The History of the Knights Templars, the Temple Church, and the Temple. Addison Charles Greenstreet

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СКАЧАТЬ and turn not your backs.”

      The prowess and warlike daring of the Templars in the field are thus described by St. Bernard.

      “When the conflict has begun, then at length they throw aside their former meekness and gentleness, exclaiming, Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee, and am I not grieved with those who rise up against thee? They rush in upon their adversaries, they scatter them like sheep, in nowise fearing, though few in number, the fierce barbarism or the immense multitude of the enemy. They have learned indeed to rely, not on their own strength, but to count on victory through the aid of the Lord God Sabaoth, to whom they believe it easy enough, according to the words of Maccabees, to make an end of many by the hands of a few, for victory in battle dependeth not on the multitude of the army, but on the strength given from on high, which, indeed, they have very frequently experienced, since one of them will pursue a thousand, and two will put to flight ten thousand. Yea, and lastly, in a wonderful and remarkable manner, they are observed to be both more gentle than lambs, and more fierce than lions, so that I almost doubt which I had better determine to call them, monks forsooth, or soldiers, unless perhaps, as more fitting, I should name them both the one and the other.”

      At a later period, Cardinal de Vitry, Bishop of Acre, the frequent companion of the Knights Templars on their military expeditions, thus describes the religious and military enthusiasm of the Templars: “When summoned to arms they never demand the number of the enemy, but where are they? Lions they are in war, gentle lambs in the convent; fierce soldiers in the field, hermits and monks in religion; to the enemies of Christ ferocious and inexorable, but to Christians kind and gracious. They carry before them,” says he, “to battle, a banner, half black and white, which they call Beau-seant, that is to say, in the Gallic tongue, Bien-seant, because they are fair and favourable to the friends of Christ, but black and terrible to his enemies.”58

      A. D. 1158.

      Among the many instances of the fanatical ardour of the Moslem warriors, are the following, extracted from the history of Abu Abdollah Alwakidi, Cadi of Bagdad. “Methinks,” said a valiant Saracen youth, in the heat of battle against the Christians under the walls of Emesa – “methinks I see the black-eyed girls looking upon me, one of whom, should she appear in this world, all mankind would die for love of her; and I see in the hand of one of them a handkerchief of green silk, and a cap made of precious stones, and she beckons me, and calls out, Come hither quickly, for I love thee.” With these words, charging the infidels, he made havoc wherever he went, until he was at last struck down by a javelin. “It is not,” said a dying Arabian warrior, when he embraced for the last time his sister and mother – “it is not the fading pleasure of this world that has prompted me to devote my life in the cause of religion, I seek the favour of God and his apostle, and I have heard from one of the companions of the prophet, that the spirits of the martyrs will be lodged in the crops of green birds who taste the fruits and drink of the waters of paradise. Farewell; we shall meet again among the groves and the fountains which God has prepared for his elect.”59

      A. D. 1159.

      The Master of the Temple, Brother Bertrand de Blanquefort, was liberated from captivity at the instance of Manuel Comnenus, Emperor of Constantinople.60 After his release he wrote several letters to Louis VII., king of France, describing the condition and prospects of the Holy Land; the increasing power and boldness of the infidels; and the ruin and desolation caused by a dreadful earthquake, which had overthrown numerous castles, prostrated the walls and defences of several towns, and swallowed up the dwellings of the inhabitants. “The persecutors of the church,” says he, “hasten to avail themselves of our misfortunes; they gather themselves together from the ends of the earth, and come forth as one man against the sanctuary of God.”61

      It was during his mastership, that Geoffrey, the Knight Templar, and Hugh of Cæsarea, were sent on an embassy into Egypt, and had an interview with the Caliph. They were introduced into the palace of the Fatimites through a series of gloomy passages and glittering porticos, amid the warbling of birds and the murmur of fountains; the scene was enriched by a display of costly furniture and rare animals; and the long order of unfolding doors was guarded by black soldiers and domestic eunuchs. The sanctuary of the presence chamber was veiled with a curtain, and the vizier who conducted the ambassadors laid aside his scimetar, and prostrated himself three times on the ground; the veil was then removed, and they saw the Commander of the Faithful.62

      Brother Bertrand de Blanquefort, in his letters to the king of France, gives an account of the military operations undertaken by the Order of Temple in Egypt, and of the capture of the populous and important city of Belbeis, the ancient Pelusium.63 During the absence of the Master with the greater part of the fraternity on that expedition, the sultan Noureddin invaded Palestine; he defeated with terrible slaughter the serving brethren and Turcopoles, or light horse of the order, who remained to defend the country, and sixty of the knights who commanded them were left dead on the plain.64

      A. D. 1164.

      The zeal and devotion of the Templars in the service of Christ continued to be the theme of praise and of admiration both in the east and in the west. Pope Alexander III., in his letters, characterizes them as the stout champions of Jesus Christ, who warred a divine warfare, and daily laid down their lives for their brethren. “We implore and we admonish your fraternity,” says he, addressing the archbishops and bishops, “that out of love to God, and of reverence to the blessed Peter and ourselves, and also out of regard for the salvation of your own souls, ye do favour, and support, and honour them, and preserve all their rights entire and intact, and afford them the benefit of your patronage and protection.”65

      Amalric, king of Jerusalem, the successor of Baldwin the Third, in a letter “to his dear friend and father,” Louis the Seventh, king of France, beseeches the good offices of that monarch in behalf of all the devout Christians of the Holy Land; “but above all,” says he, “we earnestly entreat your Majesty constantly to extend to the utmost your favour and regard to the Brothers of the Temple, who continually render up their lives for God and the faith, and through whom we do the little that we are able to effect, for in them indeed, after God, is placed the entire reliance of all those in the eastern regions who tread in the right path.”…66

      Philip of

      Naplous.

      A. D. 1167.

      The Master, Brother Bertrand de Blanquefort, was succeeded (A. D. 1167,) by Philip of Naplous, the first Master of the Temple who had been born in Palestine. He had been Lord of the fortresses of Krak and Montreal in Arabia Petræa, and took the vows and the habit of the order of the Temple after the death of his wife.67

      We must now pause to take a glance at the rise of another great religio-military institution which, from henceforth, takes a leading part in the defence of the Latin kingdom.

      In the eleventh century, when pilgrimages to Jerusalem had greatly increased, some Italian merchants of Amalfi, who carried on a lucrative trade with Palestine, purchased of the Caliph Monstasser-billah, a piece of ground in the christian quarter of the Holy City, near the Church of the Resurrection, whereon two hospitals were constructed, the one being appropriated for the reception of male pilgrims, and the other for females. Several pious and charitable Christians, chiefly from Europe, devoted themselves in these hospitals to constant attendance upon the sick and destitute. Two chapels were erected, the one annexed to the female establishment СКАЧАТЬ