The Siege of Acre, Part 3

So King of Jerusalem Guy of Lusignan was camped at Acre, ready to besiege the city and take control of it as a base for future conflict against Saladin, who was trying to consolidate the Middle East under his caliphate and re-take lands held by Christians after the First and Second Crusades.

With Guy were others: French and Flemish soldiers, Germans under the Landgrave of Thuringia Louis III, Italians under the Archbishop of Ravenna, and Armenian troops under Leo II of Cilicia. Although Conrad of Montferrat was against the attack and stayed in Tyre, he was convinced by Louis III (his mother's cousin) to attend and bring troops. (William II of Sicily died around this time, and his ships left.)

Saladin learned about the army massing at Acre and marched to counter them, with an initial unsuccessful attack on 15 September 1189.

Saladin attacked again on 4 October, from east of the city. He was dealing with a Crusader army of 30,000 infantry and 2,000 knights. The Christians also had 100 ships blockading Acre from the sea to prevent reinforcements. In the first fighting, Crusader crossbowmen "softened" the enemy up. Templars attacking Saladin's east flank (see illustration) were so effective that the Muslims drew men from other parts of the field. Crusaders followed the Muslims, attacking relentlessly. Much of Saladin's army started to retreat.

The Crusaders, however, decided that plunder was more important than pursuit. They started collecting weapons and items from the bodies on the field. When Saladin saw this, he brought his men together and had his cavalry pursue the Crusaders who were retreating to camp, laden with booty. Crusaders were being killed until the soldiers still in camp in front of Acre, guarding against troops coming from Acre to help Saladin, left camp and countered Saladin's cavalry.

The garrison at Acre saw that they were no longer contained, and surged out the gates to attack the Crusaders from behind. Many Templars were killed, including Grandmaster Gerard de Ridefort. Conrad became surrounded and was rescued by the efforts of Guy. The Crusaders lost up to half their men, but Saladin was stopped.

That autumn, more Crusaders arrived, with men and supplies. We'll continue tomorrow.

Gerard de Ridefort

Gerard de Ridefort (that's his coat of arms to the left) is another of the many characters who has no known background recorded anywhere—we don't know his family, birthdate, education, whence he came—until he rose to prominence in some group. In this case, he barely appears in records in the service of King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, and then is suddenly Marshal of the kingdom in October 1179.

It seems from the Chronicle of Ernoul that he was supposed to marry an heiress, Cécile Dorel, the niece of Raymond III of Tripoli. I told the story (in "The Power of Gold") of how he lost her because of 10,000 bezants. After that incident, Gerard fell ill for awhile, then swore off women and joined the Templars.

When Baldwin IV died and there was disagreement in the kingdom over the proper husband for the successor, Queen Sibylla, Raymond of Tripoli (and many others) felt her husband, Guy of Lusignan, was unsuitable, and a search in Europe was conducted to find someone else. Gerard, holding a grudge against Raymond, chose to support Guy as king.

After 1187, when the trip to Europe resulted in a donation from King Henry II of England to support the Christian kingdoms in the Holy Land, Gerard took the money designated for the Templars and hired mercenaries to attack Saladin's son, al-Afdal, in the poorly planned Battle of Cresson. They were hopelessly outnumbered and Gerard was wounded. He was also one of the few that even survived.

That was in May. In July he led the Templars into the Battle of Hattin. Hattin was a disaster for the Christians. Saladin had taken the city of Tiberias. Gerard and others wanted to besiege it and take it back. Raymond's advice was to wait and let Saladin leave the strong-walled city to continue spreading his territory. Gerard wouldn't listen to Raymond and wound up on an undefended plain where they were surrounded and captured. Gerard was one of many prominent men taken hostage. Lower ranked Templars were executed.

Gerard was offered a deal by Saladin. If Gerard would convince a particular Templar fortress to simply surrender without fighting, Saladin would let Gerard go. Gerard agreed, then did the opposite: he went to Tortosa, a major port on the Syrian coast, and set up its defense. He seized more of the money that Henry II had donated to the Crusader cause (but not specifically given to the Templars). Conrad of Montferrat wrote a letter in September 1188 complaining about this.

Gerard used the money for more mercenaries. He and Guy went to the Siege of Acre, where Gerard was again taken hostage by Saladin. Saladin had little patience with someone who had broken his promise once already, and beheaded Gerard.

The Siege of Acre became a significant event in the history of the Crusades, and though mentioned has never been discussed in detail. We'll take a close look at it starting tomorrow.

The Hospitallers Change

Founded originally to care for the sick and poor in Jerusalem, there were new statutes for the Hospitallers in March 1182 under the leadership of their grandmaster, Roger de Moulins. These new statutes tried to formalize certain practices:

1. To welcome 30 poor people each day at meals.

2. To give alms to anyone who came to the door of the hospital three days each week.

3. To wash the feet of 13 poor people on the Saturday of Lent and provide them with clothes and shoes.

This was when they officially became a charitable Order. This is also when members began to be listed as doctors and surgeons, brought on because the ordinary members did not have sufficient medical knowledge.

Also, this is when they officially declared themselves a religious-military Order. At the death of a member, a Mass was to be said and the coffin would be covered with a red sheet with white cross, as if they were a priest.

Roger did not get along with the new head of the Templars, Gerard de Ridefort. Besides the general rivalry felt between the Hospitallers and the Templars, the two men had opposing political views. Roger was part of the group that felt Queen Sibylla of Jerusalem needed a new husband to replace Guy of Lusignan. Gerard supported Sibylla and Guy.

Both groups, however, cared about the survival of the Christian kingdoms established by the Crusades, so Templars and Hospitallers worked together. Roger's recent trip to England had motivated King Henry II to send money for the defense of the Holy Land (in lieu of going on Crusade himself, which he had vowed to do after the death of Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket). Gerard used Henry's money that went to the Templars to hire extra troops to mount an offensive against Saladin.

Roger and some Hospitallers joined Gerard and 100 Templars in an attack against Saladin's son in May 1187. Saladin's son, al-Afdal, had 5000 men, however, and the Christians were hopelessly outnumbered. Gerard was one of the few to escape the Battle of Cresson, though wounded. Roger was killed by a spear.

Gerard has come down to us in literature (and video games) as arrogant, headstrong, uncompromising. Let's see what other problems he might have had tomorrow.

Templars versus Hospitallers

In the 12th century, while the kingdoms established in the Holy Land by Western Europeans were struggling to maintain themselves against their Muslim neighbors, two of their chief means of support were the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller. Each of these Orders had been recognized by popes, and their chief function was to provide safe escort for pilgrims.

This meant, of course, that they needed to be effective militarily. The Hospitallers additionally were supposed to provide care for the sick and injured; they had started with a hospital built in 1113 (right after the First Crusade) in Jerusalem on the site of the Benedictine monastery of St. John the Baptist.

Orders cannot live on faith, so they need donations and other means of financial support. One method of financial support was fighting. Each Order joined military excursions when asked, which allowed them to partake of the spoils of war. By the 1180s, the two Orders were public rivals.

Pope Alexander III (reigned 1159-1181) did not want their rivalry to create its own internal problem when all Christian forces in the Middle East needed to be united, so he called for mediation. He persuaded the two Orders to call a truce in 1179 and then set up a mechanism for resolving their differences. Before the mediation could be arranged, however, Alexander died. Pope Lucius III (reigned 1181-1185) presided over the mediation, along with King of Jerusalem Baldwin IV.

The respective Grandmasters of the Templars and Hospitallers, Arnold of Torroja and Roger de Moulins, chose three brothers from each of their Orders. Each brother had the right to choose two additional brothers. The brothers were to gather and find a negotiation on which they could agree to prevent inter-Order hostility. They would the bring their conclusions to the Grandmasters.

One thing they all agreed on: diocesan authorities were opposed to the privileges given to the military Orders. The Orders had privileges and immunities that secular clergy did not have. The Third Lateran Council of 1179 forbade the military Orders from accepting property and tithes unless the local diocesan authority (bishop) approved.

The two Orders resolved their differences, and two papal bulls forced the secular clergy to accept that the Templars and Hospitallers were important and excommunication would be the punishment for anyone attacking the knights.

Tomorrow I'll say a little more about Grandmaster Roger de Moulins and a big change for the Hospitallers.

Heraclius in Europe

So Heraclius of Jerusalem set off for Europe to find support for the Latin kingdoms in the Holy Land and perhaps a husband for Queen Sibylla of Jerusalem. (She already had a husband, Guy of Lusignan, but many wanted him replaced.)

With him went others to lend weight to his requests. The ninth Grandmaster of the Knights Templar, Arnold of Torroja, was one. Arnold was in his 70s at the time, and was known as a great mediator, having conducted successful negotiations with Saladin and with the Knights Hospitaller, who were becoming more powerful and popular and whom the Templars considered rivals.

In fact, that rival, Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller Roger de Moulins, also went along. They had buried their differences in meetings with King Baldwin IV and Pope Lucius III. Roger had urged Baldwin and others to continue warring on Saladin. He also went along to establish the Hospitaller Order in England, France, and Germany.

Heraclius also took with him some significant tokens of his authority to speak on behalf of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. He took the keys to the city of Jerusalem and to the Holy Sepulchre and to the Tower of David, a palace complex.

The first stop was Italy. While there, Arnold fell ill. He died in Verona on 30 September, 1184. (He was succeeded by Gerard of Ridefort as grandmaster, but Ridefort did not join Heraclius.)

In England they had several meetings with King Henry II (depicted above by a 20th century artist, Stephen Reid). Heraclius consecrated the Temple Church built by the Templars in 1185, as well as the new Hospitaller priory and hospital at Clerkenwell. Henry agreed to go with the group to France to have further meetings with King Philip II. The two kings agreed to send money and soldiers to the Holy land. Heraclius had been hoping to have one of the kings or a prince to go as well. Henry had actually vowed to go on Crusade years earlier after the death of Thomas Becket, but had never gone. Heraclius reminded him of his broken vow and criticized him for it.

Heraclius returned to Jerusalem in late 1185, finding Baldwin IV dead and his nephew in place as Baldwin V. The boy was five, so a regent was needed. Heraclius never found another husband for Sibylla, but the issue was resolved by Sibylla herself in a way that no one liked but could not fight.

I'd like to take a side turn now to the rivalry between the Hospitallers and Templars and talk about the resolution between them. See you tomorrow.

Amalric and the Assassins

In 1173 King of Jerusalem Amalric I tried to make an alliance with the Order of Assassins. They were a sect of Shi'ite Islam whose goals were political as well as religious: they went after the Abbasid Caliphate as well as Christians. They had been subdued by the Templars and were forced into an annual tribute.

Amalric made them a deal: convert to Christianity, and you won't have to pay tribute to the Templars anymore. An envoy from the Order of Assassins to Amalric's court agreed to this. (Yes, hard to believe that this was a serious agreement on the part of the Order, since their entire identity was being faithful to their Shi'ite leader, the "Old Man of the Mountain" Rashid al-Din Sinan.)

Anyway, the envoy was returning from the negotiations when he was discovered by a patrol of Templars led by Walter of Mesnil. Despite being granted safe conduct by Amalric, the Templars killed him. William of Tyre and Walter Map both wrote about the incident, claiming it was a great loss of the chance to convert more Muslims to Christianity. (Walter Map suggested that the Templars did not want the Assassins to convert because it would make the Templars superfluous, but this imagines (quite wrongly) that there weren't plenty of non-Christians for the Templars to guard against and take tribute from.

Amalric was furious and demanded from the Templar master, Odo of Saint Armand, that Walter be turned over to him for punishment. Odo refused, saying that he had already given Walter penance to do and that Walter was being sent to the pope.

Amalric would have none of it. He went to where Walter was staying before heading to the pope and captured him, imprisoning him in Tyre.

On 15 May in 1174, Amalric's rival Nur ad-Din died. Amalric felt this was the best chance to (again) try to conquer Egypt. His first attack on a city there failed, but he accepted money to retreat. Heading back to Jerusalem, he fell ill. By the time he got to Jerusalem, it seemed clear that he had contracted dysentery. No treatment helped, and he died on 11 July. He left behind two daughters and a son, Baldwin, a sickly boy of 13 years. The illustration shows Amalric dying and the boy being crowned.

There were concerns about the young Baldwin IV. He did not seem to feel pain, which meant he was likely suffering from leprosy. In fact, I've talked about him as The Leper King, and that he was the only viable candidate, but he was fairly soon replaced by Baldwin V, his nephew through Sibylla of Jerusalem.

Since all that has been covered before, I want to turn to the mother of Baldwin V and sister of Baldwin IV, Sibylla of Jerusalem.

The 1170 Syrian Earthquake

On the morning of 29 June 1170, the inhabitants of what are now western Syria, central southern Turkey, and Lebanon were rocked by one of the largest seismic events ever to occur along the northern part of the Dead Sea Transform Fault System (also called simply the Levant Fracture).

We've mentioned earthquakes before, during a synod in England in 1382, the 1386 Destruction of Basel, and the Monday before Easter 1185 in the East Midlands. The 1170 Syrian quake was so devastating that an uneasy truce was formed between enemies Emir of Aleppo and Damascus Nur ad-Din and King Amalric I of Jerusalem.

The day had begun in 1170 and people were going about their business when it struck. In Antioch, Patriarch Athanasius I was performing Mass in the Cathedral of Saint Peter, where 70 years earlier a version of the Holy Lance had been found. Athanasius was pulled out alive but died soon after from his injuries. About 50 others were killed in the collapse of the dome. Several other churches in Antioch were also destroyed, as were the defensive walls along the Orontes river.

Damage reached from Antioch to Tripoli in the south. Bohemond III, Prince of Antioch, was so distressed by the destruction all around that he cut his hair and donned sackcloth as a sign of mourning. The Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaller had been given several castles by Count Raymond II of Tripoli as a shield on his borders to hold against the Turks. They were all reported as destroyed.

This earthquake has been estimated to have been a magnitude 7.7 on the moment magnitude scale (see illustration). The illustration shows the destructive force of the scale. Damage was so widespread that it appears in several records. In all, an estimated 80,000 people were killed, and aftershocks were felt for three months.

Although Nur ad-Din and Amalric were agreed to hold off on hostilities while rebuilding their kingdoms, others were not so kind. In December, Saladin came with an enormous force to besiege Amalric's fortress of Darum in the south while Tripoli was still trying to rebuild. For some reason, however, Saladin destroyed part of Darum and left without occupying it. Amalric rebuilt Darum to be stronger, but the threat from Egypt was clear.

Amalric did his best to preserve the kingdom. We will see how that turned out tomorrow.

Egypt Again

January 1169 saw the death of Bertrand of Blancfort, the master of the Templars. Bertrand was not as keen on invading Egypt as was Amalric I, King of Jerusalem.  In August of that year, no doubt with the influence of Amalric, Philip of Milly had been elected to lead the Templars.

Amalric and Philip had been allies for several years: the two had supported Amalric's mother, Queen Melisende, in her opposition to Amalric's brother, King Baldwin III. Around the same time Amalric convinced his ally through marriage, Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenos, to send soldiers to help in the invasion of Egypt (see illustration). Amalric also had the Hospitallers on his side.

This combination Franco-Byzantine expedition thought they would be served by unrest in Egypt. Egypt was being ruled by outsiders, and Shirkuh had been killed. Rough seas hindered the fleet, however, and the mouth of the Nile was blocked, making it difficult to reach the port city of Damietta, their first goal.

William of Tyre reported that Damietta could be taken quickly; however, constructing siege engines took too long, and boats from the south could provide Damietta with fresh supplies. Also, the Egyptians launched a ship on fire at the Byzantine fleet, causing the loss of six ships.

Weather was also a problem. Heavy October rains were demoralizing, and the food stores of the attackers were running low. They were unable to land and find fresh supplies. The Greek leaders felt Amalric was being too timid. Amalric worried that they had not battered the walls of Damietta enough to try to take the city. The Greeks prepared to ignore Amalric and attack, but Amalric started negotiations with Damietta before the attack could take place. For a sum of gold, Amalric retreated. He was back home on 12 December.

It was not wise to stay away from Jerusalem for overlong, since Nur ad-Din was constantly harassing the borders. Then something happened on 29 June 1170 that caused Amalric and Nur ad-Din to declare a temporary truce, something devastating to both men and their people, with a death toll estimated at 80,000. It was not a plague.

Tomorrow we'll look at the earthquake of 1170.

Pope Honorius II

After his atypical election in December 1124, Pope Honorius II got to work clashing with Holy Roman Emperor Henry V over Henry's claim to territory in Italy. Henry said that Matilda of Tuscany had left her lands to him. Henry began appointing his own vicars throughout the area in opposition to what the papacy and the towns wanted, completely ignoring the terms of the Concordat of Worms that left investing clerics to the Church rather than secular authority.

Fortunately for the papacy, Henry V died on 23 May 1125, but a new conflict arose. Henry left no heir and nominated his nephew, Duke of Swabia Frederick Hohenstaufen as the next emperor. The papacy did not want an expansion of Hohenstaufen power, however.

The clerics chose another, Lothair of Supplinburg, Duke of Saxony, as the next Holy Roman Emperor. Lothair wrote to Honorius requesting the pope's confirmation, an act of obedience to papal authority that pleased Honorius. One of Lothair's advisors was Norbert of Xanten, founder of the Premonstratensian Order (also called Norbertines).

Honorius also had to deal with barons in southern Italy who were harassing farmers and travelers. The papal armies had to take over several towns to suppress and arrest barons, laying siege to their castles, etc. 

The illustration shows him formally accepting the new order called the Templars, in 1128. There were other religious groups and figures whom he felt needed correction, however, so he turned his attention from dealing with secular authorities to various religious figures and groups. I'll tell you about them tomorrow.

Genoa versus Venice, Part 1

Four times between 1258 and 1381, the rivalry between the maritime republics of Genoa and Venice reached a tipping point that turned into military action. Both had extensive trade operations in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea and were largely equal in power, until 1204.

In 1204, the events of the Fourth Crusade led to Venice having significant political influence in Constantinople, and therefore the Byzantine Empire. Although the Venetians were driven from Constainople, it still took several decades for the intense competition between the two republics to turn into a war.

There was land in the coastal city of Acre—owned by the Abbey of Saint Sabas (illustration)—that was claimed by both Venice and Genoa. In 1257, a Venetian admiral broke through the Acre harbor chain (strung to prevent unwanted ships) and destroyed several Genoese ships that were harbored there. Genoa had a fortification at Acre, and their crossbowmen fired at the attackers. Venice had siege engines, which they brought to bear, blockading Acre for more than a year.

The Genoese had the support of the Knights Hospitaller in the city, as well as the Byzantine Empire (Michael Paleologos had just driven out the Venetians). Venice meanwhile had the Knights Templar on its side. Both sides hired Muslim mercenaries; these were frequently Turcopoles, "sons of Turks," who were light cavalry often employed by Byzantine states. Genoa made an alliance with Baibars, the sultan of the Egyptian Mamluks, but his promised fleet never appeared. Genoa also approached Michael Paleologos, who was happy to provide support against the Venetians.

Efforts to mediate the conflict by a local lord failed, and a naval battle took place. The Genoese navy of about 50 ships was overrun by the Venetian navy. The Genoese abandoned Acre and retreated to Tyre, a city from which the Venetians had been evicted in 1256.

The War of Saint Sabas (1256 - 1270) annoyed the pope, who feared a Mongol or Muslim attack that would be successful because too many Christian resources were being wasted fighting each other. Pope Gregory X, along with France and Sicily, pressured the two republics to agree to the Peace of Cremona in 1270, although Genoa did not get their part of Acre back until 1288.

The Venetians came out ahead in this war. A generation later, however, Genoa got the upper hand. I'll explain tomorrow.

Mongol-Christian Alliances

Ghazan Khan (1271 - 1304) was not the first Mongol leader to communicate with Christians, but he set about to firm up an alliance to deal with what he considered a greater issue: Egyptian Mamluks. This was the time of the Crusades, and therefore Christian military groups were all over the Holy land and nearby. Armenia also had a Christian state.

Unfortunately, at this point the goal of the Crusades, Jerusalem, was no longer under Christian control. The plan was to unite all these forces with the Mongol Empire to conquer Egypt, whereupon (it was agreed) that the Christians would be given control of Jerusalem.

With plans in place, Ghazan marched to Syria in October 1299, where he was joined by the army of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (which a few years later would have its own problem with Egypt).The Armenians also had some Knights Templar and Hospitallers among them. They defeated an army of Egyptian Mamluks at the battle of Wadi al-Khazandar.

Aleppo had already been taken, and Damascus surrendered soon after. The majority of Ghazan's army then retreated for the rest of the winter, going north where they could find grazing for their horses. The Mamluks sent a delegation to Ghazan (who had recently converted to Islam) at his camp (see illustration) in January 1300 to speak to him, saying:

"You claim that you are a Muslim and you have with you Mu'adhdhins, Muftis, Imams and Shaykhs but you invaded us and reached our country for what? Although your father and your grandfather, Hulegu were non-believers, they did not attack us and they kept their promise. But you promised and broke your promise."

A Mongol-Christian plan was made for late 1301. Ghazan wrote to Pope Boniface VIII to send troops and priests so that the Holy Land could become a Frankish state. He also wrote in 1302 to the pope and to Charles II of Anjou. Unfortunately, troops did not arrive.

Ghazan failed to conquer the Mamluks after several battles, and gave up after a decisive loss in April 1303. When he died on 11 May 1304, his brother Öljaitü succeeded him.

Since the title of this post is the Mongol-Christian Alliance, I want to talk more specifically about some of the Christians and Europeans who worked directly with Ghazan and the Mongol Empire. See you tomorrow.

Saint-Omer

In researching the life of Lambert of Saint-Omer, I realized that the town after which he was named had some interesting history. The town sprang up around the Abbey of Saint Peter, founded in the 7th century by Omer (or Audomar), the bishop of Thérouanne. The abbey's name changed in honor of its second abbot, who became St. Bertin.

The abbey started as a simple small house on a hillock in a marshy area, from which Bertin would go out and preach to the pagan Morini, a coastal tribe in northern France. A converted nobleman gave to bishop Omer a tract of land called Sithiu, which Omer turned over to Bertin for the abbey. Their numbers grew, and eventually a new abbey was built on the site which became surrounded by a town named Saint-Omer. (There were a few abbeys built over the years as their numbers grew. The most recent one was ordered demolished in 1830; its ruins can be seen in the illustration.)

So near the northern coast made Saint-Omer vulnerable to Vikings, who ravaged the place in the 860s and 880s, but the town rebuilt with strong walls. Saint-Omer became part of Flanders when Arnulf of Flanders conquered the county in 932. In 1127, its importance as a commercial center (thanks to its growing textile industry) earned it the first charter in West Flanders with city rights.

Saint-Omer became part of France (again) when Philip II of France (1165 - 1223) forced Count Ferdinand of Flanders to sign the Treaty of Pont-à-Vendin. Despite this, battle over that part of France continued. Ferdinand's alliance with King John of England and Emperor Otto IV did not help, and Saint-Omer remained within French boundaries, though it continued to be a significant part of the Flanders economy. Saint-Omer did not become permanently a French town until 1678.

Besides Lambert, another famous son of Saint-Omer was Godfrey of Saint-Omer, one of the founding members of the Knights Templar. The symbol of the Templars—two men riding a single horse, representing their vow of poverty—is supposedly because the first Grand Master, Hugues de Payen, and Godfrey were so poor that the two men had to share a horse.

I mentioned above that Saint-Omer was the first in the county to gain "city rights." What did that entail? I'll tell you tomorrow.

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.

Templars: The Early Days

Formed about 1120 by Hugues de Payens and eight others—including André de Montbard, the uncle of St. Bernard of Clairvaux—the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, aka Templars, had some trouble getting established. They wanted to be a monastic order of knights to provide protection to pilgrims in the Holy Land, which had been opened up to Western European Travel by the Crusades (begun in 1095).

King Baldwin II of Jerusalem had given them space in the palace complex on the Temple Mount, which had most recently been the captured Al-Aqsa Mosque. They had no funds, however, and so André de Montbard turned to his already famous nephew to write an endorsement of the order, after which they started to thrive. André eventually became the Grand Master, but with his death in 1156 the last of the original nine founders was gone. The next Grand Master took a step back and decided it was time for reform.

Bertrand de Blanchefort (c.1109 - 13 January 1169) was a son of Lord Godfrey of Guyenne. Although raised as a warrior and becoming a member of an order of warrior-monks, he wanted to emphasize facets of the Templars other than their status as soldiers. One step was to ask the pope for permission to use the title "Master by Grace of God" in order to stress the religious nature of the order less than the military nature.

He also wrote a set of clear rules for different positions in the order, and created checks and balances against the Grand Master's role, to ensure that future Grand Masters could not make decisions on the order's purpose or goals without the support of the rest of the knights.

In 1157, he was captured after fighting alongside King Baldwin III of Jerusalem in a battle against Nur ad-Din Zangi, ruler of the Syrian province of the Seljuk Empire. He remained a prisoner for three years until the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenos made a peace treaty with Nur ad-Din and had Bertrand released.

Bertrand also fought with Baldwin's successor, Amalric I, in an unsuccessful expedition against Egypt in 1163. Another expedition was planned in 1168, but Bertrand refused to participate, and was involved instead in drawing up a peace treaty with Egypt later. After Bertrand's death, however, Amalric pressured the Templars to elect Philip of Milly as their next Grand Master, a man with whom Amalric already had a relationship. Because of this choice, Amalric gained Templar support for future fighting forays. Who was this next Grand Master? Where did he come from? I'll talk about him next time.

Uncle and Nephew, Part 2

After Bernard of Clairvaux wrote a long statement endorsing the new order at the request of his uncle André de Montbard, the Knights Templar began to thrive. André was seneschal, second-in-command to the Grand Master.

Even when there was no official Crusade, battles in the Holy Land between Christian forces and Muslims still took place. Between the Second and Third Crusades, at the Siege of Ascalon (pictured here; 25 January to 22 August 1153), the Fatimid defenders set fire to a siege tower set up by the Christians. Unfortunately for the defenders, wind was blowing in the wrong direction and directed the flames back against the defenses, causing part of the wall to collapse.

Templars were first to enter the breach, aiding in the capture of Ascalon, the last coastal city in Palestine that was not yet controlled by the Crusaders. In the fighting, the fourth Templar Grand Master, Bernard de Tremelay, was killed. According to William of Tyre, the Templars—who had a "first in and last out" philosophy of battle that was admirable to civilians but looked like grandstanding to other soldiers—rushed in so as not to share spoils with the rest of the army (Templars were still looking for financial support).

André de Montbard was elected the fifth Grand Master. Despite his increased duties to the order and to activities in the Holy Land, he maintained a relationship with his nephew in Burgundy who had helped him out. They wrote several letters to each other over the years.

While the Siege of Ascalon was going on, Bernard was dying (he was in his early 60s then). He wrote to André, asking that the knight visit him:

…I wish even more strongly to see you. I find the same wish in your letters, but also your fears for the land that Our Lord honoured with His presence and consecrated with His blood…

But let us mount above the sun, and may our conversation continue in the heavens. There, my Andre, will be the fruits of your labours, and there your reward…

By the time André received this, Bernard was gone.

Interestingly, Bernard's death was attended by a Templar Grand Master: the third Grand Master of the Templars, Everard des Barres, had given up war, tonsured his head, and joined Clairvaux to live out his remaining years in contemplation, despite André's entreaties to return to the fray alongside his former comrades.

André himself died on 17 January 1156; he was the last of the original nine founders of the Templars. He was replaced by Bertrand de Blanchefort, whose story we will take up tomorrow

Bernard's Endorsement

When André de Montbard's new order of monks/knights intended to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land was suffering due to lack of donations, he turned to the most famous person he knew personally for help: his nephew, Bernard of Clairvaux. Surely Bernard's reputation for saintliness would give the "Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon" a boost.

The lack of donations might have stemmed from two reasons. They were a new order, formed about 1120, and so far largely unknown in Europe (since they were stationed in the Holy Land). Also, there was some confusion about their existence: was it proper for monks to take up arms? Was a "monk-warrior" a justifiable career?

André visited Clairvaux in 1126, entreating Bernard to lend his voice and reputation to the cause. Bernard approved of his uncle's mission, and wrote (some time prior to 1136) the Liber ad milites templi de laude novae militiae (Latin: "Book to the Knights of the Temple, in praise of the new knighthood"). Bernard praised the new spiritual knights because mundane knights were given to secular violence and vanity, adding precious metals and gems to their shields and saddles. These new knights instead would wage:

...a twofold war both against flesh and blood and against a spiritual army of evil in the heavens. ... He is truly a fearless knight and secure on every side, for his soul is protected by the armor of faith just as his body is protected by armor of steel. He is thus doubly armed and need fear neither demons nor men.

Bernard may have strayed from personal knowledge of the new order and imagined a few details, for instance in describing their Jerusalem headquarters:

...adorned with weapons rather than with jewels, and in place of the ancient golden crowns, its walls are hung round about with shields. In place of candlesticks, censers and ewers, this house is well furnished with saddles, bits and lances.

This letter would have helped not only to spread the word of the valuable and laudable service of the new order, but also would have helped boost their morale.

The letter helped, and the group that also came to be called the Knights of the Temple or Knights Templar grew until they became a very powerful force in Europe as well as the Holy Land.

The relationship between uncle and nephew continued, and I'll talk a little more about the two next time.

James the Pawn

James I of Aragon (2 February 1208 – 27 July 1276) was used by his father as a political tool. He was the only child of Peter II of Aragon (shown here in the only contemporary image of him), and therefore was Peter's only opportunity to make a political alliance with someone through marrying off a child.

In the case of James, the marriage was supposed to be with Amicie de Montfort, the daughter of Simon IV de Montfort, the 5th Earl of Leicester. This was not a simple alliance, though. Simon was leading the Albigensian Crusade in an attempt to exterminate Catharism. Peter, on the other hand, was supporting the Cathars, who believed in leading a "pure" life, rejecting materialism. Unfortunately for the Catholic Church, they also rejected the idea of the Trinity.

Peter hoped that making a marriage between his son and Simon's daughter could give Peter an edge to hold off Simon's crusade. It should be noted that both children were less than two years old at the time of the discussions. Peter even sent James to Montfort's care in 1211, to be raised in his household.

Simon and the Albigensian Crusade did not falter, however, and the two sides met in battle. On 12 September 1213, Peter and Simon's forces met in the Battle of Muret, in which Simon's smaller force defeated the much larger alliance of Peter II and Raymond IV of Toulouse. Peter II was killed in this battle.

Simon now had the next king of Aragon—who was only a few years old—in his possession. He could have turned this into a huge political advantage and managed to possess Aragon, or at least force himself onto the country as Regent for James. The Aragonese, however, would not have it. They appealed to Pope Innocent III, who demanded that Simon relinquish custody of James, which he did in 1214 to the papal legate Peter of Benevento.

The six-year-old James was handed over to the head of the Knights Templar in Aragon, one Guillem de Montredó. Aragon was being managed by James' great-uncle Sancho and cousin Nuño, respectively Counts of Provence and Cerdanya. They were not doing a good job, supposedly, and in 1217 the Templars brought James back to the capital and enlisted the aid of loyal nobles to help him rule.

In 1221, at the age of 14, he was married to the 19-year-old Eleanor of Castile, the daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile (mentioned here and here). The next half-dozen years were tumultuous for him. We'll take a look at his troubles next time.

The Leper Warrior

Although Baldwin IV of Jerusalem was confirmed to have leprosy, he was still the only viable candidate to succeed his father, Amalric, as King of Jerusalem. (The illustration shows his coronation.) He did everything he could as king, even going to war, despite the fact that the lack of sensation in his right arm and hand meant learning to guide a horse with his knees.

Jerusalem was essentially surrounded by the forces of the great sultan and warrior Saladin (c.1137 - 1193), with whom there was an unsteady truce. While Saladin himself was in Aleppo, Baldwin planned an attack on Egypt. Baldwin refused to stay behind, and planned to go to war himself.

Baldwin married his sister, Sibylla, to William of Montferrat, and named William count of Jaffa and Ascalon. In April 1177, Baldwin visited William in Ascalon, who had succumbed to malaria. Baldwin also fell ill. William died in June. Baldwin, still ill, could not command the army in the planned attack on Egypt. He had himself carried from Ascalon to Jerusalem in a litter. He handed the regency and leading of the army to Raynald of Châtillon, Prince of Antioch. Raynald's step-daughter had married Emperor Manuel I Komnenos in 1161, and Raynald was a link to the Byzantine Empire, whose navy would be helpful in the Egypt campaign.

On 18 November 1177, Saladin chose to attack Baldwin's territory in Ascalon. Baldwin rode out himself to Ascalon, but Saladin's superior numbers caused him to retreat. He sent a message to Gaza, where the Templar Knights were fighting, requesting their aid. Once the Templars arrived, Baldwin's army (with the king at the forefront) and the Templars soundly defeated Saladin's forces, killing his bodyguard and forcing Saladin to flee.

Baldwin did not fare so well at a future skirmish, however. In the spring of 1179, Saladin's nephew led a force to investigate reports that Baldwin was "stealing sheep." Baldwin was knocked off his horse and, unable to climb back on a horse without help, was carried to safety on a knight's back.

Before the death of William of Montferrat, Sibylla had become pregnant. She had given birth to a son, named Baldwin, and it seemed likely that he was going to be his uncle's successor. In fact, Baldwin IV was probably looking to abdicate, given his worsening health. To have his nephew raised properly, however, it was important to find Sibylla a new husband, one that brought good political connections and could be trusted to raise the next King of Jerusalem. There were those who were aware of the importance of Sibylla's next husband, and wanted that role for themselves. Tomorrow we'll look at the claimants, the winner, and Baldwin's departure from the public stage.

The Dome of the Rock

When the First Crusade captured Jerusalem, they took over the Dome of the Rock, a temple built on the site where tradition said God created the world and Adam. Also, it was the traditional site where Abraham tried to sacrifice Isaac. For Muslims, it is believed to be the site from which Muhammad began the spiritual Night Journey around the world.

It had been the site of the Second Jewish Temple (c.516BCE) that was built to replace Solomon's Temple (between 10th and 6th centuries BCE). The Second Jewish Temple had been destroyed by the Romans in 70CE. The 5th Umayyad Caliph built on that site the Qubbat aṣ-Ṣaḵra, the Dome of the Rock, the oldest surviving work of Islamic architecture. The leaders of the Crusade in 1099 called it the Templum Domini, the "Temple of the Lord," and handed the management of it over to the Augustinians.

The actual rock was originally left exposed, but later covered with white marble. In 1138 the Temple Domini was given the status of an abbey. A few years later, on 1 April 1141, the church was dedicated by the papal legate Alberic of Ostia (on pilgrimage there with Armenian Catholicos Grigor III Pahlavuni).

An adjacent mosque became a royal palace for the King of Jerusalem and the image of the dome became an important symbol of the Jerusalem royalty. When a new royal palace was built, the old palace became the local headquarters of the Knights Templar, who provided protection to pilgrims. The design of the Dome of the Rock became copied by the Templars for their round churches across Europe.

The general shape has not changed over 13+ centuries. It is an octagonal structure with a dome. It displays the earliest public inscriptions of the sayings of Islam and Muhammad. The traveler Ibn Battuta in 1326 said:

Any viewer's tongue will grow shorter trying to describe it. This is one of the most fantastic of all buildings, of the most perfect in architecture and strangest in shape.

 It is still one of the most visited places on earth.

This is the second time that the papal legate Alberic of Ostia has appeared (although in reference to the same event), and I'd like to look at his life and travels next time.

Between King and Archbishop

Antony Bek (c.1245 - 1311) was from a family of knights. He and his brother Thomas attended Oxford University at Merton College in the late 1260s, then entered the clergy. (They were younger sons; an older brother, John, inherited the family lands.)

Prince Edward went on a crusade in 1270 and took Bek with him. After the crusade, Edward in 1274 appointed Bek Keeper of the Wardrobe, an important position in a royal household. One month later, however, Bek was replaced by his brother Thomas and was made Constable of the Tower, responsible for managing the castle when the lord was away.

By 1275 Antony was named archdeacon in Durham as well as holding a few other religious positions. These were gifts that allowed him to collect revenues; he did not have to perform duties in those locations.

A trusted councillor, he was sent to Wales to negotiate a treaty with Llewelyn ap Gruffudd, the Prince of Wales. He was also sent to Aragon to negotiate marriage between Edward's daughter Eleanor to Alfonso III. He also went to Scotland in 1286 after the death of King Alexander III to act on behalf of Alexander's heir, Margaret of Norway, who was engaged to marry Edward's son.

His friendship with Edward allowed him to extend his temporal power when he became Bishop of Durham (see the coat of arms above) in 1283. He tried to control the Benedictine Priory in Durham, a dispute which went to the pope for arbitration and was decided in Ben's favor. Pope Clement V made Bek Patriarch of Jerusalem, which meant he was the most senior member of the clergy in England.

This angered the Archbishop of York, who had jurisdiction over the Priory. When Bek allowed the king's men to arrest two priests in 1293, the Archbishop of York, John le Romeyn, excommunicated him. This was a radical and drastic move against a bishop. Romeyn was hauled before Parliament, who decreed that Bek had been rightly acting in his secular role and not as a bishop, and so Romeyn did not have jurisdiction in this case. Romeyn was imprisoned and fined 4000 marks to King Edward.

Bek survived Edward I, performing the funeral service for him at Westminster Abbey. As the senior clergy in England he was asked to investigate the Templars in 1308 by Edward II. Bek's career had allowed him to gather enough wealth to build Durham Castle's Great Hall, and to expand Auckland Castle (a residence of the Bishops of Durham)and Somerton Castle Inherited from his mother, Eva de Gray).

Bek died 3 March 1311. There was some talk about canonization that went nowhere.

So...about this job he held for one month that was given to his brother, Keeper of the Wardrobe. Did he just manage some noble's clothing? There was more to it than that, which I will go into next time.