A new crusade had already been preached in Europe by Pope Gregory IX., and the Templars, expecting the arrival of speedy succour, and being desirous of taking advantage of the dissensions that had arisen amongst the Saracens, had recommenced hostilities with the sultans of Egypt and Damascus. Thibaut I., king of Navarre, and count of Champagne, the duke of Burgundy, and the counts of Brittany and Bar, who had arrived in Palestine with several other nobles and knights, and a considerable force of armed pilgrims, marched with a party of Templars to attack the sultan of Egypt, whilst the Grand Master prepared to invade the territory of the sultan of Damascus. In a bloody battle fought with the Mamlooks, near Gaza, the count de Bar and many knights and persons of quality, and all the foot soldiers, were slain; the count de Montfort was taken prisoner, and all the equipage and baggage of the army was lost. The king of Navarre and the survivors then retreated to Jaffa, and set sail from that port for St. Jean d’Acre. On their arrival at this place, they joined the Grand Master of the Temple, who was encamped at the palm-grove of Caiphas. Thence they marched towards Tiberias, and on their arrival at Sepphoris, they met some messengers who were proceeding from Saleh Ismael, the sultan of Damascus, to the Grand Master of the Temple, with overtures of peace, and offers to surrender Jerusalem upon the following terms: – The Moslem and christian prisoners of war were immediately to be set at liberty; all Palestine, between the sea-coast and the Jordan, excepting the cities of St. Abraham, Naplous, and Bisan, was to be surrendered to the Christians; the Christians were to assist the sultan of Damascus in a war which had broken out between him and Nojmoddin Ayoub sultan of Egypt; they were to march with all their forces to the south to occupy Jaffa and Ascalon, and prevent the latter potentate from marching through Palestine to attack the sultan of Damascus; and lastly, no truce was to be entered into with the sultan of Egypt by the Christians, unless the sultan of Damascus was included therein. The Grand Master of the Temple acceded to these terms, and induced the chiefs of the crusaders to assent to the compact; but the Grand Master of the Hospital refused to be a party to it. It is said that he entered into a separate and independent treaty with Nojmoddin Ayoub, who had just mounted the throne of Egypt, so that one of the great military orders remained at war with the sultan of Damascus, and the other with the sultan of Egypt. Immediately after the conclusion of this treaty, the Templars assembled all their disposable forces and proceeded to Jaffa with the count de Nevers, and a body of newly arrived crusaders, and co-operated with an army which the sultan of Damascus had sent into that neighbourhood to act against the Egyptians. In the mean time, Richard, earl of Cornwall, the brother of Henry III., king of England, having assumed the cross, arrived in Palestine, and proceeded with a small force of English pilgrims, knights, and foot soldiers, to the camp of the Templars at Jaffa. With this welcome reinforcement the Grand Master of the Temple marched at once upon Ascalon, re-constructed the castle and restored the fortifications to the state in which they were left by Richard Cœur de Lion. The Templars then endeavoured to obtain possession of their ancient fortress of Gaza, (ante, p. 49,) a place of very great importance. An invading army from the south could approach Jerusalem only by way of Gaza, or by taking a long and tedious route through the desert of Arabia Petræa, to Karac, and from thence to Hebron, by the southern extremity of the Dead Sea. The want of water and forage presented an insuperable obstacle to the march of a large body of forces in any other direction. Towards the close of autumn, the Templars marched against Gaza in conjunction with Saleh Ismael, sultan of Damascus; they drove out the Egyptians, and obtained possession of the dismantled fortifications. Large sums of money were expended in the re-construction of the walls of the castle, a strong garrison was established in the important post, and the Templars then marched upon Jerusalem.
The fortifications of the Holy City had been dismantled by Malek Kamel, at the period of the siege of Damietta, when alarmed at the military success of the Franks in Egypt, he was anxious to purchase the safety of the country by the cession of Jerusalem. The Templars, consequently, entered the Holy City without difficulty or resistance; the Mussulman population abandoned their dwellings on their approach, and the military friars once more entered the city of David, bare-footed and bare-headed, singing loud hymns and songs of triumph. They rushed to the church of the Resurrection, and fell prostrate on their knees before the shrine of the Holy Sepulchre; they ascended Mount Calvary, and visited the reputed scene of the crucifixion, and then hastened in martial array, and with sound of trumpet, through the forlorn and deserted streets of the city of Zion, to take possession of their ancient quarters on Mount Moriah.
The golden crescent was once more removed from the lofty pinnacle of the Temple of the Lord, or Mosque of Omar, and this Holy Mussulman house of prayer was once again surmounted by the glittering cross. The Temple of the Knights Templars or Mosque at Acsa, (ante, p. 12,) was again purified and re-consecrated, and its sombre halls and spacious areas were once more graced with the white, religious, and military habit of the knights of the Temple. The greater part of the old convent, adjoining the Temple, had been destroyed, as before mentioned, by the great Saladin, and the military friars were consequently obliged to pitch numerous tents in the spacious area for the accommodation of the brethren. The sound of the bell once more superseded the voice of the muezzin, “the exiled faith returned to its ancient sanctuary,” and the name of Jesus was again invoked in the high places and sanctuaries of Mahomet. The great court of the Mussulmen around the revered Mosque of Omar, called by them El Scham Schereef, “the noble retirement,” again rung with the tramp of the war-steed, and its solitudes were once more awakened with the voice of the trumpet.
Nothing could exceed the joy with which the intelligence of the re-occupation of Jerusalem was received throughout Palestine, and through all Christendom. The Hospitallers, now that the policy of the Templars had been crowned with success, and that Jerusalem had been regained, no longer opposed the treaty with the sultan of Damascus, but hastened to co-operate with them for the preservation of the Holy City, which had been so happily recovered. The patriarch returned to Jerusalem, (A. D. 1241,) with all his clergy; the churches were re-consecrated, and the Templars and Hospitallers emptied their treasuries in rebuilding the walls. The following account of these gratifying events was transmitted by brother Hermann de Perigord to the Master of the Temple at London. “Brother Hermann de Perigord, humble minister of the poor knights of the Temple, to his beloved brother in Christ Robert de Sandford, Preceptor in England, salvation through the Lord.
“Since it is our duty, whenever an opportunity offers, to make known to the brotherhood, by letters or by messengers, the state and prospects of the Holy Land, we hasten to inform you, that after our great successes against the sultan of Egypt, and Nasser, his supporter and abettor, the great persecutor of the Christians, whom we have unceasingly endeavoured with all our might to subdue, they were unwillingly compelled to treat with us concerning the establishment of a truce, promising us to restore to the followers of Jesus Christ all the territory on this side Jordan. We despatched certain of our brethren, noble and discreet personages, to Cairo, to have an interview with the sultan upon these matters. But the latter broke the promise which he had made to us, retaining in his own hands Gaza, St. Abraham, Naplous, Varan, and other places; he detained our messengers in custody for more than half a year, and endeavoured to amuse us with deceitful words and unmeaning propositions. But we, with the Divine assistance, were enabled to penetrate his craft and perfidy, and plainly saw that he had procured the truce with us that he might be enabled the more readily to subjugate to his cruel dominion the sultan of Damascus, and Nasser lord of Carac, and their territories; and then, when he had got possession of all the country surrounding our christian provinces, we plainly foresaw that he would break faith with us, after the custom of his unbelieving generation, and attack our poor Christianity on this side the sea, which in its present weak and feeble state would have been unable effectually to resist him.
“Having therefore deliberated, long and earnestly, upon these matters, we determined, with the advice of the bishops and some of the barons of the land, to break off at once with the sultan of Egypt, and enter into a treaty with the sultan of Damascus, and with Nasser lord of Carac, whereby all the country on this side Jordan, excepting St. Abraham, Naplous, and Bisan, has been surrendered to the christian worship; and, to the joy of angels and of men, the holy city of Jerusalem is now inhabited by Christians alone, all the Saracens being driven out. The holy places have been re-consecrated and purified by the prelates of the churches, and in those spots where the name of the Lord has not been invoked for fifty-six years, now, blessed be God, the divine mysteries are daily celebrated. To all the sacred places there is again free access to the faithful in Christ, nor is it to be doubted but that in this happy and prosperous condition we might long remain, if our Eastern Christians would from henceforth live in greater concord and unanimity. But, alas! opposition and contradiction, arising from envy and hatred, have impeded our efforts in the promotion of these and other advantages for the Holy Land. With the exception of the prelates of the churches, and a few of the barons, who afford us all the assistance in their power, the entire burthen of its defence rests upon our house alone. With the assistance of the sultan of Damascus, and the lord of Carac, we have obtained possession of the city of Gaza, situate on the confines of the territory of Jerusalem and the territory of Egypt. And as this important place commands the entrance from the latter country into the Holy Land, we have, by vast exertions, and at an enormous expense, and after having incurred great risk and danger, put it into a state of defence. But we are afraid that God will take heavy vengeance for past ingratitude, by punishing those who have been careless, and indifferent, and rebellious in the prosecution of these matters.
“For the safeguard and preservation of the holy territory, we propose to erect a fortified castle near Jerusalem, which will enable us the more easily to retain possession of the country, and to protect it against all enemies. But indeed we can in nowise defend for any great length of time the places that we hold, against the powerful and crafty sultan of Egypt, unless Christ and his faithful followers extend to us an efficacious support.”110
We must now refer to a few events connected with the English province of the order of the Temple.
Brother Geoffrey, who was Master of the Temple at London, at the period of the consecration of the Temple Church by Heraclius, patriarch of Jerusalem, died shortly after the capture of the Holy City by Saladin, and was succeeded by Brother Amaric de St. Maur, who is an attesting witness to the deed executed by king John, (A. D. 1203,) granting a dowry to his young queen, the beautiful Isabella of Angouleme. King John frequently resided in the Temple for weeks together, the writs to his lieutenants, sheriffs, and bailiffs, being dated therefrom. The orders for the concentration of the English fleet at Portsmouth, to resist the formidable French invasion instigated by the pope, are dated from the Temple at London, and the convention between the king and the count of Holland, whereby the latter agreed to assist King John with a body of knights and men-at-arms, in case of the landing of the French, was published at the same place. In all the conferences and negotiations between king John and the Roman pontiff, the Knights Templars took an active and distinguished part. Two brethren of the order were sent to him by Pandulph, the papal legate, to arrange that famous conference between them which ended in the complete submission of the king to all the demands of the holy see. By the advice and persuasion of the Templars, John repaired to the preceptory of Temple Ewell, near Dover, where he was met by the legate Pandulph, who crossed over from France to confer with him, and the mean-hearted king was there frightened into that celebrated resignation of the kingdoms of England and Ireland, “to God, to the holy apostles Peter and Paul, to the holy Roman church his mother, and to his lord, Pope Innocent the Third, and his catholic successors, for the remission of all his sins and the sins of all his people as well the living as the dead.” The following year, the commands of king John for the extirpation of the heretics in Gascony, addressed to the seneschal of that province, were issued from the Temple at London, and about the same period, the Templars were made the depositaries of various private and confidential matters pending between king John and his illustrious sister-in-law, “the royal, eloquent, and beauteous” Berengaria of Navarre, the youthful widowed queen of Richard Cœur de Lion. The Templars in England managed the money transactions of that fair princess. She directed her dower to be paid in the house of the New Temple at London, together with the arrears due to her from the king, amounting to several thousand pounds.
John was resident at the Temple when he was compelled by the barons of England to sign Magna Charta. Matthew Paris tells us that the barons came to him whilst he was residing in the New Temple at London, “in a very resolute manner, clothed in their military dresses, and demanded the liberties and laws of king Edward, with others for themselves, the kingdom, and the church of England.”111
Brother Amaric de St. Maur, the Master of the English province of the order, was succeeded by brother Alan Marcell, the friend and correspondent of the Grand Master Peter de Montaigu (ante p. 161). He was at the head of the order in England for the space of sixteen years, and was employed by king Henry the Third in various important negotiations. He was Master of the Temple at London, when Reginald, king of the island of Man, by the advice and persuasion of the legate Pandulph, made a solemn surrender at that place of his island to the pope and his catholic successors, and consented to hold the same from thenceforth as the feudatory of the church of Rome. On the 28th of April, A. D. 1224, the Master, Brother Alan Marcell, was employed by king Henry to negotiate a truce between himself and the king of France. The king of England appears at that time to have been resident at the Temple, the letters of credence being made out at that place, in the presence of the archbishop of Canterbury, several bishops, and Hubert, the chief justiciary. The year after, Alan Marcell was sent into Germany, to negotiate a treaty of marriage between king Henry and the daughter of the duke of Austria.112 Brother Alan Marcell was succeeded by Brother Amberaldus. The next Master of the English province was Robert Mounford, and he was followed by Robert Sanford (ante p. 56).
During the Mastership of Robert Sanford, on Ascension Day, A. D. 1240, the oblong portion of the Temple Church, which extendeth eastward from “THE ROUND,” was consecrated in the presence of king Henry the Third and all his court, and much of the nobility of the kingdom. This portion of the sacred edifice was of a lighter and more florid style of architecture than the earlier Round Church consecrated by the patriarch Heraclius (ante p. 46). The walls were pierced with numerous triple lancet windows filled with stained glass, and the floor was covered with tesselated pavement. The roof was supported by dark grey Purbeck marble columns, and the vaulted ceiling was decorated with the star of Bethlehem, and with ornaments of frosted silver placed on a blue ground. The extensive area of the church was open and unencumbered by pews, and the beauty of the columns and windows, the lively colours of the tiled floor, and the elegant proportions of the fabric were seen at a glance. After the consecration, the king made provision for the maintenance in the Temple of three chaplains, who were to say three masses daily for ever, one for the king himself, another for all christian people, and the third for the faithful departed.113
King Henry III. was one of the greatest of the benefactors of the order. He granted to the Templars the manors of Lilleston, Hechewayton, and Saunford, the wood of Carletone, Kingswood near Chippenhan, a messuage, and six bovates of land with their appurtenances in Great Lymburgh; a fair at Walnesford, in the county of Essex, every three years for three days, to commence on the anniversary of the beheading of St. John the Baptist; also annual fairs and weekly markets at Newburgh, Walnesford, Balsall, Kirkeby, and a variety of other places; he granted them free warren in all their demesne lands; and by his famous charter, dated the 9th day of February, in the eleventh year of his reign, he confirmed to them all the donations of his predecessors, and of their other benefactors, and conferred upon them vast privileges and immunities in the following pious and reverential terms.
“The king, &c., to all the archbishops, bishops, barons, &c. &c., to whom these presents shall come, salvation through the Lord. Be it known to you that we have granted and confirmed to God and the blessed Mary, and the brethren of the chivalry of the Temple of Solomon, all reasonable donations of lands, men, and eleemosynary gifts, bestowed on them by our predecessors, or by others in times past, or by ourselves at this present period, or which may be hereafter conferred on them by kings or by the liberality of subjects, or may be acquired, or be about to be acquired in any other manner, as well churches as worldly goods and possessions; wherefore we will and firmly command that the aforesaid brethren and their men may have and hold all their possessions and eleemosynary donations with all liberties and free customs and immunities, in wood and plain, in meadow and pasture, in water and water-mills, on highways and byeways, in ponds and running streams, in marshes and fisheries, in granges and broad acres, within burgh and without the burgh, with soc and sac, tol and theam, infangenethef and unfangenethef, and hamsoc and grithbrich, and blodwit and fictwit, and flictwit and ferdwite, and hengewite and lierwite, and flemenefrith, murder, robbery, forstall, ordel, oreste, in season and out of season, at all times and in all places, &c.
“We ordain, likewise, that the aforesaid brethren shall for ever hereafter be freed from royal aids, and sheriff’s aids, and officer’s aids, and from hidage and carucage, and danegeld and hornegeld, and from military and wapentake services, and scutages and lastages and stallages, shires and hundreds, pleas and quarrels, ward and wardpeny, and averpeni and hundredspeni, and borethalpeni and thethingepeni, and from the works of castles, parks, bridges, and inclosures; and from the duty of providing carriages and beasts of burthen, boats, and vessels, and from the building of royal houses, and all other works. And we prohibit all persons from taking timber from their woods and forests for such works, or for any other purposes whatever: neither shall their corn, nor the corn of their men, nor any of their goods, nor the goods of any belonging to them, be taken to fortify castles. We will also that they shall have free and full liberty to cut and fell timber whenever they please, in all their woods, for the use of their fraternity, without any let or hindrance whatever; and for doing so they shall not incur forfeiture or waste, or in any way be punishable by law. And all their lands, and the ground which they or their men have cleared of wood, and recovered from the forest, or which they may clear in time to come, with the assent of the king, we make quit and free for ever hereafter from waste regard, and view of foresters, and from all other customs. And we concede also to the aforesaid brethren the privilege of cutting down trees in all the woods they possess at present within the forest boundaries, and of clearing and bringing the land into cultivation without any license from our bailiffs, so that they may never at any time hereafter be in any way called to account by ourselves, or our heirs, or any of our bailiffs.
“We ordain, moreover, that the aforesaid brethren and their men shall be quit and free from every kind of toll in all markets and fairs, and upon crossing bridges, roads, and ferries, throughout the whole of our kingdom, and throughout all lands in which we are able to grant liberties; and all their markets, and the markets of their men, shall in like manner be quit and free from all toll. We grant and confirm also to the aforesaid brethren, that if any of their men be condemned to lose life or limb for crime, or shall have fled from justice, or have committed any offence for which he hath incurred forfeiture of his goods and chattels, the goods and chattels so forfeited shall belong to the aforesaid brethren, whether the cognizance of the offence belongeth to our court or to any other inferior court; and it shall be lawful for the aforesaid brethren, under such circumstances and in such cases, to put themselves in possession of the aforesaid goods and chattels at such time as our bailiffs would or ought to have seized them into our hands, had such goods and chattels belonged to ourselves, without the molestation or hindrance of the sheriffs or bailiffs, or any other persons whatever.
“We concede also to the aforesaid brethren, that animals called waif, lost by their owners, and found within the feud of the Templars, shall belong to the aforesaid brethren, unless they are followed by some one able and willing to prove that they are his own, and unless they shall be sought after and taken possession of by the owner within a moderate period of time, according to the custom of the country. And if any of the tenants of the aforesaid brethren shall happen to have incurred a forfeiture of his feud, it shall be lawful for the said brethren to take possession of the said feud, and hold the same, notwithstanding the law which concedes to ourselves the possession of the feud of fugitives and criminals, for the space of a year and a day. In like manner, if any of the men of the aforesaid brethren shall have incurred a fine to be paid to ourselves or to any of our bailiffs, under any process, or for any crime, or any other matter, the amercements of money shall be collected and brought in a purse to our exchequer, and there handed over to the aforesaid brethren; judgment of death and limb being always reserved to the royal authority.
“We moreover ordain, that if any of the liberties and privileges contained in this our charter shall happen to have been disused for a length of time, such disuse shall in no respect prejudice the right, but such liberty or privilege may be again exercised without contradiction, notwithstanding that it may have been discontinued and disused as aforesaid. And all the aforesaid things, and all other secular services and customs which are not included in this present writing, we, through love of God, and for the good of the soul of the lord king John, our father, and for the good of the souls of all our predecessors and successors, grant and confirm to them, as a perpetual alms-gift, with all liberties and free customs, as fully, freely, and effectually as the royal power can confer them upon any religious house. And we prohibit all persons, on pain of forfeiture, from proceeding against them or their men contrary to this our charter, for we have taken the aforesaid brethren, and all their goods, and possessions, and all their men, under our especial guardianship and protection. As witness the king, at Westminster, the 9th day of February, in the eleventh year of our reign.”114
By the royal grant of soc and sac, tol and theam, &c. &c., the Templars were clothed with the power of holding courts to impose and levy fines and amerciaments upon their tenants, to judge and punish their villeins and vassals – to take cognizance of quarrels and controversies that arose amongst them – to try thieves and malefactors belonging to their manors, and all foreign thieves taken within the precincts thereof – to try and punish trespasses and breaches of the peace, and all unlawful entries into the houses of their tenants – to impose and levy amerciaments for cutting and maiming, and for bloodshed – to judge and punish by fine or imprisonment the seducers of their bond women, and all persons who committed adultery and fornication within their manors. They had the power of trying criminals by ordeal, or the terrible test of fire and water; and they had, lastly, the tremendous privilege of pit or gallows, i. e. the power of putting convicted thieves to death, by hanging them if they were men, and drowning them if they were women! By the royal charter, the Templars were, in the next place, freed from the fine of right payable to the king for the hanging of thieves without a formal trial and judgment according to law; they were exempted from the taxes on pasture-lands, and plough-lands, and horned cattle; from the Danish tribute, and from all military services, and from all the ordinary feudal burthens.115