftheepisodeto make it worth his while.For good measure, he alsoexpelled the Lombards,another group of foreignersassociatedwithbanking.18

Still Philip needed more.He cast about for anothergroup that was perceived as

wealthy and wasn’t all thatpopular. He settled on theTemplars.Hisattackonthemused all the tools he hadperfected in his earliervendetta.19Evidence that theTemplars weren’t expectingtobeputamongtheoutsiderswas the fact that theyboughtthe synagogue complex inBelvèze either from thefleeingJewsorfromtheking.Thecomplexwaswalledand

had a moat, perfect to theneeds of the Templars.20Theyonly had a fewmonthstoredecoratebeforetheirturncame.

LASTYEARS

Historians have disagreed asto how much Philip was theinstigator of the deedsattributed to him. Bernard

Saisset wasn’t the onlycontemporarywhohada lowopinion of the king. Anothercontemporarysaid,“Ourkingisanapatheticman,afalcon.While theFlemingsacted,hepassedhistimeinhunting.... He is a child; he does notseethatheisbeingdupedandtaken advantage of by hisentourage.”21

Was he? I can’t be sure.His close adviserGuillaume

deNogarethas beenblamedfor every evil thing Philipdid, especially regardingPope Boniface and theTemple. It’s possible thatPhilip was easily duped. It’salso possible that Philip, likemany people, preferred tomake a good impression onthe public and let underlingstake the heat.Hemight havebeen a Teflon king. Fromlooking at the records, I’m

inclined to think he wassmarter than people thoughtand not just a puppet.22 I’msure thematter will continuetobedebatedforyears.After the execution of the

Templars, Philip had onemore major scandal. InNovember 1314, all three ofhis daughters-in-law wereaccused of adultery andarrested. It appears that twoofthemwereguilty,although

I wouldn’t swear to that,either. The third managed toprove her innocence. Themen involvedwereexecuted.The two women who wereconvicted were imprisonedanddiedsoonafter.23

This whole situation isextremely odd. One wondersjust what was wrong withPhilip’s sons. I’ve neverfound a reference to themeither condemning or

defending their wives.Everything was done by theking. It’s another indicationthat Philip always called theshots.While the three sons each

becamekinginhisturn,noneof them produced an heir. Inan ironic twist, Philip’s onlydescendantwould be the sonof his daughter, Isabella,whosemarriage toEdwardIIof England produced King

Edward III. That led towhatis called the Hundred Years’War between the twocountries. If her actions inEngland are any indication,Isabella was a chip off theroyalblock.24

Another of the significantchanges in King Philip’sreign is his reliance onlawyers to maintain theworkingsof the state.Unlikehis ancestors’, Philip’s

adviserswerenotrelativesorknights who owed himmilitary service, but legaladministrators. “Thestrongest, most highlydeveloped . . . branch of thegovernment was the judicialsystem.” 25Philip was amasteratusingthissystemtogive a legal justification forall his actions, includingannexing the land of othercountries, bringing down a

pope,expellingtheJews,and,of course, destroying theTemplars.His legacy is still being

disputed. In many ways hestrengthened the Frenchgovernment.Heprovedthataking in his own country canbemorepowerfulthanapopein Rome. He established aweblike bureaucracy that, asfar as I can tell, still thrives.He certainly made the law a

very lucrative profession inFrance.But evenhis greatestsupportersadmitthatachilly,arrogant personality coupledwith rampant overspendingmade him one of the mostdisliked kings France everhad. His treatment of theTemplarsisonlyoneofmanymisdeedsPhilipcommittedinhis single-minded quest forfinancialsecurity.Philip’spassionforhunting

was legendary and itsurprised no one when hedied in a hunting accident,November29,1314.1He was, of course, or therewould be no St. Louis,Missouri.2Joseph Strayer,The Reign ofPhilip the Fair (Princeton:Princeton University Press,

1980)p.6.3Ibid.,p.19.4Ibid.,p.11.5RobertFawtier,TheCapetianKings of France (London:Macmillan,1965)pp.90-91.6Ibid.

7Bishop Bernard Saisset,quoted in Charles-VictorLanglois, “Philip the Fair:The Unknown King” inPhilip the Fair and BonifaceVIII, ed. and tr. Charles T.Wood (New York: HoltRinehart Winston, 1967)p.85.8Strayer,pp.262-68.

9Jean Favier, Philippe le Bel(Paris: Fayard, 1978) p. 268(mytranslation).10Strayer,pp.275-77.11Ibid.,p.287.12T.S.R.Boase,BonifaceVIII(London: Constable and Co.,

1933)pp.341-51.13Robert Chazan, MedievalJewry in Northern France,(Jolins Hopkins UniversityPress,Baltimore,1973)p.37.14Ibid.p.74.15Continuator of Guillaume deNangis, Chroniques

Capétiennes.Tome II, tr.FrançoisGuizot(Paris:Paleo,2002)p.88.16William Chester Jordan, TheFrench Monarchy and theJews (Philadelphia:University of PennsylvaniaPress,1989).17Jordan,pp.202-3.18

Favier,p.205.19See chapter 30, The ArrestandtrialsoftheTemplars.20Cyril P. Hershon, Faith andControversy: The Jews ofMediaeval Languedoc(University of Birmingham,UK,1999)p.102.21

Favier,p.86.22Strayer leans to this opinionand makes a very good caseforit.23Guillaume de Nangis, pp.129-30.24Isabella’s life is anotherinteresting story. Just don’t

believe anything you sawabout her inBraveheart. ShewasonlyfiveyearsoldwhenWilliamWallacedied.25Strayer,p.33.

CHAPTERTHIRTY

FridaytheThirteenth;theArrestandTrialsoftheTemplars

At the beginning of October1307JacquesdeMolaywasmainly concerned withfending off the proposedunionoftheTemplarsandthe

Hospitallersandwithgettingtogether the men andmaterials necessary to retakethe Holy Land. He seems tohave had no idea thatPhilipthe Fair was alreadypreparing the mass arrest ofeveryTemplarinFrance.De Molay may have even

felt thathehada realchanceof success. The new pope,Clement V, had proclaimedfrom the beginning of his

pontificate that the recoveryof theHolyLandwasoneofhis main goals.1King Philipalso seemed disposed toleading a crusade, althoughthe terms under which hewoulddosoweren’twhatthemaster of the Temple had inmind. Philip wanted theTemplars disbanded and anew order created, possiblyunder the leadership of hisyounger brother, Charles de

Valois.2 Charles hadmarriedCatherine de Courtenay,granddaughter of the lastWestern emperor ofConstantinople, and he haddreams of one day retakingthe city from theGreeks andrulingithimself.3

Therefore, De Molayseemstohavebeenobliviousto the coming storm. Whenhe came to Paris in October1307, he had no idea that

Philip had already sent outthe order for the arrest ofeveryTemplarinFrance.WhydidPhilipdecidethat

the Templars would be hisnext target? It’s not reallyclear, even with the mass ofmaterialhis counselorswroteto justify his actions. If wetake these documents at facevalue, the pious king hadrecently been horrified tolearn that the Templars were

notastheyseemed.Insteadofbeing the pillars ofChristendom, a bulwarkagainst theheathen, theyhadreally renounced Christ andwereworkingactivelyagainstHim and, by extension,against the most Christianking of France and, oh yes,thepapacy.One month before the

arrest, on September 14,1307,Philipsentsecretorders

tohisofficialsthroughouttheland. His words leave nodoubtofhisshockandhorroratwhathewasaskingthemtodo: “A bitter thing, a dolefulthing, a thing horrible tocontemplate, terrible to hear,a detestable crime, anexecrable pollution, anabominable act, a shockinginfamy, somethingcompletely inhuman, evenmore, outside of all

humanity.”!!!4

Themenwhoreceivedthismust have been quaking intheir boots as they read, notknowing what monster wasabout to be unleashed.Philip’s orders continue inthiswayforafullpagebeforeheletsonthattheperpetratorsof this evil are, gasp, theTemplars! “Wolves insheep’s clothing, under thehabit of their order, they

insult the faith. Our LordJesusChrist,crucifiedforthesalvation of mankind, iscrucifiedagaininourtime.”5

He then reveals theblasphemies that they areguilty of. These wouldbecome familiar to everyonesoon, but one has to wonderwhat the bailiffs andseneschals felt when theyheardthemforthefirsttime.

In their initiationceremonies, Philip states, theTemplars ritually deny thefaith three times. Then theyspitthreetimesonthefaceofthe cross. Finally, the newrecruitstripsnakedandkissesthe Templar who hasrecruitedhim,firstatthebaseof the spine, then on thenavel,andthenonthemouth,“asistheprofaneriteoftheirorder.”6

As if that isn’t enough,then the new recruit to theTemplarsistold thathemustnowgivehimselftotheotherbrothers, not refusinganything they ask, lyingtogether in “this horrible anddreadful vice.”7And, by theway,theyalsoworshipidols.Philip winds up by telling

his officials that he is onlytaking this drastic step at therequest of the Inquisitor

GeneralofParis,andwiththepermission of the pope,because the Templars pose aclearandpresentdangertoallthe people of Christendom.Therefore, he commands hismentoarrestalltheTemplarsin their jurisdiction and holdthem.Theofficialsarealsotoseize all their goods, bothbuildings and property, andhold them for the king (admanum nostrum—“for our

hand”), without using ordestroyinganything.Because,ofcourse,ifitshouldturnoutthat the Templars wereinnocent,everythingought tobe returned to them just astheyleftit.8

Guillaume de Paris, theInquisitor, was also Philip’sprivate confessor. Of coursethat didn’t affect his loyaltyto the Faith or to the pope,notatall.

Everythingwasinplace.On Thursday, October 12,

1307, Jacques de Molayattended the funeral ofCatherine de Courtenay, thewifeofCharlesdeValois.Hewas given a place of honorand even held one of thecordsofthepall.9Thatnight,he must have gone to bedfeelingfairlysureofhisplaceincourtsociety.

Ihaveoftenheard thatoursuperstition about Friday thethirteenth being an unluckyday stems from the arrest ofthe Templars. It’s verydifficult to tracetheoriginofafolkbelief.Itdoesseemthatthirteen was an unluckynumber long before theTemplars, and there aretraditions that Friday is anunlucky day, perhapsstemming from Friday being

the dayof Jesus’ crucifixion.I haven’t been able todiscoverwhenthetwobeliefswere joined. It was certainlyunlucky for Jacques and therest of theTemplars. In fact,Jacques’worldwas shatteredin the predawn hours of thenext morning, Friday,October13,whentheTemplein Paris was invaded byagents of the king. “All theTemplarsthatcouldbefound

in the kingdom of Francewere,allatonce,inthesamemoment, seized and lockedup in different prisons, afteran order and decree of theking.”10

It’s not clear if they knewat first what they werecharged with. Jacques deMolay had apparently heardtherumorsofimproprietiesintheorderandhadaskedPopeClement to look into them.11

Clement promised to do sobutputthematteroffbecauseofhischronicillness.Neitherman seemed to feel it wasanythingurgent.ByOctober24,Jacquesde

Molayhadconfessedtoeverymisdeed his accuserssuggested. He did this, therecords state, not because oftorture or fear of torture orbecause he’d been throwninto prison but “on the

contrary, he spoke the puretruth for the good of hissoul.”12

AlmostalloftheTemplarsarrested that night producedalmost identical confessionswithin the next few weeks.Either they were obviouslyguilty or the inquisitors hadall been working from thesamescript.People who heard of this

tended to one side or theother depending on theirexperiencewiththeTemplarsand their distance from thecourtofPhiliptheFair.JamesII, king of Aragon, wrote toPhilip thathewasastonishedby the accusations, as theTemplars had “lived asreligiousmeninthesepartsina laudable manner accordingto popular opinion.”13Edward II of England,

Philip’s son-in-law, told himthatheandhiscouncil foundthe wholematter “more thanispossibletobelieve.”14

The person whowasmostamazed, apart from theimprisoned Templars, wasPopeClement.Asoneof theexempt orders, the Templarswere answerable only to thepope. Not even the localbishops could prosecutethem.Thishadbeenasource

of friction ever since themilitary orders had beenfounded. Therefore, for theking of France—who was,when all is said and done,onlya layman—toarrest andquestion the Templarswithouteven telling thepopefirst,thatwasjusttoomuch.Clement let Philip know

that he wasn’t happy. Heimmediately wrote to theking, “You . . . have in our

absence, violated every ruleandlaidhandsonthepersonsandpropertyoftheTemplars.You have also imprisonedthemand,whatpainsusevenmore, you have not treatedthemwith due leniency [thatmeans“you tortured them”] .. . Your hasty act is seen byall,andrightlyso,asanactofcontempt towards ourselvesandtheRomanChurch.”15

Clement was right to be

alarmed. He rememberedonly too well what hadhappenedtoBonifaceVIII inhis hometown in Italy, whenhe had made an enemy ofPhilip. How much moredangerouswasitforapopetochallenge Philip the Fair inhis own kingdom? ClementhadbeendrivenoutofRomeand was at that time inPoitiers. Still, he had to saysomething. Philip seemed to

beusurpingtheroleofleaderof the faithful. Clementprobably knew that he wasalready widely regarded asnothing more than Philip’spuppet. But this was goingtoo far. The pope knew thathe had never agreed to letPhilip’s men arrest theTemplars,butPhiliphad toldeveryone that he had blessedthedeed.Clementhad to findaway

togetcontrolofthesituation.Philiparguedinreturnthat,

since the Templars were sodangerous and the threat soimminent,asagoodChristianand crowned defender of thefaith,hehadnochoicebuttoact, since the popewouldn’t.Clement didn’t agree withthat,nordidthemastersattheUniversity of Paris whenPhilip put the matter tothem.16

Actually, Philip never saidjustwhat threat theTemplarsposed. There was a veiledinsinuationthattheymightbeluring more men into thepernicious heresy of theorder, but there was nomentionofanupcomingplotto destroy the kingdom orassassinate the pope. As amatter of fact, until JacquesdeMolay confessed, none ofthechargeswereanythingbut

rumors.ButafterJacquesandotherleadersoftheTemplarsadmitted their guilt, the fateoftheTemplarswassealed.Still, it would be another

five years before the orderwas officially dissolved. Thestory of these years reflectsthe politics and emotionalclimate of the time as muchas the guilt or innocence oftheTemplars.

Theywere,tosomeextent,pawnsinthestruggleofPopeClementtoescapethecontrolof the king of France. Theyalso suffered from theresentment of local bishopsandpriestsagainsttheexemptorders along with a popularfeelingthat theTemplarshadgrown too arrogant andpowerful.Addedtothatwasagrowing unease in Europeabout heresy and the

beginning of a belief that itwas somehow connected tosorcery and magic.17 Thiswas to culminate in theseventeenth century, duringthe“Enlightenment,”withthewitchtrials.At first, Clement simply

triedtomakethebestofabadsituation. In order to appearthat he was in charge, onNovember 22, 1307, heordered that all Templars in

all countries be arrested. Healso sent emissaries to try tofindoutwhatwasgoingon.While the pope dithered,

the king’s men continued toquestion the Templarsenergetically. Itwassaid thatatleastthirty-sixofthemdiedasaresult.18

WHEREDIDTHE

CHARGESCOMEFROM?

Most of the charges againstthe Templars are socommonplace that for a longtime people assumed thatPhilipandhiscounselorshadmade them up. Accusationsof defacing holy objects,idolatry,sexualdeviation,andwildorgieshavebeenstaplesofcondemnationsofoutsiders

since long before theChristianera.19Asamatteroffact, theaccusationofheresywithout orgies seems to bealmost unheard of, evenagainst groups that preachcelibacy.Inanycase,itturnsoutthat

at least one person wasspreading salacious storiesabout the Templars in themonths before the arrests. Aman from Gascony, Esquin

deFloyran,hadbeentryingtogetthekingsofEuropetopayattention to him for sometime. He had first gone toKingJamesIIofAragonwiththe information, but Jameshad told him that his storieswerenonsense.20

Undaunted, Floyran tookhis information to Philip theFair, who was much morereceptive and sent spies intotheTemplarcommanderiesto

find out if the charges weretrue.The spies reportedbackthattheywere.21It’snotclearexactly how the spies foundthat out. They don’t seem tohave actually joined theTemplars themselves.Perhaps they hung about inlocal taverns asking servantsand others. That’s whatinvestigatorsdoontelevision.The Templars were aware

of Floyran’s accusations, but

don’t seem tohavebeen thatworried about him. For anexperienced leader, Jacquesde Molay acted in a mannerthatwasmostunworldly.In January 1308, Floyran

wrote a letter to King JamesIItosay“Itoldyouso.”Inithe specifies that he toldJames that the TemplarsdeniedChrist and spit on thecross, that they wereencouraged to have sex with

each other, and that thereception ceremony includedkissingonvariouspartsofthebody.He reminds James that“you were the first prince inthe whole world to whom Iexposed their actions. . . . Inthisyouwereunwilling,lord,to give full credence to mywords.”22Hethengoeson togive the main reason for hisletter: “My Lord, rememberthatyoupromisedme...that

if the activities of theTemplars were found to beproved, you would give me1,000 livres in rents and3,000 livres in money fromtheirgoods.”23

ThereisnorecordofJamespaying.I haven’t found anything

that indicates where Esquinde Floyran found theinformation about the

Templars in the first place.Was he a good citizenreportingacrimeoragreedybastard with an ax to grind?As with so many things, wemayneverknow.

IFTHETEMPLARSWEREINNOCENT,WHYDIDTHEY

CONFESS?

For several centuries, peoplehave debated this question.Some people have said thattheymusthavebeenguilty.Iftheyweren’tdoingsomethingbad,whyweretheirreceptionceremonies secret? Othershave assumed that there wassomething in the charges butthe actions weren’t signs ofheresy. The spitting on thecross and denying of Christwere just tests to judge the

obedienceof thenew recruit.Thekisseswerejustmedievalboyish high spirits, to showhumility. The ceremony wasnothing more serious than afraternityinitiation.24

Some people have takenthe confessions moreseriously.Theyhaveassumedthat at least parts of theconfessions reflected realevents and used them toassert that theTemplarswere

reallyasecretmysticaland/orpagan society.25While theywere accused of blasphemyand denial of the divinity ofJesus,noneoftheaccusationsimplythattheTemplarshadacoherentsecretagenda.I believe that many of

those searching forexplanationshaveignoredthesituation that the Templarsfound themselves in as wellas thebeliefsof theworld in

whichtheylived.First of all, most of the

men arrested were notknights, but “servingbrothers” or even servants.The average age of thosequestionedinPariswas41.46years.26JacquesdeMolaywasat least in his early sixties.Otherswerestillintheirteensand had only recently joinedtheorder.Thiswasnatural,asall men of fighting agewere

sent to the East as soon aspossible, so the ones left inFrance would have beeneither too old and infirm tofightornotyettrained.Butitmeantthattheweakestofthebrothers were the ones whofellintoPhilip’strap.In order to make sense of

the accusations against theTemplars and theirconfessions, one needs tounderstand how heresy was

viewedatthistime.Itwasnotenough simply to believesomething that went counterto Church teaching.One hadto hold to a contrary beliefeven after the accepteddoctrinewasexplained.Also,the heresy usually wasignored unless the believertriedtoconvertothers.An established group of

hereticswhodidn’tanswertoChurch or civil authority

couldleadtoabreakdownofsociety. Thiswas one reasonwhy kings and other rulerswere eager to stamp it out.This danger had been madealltooclearfiftyyearsbeforetheTemplartrialwhenwholecounties had refused to obeylocal religious leaders,preferring the teachingof theCathars.However, in theory, the

Church did not want to

punishsinners,butsavethem.Therefore, if a hereticconfessed,showedcontrition,and was prepared to dopenance, he or shewould beforgiven and brought backinto the fold. In the case oftheTemplars,whentheywerearrested, theywerepresumedto be guilty. A chroniclerreports, “Some of themconfessed, sobbing, to mostor all of these crimes. These

were allowed, it seems, torepent. Some others werequestioned with varioustortures, or frightened by thethreat or sight of the tortureinstruments.Still otherswereled or coerced by invitingpromises. Many weretormented and forced bystarvation in the prison toswear to the truth of theaccusations.”27

After days or weeks of

imprisonment and torture, itmaywellhaveseemed to theTemplars that it wouldmakemoresensejusttoconfess,dothe penance, and get onwiththeir lives.Seen in this light,the mass confessions makesomesense.Whatisamazingisthatthe

confessions were retracted.The chronicler is alsoamazed.“Butagreatnumberof them denied absolutely

everything, and more, whohad at first confessed, laterrecantedandpersistedintheirdenials right up to the end.Someamongthemdiedwhilebeingtortured.”28

Finally, Pope Clementbecame fed up with Philip’sdetermination to continue theunauthorized interrogation ofthe Templars. Since the kinginsisted that he was onlyactingonbehalfofGuillaume

deParis, thepapal inquisitor,Clement was able to find aloophole. In February 1308,he suspended the Inquisitionin France, “thereby bringingthe trialof theTemplars to adead-end.”29

But it was too late to goback. Templars all overChristendom were in prisonor on the run. Their goodshadbeenconfiscated.AndtheGrand Master had confessed

to horrible crimes that, byextension, made everyTemplarsuspectofthesame.Clement may have been

hoping to make theinvestigationof theTemplarspurelyan internalmatter,butPhilip was having none ofthat.Hesteppeduphismediacampaign against theTemplars. One of his clerks,Pierre Dubois, wrote a“people’s proclamation,”

supposedly a reflection ofpopular French opinion. Itwas written in French andwidelydistributed throughoutthe kingdom. In it, the“people” profess themselvesto be horrified by the“buggeryof theTemplars.”30Theyarealsoupsetabouttheconfessionsofblasphemyandcan only imagine that theTemplars have bribed thepope to stop the

proceedings.31

Instead of attacking theTemplars, the proclamationgoes for Pope Clement,whois really an easier target. Itaccuses him not only oftaking bribes but of puttingmany of his relatives inimportant positions in theChurch. Both of these thingswere true. His nephewBernarddeFargueshadbeenmade archbishop of Rouen.

Another nephew, Arnaud deCantiloup, becamearchbishop of Bordeaux.32Yet another, Gaillard dePreissac, was given thebishopric of Toulouse.33 Thepopewasverymuchafamilyman.Clement had reason to be

nervous, as the lettercontinued to hint that a popewhodidn’tactintheinterestsof the faith might not be

aroundlong.This was followed by a

second proclamation, inLatin, that focused more onthe sins of the Templars butstill begged the king to seethat the pope take action atonce. “The people of theKingdom of France urgentlyand devotedly ask YourMajestythathowever...thediscord between you and thepope over the punishment of

the Templars, he swore touphold the Catholic faith.”34Again it urges the king tohelpthepopeseehisdutyandcondemntheTemplars.The king then called

together a group ofrepresentatives from thekingdom,consistingofminorlocal officials andbourgeoisie. He put thematter to themas spokesmenfor the people of France and

they came through byagreeing that somethingshouldbedone.35

Clement got the message.Even so, he refused to allowthekingtojudgetheorder.Inearly1309,hesetupapapalcommission to interview theTemplars in custody andgatherevidenceforadecisionon the order as a whole. Hehad already announced thatthere would be a general

council of the Church thatwould meet in October1310.36

THEPAPALINVESTIGATION

Pope Clement’s commission,headed by Gilles Aycelin,archbishop of Narbonne,didn’t meet until August 9,

1309. The bishops issued aproclamation that all whowished to defend theTemplars should come tomeet with them at themonastery of St. Genevieve,inParis.The first day they met no

onecame.The second day no one

came.Thethirddaynoonecame,

even though theporter,John,had shouted the invitationalloverthecity.The same thing happened

for the following five days.Finally, the commission wasabouttoadjournandtryagainin November. After all,everyone knows August iswhen the French all leaveParisforsomeplacecooler.However, they made one

lastattempt.Theysentaletterto the bishop of Paris askingif he couldhurry thingsup abit.Thebishopdecidedtogoto see the Templars forhimself and found that somedid want to testify. It’s hardto get away to attend ameeting when you’reshackledtoawall.The next day seven

Templarsappeared,includingtheVisitor,HughdePairaud.

However, each one told thecommission that they were“simple knights, withouthorse, arms or land and hadno idea how to defend theorder.”37WhenHughwas ledin, he said only that theTemplars were an honorableorder and only the popeshouldjudgethem.38

Thiswasn’tthedefensethecommissionhadinmind.

A fewmendid straggle inlater. One, Peter of Sorayo,had left the Templars sometimebefore and had come toParis looking for work. No,he didn’t know anything badabouttheorder,butcouldthecommission give him ahandout? Another couple ofmen had been sent byTemplars in Hainault in thenorth, to find out what wasgoingon.39Theydidn’tknow

what they were supposed todefend.Thecommissionadjourned

untilNovember.

THEINTERVIEWS

When the cardinals returnedin November, they found anentirely different situation,although the first witnessdidn’t give any indication of

that.ItwasJacquesdeMolay.The Grand Master of the

Templars insisted that hethought it unlikely that thepope would want to destroyan order that had done somuch for the faith.Headdedthat he couldn’t affordcounsel, forhehadonly fourdenarii to his name. Thecommission had his previousconfessionreadtohim.Uponhearing it, “hemade the sign

of the cross twice over hisface andmoved his hands inother signs, seeming to bestupefiedbythis.”40

Either Jacqueswas a greatactor or his two years inprisonhadrattledhisbrains.Undaunted, the

commission continued tointerview Templars. Somerepeated their confessionsbut,daybyday, theyseemed

to gain courage. Ponsard ofGizy, preceptor of the firstcommandery at Payns,admitted that he hadpreviously confessed to allthecharges.Thenhe told thecardinals that he and theothers had only done sothrough force and fearbecause they had beentortured, and all informationgatheredthatwaywasfalse.Ponsard then told the

commissionwhomhethoughtmight have had a grudgeagainst the order.One of thefourmenhelistedwasEsquindeFloyran.41

Other Templars began tocomeforward.Somerecantedtheir confessions. Others,who had never confessed,told of the torture they hadendured,designedtogetthemto admit wrongdoing. Somehad had their hands tied

behind their backs and thenwerepulledupbytheirwristsuntil their arms weredislocated.42 One man toldthe commission that weightshad been hung from hisgenitalsandotherpartsofhisbody during thequestioning.43 Another hadhad grease rubbed over hisfeet and then held to a fireuntil the skin was burnedaway.44 Many had been

starved and confined inspaces too small to rest incomfort. Even the ones whohadn’t been tortured knewthatitwashappening.Severalmen admitted that the threatoftorturehadbeenenoughtomakethemgivein.Eventually nearly seven

hundred Templars cameforward. Most of them feltthattheyweretooignoranttopresent a solid legal defense

but finally one of the priestsof the order, Peter ofBologna, was convinced tospeak for all. Peter had beentrained as a lawyer and hadbeen the Templarrepresentative to the papalcourt in Rome.45His rhetoricwas a match for that of theking’scounselors.On April 23, 1310, Peter

and three other defenderscame before the commission

and declared that the actionsof King Philip had beenoutside of law and reason.“The proceedings against theOrder had been ‘rapid,unlooked for, hostile andunjust, altogether withoutjustice, but containingcomplete injury, most graveviolence and intolerableerror,’ for no attempt hadbeenmade to keep to properprocedures.”Headdedthatas

a result of this sudden andhorriblearrest,imprisonment,andtorture,theTemplarshadbeendeprivedof“freedomofmind, which is what everygood man ought to have.Onceamanisdeprivedofhisfreewill,heisdeprivedofallgood things, knowledge,memory andunderstanding.”46

Thispassionatespeechwasfollowedbyademandforall

the documentation heretoforegathered in the case, alongwith the names of allwitnesses called and to becalled. The defenders alsodemanded that witnesses notbe allowed to talk with eachother and that the testimonybekeptsecretuntilitwassenttothepope.47

The commission agreed.Suddenly, thereseemedtobea hope that the Templars

would be declared innocentand at last, after two longyears,setfree.

PHILIP’SENDRUNAROUNDTHE

PAPALCOMMISSION

It was now May of 1310,almost three years after the

arrests.TheTemplarshadnotyet been judged as an order.Mostwerestill imprisonedatvarious places in France.Philip the Fair still did nothave legal access to theirproperty. Itwasbeginning tolookasthoughhemighthaveto give it all back. Philipneeded to take decisiveaction.Byanoddcoincidence,the

new archbishop of Sens,

Philip de Marigny, was thebrother ofKing Philip’s newfavoritecounselor,Engerrandde Marigny. Now, at thattime, Paris was under thejurisdictionof the archbishopofSens.Italsohappenedthat,while the commission hadbeen set up to try theTemplars as an order, thelocalbishopshad theright totry and sentence individualTemplars. The archbishop

decided to do just that. Heannounced that the TemplarsimprisonedinPariswouldbetried in the archiepiscopalcourt.Thissentthedefendersinto

apanic.PeterofBolognaandthe others hunted down thecommission even though itwas a Sunday. Peter beggedthem to prevent thearchbishopfromtakingthem,especially those who had

confessed under torture andthen recanted. The level ofterror is clear even in thenotorialrecords,whichrepeatthepleaverbatim.“It would be against God

and justice and completelyoverturnthisinvestigation. . ..We call upon the Pope andthe Apostolic See both outloud and in writing . . . thatall the brothers who haveofferedorwillofferadefense

be takenunder theprotectionoftheApostolicSee.Webegthe pope, again we beg, andwe beg with the greatesturgency!”48

The image of these bravemenstandinginthechapelofSt. Eligius at the monasteryof St. Genevieve, in theSunday calm, pleading fortheir lives, isahauntingone.We don’t know how itaffected the commissioners.

GillesAycelin,whowasalsoa counselor of the king,excusedhimselffrommakinga decision. The othercommissioners asked theTemplars to returnatvespersthat afternoon, to hear theiranswer.This is one of those times

whenit’shardformetokeepascholarlyobjective.The commissioners

William Durant, bishop ofMende;ReginaldofLaPorte,bishop of Limoges;Matthewof Naples; and John ofMantua,archdeaconofTrent,joined by John of Montlaur,archdeacon of Maguelonne,returnedtofacePeterandhiscomrades.They told the Templars

that there was nothing theycould do. The law was clearon this and they couldn’t

poach on the territory of thearchbishop of Sens. Theywereverysorry,but thatwasthat.49

Were these men sticklersfor the law? Were theycowards, afraid of Philip theFair? Did they believe thattheTemplarswereguiltyanddeserved whatever they got?They definitely knew thatthey were putting all theTemplarsingravedanger.

Two days later, thearchbishop of Sens orderedthe burning of fifty-fourTemplars.They“wereburnedoutsideofParis inafieldnotfar from the convent of thenuns of Saint Anthony.”50The victims seem to havebeen picked at random fromthose who had not yet beenreconciled with the Church.Only a fewof themhad saidthey would defend the

order.51

And yet, they all diedproclaiming their innocence.“All of them, not oneexcepted, refused to admit tothecrimesofwhichtheywereaccused and persisted firmlyand consistently in generaldenial,not ceasing todeclarethat itwaswithoutcauseandunjust that they weresentenced to death. A greatnumber of people saw this

with great astonishment andexcessiveshock.”52

The shock rippled back tothe Templars still in prison.Now no one was eager todefend the order. The popeeither wouldn’t or couldn’tprotect them. The pillar theyhad trusted to support themhadcrumbled.The next witness brought

before the commission,

Aimeryof

PhiliptheFairwatchesasTemplarsburn.(TheBritish

Library)

Villiers-le-Duc, was soterrified that he told thecommissionhewouldconfessanything as long as it wouldkeep him from the flames.Trying to distance himselffrom the order as much aspossible, Aimery appearedwith his beard shaved andwithout his Templar mantle.He was clearly upset. “Andwhen the commissioners sawthat the witness was at the

edgeofaprecipice,”theytoldhim to go home and not toreveal anything of what hehadsaid.53

Things were looking badfor the Templars, but theywereabout togetworse.Thenext time that thecommissioners asked to seePeter of Bologna, the besttrainedof thedefenders, theywere told that he hadvanished. When they asked

for more information, theywere told that he hadsuddenly returned to hisformer confession, thenbrokenoutofjailandfled.54

Right.There weren’t many

Templars who had the legaltraining to argue their case,and his loss was a severeblow.

PETERofBolognawasneverseen or heard from again.You can draw your ownconclusions.One scholar has suggested

that the increased interest ineducation shown by theHospitallers in the fourteenthcenturymightbedueto“howmuch the illiteracy and legalincompetence of theTemplars had contributed totheir downfall.”55 The effect

of the loss of their mainadvocate seems to supportthistheory.The commission continued

offandonuntilJune1311butthe heart had gone out of it.Most of the Templars whocameforwarddidnotattempttodefendtheorderbutratherto confess their crimes.Theyseemed eager to outdo eachother in the details of theirblasphemous reception into

the order. They minutelydescribed the crosses theyhad spat on or next to. Theheads they were supposed tohave adored were gold orcopper or flesh. They lookedlikeawoman,amonster,oraman with a long graybeard.56Everyone seems tohave had their own personalidol.57

In the end thecommissioners closed the

proceedings and had all theinformation sent to PopeClement at Avignon. Theymade no recommendation astothefateoftheTemplars.That was now up to Pope

Clement and the Council ofVienne.1Sophia Menache, Clement V(CambridgeUniversityPress,1998) p. 17. Catherine’s

deathjustbeforethearrestofthe Templars (see below)may have forced Charles torevisehisplansforconquest.2Jean Favier, Phillippe le Bel(Paris:Fayard,1978)p.315.3Ibid.,p.309.4GeorgesLizerand,LeDossier

de L’Affaire des Templiers(Paris, 1923) p. 16. “Resamara, res flebilies, resquidam cogitatu horribilis,auditu terribilis, detestabiliscrimine, execrabilis scelere,abhominabilis opers,detestanda flagicio, respenitus inhumana, immo abomnihumanitateseposita.”5Lizerand,p.18,“gerenetssub

specie agni lupum et subreligionis habitu notrereligioni fidei nequiterinsultantes, dominumnostrum Jhesum Christum,novissimis temporibus, prohumani generic redemtionecrucifixum.”6Ibid., “juxta prophanusordinissuiritum.”7

Ibid., “professionis sue votoseobligantquodalteralteriusillius horribilis et tremendiconcubitusvicio.”8If you believe this, I havesomelandinAtlantisI’dliketosellyou.9MalcolmBarber,TheTrialofthe Templars (CambridgeUniversity Press, 1978; new

editionforthcoming)p.47.10Continuator of Guillaume deNangis, Chroniquescapétiennes Tome II 1270-1328 (Paris: Paleo, 2002) p.92. Guillaume was attachedto thecourtofPhilip andhischronicle follows theinformation given in thepublicannouncements.11

Barber,p.48.12Lizerand, p. 37, “immo dixitpuram veritatem proptersalutemanimesue.”13Quoted in Alan Forey, TheFall of the Templars in theCrown of Aragon (Ashgate,Aldershot,2001)p.3.14

Barber,p.69.15QuotedinMenache,p.207.16Barber, p. 80. And darnedbraveitwasofthem,too.17Norman Cohn, Europe’sInnerDemons.18JulesMichelet,LeProcésdes

Templiers (Paris, 1841-51;rpt. Paris:CNRS,1987)Vol.Ip.36.19Thereareanumberofbooksthat address this. Formedieval attitudes: JeffreyRichards, Sex, Dissidence,and Damnation: MinorityGroups in the Middle Ages(Routledge University Press,1991), and Norman Cohn,

Europe’s Inner Demons (St.Albans,1976).AlsoanythingbyJeffreyBurtonRussell.20Alan Forey, The Fall of theTemplars in the Crown ofAragon (Ashgate, Aldershot,2001)p.2.21Barber,p.66.22

TranslatedinMalcolmBarberand Keith Bate, TheTemplars: Selected SourcesTranslated and Annotated(ManchesterUniversityPress,2002)p.256.23BarberandBate,p.257.24Alain Demurger, Jacques deMolay: Le Crepuscule desTempliers (Paris: Payot,

2002)p.294.Demurgerleanstothisbelief.Hefeelsthatthereception ceremony existedbutwasasortofhazing.25This is the premise in,Maichael Baigent, RichardLeigh and Henry Lincoln,TheHolyBloodandtheHolyGrail (London: JonathanCape, 1982). I do not, underany circumstances,

recommendthisbook.26Barber,p.54.27GuillaumedeNangis,p.94.28Ibid.29Menache,p.218.30

Lizerand,p.84,“labougreriedu Templiers.” My moderndictionary says it means“idiocy.”Maybeitdoestodaybut, trustme, that’snotwhatit meant in the fourteenthcentury. Actually, the wordonly came into use in thethirteenth century, and wasappliedtotheCatharsandsocarried with it a sense ofheresyaswellashomosexualpractice.

31Lizerand,p.86.32Menache,p.48.33Lizerand,p.87,note4.34Lizerand, p. 96. “Cuminstancia devote supplicatpopulus regni Franciequatinus advertat regia

majestas quod quelibet . . .pro domino popa allegate(sunt) super dsicordiapunitionis Templarioruminter vos commota, fidemcatholiceprofitbatursetenereettenebat.”35Michelet.36Barber,p.126.37

Michelet,vol.I,p.28,“quodsimplex miles, sine equis,armis et terra, erat, et nonposset nec sciret ipsumordinemdefendere.”38Ibid.,vol.I,p.29.39Ibid.,volI.pp.32-33.40Ibid., vol. I, p. 34, “bis

signumcruciscoramfaciesuaet in aliis signis pretendere,videbatur se esse valdestupefactumdehiis.”41Ibid., vol. I, p. 36. Whilemostof the report is inLatinand only gives the gist ofwhateachmansaid,thispart,in Middle French, seems tobeadirectquote.42

Ibid.43Ibid., Vol. I, p. 218, “fuitquestionatus ponderibusapensis in genetalibus suis etin aliis menbris quasi usqueadexeminacionam.”44Ibid.45Barber,p.244.

46Quoted and summarized inBarber,pp.168-69.Where isPeter of Bologna when weneedhim?47Barber,pp.169-70.48Michelet,pp.264-65.49Michelet, p. 265; Barber, p.

177.50Continuator of Guillaume deNangis,vol.II,p.279.51Barber,Trial,p.17952Continuator of Guillaume deNangis.,p.283.53Michelet,vol.I,p.276.

54Barber,pp.181-82.55Anthony Luttrell, “TheHospitallers of Rhodes andthe Mausoleum atHalicarnassus,” in TheMeeting of Two Worlds:Cultural Exchange betweenEast and West during thePeriod of the Crusades ed.Bladimir P. Goss

(Kalamazoo, MI: MedievalInstitute,1986)p.161.56Barber,p.185.57For more on this, please seechapter40,Baphomet.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE

TheChargesAgainsttheTemplars

WhenJacquesdeMolaywasfirst questioned, on October24,1307,aboutthesinsoftheTemplars, the onlyaccusations were about his

entry into the order. Did hedeny Christ and spit on acrucifix?Washe told thathecouldhavesexwiththeotherbrothers?1 These seem tohavebeentheonlythingsthatthe accusers of the Templarshadcomeupwithatthetime.Inthenextfewmonths,the

list of accusations grew to127.Manyofthese,however,are almost identical. Forinstance, there are five that

deal with spitting, trampling,orurinatingona cross.Thenthere are two more that saytheydid this “in contemptofChrist and the Orthodoxfaith,” and that themenwhoreceived them into the ordermadethemdothis.2Templarsconfessed to just abouteverythingsuggestedtothem.One can imagine a

Templar sergeant or knightbrought in after several

months of imprisonment andtorture:

“Good day,” the inquisitorbegins.“We’reherefromthechurch and the king and weonly want the truth for thegoodofyoursoul.”The Templar is distracted

bythesmellofroastvenison,which reminds him that he’sstarvingandalsothathisfate

willbesimilartothedeer’sifhe doesn’t get the answersright.“Now,whenyoujoinedthe

Templars, were you told tospitonacross?”“Yes, sir, but I cleverly

spat next to it and no onenoticed.”“Were you ordered to

stomponthecross?”“I sort of remember

somethinglikethat.”“Did you stomp on the

cross?”“No,Ididn’t.”“Did you stomp and

urinateonthecrossonGoodFriday? Was that the ritualforthedayOurLorddiedforyoursins,youhereticscum?”“No,mylord,itwasn’t.”“Ah, then you must have

stomped and urinated on

anotherday.Whatdaywasit,Holy Thursday? Just whendid you desecrate the cross?We know you did. All theother Templars haveconfessed. Are you sayingthat you were the only onewhodidn’tdothis?”And so on. Eventually, the

Templar is so cowed andconfused that he’s happy toconfess to anything and gobacktohisquietcell.

Although this scene is theproduct ofmy imagination, Ihaveheardthatthistechniqueof interrogation—asking thesame question several timesin various ways—is stillbeing used. Fortunately, Idon’t have firsthandknowledge.Since so many of the

charges are almost the same,wecangroupthe127charges

into more manageablegroups:3

ASummaryoftheCharges

1. That the Templarsdenied Christ in theirreceptionceremonyorsoon after. They alsospat and trampled onacross.

2. That they exchanged

kisses on variousparts of the body, thenavel and base of thespinebeingfavorites.

3. That at the receptionthey were told theycould have sex withother Templars. Theywere made to swearthat theywould neverleave the order. Also,the receptions wereheldinsecret.

4. That they were notallowed to revealwhat happened in thereceptiontoanyone.

5. That they did notbelieveintheMassorin other sacraments.Their priests did notsay the words ofconsecration over theHost.

6. That they were toldthatthemasterscould

absolve their sins,implyingthattheyhadnoneedofapriest.

7. That they veneratedan idol, as their Godand savior. Well,some of them did.That is, most of themin the chapters did.4Each province hadone, it was said,sometimes with threefaces, sometimes one.

Sometimes it was ahuman skull. Anyway,they believed that itcouldmake them richand also make theflowersbloomandtheland be fertile. Eachof them wore a cordaround their waistthat had touched theidol and they evensleptinit.

8. That they were only

allowed to confesstheirsinstoapriestoftheorder.

9. That they didn’t givecharity as they oughtand theybelieved thatit was not a sin tomake money and thatthey were authorizedtodosobyanymeanspossible, legal orillegal.5

10. That they met at

nightandinsecret.11. That everyone, well,almost everyone, inthe order knew aboutthese things and didnothing to correctthem.

12. That many brothersleft the order becauseof the “filth anderrors.” 6(But seenumber3.)

13. That the whole

matter has causedpublic gossip andscandal throughoutChristendom.

14. That the GrandMaster and otherofficials of the orderhaveconfessed.

AS the reader will notice,even broken down like this,some of the charges aren’tcharges at all but statements.Others are qualified somany

times that it seems as if theinquisitors were trying tomake various individualconfessionsmakesense.I address the first five

charges in the chapteron theSecretRiteofInitiation.Thesixth charge, that theybelieved the master couldabsolve their sins, seems tobe true. Apparently, some ofthe brothers were confusedbetween the absolution they

receivedafterconfessiontoapriest and the absolution thatthe master or commandergavethemafterconfessinginthe weekly chapter meetingabout breaking the rules oftheorder.The question of the

mysterious Templar idol iscovered in my chapter onBaphomet. Since to modernreaders it seems tobeoneofthe most fascinating of the

charges,Idon’t thinkithurtsto repeat that no idol of anysortwaseverfoundinanyofthe commanderies. InParis asearch revealed a silverreliquarycontaining the skullbones of one of the eleventhousand virgins martyredwithSaintUrsula inColognein the fourth century.7And,even under torture, most ofthe Templars only appearedconfused by the question

aboutanidol.Templars did have their

ownpriestsbutmanyofthemwere only hired for a certainterm. The number of priestsof other orders who testifiedfor and against them frominformation learned inconfessions proves that thisaccusationwasfalse.On the accusation that the

Templarsdidnotgivecharity,

it’s hard to say. Answeringthatwouldneedmorerecordsthanwehave.However, theyseem to have given alms atleast three times a week andtheRulehadstrictguidelinesfor giving to the poor.Anything might be given asalms except militaryequipment.8When the GrandMaster visited acommandery, five poorpeople were to be fed the

samefoodasthebrothersate,inhishonor.9Also,everydayone-tenth of the breadprepared should be given tothe almoner to give to thepoor.10

The Templars did not setup hospices as theHospitallersdid,buttheydidspend a great deal to ransompoor prisoners of theMoslemsandtheyhadplaces

to give shelter to pilgrims.11Didtheygiveenough?Idon’tknow. Do any of us giveenough?TheTemplarswereonthin

ice with the charges aboutmoney. There are too manycases in charters where theyseemtogotogreatlengthstogetall that theylegallycouldand one or two times whenthey may have taken moneythat they weren’t entitled to.

Please see the section onTemplars and Money for amore complete look at thisissue.On the accusation that the

Templarsmetatnight,andinsecret,that’soneofthoseno-win accusations. Theysometimesmetatnightinthetime after reciting thepredawn prayers calledmatins. According to theRule,theywerefirsttocheck

up on their horses and gearandthentheycouldgotobed.But this was also aconvenient time for holdingchapter meetings. Themeetings were held in secretin the sense that whathappened in themwasnot tobediscussedwithoutsiders.The odd thing about the

charge is that most religiousorders had closed meetings.The purpose of the chapter

was to discuss faults andproblems. These weren’tthingstheywantedthepublicat large to know about. Idon’tknowwhynoTemplarsbothered tomention this. It’spossible that they didn’tknow much about thepracticesofotherorders.The real problem was the

secret reception.Most ordershad public ceremonies fornew members. It was a big

day and families lookedforward to seeing it. It wasstupid for the Templars towelcome new recruitsprivately.Butitdoesseemtobe something that selectsocietiesliketodo.The accusation that

everyone in the order knewthesethingsweregoingonisclassic distortion. It assumesall the other charges to betrue.

I love the charge thatbrothers had left the orderbecause they were disgustedwith the heretical behavior.First of all, the inquisitorsalreadyaccusedtheTemplarsof forbidding members toleave. Of course, men couldhave left without permissionandsomedid.Butthenumberwho left legally for variousreasonswasfar toomanyforthe order to have a policy of

silencing those who wantedout.One of the men who

testified against the order inPariswasapriestnamedJeandeFolliaco.Hestatedthathehadbeen forced todoall thenasty things at his receptionandthathehadcomplainedtotheking’sprovost inParis in1304.Hetoldthepopethathehad a letter proving hiscomplaints were true, but it

was missing. Eventually, headmitted that his mainobjection to remaining in theorderwasthatthelifewastoohard and he was afraid ofbeingsentoverseaswherethefightingwas.12

One interesting case,however, concerns a Spanishbrother, Pons of Guisans,whobecameaTemplarwhenhe fell ill on his way to theEast. He thought he was

dyingandassumedhe’dgetashortertimeinpurgatoryifhediedaTemplar.Buthedidn’tdie.Instead,hebecameafullmemberof theorderandhadapositionofresponsibilityinJerusalem. Then he met thiswoman. He left the order tomarryher.Afterherdeath,hedecided that he wanted tocome back. He had to dopenance for a year forleaving,buttheylethimback

in.13ObviouslyPonswasnotputoffby“filthanderror.”Finally, the last two

charges aren’t charges at all.Theyaresimplyexcuses.Thefinal reason for thedissolutionoftheTemplarsatthe Council of Vienne wasthat the scandalwas so greatthat no one would take theorder seriously again. Itmayseemoddtopeopletodaybutafearofcreatingscandalwas

something that medievalorganizations and individualsdreaded. They knew thepower of a well-placedrumor. Even if one wereinnocent of all charges, theshame of being accused wasenoughtoruinaperson’slife,as theTemplars foundout totheirsorrow.1GeorgesLizerand,LeDossier

de l’Affaire des Templiers(Paris,1923)pp.33-37.2JulesMichelet,LeProcèsdesTempliers Vol. I (Paris, rpt.1987) pp. 90-91. Thesecharges are all translated inMalcolmBarber,TheTrialofthe Templars (Cambridge,1978)pp.248-52S.3The following is taken from

Helen Nicholson, TheKnights Templar (Sutton,2001) p. 206. Herorganization is slightlydifferentfromminebutitwasahandystartingpoint.4Michelet, p. 92. “Item, quodaliqui eorum. Item quodmajor pars illorumqui errantin capitulis.” I’mnotmakingthisup.

5Ibid., p. 94, “dicti ordinusquibuscumquemodis possentperfasautnephasprocurare.”6Ibid., p. 96, “multi fraters dedicto ordine propter feditateset errors ejusdem ordinisexierunt.” Translation inBarber,p.251.7Paul Guéron, Vie des Saints

Vol.XII (Paris:Bollandistes,1880)pp.496-97.8LaurentDailliezed.,RègleetStatutsde l’OrdreduTemple(Paris,1972)p.126.Ruleno.82.9Ibid.,p.129.Ruleno.92.10Ibid.,p.27.Ruleno.27.

11DesmondSeward,Knightsofthe Cloister: Templars andHospitallers in Central-Southern Occitania c. 1100-300 (Woodbridge: Boydell,1999)pp.111-15.12Barber,p.99.13Seward, p. 122. The case isfrom the Barcelona Rule of

theTemple.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-TWO

GuillaumedeNogaret

Ofall thepeople involved inthe arrest and trials of theTemplars , Guillaume deNogaret has been consideredthe most sinister, the manwho was the mastermindbehind everything that

happened.Thisservantoftheking had cut his teeth on thestruggle with Pope BonifaceVIII in 1303 and was readyonce again to prove himselfto his master, King PhilipIV, by destroying theTemplarsaswell.Manyhaveconsidered him the evilgeniusbehind the trial of theTemplars as well as thecampaignagainstBoniface.Whowasthisman?Washe

pulling the strings to makeKingPhilipdancetohis tuneorwasitGuillaumewhowasthepuppet,takingthefallfortheking?GuillaumedeNogaretwas

borninthetownofSant-Félixde Caraman in southwesternFrance.Thedateisn’tcertain,perhaps around 1260.Nogaret is not thenameof aplacebutisavariationontheOccitan word nogarède, or

“walnutgrower.”1

Unlikemanyoftheofficersof the government of Philipthe Fair, Guillaume was notnobly born. It was said thathis grandfather had beenburnedasaPatarineheretic.2It’snotclear if this is trueornot.However,itwasachargethat was thrown back at himmore than once over his life,anditmusthaveaffectedhimstrongly.Sinceitwashewho

wrotemost of the broadsidescondemning the Templars asheretics, his background inthis is important. Did heactually believe that theTemplarswerebadChristiansor had he simply trainedhimself to see heresyeverywhere he looked, toprove that his religion wasorthodox?Despite their suspect

origins, Guillaume’s family

hadenoughmoneytoeducatehim.Hemayhavestudiedfora time at Toulouse beforegoing to the town ofMontpellier to study law.By1293 he was a “doctor oflaw.”3

Sometime around 1296,Nogaret received a call fromParis. He’d made the bigtime, legal counsel to theking!4 Over the next fewyearshesuccessfullyhandled

several negotiations forPhilip. In 1299, he wasrewarded by being promotedto the nobility.After that, hewas entitled to call himself“knight.”5 This was anotheroftheinnovationsoftheking.Theennoblingofnonmilitarymen led to what was calledthe“noblessederobe.”Thesenobles were dependent uponthekingwhocreatedthemfortheir livelihood rather than

having inherited lands to fallbackon.Nogaret seems to have

been Philip’smain counselorduring the king’s battle withPope Boniface. The reasonsbehind thedisputeare rootedin the ongoing strugglebetween the rulers ofEuropeandthechurchforpower.Onone side, the popes felt thatkings should not be allowedto appoint their friends and

familytobishopricsandotherhigh church offices. On theother side, the kings wantedthe clergy of the realm to besubject to the same laws aseveryoneelse.Throughout the Middle

Ages, clerics were tried in achurch court. If they werejudged guilty, they mighteither be sentenced to hardtime in a strictmonasteryor,if the crime warranted it,

turned over to the state forexecution.6

In Philip’s confrontationwith the pope, Nogaret wasapparently the guiding handand also the one whophysically led the attack onthe pope in his retreat atAnagniin1303.Twoprecedentsweresetin

this episode. The first wasthat Philip established, in his

ownmindat least, that if thepopewascorrupt,thenitwasup to secular powers tooverthrowhim.Noonecouldbe above God’s law.7 Thesecond was the use of themedia to convictBoniface inpublicopinionevenbeforehewasarrestedbyPhilip’smen.In this, Nogaret was a

master. According toNogaret’s defense of theking’s actions, Boniface was

a heretic, idolater, murderer,and sodomite. He alsopracticed usury, bribed hisway into his position, andmade trouble wherever hewent.8 These charges werenever proved but theyconvinced many. They alsogave Guillaume de Nogaretgoodmaterial forhisdiatribeagainst the Templars fouryearslater.Afterthedeathofthepope,

Nogaretwrote to theCollegeof Cardinals justifying hisactions. “If some antichristwere to invade theHolySee,wemustopposehim;thereisno insult to the Church insuchopposition....If,inthecause of right, violence iscommitted, we are notresponsible.”9

Whether Nogaret wasresponsiblefortheviolenceatAnagniornot,hewasseenas

beingtheringleader.Thenextpope, Benedict XI, hadwitnessed the attack onBoniface.When, as part of adeal,he issuedabsolutionforthe deed to King Philip andotherinstigators,Nogaretwasnotamongthem.Actually,hewasat the topof thenaughtylist, the head of the “sons ofperdition, of the first-born ofSatan.”10Benedict was aboutto convene a tribunal to

excommunicate Nogaret andtwelve others when hesuddenly died on July 7,1304.It was popularly believed

that Nogaret had arranged tohave him poisoned. Therewas no proof of this, either,but that didn’t stop therumors.He had also earned the

enmity of a much better

writer than he. In theDivineComedy Dante comparedNogarettoPontiusPilate.11

NogaretnotonlyinstigatedthearrestoftheTemplars,healsodidhisbest toguide theinterrogations. In1309,whenJacquesdeMolaywasbeingquestioned for the third time,the inquisitors wereinterruptedbyNogaret,“whoarrived unexpectedly.” Heconfronted the master and

toldhimthatthechroniclesofthe abbey of St. Denis saidthat at the time of Saladin,the Templars had paidhomagetothesultanandthatat that time,Saladinhadsaidpublicly that the Templarshad done this because they“worked at the vice ofsodomy and because of thisthey had lost all their faithandtheirlaw.”12

The twentieth-century

editor of the deposition addsin a footnote, “Thisaccusation...isnotfoundinthe text of the chronicles ofSt. Denis that we have.”13One wonders how many ofthe inquisitors or the peopleof France who heardNogaret’s accusation everbothered to check the libraryof St. Denis to find out if itwastrue.At theCouncil ofVienne,

Nogaret was again eager toprove that all he and PhiliphaddonewasforthegoodofChristendom. To finance aprojected crusade to regainthe Holy Land, he suggestedthattheyuse“notonlyallthewealth of the Templars butthat of the wholeecclesiastical Order: theclergy would, therefore, beleft with only those fundsnecessary for its daily

subsistence.”14

That must have gone overwell with the cardinals andbishops.After the Templars had

beenarrested,Nogaretshouldhave felt he’d accomplishedall his goals. However, oneproblem remained. He wasstill excommunicated.Nogaret was terrified that hewoulddiestillundersentence

fromthepope.One reason that Nogaret

fought so hard to have hisexcommunication lifted wasto ensure that his familywould be taken care of. Hehadawife,Beatrix,andthreechildren, Raymond,Guillaume, andGuillemette.15Beatrix seemsto have come from a noblefamily of Languedoc so thenewman, born into a family

ofwalnutgrowers,hadcomefar. But it would be fornothing if his property wasconfiscatedathisdeath.Nogaretwent to theking’s

brother,CharlesdeValois,toput pressure on Clement V.He evenwrote a bull for thepope to sign that explainedhowhehadactedonlyforthegood of the church.16 It wasrumored thatmoney changedhands.Finally inApril 1311,

Clement signed the decreestatingthatallthoseinvolvedintheattackonBonifaceVIIIwere reconciled with thechurch. A penance wasassigned to Guillaume. Hehad to go on a pilgrimage toCompostelainSpainandthentake a party of soldiers tofight in the Holy Land, anironictwist.17

Heneverdideither.

GuilluamedeNogaretdiedin November 1314. He wasprobably buried, as he hadrequested,atthemonasteryoftheDominicansnearNimes.Outside of France, where

hedidhisbesttoseethatthehistory books would justifyhis actions, Nogaret wastotally reviled. Dante had nodoubt who was pulling thestringsofKingPhilip.Idon’tbelievethatNogaret’sactions

can be justified, but theydeserve to be looked atobjectively in the lightof thetimes. There are those whomightsaythat,byarrestingapope and by destroying theTemplars, neither of whomwere all that innocent,Nogaretalsostruckablowatthe unfair dominance of thepapacyandthoseitprotected.However, I’mnot ready to

bethatobjective.

1Ernest Renan, Guillaume deNogaret:UnMinisterduRoiPhilippe le Bel (Quebec:Numerus, 2006; rpt. of 1872ed.)p.3.2Ibid.ThePatarineswereonlyone of the many heresies inEurope at the time. Theywere not connected with theCathars.

3Ibid.,p.4.4Ibid.,p.5.5Ibid.,p.6.6For a good overview of thisissue, see Ute-RenateBlumenthal, The InvestitureControversy (University of

Pennsylvania Press,Philadelphia,1988.)7ExceptPhilip,ofcourse.8Renan,p.49.9Quoted in Sophia Menache,Clement V (CambridgeUniversityPress,1998)p.15.10

QuotedinRenan,p.44.11Dante, Purgatorio, CantoXX,ll.85-93.12GeorgesLizerand,LeDossierde l’Affaire des Templiers(Paris,1923)p.168.“Verum,cum per nobilem virumGuillelmum de Nogareto,cacellarium regium, quisupervenerat, . . . fuisset

dictumeidem magistro quodin cronicis que erant apudSanctum Dionisium,continebantur quod temporeSaladini, sodani Babilonie,magister ordnis Temple quitunceratetaliimajoresipsiusordinis fecerant homagiumipsi Saladino et quod idemSaladinus, auditaadversitatemagna quam dicti Templariitunc passi fuerant, dixerat inpublico predictos Templarios

fuisse dictam adversitatemperpessos, qui viciosodomitico labarabantetquiafidem suam et legenprevaricatifuerant.”13Lizerand,p.169.14Menache,p.114.15Renan, pp. 88-89. I worry

about someonewho feels theneedtonamebothasonandadaughterafterhimself.16Ibid.,pp.113-15.17Ibid.,p.116.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-THREE

TheCouncilofVienneandtheEndofthe

Order

Pope Clement V wasdeterminedtokeepsomesortofcontrolovertheproblemofthe Templars, despite the

determinationof KingPhiliptheFair to dictate their fate.So far the trials had been ofindividual Templars, not theorderasawhole.Legally,theTemplars could only becondemned or declaredinnocentofallchargesbythepope.Clement knew that if he

made the decision alone, hewould bring down the wrathof one side or the other. He

had to make it clear that apronouncement on theTemplars would come fromthe leaders of the Churchactingtogether.Therefore,hecalledforacounciltomeetinthetownofVienne,justsouthofLyon.Viennewas not yetpart of France but Lyon hadrecently been taken over byKing Philip. Clement knewthat anything that he and thecouncil did would be in the

shadow of Philip and hisarmy, but at least not undertheking’sjurisdiction.The first summons to the

council was written onAugust 12, 1308. In itClement ordered all thearchbishops, bishops, andabbots of Christendom tomeet in October 1310. Hedidn’t mention the Templarsby name in the summons.Insteadheaskedtheattendees

to prepare reports listingareas in which the Churchneeded reforming.1 He alsosentinvitationstomostofthemajorrulersofEurope.Itwasunderstood that the mainissues would be thesuppression of the Templars,the need to regain the HolyLand, and the reform of theChurchasawhole.It is a tribute toClement’s

skill at procrastinating that

the councilwouldn’t actuallybegin until October 1311.This gave many of thoseinvited (or commanded) toattend time to come up withexcuses.THIS was not a popularcouncil. Over a third of theChurch officials didn’t showup, even though they hadbeen ordered, not invited, toappear.It’spossiblethat they

wereworriedthattheywouldbe asked to provide moremoney for the support of thepapal curia.2 None of therulerscame,exceptPhilip IV(with his army) and he wasonly there for the meetingsconcerningtheTemplars.3

So, instead of creating ashowofunityandwillingnesstosupportanypapaldecision,Clementfoundhimselffacingagroupoflargelydisgruntled

prelates. These men weremostly noblemen, withregional and familyconnections that meant moreto them than punishing thesins of theTemplars. Fewofthem were willing to get onthe wrong side of KingPhilip.And many of them were

not at all sure that theTemplarswereguilty.

Added to that, the townwascrowded,priceshadbeenjacked up to meet demand,and theweatherwas terrible.On November 9, RaymondDespont, bishop ofValencia,wrote to King James II ofAragon, “It is very tedioushere, since the land is coldbeyondmeasureand . . . it isnot suited to my age. Theplace is small with amultitude of people, and

thereforecrowded.Asaresultmanyremaininconvenienced,butitisnecessarytoendureitwithpatience.”4

Therewerealsocomplaintsthat the council had beenpacked with French prelateswho were too afraid to voteagainst the wishes of KingPhilip.It seems that Clement had

hoped to get a quickvote on

the condemnation of theTemplars, assign theirpropertytoanotherorder,andget on with his dream of anewcrusade.Healsowantedto keep King Philip frompushingforadenunciationofPopeBonifaceVIII.Itwasn’tagoodideatoletkingsthinkthey could dispose of popes,evenonesthatweredead.Things didn’t work out at

allaccordingtoplan.Firstof

all, to give an appearance offairness,Clementhad invitedTemplars to come to Vienneand defend the orderpersonally. Remembering theburnings of 1310, Clementapparently assumed that theywouldn’tdareshowup.However, on December 4,

1311, seven men did. Thenext day, two more joinedthem. They told the councilthat they were prepared to

give a defense and that therewere over a thousand othersin the area who would alsospeak on behalf of theTemplars.5

Clementhadthemarrested.He then held a secret

meeting of a small group ofprelates. Clement’sbiographer, Ptolomy deLucca, later reported whathappened. “The bishops and

the cardinals were calledtogether by the pope todeliberate on the subject ofthe Templars. . . . The popeinterrogated them one at atime.TheytoldhimthattheywereagreedthattheTemplarsshould be allowed to presenttheir defense. All the Italianbishops, with one exception,came round to this opinion,along with all the bishopsfromSpain,Germany,Dacia,

England, Scotland, Irelandand France, except the threearchbishops of Reims, SensandRouen.”6

The archbishop of SenswastheonewhohadorderedtheconflagrationofTemplarsin 1310 and was also, youmay remember, Philip deMarigny, thebrotherofKingPhilip’s trusted counselorEnguerrand deMarigny. ThearchbishopofRheims,Robert

de Courtenay, was related tothe French royal familythrough marriage. 7AndGillesAycelin,archbishopofRouen, was also thechancellor of France andnephew of ones of Philip’sformeradvisers,PierreFlote.8

Everyone at the councilwasverymuchawareofthis.That’snottosaythatmany

peoplewerewillingtodefend

the Templars themselves.There was still the problemthat Jacques deMolay andtheotherofficialsoftheorderhadconfessed, retracted theirconfessions, and thenconfessed again. How couldthey declare someoneinnocent when they hadadmittedtheywereguilty?But one man, at least,

Jacques de Thérines, waswilling todefend themat the

council. In 1311 he was theabbot of a Cistercianmonastery in what is nowBelgium.In1307hehadbeenone of the masters of theUniversity of Paris who toldKing Philip that he didn’thave a case against theTemplars.Then,hehadbeenone voice in a group offourteen scholars.9Now, hestoodalone.In his address to the

council,AbbotJacquesstatedmany of the arguments thathavebeenechoedforthepastseven hundred years. Was itlogical that the chargesagainst the Templars weretrue? These were men fromwidelydifferentbackgrounds,whohad entered the order atdifferent ages. It seemedincredible to Jacques that“commonersandnobles,menofdifferentspeechandlands,

raised not as bastards but instable, god-fearinghouseholds, men who hadferventlyexpressedthedesireto defend the holy placeswouldallhavetheappetitetofall to precisely the sametemptations.”10

Jacques concluded, asmany have since, that theconfessions of the Templarswere patently untrue, tornfrom the men by torture and

through terror. The fact thatsomehadbeenbraveenoughto recant and face the stakespoke even more for theirinnocence.ThefactthattrialsoutsideofFrancehadturnedup no evidence of guilt wasalso suspicious. And, in anycase,thematterwasn’tforthekingofFrance todecide, butthepope.11

The ball was back inClement’s court and he

wasn’tpleasedaboutit.It seemed a good time to

callawinterrecess.Clement spent the next

threemonths trying to find away out before the councilconvenedagaininMarch.It’s hard to say what he

really thought of the guilt oftheTemplars.Ibelievethatifhe had been certain of it, hewould have condemned the

orderimmediately.Asitwas,hemusthaveknownthattheywouldhavetobesacrificedinone way or another. If hesavedtheTemplars,hewouldstill be faced with Philip’sdetermination to have PopeBoniface excommunicatedposthumously, which wouldinclude digging up his bodyandburningitforheresy.12 Ifthe Templars werecondemned, then it would

only encourage the clericswho were opposed to theexemptorders.Next,itmightbe the Cistercians or theFranciscans and Dominicans,not to mention theHospitallers, who wereattacked. The suppression ofareligiousorderwasnotnew.In 1274, two Provençalorders,thePiedFriarsandtheFriars of the Sack, had beendissolved. The Templars had

benefitedfromthiswhentheyreceived property that hadbelongedtotheseorders.13

There seemed no way forClement to win. No wonderthe poor pope’s stomachalwayshurt.Finally, Clement made up

his mind to act. This mayhavebeenencouragedby thearrival,onMarch20,1312,ofPhilip the Fair, accompanied

by his three sons, hisbrothers, and his army. Twoweeksearlier,PhiliphadsentClementaletterinsistingthattheTemplarsbesuppressedatonce. He says that “burningwith zeal for the orthodoxfaith and that such a greatinjury to Christ not gounpunished, we humbly anddevotedly begYourHolinessthat the aforesaid order besuppressed.”14

Therefore, “On the day ofthe moon after theQuasimodo [March 22], thesecondsessionof thegeneralcouncilwasheld in thegreatcathedral.” 15 The returningleaders of the ChurchgatheredandpreparedtohearClement’sopeningsermon.With the king on one side

andhis eldest son, the futureLouis X, on the other,Clement read out the bull

suppressing the order of theTemplars.He first made it clear that

he found the things thatJacques de Molay and theotherTemplarshadconfessedto absolutely disgusting: “itwas against the lord JesusChrist himself that they fellinto the sin of impiousapostasy,theabominableviceidolatry, the deadly crime ofthe Sodomites, and various

heresies.”16But, fortunately,“Then came the interventionof our dear son in Christ,Philip, the illustrious king ofFrance. . . . He was notmovedbygreed. . . .Hewason fire with zeal for theorthodoxfaith.”17

Atthispoint,can’tyoujustsee the pope glancingnervouslytowardtheking?After outlining the arrest

and trials of the Templars,and how the informationgatheredfromall thetrials inEuropehadbeenstudiedbyacommittee of cardinals andbishops, he admitted that 80percent of the assembly feltthat the Templars should beallowed a defense. However,the name of the order hadbeen so soiled that it couldnever function with anycredibility again.18

“Therefore,withasadheart.. . we suppress, with theapproval of the sacredcouncil, the Order of theTemplars, and its rule, habitand name, by an inviolableandperpetualdecree, andweentirely forbid anyone fromnowontoentertheOrder,orreceiveorwearitshabitortopresume to behave as aTemplar.”19

It’s not certain that the

members of the council hadagreed to thesuppressionbutitdidn’tmattersincethepopehad made the decision andcouldenforce itwithout theirapproval.He also cautioned that the

propertythathadbelongedtothe Templars was to bereserved to the papacy, to beused for the retaking of theHolyLand,andnoonewastotouch it. I imagine that he

didn’t look at the kingwhilereadingthis.Clement also ordered that

Templar brothers who hadnot confessed or who hadbeenjudgedinnocentweretobepensionedoff.Thosewhohad confessed and beenabsolvedwere tobeassignedto various monasteries toperformtheirpenance.On May 2, the pope

announced that all theTemplar property was to begiventotheHospitallers,withthe exception of that ownedby the Templars in Aragon,Castile, Portugal, andMajorca.20

This was the end of theOrder of the Templars, buttheirstorywasfarfromover.Several thousandmen had tobe accounted for and goodsconsisting of “houses,

churches, chapels, oratories,cities, castles, towns, lands,granges, places, possessions,jurisdictions,revenues,rights,all the other property,whetherimmovable,movableor self-moving, and all themembers together with theirrights and belongings, bothbeyondandonthissideofthesea,ineachandeverypartoftheworld...”21

Howallthatwassortedout

isanotherchapter.While the affair of the

Templars overshadows thewhole Council of Vienne, itwasn’t the only subject ofinterest to the Church.Clement’s death in 1314prevented the immediatepublication of the decrees ofthecouncilbuthissuccessor,JohnXXII,whoattended,hadthemsentout.They includedclarifications of articles of

faith,suchasbaptism,andtheissue of a heretical sect thathad started in the LowCountries,knownas theFreeSpirits.22Theysetdownrulesfor themendicant orders, theFranciscans and Dominicans,who wandered about far toomuchforsomepeople’staste.The universities of Paris,Oxford, Bologna, andSalamanca were told to startteachingHebrew,Arabic,and

Chaldeic “that theymight beabletoinstructtheinfidel.”23

The council finally closed,onMay6,1313.Thelastfewdays were taken up withadministrative business. Theprelates may have thoughtthey were finally gettingaway, but they discoveredthat Philip had one lastsurprise for them. He agreedtogooncrusadein1319,andasked for a portion of the

Church tithes be put aside topayforhisexpedition.24

Wearily, the councilagreed.NeitherPhilipnorhissons

everwentoncrusade.1Charles-Juseph Hefele andDom H. Leclercq, Histoiresdes Conciles d’aprés lesdocumentsoriginauxVol.VIsecond part (Paris, 1915) p.

648.2Sophia Menache, Clement V(CambridgeUniversityPress,1998)p.283.3MalcolmBarber,TheTrialofthe Templars (CambridgeUniversity Press, 2006; 2nded.)p.259.4

HeinrichFinke,PapstumundUntergang desTemplerordens (Münstyer,1907) Vol. 2, pp. 251-52,quotedinBarber,pp.259-60.5Barber,p.262.6Quoted in Hefele andLeclercq,p.651.7

He was the brother of thewifeoftheking’sbrother.8Jean Favier, Philippe le Bel(Paris: Fayard, 1978) pp. 27-29.9William Chester Jordan,Unceasing Strife, UnendingFear: Jacques de Thérinesand the Freedom of theChurchintheAgeoftheLast

Capetians (Princeton:Princeton University Press,2005)p.31.10Ibid.,p.53.11Ibid.12Hefele and Leclercq, p. 661.Philip’s ambassadors reallysuggestedthis.

13Dominic Sellwood, KnightsoftheCloister:TemplarsandHospitallers in Central-Southern Occitania c. 1100-1300 (Woodbridge: Boydell,1999)p.98.Andno,Ididnotmake up those names, but Ican’t imagine many peoplewouldwanttoadmittobeinga“piedfriar.”14

GeorgesLizerand,LeDossierde L’Affaire de Templiers(Paris, 1923) p. 196. “Quare,zelo fidei orthodoxe succensiet ne tanta injuria Christofacta remaneat impunita,vestre sanctitati affectuose,devote et humilitersupplicamus quatinus tollatisordinem supradictum.”(italicsmine)15

Continuator of Guillaume deNangis,ed.andtr.M.Guizot(Paris,1825)p.289.16Malcolm Barber and KeithBate, eds. The Templars:Selected Sources Translatedand Annotated (ManchesterUniversity Press, 2002) p.311. From Decrees of theEcumenical Councils ed. N.P. Tanner, vol. 1 (London:

Sheed and Ward, 1990) pp.336-43.17Ibid.(italicsmine)18Ibid.,p.316.19Ibid.,p.318.20Ibid., p. 318-22. The bull isnamedAdprovidam.

21Ibid.,pp.320-21.22See chapter 37,MargueritePorete.23Hefele and Leclercq, p. 689,“qui infideles ipsos sciant etvalent sacris institutisinstruere.” Okay, mine is aloosetranslation.

24Menache,pp.112-16.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-FOUR

TimeLineoftheTrials

This is adapted fromMalcolmBarber,TheTrialoftheTemplars.1292 Jacques de MolaybecomesGrandMasterofthe

Templars1305 November 14, Bernardde Got becomes PopeClementV1306 June, King Philip theFair forced to restore the oldvalueofcoinageJuly, Jews expelled fromFrance and their property

confiscatedAutumn, Jacques de Molayarrives in the West fromCyprus1307 September 14, Philipsends secret orders for thearrestoftheTemplarsSeptember23,ClementwritesPhilip saying that he is

opening an inquiry into thechargesagainsttheTemplarsOctober 13, all Templars inFrance arrested andimprisonedOctober 19, interrogationsbegininParisOctober 24, Jacques deMolay confesses to allchargesOctober 25, Jacques deMolay repeats his confession

for the masters of theUniversityofParisOctober 27, Pope Clementwrites to King PhilipprotestingthearrestsNovember 9, Hugh dePairaud, Templar Visitor forFrance, confesses to allchargesNovember 22, Pope Clementissues a bull calling for thearrest of Templars in all

landsDecember 24, Jacques deMolay is taken before thepope’s representatives andthererevokeshisconfession1308February,PopeClementsuspends the Inquisition inFranceLater in February, Philipasks the masters of Paris tojudgehisroleinthearrests

March 25, in reply to hisquestions, the masters oftheology at the University ofParis state that King Philipdid not have the right toarresttheTemplarsMay 4-29, Philip calls theEstates-General to Tours tojustifyhisactions,whichtheydo; Pope Clement leavesFrance and settles in thepapaltownofAvignon

1309 Local inquiries begin,overseenbythebishopsAugust8, inParis, thepapalcommission opens inquiry onthe order (as opposed toindividualTemplars)November 22, the firsthearings of the papalcommissionsbeginNovember 26, Jacques deMolay appears before the

commission November 28,Jacques de Molay againappears before thecommission; the commissiongoesonChristmasbreak1310 February 3, papalcommissionagaininsessionMarch 2, Jacques de Molayappears once again; heinsists thatonlythepopecanjudgehim

March 14, 127 accusationsreadtoTemplarswhowishtodefendtheorderMarch28,nearlysixhunderdTemplars meet in Paris todefendtheorderApril7,PeterofBolognaandReginald of Provins, asspokesmen, give the defenseoftheorderMay 12, the archbishop ofSens turns over fifty-four

Templars tobeburnedat thestake for retracting theirconfessions; the defendersscatterMay 28, Peter of BolognadisappearsMay 30, the papalcommission decides to takeanearlysummerholidayNovember 3, papalcommissionreconvenes

1311 May 26, papalcommission hears the finaldepositionJune 5, papal commissionadjournsforthelasttimeOctober 11, Council ofVienneopensLateOctober,sevenTemplarsask to be allowed to defendtheorder1312 March 20, Philip the

Fair and his army arrive inVienneMarch 22, Clement V readsout the bull Vox in excelso,whichdissolvestheorder;thebull Ad providam transfersall of its property to theHospitallers1314 March 18, Jacques deMolay and Geoffrey ofCharney assert theirinnocenceonceagainandare

immediately sent to burn atthestakeinParisApril 15, Guillaume deNogaretdiesApril 20, Pope Clement VdiesNovember29,KingPhilip IVdies

CHAPTERTHIRTY-FIVE

TheTrialsOutsideofFrance

While King Philip and hisassociates were doing theirutmost to see that theTemplars and the order as awhole were tried and

convictedassoonaspossible,therulersofotherlandswerenot so eager to prosecute, oreventoarrestthemembersoftheorder.TheTemplarswereknown for being proud andgreedy, but this was astereotype handy for satirebutnotusedonadailybasis.Most people had goodrelations with the Templarswho lived among them. Itwas only the order by Pope

Clement V that convincedthem to take any sort ofaction,withresultsthatvariedaccordingtoplace.

ARRESTSANDTRIALSINSPAIN

In the early fourteenthcentury the IberianPeninsulawas made up of several

kingdoms: Castile, Leon,Navarre, Portugal, andAragon, which includedCatalonia and Valencia. Thesouthern part of Iberia wasAndalusia, still in Moslemhands.The experience of the

Templars in Aragon is theone for which we have thebest information. The king,James II (1292-1327), lovedtokeeprecordsandcopiesof

messages and many of themstillexist.1

At first there were onlyrumors about the happeningsin France concerning theTemplars. Then, late inOctober 1313, the SpanishTemplarslearnedofthearrestofseveraloftheirbrethreninthekingdomofNavarre,thenruledbyPhiliptheFair’ssonLouis. Three of theAragonese Templars set out

to find out what was goingon.AssoonastheyarrivedinNavarre, they were arrested,too.The Templar master of

Aragon, Jimeno de Lenda,immediately wrote to KingJames. James sent an envoyto Navarre to have theTemplarsreleased.Theenvoyalso tried to get informationon just exactly what wasgoingonwiththeTemplarsin

France.He reported back to King

James, telling him of theaccusations against theTemplars. By the middle ofNovember, James hadreceived a letter from KingPhilip telling him in stronglanguage that the Templarswere horrible heretics andhomosexuals and that theymustbearrestedatonce.

James answered himpolitely, but did nothing. Hesent word to the pope that“We can scarcely envisagethattheydoanythinginsecretorperpetuateanyhiddendeedattacking Christ, for whosefaiththeyfight.”2

But again, itwas thenewsof theconfessionsofJacquesdeMolay and the others thatconvinced James that heought to put the Templars

underguard.ThatandthefactthattheTemplarsinhislandshadbeenbusyfortifyingtheircastles.Theyweren’tgoingtobecaughtunawares.Since the Templars in

Iberia had been fightingagainst the Moslems in theirown land for two hundredyears, they had a differentstatus than in other Westerncountries. Unlike theTemplars in the Latin

kingdoms, they hadn’t lostterritory,buthelpedtoregainit. The castles they ownedhadoncebeenonthebordersofChristian lands.Now theywere far from the frontier.People living around themknewwhat theTemplars haddoneandcoulddo.Another difference was

that, unlike the FrenchTemplars, many of theknights from Aragon came

from the upper nobility.Guillermo de Rocaberti,archbishopofTarragona,wasthe brother of a Templar.3These men were less easilyintimidatedand their familieswere close enough by tolodge protests if they werebadlytreated.In December 1307, James

finally gave in to papalpressure and ordered that theTemplars be taken into

custody.However,hewasnotas forceful about it as KingPhilip. There was no suddenmass arrest. Instead, theAragonese messengers wentfrom one Templar house toanother,surprisedtofindthatvery few of them were athome.Somehadsimplyfled;othershadmade theirway tooneof theTemplarcastles towait out the storm. TheTemplar master of Aragon

was one of those who hadrefused to run.Hewas takenandimprisoned.Fromtheirstrongholds,the

Templars sent letters to theking, not of defiance, butpleading with him to beallowed to prove theirinnocence and return to theircommanderies.James refused to do this.

He had received the order

from Pope Clement and feltcompelled to obey it. Heordered the knights tosurrender. The Templars hadheard about the torture andstarvation of the men inFrance and decided not totrust in the goodwill andjustice of princes. James hadtobesiegetheircastles.Itwasa year and a half before thelastonefell.Once captured, the

Templarswereplaced,forthemost part, back in theircommanderies, under guard.They were questioned bypapal commissions alongwiththelocalinquisitorofthediocese.4 The firstinterrogations didn’t evenstartuntilNovember7,1309,two years after the Frencharrests. In the meantime, theTemplarsinAragonhadbeendecently fed, clothed, and

housed. They weren’ttortured.During the questioning,

although some of the menwere unsure about some ofthe minor offenses, such asthinking that the commanderof the house could absolvetheir sins, not one confessedto spittingordefiling a crossor any of the other moresensationalcharges.

By 1311, the Council ofVienne was scheduled andClement hadn’t received anygoodconfessionsfromIberia.Hesentalettertothebishopsinchargeoftheinterrogationsauthorizing them to usetorture to get the truth.EightTemplars were tortured, butstill none would confess.5Finally, on November, 4,1312,aftertheorderhadbeendissolved

The Templar fortress ofMonzón. (Photo by JoanFuguetSans)by the pope, a council inAragon declared all theTemplars in the kingdom

innocent.6

Since there was no longeranorder,somethinghadtobedone with their property andalsowiththementhemselves.ForKingJames,hisTemplarheadaches were onlybeginning. The king spentmany years dealing with theneedsanddemandsoftheex-Templars.

ARRESTSANDTRIALSINENGLAND

The number of Templars inEngland in 1307 has beenreckonedatatotalof144.Ofthese, 20 at most wereknights, 16 priests, andaround 108 sergeants.7 Theirextensive properties in thecountry were maintained for

themostpartbyservantsandtenants.8

When Philip the Fairarrested the Templars inFrance,hewrotetoEdwardIIofEngland,whowasengagedtoPhilip’sdaughter, Isabella,telling him to arrest theBritish Templars at once.Edward, despite only havingbeen king for four months,was not inclined to believehis prospective father-in-law.

He not only wrote back thathe doubted the truth of thecharges, but also sentmessages to the kings ofPortugal, Castile, Aragon,and Naples, supporting theorder.ThenhewrotetoPopeClement V, saying that theTemplars in England hadbeen “constant in the purityoftheirfaith.”9

Edward was inclined tothink that the charges were

totally false and the productofenvy.HeknewPhilip.However,theconfessionof

Jacques de Molay and otherTemplars in France, alongwith the papal order forarrestseverywhere, issuedonNovember22,1307,seemstohave convinced Edward thatheshouldlookintothematterfurther.10

He ordered that the

Templars in England bearrestedonJanuary10,1308.This was done in a rathercasual manner. Many of theTemplars were put underhouse arrest in their owncommanderies.ThemasterinEngland,WilliamdelaMore,wasimprisonedatCanterburybut was given a dailyallowance and the use of a“bed, robes and variouspersonal possessions.”11

Torture was not used inEngland;itwasillegal.The Templars waited in

relative comfort, supportedby the income from theirproperty, until the inquisitorsarrivedtointerrogatetheminOctober1309.The inquisitorsmighthave

saved themselves the trip.TheTemplarsallgavetotallyorthodox accounts of their

entry into the order. Thisincluded the preceptor ofAuvergne,ImbartBlanc,whohad either been visiting inEngland at the time of thetrials or had escaped there.There are many speculationsaboutwhyhehappenedtobeinEnglandbutnohardfacts.Imbart was questioned on

October 29. He had been amember of the order forthirty-six or thirty-seven

years and had been receivedintoitbyWilliamofBeaujeu,the master who had dieddefendingAcre.Hedeniedallthe charges, stating only thathe had been kissed on themouth [as was customary]and that each and every oneof the articles were evil liesandhadneverhappened.12

One of the Templars,Thomas of Ludham, hadentered theorderonlyeleven

days before being arrested,threemonthsafter thearrestsin France.13 The implicationis that the British TemplarsassumedthattheproblemwasonlyintheFrenchhousesandthat they should carry on asusual.By June of 1310, the

inquisitors were completelyfrustrated by the lack ofconfessions. Since torturewas forbidden under English

law, they asked thearchbishop of Canterbury iftheycould take theTemplarsto Ponthieu, which was oneoftheking’sFrenchholdings.There“torturecouldbemorefullyandfreelyapplied.”14ToEdward’s credit, he did notallowtheEnglishTemplarstobetakenabroadfortorture.Edward did buckle a bit

underpressurefromthepopeand some of his bishops. He

had the Templars put underthe authority of theinquisitorsinprisonsattachedto the city gates of London.He said they could do whattheywanted to the prisoners,but he was only allowing itout of reverence for theApostolicSee.15

Itseemsthat,inLondonatleast,sometorturewasfinallyapplied but to no avail. TheBritish Templars would not

confess. The inquisitorsadded one more question tothe list put to the FrenchTemplars. Why wereTemplarsburiedinsecrecy?Why they asked this is

unknown. They may havebeen grasping at straws. Theanswerwas that theyweren’tburiedinsecrecy,andfurtherinvestigation proved that thiswas so. Templar funeralswerewellattended.

This was becomingextremely embarrassing fortheinquisitors.In desperation, they

decided toget evidence fromwitnesses from outside theorder. By now it was 1311.TheCouncil of Vienne wasabout to start and theyworried they would be theonly inquisitors to show upwithout some juicy tales ofTemplarsin.

Theoutsidewitnessesweremuchmorefun.Oneman,aservingbrother

from Ireland named Henry,saidthathehadheardtellthat“Hugh the Master of CastlePilgrim received many menwith the denial of Christ aspart of the ceremony.” 16Healso knew of a Templar onCyprus who owned a goldhead,ormaybeitwasbronze,that answered any question

put to it. But he didn’t thinkthe Templar worshipped it,just used it for generalinformation.17

Master John ofWarrington, in York,announced that a Templar,William de la Fenne, hadgiven (John’s) wife a bookthat said that Christ was notGod and had not beencrucified. De La Fenneresponded that he had given

Master John’s wife a bookbut there was nothingheretical in it, and, by theway, why had he waited sixyearstomentionit?18

Several people said thatthey had heard about secretmeetings held at night and,while they didn’t knowwhatwent on there, it stood toreason that it was somethingbad. One witness, describedas a “loose woman,” told of

“disgusting abominationsconcerning a black cat and astone.”19

While not at all reliable,thetestimonyofwitnesses,orthose who knew someonewho was a witness, is muchlivelier,iflesscredible.Finally, a Franciscan

witnesssaidthat“hehadbeentold by a woman, who hadbeentoldbyaman,whohad

been told by someone else,that a servant of the latter’sacquaintancehadbeenput todeath when caught watchingthe Templars worship anidol.”20

Atthispointeventhemostdie-hard inquisitor wouldhavetohavethrowndownhisquillandquit.They did manage to get

three Templars, or possibly

former Templars, to confessto the charges. All three hadonly recently been arrestedandhadbeenhidingoutsince1307.Itwasnowthesummerof 1311. They seem to havebeen tortured to confess, butit’snotcertain.After these three

confessed, they all publiclyaskedforgiveness.Theyweregiven a penance andabsolved.21

Eventually the rest of theTemplars, still in prison,although they hadn’t beenconvicted of anything,decided they might as wellconfess, too. The ones whowere strong enough stoodonthe steps of St. Paul’sCathedralandannouncedthatthey were no longer hereticsbutorthodoxChristians.Theywere given penances,forgiven, and sent off to

various monasteries aroundthecountrywithapensionoffour pence a day fromTemplarrevenues.OnlytheTemplarmasterin

England,WilliamdelaMore,and the French preceptor,Imbart Blanc, refused to askforgiveness. De la Moreinsisted to the end that “hewould not ask for absolutionfor something he hadn’tdone.”22

Bothmendiedinprison.

ARRESTSANDTRIALSINGERMANY

There were not manyTemplars in Germany. TheHospitallers and theTeutonic Knights were morepopular, especially the latter,

being the home team, as itwere.InallofcentralEurope,the Templars only had fiftyhouses at the time of thedissolution.23 This includesall thevariousGermanstatesand Poland. They did ownproperty throughout the areathat was administered forthem and the rents collected,but there were few placeswhere Templars actuallylived,eveninsmallgroups.

After the failure of thecrusades of Saint Louis, theTemplars had established afew new commanderies inMoravia (one namedTempelstein).Towardtheendofthethirteenthcentury,theybegan to be in control ofsmall territories, althoughnothing on the scale of theTeutonic Knights, whogovernedwholecountries.24

Therearenorecordsofthe

trialsinGermany.It’sknownthat in some areas, theTemplars were arrested. Butthis was more complicatedthan in England or France.For instance, the archbishopof Magdeburg imprisoned anumber of Templars,including Frederick ofAlvensleben, who waspreceptor of Germany. Thisshould have been quite acoup.However,thebishopof

Halberstadt tookexception tothis. The Templars had beenpoachedfromhisterritory.Sothe bishop excommunicatedthe archbishop. I’m fairlysure it’s against the rules toexcommunicate one’ssuperior but the bishop ofHalberstadt tried it anyway.PopeClementhad to step in,revoke theexcommunication,and remind them that it wasthe Templars who were on

trial.25

In Trier on the westernedge of Germany, thearchbishop tried threeTemplars.Healso listened tosome witnesses. TheTemplars in Trier wereacquitted.26

Two brothers, Hugh andFrederick of Salm, werecommanders of houses inGrumbachandtheRhineland.

They were much moreforceful in thedefenseof theorder. Hugh burst into thecouncilmeeting inMainz onMay 13, 1310. He told thearchbishopand thecourt thathehadheard that thecouncilwas trying to destroy theorder. This was completely“harshandintolerable.”Hughannounced that he wanted tobe heard by “a future pope,”notClementV.27Smartman.

Hugh also addedsomething that may havebeenoneoftheearliestofthelegendsthatgrewupafterthetrials.Hesaidthat“thosewhohad constantly denied theseenormitieshadbeendeliveredup to the fire, but that Godhadshowntheirinnocencebya miracle, for the red crossand white mantle they worewouldnotburn.”28

The archbishop saw the

logic in Hugh’s protest andsaid he would see what thepope said about it.Hughandthe twenty armed Templarshehadbroughtwithhimweresatisfiedwithhispromiseandleft.29

Frederick of Salm told hisinquisitors that he knewJacques de Molay well anddid not believe the charges.He offered to undergo theordeal of red-hot iron, in

which the suspect must holdonto a bar of iron broughtstraightfromtheforge.Iftheburns heal quickly, he isinnocent. Frederick’s offerwasturneddownandthetrialwent on in the usual way,withouttorture.Afterhearingthe evidence, the archbishopdeclared the Templarsinnocent.30

In other areas the pope’sorders were simply ignored.

Otto, the Templarcommander of Brunswick,had no intention of steppingdown.He eventually becamecommanderoftheHospitallerhouse at Süpplingenburg,with a yearly pension of onehundredmarks.Ofcourse,hewasthebrotheroftheduke.31But it appears that lessimportant Templars in theGermanstatesfaredalmostaswell. Fewof themwere ever

imprisonedandnoneofthemwerekilled.

ARRESTSANDTRIALSINCYPRUS

Cyprus was now the seat oftheKingdomof Jerusalem inexile.Both theTemplars andtheHospitallers were based

there. The king of Cyprus,Amaury of Lusignan, hadbeen supported by theTemplars in his takeover ofthe government from hisbrother, Henry. At theTemplar headquarters on theisland of Cyprus, seventyTemplars were interrogated.32Noneofthemconfessedtoany of the charges. Outsidewitnesses were alsoquestioned. Most of them

actually defended theTemplars.33

Unlike the other Templarcenters outside of Spain, theknights on Cyprus were thefightingforce.Therecordsoftheir trial finally give us anidea of the makeup of theTemplar forces in the East.For the first time, there is areal sense that this was aninternational order. BrotherNicholaswasEnglishandhad

enteredtheorderatLidleyinShropshirein1300.34BrotherJohnwasalsoEnglishbuthadbecome a Templar in Italyand,althoughasergeant,hadbecome the commander of ahouse.35BrotherFranciscamefrom Slavonia and had beenreceived into the order byJacques de Molay himself.36Brother Bertrand came fromBrindisi and Brother PierrefromProvence.37

Therewere evenTemplarsfromAcre:BrotherGuy,whohad been received in Acre,and Brother Hubald, whocame from Acre but hadjoinedin1299onCyprus.38

These were the younger,fittermenwhohadbeensenteastassoonaspossibletobereadytomountanexpeditionto regain the Holy Land.Mostof themhadfoughtandseen their friends die for the

cause and they were evenmoreindignantatthechargesthan the serving brothers inEurope,whomayneverhavebeentotheEast.39

In themiddle of the trials,KingAmaurywasmurdered,notbyaTemplar,Ihastentoadd. His body was found“stuffed beneath the stairs inhis house at Nicosia.”40 Themost likely suspect was hisbrother, Henry, who now

became king, but I don’tbelievethematterwaslookedintoveryclosely.Since the Templars had

helped Amaury take thethrone from Henry a fewyears before when the trialwas reopened and newwitnesses brought in, theyhadgoodreasontoexpecttheworst.It didn’t happen. The new

witnesses, important men ofthe kingdom, told theinquisitors that the Templarswerethemostvaliantfightingmen they knew and allseemed devout. Theyregularly went to Mass andreceivedtheHost.OneoftheTemplars’ guards had startedoutcertainthat themenwereguilty. After two years withthem, he not only hadchangedhismind,hefeltthat

Godhadperformedamiracleinordertoproveittohim.41

Pope Clement wasn’tsatisfied with these resultsand, in 1311, sent a papallegatetoCyprustoreopenthetrial and this time to usetorture. I’m not sure if hewanted to torture theTemplars or thewitnesses orboth,butthereisnorecordofanythingmorehappening.

ARRESTSANDTRIALSINITALY

Italy, of course, is a modernnation. In the fourteenthcentury, the Italian peninsulawas made up of severalterritories, suchasLombardyand Tuscany, or city-states,such as Venice, Pisa, andGenoa.ScatteredamongthemwerethevariousPapalStates(see below). There was also

theKingdomofNaples,ruledbyCharlesII,uncleofPhiliptheFair.42

Naples was one placewhere the Templars wereseriously prosecuted. Duringthe course of the trials,Charles died and wassucceededbyhisson,Robert,whowishedtopresshisclaimto the thrones of JerusalemandSicily. In the summer of1309, Robert made a trip to

Anjou to see Pope Clementand receive officialconfirmationofhisrights.43

Few records remain of thetrial in Naples but it appearsthatthesixTemplarsarrestedthereweretorturedinordertomake themconfess.The trialwas held in April 1310 andthe highlight of it was thetestimony of one Galcerandde Teus, who regaled theinquisitors with the story of

howhe had been received inCataloniaandnotonlytoldtodeny Christ but assured thatJesus,whileonthecross,hadconfessed that he was notdivineandhadbeenforgiven.He insisted that all theCatalonian Templars knewthis. However, it later cameout that Galcerand hadbecome a Templar in Italyand may not have ever beentoCatalonia.44

In Tuscany only thirteenTemplars were taken. Six ofthemconfessedundertorture.The other seven didn’t.45Aswas usual in other countriesoutside of France, moreattention was paid tooccupying and takinginventory of Templarpropertythanincapturingthementhemselves.46

Again the main thrust ofthe questioning involved the

secret reception of newmembers of the order. Thedeposition of BrotherGiacomo di Phighazzanosums up the frustration andexasperation the rest of theTemplarsmusthavefelt:“The reception of the

brothers to the communitywas done as the Rulecommanded,” he insisted.“No brother was receivedwho was not received

accordingtotheruleshandeddownbytheblessedBernardand by which father Jameshad received him.[Giacomo]”47

ARRESTSANDTRIALSINTHEPAPALSTATES

The Papal States were areas

of Italy that came under thelegal jurisdiction of thepopes. They consisted ofseveral towns and regionsscatteredupanddownwhatisnowthecountryofItaly.Thetotalwasn’tahugearea,butitis rather surprising that inallofit,whentherewereatleastthirty commanderies, onlyseven Templars werearrested. There were sixserving brothers, Ceccus

Nicolai di Langano, AndreasArmanni deMonte Oderisio,Gerard de Placentia, PetrusValentini, Vivolus de villaSancti Iustini, andGualteriusJohannis de Napoli, allItalian. The seventh was aTemplar priest, Guillelmo deVerduno.48None of themhadever been overseas; they hadneverevenleftItaly.49

The seven Templars allconfessed that they had spit

and stamped on the cross,except the priest, who hadbeenallowedtostampontwopiecesofstraw.Fourofthemsaid they had been asked toworship an idol. Each onedescribed a different idol.Ceccus saw a young boymade of metal; Andreas sawone with three heads;Gerard’s idol was made ofwood and had one face;Vivolus saw a white head

withthefaceofaman.None of the Templars

appeared to have beentortured. They were allabsolved.There isnorecordofwhat

happened to the rest of theTemplarsinthePapalStates.OUTSIDE of France veryfew Templars confessed, orwere judged guilty, of

anything. Many never cametotrialatall.InspiteofPopeClement’sattemptstoget theregional churchauthorities toprosecute the Templarsrigorously, using torture ifnecessary, it doesn’t seem tohaveoftenhappened.Theresultof thetrialswas

toputalotofTemplarsoutofwork. The Hospitallerseventually got most of theTemplar property but they

were saddledwith the job ofpaying pensions to the ex-Templars and theirdependents.Thereallosersinthewhole

affair were Clement V andthe popes who came afterhim. Clement was shown tobeaweakmanandhisofficeas one with very little realpower. He could order thearrest of the Templarsbecause they were under his

direct authority. But hecouldn’t make local bishopshunt the Templars down. Hehadthepowertosuppresstheorder but not enough to seethat its property wasdeliveredwherehewantedit.And now the whole world

knewit.1In Barcelona at the Archivode la Corona de Aragón, if

you want to check them. Orsee Alan Forey, The Fall oftheTemplarsintheCrownofAragon (Ashgate, Aldershot,2001); he has searched thearchives extensively for youand me. I am extremelygrateful.2This is my summary ofForey,pp.1-6.3

Forey,p.215.4Ibid.,p.75.5MalcolmBarber,TheTrialofthe Templars (Cambridge,2006)p.236.6Barber,p.237.7Thomas W. Parker, The

KnightsTemplarsinEngland(UniversityofArizonaPress,1963)p.17.8Evelyn Lord, The KnightsTemplar in Britain (London:Longmand,2002)pp.44-137.9Barber,p.218.10Anne Gilmour-Bryson, “The

London Templar TrialTestimony,” in A WorldExplored: Essays in HonourofLaurieGardiner,ed.AnneGilmour-Bryson (Melbourne,1993).11Barber,p.219.12Roger Sève and Anne-MarieChagny-Sève, Le Procès desTemplier d’Auvergne 1309-

1311, p. 253. “dixit quodosculanturseinore,etomniaalia et singula in predictusarticulis contenta sunt fallsaetmala,necfactafuerunt.”13Gilmour-Bryson,p.48.14Parker,p.95.15Ibid.,p.96.

16Gilmour-Bryson,p.52.17Ibid. This was before theInternet, of course, but justimaginewhat a great sciencefictionstorythiswouldmake.Remember,Ihaditfirst.18Lord,p.198.It’spossiblethatJohn couldn’t read, but hiswifecould.

19Ibid.20Parker, p. 97. All of thesecomefromtherecordsof thetestimony.21Lord,p.19922Ibid.,200.23

Karl Borchardt, “TheTemplarsinCentralEurope,”in The Crusades and theMilitary Orders: Expandingthe Frontiers of MedievalLatin Christianity, ed. ZsoltHunyadi and JosefLaszlovszky (Budapest:Central HungarianUniversity,2001)p.233.24Please see chapter 39,Other

Regional Military Orders,for more on the Teutonicknights.25Barber,p.251.26Ibid.27Ibid.28Ibid.

29Ibid.30Ibid.,p.252.31Borchardt,p.239.32Peter Edbury, “The MilitaryOrders in Cyprus,” inHunyadi and Laszlovszky, p.102.

33Ibid.34K. Schottmüller, DerUntergang des TemplerOrdens(Berlin,1887)Vol.II,p. 168. Prof. Anne Gilmour-Bryson has translated therecords of the trial intoEnglish.Unfortunately, Iwasnot able to obtain a copy ofherbook.

35Ibid.,p.185.36Ibid.,p.191.37Ibid.,pp.207-9.38Ibid.,pp.188-89and217.39Barber,pp.255-56.

40p.256.41Schottmüller,pp.157-58.42Barber,p.213.43Fulvio Bramato, Storiadell’Ordine dei Templari inItalia,Vol. IILeInquisizioni,Li Fonti (Rome: Atanor,

1994)p.29.44Ibid.,pp.30-31.45Barber,p.215.46Bramato,pp.47-49.47Quoted in Bramato,“receptions frutrum cominterpredictis modis in ordine sic

fiebant, tamen aliqui non sicrecipiebantur, sedrecipiebantur secumdumregulam eis traditam a beatoBenardosecundumquamipsefr. Jacobus asseruitsereceptum.”48Gilmour-Bryson,pp.34-35.49Ibid., p. 38. The followingparagraphsarea summaryof

Gilmour-Bryson’s excellentedition of the transcripts ofthetrials.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-SIX

TheSecretRiteofInitiation

The most serious chargesbrought against theTemplarsbyKingPhilip—andtheonesthat still seem to fascinatepeople today—all revolved

around the secret ceremonyof initiation into the order.AlloftheTemplarswhowerearrested were asked aboutwhat they did at their entry.The answers fell into twocategories. The first was thenormal rite that was spelledoutintheRule.Theceremonyof reception

is in theOld French version,soitwasaccessibletoanyonewho could read or have it

read to him. It was a secretceremony not in the sensethat no one could find outwhat happened, but in thatfamily and friends were notinvited.Here are themain parts of

theinitiation:Ifamanwishestobecome

aTemplar,heisfirstbroughtinto a room near the chapterhall where the Templars

gather for their weeklymeetings. There he is askedseveralquestions.The first questions are

about his willingness to jointhe order: “Brother, do youask to join the company ofthehouse?”1

Ifhedoes,thentheyaretotell him about all thedifficultiesof the joband thesuffering he will endure and

ask if he is prepared to be aserf and a slaveof thehouseforalways,allthedaysofhislife.2This is stressed severaltimes. It is not an unusualrequest. Anyone joining areligious order is told thatthey must obey theirsuperiors without question.This was true of theBenedictines, Cistercians,Franciscans,Dominicans,andallotherorders.3However, it

wasconsideredthatmenwhohad been trained as knightswould have more troublebeing subservient than mostmonks.If the applicant is not

deterred by this informationthen he is asked questionsthat concern reasons why hemay not become a Templar.Is he married? Is he amember of another order?Does he owe money that he

can’t repay? Does he have acommunicabledisease?If the answers to these are

satisfactory, then one of thebrothersquestioninghimgoesintothechapterhallandsaystothemaster:“Lord, we have spoken

with thisworthymanwho isoutside and have told himofthehardshipsof thehouseaswellaswecould.Andhesays

that he wishes to become aserfandslaveofthehouse....”4

Then the applicant isbrought in. He kneels beforethe master and joins hishands,saying:“Lord, I have comebefore

God and before you andbefore the brothers andimplore and ask you byGodand by Our Lady, that you

may welcome me into yourcompany and the benefits ofthehouseasonewhodesirestobeaserfandaslaveofthehouseforallmydays.”5

The master tries again todissuadetheman:“Good brother,” he says.

“You ask a very great thing,forofourorderyouseeonlythe outer appearance. For inappearanceyouseeushaving

fine horses, and goodequipment, and good foodanddrink,andfinerobes,andthus it seems toyou thatyouwould be well at ease. Butyou do not know the harshcommandments which liebeneath: for it is a painfulthing for you, who are yourownmaster,tomakeyourselfaserftoothers.Foritwillbedifficult foryou todoasyouwish;forifyouwishtobein

the land this side of the sea,youwill be sent to the otherside; or if youwish to be inAcre, youwill be sent to thecountryofTripoliorAntiochor Armenia. . . . And if youwish to sleep, you will bewakened; and if yousometimes wish to stayawake,youwillbeorderedtostayinyourbed.”6

If the applicant is not anobleman,heisremindedthat

he will be made a sergeant.This means an even harderlife, doingwork that hemaythink beneath him. Themaster doesn’t mince words.He lists all the irksome jobsthemanmightberequired todo. Honestly, I would havechanged my mind when hegottothepartaboutcleaningout the pigsty and sweepingupafterthecamels.Butmanymen remained firm in their

desiretojoin.The applicant is then sent

outside to await the decisionof the chapter. If theydecideto accept him, he is calledback inandaskedoncemoreif he’s willing to endure allthattheyhavetoldhim.Whenheagrees,themaster

rises and asks them all tostand and pray to “Our LordandLadySaintMary that he

maydowell.”7Theythensaythe Lord’s Prayer and thechaplaingivesanotherprayerto theHoly Spirit. After thatthe applicant is given theGospels and, with his handson them, is asked one finaltime if there is any reasonwhyhe should not become aTemplar.Lastly, the man takes the

oath, “Do you promise Godand Our Lady that all the

daysof your life youwill beobedient to themaster of theTemple and whatever ordersthat will be [given] you?Again,doyoupromisetolivechastely, without property,thatyouwillliveaccordingtothecustomsofthehouse?DoyoupromisetoGodandLadySaintMary that, for all yourlife, you will aide inconquering the holy land ofJerusalemwith the force and

power that God has givenyou? And that you will helpto protect and save anyChristian who may need it?Do you promise never toleave the order without thepermissionofthemaster?”8

To all of these, the mananswers, “Yes, if it pleasesGod.”9

Finally,themastersays:“And we, by God and by

OurLadySaintMaryandbymy lordSaintPeterofRomeand by our father the pope,andbyall thebrothersof theTemple, we welcome you toall the benefits of the housewhich have been done sincethe beginning and will bedone until the end, and . . .you also welcome us to allthegooddeedsthatyouhavedoneandwilldo.Andsowepromiseyouthebreadandthe

waterandthepoorclothingofthe house and more thanenough of pain andtorment.”10

At last thenewTemplar isgiven his cloak, white for anobleman or black or brownfor a sergeant. The chaplainreads Psalm 133, “Beholdhowgooditisforbrotherstolive together in unity.” Thebrothers recite the Lord’sPrayer again and the master

raises thenew recruit up andkisseshimonthemouth.11

A kiss on the mouth wasthe normal way to seal anoath. This was done both inreligious communities and inroyal treaties, as well asofficial greetings. Myimpression is that it wasceremonial and not sexual.I’m fairly sure no tongueswereinvolved.

At leastonpaper, this is asacred and completelyorthodox reception. There isnothinginitthatneededtobesecret. The Templars simplypreferred that the ceremonybeprivate.Thisdesireforprivacywas

to lead to their downfall. Inthe minds of some people,things that are secret areautomaticallysuspect. If theyweren’t doing something bad

then why couldn’t anyonecome and watch? Therefore,there must be somethingblasphemous about thereception or a secondceremony must also takeplace.This theoretical second

ceremony was spelled out inthe charges: after the usualreception, the new Templarwas supposedly taken asideand told to deny Christ and

spit on the crucifix. Then heeither kissed the master onthebaseof the spine and thenavelorthenewTemplarwaskissed. Reports varied. Thisceremony was describedmostlybyTemplarswhohadeither been tortured orexpected to be if they didn’tgive the answers that theirinquisitorswanted.12

The problem with thereportsoftheinterrogationsis

that they are all in the thirdperson,notintheexactwordsof the men. Each Templarwas asked if he hadparticipated in thecrimes theorder was accused of. Thesewere read out one at a time.Then the inquisitor wrotedownthegistoftheanswer.The first statement of

Grand Master Jacques deMolay is almost a templatefor these reports of a secret

reception.OnOctober24,1307,nine

days after his arrest, Jacquestold the inquisitors that, afterhe received his white cloak,he was shown a cross ofbronze on which was theimage of Christ and he wastold to deny. And he, withmuchdistaste (licet invictus),did it.13 Then hewas told tospit on the cross, but he spaton the ground. Finally, he

was asked if he had taken avow of chastity. “Yes,” heanswered.“ButtheytoldmeIcould unite carnally with thebrothers, but I swear on myoaththatIneverdid.”14

Other confessions wouldfollow this pattern. BrotherPeter la Vernha, a sergeant,testifiedthatafterhereceivedhis cloak hewas told to kissthe receptor between theshoulder blades, which he

did.ThenhewastoldtodenyGod, for thatwas thecustomof the reception. He did this“bymouth, not in the heart”(ore,noncorde).15

BrotherSteventheCellereronly had to kiss the receptoronthenaveloverhisclothes.He also denied Christ, alsoore,noncorde,andspatnextto,noton,thecrucifix.16

These two confessions

were made in Paris. In theAuvergne, far to thesoutheast, Brother JohnDalmasofArtonne,aknight,saidthathehadbeenreceivedinto theorder in1299beforethe preceptor, Imbart Blanc.Imbart told him that thedenial of Christ was part ofthe regulations of the order.SoJohndidit,againore,noncorde, and spat next to thecross.17

The early interrogationsonly mention the denial ofChrist, spitting on the cross,and sometimes permission tohave sex with the otherbrothers. As the monthspassed,theTemplarprisonerswere asked about idolworship. This accusation istreated elsewhere in thisbook.18

Now, many of theTemplars insisted that their

reception had beencompletely orthodox but oftheoneswhoconfessed, theyall followapattern.The firsttwo actions, denying Christand spitting on the crucifix,are almost identical in eachstatement.The“obscenekiss”varies as to place, with thenavel and the base of thespinebeingfavorites.NoneoftheTemplarsadmits tobeingenthusiastic about it. In their

hearts they all remainedbelievers,orsotheysaid.Sowhatdidtheinquisitors

thinkwas thepurposeof thissecretinitiation?Didtheyreallybelievethat

every new Templar wasimmediately let in on thegreat surprise that the orderwasn’t reallyChristian at all,butdeniedChrist anddefiledthecrucifix?Itseemsoddthat

anewrecruit,readyandeagerto give his life fighting forChrist, should be told on thefirst day that that wasn’t thereason for the order’sexistence. I also find itstrange that, after theysupposedly denied Christ,they were then told toworship an idol that somecalledBaphomet. It seems alot to throw at aman on hisfirstdayonthejob.

Also, according to thetestimonies of the Templarsat their trials, after thisceremony, nothing morehappened. They continuedhearingtheDivineOfficeandgoingtoMass,althoughsomesaid that the priests omittedthe words to consecrate theHost. They also continuedshipping out for the HolyLand,where they fought anddied.

But for what? If theyweren’t there to protectpilgrims and fight the infidelin order to gain remission oftheir sins and have the hopeof heaven, what were theydoing there? While peoplehave come up with lots oftheories, at the time of thetrials, none of the men whoconfessedcameoutwithasetof beliefs to replace theChristianones.

They didn’t say they hadbecome Moslems. Theydidn’t give any of thealternate beliefs of otherChristian heretics. Theydidn’t say that they wereCathars. They certainlydidn’t tell the inquisitors thattheywere atheists, a conceptthatwasbarelyknownatthistime. It is unprecedented inthe history of hereticalmovementsnot tohavesome

sortofsetofbeliefs.Andyet,if the Templars weren’tChristian, theydidn’tconfesstobeinganythingelse.Itendtothinkthatthiswas

something that the accusersof the Templars slipped upon. Maybe they counted onthepublictofillintheblankswith their most dreadedheresy. But it is anotherreason to suspect that theheretical reception ceremony

existed only in theimaginationoftheinquisitors.AlanDemurger thinks that

there reallywas somesortofunorthodox part of theceremony, put in as aninitiationtest.19Idon’tthinkitmakes sense to demand thatan initiate deny the veryreason he wants to join agroup, even as a hoax.However, Iwon’tcompletelydiscount this, just because of

the strange things I’ve heardof modern male initiations.However, I think that themost probable answer is thatthere never was such aceremony. No Templar whotestifiedwithout the threatoftorture confessed to ahereticalreception.One of the most shocking

accusations was that at thereception, the Templarsdenied Christ and spat or

even urinated on the cross.Like Demurger, somescholars have assumed thatthismighthavehappenedandexplain it as a test of loyaltyor obedience. I think that’snonsense. This was justanotherof thegeneralbeliefsfloating around concerningheretics.THE Templars openedthemselves up to lurid

speculations by keeping thereceptionsecret.Why?The best answer I have

heard is onegivenby ImbartBlanc, the preceptor ofAuvergne, who had beencapturedandtriedinEngland.DespitethetestimonyofJohnDalmas,relatedabove,Imbartinsisted that the accusationswerealllies.The inquisitor then asked

him why the Templars kepttheir reception ceremonies asecret.His reply: “We were

foolish!”Imbart added that there

was nothing in the receptionceremonythat“wasnotfitforthewholeworldtosee.”20

Rather than confess tosomethinghehadneverdone,Imbart died in prison in

England.It seems to me that the

mostly likely explanation isImbart’s.Forcenturiespeoplehave tried to make sense ofthe “secret rites” of theTemplars.AsImentioninthesectionontheTemplarsandtheSaint,thereisastorytoldabout Louis IX, grandfatherof Philip the Fair. While incaptivity,Louiswasasked totakeanoath that, ifhe failed

to deliver his ransom, hewould be an apostate whodeniesChristandspitsonthecross. Also, in the 1147account of the taking of thecity of Lisbon by thecrusaders, the Moslemdefenders of the city aresupposed to have “displayedthesymbolofthecrossbeforeuswithmockery:andspittingupon it and wiping the filthfrom their posteriors with it,

and finally making wateruponit.”21

Many people haveimagined a religion to fit thetestimony given undertorture. Most of these“religions” have little ornothing to do with thestatements made in theconfessions.Thereisnoplacewhere theTemplarsgiveanydoctrine of belief that goeswith the rituals they are

supposed to have practiced.It’saverystrangeheresythathas no dogma. With theinformation we have, I amforced to conclude that therewas probably no secretreception and that therecertainly wasn’t a hereticalalternatereligionpracticedbytheTemplars.The Templars were

established to serveGod andprotect other Christians and

that is what they lived anddied believing they weredoing.1Laurent Dailliez, Régle etStatutsdeL’OrdreduTemple(Paris,1972)p.307. “Freres,requerés vos la compaigniedelamaison?”2Ibid.,“etqu’ilveautesterserfet esclafe de lamaison a tou

jors mais tous les jors de savie.”3One goodway to understandthisistoreadtheBenedictineRule, on which most of theothers are based. It has beentranslated into mostlanguages. One in English isAnthonyC.MeiselandM.L.del Mastro, The Rule of St.Benedict(GardenCity,1975).

4Dailliez,p.307.Ruleno.659.“Sire nos avons parle a cestprodome que est defors et liavonsmostré lesdurtésde lamaison si come nos avonspeuetseu.Etilditqu’ilveautestre serf et esclaf de lamaison.”5Ibid., p. 308. Rule no. 660.“Ire,jesuisvenudevantDieu

et devant vos et devant lesfreres, et vos prie at vosrequireporDieuetporNostreDame, que vousm’acueilliésen vestre compaignie et envos bienfaits de la maisoncomeceluiquitolosjorsmèsveautesterserfetesclafdelamaison.”6Ibid., p. 308. Rule no. 661:“Biaufrere,vosrequiresmult

grand chose, quar nostrereligion vos ne veés quel’escoche qui est par defors.Carlescorchesseestquevosnos veé beaus chevaus, etbeauhernois,atbienbovreetbienmangier, et beles robes,et ensi vos semble que vosfussiésmultaisé.Maisvosnesav es pas le forscomandemens qui sont pardedans:quarfortechosesiestque vos, qui est sires de vos

meismes, que vos vos faitesserf d’autrui, Quar a grantpoine ferés jamais chose quevos veulles: car si vosveulleésestreenlaterredeçamer, l’en vos mondera en laterredeTripleoud’Antyocheou d’Ermenie. . . . Et se vosvol es dormir on vos feraveillier: et se vos volésaucunes foi veillier l’envoscommandera que vos ailliésenvostre lit.” I have adapted

the English quote from thetranslation made by J. M.Upton-Ward,TheRuleof theTemplars (Boydell, 1992) p.169. I only found out aboutthis translation toward theendofmyworkonthisbook.It is very good, butoccasionally her carefullyliteraltranslationisabithardtofollowsoIhavegonebacktotheoriginaltoclarify.7

Dailliez,Ruleno.668.“Priésnostre Seignor er madamesainte Marie, que il de doitbienfaire.”8Ibid.,Rulesno.675and676.9“Oil,sire,siDieuplaist.”10Dailliez,p.314.Ruleno.677.“Etnosdepardieuetdepar

NostreDamesainteMarie,etde par mon seignor saintPierre de Rome, at de parnostre pere l’apostile, et depar tous les freres douTemple,sivosacuillonsatozles bienfais de lamoison quion esté fais dès lecomencement et qui serontfais jusques a la fin, . . . Etvosaussinosacuilliésen tozlesbiensfaisquevosavésfaiset ferés. Et si vos prometon

doupainetdel’aigueetdelapovrerobedelamaisonetdelapoineetdoutravailassés.”11Ibid., p. 315. “et le baiser enlabouche.”12Please see chapter 31, Thecharges Against theTemplars.13

GeorgesLizerand,LeDossierde l’Affaire des Templiers(Paris,1923)p.34.14Ibid., p. 37. “Interrogatus,quumvovitcastitatem,sisibialiquid dictum quodcommisceret se carnalitercum fratribus, dixt perjarmentum suum quod nonnecnumquamfecit.”15

JulesMichelet,LeProcésdesTempliersVolII(Paris,1987;rpt.of1851ed.)pp.216-17.16Ibid.,pp.241-42.17Roger Sève and Anne-MarieChagny-Sève, Le Procès desTempliers d’Auvergne 1309-1311 (Paris, 1986) pp. 127-28.18

Seechapter40,Baphomet.19Alain Demurger, Jacques deMolay: Le Crepuscule desTempliers (Paris: BiographiePayot,2002)p.335.20MalcomBarber,TheTrial ofthe Templars (Cambridge,2006;2nd.ed.)pp.220-21.21

Charles Wendell David, ed.and tr. The Conquest ofLisbon De ExpugnationeLyxbonensi (ColumbiaUniversity Press, 1936; rpt.2002) pp. 132-33, “atque inillam expuentes, feditis sueposterioraextergebantexilla,sique demummicturientes inillam.” I am grateful toMalcolm Barber for pointingoutthisreferencetome.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-SEVEN

MargueritePorete

The Belgian mysticMarguerite Porete may seemanoddpersonto includeinabookabouttheTemplars.SheneverwenttotheHolyLand.Shemayneverhaveevenmeta Templar. But their fate

affected hers in the mostdisastrousmanner.Marguerite was one of a

groupof laypeopleknownastheBeguines.Themovementwas strongest in the LowCountries but reached allthrough Europe. Beguineslived in towns in communalhomes, worked outside orbegged for alms, and pooledtheir possessions for thecommon good. Their beliefs

ranged from a completelyorthodox desire to live areligious, semimonastic lifeto deeply mystical,sometimes hereticalrevelations. Although themovementwascondemnedatthe Council of Vienne,1 itsurvived into the twentiethcentury.Someoftheirhomes,or beguinages, have beenturnedintomuseums.Many Beguine mystics

were revered locally andaccepted by the hierarchy ofthe Church. Margueritewasn’t one of these. Shewandered about, preachingher belief in the Free Spirit(another heretical movementcondemnedattheCouncilofVienne) and explaining topeople that the soul canachieve union with Godwithout theguidanceofwhatshecalled“thelittlechurch.”2

Now, first of all, no onewas supposed to preachpublicly without permissionfrom the local bishop andwomen weren’t allowed topreach at all, at least notoutside the family.Marguerite not only did so,but she also wrote a bookabout her mysticalexperiences, The Mirror ofSimple Souls. The book wascondemnedandburnedbythe

bishop of Valenciennes in1306.Undaunted,Margueritesubmitted the book to threescholars at the University ofParis,eachofwhomsaidthatthe book contained nothingheretical.3

The masters of theuniversity were apparentlygetting quite a reputation fordeciding matters of religion.PhiliptheFairwenttothemseveral times in his attempts

to justify the arrest andtrials of the Templars. SoMarguerite must have feltsecureintheirapprovalasshecarriedonwithherwork.However,in1308,Philip’s

confessor, Guillaume deParis,whowasalsothepapalinquisitor, happened to get acopyofTheMirrorofSimpleSouls. At this point he wasfrustrated by Pope ClementV’s lack of enthusiasm for

condemning the Templars.Unlike the masters of theuniversity, Guillaume foundseveral heretical passages inMarguerite’s book. He hadher brought to Paris to bequestioned.4

Marguerite, who hadspoken her mind to all andsundry for years, refused tosay anything to theinquisitors.Afterayearandahalf in prison without

defending herself, she wascondemned on June 9, 1310,and burned at the stake thenextday.5

Thiswaslessthanamonthafter the archbishop of Senshad ordered the burning offifty-four Templars. It hasbeen suggested that “becauseof his acts of intoleranceagainsttheTemplars,thekingof France had angered thePope.”6Philip may have

hoped that Clement wasreadytofollowthekinginallthings but he may haveworried that the burning hadpushedthepopetoofar.Therefore, Philip and

Guillaume needed anexample of a true heretic,someone who had openlyderided the authority of theChurch. Marguerite was aperfectchoice.Shewasafreespirit in many ways, not

attachedtoaconventortoanimportant family. And herwork could be seen asdecidedlyunorthodox.But would she have been

burned if the case of theTemplars hadn’t been goingso badly? I suspect not. It ismore likely that her bookwould have been burned andshewouldhavebeenshutupsomewhere. On the otherhand, Marguerite also

representedagrowinginterestamong literate laypeople inunderstanding the faith ontheirown.Thisindependencethreatened the stability of allofsociety,notjustthatoftheChurch. The various reformsin the Church over theprevious two hundred yearshad emphasized personaldevotions.Manypeopleweretrying to make sense of thebeliefs they had been taught.

Marguerite was one of themorevocalbutshewasnotasaloneasshemayhavefelt.Evidence of this is that,

although all copies of TheMirror of Simple Souls wereto be handed in anddestroyed, several peoplekeptthem.Itisatestamenttoherworkthatitwastranslatedinto English, Italian, andLatin(!).Clearlyhermysticalexperiences touched a wide

rangeofpeople.7

Did Marguerite fall into atrap set for the Templars orwere she and the Templarscaught up in a general paniconthepartofthoseinpower?Were they accused of heresybecause of valid evidence orbecause that was the chargemost likely to be takenseriously, given themood ofthetimes?

Ihonestlydon’tknow.Butitissomethingtothinkabout.1Charles-Joseph Hefele andDom H. Leclercq, Histoiredes Conciles d’après lesDocuments Originaux TomeVI deuxième partie (Paris,1915)p.681.Thefifthcanonof the council lumps theBeguinsinwiththeheresyoftheFreeSpiritandcondemns

both.2PeterDronke,WomenWritersoftheMiddleAges:ACriticalStudyofTexts fromPerpetua(d.203)toMargueritePorete(d. 1310) (CambridgeUniversity Press, 1984) p.217.3Catherine M. Müller,Marguerite Porete et

Marguerite d’Oingt, del’autre côte du miroir (NewYork:Land,1999)pp.14-15.4Ibid.,p.15.5Ibid.6Ibid.7Dronke,p.217.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-EIGHT

WhoWeretheTemplars?

Whiletherearesomenotablemen who became Templars,and occasionally one of therank-and-file Templars wassingledout forapprovalbya

chroniclerforthegloryofhisdeath, most of the time theTemplars seemedinterchangeable. This wasintentional. Unlike secularknights, they were notsupposed to be interested inpersonalfame.Theywerenotjust soldiers, but monks.Their lives combined thediscipline of an army unit inthefieldwith therigorof themonastic schedule of prayer

eighttimesaday.TheRule tellsuswhat the

daily life of the Templarshould be. There was ofcourse a big differencebetween the lives of thosewhowereondutyintheLatinkingdoms and those whonever left the West. But theRule gives us a pattern thatevery Templarwas supposedto follow. It is probable thatwhen not actively in battle,

mostofthemdidtheirbesttokeeptoit.What did they look like?

First of all, unlike thedandyish knights andcourtiers of the twelfthcentury, clean shaven withlong curly locks, theTemplars wore their hairshortandhadnicelytrimmedbeards.1 The Latin Rule,written by regular cloisteredmonks, makes it clear that

they weren’t to dress in thelatest styles. The monksparticularly despised thefashion for rostris, or shoeswith long, pointed toes andlaces,“whichareobviouslyaheathen fashion.”2Theirclothes should be plain andserviceable, without fur orfrills.Likemonks,theclotheswere not their own, butdistributed by the Draper,who was told to make sure

thattheyfitsothatnobrotherlooked like a fool insomething too long or tooshort.3

Also likeothermonks, theTemplars ate together and insilence.Outof regard for theamount of extra energy theywould need, they wereallowed meat three days aweek, except for some feastdays.4Theymighthavewinebefore bed, but in

moderation5Whentheygottobed,thereshouldalwaysbealight burning, “so that theshadowy enemies might notlurethemtoevil.”6

Many of the rules weredesigned to make sure thatthe brothers had no chanceforanysortofsexualcontact,with men or women. Theywerealwaystogoinpairs,ormore,but,shouldtheystopatan inn, they were not to go

intoeachother’srooms.7Thisrulepuzzlesmebecausemostinns did not have privaterooms—onemightwell havebeen asked to share a bedwith a stranger. Either themonks who wrote this ruledidn’t get out much or theTemplar cash was going forthebestlodgingavailable.Their daily lives were

based on those of themonastery.Theygotupinthe

middle of the night for theprayers of Matins. At dawntheysaidtheprayersofPrimeand then heard Mass. Theystopped for the other sixtimes of prayer, ending withCompline, after which theywere not allowed to speakuntilthenextMatins.Itwasunderstood that few

of the brothers would havetheLatin to recite thepsalmsof the Divine Office or even

be able to read them inFrench. So they only neededto listen to the priest reciteand to say the Lord’s Prayerthirteen times at each of thehours.8At the end of eachOffice, the brothers weregivenanynecessaryordersorimportantannouncements.After Matins, long before

dawn, the Templars did notgobacktobeduntiltheyhadchecked their horses and

equipment, repaired anythingthat needed it, and conferredwith their squires about anyother problems.9 Then theycouldgobacktobeduntilthesunrose.Instead of the usual

monastic duties, such ascopying manuscripts orworking in the garden, theTemplars in the field spentmostoftheirfreetimetakingcare of their armor and their

horses.Thecareofthe

A nineteenth-Centuryidealized image of aTemplar. (Art Resource,NY)horses was a majorconcern. The monk Odo ofDeuil, who went with LouisVII on theSecondCrusade,was impressed with the waythe Templars kept theirhorses fed, even though theythemselves were starving.10TheRulegaveguidelines for

feeding and exercising thehorses and for militarytraining. The Temple inLondon had a field acrossfrom the house which wasprobably used for joustingand other exercises, so notonly the brothers serving intheEastwereexpectedtostayintraining.11

As in a monastery or amodernarmy,aTemplarwasstrictlyundertheauthorityof

the master. He had to askpermission to do almostanythingandwasexpectedtoobey an order instantly,saying,“DeparDieu”—“ForthesakeofGod.”12

One concession that thewritersofthelatersectionsofthe Rule had to make wasabout gambling. Games ofchancewere thesecondmostpopular recreation formedieval soldiers and, since

the Templars had vowedchastity, the first was out ofthe question. So rule number317 gave limits on what theTemplar may wager. Itappears as if the ideawas tolet themplaywithout riskinganything. Because they hadtaken a vowof poverty, theyhad nomoney, so they wereforbidden to bet anythingvaluable, such as a saddle.Insteadtheycouldwagerwith

tent pegs or pieces of candleor worn-out cord from acrossbow. They were not toplaychessorbackgammonatall.13

These men had grown upin a society where everyoneplayedgamesofchance.ThefactthattheRulehadtobenda bit to accommodate thisshows how ingrained theknightly life was in the menwho chose to become

Templars.There was a great

difference between the livesof the Templars in the Eastand in the West. With theexception of the IberianPeninsula, the Templarsliving in the variouscommanderies and smallhouses never saw combat.Theirlifewasmuchmorelikethatofthemonkslivinginthecountrysidenear them.These

men had two main jobs: torecruit knights to send toJerusalem or Acre and tobringinthemoneytosupportthem.In Paris and London,

especially, some Templarsbecame financial servants ofthe kings. But we still haveonlyafewoftheirnames,nosense of who they were. Ithinkthatthisisbecausemostof the Templars were not on

the same social level as themen who hired them. Eventhe knights who wore thewhite cloak tended to comefrom the lower nobility. Thesergeants only had to befreeborn to enter the order.When it came down to it,with a few exceptions, thenobility considered theTemplars in Paris andLondonasnomorethancivilservants.

It is possible to give apicture of a few of theTemplars, mostly fromcharters.

INDIVIDUALTEMPLARS

One of the unusual thingsabout the Templars is thatmen could join for a limited

amount of time.14 One ofthose who did was a knightnamed Humbert ofBeaujeu.15Humbert was theson of Guichard, lord ofBeaujeu, in Burgundy, andLucienne of Rochefort. Thedate of his birth isn’t knownbut it many have beenbetween 1115 and 1120.16HesignedonwithLouisVII fortheSecondCrusade.Hewasgoing to travel to the Holy

Land with his father-in-law,Amadeus III of Savoy, butone night he had a visionwarning him to go on hisown.17It’s not quite clearwhat disaster the visionexpected. Amadeus III, whowas also the uncle of LouisVII, was bringing a hugeforce on the expedition.AmadeusandLouissharedinthe disasters of the journeyacross Anatolia and were

among those who went toofar ahead, causing theslaughterofLouis’rearguardin Turkey.18But Amadeushimself survived the crusadeand died on Cyprus of afever.When Humbert, traveling

on his own, reachedJerusalem, he joined theTemplars, although he wasmarried. Either he told themhewassingleorheofferedto

sign up for a term and liedabout having his wife’spermission. He must haveservedwiththemonlyforthedurationofthecrusade,forhewas back in Burgundy by1150.19 He may haveaccompanied the GrandMaster, Everard de Barres,who returned to the West ataboutthistime.Humbert’s father,

Guichard, had entered the

monastery of Cluny, nearMacon inBurgundy, in 1137and Humbert was apparentlyvery active in the area,keepingthepeaceandgettingrid of brigands and thieves.Everardmaynothavewantedthe lord of Beaujeu to leavethe Templars. It’s alwayshard to lose an enthusiasticworker. The abbot of themonastery, Peter theVenerable,wasallforridding

the Holy Land of theSaracensbutthemaraudersinBurgundy, though Christianin name, were much closerand posed an immediatethreattohimandhismonks.Abbot Peter wrote to

Everard, begging him torelease Humbert from theTemplars so that he couldcontinuetoprotectClunyandthe surrounding region. ThisisanotherreasonwhyI think

that Humbert was atemporary Templar. Theabbot of Cluny would nothave suggested makingsomeone revoke a monasticvow. But if Humbert hadpromised to serve the orderfor a short time and he hadleft before the time was up,Peter might have consideredhis need greater than theTemplars’.20

Hepointsouttothemaster

that, while all the good menwere off fighting, the badonesstayedbehindtopreyonthe innocent. But Humbert,“who has but lately comeback from overseas andreturned toourneighborhoodto take up the care of theland, togeneral rejoicing,” isnow able to protect widows,orphans, and defenselessmonks.21

SoHumbertdidnotremain

intheTemplars.HestayedinBeaujeu,wherehewasactivein clearing his land ofcriminals.Healsowasknownfor his battles with his son,Humbert IV, who probablywished the old man hadstayed in Jerusalem. Theirquarrelwas finally settledbythe bishop of Lyons, whoarbitratedtheirpeace:Among all the misfortunes

whichhavestruckourregion,one must place first thatupheaval (tempestas illa),that pitiless war whichHumbert of Beaujeu and hisson waged against eachother, andwhichmenalmostdespaired of ever seeingended.... [At last] The fatherreceived his son like hisnatural heir, and as thelegitimate seignor after himof hiswhole fief and domain

of Beaujeu, and he swore tothis before all the witnesses.The son, in his turn, did himhomage. And it was in thisway that, through ourmediation, the youngHumbert gave back to hisfather thegreaterpart of theseignoryonwhichhehadlaidhishand.22

The younger Humbert diedon the Third Crusade. His

father died around 1192, inhis late seventies or earlyeighties.Ihopehewasfeistytotheend.Humbertisagoodexample

ofhowtheTemplarswerenotjust men who gave upfamilies and the world. Ihaven’tbeenabletofindanyindication of him staying incontact with the localTemplarsafterhis return,butthismay be due to a lack of

records.The fact thathis sonwent on the next crusadeimplies that Humbertbelieved in the cause,although the youngerHumbert did not follow hisfather’sexampleand join theTemplars.BUT in some cases, theTemplars were a familyaffair. One of the mostimportant donors to the

Templar commandery atRichendeswasthelocal lord,HughofBoubouton.In1136,heandhisnephew,Bertrand,along with many of theirfriends and neighbors, gavethe Templars a fairly largeparcel of land. To be certainthat no one contested this,they had the bishop of St.PaulTroisChâteaux,PonsdeGrillon, witness it.23 Twoyears after that Hugh, with

his wife, son, and nephewamong others, gave theTemple more land. The nextday,HughbecameaTemplar.He eventually became thecommanderofRichendes.24

Hugh’s example seems tohave inspired his son,Nicholas. On December 3,1145, he also became aTemplar, in spite of theprotests of his mother, whowas finally convinced to

accept his decision. Hemusthave been an only child, forhe gave the remainder of thefamily property to the order,for, as he quoted, “OnemaynotbeMydiscipleunlessonegives up all that onepossesses.” Enough was leftto support his poor mother,Marchesa.Onewonders howshe spent the rest of her life,for it’s clear from thedocumentthatNicholasknew

how his decision had hurther.25

In this case we can sensethe deep religious dedicationof Hugh and his son. Theyhadpropertyandpositionbutthey gave it up to fight forGod.Thereisnoindicationasto what prompted theirdecisions, but the religiousdevotion is obvious. It’s oneof the tantalizing unknownsthatmakeshistoricalresearch

both exciting and frustrating.IimagineHughstayingatthecommandery while Nicholaswent off to Jerusalem,perhaps to die at one of thebattlesoftheSecondCrusadeor in some unimportantskirmish. Did Hugh regretencouraginghis son?Didhiswifeeverspeaktohimagain?There’snowaytoknow.Perhaps ifwehadmoreof

these personal images of the

Templars and their families,there wouldn’t be so manyimaginary tales about theirlives.1Rene Grousset, Histoire desCroisades et du RoyaumeFranc de Jérusalem Vol. I(Paris,1934)p.543.2HenrideCurzon,LaRègleduTemple (Paris, 1886) pp. 32-

33, “manifestum est essegentili.”3Ibid.Ruleno.18.4Ibid.Ruleno.26.5Ibid.Ruleno.30.6Ibid. Rule no. 37. This wascustomary in both

monasteriesandconvents.7Ibid.Ruleno.41.8Ibid.Ruleno.282.9Ibid.Ruleno.283.10OdoofDeuil,DeProfectioneLudoviciVIIinOrientem,ed.and tr. Virginia Gignerick

Berry (New York: Norton,1948)p.134.11George Worley, The Churchof the Knights Templars inLondon:ADescriptionof theFabricandItsContents,witha ShortHistory of theOrder(London,1907)p.15.12Curzon.Ruleno.313.13

Ibid.Ruleno.317.14Ibid.,Rulesno.65and66.15I haven’t found a connectionbetween him and GrandMaster William of Beaujeu,but one may exist. Familiestended to choose a religiousorder and support it over thegenerations.16

ConstanceBrittainBouchard,Sword, Miter, and Cloister:Nobility and the Church inBurgundy, 980-1198 (Ithaca:Cornell University Press,1987)p.292.17Jonathan Riley-Smith,“Family Traditions andParticipation in the SecondCrusade,” in The SecondCrusade and the Cistercians

(New York: St. Martin’sPress,1992)p.104.18Yves Sassier, Louis VII(Paris:Fayard,1991)p.178.19Giles Constable, The LettersofPetertheVenerableVol.II(Cambridge, MA: HarvardUniversity Press, 1967) p.214.20

Constable, p. 212, doesmention that Humbert hadleft without his wife’spermission. Humbertwouldn’t have been the firstman to join up to escape abad marriage but there is noinformationonthispoint.21Constable, p. 408, “nuper apartibustransmarinusveniensad partes nortras rediit, et

cumimmensaexulatatione.”22Edward Benjamin Krehbieland Achille Luchaire, SocialFrance at the Time of PhilipAugustus (New York: H.Holt,1912)p.264.23Marquis d’Albon, CartulaireGénéral de l’Ordre duTemple(Paris,1912)no.122,p.85.

24DominicSelwood,Knightsofthe Cloister: Templars andHospitallers in Central-Southern Occitania c.1100-300 (Boydell, Woodbridge,1999)p.68.25D’Albon,p.237,no.381.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-NINE

TheOtherGuys;RegionalMilitary

Orders

THETEUTONICKNIGHTS

During the Third Crusade,part of the German army,minus their leaders but withthe body of FrederickBarbarossa,arrivedatthecityof Acre. They were in poorshape andwere overjoyed tobe greeted by the monks ofthe German hospital of St.Mary.1When the army wenthome, some of the Germansoldiersstayedtoworkatthehospital. In 1198 it was

decided that St. Mary’sshould be divided into aservice to care for the poorand the sick among theGerman pilgrims and alsointo a military orderfollowing the rule of theTemplars.2TheywereknownastheTeutonicKnights.The members of the

Teutonic Knights mostlycame from the group knownas the ministeriales.3 This

was a class of people whoweretheserfsofthekingsoftheGermanstates.Theywereministers of finance andhandled much of thebureaucratic work. Whilemany of the families becamerichandinfluential,theywerenot considered free and notallowed to marry into thenobility.4 Men of this classwho had military trainingmight well have seen the

Teutonic Order as anopportunity for the knightlyactivitythattheirbirthdeniedthem.By the time of the Fifth

Crusade, the TeutonicKnights were part of thearmies supplied by themilitary orders. They foughtalongside the Hospitallersand the Templars during thefailedcampaignin1218-1221to conquer Egypt. They also

helped the Templars torebuild their fortress ofChateau Pelerin, now knownasAtlit.5

But the Teutonic Knightssoonrealizedthattheirsphereof activity was not thereconquest of Jerusalem.6They were convinced that itwas just as important toexpand the faith by bringingChristianity to the paganPrussians, Livonians, and

Estonians.They started their pursuit

of this in Hungary in 1211,when King Andrew II gavethem some land north of theTransylvanian Alps. A shorttime later he could write,“Theyhavebeenplacedlikeanew foundation on thatfrontier, and in withstandingtheconstantonslaughtsoftheCumans [a pagan group] andinprovidingastrongdefense

for the kingdom they do notfear to expose themselves todeatheveryday.”7

However, within a fewyears, Andrew had gone offtheTeutonicbrothers.It’snotcertain why. But one recordstates, “They are to the kinglike a fire in the breast, amouse in the wallet and aviper in the bosom, whichrepaytheirhostsbadly.”8Soitseems they outstayed their

welcome.TheywereexpelledfromHungaryin1225.They had better luck with

Emperor Frederick II, whowas discovering that it’s noteasy to rule a territory thatreaches from theMediterranean to the Baltic.So hewas happy to give theTeutonic Knights the districtof Culmerland plus anythingthey could take over inPrussia.9

They didn’t have to beaskedtwice.Thisdoesnotmeanthatthe

Teutonic Knights weren’tserious about religion. Theirorder was as strict as anyother. Knights took vows ofcelibacy, personal poverty,and obedience. When theywere on campaign, themaster’s tent served as achurch. Where the Templarswere allowed low-stakes

gambling, the TeutonicKnights could only do woodcarving for recreation.Military discipline wassevere.10

By 1230, the TeutonicOrderhadamonopolyonthemilitary orders in easternEurope.AsmallhouseoftheCalatravanOrder (seebelow)vanished.TwootherGermanorders, the Swordbrethrenand the Order of Dobrin,

were absorbed.11 Theysteadily tookover largepartsofPrussia.Theywereabletobring German peasants intothe area to colonize it undertheir authority, which gavethem a better base than theTemplars had, even betterthan the Hospitallers, whodidn’t have many colonistseven when they settled onMalta.Two years before the

Templars were arrested, theTeutonic Knights in Livoniawereputontrial.Thechargesagainst them were “theimprisonment of the bishopof Riga, infringement ofecclesiastical privileges,preventing missionary work,corruption of the Order’sranks and the sale of castlesand weapons to theLithuanians.”12 They wereactuallyguiltyofquitea few

of these things, but they hadnoone likePhilip IVagainstthemand they had their owncountry to fight fromso theyemergedunscathed.Inthemidfifteenthcentury

a Carthusian monk wrote ahistory of the various ordersin the form of a dialoguebetween a mother and son.When she arrives at theTeutonic Order, the motherdescribes how they began,

although stating that theyfollowed the Rule of theHospitallers, not theTemplars. They started outnoble defenders of the faith,she says, “But, [now] alas!Deceived by wealth they tryto overthrow almost everyorder and wickedly destroyeverysinglestate!”13

In 1525 the TeutonickingdomofPrussiawasmadeintoaProtestantduchy.There

werenotmanyknightsleftbythen. Some of the youngerones left the order andmarried. The elder knightsmostly preferred to stay trueto their monastic vows andfoundreligioushousestotakethem in.14 In Germany theorderreorganizedtofighttheTurks in the Balkans.Eventually the headquartersmovedtoViennaandbecame“a military and chivalric

extension of the House ofHapsburg.”15

THECALATRAVANS

Thisgroupofknightlymonkstook their name from thefortressofCalatravainSpain.They were formed in 1158after the Templars had

abandoned the fortress forreasons still unclear.16At thattime there was great fear ofan attack by theMoors fromGranada. King Sancho III ofCastile senta frantic letter toRaymondo, the abbot of theCistercian monastery ofFitero, inNavarre,askingforhis help. This isn’t the firstplaceIwouldhavelookedformilitary aid, but the abbotcame through, offering his

support and taking the neworder under the protection ofthe Cistercians.17 This wasthefirstoftheSpanishorders.Although the Templars

were very active in thereconquista in Spain andPortugal, they also sent aportion of everything theytookintosupporttheworkinthe crusaderkingdoms.18Since the kingsof these countries felt that

therewasenoughwork todoathome,theyencouragedthenative order of warrior-monks, whose loyalty wasstrictlytotheirowncountry.King Sancho started the

Calatravans off well, givingthem not only the town andfortress ofCalatrava but alsoanother village in a moresecurearea.19Theywerealsopromised the revenue fromspecific towns, if they could

conquer them.20 That, alongwiththepromiseofaportionof booty from otherconquests, encouraged theCalatravansintheirefforts.TheCalatravansmusthave

beenappreciatedby the localpopulation, for there arenumerous records ofdonations to them of estatesand rights. They alsobenefited by their connectionto the Cistercians, who, like

the Templars, wereresponsible to the pope andnot local bishops. This, asusual, created friction withtheSpanishclergybut italsobrought in a sizeableincome.21

The knights of Calatravawere active, along with theothermilitaryorders, inmostof the battles in the IberianPeninsula throughout thetwelfth and thirteenth

centuries. Although they lostthe town of Calatrava in1195, they continued tooperate from the town ofSalvatierra until forced tosurrender that.22 Undaunted,they continued fighting andregained Calatrava in July1212.23

The orders in Spainprovided medical treatmentfor those wounded in battle.Calatrava had at least six

hospitals.The commander ofone of them, Santa Olalla,traveledwithroyalarmies“toprovide for knights andfootsoldiers, both thewoundedandthepoor,theilland the sick, and to take achaplain with him to offerviaticum [last rites] to thewounded, if necessary, and amaster of surgery to givemedicine to the wounded.”24In this they seem to have

combined the duties of theTemplars and theHospitallers.The Calatravans attracted

the formation of smallerorders in León, the Order ofSt. Julián del Pereiro, and inPortugal, the Order ofAvis.25Castile-León was alsohome to the Orders ofSantiago and Alcántara.While the Templars also hadcommanderiesinthisarea,by

and large the Castilian kingspreferrednativeorders.26

They seem to have beencorrect in this judgment.Themilitary orders of the IberianPeninsuladidnothavetorelyondonationsfromotherlandsandonlyhadtodealwiththesquabblesoftheirownrulers.It’s possible that, since theydidn’t have to operate on aninternationalscale,theycouldputmoretimeandenergyinto

theirmaingoal,theexpulsionof the Moors from Spain.This was finallyaccomplishedin1492.

THEORDEROFST.LAZARUS

Oneofthemostintriguingofthe military orders wasknown as the Order of St.

Lazarus. At least at thebeginning, it was composedentirelyoflepers.Asearlyas1130,amanof

Burgundy named WidoCornelly, “judged to havecontracted leprosy,”volunteered to go toJerusalem and serve as aknightof theTemplars to theend of his life. Judging fromthe list of names witnessinghis vow, Wido was a

nobleman. He arranged forthe care of his wife andchildren before he left.27HedefinitelyjoinedtheTemplarsfirst, not St. Lazarus.However, if he did indeedhave leprosy, the Templarswouldhavehadtofindawayto care for him once hisillnessbecamedebilitating.There was already a

hospital for lepers inJerusalem. Like most such

hospitals, itwas dedicated toSaint Lazarus. There weretwomenby thatname in theGospels. The first was abeggar, covered with sores,who lay, ignored, at the gateof a rich man until he died.Hewas then taken toheavenwhile the rich man was senttohell.28 This Lazarusmightwell have been considered aleper and the parableillustrates the punishment for

notsharingwhatonehaswiththose less fortunate. Theother, better known, Lazaruswas Lazarus of Bethany,brother ofMary andMartha,whom Jesus raised from thedead.Tomany people leperswere the living dead. Sowhichonewasit?Theansweris probably both. Like MaryMagdalene, the saintveneratedintheMiddleAgesas Lazarus was likely a

blendingoftwomenwiththesamename.29

The hospital was inexistence at the time thatWido made his vow to jointhe Templars. It wasn’texactlyinJerusalem,moreupagainst an outer wall. Whilepeopledidnotyetbelievethatleprosywasapunishmentforone’s sins, they didn’t knowhow one got it and so mosthouses for leperswerenot in

denselypopulatedpartsofthecity.The royal family of

Jerusalem,startingwithFulkand Melisande, gavegenerouslytothe“churchandconvent of the infirm” of St.Lazarus. 30Most of the othernobility of the Latinkingdoms did as well. Oftenthere are Templars whowitness these charters. Someofthemareevencontractedat

the Temple of Solomon.31That might appear as if theTemplars and the lepers hadan early arrangement for thecare of leprous knights—thatis,untilwerememberthattheTemplehadbecomeageneralmeeting place for people inJerusalem to transactbusiness. 32 After all, peoplemight want to give to thepoor lepers but not have toactually visit them. So we

can’t be certain that theTemplars were connected tothe Hospital of St. Lazarusyet.Sometimearound1153,the

hospital seems to havedeveloped a second functionas a home for leperousknights who were still wellenough to fight. The firstknownmaster of St. Lazaruswas a certain Bartholomew.He carried water for the use

ofthelepersandtookcareofthem.33In1155,Almaric,theson of Fulk and Melisande,gave a villa to the “brothersof St. Lazarus of Jerusalemand to Hugh of Saint Paul,who is now master of thisplaceandofallthelepers.”34

It’s not clear when St.Lazarus started sendingknightsintocombat.Someofthe charters are to thebrothers and others to the

lepers.Isitsimplyamatterofthe term the scribe felt likeusing thatdayordid itmakea difference? My feeling isthat the military orderevolvedslowlyasmenintheearly stages of leprosy cameto the hospital but were stillabletobeararms.TherewereneverenoughfightingmeninJerusalem.Also, several skinconditions weremisdiagnosed as leprosy,

especially at the beginning.These men would have beenwellenoughtofightforquiteawhile.It wasn’t until the fall of

Jerusalem in 1187 that theOrderofSt.Lazarusreceivedpapal privileges similar tothoseoftheotherorders.35Atthis point we can say that itwasofficial.Thefirsttimetheknights are mentioned ashavingparticipatedinabattle

is that of La Forbie in 1244,where they were all killed.36That didn’t stop Stephen ofSalerno from donating tensous four years later, onconditionthat theyaccepthis“most blessed and beloved”son,Astorge,asabrother.37

These men had all seenwhat kind of death theywouldfacefromleprosy.Theagonyofdyinginbattlemusthave seemed pleasant by

comparison.The Templars must have

agreed.Sometimeintheearlythirteenth century they addedto theirRule,“If,by thewillof God, it happens that abrotherseemstohaveleprosyand the thing is proven, thebrothers of the house shouldadvise him and beg that heasktotakeleaveofthehouseand go to Saint Lazarus andtake thehabitof abrotherof

SaintLazarus.”38

The Order of St. LazarusmovedtoAcrealongwiththeTemplars and Hospitallers.They had a house there, ahospital, and a convent forsisters of the order.39Again,when the Mamluks took thecity, all the knights of St.Lazaruswerekilled.One would think that a

militaryorderlikethiswould

have ended with the fall ofAcre. But they seem to haveestablished themselves for awhile onCyprus.Eventually,however, theywere leftwithonly their properties inEurope, principally inEnglandandFrance.40

Bythistime,therewerenomore lepers among theKnights of St. Lazarus. Thishad happened gradually butby the end of the thirteenth

century the knights were allmen in reasonably goodhealth. Sometime before1307, they decided to movetheir headquarters to theirFrench holding in Boigny.Thenthingsgotreallyweird.In 1308, Philip the Fair

took the Knights of St.Lazarus under his personalprotection.41 Consideringwhat was happening to theTemplars at the time, they

might have wondered if thiswas a great idea. But theyalso may have thought it asafeportinanastystorm.TheKnightsofSt.Lazarus

continuedtoexist inEnglanduntilHenryVIIIdiscontinuedmonasticism there. But theydidn’t havemuch to dowithhospitals anymore and theydidn’tgooncrusadessotheirpurpose was nonexistent. InFrance, they had ups and

downs. Under Louis XIV,they became amilitary orderagain, fighting against theheathen British. In a fittingend to what had become anincreasinglybizarrestory,thelast French Grand Master oftheKnightsofSt.LazarusofJerusalem was Louis XVI.The order endedwith him attheguillotinein1792.42

But,liketheLazarusoftheBible, the order was

resurrectedin1910.Itisnowa worldwide Christian reliefagency with branches inEuropeandNorthAmerica.43Like the Templars, theKnights of St. Lazarus weretoointriguingtoletdie.

THEORDEROFST.THOMASATACRE

According to the Englishpilgrim and chronicler Ralphof Diceto, the Order of St.ThomasatAcrebeganwithavowmade by a terrified andseasickpriestnamedWilliam.He promised that, if he evermanaged to set foot on dryland again, he “would buildthe most elegant chapelpossible and staff it andconsecrate a cemetery inhonor of St. Thomas the

Martyr.Anditwasdone.”44

However, later chroniclersstate that a crusader namedHubert Walter founded theorder, and Matthew Paris,writing in the mid thirteenthcentury,decidedthatthemanwhomadetheshipboardvowwasnoneotherthanRichardtheLionheart. Of course, itwas Richard who got theultimate credit for it.45Notonlywashetheking,hewas

also the son of themanwhohad supposedly ordered themurderofSaintThomas.Thatmakesamuchbetterstory.Whoevermadetheoriginal

foundation, the Order of St.Thomas of Acre was mostlikelyfoundedduringorafterthe Third Crusade, after thelossofJerusalemin1187andtheremovaloftheseatofthekingdomtoAcre.

Theoriginalpurposeoftheorderwastocareforthepoorand to bury the dead. Thepriests at the church of St.Thomas paid particularattention to English pilgrimswhodidnotspeakFrench,thelanguage of the Latinkingdoms.The order doesn’t seem to

have been flashy enough toattractmany donations.Theyscrimped along until about

1228, when the bishop ofWinchester, Peter desRoches,paidthemavisit.Hedecided that the church wastoo poor to survive, and thepriests had become“dissolute.” 46 The priestsseem to have been canonsrather than monks. Thatmeant that each had his ownhome, rather than livingtogether. In other places thishad sometimes led to the

canons ignoring the vows ofchastity and poverty. One ofthe great reforms of thetwelfth century had been toreplacemanyofthecathedralcanonswithmonkswhowereundertheclosesupervisionofanabbot.Bishop Peter was having

notruckwithconcubinesandgluttonyoranyotherformofdissolution. He was in theHoly Land with a party of

crusading knights and wasnot above leading a battlecharge personally. 47He gotrid of the canons (withoutbloodshed) and turned St.Thomas of Acre into amilitary order. The Rule itwastofollowwasnotthatofthe Templars but of theTeutonicKnights.Thatmeantthat the order still had someobligationtocareforthepoorand sick, although the

members’fightingabilitywasthe most important aspect oftheirjob.48

How much fighting theydid is hard to say. They arenot mentioned by thechroniclersashavingbeen inanyof themajorbattles.But,by1256,theymanagedtogetthe same papal privileges asthe Templars andHospitallershad.49

Theydidreceivedonationsof property, mainly inEngland,butalsosomeonthecontinent. Peter des Rocheshad been a strong supporterofKingJohn,Richard’sbabybrother, and also guardian ofJohn’s son,Henry III.Sohispatronage allowed the orderto receive some royal gifts.Butitneverreallythrived.In1279,thechurchinAcrewasstillunfinished,duetolackof

funds.50In the late thirteenthcentury, there was even amovetohavetheOrderofSt.Thomas be absorbed into theTemplars. The Templarsalready owned the buildingthey lived in at Acre.Although an agreement ofsome sortwasmade, enoughof the members must haveprotested,fortheunionnevercameabout.51

The remnants of the order

in the East went to Cypruswith what was left of theTemplars and HospitallersafterthefallofAcrein1291.But they really had littlepurposethereandintheearlyfourteenth century theheadquartersoftheorderwasfinally moved to London,although there seems tohavebeen a small outpost onCyprusforsometime.52

After the settlement in

London, the Order of St.Thomas seems to havedecided that the TeutonicRule didn’t suit anymore. Itchanged to the rule of St.Augustine,whichmeans thatthe men must have returnedto being monastic canonsratherthanknights.In its later days, the order

mainly gave noble patrons aplace to stay when theyvisitedLondon.Italsostarted

a grammar school inLondonthat lasted until the time ofKingHenryVIII.Bythetimethe king closed all themonasteries, the patrons ofSt. Thomas were no longerthenobilitybutthemerchantsof London. The property oftheOrderofSt.Thomaswasbought by the MercersGuild.53

The Order of St. ThomasofAcreisoneofmanyquasi-

military orders that werefounded in the wake of theTemplars. They may havewished at times that theywere as influential and wellfunded as the two importantorders.Butwhen thesoldierscame for the Templars in1307, there must have beenmany who gave prayers ofthanksgivingthattheplanstomake the Knights of St.Thomaspartof theTemplars

hadfailedtooccur.1Annales aevi Suevici (MGHSSXVI. Hannover, 1879) p.153. “Imperator Fridericus,pacatoimperio,cumfiliosuoFriderico duce Suevorum etmango pocerum et aliorumcomitatu Terram Sanctamvisitavit.Sedcumquadamdielavaretur in flumine, periit etdictus filius eius exercitum

strennue rexit; sed et ipse inbrevi obit in ecclesia sanctaMarie hospitalisTheutonicorum, quam pateret ipse inchoaverant,sepultusfuit.”2Alan Forey, The MilitaryOrders from the Twelfth tothe Early FourteenthCenturies (London:MacMillan,1992)p.20.

3William Urban, “TheTeutonic Knights and BalticChivalry,” in The HistorianVol.57,No.4,1995,p.520.4John B. Freed, NobleBondsmen: MinisterialMarriagesintheArchdioceseof Salzburg, 1100-1343(Ithaca: Cornell UniversityPress, 1995) provides a good

explanation of theminsteriales.5Oliver of Paderborn, TheCaptureofDamietta,tr.JohnJ. Gavigan (University ofPennsylvania Press, 1948)chapter5,p.18.6Blondssunburnsoeasily.7

Forey,p.34.8Ibid.,p.35.9Ibid.10Eric Christiansen, TheNorthern Crusades (London:Penguin,1997)pp.86-87.11Forey,p.36.

12Sophia Menache, Clement V(CambridgeUniversityPress,1998)p.215.13Anonymous,“DeReligionumOrigine,” in VeterumScriptorum etMonumentorum,Historicorum,Dogmaticorum, Moralium,AmplissimaCollectioVol.VI

(Paris, 1724) col. 62. “Sed,heu!Fallacesdivitiaeomnempene ordinem nituturevertere, omnem statumprorsusmoliunturdepravate.”(MythankstoJeffreyRussellfor correcting my initialtranslationofthis.)14Urban,p.523.15Ibid.,p.524.

16Joseph F. O’Callaghan,Reconquest and Crusade inMedieval Spain (Universityof Pennsylvania Press, 2003)p.52.17ClaraEstow, “TheEconomicDevelopmentof theOrderofCalatrava 1158-1366,” inSpeculum Vol. 57, No. 2,April1982,p.267.

18O’Callaghan,p.52.19Estow,p.271.20Ibid.,p.272.21Ibid.,pp274-75.22O’Callaghan,p.67.

23Ibid.,p.71.24Quoted in O’Callaghan, p.147.25O’Callaghan,p.52.26Malcolm Barber, The NewKnighthood (Cambridge,1996)p.246.

27Marquis d’Albon, CartulaireGeneral de l’Ordre duTemple 1119?-1150: Recueildes chartes et des bullerelatives à l’ordredu Temple(Paris, 1913) p. 19, charter27.28Luke16:19-31.29David Marcombe, Leper

Knights: The Order of St.Lazarus of Jerusalem inEngland1150-1544(Boydell,Woodbridge,2003)p.5.30Comte de Marsy, “Fragmentd’une Cartulaire de S.Lazare,” in Archives del’OrientLatinVol.II,p.124.31Ibid., pp. 126-27. An 1148charter of Barisan d’Ibelin

thatisnotonlyenactedattheTemple but confirmed withthe seal of the Temple.Maybe Barisan left his athomethatday.32Barber,p.93.33Marcombe,p.8.34Marsy,p.114.“SantoLazaro

de Jerusalem fratri videlicietHugoni de Sancto Paulo, quinuncestmagisterlociilliusettotileprosorum.”35Marcombe,p.15.36Ibid.,p.14.37Marsy,p.157.38

Laurent Dailliez, Règle etStatus de l’Ordre du Temple(Paris,1972)p.238,rule443.“Quantilavientaaucunfrereque par la volenté de nostreSeignor il chiet en meselerieet la chose est provée, liprodomefreredelamaisonledoivent amonester et proerque il demande congié de lamaison et que il se rendre asaintLadre, et que il preignel’abitdefreredesaintLadre.”

I find it interesting that theOld French word used forleprosy, “meselerie,” actuallymeans “spoiled” or “ledastray.” Perhaps the seeds ofintolerencewerealreadytherein the thirteenth century. Ithas nothing to do with thetopic, but if you’re obsessiveenough to read the footnotes,itmightinterestyou,too.39

Marcombe,p.12.40Ibid.,p.20.41Ibid.,p.21.42Ibid.,p.xx.43www.st-lazarus.net/world/menu.htm44

Ralph of Diceto, Operahistoriaed.W.Stubbs(RollsSeries, ii, London, 1876) pp.80-81. “Sancto Thomaemartyri sumptibus suis juxtafacultum possibiliatemcapellam consturueret, etprocruraret ibidem adhoneremmartyris cimiteriumconsecrati. Quod et factumest.”St.ThomastheMartyrisThomas Becket, killed inCanterbury Cathedral Dec.

29, 1170, by henchmen ofKingHenryIIofEngland.45A. J. Forey, “The MilitaryOrder of St. Thomas ofAcre,” in The EnglishHistorical Review No. 364,July1977,p.482.46Ibid.,p.487.47

Ibid.,p.487.48Forey,“St.Thomas,”p.487.49Ibid.,p.491.50Ibid.,p.492.51Ibid.,p.493.52

Ibid.,p.497.53Ibid.,pp.502-3.

CHAPTERFORTY

Baphomet

During the trial of theTemplars,oneofthechargesagainst them was that theyworshipped an idol,sometimes called“Baphomet.” The inquisitorsmay have accepted this asplausible because they had

heardthenamebefore.IntheMiddleAgesmostEuropeansknew little about the beliefsofIslam.TheKoranhadbeentranslated into Latin in the1140s at the request of Peterthe Venerable, abbot ofCluny.1 However, mostpeople received theirknowledge of the faiththroughfiction.The French chansons de

geste, tales of the deeds of

great warriors, were full ofbattles against “Saracens,”their term for Moslems. Inthese stories, the Saracenswerepaganswhoworshippedmany gods, among themApolloand“Baphomet.”Under various forms,

Baphomet appears often inthechansonsdegeste,alwaysassociated with Islam. Forinstance, in the twelfth-century epic Aymeri de

Narbonne, Baphomet is oneof the Saracen kings ofNarbonne whom Aymerimustfight.RoisBaufumez...avecaus.xx.paienarméQuiDeu ne croient le roi demajestéNesamerehautisme.KingBaphomet...withtwentypaganwarriorsWhodon’tbelieveinGod,the

kingofmajestyNorinhismothermosthigh.ll302-3062

This late-twelfth- or early-thirteenth-century crusadepoem has a character calledBausumés or Baufremé,whois the uncle of a Saracenwarrior.3 The EnfancesGuillaume of the thirteenthcentury also has a Moslem

characternamedBalfumés.4

It is generally agreed that“Baphomet” is a corruptionof the name “Mohammed,”and linguistically, this isprobable. There is a quotefrom the mid 1200s from aTemplar poet, RicautBonomel, lamenting thenumber of recent losses ofChristian forces. “In truth,whoever wishes to see,realizes that God upholds

them [the infidel]. For Godsleeps when He should beawake, and Bafomet workswith all his power to aid theMelicadeser [Baibars, theMamlukrulerofEgyptatthattime].”5

There is no informationthat indicates that Baphometwas the name of an ancientgod. It isonly ina fewcasesthat the so-called idol of theTemplars was even given a

nameatall.During the trials most

Templars said they didn’tknowanythingaboutan idol.Onesergeant,Peterd’Auerac,admittedtodenyingChrist inthe reception ceremony, buthe “neither knew nor hadhearditsaidthattherewasanidol in the form of a head.”6Thesame is true forEliasdeJotro,aservant,andforPeterde Charute.7As a matter of

fact most of the Templars,even the ones who had beentortured, claimed to have noideawhattheinquisitorsweretalkingabout.However,theoneswhodid

tellofan idolalldescribed itdifferently. One said it wasthe head of a bearded man,“which was the figure ofBaphomet.” Another said itwas a figure called Yalla (aSaracen word [possibly

Allah]). Others called it “ablack and white idol and awoodenidol.”8

One Templar, the knightWilliam of Arreblay, statedthat he did see a headvenerated in Paris. “Hefrequentlysawacertainsilverhead upon the altar that hesaw adored bymost of thoseat Chapter, and he heard itsaid that it was the head ofone of the eleven thousand

virgins.” 9 Saint Ursula andher eleven thousand virginswere popular among theTemplars as saintswhoweresteadfastintheirfaitheveninthe face of death. If merewomencoulddosomuch,theTemplars could do noless.10After a little morecoaching, William realizedthat“itseemedtohimthatthehead really had two faces, aterrible aspect and a silver

beard.”11

A servant was sent to gothroughthepossessionsoftheTemple of Paris to look forany heads, either ofmetal orof wood. After somesearching,hecamebackwiththe head of awoman, gildedin silver. Inside were bonesfrom a skull, wrapped in alinenbag.Therewasatagonthebagthatsaidthatthiswashead number fifty-eight of

eleven thousand.12 No otherheadwasfound.The historian is left with

two choices. The first is thatsomehow the Templarsmanaged to find out that theinquisitors were coming andhid the idol they normallyworshipped. The second isthat William made up thedescription of the two-facedidolunderduressandthattheonly head owned by the

TemplarswasthereliquaryofVirgin Number 58. I thinknumber two is the mostlikely.Therewasalsosupposedto

beanotherheadbelonging tothe Templars, that of SaintEuphemia of Chalcedon, anearlyGreekmartyr.Thiswaskept in the Templarheadquarters in Cyprus. Itwas among the property thatwasgiventotheHospitallers

after the dissolution of theorder.Theytookitwiththemto Malta, where it wasprobably captured byNapoleon in 1798. If this isso,thenSaintEuphemiawentdown with Napoleon’s ship,l’Orient, off the coast ofEgypt.13

Eventhoughwedon’thavethe head of Saint Euphemiathat the Templars owned, itwas likelymuch like theone

ofVirginNumber58.Iftherehad been anything odd orsacrilegious about it, theHospitallersoralaterscholarwouldhavesaidsomething.And, for those who are

sorry that part of a saint hasgone missing, don’t worry.Euphemia’s entire body isstillkeptat theChurchofSt.GeorgeinIstanbul.14Aswiththose who bought slivers oftheTrueCrossortheforeskin

ofJohntheBaptist,itappearsthat theTemplarswere takeninbyashadyrelicsalesman.As for Baphomet the idol,

hebelongsfirmlyintherealmoffiction.1Charles Bishko, Peter theVenerableandIslam.2Aymeri de Narbonne, ed.Louis Demaison (Paris:

Société des Anciens TextesFrançais,1887)pp.13-14.3La Chanson de Jérusalem,ed.NigelR.Thorp(AlabamaUniversity Press, 1992) p.236,line9019.4Les Enfances Guillaume(Paris: Société des AnciensTextes Français, 1935) p.117,line2755.

5Alain Demurger, Jacques deMolay: Le Crepuscule desTempliers (Paris: BiographiePayot,2002)p.63.6Roger Séve and Anne-MarieChagny Séve,Le Procès desTempliers d’Auvergne 1309-1311 (Paris, 1986) p. 142.“Nescitnecaudivitdiciquodilludydolumsuecapud.”

7JulesMichelet,LeProcèsdesTempliers Tome I (Paris,1987; rpt. of 1851 ed.) pp.531-33.8MalcomBarber,TheTrial ofthe Templars (CambridgeUniversityPress,1978)p.62.9Michelet, vol. I, p. 502.“Vidit super altare frequenter

quoddom capud argenteum,quod vidit adorari amajoribus qui temebantcapitulum, et audivit diciquod erat caup unius exundecimmilibusvirginum.”10Helen J. Nicholson, “TheHead of St. Euphemia:Templar Devotion to FemaleSaints,” in Susan B.Edgington and Sarah

Lambert, Gendering theCrusades (Cardiff, 2002) pp.112-14.11Michelet,vol.I,p.502,“quiavidetursibiquodhaberetduasfacies, etquodesset terribilisaspectu, et quod haberetbarbamargenteam.”12Ibid., vol. III, p. 218. Thatmust have been a gold mine

for the relic sellers. As amatterof fact, in1156, somenew holes were dug nearCologne that turned up someextra virgins to distribute. InPaul Guéron, Vie des SaintsVol.XII (Paris:Bollandistes,1880)p.497.13Nicholson,p.111.14Ibid.,p.110.

CHAPTERFORTY-ONE

TheCathars

The Cathars have severalthings in common with theTemplars. They werecelibate,theywereaccusedofheresy,theyweresupposedtohave a hidden treasure, andtheywerewipedout.Andone

thing more: they are pulledinto all sorts of interestingspeculations on subjects thatthey had nothing to dowith,suchastheGrail.WhoweretheCathars?The religion contained

beliefs thathadbeen floatingaround for centuries, perhapsmillennia. Looking at thecruelty and essentialunfairness of life, some

people have decided that agood god could not beresponsible for such a mess.InsteadofassumingthatGodwas testing people orpunishingthemfortheirsins,these people came to theconclusion that God was notall-powerful. Some forms ofthisbeliefassumed that theremust be two gods, one goodand one evil, in constantbattle over humanity. In

religions that assumed oneall-powerful god, this evilforce, or the devil, was stillunder the control of heaven.The Cathars were amongthose who gave the devil amoredominantroleinhumanfate.Thebeliefthattheworldis

evil led to the belief that theevil god is responsible notjust for the bad things in theworld but also for the world

itself. The good god rules inheaven and wishes to havehuman souls go (or return)there.Inthatcase,everythingthat has to do with propertyor procreation is detestablebecause it just lengthens thetimespentawayfromheaven.Thismeans that truly devoutdualists eat nothing that hasbeen produced through sex,not meat, eggs, or milkproducts.At leastoneheretic

hunter said that one way tospot them was because theyweresopale.1

Thereweremany varietiesof this two-god belief. Somescholars have tried to tracetheCathars back to the earlyGnostic Christians or theManichians, a late Romanreligion that fascinated SaintAugustine for a time.2 But,while someof thebeliefsaresimilar, it’s likely that they

werenotdirectlyconnected.The religion that became

Catharism apparentlydeveloped in what is nowBosnia in the mid tenthcentury and established itselfin Bulgaria. The first knownpreacher of a coherenttheology was a Bulgarianpriest who named himselfBogomil, which means“worthyofthepityofGod.”3From a sermonwe have that

was written against them byCosmos, a tenth-centurypriest, it seems theBogomilswereoneofmanygroupsthatwanted to reform theChristian church rather thansecede from it. They did notvenerate the cross, for whyglorify a murder weapon?They pointed out thehypocrisy of many of thechurchauthorities,somethingthat Cosmos was forced to

agree with. But he wasshockedthattheyrejectedthewhole Old Testament andallowedonlypartoftheNewTestament.4

Cosmos complained thatthe Bogomils were falselyreligious, that they werehumble and fasted just foreffect. They carried theGospels with them butmisinterpreted it. One of theworst of these mistakes was

that“everythingexistsbythewillofthedevil:thesky,sun,stars, air, earth, man,churches, crosses: everythingwhich emanates from God,they ascribe to thedevil.”5Finally, thesehereticssaw no need for priests,confessing instead to eachother and forgiving eachother.These two beliefs were

what set the dualists apart

from other Christians and itwas a difference that couldnotbebridged.In themid twelfthcentury,

there were many reformmovements. Some weresanctionedbytheChurchandresulted in new monasticorders,suchastheCisterciansand the Franciscans. Somewere deemed heretical andforbidden, like theWaldensiansandtheCathars.

Thereweremanyinthattimewho were dissatisfied withwhat was happening in theirlives and in the world. Theywereopentoalternatebeliefs,especially if these werepreached using the storiesabout Jesus that they alreadyknew and if they railedagainst the corruption of thechurchadministration.The religion of the

Bogomils slowly worked its

way into western Europe,following the trade routesthrough Italy, the Rhineland,andsouthernFrance,whereitwas only one of many thatpeople were being presentedwith.For example, in the early

twelfth century a preachernamed Henry came to thetown of Le Mans and askedthe bishop, Hildebert, for alicense to preach. Hildebert

granted it then left for a tripto Rome. When the bishopreturned, he discovered thatthe people had decided toreject the clergy.Hewas notallowed back into his owntown. Eventually, Hildebertregained control. Henryrecanted his heresies andwentintoamonastery.Buthewas soon out again and offpreaching somewhereelse.6Apart from a strong

dislike of the clergy, it’s notcertain what Henry believed,but that may have beenenoughtomakehimpopular.Anothermanwhopreached

for nearly twenty years (c.1116-1136) was Peter ofBruys. He spent most of histime in theRhoneValley, inthe southeastern part ofFrance. Some of Peter’s“heresies” resurfaced asdoctrine in later Protestant

churches. His main pointswere that infant baptism ispointless, for onemust be atthe age of reason to acceptreligion; that churches areunnecessary, “since Godhearsaswellwheninvokedina tavernas inachurch”, thatthecross,asaninstrumentoftorture,shouldnotbeadored;that the Mass is not asacrament; and that prayersandofferingsforthedeadare

useless, for the dead arebeyondhumanhelp.7

Henryneverwaspunished.Peter tried to burn a cross inthetownofSt.Gillesandwasinstead tossed on the fire bytheenragedcitizens.PeterandHenrywereonly

two of many wanderingpreachers. Some of themattracted followers andformedcommunities.Mostof

themdidn’t. Few ever got asfar as writing down theirdoctrines.Theywerenot justin thesouthofFrancebutalloverEurope.The first hint that the

Cathar sect of the Bogomilshad come west was in theearly1140s,whenthepriorofa monastery near Cologne,Germany, wrote to BernardofClairvaux, asking him topreach against a group of

heretics in the area. Thesehad some of the practices oftheCathars,especiallythatofbaptism of adults by thelaying on of hands, ratherthanwithwater,butwedon’tknow enough about them tobesure.8

In 1145, Bernard wentsouth to preach againstheretics.At the time, hewasconcernedwith the followersof Peter and Henry but he

also ran across some peoplethat his companion andbiographer, Geoffrey ofAuxerre, called “Arians.”Hedidn’t elaborate on them butthe implication is that theyhad a belief about the natureof Christ that differed fromtheChurch’s.Hethoughttheywere mostly cloth workersand that there “were manywho followed this heresy,mostly in this city”

[Toulouse].9But, as yet, theCathars were too small agroup to attract muchattention.Over the next forty years,

however, the Catharmovement explodedthroughout Occitania. Thereasons for this have beenpuzzledoverforcenturies,forin other places they did dieout after having some initialsuccess. It seems to have

beenacombinationofa lackof leadership in the localchurch, the appeal of thedoctrine, the commendablebehaviorofthebelievers,andan acceptance of women onan equal footingwithmen. Idon’t think it’sacoincidencethat women were in themajority among the Cathars.Theywereallowedtobecomepriests, and I’m sure thatmanythoughtithightime.

Unlike most of theheretical sects, the Catharswere well organized. By the1160s they had their ownpriests and bishops.10 Thismade them far more visibleandfarmorethreateningthanotherhereticalgroups. Italsomeantthatmemberswerenotsupporting their local priests,eithermorallyorfinancially.The Cathars were divided

intotwogroups.Themajority

of them were known ascredentes, or believers. Theytried to live a good lifeaccordingtothefaith,butdidnot practice the extremerenunciation of the flesh thatthe second group, theperfecti, did. As the nameimplies, the perfecti heldthemselves to amuch higherstandard of behavior. Theirtime was spent in fasting,prayer, and preaching. They

werecelibateandatenomeat,eggs,orcheese.At firstvariousorderssent

preacherstotheCatharstotryto convince them of theirerrors. Much of theinformation we have aboutthem comes from argumentswritten by these preachers,butitispossibletofigureoutmany of the Cathar beliefsfrom the rebuttals that weremade.Forinstance,“they[the

perfecti] falsely claimed thatthey kept themselves chaste,they sought to give theimpression of never telling alie,whentheyliedconstantly,especially concerning God;andtheyheldthatoneshouldnever for any reason take anoath.... They felt, in truth,moresecureandunbridled intheir sinning because theybelieved that they would besaved, without restitution of

ill-gotten gains, withoutconfession and penance, solongas theywereable in thelast throes of death to repeattheLord’sPrayerandreceivethe imposition of hands bytheirofficials.”11

From this we can assumethat they were chaste, triednot to lie, didn’t take oaths,and didn’t believe in theintercession of priests. Theyalso had a kind of baptism,

called the consolamentum,thatonecouldtakeonlyonce.Aswith baptism in the earlydays of Christianity, manybelievers waited until theirdeathbeds to take this. Howmany people can be certainthat they won’t backslide?That’s why those whoaccepted the consolamentumearly were so honored asperfectones.Finally, it was considered

bythepope,InnocentIII,andmanyothersthatthesituationwas out of control. Even thecount ofToulouse,RaymondVI, was considered to be, ifnot a Cathar, at least asympathizer.12 In1208,PopeInnocent excommunicatedRaymondVIandcalledforacrusadeagainsttheCathars.13

Theresultingwarwaslongand terrible. At the end, theCathars were decimated and

most of Occitania was underthe control of the king ofFrance.The last stand of the

Cathars took place at thefortress ofMontségur on topof a rugged mountain insouthern France. A group ofseveral hundred had held outagainst the French army fornearlytwoyears.Finallytheyrealized they would have tosurrender. On March 14,

1244, the defenders of thefortresscamedown the steeppathandcalmlywalkedtothepyre that had been preparedfor them. Over two hundredmen, women, and childrendied in the flames, includingthemostimportantleadersofthechurch.A persistent and

unsupportedlegendholdsthaton the night before theCatharssurrenderedandwere

taken to the pyre, a treasurewas lowered down the cliffuponwhich theCatharcastleof Montségur was perched.Since it is supposed to be asecret treasure importantenough to die for, with noevidence that it ever existed,of course some versions ofthe legend say that it waseventually given to theTemplars.Looking at the fortress of

Montségur, I find it hard toimagine how large treasurechests could have beenlowereddown,bynight,withan enemy army all around. Ido find it easy to understandhow the Cathers and theirsupporters could have heldoutthereforsolong.So what was the

relationship of the TemplarstotheCathars?

The fortress of Montségur.(SharanNewman)A popular but deeply

flawed book posited thatsome of the Cathars weresecret Templars and that one

of the Grand Masters,Bertrand of Blancfort (orBlanchefort), was a Cathar,from a Cathar family, andthat the Templars provided arefugefortheCathars.14Thisis footnoted(!), so I went tosee the proofs the authorsgave.Thefirst,thatBertrandwas

a Cathar, is based on twoTemplar charters from the1130s, ten years before there

is anymention of Cathars inOccitania.15Well, I thought,trying tokeepanopenmind,maybe the family convertedearly.However,when Iwentto look at the charters, Idiscovered that Bertrand ofBlancfortwasnot in them. Itwas Bernard de Blanchefort,an entirely different person.Theymay have been related,but there is no indication ofthat. Also, the book that the

authorsused isacompilationof Templar charters frommany archives. TheseparticularonescomefromtheCartulaires de Douzens, oneoftheearliestof theTemplarcommanderies inOccitania.16So I went tocheckthat.The commandery at

Douzens has several morecharters from Bernard deBlanchefort. All of them are

group donations, in whichBernard is giving propertyalong with several of hisneighbors. Still, it isestablished that in the 1130sthe family were donating tothe Temple. As a matter offact,in1147,Bernard’sniecegavelandtoDouzens.17Doesthat mean that the familywere Templar supporters?Probably;ofcourse,theymayhavejustbeengoingwiththe

group. Does that mean thatGrand Master Bertrand ofBlancfort was a member ofthat family? No. There are anumber ofBlancfort/Blancheforts inFrance. We need moreevidence.We also need more

evidence for the statementthat the family was Cathar,whetherornotBertrandwasamember of it. Most of the

people inOccitaniawere notactivemembersoftheCatharchurch.Whataboutthechargethat

the Templars offered shelterto Cathars? The footnote forthat is“Adocumentfoundinthe archives of the Bruyèresand Mauléon family recordshow the Templars ofCompagne and Albedune (leBézu) established a house ofrefuge for Cathar

‘bonhommes.’Thisdocumentand others disappearedduring the war, sometime inNovember, 1942” (emphasismine).18

Well,darn!Apart from lostdocuments

that were apparently nevercopied, there is no evidencethat the Templars hadanything to do with theCathars.Theyrefusedtofight

against the heretics for thesamereasonthattheyrefusedto join the crusade againstConstantinople or getinvolved in the wars of thepopes.Their jobwas to fightSaracens and regain land forChristianity.William of Puylaurens, a

chronicler of the crusadesagainst the Cathars, rarelymentions the Templars, butwhenhedoes, it’s alwayson

the side of the RomanChurch. When Catharsympathizer Count Raymondof Toulouse ordered that hisbrother, Baldwin, be hanged,“The brothersTemplar askedfor and were grantedpossessionofhisbody,whichthey took down from thegallows-treeandburiedinthecloisteratLavilledieuneartothechurch.”19

It’spopularnowtothinkof

the crusade against theCatharsassomethingdonebyoutside forces, the pope andthekingofFrance.Butitwasalsoacivilwar.Baldwinhadtaken the side of the Churchagainst his brother. TheTemplarswereonhisside.The same group of

Templarsalsogaveshelter tothe bishop of Toulouse, whocould not get into the citywhiletheCatharsheldit.20

It’s certain that theTemplars in Occitania knewCatharsandwereevenrelatedto some. Everyone was. Theschism divided manyfamilies. 21 One scholarwhohas tried to find contactsbetweentheTemplarsandtheCathars only came up withthe names of threemenwhoweretriedforheresy,allaftertheir deaths. Each haddonated or sold land to the

Templars of Mas Deu. Twowere found innocent.22 Thethird man, Pierre deFenouillet, had received thelast rites and been buried atMasDeuin1242.Atthetrial,twentyyearslater,itwassaidthat he was a practicingCatharand that theTemplarshad allowed the perfecti tocometothecommanderyandgive Pierre theconsolamentum . Pierre was

convicted; his bones weredugupandburned.23

Did this really happen? Idon’t know. The Inquisitiondoesn’t have a great recordforaccuracy,butit’spossible.Ifit is true,doesitmeanthatthe Templars of Mas Deuwere heretics?No.There arelotsofotherreasonswhytheymight have allowedPierre tobeburiedintheircemetery.IfPierrehadbeena richpatron

or just a good friend, theymight have looked the otherway. It’s hard to refuse thewish of a dying man,especially if he’s someoneyouknowandlike.A few years before the

deathofPierredeFenouillet,the commander of Mas Deuhad been a witness for theprosecutionat the trialof theCathars.24

There is absolutely noevidence that the Templarswere Cathars or Catharsympathizers. TheHospitallers, on the otherhand, are known to havetaken in and protectedCountRaymond VI while he wasunder excommunication forheresy.25

So why weren’t theHospitallers the ones whoweresupposedtohavehelped

the Cathars save theirtreasure? It couldn’t bebecause the Templars hadbeen accused of heresy andsuppressed and thereforecouldn’t be questioned aboutit.Ofcoursenot.Itistruethatthe charges against theTemplars were written withthe intention of remindingpeople of the Cathars, whoreally had been outside oforthodoxbelief.Butthereare

no similarities between realbelief of the Cathars andthose of the Templars. Bothgroups were accused ofworshippingablackcat.Bothwere accused ofhomosexuality, the Catharsbecausetheypreachedagainstprocreationand theTemplarsbecausetheywereabunchofyoung fightingmenwhohadtakenvowsofchastityandweall know what that leads to,

don’twe?Noseriousscholarhasever

found a connection betweenthem.1Cosmos, “Sermon againstBogomilism,970,” inHeresyand Authority in MedievalEurope, ed. Edward Peters(University of PennsylvaniaPress,1980)p.109.2

Steven Runciman, TheMedievalManichee: A Studyof the Christian DualistHeresy (CambridgeUniversityPress,1947).3Peters, “Introduction to theCathars,” in Heresy andAuthority,p.104.4Cosmos,pp.112-13.5

Ibid.,pp.113-14.6Walter L. Wakefield andAustin P. Evans ed. and tr.,Heresies of the High MiddleAges (Columbia UniversityPress,1969)pp.107-15.7Peter theVenerable,abbotofCluny, “Against thePetrobrusians,” in WakefieldandEvans,pp.120-21.

8Beverly Mayne Kienzle,Cistercians, Heresy andCrusade in Occitania 1145-1229 (York Medieval Press,Boydell, Woodbridge, 2001)pp.82-84.9Geoffrey of Auxerre, “VitaBernardi,” “ex his vero quifavebant haeresi illi plurimierant et maximi civitatis

illius.”Bernard ofClairvaux,OmniOpera,VolIVp.227.10Élie Griffe, L’AventureCathare 1140-1190 (Paris,1966)p.39.11PeterofVaux-deCernay,“ADescription of Cathazrs andWaldenses,” in WakefieldandEvans,p.239.12

Joseph Strayer, TheAlbigensian Crusades(Michigan University Press,1992;rpt.of1971ed.)p.59.13MichaelCosten,TheCatharsandtheAlbigensianCrusades(ManchesterUniversityPress,1997)p.120.14Michael Baigent, RichardLeigh, and Henry Lincoln,

TheHolyBloodandtheHolyGrail (New York: RandomHouse, 1982) p. 70. Thisbookneedsanentire teamofscholars to explain all themistakes in it. I would behappy to volunteer to be oneofthem.15Marquis d’Albon, CartulaireGénéral de l’Ordre duTemple 1119?-1150 (Paris,

1913) p. 41, charter no. 41,andp.112,charterno.160.16Ibid., and Cartulaires desTemplier de Douzens ed.Pierre Gérard and ÉlisabethMagnou (Paris, 1965) p. 49,charterno.A38,andp.164,charterno.A185.17Douzens, pp. 180-81, charterA207.

18Baigent et al., p. 515. That’swhy footnotes are soimportant.19W.A.SiblyandM.D.Siblytr.,TheChronicle ofWilliamof Puylaurens (Boydell,Woodbridge,2003)p.50.20Ibid.,p.77.

21For a start on learning aboutCathars,seeMalcolmBarber,The Cathars: DualistHeretics inLanguedoc in theHigh Middle Ages (London:Longman,2000); alsoGriffe,Strayer, Wakefield andEvans, and Peters, citedabove.22Robert Vinas, L’Ordre du

Temple en Roussillon(Trabucaire,Carnet, 2001) p.113.23Ibid.,pp.113-14.24Ibid.,p.114.25Dominic Sellwood, KnightsoftheCloister:TemplarsandHospitallers in Central-

Southern Occitania 1100-1300 (Boydell, Woodbridge,1999)p.110.

PARTFOUR

TheBeginningoftheLegends

CHAPTERFORTY-TWO

TemplarsinFiction

Considering the amount ofpopular fiction about themtoday, it may seem odd thatTemplars appeared veryrarely in the epic andromance literature of theMiddleAgesandneverasthe

maincharacters.The earliest reference to

themisinthedarkepicRaoulde Cambrai . The story,written in the last quarter ofthe twelfth century, is set inwhat is today northernFrance, supposedly in thetenth century. It is a tale ofbetrayal, honor, murder, andredemption. The Templarsonly figure in the last ofthese.At the very end of the

story the antihero, Bernier,faced with execution forkillinghismother’smurderer,volunteers instead to go toAcre and become a Templarashispenance.1

The Temple is used as aplace of penance in otherepics, such as LaChevaleried’Ogier de Danemarche andRenaut de Montauban. InOgier theknight iswillingtoserve in the “Hospital or the

Temple” as his penance.2This is an early indicationthat the order of theHospitallers and theTemplars wereinterchangeable in the mindsofmany people. Like Raoul,the knight in Ogier, namedCharlot,isjoiningtheTemple(or Hospital) as penance forthemurderofanotherknight.It ispointedout,by theway,that Charlot is deeply sorry

for this and he leaves all hisproperty to Ogier, father ofthe murdered knight.3 It waswell understood that penancewithout repentance wasuseless.Joining theTemplarswith the wrong attitudeearnednopointsinheaven.These popular medieval

works of fiction underlinedthe purpose of the militaryorders as religious houses.They were seen by the

authors as places where awell-born fightingmancouldatone forhis sinsofviolencebyusingthatviolenceagainsttheenemiesofChrist.Thisisthe aspect of the Templarsthatwas stressed inBernardofClairvaux’sexhortationtothe knights. So in this case,the fictional knights aremirroring the actions ofcontemporaries and, perhaps,encouraging others to follow

theirexample.It is surprising that in the

many works which make upthe epic stories of thecrusades, the Templars onlyappearinasupportingrole.IntheChansondesChétifs(“thesong of the miserableprisoners,” sometimestranslatedas“thesongof thebastards”). The characterHarpin is based on a realperson who was in captivity

during the First Crusade.4While in prison the realHarpinmadeavowthat,ifhewere ever freed, he wouldend his life as a monk. Hejoined the monastery ofClunyin1109.However,thatdidn’t make good drama, sotheauthorofChétifshashimjointheTemplarsinstead.5

Again, in the story theTemplars exist, butweneverseethemfightingortakingan

activepart.Onerolethat theTemplars

often played in medievalfiction was as protectors oflovers. In the thirteenthcentury a number ofromancesfeaturedloverswhowenttotheTemplarsseekingrefuge.InSonedeNancy, theTemplars help the loversescape fromaqueenwishingto have Sone for herself.6 Iwonder if they weren’t

assignedthisroleinliteraturebecause in reality they andthe Hospitallers so oftenmadeuptheescortsforroyalbrides on their way to theirnewhomes.In some epics Templars

alsoarethosewhoarrangefortheburialofdoomed lovers.7Neither of these roles is thatimportant and, for the mostpart,theTemplarsaregenericexamples of kind, pious, and

chivalrousmen.The fact is, the Templars

were not that important inmedieval literature. UnlikeRichard the Lionheart orSaladin, therearenorousingpoems extolling theirexploits.Whynot?Ithinkit’sbecause the Templars wereseen as background. Theywere a fine group of mendoing an important job butnot the real players. They

were often mentioned inpassing as examples ofselfless knights, generally tochastise those who neglectedtheirduty.Anexampleis thecrusaderpoetMarcabru,whowrote,“InSpainandhere,theMarquis and those of theTempleofSolomonsuffertheweight and the burden ofpagan pride.”8 Marcabruthinkssomeoneshouldhelp.In modern fiction the

Templars are associatedwithArthurandtheKnightsoftheRoundTablebut inmedievallore their only connectionwithArthurianliteratureisastheguardiansof theGrail inWolfram von Eschenbach’sParzival. The Templars areknights who “dwell with theGrail at Munsalvaesche.Always when they ride out,as theyoftendo, it is toseekadventure. They do so for

their sins, theseTempeleisen,whethertheirrewardisdefeatorvictory.”9TheTemplars inParzival are a small part ofthe story, more backgroundthan anything else, and theyhave several characteristicsthat the real Templars didn’tshare. For instance, inWolfram’s story there werefemaleTempeleisen.Apart from a few authors

who drew on Wolfram’s

work, the Templars are notseen in association with theGrailorwiththeverypopulartales of King Arthur and hiscourt. In the world ofmedieval fantasy, theTemplars had no place. Bythe end of the thirteenthcentury theywereconsideredmore symbols of debaucherythan guardians of secretwisdom. The phrase “drunkas a Templar” became

commonplace in France. Inthe sixteenth century,Rabelais uses it in his work.“Once he got together threeor four good country fellowsand set them todrinking likeTemplars the whole nightlong.”10In Germany, “goingtotheTemple”wasapopulareuphemism for visiting abrothel.11

Foroversixhundredyears,popular writers didn’t

consider the Templars worththeir time. This changed atthe beginning of thenineteenth century, with SirWalter Scott’s two novelsThe Talisman and Ivanhoe.Set in the time of thecrusades, these works, ablend of history, legend, andimagination, reintroduced theTemplars to a world that,outsideofFreemasonry,hadforgottenthem.

Scott’s villain is Brian deBois-Guilbert,aTemplarwhoembodies the medievalcomplaints of pride andgreed. Added to thesecharacterflaws,Bois-Guilbertalso plots against the truekingandlustsaftertheJewishwoman Rebecca. He is theconsummateeviladversaryinthe neomedieval revival thatbegan in Britain in the earlynineteenthcentury.

Ivanhoewasfirstpublishedin 1820. It has been filmedmany times and the book isstill in print. Generationshave received their first,sometimes their only,impression of the TemplarsfromScott’srousingfiction.It is only at the beginning

of the twenty-first centurythat the Templars seem tohave come into their own infiction. The last part of the

twentieth century saw anexplosion of myths andtheories about the Templars,most of which can becategorizedwithBigfoot andUFOs. These unhistoricaltheories yielded a gold mineof plot ideas that are stillbeing refined into fun andexcitingstories.Most recently there have

been at least three novelsabouttheTemplars.Two,The

Last Templar by RaymondKhoury and The TemplarLegacy by Steve Berry, aresetinthemodernworld.Theybothshowhowthe legendoftheTemplars can be relevantto concerns that we havetoday.Thethird,TheKnightsof the Black and White byJack White, is a historicalnovel that uses some of therecent legends, placing themin the time of the real

Templars.It seems a shame that the

Templars had to wait sevenhundred years to finally begiven a starring role infiction.1Helen Nicholson, Love, Warand the Grail: Templars,Hospitallers, and TeutonicKnightsinMedievalEpicandRomance1150-1500(Boston:

Brill,2004)p.35.2Ibid.,p.38.3Jean-CharlesPayen,LaMotifdu Repentir de la LittératureFrançaise Médiévale(Geneva: Droz, 1968) pp.212-13.4I know that the Templars

weren’t around then. Thatdidn’t bother medievalwriters of fiction any morethanitdoesmodernones.5Suzanne Duparc-Quioc, LeCycle de la Croisade (Paris,1955) p. 85. “Au Templepourservir s’est Harpinsadonés.”6Nicholson,p.53.

7Ibid.,p.54.8Marcabru, “Pax in NomineDomini,” ll. 55-58 inMarcabru:ACriticalEditioned. Simon Gaunt, RuthHarvey, and Linda Paterson(Cambridge, MA: D. S.Brewer, 2000) p. 440. “EnEspaign’ e sai loMarques etcill del temple Salamo

soffron lopes e’l fais delorgoillpainaor.”9Wolfrom von Eschenbach,Parzival, tr. Helen M.Mustard and Charles E.Passage (NewYork:VintageBooks, 1961) book 9,paragraph469,p.251.10FrançoisRabelais,Gargantuaand Pantagruel, tr. Burton

Raffel(Norton,1990)p.184.11Jean Favier, Philippe le Bel(Paris:Fayard,1998)p.332.

CHAPTERFORTY-THREE

WhatHappenedtotheTemplars?

The story of the Templarsonly begins with theirdissolution.Theirfatewassodramatic and sad that somepeople still don’t want to let

them go. So especially overthe past one hundred yearsthe Templars have beenwoven into all kinds oftheories that allow a largenumber of them to escape,almostalwayswithatreasure.A lot of people think they

know what happened to theTemplarsafter theendof theorder.Myfavoritescenarioisthat they all either wentcheerfully into monasteries

and lived long dull lives ofprayer and garden duty orthey wandered around for awhile,met the right girl, andsettled down to live long,chaotic,buthappylives.Unfortunately, there isn’t

morethanashredofproofforeitherof these, especially thecheerfulandhappyparts.In France we know that

fifty-six Templars were

burned at the stake. Manymore died in prison between1307and1312,asaresultoftorture, deprivation, and,possibly, outright murder.1The remaining FrenchTemplars were either sent tomonasteries or prisons andswallowed up, as far ashistoryisconcerned.In Britain only two

Templars died in prison,William de la More, the

master inBritain, and ImbartBlanc, the preceptor fromAuvergne who happened tobe in London at the time ofthearrests.2The rest of themconfessed in order to beabsolvedandweresentofftomonasteries, where theHospitallerspaidfourpenceadayfortheirupkeep.3

InProvence,whichwasnotyetpartofFrance,twenty-oneTemplars were arrested. The

arrests tookplaceon January24, 1308, two months afterPope Clement V issued theorder. All twenty-one wereeventuallyimprisonedinAix.There is no record of a trialever taking place.4 In otherplaces outside the control ofPhilip IV the Templarssimply did as they did inEngland: confessed towhatever,wereabsolved,andretiredtoamonasticlife.But

wedon’tknowifthatiswhathappenedtothosetwenty-onemen.This worried historian

Joseph-AntoineDurbec, as itwould anyone who hadstudied the Templars longenough to know them. Oneday, in a list of members oftheHospitallersinNiceintheyear 1338, he found twofamiliar names from theTemplars of Provence:

Guillaume Bérenger andRostand Castel. One wasfromthehouseofGrasseandtheothereitherfromRuouorNice. What are the odds,Durbec considered, that twoTemplars with these nameswould be the same men astwo Hospitallers with thesame names thirty yearslater?Headmits that itcouldbe just a coincidence. Thereis no solid proof. But he

wants to believe that twoTemplars survived.5 Becauseiftwodid,thenmaybeothersdid,aswell.Historians have to be

hardheaded when they doresearch, but not hard-hearted.InAragon the trials of the

Templars didn’t take placeuntil after the dissolution ofthe order. On November 4,

1312, the Templars were alljudged to be innocent.6 Thatwasgreatforthem,ofcourse,but it still left them out ofwork.While they had been kept

underarrest,theirupkeephadbeen provided for fromTemplar property. Now thesame property was used topension them off.Unlike thefate of Templars in othercountries, most of the

brothers in Aragon were notsent to various monasteries,butbacktotheonestheyhadcome from. Sometimes otherpeople had taken over thehouse,buttheTemplarswerestill assigned rooms in it.Theywere also givenmoneyfortheirsupportaccordingtotheirstatusintheorder.7

These terms were goodenough that some Templarswho had escaped, returned.

One, Bernardo de Fuentes,had become head of theChristianmilitiainTunisandreturned to Spain on adiplomatic mission. Hearranged for his absolutionandpensionandthenreturnedto Tunis to complete thetreatyhehadbeenassignedtoarrange.8

ThekingofAragon,JamesII,alsoworkedforthereleaseof Templars who had been

takenprisonerinEgypt.Whattheymusthavefeltwhentheydiscoveredwhathadgoneonsince their capture is hard toimagine.In theory, the ex-Templars

weresupposedtostayintheirassigned houses and live offtheir pensions, which didn’talways arrive on time. Inpractice, many of thebrothers,stillintheirtwentiesandthirties,weren’treadyfor

retirement.Theywereonlytrainedfor

onething,fighting.Soquiteafew of them signed up asmercenariesinvarioussortiesagainsttheMoorsinSpainoreveninAfrica.Someignoredthe old vow not to fightagainst Christians andenlisted to fight forAragonese noblemen. One,Jaime de Mas, turned pirateand seems to have made a

goodlivingatit.9

Pope John XXII heardabout the unclerical livesmany of the ex-Templarswereleadingandsentalettertellingthemtostoplivinglikelaymen: to get rid of theirconcubines,behavemorelikemonks, and stop wearingstripedclothing.10

This letterandotherswerelargely ignored and the

Templars in Aragoncontinued to live in avarietyofways,accordingtoageandtaste. The Hospitallers, oncethey hadmanaged to get theTemplarproperty,werestuckpaying their pensions. Thelast year one was recordedwas to Berenguer de Coll. Itwas 1350, thirty-eight yearsafter the Templars hadofficiallyceasedtoexist.11

In Portugal a new order

wascreatedfromtheTemplarproperty, called the Order ofMontesa.12 Some formerTemplarsjoinedthis.In theGermanic countries,

the Templars had also allbeen acquitted, so theHospitallers had to paypensions to them as well.Becausemany of them camefrom influential localfamilies, their fatewasmuchmilder than in other areas.

Otto of Brunswick both tookthepensionandtookovertheHospitaller commandery atSüpplingenberg. He wascommander there until 1357and, after he died, theHospitallers had to pay ninehundred marks to get thecommanderyback.13

In Mainz, the Templarproperty was kept by thefamily of two of theTemplars. The Hospitallers

had to buy it back fromthem.14

So in many cases, theTemplars in Germany justwent on being Templars.Othersprobablyfollowedlikepatterns. Some entered othermilitary or monastic orders.Others may have felt that,without an order, their vowswerenolongervalid.Sotheyfoundwork,gotmarried,andsettleddown.

The truth is, there isn’tmuch information on whathappened to many of theTemplars after the orderended.Mostofthemwerenotnoblemenandsonotlikelytoshowupondonationchartersorinchronicles.Theoneswedo know about were thosewho did something unusual,like turn pirate. Others gotinto less dramatic troublewith the law.But, other than

that, they just drifted backintoprivatelife.MANY feel that is just toodull an ending for theTemplars. Therefore, anumber of books, articles,television programs, andfilmshavebeenbasedon theidea that the Templars gotaway. One of the mostpopular theories is that theywent to America, sometimes

via Scotland, sometimesPortugal.And they took their“treasure”withthem.Well,someonehadtopave

all the streets with gold,right?Obviously, fiction is

fiction,andnovels, televisionshows, and movies canrewrite history as much asthey would like. Theconfusion, however, in

separating fact from fictionarises when this fiction isbased on faulty theories putforth in books published asnonfiction. I’ve read thesebooks and found readingthem tough going. The“facts” they give remind meof why I am inflicting somanyfootnotesonmypatientreaders. I want you to knowwhat sourcesmy conclusionsare based on. Many times I

would find that theinformation I found leastbelievableinthesebookshadno footnotes. Other timestherewerefootnotesbutonlyto other books that giveunsubstantiatedopinions.I’lltrytosummarizewhatI

think the main erroneousTemplar theoriesare. It’snoteasy.TodothisproperlyonemustbeliketheWhiteQueenin Through the Looking-

Glass,who could believe siximpossible things beforebreakfast.

1. The Templars hadsome secretknowledge.Theymayhave dug it up underthe Temple inJerusalem or learnedit from the Arabs ormaybe aliens. Itvaries.

2.Theyknewinadvance

that they were goingtobearrestedandhadtime to get theirtreasure out fromunder the nose ofPhiliptheFairandtotheir fleet in LaRochelle inNormandy. Thenumber of shipsranges from four toeighteen. That’s a lotof treasure to take

along Frenchbackroads. Theycouldn’t have taken itdown the riverbecause there weretolls collected allalong the rivers andsomeone would havenoticed. And, ofcourse, no one hasproved there was atreasure in the firstplace. Nevertheless,

weshouldforgeon.3.TheTemplarsmadeitto Scotland, wherethey were greeted bythe Sinclair family,who are descendedfrom Vikings andJesus. The knightsfoughtwithRoberttheBruce atBannockburn. That’sactually notimpossible. Fighting

is what they weretrained for, after all.But in Scotland, theex-Templars are alsosaid to have gotteninto building andnavigation, becausethey were training tobe Freemasons. Partof this conclusionseems to be based ontheideathatTemplarsbuiltchurches.15Now,

most of us when wesay we’re building ahouse don’t meanwe’re pouring cementand hanging drywall,although I havefriends who can anddo. The Templarsdidn’t. They hiredpeople to build theirchurches, farm theirlands, wash theirclothes,andpicktheir

grapes. They had tospend half the day atprayers and much ofthe rest of it takingcare of their horsesand gear andpracticing how to killSaracens withoutgetting killed. Therewasn’t time left overto learnanother trade.ThereisnothingintheRule about taking an

hour to lay bricks orstudy Euclidiangeometry.

4.HenrySinclair,princeof Orkney, was notonly of the “HolyBloodline,” supposeddescendants of Jesus,but a secret Templar,and he or one of hisfamily tookabandofTemplar knights toAmerica, along with

the treasure. ThistreasureisnowhiddenonanislandoffNoviaScotia.16

5. While in Americathey wandered as farasMinnesotaandalsobuiltatowerinRhodeIsland. I don’t knowwho built this toweror when, but oneexplanation says thatit is Romanesque and

based on the roundchurches that theTemplars introducedto Europe and theywere helped by aparty of Cistercianmonks,whowerewellknown for theirengineering skills,which allowed themto control commerce.Wow. Romanesquechurches are not

round and the stylebegan over a hundredyears before theTemplar order wasfounded.Theydidnotintroduce roundchurches to Europe.Cistercians did inventsome practicalmachinery and weregood at divertingwater for irrigationand waterwheels.

They didn’t buildcathedrals any morethan I built my ownhouse.AndIcan’tseethem traveling toAmericawithabunchof Templars. TheCistercians frown ongadaboutmonks.Andthat’s just from twoparagraphs in onebook. Not daunted, Ishallconcludewith..

.6. The Templar treasurewasthenburiedunderNew York City andtheTemplarsbatteneddown to wait for thefounding of theUnited States so thattheirbeliefscouldliveagain. I didn’t makeany of this up. Therearenofootnotesinthelast half of this

chapter because noneof the books Iconsulted used any.Theirauthorswantthereadertobelieveallofthis on their wordalone. In the MiddleAges, belief withoutproof was calledReligion.

1Please see chapter 30, The

Arrest and Trials of theTemplars.2Evelyn Lord, The KnightsTemplar in Britain (London:Longman,2002)p.200.3Ibid.,p.200.4Joseph-Antoine Durbec,Templiers etHospitalliers en

Provence et dans les Alpes-Maritimes (Grenoble, 2001)p.268.5Ibid.,p.269.6Alan Forey, The Fall of theTemplars in the Crown ofAragon (Ashgate, Aldershot,2001)p.210.7

Ibid.,p.213.8Ibid.,p.216.9Ibid.,p.222.10Ibid.,p.226.11Ibid.,p.240.12

MalcomBarber,TheTrial ofthe Templars (CambridgeUniversity Press, 2006) p.275.13Karl Borchardt, “TheTemplarsinCentralEurope,”The Crusades and theMilitary Orders: Expandingthe Frontiers of MedievalLatin Christianity ed. ZsoltHunyadi and Josef

Laszlovszky (Budapest:Central HungarianUniversity,2001)p.239.14Ibid.15Lynn Picknett and ClivePrince. The TemplarRevelation. (NY: Simon andSchuster,1998)pp.110-13.16

Steven Sora. The LostTreasure of the KnightsTemplar (Rochester VT:Destiny Books, 1999) p.177ff.

CHAPTERFORTY-FOUR

TheHolyGrail

InanydiscussionoftheHolyGrail, one thing must beclearlyunderstood:THEGRAILISFICTION.

IT DOESN’T EXIST ANDNEVERDID.

I know that recently someimaginative writers havedecided that “HolyGrail”—San Greal—issimply a misprint for SangReal,“RoyalBlood,”andthatmedieval writers were usingit as a code for a hiddensecret. This is cute but thereare a number of problems inthetheory,themostimportantbeing that this onlyworks inmodernSpanish.OldFrench,

thelanguageofthefirstGrailpoems, would write it SaintGraal, Grel, or evenGresal.1Spelling was an artformintheMiddleAges.TheOldFrenchwordgrailmeant“grill,” as in “barbeque.”Malory, in the fifteenthcentury, called it theSankgreall. “Thys ys he bywhomtheSankgreallshallbeencheved.”2 The German,used by Wolfram von

Eschenbach, is HelligenGrâl.3 The Basque is azkenafarian Kristiok erabili,” or“Christ’s last meal stirredliquid.”4 (All right, myBasqueisminimal.)At any rate, in no other

languageof theMiddleAgescan “Holy Grail” be twistedtomean“HolyBlood.”Areweallconvinced?Now we can look at the

historyofthetaleoftheGrailand its connection to theTemplars.

DetailofHolyGrail,“RomandeTristan,”

secondhalfofthefifteenthCentury.

(Giraudon/ArtResource,NY)

The first story mentioningthe Grail was written by thepoetChrétiendeTroyesattheendof the twelfth century. Itconcerns a young knight,Perceval, who stops for thenight at a castle. There he

discovers a lord who isbedridden. The lord greetsPerceval and invites him tostay the night. As they areeating dinner, a strangeprocessionpassesthroughtheroom. First comes a mancarryingalance.Atthetipofitisonedropofblood,whichslidesdown the lanceuntil itreaches the hand of the mancarryingit.Heisfollowedbytwootherservants,eachwith

a tray of candles.After themis a beautiful girl who holdsin both hands a “graal,” orvessel of gold covered inprecious gems. She isfollowed by another girlcarryingasilverplatter.Perceval is very curious

about this but has been toldthatit’srudetoaskquestions,so he says nothing. The nextday he leaves the castle.Somedistanceawayhe finds

ayoungwomansittingunderan oak tree, sobbing becauseher lover has just had hishead chopped off. She stopsher lamentation long enoughto tell Perceval that he hasbeen at the castle of theFisher King, who has beencrippled in battle. She can’tbelievethathedidn’taskwhythe lance bled or where thegirlwasgoingwiththegraal.If he had, the king would

have been cured. Percevalgrievesthathehasmissedtheopportunity to heal the king.Then he continues on withother adventures. The storymoves to Gawain and neverreturns to Perceval or theGrail.We don’t know where

Chrétien got the material forthe tale of Perceval. It wascomposed for Philip ofAlsace,thecountofFlanders,

whowasthecousinofHenryII ofEngland.Henry and hiswife, Eleanor of Aquitaine,were fond of the Arthurianlegends.Eleanorwas even atGlastonbury when thesupposed bodies of Arthurand Guinevere weredisinterred in 1191. Philipwas also the grandson ofFulk of Anjou, king ofJerusalem. Both his parentshadbeentoJerusalemseveral

timesandhismother,Sybilla,had joined a convent there,whereshedied.Theideafor theGrailmay

have come from a Bretonstory or even Welsh, sincePerceval is said by Chrétiento be from Wales. In theWelshsaga,TheMabinogian,the story of Culhwch andOlwen has a passage in itwhere theheromust find thecupofLlwyr,“forthereisno

vesselintheworldwhichcanhold that strong drink, saveit.”5 Next he must get the“food bag of GwyddneuLong-Shank: if the wholeworldshouldcomearoundit.. . the meat that everyonewished for he would findtherein.”6Thesetasksarepartofa longseriesof seeminglyimpossible feats thatmustbedoneifCulhwchistowinthehand of Olwen. The magic

cup and food bag are in thesame tradition as the horn ofplenty. It isn’t likely thatChrétien read Welsh, butvarious scholars havesuggested that the theme forPerceval came from atradition that would havebeenfamiliartohislisteners.7

While not everyone agreeswith the theory that the storygrewfromCelticmyth,ItendtothinkthatpartsofhisGrail

legend are an attempt byChrétien to make sense of amyth that he doesn’t reallyunderstand. One example ofthisiswhenthewomanunderthe tree explains to Percevalthat the lord is called theFisherKing because he likesto go fishing. 8But thismayhave just been Chrétien’ssenseofhumor.Perhaps if Chrétien had

toldthereaderwhathehadin

mind for the Grail, it wouldnot have become such anobject of mystery andspeculation. But the storycaught the imagination ofmany and over the next fiftyyears a number of Grailstories were written, usuallyas part of the Arthurianlegends.The word “graal” was in

common use in France then.Itmeantavesseloragoblet.9

However, in thegrail stories,it soon came to mean achalice. It was in thethirteenth-century work byRobert de Baron that theword“holy”begantobeusedwith it, as the Grail becameidentified with the story ofJoseph of Arimathea, whoprovided the tomb forJesus.10In Christianapocrypha Joseph was alsosupposed tohaveusedadish

tocatchthebloodofJesusashewasdyingonthecross.11AmuchlaterlegendhadJoseph,like Mary Magdalene andJames, the patriarch ofJerusalem, finding refuge inEurope,inthiscase,England.As legends tend to run

together, it was a short stepfromthistomakingtheGrailthecup thatcaught thebloodand Joseph a part of theArthurianbodyoftales.

A thirteenth-centuryversion of the Perceval storygives Joseph of Arimathea anephew, also named Joseph,whoisa“goodknight,chasteand a virgin in his body,strong and generous ofheart.”12Thisisthemanwhobecomes theFisherKingandguards“the lancewithwhichJesus was wounded and thecup with which those whobelievedinHim...collected

the blood that flowed fromhis wounds while he wasbeing crucified.”13 Butmanyother authors gave othernames to the king and otherexplanations for the Grail.Since the story had no basisin fact, writers were free toimagineanythingtheyliked.In the later medieval

French romances the Grailwas clearly seen as aChristian relic, something

associated with the act oftransubstantiation in theMass. Inseveralof them, thevision of the Grail includesthatof a childorof Jesusonthecross.14

It is only inWolfram vonEschenbach’s Germanversion that theTemplarsareconnected with the Grail.Wolfram makes the Grail astone, fallen from the sky. Ithasmagicalpowers thatgive

healthandeternalyouth.Thepowerof the stone,however,comes from a “small whitewafer” brought by a doveevery year on Good Friday.“And from that the stonederives whatever goodfragrances of drink and foodthereareonearth, like to theperfection of Paradise. . . .Thus, to the knightlybrotherhood, does the powerof the Grail give

sustenance!”15 The knightlybrotherhoodis,ofcourse, theTempeleisen,theguardiansofthe Grail. This was basedloosely on the Templars.However, unlike theTemplars,therearewomenintheTempeleisen.16

Even though there mightbe a folkloric base for someof the plot, there is no doubtinanyoftheGrailstoriesthattheauthorisaChristian.Isee

no problem with Wolframmaking the Templarsguardiansof theGrail.Whenhe was writing in the earlythirteenth century, theTemplars were still seen asthose who protected the wayfor pilgrims to Jerusalem.They might well have beenadded to the story tomake itmore immediate, as thrillerwriters put knownorganizations in their books

to place them firmly in thecurrent time. However,Wolframandthosewhodrewtheirstoriesfromhisweretheonly ones who used theTemplarsintheGrailstory.Itwas not part of the coretradition.In an interesting study, an

art historian has pointed outimagesoftheVirginMaryinseveral twelfth-centurychurchesinthenorthofSpain

inwhichsheisholdingadishfrom which rays of lightradiate. He thinks that thismight represent the gifts oftheHolySpiritandcouldbeabasis for the Grail story.17This is intriguing and needstobefollowedupbyscholarsin other areas of MedievalStudies.Themainproblemisin connecting the authors ofthe first Grail stories tonorthern Spain. There is no

evidence to support this. Alink in other art or literaturewouldbeveryexciting.Unfortunately, information

likethisistoooftentakenupby people without historicaltraining. They look at theimageandfititintotheirownpettheorieswithoutdoingthebackground research, as wesawwith the termSanGrealearlier.

Although there is acertaincommon thread, all themedieval stories about theGrail have a differentemphasis. That’s becausethey are fiction and notintended to be historicalaccounts.Like the restof theArthurianstories,thoseaboutthe Grail reflect the outlookof the authors and the timesin which they lived. At theend of the fifteenth century,

when Thomas Malory madehis English version of thelegend of Arthur, the Grailstories were about theadventures and duties of aChristian knight. Mostlisteners understood that themagical quests were fantasyand they enjoyed them asmany people do sciencefictiontoday.However, the stories about

KingArthurandtheGraillost

popularity soon after Malorywrote. The message of theGrailwastoofullof imageryfrom the Mass to beacceptable to the newlyformed Protestantdenominations. Along withthis, taste in literaturechanged.“Thecomingof theReformationwasthemomentat which the Grail vanishedfrompoeticimagination.”18

But two centuries later, it

appearedagain,inanentirelynew form. In the eighteenthcentury the fashion arose forsecret societies. Perhaps itwas in reaction to theegalitarian beliefs thatwouldproduce the American andFrench revolutions. Perhapsall that rational thought andenlightenment wasunfulfilling. I don’t reallyknow.ButgroupssuchastheRosicrucians and

Freemasons borrowed freelyfrom arcane texts andmystical treatises of themedieval and ancient world,taking symbols from themand creating new meanings.The Grail was one of thesesymbols.The connection between

the Templars and the Grailseems to have beenreestablished through theefforts of anAustrian named

Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall. In1818hewroteabook that condemned theMasonsasagroupofhereticsdirectly connected to theTemplars andGnostics. “Theconclusionofhisworkisthata pagan religion survivedalongside Catholicism intothe Middle Ages, and in theguise of Freemasonry,remained a threat to theChurch even in the early

nineteenthcentury.”19

At the same time that themystical aspects of the Grailwere mutating, nineteenth-century-romantic writers andartists were creating theirown versions of the stories.Tennyson’sIdyllsoftheKingwas arguably the mostpopular of these in English.InGermany,Wagner’soperasParsival and Lohengrincombined the renewed

interest in national originswith his own image ofChristianity.It was the twentieth

century that took theGrail tounexplored territory. For themost part, it was stillentwined with the story ofArthur, Guinevere, Lancelot,Perceval, and Galahad. Butthese familiar charactersappeared in totally differentforms. The Grail could be a

pagan vessel, as in MarianZimmer Bradley’s The Mistsof Avalon or a made-upexcuse to get out of thehouse, as inMarkTwain’sAConnecticut Yankee in KingArthur’s Court. In the filmMonty Python and the HolyGrailitwasapointlessquest.Noneofthesemodernstoriesmention the Templars inconnectiontotheGrail.Awholegenerationhasthe

Grail and the Templarsforever combined thanks toStevenSpielbergand IndianaJones.However,theknightinthe film is never called aTemplar.Heisonlythemostworthyof threebrotherswhofound the Grail. In thisversion, the cup never cameto Europe but stayed in ahidden place that looksremarkably like the ancientcityofPetra.

Today the Grail is still asmuchamysterioussymboltous as it was to medievallisteners. As was true then,the Grail is somethingdifferent for eachperson.Notwo people have evercompletely agreed on whatthe Grail looks like, nevermind what it represents. Butin current usage today theHoly Grail is everywhere.Awards are “the Holy Grail

of Beach Volleyball” forinstance.TheHolyGrailofacollectoristhatonerarepiecethathasbeenrumoredtoexistbut never seen. It’s the goaljustoutofreach.DanBrownputitverywell

at the end of The Da VinciCode: “the Holy Grail issimply a grand idea . . . agloriousunattainable treasurethat somehow, even intoday’s world of chaos,

inspiresus.”20

At theendofhisexcellentstudy of the Grail legend,RichardBarbergivesalistingof the number of times theterm “the Holy Grail” hasbeen used in major Westernnewspapers from 1978 to2002. In 1978 there weresixteen uses (fifteen in theWashington Post). In 2002alone,therewere1,082.21

The fact that recent fictionhas attached the Grail to theTemplars says more abouthow we see the Templarsnow than what they were inreality. Perhaps it says thatwepreferourTemplars tobefictional.1Larousse, Dictionnaire del’Ancien Francais (Paris,1992) p. 296. Also, Fredéric

Godefroye, Lexique del’Ancien Français (Paris,1990) p. 261. Bothdictionaries give the firstmeaningas“cup”or“vase.”2Thomas Malory, Works ed.Eugéne Vinaver (London,1971)p.519.3Matthias Lexer, Mittel-hochdeutsches Taschen-

wörterbuchp.75.4Gorka Aulesti and LindaWhite, Basque-English,English-Basque Dictionary(Reno: University of NevadaPress,1992)p.516.5Mabinogian,ed.andtr.GwynJones and Thomas Jones(Everyman’s Library, 1949)p.82.

6Ibid.7Richard Barber, The HolyGrail,ImaginationandBelief(London: Putnam, 2004) pp.240-43.8“Perceval le Gallois ou leConte du Graal,” tr. LucienFoulet, in Danielle Régnier-Bohler, ed., La Légende

Arthurienne, le Graal et laTable Ronde (Paris: RobertLaffont,1989)p.47.9Frédèric Godefroy, Lexiquede l’Ancien Français (Paris:Champion,1990)p.261.10Matthew27:57-60.11GospelofNicodemus.

12Christiane Marchello-Nizia,“Perlesvaus,leHautLivreduGraal,” inRégnier-Bohler, p.121. (English translationmine)13Ibid., p. 124. (Englishtranslationmine)14Barber, p. 112. I find itinteresting that these legends

wereat theirmostpopular inthe firsthalfof the thirteenthcentury, when the crusadeagainst theCatharswasat itsheight (Barbermentions this)and when anti-Semitism wason the rise, along with thebeginning of the libel thatJewsstoleanddesecratedtheHost. But that is anothersubject altogether and I’llrefrainfromfollowingithere.15

Wolfram von Eschenbach,Parzival tr. Helen M.Mustard and Charles E.Passage (NewYork:VintageBooks, 1961) book 9,paragraph470,p.252.16Ibid.,book9,paragraph471.17Joseph Goering, The Virginand the Grail: Origins of aLegend (New Haven: Yale

UniversityPress,2005).18Ibid.,p.223.19Ibid.,pp.308-9.20RichardBarber,p.444.21Ibid.,p.380.IhopeIaddeditcorrectly,butthat’stheroughamount.

CHAPTERFORTY-FIVE

TemplarsinDenmark:BornholmIsland

There are no records of anyTemplar activity inDenmark.1 I realize thatrecently a book, TheTemplars’SecretIsland,2has

madeacasefortheTemplarsliving in round churches onthe Danish island ofBornhom, just off the southcoastofSweden.Theauthorsof this book, ElringHaagensen and HenryLincoln, further state that theTemplarsused this island formystical astronomical study.Part of this book containsgeometric studies of possibleresults the Templars might

have come up with onBornholm.Butfirsttheygivehistorical background toprove that the scholars arecompletely wrong in theirbeliefthattheTemplarsneversettled in the area. Thetroubleisthehistoryisbasedon a few pieces of data andseveral assumptions that relyoninaccurateinformation.First, let’s look at the

“historical”narrativeasgiven

in this book and how itdoesn’t match knowninformation.Ihavealreadygivenashort

essay on Bernard ofClairvauxandhisconnectiontotheTemplars.Thestoryofhis life in The Templars’SecretIsland,doesn’texactlyagree with the information Ifound. In fact, it sometimesdirectlycontradictsit.

Thebiographybeginswiththe standard informationabout Bernard’s birth andentry into the monastery ofCiteaux.3 The footnote forthis is the CatholicEncyclopedia, 1913. This isthesameversionthatisintheonlineCatholicEncyclopediaof 1917, which is onlinebecause it has been replacedin print by an updatedversion.4 But it’s essentially

the same informationconcerning Bernard. So far,sogood.The authors continue to

say, as is also wellestablished, that Eudes I, theduke of Burgundy, haddonatedthefundstokeepthemonastery going in the earlydays.Thenextlinesare:“TheBurgundian nobility seemedunquestionably to be deeplyinvolved in the Order’s

creation. The Abbot ofCiteauxwas ex officio PrimeCounselloroftheBurgundianParliament with the right tosit at the assembly of theStates General of theKingdom, as well as theProvinceofBurgundy.”5

There is no footnote forthis piece of news and I amverydisappointedbecause,asfarasweknow,therewasnoBurgundian Parliament in

1113. The first one was in1349atBeaune.6TheEstates-GeneralofFrancebeganasamandatory meeting attendedby members of the nobility,bourgeois, and clergy at theorder of the king. Thishappenednowandtheninthethirteenth century, but didn’tget going again until thefourteenth century.7 And, ofcourse the BurgundianParliament, even if it had

existed, wouldn’t havemattered to the Estates-General because Burgundydidn’t become a part ofFranceuntil1316.Beforethatit was part of the HolyRomanEmpire.8

I think that if the authorshave really discovered thatthese institutions existed twohundred years before anyrecords have been found forthem, they should share their

sources. Graduate studentstheworldoverarehungryforthesistopics.Now,havingestablishedin

themindofthereaderthattheCistercians were movers andshakers at the court ofBurgundy, the authors thengo over the history of thefoundation of the Templarsand Bernard’s part in it (asubject I discussed in thesection on Bernard). Then

they take the connectionanother step further, linkingBernard and the Cisterciansto the establishment of thecrusaderkingdoms.Onestatementtheymakeis

that“GodfreyofBouillonandBaudwin[Baldwin,firstLatinking of Jerusalem] were ofthe nobility of LowerLorraine, the dukedomadjacent to Burgundy and ofcourse, Clairvaux [the

monastery founded byBernard].”9 The authorsapparently never bothered tolook at a map, odd since somuchofthebookisbasedongeographic connections. Intheeleventhcentury,LorrainewasjustnorthofChampagneandaffiliatedwiththecountyof Flanders. While bordershavechanged,thelandhasn’tmoved. Burgundy is, andwas, much farther south.

Clairvaux, just north ofDijon, was not in existencewhen the First Crusade tookplace.10

Fromthisandotherequallyinaccurate or unconnectedstatements, the authors cometotheconclusionthatBernardof Clairvauxwas “the real—if covert—Grand Master ofthe Templars.”11It’s true thatBernard was an early andenthusiastic supporter of the

Templars but I’d need moreproof to believe that hedirected their actions,especially based on aninaccurate assumption of thesecular power of theCistercians along with aconclusion that relies onmistakes in chronology andgeography.Let’s move on to the

Danishconnection.

Eskil, archbishop of Lund(in Sweden) from 1137 to1177, was a big fan ofBernard of Clairvaux. Eskilwas a progressive bishop inmany ways. He has beencalled “the first Europeanfrom the North.”12 He camefroma rich family inwhat isnow Sweden and waseducated in the cathedralschools of Germany.13 Hisuncle Asser was archbishop

of Lund and it is reasonableto think that the familyexpectedEskiltofollowhim.Eskilwasdetermined todragDenmark into the modernworld of the twelfth century.This was shown by hisenthusiasm for the newreligious orders. In the firsthalf of the twelfth century,theCistercianswerethelatestthing. Bernard of Clairvauxwas arguably the most

famous monk in Europe atthat time. In 1144, Eskilasked to have a group ofCistercian monks come toDenmark to establish amonastery there and to showDanishmonksthecustomsoftheorder.14

Just theyearbefore, at therequestofthekingandqueenof Sweden, the Cistercianshad sent monks to start twomonasteriesinthatcountry.15

They were happy to sendmonks from Citeaux toDenmark to start themonastery of Herrisvad, aswell.Eskil’s main goal for his

archbishopricwas tomake ittrulyScandinavian,freeofitsdependence on thearchbishopric of Hamburg-Bremen. 16 Eskil’s uncleAsser had convinced thepapal legate under Pope

Paschal II (1099-1118) tocreate the archbishopric ofLund—in Sweden, butHamburg continued to lobbyfor its return to Germandominance.17 This strugglefor primacy was veryimportant to the bishops andarchbishops of Europe. Agreat number of the churchcouncils of the twelfthcentury spent a large part oftheir time in the very bitter

wranglingoverwhoansweredtowhom.18

Eskil was also hamperedby the problems within theDanish royal succession.This, in turn,was tied to thestruggleforthecontroloftheScandinavian church. In thelate 1150s Eskil supportedKnut Magnussen for thethrone. Knut’s rival wasSwein,whowassupportedbythe German emperor,

Frederick Barbarossa.Frederick’s relative bymarriage was Hartwig,archbishop of Bremen, whowanted to return thearchbishopric of Lund tosubmission to Hamberg-Bremen. Now, Pope HadrianIV (1154-1159) was inconflict with EmperorFrederick about a number ofother things. So Eskil was astrong supporter of Pope

Hadrian, who returned thesupport by making Eskil apapallegate.19

(If youwant to take out anotebook and start makingdiagramsoftheconnections,Iwouldn’t blame you. Usedifferent colored pens; ithelps.)Eskil had met the pope

when he was still calledNicholas Break-spear. The

futureHadrianIVwas leaderofthedelegationsentbyPopeEugenius III to set aboutdividing the Scandinavianarchbishopric into two newones, Sweden and Norway.The pope also wanted to seethat the custom of collecting“Peter’s pence,” a tax tosupport the papacy, wasestablished in thenorth.20When the delegationarrived in 1152,Eskilwas at

Clairvaux, meeting withBernard and collecting moremonks for a new Danishmonastery.21He returned intimetoconvinceNicholasnottodividehisarchbishopricatthistime.Nicholaswas elected pope

shortly after his return toRome in 1154. In 1156 or1157 Eskilmade the journeyto Rome, at which time hewas made permanent papal

legate in Scandinavia.22However, on the way home,while going throughBurgundy(apartof theHolyRomanEmpire,seeabove)hewas kidnapped, perhaps bysupporters of EmperorFrederick. Pope Hadrianwrotealetterofrebuketotheemperor that was read at animperial diet held atBesançon in October 1157.Duetoamistranslationofthe

letter from Latin intoGerman, the emperor tookoffense and, in the ensuingfuss, Eskil seems to havebeen forgotten.23 He wasreleasedatsomepointbeforeHadrian’s death onSeptember1,1159.The dispute that followed

Eskil’s imprisonment, whichhad little to do with him,escalated after the death ofHadrian.The struggle,which

lasted for centuries betweenthe papacy and the HolyRomanEmperors,causedtwopopes to be elected at thesame time. The first,supported by Eskil, wasAlexander III. The other,supportedbytheemperorandDenmark’s new king,Valdemar,wasnamedVictorIV.Eskildidn’twant tohaveto choose between KingValdemarand thepopes, and

so he kept away fromDenmark.HewanderedaboutEurope and made apilgrimage to Jerusalem atsomepointbetween1161and1167. There he could havemet the GrandMaster of theTemplars, Bertrand ofBlancfort, but we have norecordofsuchameeting.It’squite possible that Bertrandwasnot even in JerusalematthetimeofEskil’svisit.24

In1177,Eskil resignedhisbishopric and retired tobecome a monk atClairvaux.25Hespenthislastfour years as a simple monkandoftenregaledtheyoungerbrothers with stories of hisfriendshipwith their founder,Bernard.26 He died there in1181.While he admiredBernard

greatly and chose to end hislife at the monastery he

founded, Eskil was friendswith other monastic leaders,notably Peter, abbot of CelleinChampagne.27Hewrote toboth of the abbots infriendship, asking for adviceandsharinghisproblemsandfrustrations. They wrote himlettersofsupport.Sowhathasthistodowith

proving that there wereTemplars in Denmark?Nothing that I can see.

Because Eskil and Bernardwere friends, and Bernardwas a supporter of theTemplars, there was noreason for Eskil to establishthe Templars in Denmark.Nor is there any indicationthathedidso.As I have already said,

there is no sign at all of theTemplars ever having had acommandery in Denmark.The Hospitallers had a

Scandinavian province thatwasmadeupofDenmarkandNorway but that order seemsto have concentrated itsefforts in the region on thehospital side rather than themilitary.28

Well,itmayhavebeenthatthere were Templars inDenmark but that all thedocuments have been lost.So, let’s look at the physicalevidence as presented by the

believers.Thechurchesontheisland

of Bornholm are indeedround. That is indisputable.Wecanseethem,touchthem,and walk around them.However, one can’t assumethat because a church isround, it was built byTemplars.ForatimeaftertheFirst Crusade there was avogue for them all overEurope.

The idea of building achurch in the form of theChurchoftheHolySepulcherin Jerusalem wasn’t new. Ahundred years before theTemplar order was founded,the Benedictine church atSaint-Benigne at Dijon wasbuilt with a round nave inimitation of the HolySepulcher, as were thechurches at Lanleff, Saint-Bonnet-la-Rivière, Rieux-

Minervois, andMontmorillon,all indifferentparts ofFrance.29 Inmost ofthesechurches, therearefouror eight columns inside.However, “the churches onBornholm have one centralcolumn. They are simply adifferenttype.”30

Even theHospitallers builtround churches.31If thechurches on Bornholm are

connected to any militaryorder, it would make moresense that it would be theHospitallers,whomweknowwereinDenmark,oreventheTeutonic Knights. But thatwould ruin the hypothesis.Forsomereason, ithas tobeTemplarsornothing.Oneshouldn’ttrytobuilda

very complicated theorybased on the idea thatTemplars were in Denmark,

because the basic premise istooshakytosupportmuchofanything.Itisbasedonalackofunderstandingofhistoricaldataandmanyleapsinwhichthe logic is not supported. Iwouldn’t want to riskstandingonit.Onepositivethingthathas

come out of this imaginativeand unhistorical theory ofTemplars in Denmark is thatithasmadeserioushistorians

stopandsay,“Weknowthereis no evidence for Templarshere,butwhyweren’ttheyinDenmark?Whatwasdifferentabout Denmark (and all ofScandinavia) that this didn’thappen?”Sinceittakesmuchmore time to do seriousresearchthantobuildacastlein the air, few papers havecome out on the subject yet,butIlookforwardtothem.Iwish I could believe that

my explanations would clearup theconfusion surroundingthese very badly researchedideasabouttheTemplars.ButI don’t hold out much hope.What chance do ploddinghistorians have against Mr.Haagensen and Mr. Lincoln,a filmmaker and a journalist,neitherofwhomseemtofeelcompelledtowastetheirtimecombing through dustyarchivesforproof?

1Vivian Etting, “Crusade andPilgrimage: Different Waysto the City of God,” inMedievalHistoryWritingandCrusading Ideology, ed.TuomasM. S. Lehtonen andKurt Villads Jensen(Helsinki: Finnish LiterarySociety, 2005) p. 187.“However the [Hospitaller]Order had no militaryfunctionsinDenmarkandthe

competing Order of theKnights Templars [sic] wasnever established inScandinavia.”2Elring Haagensen and HenryLincoln, The Templars’Secret Island (Barnes andNoble,2002).3Ibid.,p.29.4

www.newadvent.org/cathen/02498d.htm5Haagensen and Lincoln, p.29.6Ferdinand Lot and RobertFawtier, Histoire deInstitutions Françaises auMoyen Age, Tome II,Institutions Royales (Paris:Presses Universitaires deFrance,1958)p.486.

7Achille Luchaire, InstitutionsFrançaise (Paris, 1892) pp.201-2.8GeorgesDuby,France in theMiddle Ages 987-1460, tr.Juliet Vale (Oxford:Blackwell,1991)p.285.9Haagensen and Lincoln,p.153. At least Mr. Lincoln

now knows that Godfrey ofBouillon was not king ofFrance, as was stated in oneofhisearlierbooks(TheHolyBlood and the Holy Grail ).Bravo!10Clairvaux was founded in1115.SeeLouisJ.Lekai,TheCistercians: Ideas andReality(KentStateUniversityPress,1977)p.19.

11Haagensen and Lincoln, p.30.12Brian Patrick McGuire, TheDifficult Saint (Kalamazoo,MI: Cistercian Publications,1991)p.126,quotingLauritzWeibull.13Ibid.,p.109.Formoreonthecathedral schools, see C.

Stephen Jaeger, The Envy ofAngels: Cathedral SchoolsandSocialIdealsinMedievalEurope950-1200 (UniversityofPennsylvaniaPress,1994).14Ibid.,p.110.15Brian Patrick McGuire, TheCistercians in Denmark(Kalamazoo, MI: CistercianPublications,1982)p.40.

16McGuire,Saint,p.110.17AndersBergquist,“ThePapalLegate: NicholasBreakspear’s ScandinavianMission,” in Adrian IV: TheEnglish Pope (1154-1159),ed. Brenda Bolton andAnneJ. Duggan (Ashgate,Aldershot,2003)p.41.18

Therearemanyexamples,butthe one I know best is the1148 Council of Rheims,during which the archbishopof Tours demanded primacyoverthebishopricofDol.Butthat’s a subject for anotherbook and probably not onethat would interest anyonebut die-hard students ofecclesiasticalgovernment.19

I. S. Robinson, The Papacy1073-1198 (CambridgeUniversity Press, 1990) p.467.20Bergquist,p.42.21McGuire,Saint,p.110.22Johanis Mabillon ed., SanctiBernardiOperaOmniaVol.I

(Paris, 1889) col. 948.“Eskilum non-modoarchiepiscopum Lundensemin Danis, sed et primatemSucciae et decretoAdriani IVpapaefuisselego.”23Robinson, pp. 466-70;Bergquist,p.47.24Pleaseseechapter15,GrandMasters1136-1189,formore

aboutBertrand.25McGuire,Saint,p.111.26Geoffrey of Auxerre,“BernardiAbbatisVita I,” inMabillon, Vol. IV, cols.2229-30.27Mabillon,Vol.1,col.948.28

Helen Nicholson, TheKnights Hospitaller(Woodbridge, UK: BoydellandBrewer,2001).29HenrydeCurzon,LaMaisondu Temple de Paris (Paris,1888)p.87.30Prof. Kurt Villads Jensen,private correspondence,October10,2006.

31Nicholson,p.7.

CHAPTERFORTY-SIX

TheTemplarsandtheShroudofTurin

As far as I can tell, theTemplars became attached tothe story of the Shroud ofTurin through a coincidence.Since the shroudhasbecome

part of the lore of theTemplars we’ll need to gooverthehistoryofit,asfarasisknown.Ihavenointentionof exploringwhat the shroudisorhow,when,andwhereitwas made, only the way theTemplars were brought intoitsorbit.In the thirteenth century,

the Church of St. Marie deBlakerne in Constantinopleclaimed to have the burial

shroud of Jesus. I haven’tbeen able to find out howtheygotitorwhenbutitwastherein1204whentheFourthCrusade decided to bypassthe Holy Land and conquerConstantinople instead.AccordingtoRobertdeClari,achroniclerandparticipantinthecrusade,“Thereisanotherchurch that is called MadamSaint Mary of Blakerne,wherethesydoinewhichOur

Lord was wrapped in was.Every Friday it would raiseitself upright so that onecould see well the figure ofOurLord;butthereisnoone,not Greek or French, whoknows where the sydoinewent when the city wastaken.”1

Imustadmitthatthisisthesort of information thatmakes a novelist’s eyes lightup.Amissing relic, stolen in

themidstofwar:wherecouldit have gone? Thepossibilitiesareendless.Robert de Clari also

mentions the veil ofVeronica, on which Jesus issupposed to have wiped hisface on the way to Calvary,and a holy loincloth that atilemaker loaned to Jesus forthesamepurpose.The imageon the loincloth hadmiraculouslytransferreditself

tooneofthetiles,whichwasalso kept. Along with theserelics from Constantioplewere the head of John theBaptist, some pieces of theTrue Cross, the Crown ofThorns, the tunic Jesus worewhile carrying the cross, twoof thenails,andavialofhisblood.2Some of thesewouldlater appear in France in thepossessionofKingLouis IX.He built the Church of Ste.

Chapelle to house them. Butthe holy shroud and the holyloincloth and tile seem tohavevanished.There doesn’t seem to be

any mention of the shroudagain until themiddle of thefourteenth century, when aknight named Geoffrey deCharny may have owned it.Hewasanimportantfigureinthe early battles of whatwould turn out to be the

Hundred Years’ War.3 Healso joined a crusade toSmyrnainTurkeyin1345,anexperiencehedidnotenjoy.4Later he became a chartermember of the short-livedCompanyoftheStar,agroupofknightsclosetothekingofFrance, John II.5CharnywaskilledattheBattleofPoitierson September 19, 1356.6 Inbetweenhismilitaryexploits,he managed to write three

treatises on chivalry.He alsohadachapelbuiltonhislandat Lirey for the purpose ofcelebrating masses for thesouls of his family and as afamilycemetery.7

Now,inallhispetitionstohave his church built and inhisownwritings,GeoffreydeCharny nevermentioned thathehadaholyshroud.But,assoonashehaddied,his son,also named Geoffrey, began

toshowtheshroudtofriends,neighbors, and paying guestsas an object of veneration,always takingcarenot tosaythat it was the actual burialcloth of Jesus. The localbishoptriedtogethimtostopdoing this, certain that theshroud was a fake.Eventually,hesucceeded.No one mentioned the

Templars. There was noreason to. The Templars did

not take part in the FourthCrusade.TheydidnotbelieveinfightingotherChristians—at least, that was what theytold the organizers of thecrusade, and I think theyprobablymeantit.Theywerefar too busy at the timefighting the heirs of SaladinandmusthavebeenirkedthatthecrusaderswerelootingtheGreek Empire instead ofhelpingthem.

It’s possible that GeoffreydeCharnybought the shroudasasouvenirwhenhewasinTurkey, not believing that itwasgenuine,butratherafull-body icon. Whether his sonknewthisornotisimpossibletosay.So why are the Templars

connectedtotheshroud?Itallhas to do with thecoincidence that the TemplarVisitor of Normandy,

Geoffrey of Charney, whowas burned at the stake justafterJacques deMolay, hasthe same name as the firstowneroftheshroud.ThetwoGeoffreys may have beenrelated but there is noevidenceforthis.That didn’t stop a

twentieth-century author, IanWilson, from deciding that,not only were the two menconnectedbutthattheshroud

also originally belonged tothe Templars.8 This is anexample of taking one fact,that the two men have thesamename,andthencreatinganentirescenariobasedonnoevidencewhatsoever.Thereareseveralproblems

withWilson’stheory.I’ve already pointed out

that the Templars weren’t inon the looting of

Constantinople. That’s thefirst problem. However, ifsomehow they did getsomething that they thoughtwas the sydoine there is nowaytheywouldhavekeptitasecret.AsIhavepointedout,theTemplarswereconstantlyshort of cash and relicswerebig business. The relics theydidhaveweredisplayed,suchastheheadofVirginNumber58 at the Paris commandery

or thecrossmade froma tubthat Jesus had once bathedin.9

WilsonsaysthattheshroudandtheveilofVeronicawereconfused and they were thesame thing.10 Then he saysthat the shroud, or maybeimages of it, were what theTemplars were accused ofworshipping at theirtrial.11Considering the

number of imaginativedescriptions made by theTemplars of the head theywere supposed to worship,thatdoesn’twork.Butalso,ifthey had a genuine relic ofthe Resurrection, doesn’t itstand to reason that theywould say so? The idea thatthiswouldbe a secretmakesnosenseintheframeworkofthe medieval world, or themodernoneforthatmatter.

Oneofthemoresurprisingtheoriesthathasgrownoutofconnecting the shroud to theTemplars suggests that theimageontheclothisactuallyJacques de Molay.12 Thiswas made, not surprisingly,by two Masons, neither ofwhomisahistorian.They base this conclusion

onaseriesofsuppositions.Thefirstassumptionisthat

Jacques was tortured by theinquisitors in an imitation ofChrist’s passion. Afterward,the bleeding Grand Masterwas placed on a shroudbecause, “like the JerusalemChurch before them andFreemasonry after them, theTemplarskepta linenshroudto wrap the candidates forseniormembership.”13

They did? I can’t findanything about this in the

Ruleorinthevariousrecordsoftheinterrogations.I’dloveto know where it says thisbut,unfortunately,theauthorsdon’tcitetheirsource.The book presents a

gruesome scenario, completewith illustrations, on howMolay must have beentortured.Oddly,thisimaginedtorturecorrespondsexactlytothe wounds on the image ontheshroud.However,thereis

a problem with this, too.(Actually, there are a lot ofproblemsbut I’ll gowith themost obvious.) First of all,there is no record anywhereofapersonbeing torturedbytheInquisitioninimitationofChrist. This would not onlybe blasphemy but it wouldalso elevate the status of theaccused,makinghissufferingseem equal to that of Jesus.Moreimportantly,theauthors

state that Jacques de Molayshowed the marks of torturewhen he came before themasters of the University ofParis. Jacques de Molay didnot takeoffhis shirt to showhowhehadbeen tortured, asthe book says, nor did hemake the speech the authorsquote.14Theyquoteit,bytheway, not from the records ofthe trial, but from atranslation made in a book

called Secret Societies of theMiddle Ages. The author isthat well-known figureAnonymous.According to the records,

Jacques never said that hewas tortured.He said he hadbeen starved and threatenedwith torture.When he rolledup his sleeve before themasters of Paris, it was toshow them how thin he hadbecome.15

That leadsme to themostcompelling reason to thinkthat, whatever the shroud is,it’s not a portrait of JacquesdeMolay. The image on theShroud of Turin is of a talland fairly robust young manwith long hair and a beard.Now, after some time inprison,Jacquescouldhavelethimselfgoabit,nottrimminghis beard or cutting his hair.ButJacquesdeMolaywasin

his latesixties, ifnotolder.16Hehadbeenstarved.Lookingat the image on the shroud,evenwith thebest intentions,Ican’tsee that themanthereisanemaciatedseventy-year-old.Finally, another theory on

the Shroud of Turin that hasreceived some notice is thatof Lynn Picknett and ClivePrince.Atfirstitseemssafelyfree of the Templars. They

think that the shroud waspainted by Leonardo daVinci.17

But you know, they justcouldn’t keep the Templarsout of it, even thoughLeonardolivedoveracenturyafter the dissolution of theorder.TheybasetheTemplarconnection not on primaryresearch but on anotherpopular book, The HolyBlood and The Holy Grail.

Thisbookisbasedon,amongother things, a hoax andforged documents. I haveseen these documents andthey are riddled withinaccuraciesandmistakes.18

Again the authors add theTemplars to the mix bycontinuing the assumptionthattheGeoffreysofCharneyand Charny are connectedandaddingthemtothefamilytreeof therulersof theLatin

kingdoms and thence to theTemplars again. There is nodocumentation for this and itdoesn’t agree with knowngenealogiesofthefamilies.Idon’treallycarewhatthe

Shroud of Turin is. I justthinkthatit’stimewelefttheTemplars out of thearguments. The poor guyshavehadenough.1

RobertdeClari,“LaConquêtde Constantinople,” inHistoriens etChroniquers duMoyen Age ed. AlbertPauphilet (Paris: Gallimard,1952) p. 78, “un autre desmoustiers, que on apeloitmadame Sainte Marie deBlakerne,oùlisydoineslàoùNostre Sire fu envelopés, yestoit, qui chascun vendredise dressoit tous drois, si queon y povoit bien voir las

figureNostreSeigneur;neneseut on onques, ne Grieu neFrançois, que cist sydoinesdevintquantlavillefuprise.”2Ibid.,p.67.3Richard W. Kaeuper andElspeth Kennedy, The Bookof Chivalry of Geoffroi deCharney: Text, Context andTranslation (University of

Pennsylvania Press, 1996) p.5.4Ibid.,p.7.5Ibid.,pp.14-15.6Ibid.,p.17.7Ibid.,p.38.8

Ian Wilson, The Shroud ofTurin (New York:Doubleday,1966).9Malcolm Barber, “TheTemplars and the TurinShroud.”10Wilson,pp.81-98.11Ibid.,pp.154-66.

12Christopher Knight andRobert Lomas, The SecondMessiah (Boston: ElementBooks,1997)pp.162-96.13Ibid.,p.165.14Ibid.,p.171.15Michelet

16Alain Demurger, Jacques deMolay: Le Crepuscule desTempliers (Paris: Payot,2002).17Lynn Picknett and ClivePrince,TheTurin Shroud: InWhose Image? The TruthBehind the Centuries-LongConspiracy of Silence (NewYork:HarperCollins,1994).

18For a more completediscussion of the theories inthis book, please see myprevious book, The RealHistory Behind the Da VinciCode (New York: Berkley,2005).

CHAPTERFORTY-SEVEN

TemplarsinScotland:RosslynChapel

Rosslyn Chapel, moreproperly called RosslynCollegiate Church, lies inLothian by the river Esk,eight miles south of

Edinburghontheedgeof thevillageofRoslin.The name “Rosslyn” is

from the Gaelic ross,meaningarockypromontory,and lynn, meaning awaterfall.1Thechurchisbuilton such a point,with a goodviewofRosslynGlenbelow.The church was begun

about 1450 by WilliamSinclair, earl of Orkney. It

wasapparentlyintendedtobemuch larger but only whatwould have been the choirwas finished. While thechurch is similar to othercollegiate churches beingbuiltatthetime,thedegreeofornamentation is extremelyunusual. My first impressionon entering was that it wasbased on Spanish churches Ihad been in, but apparentlyart historians don’t think this

isthecase.2Thenatureofthedesigns has not beencommented on by arthistorians so much as theabundance of them. Theeffect of themyriad carvingsis stunning and whimsical,rather like meeting someonewho has decided to wear allher jewelry at once. “Thearcadearches, capitals, stringcourses and window rear-arches are all decorated with

foliagecarving,and therearecorbels and canopies forimages between thewindows.”3 Elsewhere, thesame author comments, “asso often at Roslin, [sic] thedesireforrichnessof

Pi lar at Roslin, showingornamentation and GreenMan.(Sharan Newman, withthanks to the RosslynChurchTrust)effect has perhaps beentakenfurtherthanmighthavebeenexpected.”4

The plans for Rosslyn,written on wooden boards,were lost during the

Reformation. There are nodocuments at all to explainwhyEarlWilliam decided tocoveralmosteveryinchofhischurch with ornamentation.The only remnant of aplanningdesignisonthewallofthecrypt,probablythefirstsectionbuilt.Onecanstillseescratchingson thewall of anarch,apentacle,apartof thevaulting for the ceiling, andtwo circles.5 It’s likely that

these survived because theywere plastered over shortlyafterthechurchwasbuilt.Now, a lack of

documentation is a disasterfor historians, but great fornovelists,whoarethenfreetomakeupwhatevertheylike.Isupposethat’sonereasonI’mboth. I can speculate infictioninawaythatwouldbeinappropriate in academicwork. The highly wrought

carvings at Rosslyn haveinspiredanumberoflegends.Before I discuss them, let’slook first at what is knownaboutWilliamSinclair,toseeifitgivesanycluesastowhyhe ordered the church builtand why it was nevercompleted.William was the fourth

SinclairtobeearlofOrkney.At the time these islands,north of Britain, belonged to

thekingsofDenmark.AstheOrkney earls also were lordsof Roslin and owned otherlandsinScotland,thisdividedallegiance made politicsdifficult for the Sinclairs.However, the revenues fromOrkney were substantial andmadeitworththetrouble.6

AtthistimeitwasunusualforthenobilityofScotlandtodieanaturaldeath,ortokeephold of their lands for more

than a generation. The firstStewart king of Scotland,James,hadbeenmurdered in1437,leavinghissix-year-oldson,JamesII,atthemercyofthevariousfactionsvyingforpower.7 The Douglas familywas the most formidableenemy of the king andWilliamSinclair hadmarriedElizabethDouglas.However,Elizabeth died just beforeJamesIIcameofagein1451

and William decided to casthis lotwith theking.8 It wasabout this time thathebeganworkonthechurch.It seems to have been a

status symbol among theScottish earls to have one’sown collegiate church—achurch thatwas administeredby priests, called canons,whose sole job was to saymasses, presumably for thesouls of the nobles and their

families. Collegiate churcheswerebuiltbyLordDunbarin1444 and Lord Crichton in1449.9NeitherisaselaborateasRosslyn.For a while William’s

alliance with King James IIappeared to bring him evenmore wealth and power. Hebecame chancellor ofScotland from 1454 to 1456and was able to regain theearldom of Caithness, lost to

his family a hundred yearsbefore.However, the king of

Scotland had his eye on theprofitableearldomofOrkney.James entered intonegotiations with KingChristianofDenmarktogainOrkney for himself. Thiswould have left WilliamSinclair out an importantsource of income and therewere rumors that he tried to

sabotage the meeting.Certainly,hefelloutoffavorwith the king. “William . . .must have heaved a sigh ofrelief when he heard of thesudden demise of the youngkingatRoxburghwhilethesenegotiations were underway.”10

But the next king, JamesIII, continued his father’squestforOrkneyandin1470,William was forced to give

up his rights in favor of theScottishcrown.This may be the reason

why Rosslyn Church wasnever completed. Not onlywas William’s incomereduced but his eldest son,William“theWaster,”wassoirresponsible that the earldisinherited him, leavingRosslyn to his second son,Oliver. It was Oliver whoseems to have brought the

buildingtoaclose.11

This is what we knowaboutWilliamSinclair,fourthand last earl of Orkney. Theoriginal charters for thechurch were lost; the plansdestroyed. Only the fantasticbuilding remains, the choirwith a truncated wall of theproposed nave jutting out oneitherside.

THELEGENDSBEGIN

The fate of the chapel ofRosslyn was tied to theSinclairfamilyandtheyhadabad spell of close to twohundred years. The Sinclairschose the losing side in thepower struggles in Scotlandand then remained Catholicwhen the country becameProtestant. The chapel was

firstneglectedand then,afterlongresistancefromthelord,anotherWilliam Sinclair, thealtarsweredemolished.12

The connection of theSinclairfamilytotheguildofmasonsand then to theorderofFreemasons began in theearly seventeenth century.The guild of masons wasunder the direction of a“master of works,” who wasusually from a good family

rather thanaworkingmason.In 1583 the title went toWilliam Schaw, from thefamily of the lairds ofSauchie. The Schaw familywas Catholic in ProtestantScotland but that didn’t stopWilliamfrommakingagoodcareerforhimselfatcourt.Hewasadiplomatandservedthecrownoverseas,despitebeinglisted as “a possible Jesuit”by the Scottish equivalent of

thesecretpolice.13

When he became master,Schaw set about organizingthe guild of masons, settingup statutes for them.14 Inabout 1600, he decided thatthe masons needed a lord-protector. It is not knownwhy the current WilliamSinclair,lordofRosslyn,waschosen. Perhaps because hewas also Catholic; perhapsbecause of Sinclair’s attempt

to preserve the “images anduthermonumentsofidolatrie”of the chapel.15 As a patron,Sinclair was not an obviouschoice. He had been hauledup before the localmagistrates on charges offornication and eventuallymoved to Ireland with hismistress, a miller’s daughter,leaving the lordship to hisson, also named WilliamSinclair.16

The next William was amodel citizen and, althoughSchaw had died in theinterim, a charter was drawnupmakingSinclairanofficialpatronofthemasons.Acopyof this is on display in themuseum above the gift shopatRosslyn.Thishadnothingtodowith

what would later becomeFreemasonry. It was anagreement between the lord

of Rosslyn and the guild ofmasons.Nevertheless, the lords of

Rosslynwereamongthefirstof the Scottish Freemasonsandin1697were“obligedtoreceivetheMasonWord.”17

It is from about this timethat the legends surroundingRosslynbegantogrow.The story of the two

pillars, the “master” and

“apprentice,” is one that canbefoundinotherchurchesinScotland.There is a likepairof

Apprenticepilar(SharanNewman,with thanks to theRosslynChurchTrust)

Master pi lar (SharanNewman,with thanks to theRosslynChurchTrust)pillars at twelfth-centuryDunfermlineAbbey,althoughthemoreelaborateofthetwoisconsidered theworkof themaster.18

The story of the pillars isthat the master masonfinished the first pillar andthenwentonajourney.When

he returned, he discoveredthathisapprenticehadcarveda second pillar that farsurpassed his. In a rage, themaster killed the apprentice.At Rosslyn, the faces of themasterandtheapprenticearesupposed to be among theheadscarved into thecornersof the ceiling in the chapel.However,therearesixheads,not two. One is female andanother a demon of some

sort.19 This story of thehomicidal master mason isfirst recorded in 1677, by anEnglish tourist, ThomasKirk.20

The association of theTemplars with Rosslyn mayhave started with Sir WalterScott,whomentionsthelordsofRosslyn inTheLay of theLast Minstral.21Scott is bestknownforhisnovelIvanhoe,

which features a Templar asthevillain.ThestoriesaboutTemplars

in Scotland, and specificallyat Rosslyn, seem to havestartedatthesametimeasthesociety of Freemasons did.The story in its most recentform is that a group ofTemplars fleeing theInquisition arrived inScotland and were givenrefuge by the Sinclair family

at Rosslyn Castle. Over theyears the Templars inScotland are said to havefought for Robert the Bruce,gone to America with theVikings,andkeptaguardontheirtreasureand/ortheHolyGrail.At the time of the

suppression of the order,some Templars may havefoundrefuge inScotland,butagain, there is no record of

this and certainly noreference to Rosslyn. I havefound no Templar or Grailreferences in connection toRosslyn that are earlier thanthe nineteenth century. Noneof these stories ever botherstosayhowtheTemplarskepttheir numbers up over thecenturies.Didtheymarryandraise little Templars? Didthey recruit subversively inthe neighborhood? Enquiring

minds want to know. Andthat, I suppose, is why wehavetoinventanswers.How do legends begin?

With a chance meeting, avisit to a remarkable chapel,the notice of an odd carvingthat reminds the viewer ofanother that is connected toyet another by theimagination. The art ofRosslynChapelisanenigma.Why the first William

Sinclairhad itbuiltandwhatthedesignsmeanttohimwillprobably never be known.They are fantastic, opulent,andevocative.It’snowonderthatthechapelwasbroughtinto share in the preeminentmyths of Westerncivilization.1TheEarlofRosslyn,RosslynChapel(RoslynChapelTrust,

1997)p.34.2Barbara E. Crawford, “LordWilliam Sinclair and theBuildingofRoslinCollegiateChurch,” in John Higgitt,Medieval Art andArchitectureintheDioceseofSt Andrews (BritishArchaeological Association,1994)p.99.3

Richard Fawcett, ScottishMedieval Churches(Gloucestershire: Tempus,2002)p.163.4Ibid.,p.140.5R. Anderson, “Notice ofworking drawings scratchedon the walls of the crypt atRoslin Chapel,” inProceedingsof theSocietyof

Antiquities of Scotland Vol.10,1872-74,pp.63-64.6Crawford,p.100.7Stewart Ross, Monarchs ofScotland (New York: FactsonFile,1990)pp.85-91.8Crawford,p.101.9

Fawcett,p.89.10Crawford,p.104.11Ibid.,p.106.12Rosslyn,p.23913David Stevenson, TheOrigins of Freemasonry:Scotland’s Century 1590-

1710 (Cambridge UniversityPress,1988)pp.26-32.14See chapter 48, TheFreemasons.15Stevenson,p.55.16Ibid.,p.56.17Ibid.,p.60.

18Fawcett,p.165.19I checked this out carefullywhenIvisitedRosslyn.20Karen Ralls, The Templarsand the Grail (Wheaton, IL:QuestBooks,2003)p.184.21Ibid.,p.193.

CHAPTERFORTY-EIGHT

TheFreemasonsandtheTemplars

Today thereare thousandsofFreemasonlodgesallovertheworld. Each country has itsown customs and rituals andwithin them are variations

and rites particular to eachlodge.Therearemanystoriesabout the beginnings of thesocietyofFreemasonsanditsplace in history. One reasonfor this is the myth theeighteenth-century masonscreated concerning theantiquity of their group andits traditions. Most of theseare now considered to benothingbutinvention.The reason for both the

mythstheMasonscreatedforthemselves and the storiestoldaboutthemisthesame:itis a group that jealouslyguards its secrets, especiallythose of initiation. Anineteenth-century Masonwrote of this, “Among secretsocieties . . . a particularknowledgehasbeensupposedalways to be communicatedto the initiate....TheplaceofMasonry among secret

associations is notable incomparisonwiththeseexoticsofhiddenlifeandactivity.”1

The connection betweenthe Freemasons of today andthe ancient trade ofstonemasons is still not wellunderstood. The custom ofworkers in a particular craftforming groups for mutualbenefit existedas farbackasthe late Roman Empire.These groups had different

names,butthemostcommonwas collegium.2 Thesecollegia had both social andeconomic functions. Themerchant’scollegenegotiatedmonopolies with thegovernment, for instance.Collegesoftradesvitaltothestate, such as wheatmerchants, were givenexemptions from some taxesandduties.3Thecollegesalsoheldgroupfeastsonthedays

that honored their patrondeity.These colleges had

members who were notworkers but importantcitizens, patrons of the trade“who lent their influence inthe state to the colleges inexchange for the socialprestige of the title ofpatron.”4 This may give aclue as to the laterdevelopment of Masonic

lodgesinwhichnoonewasaworkingmason.BythetimeofConstantine

the Great membership inmany of the colleges,particularlythatofthebakers,was hereditary andmandatory. They were nolonger independentcorporationsbutcontrolledbythe state. Any benefits theymight have received werecanceled out by the services

they had to supply to thegovernment.There is very little

informationastowhethertheRoman colleges survived thetime of the invasions by theGothic and Germanic tribes.Most of the major cities ofthe empire were depopulatedfrom the sixth through theninthcenturiesandtherewereprobablynot enoughworkersin any community to form a

trade organization. By thetime they resurfaced, thesegroupsnowwere calledbyaGermanic name, guild,probably from the same rootasgelt,meaningmoney.5

In theMiddleAges,guildswerestartedbyworkersinthesameoccupationoriginallyasburial societies. Weavers,coopers, leather-workers,even prostitutes wanted toassure that they not only

received a Christian burial,but that prayers and Masseswouldbeofferedforthegoodoftheirsouls.Theygrewintosocieties that also regulatedthe initiation into the craft.Stages of competence—apprentice, journey-man, andmaster—werecreated.Each guild had its own

patron saint and held abanquet on that saint’s feastday. The patron of the

masons was Saint John theEvangelist, whose feast isDecember27.6

Uponentryintoaguild,thenewapprenticesworeanoathto guard the secrets of thecraft. The masons may haveadded some form of secretcode so that members of theguildcouldbeknowntoeach

Mason’s geometry, VilearddeHonnecourt(c.1225-1250).(Foto Marburg/ArtResource,NY)other. This is because themasonsmoved fromplace toplace, working on the greatcathedrals and castles. Themaster of works for eachproject didn’t want to hiresomeone not trained in the

craft. A secret passwordcould prevent that.7 Whilethere is no record of thishappening before the latesixteenth century, it seemsprobable that the passwordwascreatedlongbefore.

THEBEGINNINGOFMODERN

FREEMASONRY:

HIGHLY“SPECULATIVE”

Modern Freemasonry seemstohaveborrowedagreatdealfrom the rituals of theScottish guilds of masons.They, like othermasons, hadformed groups in the townsbut they also formed a tightunit in the temporary homesor“lodges”thatwerebuiltforthem to inhabit while they

worked on a project. Theselodgesmay have encourageda closer bond than in otherguilds inwhich themembersspent only part of their timewith fellow workers and therest with family and friendsfromotheroccupations.8

During the Middle Agesthe noble families of Europeconstructed mythicalgenealogies for themselves.They traced their beginnings

to Troy, or King Arthur, apatronsaint,orevenademon.The guild of masons inScotland seems to have donethe same. They called thisstory the “Old Charges,” ahistoryofthecraftbuiltfromtales in theBible,apocryphalbooks,andfolklegend.According to a Scottish

version of the Old Charges,masonry,whichgoeshand inhand with geometry, was

founded by the sons ofLamech, who wrote theircraft secrets on stone pillars.After the flood of Noah oneof his great-grandsons,Hermarius, found the secretsofmasonry/geometryand theother sciences on the pillars.Hetaughtittothebuildersofthe tower of Babel. ThenAbraham, living in Egypt,taught the geometry to astudent named Euclid, who

presumably took theknowledge to Greece.Eventually, themasons cametoJerusalem,wheretheybuiltSolomon’sTemple.Afterthatwas finished, the masonsscatteredtothenationsoftheworld. One came to France,where he was hired byCharles Martel, thegrandfather of Charlemagne.Another, Saint Alban,brought the craft to Britain.

Eventually the masons weresponsoredbyaPrinceEdwin,theotherwiseunknownsonofthe Anglo-Saxon king,Athelstan. Edwin was soenamoredof thecraft thathewas made a Mason. It wasalso Edwin who caused theOld Charges to be writtendown.9

A Masonic legend aboutthe builders of Solomon’sTemple is that of Hiram of

Tyre, master builder.According to the apocryphalbook The Wisdom ofSolomon, Hiram supervisedthe construction of theTemple and personally madetwo brass pillars, calledJachim and Boaz.10Hiramwas supposedlymurdered byother masons who wantedhim to reveal the secrets ofthe MasonWord. As late as1851, a manual for

Freemasons states that bothSolomon and Hiram, now a“King of Tyre,” were theoriginatorsofthesociety.11

Theselegendswereallpartof what is called “operative”masonry, that is, guilds ofthose who actually had theskill to work in stone.Manyof these legends became partof the traditionsandsymbolsof “speculative” masonry, orlodges made up of people

fromotherwalksoflife.12

Buthowdidithappenthata traditional trade guildbecame the base for anorganizationthathasincludedmany artists, composers,noblemen, heads ofcorporations, and heads ofstate?

SCOTLAND,

WILLIAMSCHAW,ANDTHELORDS

OFROSLIN

Late-sixteenth-centuryScotlandwas ruled by JamesVI, the son of Mary, Queenof Scots, who would soonbecome James I of England.One of the posts in hisgovernment was that ofmaster of works, held by a

well-born man who oversawthe finances andadministration of all buildingprojects. In 1583 the postwent to one WilliamSchaw.13

SchawwasaCatholic inanewly Protestant country butheseemstohavebeenabletokeep his beliefs fromthreateninganyoneatcourt.ItwasSchawwho,in1598,firstwrote down a set of statutes

tobefollowedby“allmastermasons of the realm.”14These statutes, mostlyregarding admission ofapprentices and the chain ofauthority within the lodges,wereagreed toby themastermasons. Some of theindividualmasonmarkswererecordedandthefirstmentionismade of theMasonWord,the system by which onemason might recognize

another.The following year Schaw

expanded the statutes toinclude the duties of themaster masons in trainingapprentices not only in thecraft but in the “art ofmemory and the sciencethereof.”15 This indicates notonly a rote lesson to belearned but a system ofrememberingtomaster.

The reason for Schaw’sinsistence on these uniformstatutesisnotclear.Heseemsto have felt strongly that theindependent lodges neededorganization.Healsofeltthatthey needed a patron, muchas the Roman guilds hadhad.16 For this position, heselectedWilliamSinclair, thelord ofRoslin.Again, this ispuzzling. William wasdescended from the earlwho

had built Rosslyn Chapeland there might have been aresidualfondnessforthemanwho had given the masonssuch an elaboratecommission.ButthisWilliamwasadissoluteCatholicwhocouldn’t tell the localProtestant authorities if hislatest bastard had beenbaptized but had had at leastonechristenedaCatholic.Healso staunchly resisted

attempts by the localauthorities to destroy theartwork in the chapel.Whilehe had employed masons tobuild his home, he doesn’tseemagoodadvocateforthelodges at court. However, in1601,acharterwasdrawnupmaking William Sinclairpatronofthemasons.A copy of this charter is

preserved atRosslynChapel,whichiswhereIreadit. It is

clear that themasons are notfollowing an establishedtradition of patronage fromRosslyn but asking for atotally new arrangement.Thereisnoimplicationinthedocument that it is anythingother than a normal requestfor a nobleman to advocateforagroup thatdoesn’thavemuchpoliticalpower.It doesn’t appear that this

WilliamSinclairwasofmuch

use to themasons.However,his son, alsonamedWilliam,took the charge moreseriously. He issued anothercharter, giving himself legaljurisdiction over the masons.By 1697, the lords of RoslinwereallowedtobetaughttheMasonWord.17

There is still a leap thatmustbemadefromlodgesofoperativemasonstoritualizedmeetings of Enlightenment

intellectuals.The creation of

Freemasonry from guilds ofmasons seems to have comeabout through a number ofsocialandpoliticalforcesthathappened to converge. InScotland throughout theseventeenth century upper-classmenhadbeenaskingtojoin the mason lodges andbeen accepted. Perhaps theywereallowedinbecausethey

couldaffordagoodinitiationbanquet or because some ofthe masons were pleased tobeable to rubshoulderswiththenobility.Itseemstohavebeenafad

for a time, butmost of thesemen soon dropped out.Historian David Stevensonsuggeststhattheymighthavejoinedthinkingthattheyweregoing to learn some esoteric,magical lore and were

disappointed.18

There have always beenthose who were obsessedwith the uncovering ofancient secrets. It is a threadthatrunsthroughallsocieties.But the period from about1580 to 1750 seems to havehad a larger number ofseekers than usual. It was atime of intellectual inquirybothinthematterofreligioustruth and about the natural

world. The Reformation andCounter-Reformationhad leftmany people in doubt aboutthe truth of any one religion.The increased belief in themalevolence of witchcrafthad a flip side in those whowishedtoseekenlightenmentfrom divine sources, notnecessarily Christian. If onecould obtain power fromSatan then there must beother ways to reveal the

mysteries of the universewithoutgoingsofarastosellone’ssoul.Thiswasalsothetimethat

the Rosicrucian books werecirculating and people likeIsaac Newton and RobertBoyle were experimentingwith both chemistry andalchemy and making littledistinction between the two.Even the Royal Society inEngland began with a group

of friends meeting forclandestine discussions onalchemicalsubjects.19

It was in this atmospherethat the first English lodgesarose at the beginning of theeighteenth century. Whileusing many of the symbolsand the basic myth of theorigin of the masons guild,theEnglishsoonaddedritualsbased on their research intoalchemy, Neoplatonism, and

Hermetic teaching. By 1720Freemasonry had spread toFrance and then to Germanyand the rest of Europe.“Rather than saying thatFreemasonrywasbornoutoftheGuildofMasons,itmightbe more helpful to say thatlearned men who wished towork together and exchangeideas adopted the symbolismand structures used byworkingmasons.”20

ENTERTHETEMPLARS

The readermayhavenoticedthat I haven’t yet made aconnection between theMasons and the Templars.I’m tempted to say that it’sbecause there isn’t any butthat wouldn’t be fair.Actually, the use of theTemplars as an example forthe Masons can only be

traced back to 1750, whenBaron Karl von Hundinvented the “Templar StrictObservance.” In order tolegitimize his creation, heclaimed that it was “by wayofuninterruptedtransmission,the successor of the KnightTemplars [sic], whoseexistencehadbeencarriedonsecretlyuptothatdate.”21

Von Hund derived hisideas from the Scottish

connection, although it’s notknown where he got hisinformation. “It is claimedthat before his execution, thelast Grand Master of theTemplars, Jacques deMolay, assigned Hugo vonSalm,acanon,themissionofsmugglingimportantTemplardocuments into Scotland.”22Now, Hugo von Salm seemsto have been a knight whocame to the defense of the

Templars in Poland.23 Thereis no indication that he wasever in France and certainlynot at the time of thedissolution because he wasdefendingTemplarsinPolandthen. There is even lessevidencethatheeverwenttoScotland.Now the Templars were

regainingpopularityinnewlyProtestant eighteenth-centuryEurope.Insteadofbeingseen

as greedy bastards who mayormaynothavebeenhereticsbut good riddance all thesame, they were seen as thepersecuted keepers of lostesoteric information. Afterall, if the pope hated them,theymust be okay. The ideacaughton.My feeling is that the

image of the Knights of theTemple fit in well with themystical secret societies that

developed during the (self-named) Enlightenment. Thebest part of it was that somanyof theTemplar recordshad been lost or destroyedthattherewasn’tanyproblemwithhard factsgetting in thewayofthemyth.Itwasratherlike the secret societies thatbased their philosophy ontheir interpretation ofhieroglyphics. When theRosetta stonewasdiscovered

in Egypt and thehieroglyphics finallydeciphered, it was a terriblesetbackforthem.Today no reputable

historian of the Freemasonsbelieves that the group wasfounded by Templars or bySolomon’s master mason.Furthermore, most Masoniclodges encourage seriousinquiry intoMasonic history.“The resultsmay upset some

masons, but it would beunthinkableforaMasontobesuspended or dropped frommembership for investigatingMasonic degrees andbelieving that they hadrelativelymodernorigins.”24

Theproblemisthattherealarge number of non-Masonswho don’t know this. Andthey are busy writingpseudohistory.

MASONICSYMBOLS

Themostuniversalsymbolofthe Freemasons is thecompass and square, usedbyoperative masonseverywhere. Another, foundineverylodgeofSpeculativeMasons, is the pillars of theTemple. The names given tothesetwopillarsareBoazandJachim, thought tohavebeen

theoriginalMason’sWord.25In the American York Ritethesepillarsarethoughttobehollow to hide archives andotherdocuments.Anothersymbolthatseems

to be common to allSpeculative Masonic lodgesis three pillars, signifyingwisdom,strength,andbeauty.The mason’s apron andglovesarealsouniversal.

Manyplantshavesymbolicmeaning inMasonic lore, theacacia, rose, lily, and olivetree among them.26 The starand the pentangle are bothused frequently. Indeed, itwould be hard to findanythingthatcouldn’tbereadasasymbolbyMasons.“Thefirst degree initiation ritual,that of Entered Apprentice,states: ‘Here, all is symbol.’”27

On the other hand, theTemplars had few symbols.Theonlyone I amcertainofis the imageof two ridersonone horse. Some of theTemplars’ seals showed thedome of theHoly Sepulcher.Even the order’s banner wassimply one white and oneblack square. They reallyweren’t symbol-minded.They just got on with theirwork.

MODERNMASONRY

Today Masons can be ofalmostanyreligion,includingCatholic,despitetheCatholicChurch’s eighteenth-centurybanonjoining,ornoreligionat all. There are lodges thatincludebothmenandwomenand some that are single sex.TheFrench,bytheway,werethefirst toadmitwomeninto

an auxiliary organization,called adoptive masonry,around1740.28

Listing famous Masonswould be a book in itself. ItwouldincludemostAmericanpresidents; kings ofEngland,Sweden, and other countries;and Winston Churchill,Tomás Garrigue Masaryk,Voltaire, Goethe, Kipling,Mark Twain, Davy Crockett,DukeEllington,andHoudini,

to name a few.29 Mozart’soperaTheMagicFlute is fullofMasonicreferences.Like the Templars, the

Freemasons have beenaccused of subversiveactivities, including trying tocontrolelectionsandexertingpressure to ruin personalenemies. In some times andplaces this may have beentrue. In Oregon in 1922, theScottish Rite Masons joined

inwith theKuKluxKlan tosponsor a bill to abolishprivateschoolsandinsistthatall children attend publicschools.30 The target of thebill was the Catholic schoolsystem, where manyimmigrant children fromCatholiccountrieswerebeingeducated. The governor,Walter Pierce, had agreed tosupport the bill in return forthesupportoftheMasonsand

the Klan, who had manymembersincommon.31

The law passed, but waschallenged and went to theSupremeCourt,where itwasruledunconstitutional.In this case Masons who

were also Klansmen spokefor the entire group and didindeed influence an election.Today, most Masons wouldbehorrifiedattheassociation

with the KKK. They wouldpoint out that this was nottypical Masonic behavior.They might even deny thatsuchathingeverhappened.It’s difficult to confirm or

denysuchallegationsbecauseof the nature of theorganization. Groups withprivate initiation rites and acultivated aura of secrecyseem to bring out the worstsuspicions in outsiders. The

Freemasons are entitled tohave secret ritual and rites,but instead of maintainingthat they come from ancientTemplar knowledge, theymight pay more attention towhat the Templars’ secrecyabout their initiationceremoniesledto.1ArthurEdwardWaite,ANewEncyclopediaofFreemasonry

(New York: Wings Books,1996)p.53.2Steven A. Epstein, WageLabor and Guilds inMedieval Europe (ChapelHill: University of NorthCarolinaPress,1991)p.11.3Ibid.,p.17.4

Ibid.,p.18.5Ibid.,p.35.6David Stevenson, TheOrigins of Freemasonry:Scotland’s Century 1590-1710. (Cambridge UniversityPress,1988)p.43.7Ibid.,p.9.

8Loc.cit.9Ibid.,pp.19-21.10Waite,p.367.11K. J. Stewart, Freemason’sManual (Philadelphia: E. H.Butler,A.L.5851A.D.1851)p.15.

12Waite,p.141.13Stevenson, p. 26. Unlessotherwise stated, thefollowing is a summery ofStevenson’swork.14Ibid.,p.34.15Ibid.,p.45.

16Although it’s doubtful thatSchaw was aware of theRomancustom.17Ibid.,p.60.18Ibid.,pp.77-85.19Newton.20

DanielBéresniak,SymbolsofFreemasonry, tr. Ian Monk(Barnes & Noble, 2003) p.16.21AntoineFaivre,“TheNotionsof Concealment and Secrecyin Modern Esoteric Currentssince the Renaissance (AMethodological Approach),”in Rending the Veil:Concealment and Secrecy in

the History of Religion, ed.Elliot R. Wolfson (NewYork: Seven Bridges Press,1999)p.162.22Glenn Alexander Magee,Hegel and the HermeticTradition (Ithaca: CornellUniversityPress,2001)p.54.23www.templariusze.org/artykuly.php?id=27 “Moguncji zrobił to

osobiście preceptor zGrumbach, Hugo von Salmwraz z dwudziestomauzbrojonymi rycerzami.”Okay,myPolishisrough.Hemight have been thepreceptorofGrumbach,but Ithink it says that Moguncjiwas preceptor. For more seechapter 35, The TrialsoutsideofFrance.24

Paul Rich and DavidMerchant, “Religion, Policyand Secrecy: The Latter-DaySaintsandMasons,”inPolicyStudies Journal Vol. 31,No.4(2003).25Stevenson,p.143.26Robert Macoy, A Dictionaryof Freemasonry (New York:Gramercy Books,) pp. 403,

579, 604-5;Waite, for Rose,pp. 369-71; Béresniak, pp.75,78-80.27Béresniak,p.8.28Waite,p.97.29Béresniak,p.114.30Paula Abrahams, “The Little

Red Schoolhouse: Pierce,StateMonopolyofEducationand the Politics ofIntolerance,” inConstitutional CommentaryVol.20,No.1(2003)p.617.31Abrahams, p. 624. She adds,“Many Masons actuallyendedupopposingthebill.”

EpilogueOne of the many things IlearnedabouttheTemplarsasIresearchedthisbookisthat,far from being separate fromtheworld they lived in, theyweremorethanpartofit.TheTemplars and Hospitallerswere the bridge betweenwestern Europe and the Cityof God. Unlike many other

monks, they spent their earlylives in the midst of theconstant warfare that existedamong the lords of Europe.Whatever their reasons forjoining the military ordersthey became examples to therest of their class. Theybelieved in the use of mightfor right’s sake.Even thoughtheystillfoughtandkilled, itwasnotforpersonalgainbutto protect the weak and

preserve the earthly kingdomofGod.Thiswas the ideal. If they

didn’t always measure up toit, they still came close.Thosewhofoughtfinallyhada way to use their skills inbattle and still achievesalvation.Over the two hundred

years of the Templars’existence, Europe changeddramatically. In the early

twelfth century, society wasgoverned by families andfamily connections. Theadvisers and supporters of arulerwerehiscousinsandin-laws and brothers. Hisenemies were sometimes thesame, but it was still all amatter of relations. Amarriage, a birth, or a deathcouldchangethebordersofacountry.By the beginning ofthe fourteenth century,

governments, especially innorthern Europe, werebecoming more centralizedand bureaucratized. Theking’s counselors were morelikely to be non-noblemenwho owed their positions totheir usefulness rather thanfamilyties.The Templars and their

fellowknightsofthemilitaryorderswerepartofa frontiersociety. There were like the

cavalry, coming to save theday, or the small band ofrangers who protectedAmerican pioneer settlersfrom Indians and evil landbarons. Eventually, theWestwas settled, the Indiansweredefeated; the land baronsbecame state governors. Thesame sort of thing happenedin Europe, only the frontierwaslostanditsdefendersleftwithoutapurpose.

Even though in 1307 nooneknewthat theHolyLandwas lost to the crusadersforever, there was still afeeling that the day of theTemplars was ending. Thesmall band of brave knightswould be replaced by paidarmies. Chivalry wouldbecome a social game ratherthanawayoflife.TheKnightsTemplarwere

not mystics or magicians.

They were not a secretsociety, nor did they havearcane wisdom dug up fromhidden treasures. Those whosay that they were aredenyingtherealstoryofthesemen. They weren’tsuperhumans but pious,hardworking, flawed humanbeingswho,intheirownway,weretryingtomaketheworldbetter and save their ownsouls.

The thirteenth-centuryArab chronicler Ibn Wasilmay have written the tributethat the Knights Templarwouldhavelikedmost.Inthefighting against the Frencharmy of Louis IX, theMamluksofal-Malikal-Salihwere the bravest, fiercestwarriors. “They foughtfuriously,” hewrites. “Itwasthey who flung themselvesintothepursuitoftheenemy:

they were Islam’sTemplars!”1

1Ibo Wasil, in The ArabHistorians of the Crusades,ed.andtr.FrancescoGabrieli(Dorset:NewYork, 1957) p.294.”

HowtoTellifYouAreReadingPseudohistory

In the past few years manybooks have been publishedabout the Templars. Theorder has been the basis forentertainingworks of fiction,fromIvanhoethroughvariousworks about the crusades tothethrillersofthepresentthat

arebasedonTemplarlegendsandmyths.Likethemedievalromances,thesearenotmeanttobetakenasrealhistory.Buttherearealsoanumber

ofbooksthataremeanttobenonfiction.Someof themareserious studies by trainedscholars who have spentyears studying the originaldocuments. Others containtheories that may seemfascinating and also well

researched, but are actuallybased on little primaryresearchandalotof illogicalconclusions. I call thesebooks“pseudohistories.”InthisbookIhavetriedto

give the history of theTemplars as it is known byhistorians who have learneddead languagesandwornouttheir eyes readinghandwritten manuscripts inorder to find out what really

happened.Ihavealsotriedtoaddress some of the mostpopular of the myths writtenabouttheorder.Thishasbeendifficult. Every time I thinkI’ve heard them all, newTemplar stories pop up likedandelionsonalawn.Many of the

pseudohistories are verywellwritten and soundauthoritative.Sohowcan thereader tell if thebookcanbe

trusted?Heregoes.

1. Is thebookpublishedbyauniversity press? If yes, thenit’s been checked by otherhistorians and, while theremaystillbeerrors, it’s likelytobeasaccurateaspossible.Ifno,then...

2. Do most of the footnoteslist primary sources that any

scholarcan find? Ifyes, thenyoumaybeokay,and,ifyoudoubt something, you cangolookitup.Onemarkofpseudohistory

is that most of the footnoteslist other pseudohistories or“secret” books (see number4)andit’simpossibletotracedowntheoriginalinformationtocheckit.Ifno,then...

3.Doestheauthorusephaseslike “everybody knows” and“historians agree”? If yes,then don’t bother readingfurther. There is nothing that“everybody” knows. That’sjustaquickwayofsaying,“Ihaven’tdonemyresearchandwant to make you feel tooignoranttocallmeonit.”Historians do agree on

things like, “There was aBattle of Hastings and

William of Normandy won,”or “Machu Picchu is anamazingfeatofengineering.”Beyond that, everyone has adifferent way of evaluatingthe available data.One otherthing historians agree on isthat a person who presentswork that’s not based oninformation that others cancheck isn’tgoing to last longin the rough-and-tumbleacademicworld.

4.Does the author insist thatthe theory can’t be provedwith available data becausetherewasan immensecover-up or that the knowledge isguarded by a select secretsociety? If yes, thenhowdidthe author find theinformation? How was itauthenticated?An alternate to this is that

the author has a “secret”

source, a lost book or adocument that reveals all.This was used often in theMiddle Ages. The mostfamous is from Geoffrey ofMonmouth, who wrote someof the earliest King Arthurstories. He found theinformationinabook“intheBritish tongue”—that is,Breton or Welsh. Since noone else had the book andGeoffreywouldn’tshowit to

anyone, only he couldtransmit the truth. I mustadmit,hedidwellwithit.Finally...

5. Does the author pile onesupposition upon another,assuming they are all true?For instance, a book maybeginwithaknownfact,suchas “The Templars had theirheadquarters at the al-Aqsamosque,” and then continue

with something like, “As iswell-known, thearea in frontofthemosqueislargeenoughtolandahelicopterin.”3Thenthe authormight continue bywonderingwhythespacewasthere before helicopters hadbeeninvented.Perhapshehasfound, by chance, amanuscript illustration thatresembles a helicopter aboutto land. Even though themanuscriptwasmadein,say,

Ireland, the author of apseudohistory will imagine apreviously unknown IrishmonkcomingtoJerusalemintime to see the Templars’secret helicopter landings.“Everybody knows” the Irishweregreatpilgrims.From this, the author will

claimtohaveestablishedthatthere were helicopters flownby Templars and that it isproved by the picture made

by the phantom pilgrimmonk. Of course, the onlyway this could be is if theTemplars were really time-traveling soldiers of fortunedetermined to grab all theartifactstheycould,includingmystical talkingheads(reallya twenty-fourth-centurycommunication device) thatwouldgivethemthesecretofthe universe. This makesperfect sense because

“everyoneknows”thatthisisthesiteofSolomon’sTempleand Solomon, as you musthave heard, was a greatmagician who hid advancedtechnologyinthebasementofthe Temple to keep ignorantandsuperstitiouspeoplefromgaining knowledge that theirprimitive minds couldn’thandle.Theauthorissurethatnow

isthetimewhenallshouldbe

revealed.Youhearditherefirst.

TemplarTimeLine

RecommendedReading

ONTHETEMPLARS

Barber, Malcolm. The NewKnighthood:AHistoryof theOrder of the Temple.

Cambridge, Eng.: CambridgeUniversity Press, 1994. Themost accurate andcomprehensive of thehistories.Bramato, Fulvio. Storia dell’OrdinedeiTemplariinItalia(2 volumes). Rome: Atanò,1994.Nicholson, Helen. TheKnights Templar: A NewHistory.Sutton,2001.Fullof

fascinating information andbeautifullyillustrated.Partner, Peter. The KnightsTemplar and Their Myth.Rochester VT: DestinyBooks,1990.

ONTHETRIALS

Barber, Malcolm. The Trialof the Templars. Cambridge,

Eng.: Cambridge UniversityPress,2006.Riley-Smith,Jonathan.“Werethe Templars Guilty?” TheMedieval Crusade. Susan J.Ridyard, ed. Woodbridge:Boydell.2004.Seeespeciallypp.107-24.

ONTHECRUSADES

Edbury, Peter, and JonathanPhilips, eds. The ExperienceofCrusading:2:DefiningtheCrusader Kingdom.Cambridge, Eng.: CambridgeUniversityPress,2003.Mayer, Hans Eberhard. TheCrusades. Oxford UniversityPress,1972.Riley-Smith, Jonathan. TheCrusades. New Haven: YaleUniversityPress,2005.

ORIGINALSOURCES

Recently there has been aseriousattempttohavemanyof the most importantchronicles of the crusadestranslated into modernlanguages.Ihavebeenhappyto use these very goodtranslations and am gratefulto have them. But in some

cases,Icanonlysuggest thatthe reader consult theoriginals.Archives de l ’Orient Latin,(2volumes).Paris,1884.The Chronicle of the ThirdCrusade: The ItinerariumPeregrinorum etGestaRegisRicardi. HelenNicholson, tr.Aldershot:Ashgate,1997.The Conquest of Jerusalem

and theThirdCrusade. PeterEdbury, tr. Aldershot:Ashgate,1996.Crusader Syria in theThirteenth Century: TheRothelin Continuation of theHistory of William of Tyre,with part of the Eracles orAcre Text. Janet Shirley, tr.Aldershot:Ashgate,1999.TheHistoryoftheHolyWar:Ambroise’s Estoire de la

Guerre Sainte (2 volumes).Marianne Ailes, tr., andMalcolm Barber, notes.Woodbridge: Boydell, 2003.Old French text and Englishtranslation.Joinville, Jean de. Vie deSaint Louis. There are anumber of translations forthis.Oliver of Paderborn. TheCaptureofDamietta. John J.

Gavigan, tr. University ofPennsylvaniaPress,1948.The Rare and ExcellentHistory of Saladin or al-Nawadir as-Sultaniyya we’l-Mahasin al-Yusufiyya, byBaha’al-DinibnShaddad.D.S. Richards, tr. Aldershot:Ashgate,2002.The Templar of Tyre. PaulCrawford, tr. Aldershot:Ashgate,2003.

The Templars: SelectedSources. ManchesterUniversity Press, 2002.Malcolm Barber and KeithBate, eds. and tr. A goodselectionofmaterialcoveringthe entire existence of theorder.Vitry, Jacques de. HistoireOrientale. Marie-GenvièveGrossel, tr. and notes. Paris:Honoré Champion, Paris2005.

TEMPLARCHARTERS

Marquis d’Albon, CartulaireGénéral de l’Ordre duTemple 1119?-1150. Paris,1913.Cartulaires des Templiers deDouzens. Pierre Gérard andÉlisabethMagnou,eds.Paris,1965.LeCartulairedeLaSelve:La

Terre, Les Hommes et lePouvoirenRouergueauIIXesiècle. Paul Ourliac andAnne-Marie Magnou, eds.Paris:CNRS,1985.

IndexAbelard,PeterAcre. See also Order of St.LazarusinAcre;OrderofSt.ThomasatAcreblameforcaptureofdefenseoffallofAdoptivemasonryAimeryofVilliers-le-Duc

AlchemyAlexanderAlfonsoAlmaricAndrewAndrewofMontbardAntiochrulingofTemplarsinal-AqsamosqueArchbishopofCanterburyArmandofPérigordArmeniaArnoldofBedocio

ArnoldofTorrojaArrests of Boniface ofTemplarsArthurianlegendsAscolonAssassins Damascus anddispersion of fanaticism offounding of Nizari asTemplars and William ofTyreandAssisesurlaliegeAtlitAycelin,Gilles

AymericAymerideNarbonneBaldwinBaldwindeathofasJerusalem’skingBaldwinBaldwinBankingBaphometBarber,RicharddeBaron,RobertdeBarres,Everard

BattleofCressonSpringsBattleofHattinBeguinesBenedictinesBenjaminofTudelaBerengariaBérenger,GuillaumeBernardofClairvauxcanonizationofascharismaticasmonkpersuasionof

asTemplarssupporterBernardofTremelayBerry,SteveBertrandofBlancfortBlanc,ImbartBlasphemiesBoazBogomilsBoniface arrest of deNogaret’s charges againstPhiliptheFairandBornholmIslandBosnia

Boyle,RobertBradley,MarianZimmerBritish Isles. See alsoEngland;ScotlandBrown,DanCalatravans donations toformation of hospitals ofmilitary activities of Castel,RostandCastlesCatharHeresyCathars beliefs of

consolamentum of credentesdecimation of growth oforganization of perfectiTemplarsandCelestineCelestineChansondesChétifsChansonsdegesteCharlemagneCharlesdeCharny,GeoffreydeCharute,PeterdeChatillon,Reynald

La Chevalerie ’Ogier deDanemarcheChivalryChurches. See also RosslynChapel Church of theAscension Church of theHoly SepulcherDome of theRock of Hospitallers St.Paul’s Cathedral TempleChurchChurchill,WinstonChurchoftheAscensionChurchoftheHolySepulcher

CisterciansdeClari,RobertClementClementbribesandCouncilofVienneanddeathofTemplarsinvestigatedbyweaknessofCollegiumCompanyoftheStarCompass

Confessions of de Molay ofTemplarsAConnecticutYankeeinKingArthur’sCourt(Twain)ConradConstantinetheGreatConstantinople looting ofrelicsfromCornelly,WidoCorrodiansCosmosCouncilofTroyesCouncilofVienne

ClementanddecreesofendofopeningofTemplarsandCounter-Reformation deCourtenay,RobertCroatiaCrockett,DavyCrownofThornsCrusaderstatesCrusades. See also FifthCrusade; First Crusade;

Fourth Crusade; SecondCrusade;ThirdCrusadenewpurposeoftraditionofCyprusDalmas,JohnDamascus Assassins andSaladininDanted’Auerac,Peter“The Daughter of the Count

ofPontieu,”daVinci,LeonardoTheDaVinciCode(Brown)Demurger,AlainDenialofChristDenmarkTemplarsinDivineComedy(Dante)DivineOfficeDomeoftheRockDominicansDonations to Calatravans ofFulkofAnjoutoTemplarsDubois,Pierre

Durbec,Joseph-AntoineEdwardEgypt Saladin as vizierTemplarsinEleanorofAquitaineEllington,DukeEnfancesGuillaumeEnglandEnlightenmentEskilEugeniusEuphemiaofChalcedon

EuropeExcommunicationExecutionsbyPhilip theFairbyRichardtheLionheartFenne,WilliamdeladeFenouillet,PierreFiction Holy Grail asTemplarsinFifthCrusadeFirstCrusadeFisherKingdeFloyran,Esquin

deFolliaco,JeanFortressofMontségurFourthCrusadeFranciscansFrancisofAssisiFrederickBarbarossaFrederickFrederickofAlvenslebenFrederickofSalmFreemasonry beginnings ofspreadofFreemasons . See alsoMasons beginnings of order

of rituals/rites of TemplarsandFrencharmyFridaythethirteenthdeFuentes,BernardoFulkofAnjoudeathofdonationsoffamilyofasJerusalem’skingMelisandeandTemplarsfirstencounteredbyGarmund

GenghisKhanGeoffreyofMonmouthGeoffreyofRanconGerardofRidefortGermanyGilbertErailGnosticsGodfreyofSt.OmerGoethe, Johann, WolfgangvonGrand Masters Andrew ofMontbard () Armand ofPérigord()ArnoldofTorroja

() de Barres, Everard ()Bernard of Tremelay ()Bertrand of Blancfort ()Gerard of Ridefort () GilbertErail () deMolay, Jacques ()OdoofSt.Amand()PeterofMontaigu () Philip ofNabulus()PhilipofPlessis()RenaudofVichiers ()Robertof Sablé (/) Robert theBurgundian (de Craon) ()Thibaud Gaudin (/) ThomasBérard()WilliamofBeaujeu

() William of Chartres ()WilliamofSonnac()GregoryGuildsGuillaumedeNangisHaagensen,ElringHadrianvon Hammer-PurgstallJosephHenryHenryHenry

HenryHeresy. See also CatharHeresy;CatharsHermeticteachingHildebertHiramofTyreHoly Grail as fiction legendofTemplarsandHolyLand.SeealsoCrusadesdefendinglossofHolyRomanEmpireHolySepulcherHorsebreeding

HospitallersascharitablegroupchurchesofasmilitaryorderpapalprivilegesofpapalprotectionofseapowerofasTemplars’brothersTemplars’propertytoasTemplars’rivalstodayHoudini,Harry

HubertWalterHugh,countofChampagneasfirstTemplarmarriagesofdePaynsassupporterofpligrimagesofHughofArgentenHughofBouboutonHughofSalmHumbartofBeaujeuHund,KarlvonHundredYears’War

HungaryThe Idylls of the King(Tennyson)IncomeInnocentInnocentInterdictInterrogationIslamIsma’iliItalyIvanhoe(Scott)

JamesJamesJerusalem Baldwin as kingfallofFulkofAnjouaskingloss of Melisande as queenSaladin’scaptureofTemplarsin Temple of Solomon inthroneofJewsPhiliptheFairandJoachimJohnJohnofSalisbury

JohntheBaptistJohntheEvangelistJohndeJoinville,JeanJordan,AlphonsedeJotro,EliasKhoury,RaymondKipling,RudyardKissingKnights. See alsoCalatravans; Hospitallers;Templars

Knights of Malta Order ofAlcántara Order of AvisOrder of Dobrin Order ofMontesa Order of SantiagoOrderofSt.JuliándelPereiroOrderofSt.LazarusOrderofSt. Lazarus inAcreOrder ofSt. Thomas atAcreTeutonicKnightsKnights of Malta. See alsoHospitallersKnights Templar. SeeTemplars

TheKnightsof theBlackandWhite(White)KuKluxKlanTheLastTemplar(Khoury)LatinRule.SeealsoRuleTheLay of theLastMinstral(Scott)LazarusdeLenda,JimenoLincoln,HenryLionhuntingLoincloth

Lord,EvelynLordsofRoslinLord’sPrayerLouis as Crusader death ofransomofTemplarsandLouisLouisLouisLouisdeLucca,PtolomyTheMabinogianMagic

TheMagicFluteMagnussen,KnutMallory,ThomasMamluksMap,WalterdeMarigny,EnguerrandMartel,AlanMartel,CharlesMasaryk,TomásGarrigueMasons. See also Adoptivemasonry; Freemasonry;Freemasons; Scottish RiteMasons;SpeculativeMasons

famousgeometryoflodgesmodernSchawandinScotlandstatutesforsymbolsofTemplarsandMasonWordMass“Masterofworks,”

MatinsMelisande death of Fulk ofAnjou and as Jerusalemqueen psalter of William ofTyreonMinisterialesThe Mirror of Simple Souls(Porete)The Mists of Avalon(Bradley)deMolay,Jacquesconfessionofdeathof

asGrandMasterimprisonmentofMonastichousesMoney. See also Donations;Income;TreasureTemplarsandMongolsMonks.See also HospitallersBenedictines Bernard ofClairvaux as CisterciansDominicans FranciscansTemplarsaswarriordeMonteCroce,Ricoldo

MoorsMore,WilliamdelaMoslemsMozart,WolfgangAmadeusMuhammadMulahidNabluscouncildeNangis,GuillaumeNeoplatonismNewTestamentNewton,IsaacNicholas

NizariasAssassinsformationofdeNogaret,GuillaumeBonifaceaccusedbydeathofas“doctoroflaw,”TemplarscondemnedbyNumbersymbolismNurad-Din“Obscenekiss,”OccitaniaOdoofDeuil

OdoofMontfauconOdoofSt.AmandOldChargesOldTestamentOntheNewKnighthoodOrderofAlcántaraOrderofAvisOrderofDobrinOrderofKnightsofSt.John.SeeHospitallersOrderofMontesaOrderofSantiago

OrderofSt.JuliándelPereiroOrder of St. Lazarus end oflepers in military aspect ofprivilegesofOrderofSt.LazarusinAcreOrder of St. Thomas atAcrefounding of asmilitary orderpurposeofOrder of the Temple. SeeTemplarsOttoofBrunswickPapacy. See also specific

popes Hospitallers protectedby privileges from TemplarsapprovedbytyrannyofPapal bulls Ad providamCelricos Laicos MilitesTempli Militia Dei OmniDatumOptimumPapal bulls (cont.) privilegesinVoxinexcelsoPapalstatesdeParis,GuillaumeParis,MatthewParzival(vonEschenbach)

PawnbrokersdePayns,Hughdeathoffamilyofas Hugh, count ofChampagne,supporterinJerusalemrecruitmentbyasTemplars’founderPeterofBolognaPeterofBruysPeterofMontaiguPhilip Augustus. See Also

PhilipPhilipPhilipPhilip . See also Philip theFairPhilipofNablusPhilipofPlessisPhilippeofAlsacePhiliptheFairBonifaceanddeathoffamilyofJewsand

askinglastyearsoflegacyofTemplarexecutionsandTemplarsandPicknett,LynnPierce,WalterPilgrimagesPilgrimsPiracyPonsardofGizyPonsofGuisans

PonstheGasconPorete,MargueritePortugalPrayerPrince,ClivePseudohistory evaluatingtraitsofal-Qalanisi,IbnRabelaisRalphofDicetoRaouldeCambrai

RaymondBernardRaymondoRaymondofToulouseRaymondReconquistaRedCisternReformationRenaudofVichiersRenautdeMontaubanRichardtheLionheartcoronation of death ofdiplomaticskillofexecutionsby as homosexual legend of

ransomofatThirdCrusadeRigaud,HughRobertofArbrisselRobertofArtoisRobertofSabléRoberttheBruceRobert the Burgundian (deCraon)deRocaberti,GuillermodesRoches,PeterRosettastoneRosicruciansRosslyn Chapel. See also

LordsofRoslinapprenticepillarinasincompletelegendofmasterpillarinpillarofplansofRule daily life in infractionsof language of secret rite ofinitiationinwagersinSabbah,Hasan-iSaisset,Bernard

SaladininDamascusdeathofdescendantsofasEgypt’svizierJerusalemcapturedbylegendofSaladinSaladintitheSanchoSaracensdefined

Nurad-DinTemplarsandZengiSchaw, William Lords ofRoslinandMasonsandScotland mason lodges inTemplarsinScottishRiteMasonsScott,WalterSecondCrusadefailureofprecipitationofTemplarsand

winnerofSecretriteofinitiationdenialofChristanddissuasionduringmythsaboutoathof“obscenekiss”andprayersduringprivacyofintheRuleSecretSocietiesoftheMiddleAgesSex

Shabbatba-GadolShi’itesShroud of Turin TemplarsandasveilofVeronicaSinclair,HenrySinclair,WilliamSodomySonedeNancySorcerySpainSpeculativeMasonsSpies

SquaredeStacy,SylvesterStephenofSaissyStephenofSalernoStevenson,DavidSteventheCellererSt.Paul’sCathedralSunniSwedenSwordbrethrenSydoineSymbols ofMasons numbersasofTemplars

SyriansTheTalisman(Scott)TempeleisenTemplarfortressofMonzónTemplarsinAntiocharrestsofAssassinsandinbattlebeginningsofBernard of Clairvauxsupporting

blasphemiesbyinBritishIslesburningofcastlesofCatharsandchargesagainstClement’sinvestigationofclothingofconfessionsofCouncilofVienneandinCroatiainCyprus

inDenmarkdissolutionofdonationstoearlyexpansionofinEgyptinEnglandequipmentofexecutions/Philip the Fairandexpensesoffateofinfictionasfightingunit

FreemasonsandFrencharmyandfrontiersocietyofFulk of Anjou firstencounteringgamblingandinGermanyhistoriansandHolyGrailandhorsesofasHospitallers’brothersasHospitallers’rivals

inHungaryidealizedilliteracyofincomeofinnocenceofinItalyinJerusalemasking’sbankerslandoflegendsofLouisandMasonsand

moneyandasmonksmythsofde Nogaret’s condemnationofinOccitaniapapacyapprovingTemplars(cont.)papalprivilegesofinpapalstatesaspawnbrokersdePaynsasfounderofdePaynsrecruitingfor

PhiliptheFairandaspilgrimsinPortugalpreachingbyprivilegesabusedbyprobationaryperiodforprofileofpropertytoHospitallersrespectforforretiringnobilitySaracensandinScotland

sealsofSecondCrusadeandShroudofTurinandinSpainstandardofsymbolsofinTempleofSolomontheoriesabouttimelinefortortureoftreasureoftrialsof

trialsof,outsideFrancewarfareandWilliamofTyreonThe Templars Secret Island(Haagensen/Lincoln)“TemplarStrictObservance,”TheTemplarLegacy(Berry)TempleChurchTempleinJerusalemTemple in London. See alsoTempleChurcheffigiesinrestorationof

Temple in Paris invasion ofroyaldocumentsinTemple of Solomon innerchambers of in JerusalemTemplarsinTennyson,AlfredDeTeus,GarlcerandTeutonicKnightsfoundingofas House of Hapsburgextension military activitiesoftrialsofvowsofdeThérines,JacquesThibaudGaudin

ThirdCrusadechroniclesofMoslemvictorsofRichardtheLionheartatThirdLateranCouncilThomasBérardThomasofLudhamTortureTreasureTrialsofTemplarsofTemplars,outsideFrance

ofTeutonicKnightstimelineof,forTemplarsTripolideTroyes,ChrétienTrueCrossTurcopolesTwain,MarkTwelversUrbanUrsuladeValois,Charles

VeilofVeronicaVictordeVitry,JacquesVoltairevonEschenbach,WolframvonHund,KarlvonSalm,HugoWagner,RichardWaldensiansWasil,IbnWhite,JackWilliamofArreblay

WilliamofBeaujeuWilliamofChartresWilliamofPuylaurensWilliamofSonnacWilliamofTyreAssassinsandonBernardofTremelayonMelisandeonnumbersymbolismonTemplars’beginningsWilson,Ian

YallaZengi

1AlsospelledWarmundand

othervariations. I’mnot surewhathismothercalledhim.2You may remember

Constance. She dumped herfirst husband, Hugh ofChampagne, while he wason pilgrimage. He became aTemplar in 1125. So theyboth wound up in the Holy

Land.3Another interesting trait of

pseudohistorians is that theauthorwon’thavebotheredtofind out that the Templarsfilled in the courtyard withbuildings, including a largechurch, and that it was onlywhenSaladintookthecityofJerusalem and cleared themout that there was room to

landahelicopter.