Philip of Milly

After the death of Templar Grand Master Bertrand de Blanchefort, King Amalric I of Jerusalem saw a chance to help himself out. Bertrand had refused to help an assault on Egypt in 1168, concerned about how a previous attempt had failed and not wanting to lose Templar lives needlessly. Amalric saw a chance to influence the next Grand Master and put in place someone who would be more of an ally. He turned to Philip of Milly.

Philip of Milly (c.1120 - 3 April 1171; that's his coat of arms in the illustration) was a baron in the Kingdom of Jerusalem who had inherited his father's estates in Nablus in the West Bank, Palestine. He was around when the Second Crusade arrived, and was at the meeting in Acre when the Crusade (against the advice and votes of local rulers) chose to attack Damascus in 1148, leading to a disastrous defeat for the crusaders.

In 1161, Philip traded his lordship of Nablus for Transjordan, a region east of the Jordan River. This deal was made under King Baldwin III. It was Baldwin's successor, Amalric, who almost certainly influenced the Templars to accept Philip as their new Grand Master. Philip was a good choice for Amalric because they were allies in an earlier venture against Baldwin. Philip was good for the Templars because he had land and revenues from said land that could be donated to the Templars.

Philip joined in 1166 (not yet as Grand Master), bringing with him a large part of Transjordan and granting to the Templars the castle of Ahamant (now Amman, Jordan). Philip himself joined Amalric's new attempt to invade Egypt in 1168, although the rest of the members of the order would not go because of Bertrand's decision. When Bertrand died in 1169, Amalric pressured the Templars to accept Philip as their new leader. Although Bertrand had established policy that a Grand Master needed agreement from the order to go to war, Philip brought the Templars to the next invasion attempt, which failed.

Philip resigned as Grand Master a short time later, in 1171. He went with Amalric to Constantinople as an ambassador, but died before reaching the city.

Why was Amalric so motivated to get Philip elected as Grand Master? What was the connection between them in the affair against Baldwin? That's a good story, and I'll share it next time.