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The History of the Knights Templar

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Knight of Jerusalem
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« Reply #15 on: December 26, 2008, 02:11:23 am »

BERNARD DE
TREMELAY.
A.D. 1152.and shortly after his accession to power they crossed the Jordan, and advanced within sight of Jerusalem. Their yellow and green banners waved on the summit of the Mount of Olives, and the warlike sound of their kettle-drums and trumpets was heard within the sacred precincts of the holy city. They encamped on the mount over against the Temple; and had the satisfaction of regarding from a distance the Beit Allah, or Temple of the Lord, their holy house of prayer. In a night attack, however, they were defeated with terrible slaughter, and were pursued all the way to the Jordan, five thousand of their number being left dead on the plain. *

Shortly after this affair the Templars lost their great patron, Saint Bernard, who died on the 20th of April, A.D. 1153, in the sixty-third year of his age. On his deathbed he wrote three letters in behalf of the order. The first was addressed to the patriarch of Antioch, exhorting him to protect and encourage the Templars, a thing which the holy abbot assures him will prove most acceptable to God and man. The second was written to Melesinda, queen of Jerusalem, praising her majesty for the favour shown by her to the brethren of the order; and the third, addressed to Brother André de Montbard, a Knight Templar, conveys the affectionate salutations of St. Bernard to the Master and brethren, to whose prayers he recommends himself. †

The same year, at the siege of Ascalon, the Master of the Temple and his knights attempted alone and unaided to take that important city by storm. At the dawn of day they rushed through a breach made in the walls, and penetrated to the centre of the town. There they were surrounded by the infidels and overpowered, and, according to the testimony of an eye-witness, who was in the campaign from its commencement to its close,



 

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not a single Templar escaped: they were slain to a man, and the dead bodies of the Master and his ill-fated knights were exposed in triumph from the walls. *

BERTRAND DE
BLANQUEFORT
A.D. 1154.De Tremelay was succeeded (A.D. 1154) by Brother Bertrand de Blanquefort, a knight of a noble family of Guienne, called by William of Tyre a pious and God-fearing man.

The Templars continued to be the foremost in every encounter with the Mussulmen, and the Monkish writers exult in the number of infidels they sent to hell. A proportionate number of the fraternity must at the same time have ascended to heaven, for the slaughter amongst them was terrific. On Tuesday, June 19, A.D. 1156, they were drawn into an ambuscade whilst marching with Baldwin, king of Jerusalem, near Tiberias, three hundred of the brethren were slain on the field of battle, and eighty-seven fell into the hands of the enemy, among whom was Bertrand de Blanquefort himself, and Brother Odo, marshal of the kingdom. † Shortly afterwards, thirty Knights Templars put to flight, slaughtered, and captured, two hundred infidels; ‡ and in a night attack on the camp of Noureddin, they compelled that famous chieftain to fly, without arms and half-naked, from the field of battle. In this last affair the names of Robert Mansel, an Englishman, and Gilbert de Lacy, preceptor of the. Temple of Tripoli, are honourably mentioned. § The services of the Templars were gratefully acknowledged in Europe, and the Pope, in a letter written in their behalf to the Archbishop of Rheims, his legate in France, characterizes





p. 47

BERTRAND DE
BLANQUEFORT
A.D. 1154.them as "New Maccabees, far famed and most valiant champions of the Lord." "The assistance," says the Pope, "by those holy warriors to all Christendom, their zeal and valour, and untiring exertions in defending from the persecution and subtilty of the filthy Pagans, those sacred places which have been enlightened by the corporal presence of our Saviour, we doubt not have been spread abroad throughout the world, and are known, not only to the neighbouring nations, but to all those who dwell at the remotest corners of the earth." The holy pontiff exhorts the archbishop to procure for them all the succour possible, both in men and horses, and to exert himself in their favour among all his suffragan bishops. *

The fiery zeal and warlike enthusiasm of the Templars were equalled, if not surpassed, by the stern fanaticism and religious ardour of the followers of Mahomet. "Noureddin fought," says his oriental biographer, "like the meanest of his soldiers, saying, 'Alas! it is now a long time that I have been seeking martyrdom without being able to obtain it.' The Imaum Koteb-ed-din, hearing him on one occasion utter these words, exclaimed, 'In the name of God do not put your life in danger, do not thus expose Islam and the Moslems. Thou art their stay and support, and if (but God preserve us therefrom) thou shouldest be slain, it will be all up with us.' 'Ah! Koteb-ed-deen,' said he, 'what hast thou said, who can save Islam † and our country, but that great God who has no equal?' 'What,' said he, on another occasion, 'do we not look to the security of our houses against robbers and plunderers, and shall we not defend religion?'" ‡




p. 48

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