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Title: The History of the Knights Templars, the Temple Church, and the Temple

Author: C. G. Addison

Release date: January 17, 2012 [eBook #38593]
                Most recently updated: January 8, 2021

Language: English

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  THE HISTORY OF
  The Knights Templars,
  THE TEMPLE CHURCH, AND THE TEMPLE.


  BY CHARLES G. ADDISON, ESQ.
  OF THE INNER TEMPLE.


  [Illustration: TESTIS SVM AGNI.]


  LONDON:
  LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS,
  PATERNOSTER ROW.
  1842.




  LONDON:
  PRINTED BY G. J. PALMER, SAVOY STREET, STRAND.




  TO THE
  MASTERS OF THE BENCH OF THE HONOURABLE SOCIETIES
  OF THE
  Inner and Middle Temple,
  THE RESTORERS
  OF
  The Antient Church of the Knights Templars,
  THIS WORK
  IS
  RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
  BY
  THE AUTHOR.




PREFACE.


The extraordinary and romantic career of the Knights Templars, their
exploits and their misfortunes, render their history a subject of peculiar
interest.

Born during the first fervour of the Crusades, they were flattered and
aggrandized as long as their great military power and religious fanaticism
could be made available for the support of the Eastern church and the
retention of the Holy Land, but when the crescent had ultimately triumphed
over the cross, and the religio-military enthusiasm of Christendom had
died away, they encountered the basest ingratitude in return for the
services they had rendered to the christian faith, and were plundered,
persecuted, and condemned to a cruel death, by those who ought in justice
to have been their defenders and supporters. The memory of these holy
warriors is embalmed in all our recollections of the wars of the cross;
they were the bulwarks of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem during the short
period of its existence, and were the last band of Europe's host that
contended for the possession of Palestine.

To the vows of the monk and the austere life of the convent, the Templars
added the discipline of the camp, and the stern duties of the military
life, joining

  "The fine vocation of the sword and lance,
  With the gross aims, and body-bending toil
  Of a poor brotherhood, who walk the earth
  Pitied."

The vulgar notion that the Templars were as _wicked_ as they were fearless
and brave, has not yet been entirely exploded; but it is hoped that the
copious account of the proceedings against the order in this country,
given in the ninth and tenth chapters of the ensuing volume, will tend to
dispel many unfounded prejudices still entertained against the fraternity,
and excite emotions of admiration for their constancy and courage, and of
pity for their unmerited and cruel fate.

Matthew Paris, who wrote at _St. Albans_, concerning events in
_Palestine_, tells us that the emulation between the Templars and
Hospitallers frequently broke out into open warfare to the great scandal
and prejudice of Christendom, and that, in a pitched battle fought between
them, the Templars were slain to a man. The solitary testimony of Matthew
Paris, who was no friend to the two orders, is invalidated by the silence
of contemporary historians, who wrote on the spot; and it is quite evident
from the letters of the pope, addressed to the Hospitallers, the year
after the date of the alleged battle, that such an occurrence never could
have taken place.

The accounts, even of the best of the antient writers, should not be
adopted without examination, and a careful comparison with other sources
of information. William of Tyre, for instance, tells us that
_Nassr-ed-deen_, son of sultan _Abbas_, was taken prisoner by the
Templars, and whilst in their hands became a convert to the Christian
religion; that he had learned the rudiments of the Latin language, and
earnestly sought to be baptized, but that the Templars were bribed with
sixty thousand pieces of gold to surrender him to his enemies in Egypt,
where certain death awaited him; and that they stood by to see him bound
hand and foot with chains, and placed in an iron cage, to be conducted
across the desert to Cairo. Now the Arabian historians of that period tell
us that _Nassr-ed-deen_ and his father murdered the caliph and threw his
body into a well, and then fled with their retainers and treasure into
Palestine; that the sister of the murdered caliph wrote immediately to the
commandant at Gaza, which place was garrisoned by the Knights Templars,
offering a handsome reward for the capture of the fugitives; that they
were accordingly intercepted, and _Nassr-ed-deen_ was sent to Cairo, where
the female relations of the caliph caused his body to be cut into small
pieces in the seraglio. The above act has constantly been made a matter of
grave accusation against the Templars; but what a different complexion
does the case assume on the testimony of the Arabian authorities!

It must be remembered that William archbishop of Tyre was hostile to the
order on account of its vast powers and privileges, and carried his
complaints to a general council of the church at Rome. He is abandoned, in
everything that he says to the prejudice of the fraternity, by James of
Vitry, bishop of Acre, a learned and most talented prelate, who wrote in
Palestine subsequently to William of Tyre, and has copied largely from the
history of the latter. The bishop of Acre speaks of the Templars in the
highest terms, and declares that they were universally loved by all men
for their piety and humility. "_Nulli molesti erant!_" says he, "_sed ab
omnibus propter humilitatem et religionem amabantur._"

The celebrated orientalist _Von Hammer_ has recently brought forward
various extraordinary and unfounded charges, destitute of all authority,
against the Templars; and _Wilcke_, who has written a German history of
the order, seems to have imbibed all the vulgar prejudices against the
fraternity. I might have added to the interest of the ensuing work, by
making the Templars horrible and atrocious villains; but I have
endeavoured to write a fair and impartial account of the order, not
slavishly adopting everything I find detailed in antient writers, but such
matters only as I believe, after a careful examination of the best
authorities, to be _true_.

It is a subject of congratulation to us that we possess, in the Temple
Church at London, the most beautiful and perfect memorial of the order of
the Knights Templars now in existence. No one who has seen that building
in its late dress of plaster and whitewash will recognize it when restored
to its antient magnificence. This venerable structure was one of the chief
ecclesiastical edifices of the Knights Templars in Europe, and stood next
in rank to the Temple at Jerusalem. As I have performed the pilgrimage to
the Holy City, and wandered amid the courts of the antient Temple of the
Knights Templars on Mount Moriah, I could not but regard with more than
ordinary interest the restoration by the societies of the Inner and the
Middle Temple of their beautiful Temple Church.

The greatest zeal and energy have been displayed by them in that
praiseworthy undertaking, and no expense has been spared to repair the
ravages of time, and to bring back the structure to _what it was_ in the
time of the Templars.

In the summer I had the pleasure of accompanying one of the chief and most
enthusiastic promoters of the restoration of the church (Mr. Burge, Q.C.)
over the interesting fabric, and at his suggestion the present work was
commenced. I am afraid that it will hardly answer his expectations, and am
sorry that the interesting task has not been undertaken by an abler hand.

Temple, Nov. 17, 1841.

P.S. Mr. Willement, who is preparing some exquisitely stained glass
windows for the Temple Church, has just drawn my attention to the
nineteenth volume of the "MÉMOIRES DE LA SOCIÉTÉ ROYALE DES ANTIQUAIRES DE
FRANCE," published last year. It contains a most curious and interesting
account of the church of Brelevennez, in the department des Cotes-du-Nord,
supposed to have formerly belonged to the order of the Temple, written by
the Chevalier du FREMANVILLE. Amongst various curious devices, crosses,
and symbols found upon the windows and the tombs of the church, is a
copper medallion, which appears to have been suspended from the neck by a
chain. This decoration consists of a small circle, within which are
inscribed two equilateral triangles placed one upon the other, so as to
form a six-pointed star. In the midst of the star is a second circle,
containing within it the LAMB of the order of the Temple holding the
banner in its fore-paw, similar to what we see on the antient seal of the
order delineated in the title-page of this work. Mr. Willement has
informed me that he has received an offer from a gentleman in Brittany to
send over casts of the decorations and devices lately discovered in that
church. He has kindly referred the letter to me for consideration, but I
have not thought it advisable to delay the publication of the present work
for the purpose of procuring them.

Mr. Willement has also drawn my attention to a very distinct impression of
the reverse of the seal of the Temple described in page 106, whereon I
read very plainly the interesting motto, "TESTIS SVM AGNI."




CONTENTS.


  CHAPTER I.

  Origin of the Templars--The pilgrimages to Jerusalem--The
  dangers to which pilgrims were exposed--The formation of the
  brotherhood of the poor fellow-soldiers of Jesus Christ to
  protect them--Their location in the Temple--A description of
  the Temple--Origin of the name Templars--Hugh de Payens
  chosen Master of the Temple--Is sent to Europe by King
  Baldwin--Is introduced to the Pope--The assembling of the
  Council of Troyes--The formation of a rule for the government
  of the Templars                                                 _Page_ 1


  CHAPTER II.

  Regula Pauperum Commilitonum Christi et Templi Salomonis.

  The most curious parts of the rule displayed--The confirmation
  of the rule by the Pope--The visit of Hugh de Payens, the
  Master of the Temple, to England--His cordial reception--The
  foundation of the Order in this country--Lands and money
  granted to the Templars--Their popularity in Europe--The rapid
  increase of their fraternity--St. Bernard takes up the pen in
  their behalf--He displays their valour and piety                      15


  CHAPTER III.

  Hugh de Payens returns to Palestine--His death--Robert de
  Craon made Master--Success of the Infidels--The second
  Crusade--The Templars assume the Red Cross--Their gallant
  actions and high discipline--Lands, manors, and churches
  granted them in England--Bernard de Tremelay made Master--He
  is slain by the Infidels--Bertrand de Blanquefort made
  Master--He is taken prisoner, and sent in chains to Aleppo--
  The Pope writes letters in praise of the Templars--Their
  religious and military enthusiasm--Their war banner called
  _Beauseant_--The rise of the rival religio-military order of
  the Hospital of St. John                                              36


  CHAPTER IV.

  The contests between Saladin and the Templars--The vast
  privileges of the Templars--The publication of the bull, _omne
  datum optimum_--The Pope declares himself the immediate Bishop
  of the entire Order--The different classes of Templars--The
  knights--Priests--Serving brethren--The hired soldiers--The
  great officers of the Temple--Punishment of cowardice--The
  Master of the Temple is taken prisoner, and dies in a
  dungeon--Saladin's great successes--The Christians purchase a
  truce--The Master of the Temple and the Patriarch Heraclius
  proceed to England for succour--The consecration of the TEMPLE
  CHURCH at LONDON                                                      60


  CHAPTER V.

  The Temple at London--The vast possessions of the Templars in
  England--The territorial divisions of the order--The different
  preceptories in this country--The privileges conferred on the
  Templars by the kings of England--The Masters of the Temple at
  London--Their power and importance                                    81


  CHAPTER VI.

  The Patriarch Heraclius quarrels with the king of England--He
  returns to Palestine without succour--The disappointments and
  gloomy forebodings of the Templars--They prepare to resist
  Saladin--Their defeat and slaughter--The valiant deeds of the
  Marshal of the Temple--The fatal battle of Tiberias--The
  captivity of the Grand Master and the true Cross--The captive
  Templars are offered the Koran or death--They choose the
  latter, and are beheaded--The fall of Jerusalem--The Moslems
  take possession of the Temple--They purify it with rose-water,
  say prayers, and hear a sermon--The Templars retire to
  Antioch--Their letters to the king of England and the Master
  of the Temple at London--Their exploits at the siege of Acre         114


  CHAPTER VII.

  Richard Coeur de Lion joins the Templars before Acre--The city
  surrenders, and the Templars establish the chief house of
  their order within it--Coeur de Lion takes up his abode with
  them--He sells to them the island of Cyprus--The Templars form
  the van of his army--Their foraging expeditions and great
  exploits--Coeur de Lion quits the Holy Land in the disguise of
  a Knight Templar--The Templars build the Pilgrim's Castle in
  Palestine--The state of the order in England--King John
  resides in the Temple at London--The barons come to him at
  that place, and demand MAGNA CHARTA--The exploits of the
  Templars in Egypt--The letters of the Grand Master to the
  Master of the Temple at London--The Templars reconquer
  Jerusalem                                                            141


  CHAPTER VIII.

  The conquest of Jerusalem by the Carizmians--The slaughter of
  the Templars, and the death of the Grand Master--The exploits
  of the Templars in Egypt--King Louis of France visits the
  Templars in Palestine--He assists them in putting the country
  into a defensible state--Henry II., king of England, visits
  the Temple at Paris--The magnificent hospitality of the
  Templars in England and France--Benocdar, sultan of Egypt,
  invades Palestine--He defeats the Templars, takes their strong
  fortresses, and decapitates six hundred of their brethren--The
  Grand Master comes to England for succour--The renewal of the
  war--The fall of Acre, and the final extinction of the
  Templars in Palestine                                                165


  CHAPTER IX.

  The downfall of the Templars--The cause thereof--The Grand
  Master comes to Europe at the request of the Pope--He is
  imprisoned, with all the Templars in France, by command of
  king Philip--They are put to the torture, and confessions of
  the guilt of heresy and idolatry are extracted from them--
  Edward II. king of England stands up in defence of the
  Templars, but afterwards persecutes them at the instance of
  the Pope--The imprisonment of the Master of the Temple and
  all his brethren in England--Their examination upon
  eighty-seven horrible and ridiculous articles of accusation
  before foreign inquisitors appointed by the Pope--A council
  of the church assembles at London to pass sentence upon
  them--The curious evidence adduced as to the mode of admission
  into the order, and of the customs and observances of the
  fraternity                                                           193


  CHAPTER X.

  The Templars in France revoke their rack-extorted
  confessions--They are tried as relapsed heretics, and burnt at
  the stake--The progress of the inquiry in England--The curious
  evidence adduced as to the mode of holding the chapters of the
  order--As to the penance enjoined therein, and the absolution
  pronounced by the Master--The Templars draw up a written
  defence, which they present to the ecclesiastical council--
  They are placed in separate dungeons, and put to the torture--
  Two serving brethren and a chaplain of the order then make
  confessions--Many other Templars acknowledge themselves guilty
  of heresy in respect of their belief in the religious
  authority of their Master--They make their recantations, and
  are reconciled to the church before the south door of Saint
  Paul's cathedral--The order of the Temple is abolished by the
  Pope--The last of the Masters of the Temple in England dies in
  the Tower--The disposal of the property of the order--
  Observations on the downfall of the Templars                         239


  CHAPTER XI.

  THE TEMPLE CHURCH.

  The restoration of the Temple Church--The beauty and
  magnificence of the venerable building--The various styles of
  architecture displayed in it--The discoveries made during the
  recent restoration--The sacrarium--The marble piscina--The
  sacramental niches--The penitential cell--The ancient Chapel
  of St. Anne--Historical matters connected with the Temple
  Church--The holy relics anciently preserved therein--The
  interesting monumental remains                                       289


  CHAPTER XII.

  THE TEMPLE CHURCH.

  THE MONUMENTS OF THE CRUSADERS--The tomb and effigy of Sir
  Geoffrey de Magnaville, earl of Essex, and constable of the
  Tower--His life and death, and famous exploits--Of William
  Marshall, earl of Pembroke, Protector of England--Of the Lord
  de Ross--Of William and Gilbert Marshall, earls of Pembroke--
  Of William Plantagenet, fifth son of Henry the Third--The
  anxious desire manifested by king Henry the Third, queen
  Eleanor, and various persons of rank, to be buried in the
  Temple Church                                                        309


  CHAPTER XIII.

  THE TEMPLE.

  Antiquities in the Temple--The history of the place subsequent
  to the dissolution of the order of the Knights Templars--The
  establishment of a society of lawyers in the Temple--The
  antiquity of this society--Its connexion with the antient
  society of the Knights Templars--An order of knights and
  serving brethren established in the law--The degree of _frere
  serjen_, or _frater serviens_, borrowed from the antient
  Templars--The modern Templars divide themselves into the two
  societies of the Inner and Middle Temple                             342


  CHAPTER XIV.

  THE TEMPLE.

  The Temple Garden--The erection of new buildings in the
  Temple--The dissolution of the order of the Hospital of Saint
  John--The law societies become lessees of the crown--The
  erection of the magnificent Middle Temple Hall--The conversion
  of the old hall into chambers--The grant of the inheritance of
  the Temple to the two law societies--Their magnificent present
  to his Majesty--Their antient orders and customs, and antient
  hospitality--Their grand entertainments--Reader's feasts--
  Grand Christmasses and Revels--The fox-hunt in the hall--The
  dispute with the Lord Mayor--The quarrel with the _custos_ of
  the Temple Church                                                    373




ERRATA.


  In note, page 6, _for_ infinitus, _read_ infinitis.
               29, _for_ carrissime, _read_ carissime.
               42, _for_ Angli, _read_ Anglia.
               79, _for_ promptia, _read_ promptior.
               79, _for_ principos, _read_ principes.
               80, _for_ Patriarcha, _read_ patriarcham.




THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS.




CHAPTER I.

    Origin of the Templars--The pilgrimages to Jerusalem--The dangers to
    which pilgrims were exposed--The formation of the brotherhood of the
    poor fellow-soldiers of Jesus Christ to protect them--Their location
    in the Temple--A description of the Temple--Origin of the name
    Templars--Hugh de Payens chosen Master of the Temple--Is sent to
    Europe by King Baldwin--Is introduced to the Pope--The assembling of
    the Council of Troyes--The formation of a rule for the government of
    the Templars.

    "Yet 'midst her towering fanes in ruin laid,
    The pilgrim saint his murmuring vespers paid;
    'Twas his to mount the tufted rocks, and rove
    The chequer'd twilight of the olive-grove:
    'Twas his to bend beneath the sacred gloom,
    And wear with many a kiss Messiah's tomb."


The extraordinary and romantic institution of the Knights Templars, those
military friars who so strangely blended the character of the monk with
that of the soldier, took its origin in the following manner:--

On the miraculous discovery of the Holy sepulchre by the Empress Helena,
the mother of Constantine, about 298 years after the death of Christ, and
the consequent erection, by command of the first christian emperor, of
the magnificent church of the Resurrection, or, as it is now called, the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, over the sacred monument, the tide of
pilgrimage set in towards Jerusalem, and went on increasing in strength as
Christianity gradually spread throughout Europe. On the surrender of the
Holy City to the victorious Arabians, (A. D. 637,) the privileges and the
security of the christian population were provided for in the following
guarantee, given under the hand and seal of the Caliph Omar to Sophronius
the Patriarch.

"From OMAR EBNO 'L ALCHITAB to the inhabitants of ÆLIA."

"They shall be protected and secured both in their lives and fortunes, and
their churches shall neither be pulled down nor made use of by any but
themselves."[1]

Under the government of the Arabians, the pilgrimages continued steadily
to increase; the old and the young, women and children, flocked in crowds
to Jerusalem, and in the year 1064 the Holy Sepulchre was visited by an
enthusiastic band of seven thousand pilgrims, headed by the Archbishop of
Mentz and the Bishops of Utrecht, Bamberg, and Ratisbon.[2] The year
following, however, Jerusalem was conquered by the wild Turcomans. Three
thousand of the citizens were indiscriminately massacred, and the
hereditary command over the Holy City and territory was confided to the
Emir Ortok, the chief of a savage pastoral tribe.

Under the iron yoke of these fierce Northern strangers, the Christians
were fearfully oppressed; they were driven from their churches; divine
worship was ridiculed and interrupted; and the patriarch of the Holy City
was dragged by the hair of his head over the sacred pavement of the church
of the Resurrection, and cast into a dungeon, to extort a ransom from the
sympathy of his flock. The pilgrims who, through innumerable perils, had
reached the gates of the Holy City, were plundered, imprisoned, and
frequently massacred; an _aureus_, or piece of gold, was exacted as the
price of admission to the holy sepulchre, and many, unable to pay the tax,
were driven by the swords of the Turcomans from the very threshold of the
object of all their hopes, the bourne of their long pilgrimage, and were
compelled to retrace their weary steps in sorrow and anguish to their
distant homes.[3] The melancholy intelligence of the profanation of the
holy places, and of the oppression and cruelty of the Turcomans, aroused
the religious chivalry of Christendom; "a nerve was touched of exquisite
feeling, and the sensation vibrated to the heart of Europe."

Then arose the wild enthusiasm of the crusades; men of all ranks, and even
monks and priests, animated by the exhortations of the pope and the
preachings of Peter the Hermit, flew to arms, and enthusiastically
undertook "the pious and glorious enterprize" of rescuing the holy
sepulchre of Christ from the foul abominations of the heathen.

When intelligence of the capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders (A. D.
1099) had been conveyed to Europe, the zeal of pilgrimage blazed forth
with increased fierceness; it had gathered intensity from the interval of
its suppression by the wild Turcomans, and promiscuous crowds of both
sexes, old men and children, virgins and matrons, thinking the road then
open and the journey practicable, successively pressed forwards towards
the Holy City, with the passionate desire of contemplating the original
monuments of the Redemption.[4] The infidels had indeed been driven out
of Jerusalem, but not out of Palestine. The lofty mountains bordering the
sea-coast were infested by bold and warlike bands of fugitive Mussulmen,
who maintained themselves in various impregnable castles and strongholds,
from whence they issued forth upon the high-roads, cut off the
communication between Jerusalem and the sea-ports, and revenged themselves
for the loss of their habitations and property by the indiscriminate
pillage of all travellers. The Bedouin horsemen, moreover, making rapid
incursions from beyond the Jordan, frequently kept up a desultory and
irregular warfare in the plains; and the pilgrims, consequently, whether
they approached the Holy City by land or by sea, were alike exposed to
almost daily hostility, to plunder, and to death.

To alleviate the dangers and distresses to which these pious enthusiasts
were exposed, to guard the honour of the saintly virgins and matrons,[5]
and to protect the gray hairs of the venerable palmer, nine noble knights
formed a holy brotherhood in arms, and entered into a solemn compact to
aid one another in clearing the highways of infidels, and of robbers, and
in protecting the pilgrims through the passes and defiles of the mountains
to the Holy City. Warmed with the religious and military fervour of the
day, and animated by the sacredness of the cause to which they had devoted
their swords, they called themselves the _Poor Fellow-soldiers of Jesus
Christ_. They renounced the world and its pleasures, and in the holy
church of the Resurrection, in the presence of the patriarch of Jerusalem,
they embraced vows of perpetual chastity, obedience, and poverty, after
the manner of monks.[6] Uniting in themselves the two most popular
qualities of the age, devotion and valour, and exercising them in the most
popular of all enterprises, the protection of the pilgrims and of the road
to the holy sepulchre, they speedily acquired a vast reputation and a
splendid renown.

At first, we are told, they had no church and no particular place of
abode, but in the year of our Lord 1118, (nineteen years after the
conquest of Jerusalem by the Crusaders,) they had rendered such good and
acceptable service to the Christians, that Baldwin the Second, king of
Jerusalem, granted them a place of habitation within the sacred inclosure
of the Temple on Mount Moriah, amid those holy and magnificent structures,
partly erected by the christian Emperor Justinian, and partly built by the
Caliph Omar, which were then exhibited by the monks and priests of
Jerusalem, whose restless zeal led them to practise on the credulity of
the pilgrims, and to multiply relics and all objects likely to be sacred
in their eyes, as the _Temple of Solomon_, whence the Poor Fellow-soldiers
of Jesus Christ came thenceforth to be known by the name of "_the
Knighthood of the Temple of Solomon_."[7]

A few remarks in elucidation of the name Templars, or Knights of the
Temple, may not be altogether unacceptable.

By the Mussulmen, the site of the great Jewish temple on Mount Moriah has
always been regarded with peculiar veneration. Mahomet, in the first year
of the publication of the Koran, directed his followers, when at prayer,
to turn their faces towards it, and pilgrimages have constantly been made
to the holy spot by devout Moslems. On the conquest of Jerusalem by the
Arabians, it was the first care of the Caliph Omar to rebuild "the Temple
of the Lord." Assisted by the principal chieftains of his army, the
Commander of the Faithful undertook the pious office of clearing the
ground with his own hands, and of tracing out the foundations of the
magnificent mosque which now crowns with its dark and swelling dome the
elevated summit of Mount Moriah.[8]

This great house of prayer, the most holy Mussulman Temple in the world
after that of Mecca, is erected over the spot where "Solomon began to
build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord
appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in
the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite." It remains to this day in a
state of perfect preservation, and is one of the finest specimens of
Saracenic architecture in existence. It is entered by four spacious
doorways, each door facing one of the cardinal points; the _Bab el
D'jannat_, or gate of the garden, on the north; the _Bab el Kebla_, or
gate of prayer, on the south; the _Bab ib'n el Daoud_, or the gate of the
son of David, on the east; and the _Bab el Garbi_, on the west. By the
Arabian geographers it is called _Beit Allah_, the house of God, also
_Beit Almokaddas_, or _Beit Almacdes_, the holy house. From it Jerusalem
derives its Arabic name, _el Kods_, the holy, _el Schereef_, the noble,
and _el Mobarek_, the blessed; while the governors of the city, instead of
the customary high-sounding titles of sovereignty and dominion, take the
simple title of _Hami_, or protectors.

On the conquest of Jerusalem by the crusaders, the crescent was torn down
from the summit of this famous Mussulman Temple, and was replaced by an
immense golden cross, and the edifice was then consecrated to the services
of the christian religion, but retained its simple appellation of "The
Temple of the Lord." William, Archbishop of Tyre and Chancellor of the
Kingdom of Jerusalem, gives an interesting account of this famous edifice
as it existed in his time, during the Latin dominion. He speaks of the
splendid mosaic work, of the Arabic characters setting forth the name of
the founder, and the cost of the undertaking, and of the famous rock under
the centre of the dome, which is to this day shown by the Moslems as the
spot whereon the destroying angel stood, "with his drawn sword in his hand
stretched out over Jerusalem."[9] This rock he informs us was left
exposed and uncovered for the space of fifteen years after the conquest of
the holy city by the crusaders, but was, after that period, cased with a
handsome altar of white marble, upon which the priests daily said mass.

To the south of this holy Mussulman temple, on the extreme edge of the
summit of Mount Moriah, and resting against the modern walls of the town
of Jerusalem, stands the venerable christian church of the Virgin, erected
by the Emperor Justinian, whose stupendous foundations, remaining to this
day, fully justify the astonishing description given of the building by
Procopius. That writer informs us that in order to get a level surface for
the erection of the edifice, it was necessary, on the east and south sides
of the hill, to raise up a wall of masonry from the valley below, and to
construct a vast foundation, partly composed of solid stone and partly of
arches and pillars. The stones were of such magnitude, that each block
required to be transported in a truck drawn by forty of the emperor's
strongest oxen; and to admit of the passage of these trucks it was
necessary to widen the roads leading to Jerusalem. The forests of Lebanon
yielded their choicest cedars for the timbers of the roof, and a quarry of
variegated marble, seasonably discovered in the adjoining mountains,
furnished the edifice with superb marble columns.[10] The interior of this
interesting structure, which still remains at Jerusalem, after a lapse of
more than thirteen centuries, in an excellent state of preservation, is
adorned with six rows of columns, from whence spring arches supporting the
cedar beams and timbers of the roof; and at the end of the building is a
round tower, surmounted by a dome. The vast stones, the walls of masonry,
and the subterranean colonnade raised to support the south-east angle of
the platform whereon the church is erected, are truly wonderful, and may
still be seen by penetrating through a small door, and descending several
flights of steps at the south-east corner of the inclosure. Adjoining the
sacred edifice, the emperor erected hospitals, or houses of refuge, for
travellers, sick people, and mendicants of all nations; the foundations
whereof, composed of handsome Roman masonry, are still visible on either
side of the southern end of the building.

On the conquest of Jerusalem by the Moslems, this venerable church was
converted into a mosque, and was called _D'jamé al Acsa_; it was enclosed,
together with the great Mussulman Temple of the Lord erected by the Caliph
Omar, within a large area by a high stone wall, which runs around the edge
of the summit of Mount Moriah, and guards from the profane tread of the
unbeliever the whole of that sacred ground whereon once stood the gorgeous
temple of the wisest of kings.[11]

When the Holy City was taken by the crusaders, the _D'jamé al Acsa_, with
the various buildings constructed around it, became the property of the
kings of Jerusalem; and is denominated by William of Tyre "the palace," or
"royal house to the south of the Temple of the Lord, vulgarly called _the
Temple of Solomon_."[12] It was this edifice or temple on Mount Moriah
which was appropriated to the use of the poor fellow-soldiers of Jesus
Christ, as they had no _church_ and no particular place of abode, and
from it they derived their name of Knights Templars.[13]

James of Vitry, Bishop of Acre, who gives an interesting account of the
holy places, thus speaks of the Temple of the Knights Templars. "There is,
moreover, at Jerusalem another temple of immense spaciousness and extent,
from which the brethren of the knighthood of the Temple derive their name
of Templars, which is called the Temple of Solomon, perhaps to distinguish
it from the one above described, which is specially called the Temple of
the Lord."[14] He moreover informs us in his oriental history, that "in
the Temple of the Lord there is an abbot and canons regular; and be it
known that the one is the Temple of the _Lord_, and the other the Temple
of the _Chivalry_. These are _clerks_, the others are _knights_."[15]

The canons of the Temple of the Lord conceded to the poor fellow-soldiers
of Jesus Christ the large court extending between that building and the
Temple of Solomon; the king, the patriarch, and the prelates of Jerusalem,
and the barons of the Latin kingdom, assigned them various gifts and
revenues for their maintenance and support,[16] and the order being now
settled in a regular place of abode, the knights soon began to entertain
more extended views, and to seek a larger theatre for the exercise of
their holy profession.

Their first aim and object had been, as before mentioned, simply to
protect the poor pilgrims, on their journey backwards and forwards, from
the sea-coast to Jerusalem;[17] but as the hostile tribes of Mussulmen,
which everywhere surrounded the Latin kingdom, were gradually recovering
from the stupifying terror into which they had been plunged by the
successful and exterminating warfare of the first crusaders, and were
assuming an aggressive and threatening attitude, it was determined that
the holy warriors of the Temple should, in addition to the protection of
pilgrims, make the defence of the christian kingdom of Jerusalem, of the
eastern church, and of all the holy places, a part of their particular
profession.

The two most distinguished members of the fraternity were Hugh de Payens
and Geoffrey de St. Aldemar, or St. Omer, two valiant soldiers of the
cross, who had fought with great credit and renown at the siege of
Jerusalem. Hugh de Payens was chosen by the knights to be the superior of
the new religious and military society, by the title of "The Master of the
Temple;" and he has, consequently, generally been called the founder of
the order.

The name and reputation of the Knights _Templars_ speedily spread
throughout Europe, and various illustrious pilgrims from the far west
aspired to become members of the holy fraternity. Among these was Fulk,
Count of Anjou, who joined the society as a married brother, (A. D. 1120,)
and annually remitted the order thirty pounds of silver. Baldwin, king of
Jerusalem, foreseeing that great advantages would accrue to the Latin
kingdom by the increase of the power and numbers of these holy warriors,
exerted himself to extend the order throughout all Christendom, so that he
might, by means of so politic an institution, keep alive the holy
enthusiasm of the west, and draw a constant succour from the bold and
warlike races of Europe for the support of his christian throne and
kingdom.

St. Bernard, the holy abbot of Clairvaux, had been a great admirer of the
Templars. He wrote a letter to the Count of Champagne, on his entering the
order, (A. D. 1123,) praising the act as one of eminent merit in the sight
of God; and it was determined to enlist the all-powerful influence of this
great ecclesiastic in favour of the fraternity. "By a vow of poverty and
penance, by closing his eyes against the visible world, by the refusal of
all ecclesiastical dignities, the Abbot of Clairvaux became the oracle of
Europe, and the founder of one hundred and sixty convents. Princes and
pontiffs trembled at the freedom of his apostolical censures: France,
England, and Milan, consulted and obeyed his judgment in a schism of the
church: the debt was repaid by the gratitude of Innocent the Second; and
his successor, Eugenius the Third, was the friend and disciple of the holy
St. Bernard."[18]

To this learned and devout prelate two knights templars were despatched
with the following letter:

"Baldwin, by the grace of the Lord JESUS CHRIST, King of Jerusalem, and
Prince of Antioch, to the venerable Father Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux,
health and regard.

"The Brothers of the Temple, whom the Lord hath deigned to raise up, and
whom by an especial Providence he preserves for the defence of this
kingdom, desiring to obtain from the Holy See the confirmation of their
institution, and a rule for their particular guidance, we have determined
to send to you the two knights, Andrew and Gondemar, men as much
distinguished by their military exploits as by the splendour of their
birth, to obtain from the Pope the approbation of their order, and to
dispose his holiness to send succour and subsidies against the enemies of
the faith, reunited in their design to destroy us, and to invade our
christian territories.

"Well knowing the weight of your mediation with God and his vicar upon
earth, as well as with the princes and powers of Europe, we have thought
fit to confide to you these two important matters, whose successful issue
cannot be otherwise than most agreeable to ourselves. The statutes we ask
of you should be so ordered and arranged as to be reconcilable with the
tumult of the camp and the profession of arms; they must, in fact, be of
such a nature as to obtain favour and popularity with the christian
princes.

"Do you then so manage, that we may, through you, have the happiness of
seeing this important affair brought to a successful issue, and address
for us to heaven the incense of your prayers."[19]

Soon after the above letter had been despatched to St. Bernard, Hugh de
Payens himself proceeded to Rome, accompanied by Geoffrey de St. Aldemar,
and four other brothers of the order, viz. Brother Payen de Montdidier,
Brother Gorall, Brother Geoffrey Bisol, and Brother Archambauld de St.
Amand. They were received with great honour and distinction by Pope
Honorius, who warmly approved of the objects and designs of the holy
fraternity. St. Bernard had, in the mean time, taken the affair greatly to
heart; he negotiated with the Pope, the legate, and the bishops of France,
and obtained the convocation of a great ecclesiastical council at Troyes,
(A. D. 1128,) which Hugh de Payens and his brethren were invited to
attend. This council consisted of several archbishops, bishops, and
abbots, among which last was St. Bernard himself. The rules to which the
Templars had subjected themselves were there described by the master, and
to the holy Abbot of Clairvaux was confided the task of revising and
correcting these rules, and of framing a code of statutes fit and proper
for the governance of the great religious and military fraternity of the
Temple.




CHAPTER II.

Regula Pauperum Commilitonum Christi et Templi Salomonis.[20]

    The most curious parts of the rule displayed--The confirmation of the
    rule by the Pope--The visit of Hugh de Payens, the Master of the
    Temple, to England--His cordial reception--The foundation of the Order
    in this country--Lands and money granted to the Templars--Their
    popularity in Europe--The rapid increase of their fraternity--St.
    Bernard takes up the pen in their behalf--He displays their valour and
    piety.

    "Parmi les contradictions qui entrent dans le gouvernement de ce monde
    ce n'en est pas un petite que cette institution de _moines armées_ qui
    font voeu de vivre là a fois en _anachoretes_ et en
    _soldats_."--_Voltaire sur les Moeurs et l'Esprit des Nations._


"THE RULE OF THE POOR FELLOW-SOLDIERS OF JESUS CHRIST AND OF THE TEMPLE OF
SOLOMON," arranged by St. Bernard, and sanctioned by the Holy Fathers of
the Council of Troyes, for the government and regulation of the monastic
and military society of the Temple, is principally of a religious
character, and of an austere and gloomy cast. It is divided into
seventy-two heads or chapters, and is preceded by a short prologue,
addressed "to all who disdain to follow after their own wills, and desire
with purity of mind to fight for the most high and true king," exhorting
them to put on the armour of obedience, and to associate themselves
together with piety and humility for the defence of the holy catholic
church; and to employ a pure diligence, and a steady perseverance in the
exercise of their sacred profession, so that they might share in the happy
destiny reserved for the holy warriors who had given up their lives for
Christ.

The rule enjoins severe devotional exercises, self-mortification, fasting,
and prayer, and a constant attendance at matins, vespers, and on all the
services of the church, "that being refreshed and satisfied with heavenly
food, instructed and stablished with heavenly precepts, after the
consummation of the divine mysteries," none might be afraid of the
_fight_, but be prepared for the _crown_. If unable to attend the regular
service of God, the absent brother is for matins to say over thirteen
pater-nosters, for every hour _seven_, and for vespers _nine_. When any
templar draweth nigh unto death, the chaplains and clerk are to assemble
and offer up a solemn mass for his soul; the surrounding brethren are to
spend the night in prayer, and a hundred pater-nosters are to be repeated
for the dead brother. "Moreover," say the holy Fathers, "we do strictly
enjoin you, that with divine and most tender charity ye do daily bestow as
much meat and drink as was given to that brother when alive, unto some
poor man for forty days." The brethren are, on all occasions, to speak
sparingly, and to wear a grave and serious deportment. They are to be
constant in the exercise of charity and almsgiving, to have a watchful
care over all sick brethren, and to support and sustain all old men. They
are not to receive letters from their parents, relations, or friends,
without the license of the master, and all gifts are immediately to be
taken to the latter, or to the treasurer, to be disposed of as he may
direct. They are, moreover, to receive no service or attendance from a
woman, and are commanded, above all things, to shun _feminine kisses_.

There is much that is highly praiseworthy in this rule, and some extracts
therefrom will be read with interest.

"VIII. In one common hall, or refectory, we will that you take meat
together, where, if your wants cannot be made known by signs, ye are
softly and privately to ask for what you want. If at any time the thing
you require is not to be found, you must seek it with all gentleness, and
with submission and reverence to the board, in remembrance of the words of
the apostle: _Eat thy bread in silence_, and in emulation of the psalmist,
who says, _I have set a watch upon my mouth_; that is, I have communed
with myself that I may not offend, that is, with my tongue; that is, I
have guarded my mouth, that I may not speak evil.

"IX. At dinner and at supper, let there be always some sacred reading. If
we love the Lord, we ought anxiously to long for, and we ought to hear
with most earnest attention, his wholesome words and precepts....

"X. Let a repast of flesh three times a week suffice you, excepting at
Christmas, or Easter, or the feast of the Blessed Mary, or of All
Saints.... On Sunday we think it clearly fitting and expedient that two
messes of flesh should be served up to the knights and the chaplains. But
let the rest, to wit, the esquires and retainers, remain contented with
one, and be thankful therefor.

"XI. Two and two ought in general to eat together, that one may have an
eye upon another....

"XII. On the second and fourth days of the week, and upon Saturday, we
think two or three dishes of pulse, or other vegetables, will be
sufficient for all of you, and so we enjoin it to be observed; and
whosoever cannot eat of the one may feed upon the other.

"XIII. But on the sixth day (Friday) we recommend the Lenten food, in
reverence of the Passion, to all of you, excepting such as be sick; and
from the feast of All Saints until Easter, it must be eaten but once a
day, unless it happen to be Christmas-day, or the feast of Saint Mary, or
of the Apostles, when they may eat thereof twice; and so at other times,
unless a general fast should take place.

"XIV. After dinner and supper, we peremptorily command thanks to be given
to Christ, the great Provider of all things, with a humble heart, as it
becomes you, in the church, if it be near at hand, and if it be not, in
the place where food has been eaten. The fragments (the whole loaves being
reserved) should be given with brotherly charity to the domestics, or to
poor people. And so we order it.

"XV. Although the reward of poverty, which is the kingdom of heaven, be
doubtless due unto the poor, yet we command you to give daily unto the
almoner the tenth of your bread for distribution, a thing which the
Christian religion assuredly recommends as regards the poor.

"XVI. When the sun leaveth the eastern region, and descends into the west,
at the ringing of the bell, or other customary signal, ye must all go to
_compline_ (evening prayer;) but we wish you beforehand to take a general
repast. But this repast we leave to the regulation and judgment of the
Master, that when he pleaseth you may have water, and when he commandeth
you may receive it kindly tempered with wine: but this must not be done
too plentifully, but sparingly, because we see even wise men fall away
through wine.

"XVII. The compline being ended, you must go to bed. After the brothers
have once departed from the hall, it must not be permitted any one to
speak in public, except it be upon urgent necessity. But whatever is
spoken must be said in an under tone by the knight to his esquire.
Perchance, however, in the interval between prayers and sleep, it may
behove you, from urgent necessity, no opportunity having occurred during
the day, to speak on some military matter, or concerning the state of your
house, with some portion of the brethren, or with the Master, or with him
to whom the government of the house has been confided: this, then, we
order to be done in conformity with that which hath been written: _In many
words thou shalt not avoid sin_; and in another place, _Life and death are
in the hands of the tongue_. In that discourse, therefore, we utterly
prohibit scurrility and idle words moving unto laughter, and on going to
bed, if any one amongst you hath uttered a foolish saying, we enjoin him,
in all humility, and with purity of devotion, to repeat the Lord's Prayer.

"XVIII. We do not require the wearied soldiers to rise to matins, as it
is plain the others must, but with the assent of the Master, or of him who
hath been put in authority by the Master, they may take their rest; they
must, nevertheless, sing thirteen appointed prayers, so that their minds
be in unison with their voices, in accordance with that of the prophet:
_Sing wisely unto the Lord_, and again, _I will sing unto thee in the
sight of the angels_. This, however, should always be left to the judgment
of the Master....

"XX. ... To all the professed knights, both in winter and summer, we give,
if they can be procured, white garments, that those who have cast behind
them a dark life may know that they are to commend themselves to their
Creator by a pure and white life. For what is whiteness but perfect
chastity, and chastity is the security of the soul and the health of the
body. And unless every knight shall continue chaste, he shall not come to
perpetual rest, nor see God, as the apostle Paul witnesseth: _Follow after
peace with all men, and chastity, without which no man shall see God_....

"XXI. ... Let all the esquires and retainers be clothed in black garments;
but if such cannot be found, let them have what can be procured in the
province where they live, so that they be of one colour, and such as is of
a meaner character, viz. brown.

"XXII. It is granted to none to wear white habits, or to have white
mantles, excepting the above-named knights of Christ.

"XXIII. We have decreed in common council, that no brother shall wear
skins or cloaks, or anything serving as a covering for the body in the
winter, even the cassock made of skins, except they be the _skins of lambs
or of rams_....

"XXV. If any brother wisheth as a matter of right, or from motives of
pride, to have the fairest or best habit, for such presumption without
doubt he merits the very worst....

"XXX. To each one of the knights let there be allotted three horses. The
noted poverty of the House of God, and of the Temple of Solomon, does not
at present permit an increase of the number, unless it be with the license
of the Master....

"XXXI. For the same reason we grant unto each knight only one esquire;
but if that esquire serve any knight gratis, and for charity, it is not
lawful to chide him, nor to strike him for any fault.

"XXXII. We order you to purchase for all the knights desiring to serve
Christ in purity of spirit, horses fit for their daily occasions, and
whatever is necessary for the due discharge of their profession. And we
judge it fitting and expedient to have the horses valued by either party
equally, and let the price be kept in writing, that it may not be
forgotten. And whatsoever shall be necessary for the knight, or his
horses, or his esquire, adding the furniture requisite for the horses, let
it be bestowed out of the same house, according to the ability of that
house. If, in the meanwhile, by some mischance it should happen that the
knight has lost his horses in the service, it is the duty of the Master
and of the house to find him others; but, on this being done, the knight
himself, through the love of God, should pay half the price, the
remainder, if it so please him, he may receive from the community of the
brethren.

"XXXIII. ... It is to be holden, that when anything shall have been
enjoined by the Master, or by him to whom the Master hath given authority,
there must be no hesitation, but the thing must be done without delay, as
though it had been enjoined from heaven: as the truth itself says, _In the
hearing of the ear he hath obeyed me_.

       *       *       *       *       *

"XXXV. ... When in the field, after they shall have been sent to their
quarters, no knight, or esquire, or servant, shall go to the quarters of
other knights to see them, or to speak to them, without the order of the
superior before mentioned. We, moreover, in council, strictly command,
that in this house, ordained of God, no man shall make war or make peace
of his own free will, but shall wholly incline himself to the will of the
Master, so that he may follow the saying of the Lord, _I came not to do
mine own will, but the will of him that sent me_.

       *       *       *       *       *

"XXXVII. We will not that gold or silver, which is the mark of private
wealth, should ever be seen on your bridles, breastplates, or spurs, nor
should it be permitted to any brother to buy such. If, indeed, such like
furniture shall have been charitably bestowed upon you, the gold and
silver must be so coloured, that its splendour and beauty may not impart
to the wearer an appearance of arrogance beyond his fellows.

       *       *       *       *       *

"XL. Bags and trunks, with locks and keys, are not granted, nor can any
one have them without the license of the Master, or of him to whom the
business of the house is intrusted after the Master. In this regulation,
however, the procurators (preceptors) governing in the different provinces
are not understood to be included, nor the Master himself.

"XLI. It is in nowise lawful for any of the brothers to receive letters
from his parents, or from any man, or to send letters, without the license
of the Master, or of the procurator. After the brother shall have had
leave, they must be read in the presence of the Master, if it so pleaseth
him. If, indeed, anything whatever shall have been directed to him from
his parents, let him not presume to receive it until information has been
first given to the Master. But in this regulation the Master and the
procurators of the houses are not included.

"XLII. Since every idle word is known to beget sin, what can those who
boast of their own faults say before the strict Judge? The prophet showeth
wisely, that if we ought sometimes to be silent, and to refrain from good
discourse for the sake of silence, how much the rather should we refrain
from evil words, on account of the punishment of sin. We forbid therefore,
and we resolutely condemn, all tales related by any brother, of the
follies and irregularities of which he hath been guilty in the world, or
in military matters, either with his brother or with any other man. It
shall not be permitted him to speak with his brother of the irregularities
of other men, nor of the delights of the flesh with miserable women; and
if by chance he should hear another discoursing of such things, he shall
make him silent, or with the swift foot of obedience he shall depart from
him as soon as he is able, and shall lend not the ear of the heart to the
vender of idle tales.

"XLIII. If any gift shall be made to a brother, let it be taken to the
Master or the treasurer. If, indeed, his friend or his parent will consent
to make the gift only on condition that he useth it himself, he must not
receive it until permission hath been obtained from the Master. And
whosoever shall have received a present, let it not grieve him if it be
given to another. Yea, let him know assuredly, that if he be angry at it,
he striveth against God.

       *       *       *       *       *

"XLVI. We are all of opinion that none of you should dare to follow the
sport of catching one bird with another: for it is not agreeable unto
religion for you to be addicted unto worldly delights, but rather
willingly to hear the precepts of the Lord, constantly to kneel down to
prayer, and daily to confess your sins before God with sighs and tears.
Let no brother, for the above especial reason, presume to go forth with a
man following such diversions with a hawk, or with any other bird.

"XLVII. Forasmuch as it becometh all religion to behave decently and
humbly without laughter, and to speak sparingly but sensibly, and not in a
loud tone, we specially command and direct every professed brother that he
venture not to shoot in the woods either with a long-bow or a cross-bow;
and for the same reason, that he venture not to accompany another who
shall do the like, except it be for the purpose of protecting him from the
perfidious infidel; neither shall he dare to halloo, or to talk to a dog,
nor shall he spur his horse with a desire of securing the game.

       *       *       *       *       *

"LI. Under Divine Providence, as we do believe, this new kind of religion
was introduced by you in the holy places, that is to say, the union of
warfare with religion, so that religion, being armed, maketh her way by
the sword, and smiteth the enemy without sin. Therefore we do rightly
adjudge, since ye are called KNIGHTS OF THE TEMPLE, that for your renowned
merit, and especial gift of godliness, ye ought to have lands and men, and
possess husbandmen and justly govern them, and the customary services
ought to be specially rendered unto you.

"LII. Above all things, a most watchful care is to be bestowed upon sick
brothers, and let their wants be attended to as though Christ himself was
the sufferer, bearing in mind the blessed words of the Gospel, _I was
sick, and ye visited me_. These are indeed carefully and patiently to be
fostered, for by such is acquired a heavenly reward.

"LIII. We direct the attendants of those who are sick, with every
attention, and with the most watchful care, diligently and faithfully to
administer to them whatever is necessary for their several infirmities,
according to the ability of the houses, for example, flesh and fowls and
other things, until they are restored to health.

       *       *       *       *       *

"LV. We permit you to have married brothers in this manner, if such should
seek to participate in the benefit of your fraternity; let both the man
and his wife grant, from and after their death, their respective portions
of property, and whatever more they acquire in after life, to the unity of
the common chapter; and, in the interim, let them exercise an honest life,
and labour to do good to the brethren: but they are not permitted to
appear in the white habit and white mantle. If the husband dies first, he
must leave his portion of the patrimony to the brethren, and the wife
shall have her maintenance out of the residue, and let her depart
forthwith; for we consider it most improper that such women should remain
in one and the same house with the brethren who have promised chastity
unto God.

"LVI. It is moreover exceedingly dangerous to join sisters with you in
your holy profession, for the ancient enemy hath drawn many away from the
right path to paradise through the society of women: therefore, dear
brothers, that the flower of righteousness may always flourish amongst
you, let this custom from henceforth be utterly done away with.

       *       *       *       *       *

"LVIII. If any knight out of the mass of perdition, or any secular man,
wisheth to renounce the world and to choose your life and communion, he
shall not be immediately received, but, according to the saying of Paul,
_Prove the spirits, whether they be of God_; and if so, let him be
admitted. Let the rule, therefore, be read in his presence; and if he
shall have undertaken diligently to obey the precepts thereof, then, if it
please the Master and the brothers to receive him, let the brothers be
called together, and let him make known with sincerity of mind his desire
and petition unto all. Then, indeed, the term of probation should
altogether rest in the consideration and forethought of the Master,
according to the honesty of life of the petitioner.

"LIX. We do not order all the brothers to be called, in every instance, to
the council, but those only whom the Master shall know to be circumspect,
and fit to give advice; when, however, important matters are to be treated
of, such as the granting of the land of the fraternity, or when the thing
debated immediately affects the order itself, or when a brother is to be
received, then it is fit that the whole society should be called together,
if it please the Master, and the advice of the common chapter having been
heard, the thing which the Master considereth the best and the most
useful, that let him do....

"LXII. Although the rule of the holy fathers sanctions the dedication of
children to a religious life, yet we will not suffer you to be burdened
with them, but he who kindly desireth to give his own son or his kinsman
to the military religion, let him bring him up until he arrives at an age
when he can, with an armed hand, manfully root out the enemies of Christ
from the Holy Land. Then, in accordance with our rule, let the father or
the parents place him in the midst of the brothers, and lay open his
petition to them all. For it is better not to vow in childhood, lest
afterwards the grown man should foully fall away.

"LXIII. It behoves you to support, with pious consideration, all old men,
according to their feebleness and weakness, and dutifully to honour them,
and let them in nowise be restricted from the enjoyment of such things as
may be necessary for the body; the authority of the rule, however, being
preserved.

"LXIV. The brothers who are journeying through different provinces should
observe the rule, so far as they are able, in their meat and drink, and
let them attend to it in other matters, and live irreproachably, that they
may get a good name out of doors. Let them not tarnish their religious
purpose either by word or deed; let them afford to all with whom they may
be associated, an example of wisdom, and a perseverance in all good works.
Let him with whom they lodge be a man of the best repute, and, if it be
possible, let not the house of the host on that night be without a light,
lest the dark enemy (from whom God preserve us) should find some
opportunity. But where they shall hear of knights not excommunicated
meeting together, we order them to hasten thither, not considering so
much their temporal profit as the eternal safety of their souls....

"LXVII. If any brother shall transgress in speaking, or fighting, or in
any other light matter, let him voluntarily show his fault unto the Master
by way of satisfaction. If there be no customary punishment for light
faults, let there be a light penance; but if, he remaining silent, the
fault should come to be known through the medium of another, he must be
subjected to greater and more severe discipline and correction. If indeed
the offence shall be grave, let him be withdrawn from the companionship of
his fellows, let him not eat with them at the same table, but take his
repast alone. The whole matter is left to the judgment and discretion of
the Master, that his soul may be saved at the day of judgment.

"LXVIII. But, above all things, care must be taken that no brother,
powerful or weak, strong or feeble, desirous of exalting himself, becoming
proud by degrees, or defending his own fault, remain unchastened. If he
showeth a disposition to amend, let a stricter system of correction be
added: but if by godly admonition and earnest reasoning he will not be
amended, but will go on more and more lifting himself up with pride, then
let him be cast out of the holy flock in obedience to the apostle, _Take
away evil from among you_. It is necessary that from the society of the
Faithful Brothers the dying sheep be removed. But let the Master, who
_ought to hold the staff and the rod in his hand_, that is to say, the
staff that he may support the infirmities of the weak, and the rod that he
may with the zeal of rectitude strike down the vices of delinquents; let
him study, with the counsel of the patriarch and with spiritual
circumspection, to act so that, as blessed Maximus saith, The sinner be
not encouraged by easy lenity, nor the sinner hardened in his iniquity by
immoderate severity....

"LXXI. Contentions, envyings, spite, murmurings, backbiting, slander, we
command you, with godly admonition, to avoid, and do ye flee therefrom as
from the plague. Let every one of you, therefore, dear brothers, study
with a watchful mind that he do not secretly slander his brother, nor
accuse him, but let him studiously ponder upon the saying of the apostle,
_Be not thou an accuser or a whisperer among the people_. But when he
knoweth clearly that his brother hath offended, let him gently and with
brotherly kindness reprove him in private, according to the commandment of
the Lord; and if he will not hear him, let him take to him another
brother, and if he shall take no heed of both, let him be publicly
reproved in the assembly before all. For they have indeed much blindness
who take little pains to guard against spite, and thence become swallowed
up in the ancient wickedness of the subtle adversary.

"LASTLY. We hold it dangerous to all religion to gaze too much on the
countenance of women; and therefore no brother shall presume to kiss
neither widow, nor virgin, nor mother, nor sister, nor aunt, nor any other
woman. Let the knighthood of Christ shun _feminine kisses_, through which
men have very often been drawn into danger, so that each, with a pure
conscience and secure life, may be able to walk everlastingly in the sight
of God."[21]

The above rule having been confirmed by a Papal bull, Hugh de Payens
proceeded to France, and from thence he came to England, and the following
account is given of his arrival, in the Saxon chronicle.

"This same year, (A. D. 1128,) Hugh of the Temple came from Jerusalem to
the king in Normandy, and the king received him with much honour, and gave
him much treasure in gold and silver, and afterwards he sent him into
England, and there he was well received by all good men, and all gave him
treasure, and in Scotland also, and they sent in all a great sum in gold
and silver by him to Jerusalem, and there went with him and after him so
great a number as never before since the days of Pope Urban."[22] Grants
of land, as well as of money, were at the same time made to Hugh de
Payens and his brethren, some of which were shortly afterwards confirmed
by King Stephen on his accession to the throne, (A. D. 1135.) Among these
is a grant of the manor of Bistelesham made to the Templars by Count
Robert de Ferrara, and a grant of the church of Langeforde in Bedfordshire
made by Simon de Wahull, and Sibylla his wife, and Walter their son.

Hugh de Payens, before his departure, placed a Knight Templar at the head
of the order in this country, who was called the Prior of the Temple, and
was the procurator and vicegerent of the Master. It was his duty to manage
the estates granted to the fraternity, and to transmit the revenues to
Jerusalem. He was also delegated with the power of admitting members into
the order, subject to the control and direction of the Master, and was to
provide means of transport for such newly-admitted brethren to the far
east, to enable them to fulfil the duties of their profession. As the
houses of the Temple increased in number in England, sub-priors came to be
appointed, and the superior of the order in this country was then called
the Grand Prior, and afterwards Master of the Temple.

Many illustrious knights of the best families in Europe aspired to the
habit and the vows, but however exalted their rank, they were not received
within the bosom of the fraternity until they had proved themselves by
their conduct worthy of such a fellowship. Thus, when Hugh d'Amboise, who
had harassed and oppressed the people of Marmontier by unjust exactions,
and had refused to submit to the judicial decision of the Count of Anjou,
desired to enter the order, Hugh de Payens refused to admit him to the
vows, until he had humbled himself, renounced his pretensions, and given
perfect satisfaction to those whom he had injured.[23] The candidates,
moreover, previous to their admission, were required to make reparation
and satisfaction for all damage done by them at any time to churches, and
to public or private property.

An astonishing enthusiasm was excited throughout Christendom in behalf of
the Templars; princes and nobles, sovereigns and their subjects, vied with
each other in heaping gifts and benefits upon them, and scarce a will of
importance was made without an article in it in their favour. Many
illustrious persons on their deathbeds took the vows, that they might be
buried in the habit of the order; and sovereigns, quitting the government
of their kingdoms, enrolled themselves amongst the holy fraternity, and
bequeathed even their dominions to the Master and the brethren of the
Temple.

Thus, Raymond Berenger, Count of Barcelona and Provence, at a very
advanced age, abdicating his throne, and shaking off the ensigns of royal
authority, retired to the house of the Templars at Barcelona, and
pronounced his vows (A. D. 1130) before brother Hugh de Rigauld, the
Prior. His infirmities not allowing him to proceed in person to the chief
house of the order at Jerusalem, he sent vast sums of money thither, and
immuring himself in a small cell in the Temple at Barcelona, he there
remained in the constant exercise of the religious duties of his
profession until the day of his death.[24] At the same period, the Emperor
Lothaire bestowed on the order a large portion of his patrimony of
Supplinburg; and the year following, (A. D. 1131,) Alphonso the First,
king of Navarre and Arragon, also styled Emperor of Spain, one of the
greatest warriors of the age, by his will declared the Knights of the
Temple his heirs and successors in the crowns of Navarre and Arragon, and
a few hours before his death he caused this will to be ratified and signed
by most of the barons of both kingdoms. The validity of this document,
however, was disputed, and the claims of the Templars were successfully
resisted by the nobles of Navarre; but in Arragon they obtained, by way of
compromise, lands, and castles, and considerable dependencies, a portion
of the customs and duties levied throughout the kingdom, and of the
contributions raised from the Moors.[25]

To increase the enthusiasm in favour of the Templars, and still further to
swell their ranks with the best and bravest of the European chivalry, St.
Bernard, at the request of Hugh de Payens,[26] took up his powerful pen in
their behalf. In a famous discourse "In praise of the New Chivalry," the
holy abbot sets forth, in eloquent and enthusiastic terms, the spiritual
advantages and blessings enjoyed by the military friars of the Temple over
all other warriors. He draws a curious picture of the relative situations
and circumstances of the _secular_ soldiery and the soldiery of _Christ_,
and shows how different in the sight of God are the bloodshed and
slaughter perpetrated by the one, from that committed by the other.

This extraordinary discourse is written with great spirit; it is addressed
"To Hugh, Knight of Christ, and Master of the Knighthood of Christ," is
divided into fourteen parts or chapters, and commences with a short
prologue. It is curiously illustrative of the spirit of the times, and
some of its most striking passages will be read with interest.

The holy abbot thus pursues his comparison between the soldier of the
world and the soldier of Christ--the _secular_ and the _religious_
warrior.

"As often as thou who wagest a secular warfare marchest forth to battle,
it is greatly to be feared lest when thou slayest thine enemy in the body,
he should destroy thee in the spirit, or lest peradventure thou shouldst
be at once slain by him both in body and soul. From the disposition of the
heart, indeed, not by the event of the fight, is to be estimated either
the jeopardy or the victory of the Christian. If, fighting with the desire
of killing another, thou shouldest chance to get killed thyself, thou
diest a man-slayer; if, on the other hand, thou prevailest, and through a
desire of conquest or revenge killest a man, thou livest a man-slayer....
O unfortunate victory, when in overcoming thine adversary thou fallest
into sin, and anger or pride having the mastery over thee, in vain thou
gloriest over the vanquished....

"What, therefore, is the fruit of this secular, I will not say
'_militia_,' but '_malitia_,' if the slayer committeth a deadly sin, and
the slain perisheth eternally? Verily, to use the words of the apostle, he
that ploweth should plow in hope, and he that thresheth should be partaker
of his hope. Whence, therefore, O soldiers, cometh this so stupendous
error? What insufferable madness is this--to wage war with so great cost
and labour, but with no pay except either death or crime? Ye cover your
horses with silken trappings, and I know not how much fine cloth hangs
pendent from your coats of mail. Ye paint your spears, shields, and
saddles; your bridles and spurs are adorned on all sides with gold, and
silver, and gems, and with all this pomp, with a shameful fury and a
reckless insensibility, ye rush on to death. Are these military ensigns,
or are they not rather the garnishments of women? Can it happen that the
sharp-pointed sword of the enemy will respect gold, will it spare gems,
will it be unable to penetrate the silken garment? Lastly, as ye
yourselves have often experienced, three things are indispensably
necessary to the success of the soldier; he must, for example, be bold,
active, and circumspect; quick in running, prompt in striking; ye,
however, to the disgust of the eye, nourish your hair after the manner of
women, ye gather around your footsteps long and flowing vestures, ye bury
up your delicate and tender hands in ample and wide-spreading sleeves.
Among you indeed, nought provoketh war or awakeneth strife, but either an
irrational impulse of anger, or an insane lust of glory, or the covetous
desire of possessing another man's lands and possessions. In such causes
it is neither safe to slay nor to be slain....

III. "But the soldiers of CHRIST indeed securely fight the battles of
their Lord, in no wise fearing sin either from the slaughter of the enemy,
or danger from their own death. When indeed death is to be given or
received for Christ, it has nought of crime in it, but much of glory....

"And now for an example, or to the confusion of our soldiers fighting not
manifestly for God but for the devil, we will briefly display the mode of
life of the Knights of Christ, such as it is in the field and in the
convent, by which means it will be made plainly manifest to what extent
the soldiery of GOD and the soldiery of the WORLD differ from one
another.... The soldiers of Christ live together in common in an agreeable
but frugal manner, without wives and without children; and that nothing
may be wanting to evangelical perfection, they dwell together without
property of any kind,[27] in one house, under one rule, careful to
preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. You may say, that
to the whole multitude there is but one heart and one soul, as each one in
no respect followeth after his own will or desire, but is diligent to do
the will of the Master. They are never idle nor rambling abroad, but when
they are not in the field, that they may not eat their bread in idleness,
they are fitting and repairing their armour and their clothing, or
employing themselves in such occupations as the will of the Master
requireth, or their common necessities render expedient. Among them there
is no distinction of persons; respect is paid to the best and most
virtuous, not the most noble. They participate in each other's honour,
they bear one another's burthens, that they may fulfil the law of Christ.
An insolent expression, a useless undertaking, immoderate laughter, the
least murmur or whispering, if found out, passeth not without severe
rebuke. They detest cards and dice, they shun the sports of the field, and
take no delight in that ludicrous catching of birds, (hawking,) which men
are wont to indulge in. Jesters, and soothsayers, and storytellers,
scurrilous songs, shows and games, they contemptuously despise and
abominate as vanities and mad follies. They cut their hair, knowing that,
according to the apostle, it is not seemly in a man to have long hair.
They are never combed, seldom washed, but appear rather with rough
neglected hair, foul with dust, and with skins browned by the sun and
their coats of mail.

"Moreover, on the approach of battle they fortify themselves with faith
within, and with steel without, and not with gold, so that, armed and not
adorned, they may strike terror into the enemy, rather than awaken his
lust of plunder. They strive earnestly to possess strong and swift horses,
but not garnished with ornaments or decked with trappings, thinking of
battle and of victory, and not of pomp and show, and studying to inspire
fear rather than admiration....

"Such hath God chosen for his own, and hath collected together as his
ministers from the ends of the earth, from among the bravest of Israel,
who indeed vigilantly and faithfully guard the holy sepulchre, all armed
with the sword, and most learned in the art of war...."


"Concerning the TEMPLE."

"There is indeed a Temple at Jerusalem in which they dwell together,
unequal, it is true, as a building, to that ancient and most famous one
of Solomon, but not inferior in glory. For truly, the entire magnificence
of that consisted in corrupt things, in gold and silver, in carved stone,
and in a variety of woods; but the whole beauty of this resteth in the
adornment of an agreeable conversation, in the godly devotion of its
inmates, and their beautifully-ordered mode of life. That was admired for
its various external beauties, this is venerated for its different virtues
and sacred actions, as becomes the sanctity of the house of God, who
delighteth not so much in polished marbles as in well-ordered behaviour,
and regardeth pure minds more than gilded walls. The face likewise of this
Temple is adorned with arms, not with gems, and the wall, instead of the
ancient golden chapiters, is covered around with pendent shields. Instead
of the ancient candelabra, censers, and lavers, the house is on all sides
furnished with bridles, saddles, and lances, all which plainly demonstrate
that the soldiers burn with the same zeal for the house of God, as that
which formerly animated their great leader, when, vehemently enraged, he
entered into the Temple, and with that most sacred hand, armed not with
steel, but with a scourge which he had made of small thongs, drove out the
merchants, poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables of
them that sold doves; most indignantly condemning the pollution of the
house of prayer, by the making of it a place of merchandize."

"The devout army of Christ, therefore, earnestly incited by the example of
its king, thinking indeed that the holy places are much more impiously and
insufferably polluted by the infidels than when defiled by merchants,
abide in the holy house with horses and with arms, so that from that, as
well as all the other sacred places, all filthy and diabolical madness of
infidelity being driven out, they may occupy themselves by day and by
night in honourable and useful offices. They emulously honour the Temple
of God with sedulous and sincere oblations, offering sacrifices therein
with constant devotion, not indeed of the flesh of cattle after the
manner of the ancients, but peaceful sacrifices, brotherly love, devout
obedience, voluntary poverty."

"These things are done perpetually at Jerusalem, and the world is aroused,
the islands hear, and the nations take heed from afar...."

St. Bernard then congratulates Jerusalem on the advent of the soldiers of
Christ, and declares that the holy city will rejoice with a double joy in
being rid of all her oppressors, the ungodly, the robbers, the
blasphemers, murderers, perjurers, and adulterers; and in receiving her
faithful defenders and sweet consolers, under the shadow of whose
protection "Mount Zion shall rejoice, and the daughters of Judah sing for
joy."

"Be joyful, O Jerusalem," says he, in the words of the prophet Isaiah,
"and know that the time of thy visitation hath arrived. Arise now, shake
thyself from the dust, O virgin captive, daughter of Zion; arise, I say,
and stand forth amongst the mighty, and see the pleasantness that cometh
unto thee from thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed _forsaken_, neither
shall thy land any more be termed _desolate_.... Lift up thine eyes round
about, and behold; all these gather themselves together, and come to thee.
This is the assistance sent unto thee from on High. Now, now, indeed,
through these is that ancient promise made to thee thoroughly to be
performed. 'I will make thee an eternal joy, a glory from generation to
generation.'

       *       *       *       *       *

"HAIL, therefore, O holy city, hallowed by the tabernacle of the Most
High! HAIL, city of the great King, wherein so many wonderful and welcome
miracles have been perpetually displayed. HAIL, mistress of the nations,
princess of provinces, possession of patriarchs, mother of the prophets
and apostles, initiatress of the faith, glory of the christian people,
whom God hath on that account always from the beginning permitted to be
visited with affliction, that thou mightest thus be the occasion of virtue
as well as of salvation to brave men. HAIL, land of promise, which,
formerly flowing only with milk and honey for thy possessors, now
stretchest forth the food of life, and the means of salvation to the
entire world. Most excellent and happy land, I say, which receiving the
celestial grain from the recess of the paternal heart in that most
fruitful bosom of thine, hast produced such rich harvests of martyrs from
the heavenly seed, and whose fertile soil hast no less manifoldly
engendered fruit a thirtieth, sixtieth, and a hundredfold in the remaining
race of all the faithful throughout the entire world. Whence most
agreeably satiated, and most abundantly crammed with the great store of
thy pleasantness, those who have seen thee diffuse around them
(_eructant_) in every place the remembrance of thy abundant sweetness, and
tell of the magnificence of thy glory to the very end of the earth to
those who have not seen thee, and relate the wonderful things that are
done in thee."

"Glorious things are spoken concerning thee, CITY OF GOD!"




CHAPTER III.

    Hugh de Payens returns to Palestine--His death--Robert de Craon made
    Master--Success of the Infidels--The second Crusade--The Templars
    assume the Red Cross--Their gallant actions and high
    discipline--Lands, manors, and churches granted them in
    England--Bernard de Tremelay made Master--He is slain by the
    Infidels--Bertrand de Blanquefort made Master--He is taken prisoner,
    and sent in chains to Aleppo--The Pope writes letters in praise of the
    Templars--Their religious and military enthusiasm--Their war banner
    called _Beauseant_--The rise of the rival religio-military order of
    the Hospital of St. John.

    "We heard the _tecbir_, so the Arabs call
    Their shouts of onset, when with loud appeal
    They challenge _heaven_, as if demanding conquest."


[Sidenote: HUGH DE PAYENS. A. D. 1129.]

Hugh de Payens, having now laid in Europe the foundations of the great
monastic and military institution of the Temple, which was destined
shortly to spread its ramifications to the remotest quarters of
Christendom, returned to Palestine at the head of a valiant band of
newly-elected Templars, drawn principally from England and France.

On their arrival at Jerusalem they were received with great distinction by
the king, the clergy, and the barons of the Latin kingdom, a grand council
was called together, at which Hugh de Payens assisted, and various warlike
measures were undertaken for the extension and protection of the christian
territories.

[Sidenote: ROBERT DE CRAON. A. D. 1136.]

Hugh de Payens died, however, shortly after his return, and was succeeded
(A. D. 1136) by the Lord Robert, surnamed the Burgundian, (son-in-law of
Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury,) who, after the death of his wife, had
taken the vows and the habit of the Templars.[28] He was a valiant and
skilful general,[29] but the utmost exertions of himself and his military
monks were found insufficient to sustain the tottering empire of the Latin
Christians.

The fierce religious and military enthusiasm of the Mussulmen had been
again aroused by the warlike Zinghis and his son Noureddin, two of the
most famous chieftains of the age, who were regarded by the disciples of
Mahomet as champions that could avenge the cause of the prophet, and
recover to the civil and religious authority of the caliph the lost city
of Jerusalem, and all the holy places so deeply venerated by the Moslems.
The one was named _Emod-ed-deen_, "Pillar of religion;" and the other
_Nour-ed-deen_, "Light of religion," vulgarly, Noureddin. The Templars
were worsted by overpowering numbers in several battles; and in one of
these the valiant Templar, Brother Odo de Montfaucon, was slain.[30]
Emodeddeen took Tænza, Estarel, Hizam, Hesn-arruk, Hesn-Collis, &c. &c.,
and closed his victorious career by the capture of the important city of
Edessa. Noureddin followed in the footsteps of the father: he obtained
possession of the fortresses of Arlene, Mamoula, Basarfont, Kafarlatha;
and overthrew with terrific slaughter the young Jocelyn de Courtenay, in a
rash attempt to recover possession of his principality of Edessa.[31] The
Latin kingdom of Jerusalem was shaken to its foundations, and the oriental
clergy in trepidation and alarm sent urgent letters to the Pope for
assistance. The holy pontiff accordingly commissioned St. Bernard to
preach the second crusade.

[Sidenote: EVERARD DES BARRES. A. D. 1146.]

The Lord Robert, Master of the Temple, was at this period (A. D. 1146)
succeeded by Everard des Barres, Prior of France, who convened a general
chapter of the order at Paris, which was attended by Pope Eugenius the
Third, Louis the Seventh, king of France, and many prelates, princes, and
nobles, from all parts of Christendom. The second crusade was there
arranged, and the Templars, with the sanction of the Pope, assumed the
blood-red cross, the symbol of martyrdom, as the distinguishing badge of
the order, which was appointed to be worn on their habits and mantles on
the left side of the breast over the heart, whence they came afterwards to
be known by the name of the _Red Friars_ and the _Red Cross Knights_.[32]

At this famous assembly various donations were made to the Templars, to
enable them to provide more effectually for the defence of the Holy Land.
Bernard Baliol, through love of God and for the good of his soul, granted
them his estate of Wedelee, in Hertfordshire, which afterwards formed part
of the preceptory of Temple Dynnesley. This grant is expressed to be made
at the chapter held at Easter, in Paris, in the presence of the Pope, the
king of France, several archbishops, and one hundred and thirty Knights
Templars clad in white mantles.[33] Shortly before this, the Dukes of
Brittany and Lorraine, and the Counts of Brabant and Fourcalquier, had
given to the order various lands and estates; and the possessions and
power of the fraternity continued rapidly to increase in every part of
Europe.[34]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1147.]

Brother Everard des Barres, the newly-elected Master of the Temple, having
collected together all the brethren from the western provinces, joined the
standard of Louis, the French king, and accompanied the crusaders to
Palestine.

During the march through Asia Minor, the rear of the christian army was
protected by the Templars, who greatly signalized themselves on every
occasion. Odo of Deuil or Diagolum, the chaplain of King Louis, and his
constant attendant upon this expedition, informs us that the king loved to
see the frugality and simplicity of the Templars, and to imitate it; he
praised their union and disinterestedness, admired above all things the
attention they paid to their accoutrements, and their care in husbanding
and preserving their equipage and munitions of war: he proposed them as a
model to the rest of the army, and in a council of war it was solemnly
ordered that all the soldiers and officers should bind themselves in
confraternity with the Templars, and should march under their orders.[35]

Conrad, emperor of Germany, had preceded King Louis at the head of a
powerful army, which was cut to pieces by the infidels in the north of
Asia; he fled to Constantinople, embarked on board some merchant vessels,
and arrived with only a few attendants at Jerusalem, where he was received
and entertained by the Templars, and was lodged in the Temple in the Holy
City.[36] Shortly afterwards King Louis arrived, accompanied by the new
Master of the Temple, Everard des Barres; and the Templars now unfolded
for the first time the red-cross banner in the field of battle. This was a
white standard made of woollen stuff, having in the centre of it the
blood-red cross granted by Pope Eugenius. The two monarchs, Louis and
Conrad, took the field, supported by the Templars, and laid siege to the
magnificent city of Damascus, "the Queen of Syria," which was defended by
the great Noureddin, "Light of religion," and his brother _Saif-eddin_,
"Sword of the faith."

[Sidenote:  A. D. 1148.]

The services rendered by the Templars are thus gratefully recorded in the
following letter sent by Louis, the French king, to his minister and
vicegerent, the famous Suger, abbot of St. Denis.

"Louis, by the grace of God king of France and Aquitaine, to his beloved
and most faithful friend Suger, the very reverend Abbot of St. Denis,
health and good wishes.

"... I cannot imagine how we could have subsisted for even the smallest
space of time in these parts, had it not been for their (the Templars')
support and assistance, which have never failed me from the first day I
set foot in these lands up to the time of my despatching this letter--a
succour ably afforded and generously persevered in. I therefore earnestly
beseech you, that as these brothers of the Temple have hitherto been
blessed with the love of God, so now they may be gladdened and sustained
by our love and favour.

"I have to inform you that they have lent me a considerable sum of money,
which must be repaid to them quickly, that their house may not suffer, and
that I may keep my word...."[37]

Among the English nobility who enlisted in the second crusade were the two
renowned warriors, Roger de Mowbray and William de Warrenne.[38] Roger de
Mowbray was one of the most powerful and warlike of the barons of England,
and was one of the victorious leaders at the famous battle of the
standard: he marched with King Louis to Palestine; fought under the
banners of the Temple against the infidels, and, smitten with admiration
of the piety and valour of the holy warriors of the order, he gave them,
on his return to England, many valuable estates and possessions. Among
these were the manors of Kileby and Witheley, divers lands in the isle of
Axholme, the town of Balshall in the county of Warwick, and various places
in Yorkshire; and so munificent were his donations, that the Templars
conceded to him and to his heirs this special privilege, that as often as
the said Roger or his heirs should find any brother of the order of the
Temple exposed to public penance, according to the rule and custom of the
religion of the Templars, it should be lawful for the said Roger and his
heirs to release such brother from the punishment of his public penance,
without the interference or contradiction of any brother of the order.[39]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1149.]

About the same period, Stephen, king of England, for the health of his own
soul and that of Queen Matilda his wife, and for the good of the souls of
King Henry, his grandfather, and Eustace, his son, and all his other
children, granted and confirmed to God and the blessed Virgin Mary, and to
the brethren of the knighthood of the Temple of Solomon at Jerusalem, all
the manor of Cressynge, with the advowson of the church of the same manor,
and also the manors of Egle and Witham.[40] Queen Matilda, likewise, for
the good of the souls of Earl Eustace, her father, the Lord Stephen, king
of England, her husband, and of all her other children, granted "to the
brethren of the Temple at Jerusalem" the manor of Covele or Cowley in
Oxfordshire, two mills in the same county, common of pasture in Shotover
forest, and the church of Stretton in Rutland.[41] Ralph de Hastings and
William de Hastings also gave to the Templars, in the same reign, (A. D.
1152,) lands at Hurst and Wyxham in Yorkshire, afterwards formed into the
preceptory of Temple Hurst. William Asheby granted them the estate whereon
the house and church of Temple Bruere were afterwards erected;[42] and the
order continued rapidly to increase in power and wealth in England and in
all parts of Europe, through the charitable donations of pious Christians.

After the miserable failure of the second crusade,[43] brother Everard des
Barres, the Master of the Temple, returned to Paris, with his friend and
patron Louis, the French king; and the Templars, deprived of their chief,
were now left alone and unaided to withstand the victorious career of the
fanatical Mussulmen. Their miserable situation is thus portrayed in a
melancholy letter from the treasurer of the order, written to the Master,
Everard des Barres, during his sojourn at the court of the king of France.

"Since we have been deprived of your beloved presence, we have had the
misfortune to lose in battle the prince of Antioch[44] and all his
nobility. To this catastrophe has succeeded another. The infidels invaded
the territory of Antioch; they drove all before them, and threw garrisons
into several strong places. On the first intelligence of this disaster,
our brethren assembled in arms, and in concert with the king of Jerusalem
went to the succour of the desolated province. We could only get together
for this expedition one hundred and twenty knights and one thousand
serving brothers and hired soldiers, for whose equipment we expended seven
thousand crowns at Acre, and one thousand at Jerusalem. Your paternity
knows on what condition we assented to your departure, and our extreme
want of money, of cavalry, and of infantry. We earnestly implore you to
rejoin us as soon as possible, with all the necessary succours for the
Eastern Church, our common mother.

"... Scarce had we arrived in the neighbourhood of Antioch, ere we were
hemmed in by the Turcomans on the one side, and the sultan of Aleppo
(Noureddin) on the other, who blockade us in the environs of the town,
whilst our vineyards are destroyed, and our harvests laid waste.
Overwhelmed with grief at the pitiable condition to which we are reduced,
we conjure you to abandon everything, and embark without delay. Never was
your presence more necessary to your brethren;--at no conjuncture could
your return be more agreeable to God.... The greater part of those whom
we led to the succour of Antioch are dead....

"We conjure you to bring with you from beyond sea all our knights and
serving brothers capable of bearing arms. Perchance, alas! with all your
diligence, you may not find one of us alive. Use, therefore, all
imaginable celerity; pray forget not the necessities of our house: they
are such that no tongue can express them. It is also of the last
importance to announce to the Pope, to the King of France, and to all the
princes and prelates of Europe, the approaching desolation of the Holy
Land, to the intent that they succour us in person, or send us subsidies.
Whatever obstacles may be opposed to your departure, we trust to your zeal
to surmount them, for now hath arrived the time for perfectly
accomplishing our vows in sacrificing ourselves for our brethren, for the
defence of the eastern church, and the holy sepulchre....

"For you, our dear brothers in Europe, whom the same engagements and the
same vows ought to make keenly alive to our misfortunes, join yourselves
to our chief, enter into his views, second his designs, fail not to sell
everything; come to the rescue; it is from you we await liberty and
life!"[45]

On the receipt of this letter, the Master of the Temple, instead of
proceeding to Palestine, abdicated his authority, and entered into the
monastery of Clairvaux, where he devoted the remainder of his days to the
most rigorous penance and mortification.

[Sidenote: BERNARD DE TREMELAY. A. D. 1151. A. D. 1152.]

He was succeeded (A. D. 1151) by Bernard de Tremelay, a nobleman of an
illustrious family in Burgundy, in France, and a valiant and experienced
soldier.[46]

The infidels made continual incursions into the christian territories,
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.[47]

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.[48]

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,
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.[49]

[Sidenote: 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.

[Sidenote: A. D. 1156.]

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.[50] Shortly
afterwards, thirty Knights Templars put to flight, slaughtered, and
captured, two hundred infidels;[51] 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.[52] 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 them as "New Maccabees, far famed and most valiant
champions of the Lord." "The assistance," says the Pope, "rendered 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.[53]

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_[54] 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?'"[55]

Like the Templars, Noureddin fought constantly with spiritual and with
carnal weapons. He resisted the world and its temptations by fasting and
prayer, and by the daily exercise of the moral and religious duties and
virtues inculcated by the Koran. He fought with the sword against the foes
of Islam, and employed his whole energies, to the last hour of his life,
in the enthusiastic and fanatic struggle for the recovery of
Jerusalem.[56]

The close points of resemblance, indeed, between the religious fanaticism
of the Templars and that of the Moslems are strikingly remarkable. In the
Moslem camp, we are told by the Arabian writers, all profane and frivolous
conversation was severely prohibited; the exercises of religion were
assiduously practised, and the intervals of action were employed in
prayer, meditation, and the study of the Koran.

The Templars style themselves "The Avengers of Jesus Christ," and the
"instruments and ministers of God for the punishment of infidels," and the
Pope and the holy fathers of the church proclaim that it is specially
entrusted to them "to blot out from the earth all unbelievers," and they
hold out the joys of paradise as the glorious reward for the dangers and
difficulties of the task.[57] "In fighting for Christ," declares St.
Bernard, in his address to the Templars, "the kingdom of Christ is
acquired.... Go forth, therefore, O soldiers, in nowise mistrusting, and
with a fearless spirit cast down the enemies of the cross of Christ, in
the certain assurance that neither in life nor in death can ye be
separated from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, repeating to
yourselves in every danger, whether we live or whether we die we are the
Lord's. How gloriously do the victors return from the fight, how happy do
the martyrs die in battle! Rejoice, valiant champion, if thou livest and
conquerest in the Lord, but rejoice rather and glory if thou shouldest die
and be joined unto the Lord.... If those are happy who die _in_ the Lord,
how much more so are those who die _for_ the Lord!... Precious in the
sight of God will be the death of his holy soldiers."

"The _sword_," says the prophet Mahomet, on the other hand, "is the key of
heaven and of hell; a drop of blood shed in the cause of God, a night
spent in arms, is of more avail than two months of fasting and of prayer.
Whosoever falls in battle, his sins are forgiven him at the day of
judgment. His wounds will be resplendent as vermilion, and odoriferous as
musk, and the loss of limbs shall be supplied by the wings of angels and
of cherubims."

Thus writes the famous Caliph Abubeker, the successor of Mahomet, to the
Arabian tribes:

"In the name of the most merciful GOD, _Abdollah Athich Ib'n Abi Kohapha_,
to the rest of the true believers."... "This is to acquaint you, that I
intend to send the true believers into Syria, to take it out of the hands
of the infidels, and I would have you to know, that _the fighting for
religion is an act of obedience to_ GOD."

"Remember," said the same successor of the prophet and commander of the
faithful, to the holy warriors who had assembled in obedience to his
mandate, "that you are always in the presence of God, on the verge of
death, in the assurance of judgment, and the hope of paradise.... When you
fight _the battles of the Lord_, acquit yourselves like men, 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]

[Sidenote: 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]

[Sidenote: 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]

[Sidenote: 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]


[Sidenote: 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 being dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene, and the other to St.
John the Eleemosynary, a canonized patriarch of Alexandria, remarkable for
his exceeding charity. The pious and kind-hearted people who here attended
upon the sick pilgrims, clothed the naked and fed the hungry, were called
"The Hospitallers of Saint John."

On the conquest of Jerusalem by the Crusaders, these charitable persons
were naturally regarded with the greatest esteem and reverence by their
fellow-christians from the west; many of the soldiers of the Cross,
smitten with their piety and zeal, desired to participate in their good
offices, and the Hospitallers, animated by the religious enthusiasm of the
day, determined to renounce the world, and devote the remainder of their
lives to pious duties and constant attendance upon the sick. They took the
customary monastic vows of obedience, chastity, and poverty, and assumed
as their distinguishing habit a _black_ mantle with a _white_ cross on the
breast. Various lands and possessions were granted them by the lords and
princes of the Crusade, both in Palestine and in Europe, and the order of
the hospital of St. John speedily became a great and powerful
institution.[68]

Gerard, a native of Provence, was at this period at the head of the
society, with the title of "Guardian of the Poor." He was succeeded (A. D.
1118) by Raymond Dupuy, a knight of Dauphiné, who drew up a series of
rules for the direction and government of his brethren. In these rules no
traces are discoverable of the military spirit which afterwards animated
the order of the Hospital of St. John. The Abbé de Vertot, from a desire
perhaps to pay court to the Order of Malta, carries back the assumption of
arms by the Hospitallers to the year 1119, and describes them as fiercely
engaged under the command of Raymond Dupuy, in the battle fought between
the Christians and Dol de Kuvin, Sultan of Damascus; but none of the
historians of the period make any mention whatever of the Hospitallers in
that action. De Vertot quotes no authority in support of his statement,
and it appears to be a mere fiction.

The first authentic notice of an intention on the part of the Hospitallers
to occupy themselves with military matters, occurs in the bull of Pope
Innocent the Second, dated A. D. 1130. This bull is addressed to the
archbishops, bishops, and clergy of the church universal, and informs
them that the Hospitallers then retained, at their own expense, a body of
horsemen and foot soldiers, to defend the pilgrims in going to and in
returning from the holy places; the pope observes that the funds of the
hospital were insufficient to enable them effectually to fulfil the pious
and holy task, and he exhorts the archbishops, bishops, and clergy, to
minister to the necessities of the order out of their abundant
property.[69] The Hospitallers consequently at this period had resolved to
add the task of _protecting_ to that of tending and relieving pilgrims.

After the accession (A. D. 1168) of Gilbert d'Assalit to the guardianship
of the Hospital--a man described by De Vertot as "bold and enterprising,
and of an extravagant genius"--a military spirit was infused into the
Hospitallers, which speedily predominated over their pious and charitable
zeal in attending upon the poor and the sick. Gilbert d'Assalit was the
friend and confidant of Amalric, king of Jerusalem, and planned with that
monarch a wicked invasion of Egypt in defiance of treaties. The Master of
the Temple being consulted concerning the expedition, flatly refused to
have anything to do with it, or to allow a single brother of the order of
the Temple to accompany the king in arms; "For it appeared a hard matter
to the Templars," says William of Tyre, "to wage war without cause, in
defiance of treaties, and against all honour and conscience, upon a
friendly nation, preserving faith with us, and relying on our own
faith."[70] Gilbert d'Assalit consequently determined to obtain for the
king from his own brethren that aid which the Templars denied; and to
tempt the Hospitallers to arm themselves generally as a great military
society, in imitation of the Templars,[71] and join the expedition to
Egypt, Gilbert d'Assalit was authorised to promise them, in the name of
the king, the possession of the wealthy and important city of Belbeis, the
ancient Pelusium, in perpetual sovereignty.[72]

According to De Vertot, the senior Hospitallers were greatly averse to the
military projects of their chief: "They urged," says he, "that they were a
religious order, and that the church had not put arms into their hands to
make conquests;"[73] but the younger and more ardent of the brethren,
burning to exchange the monotonous life of the cloister for the enterprize
and activity of the camp, received the proposals of their superior with
enthusiasm, and a majority of the chapter decided in favour of the plans
and projects of their Guardian. They authorized him to borrow money of the
Florentine and Genoese merchants, to take hired soldiers into the pay of
the order, and to organize the Hospitallers as a great military society.

Gilbert d'Assalit bestirred himself with great energy in the execution of
these schemes; he wrote letters to the king of France for aid and
assistance,[74] and borrowed money of the emperor of Constantinople.
"Assalit," says De Vertot, "with this money levied a great body of
troops, which he took into the pay of the order; and as his fancy was
entirely taken up with flattering hopes of conquest, he drew by his
indiscreet liberalities a great number of volunteers into his service, who
like him shared already in imagination all the riches of Egypt."

[Sidenote: A.D. 1168.]

It was in the first year of the government of Philip of Naplous (A. D.
1168) that the king of Jerusalem and the Hospitallers marched forth upon
their memorable and unfortunate expedition. The Egyptians were taken
completely by surprise; the city of Belbeis was carried by assault, and
the defenceless inhabitants were barbarously massacred; "they spared,"
says De Vertot, "neither old men nor women, nor children at the breast,"
after which the desolated city was delivered up to the brethren of the
Hospital of St. John. They held it, however, for a very brief period; the
immorality, the cruelty, and the injustice of the Christians, speedily met
with condign punishment. The king of Jerusalem was driven back into
Palestine; Belbeis was abandoned with precipitation; and the Hospitallers
fled before the infidels in sorrow and disappointment to Jerusalem. There
they vented their indignation and chagrin upon the unfortunate Gilbert
d'Assalit, their superior, who had got the order into debt to the extent
of 100,000 pieces of gold; they compelled him to resign his authority, and
the unfortunate guardian of the hospital fled from Palestine to England,
and was drowned in the Channel.[75]

From this period, however, the character of the order of the Hospital of
St. John was entirely changed; the Hospitallers appear henceforth as a
great military body; their superior styles himself Master, and leads in
person the brethren into the field of battle. Attendance upon the poor and
the sick still continued, indeed, one of the duties of the fraternity, but
it must have been feebly exercised amid the clash of arms and the
excitement of war.




CHAPTER IV.

    The contests between Saladin and the Templars--The vast privileges of
    the Templars--The publication of the bull, _omne datum optimum_--The
    Pope declares himself the immediate Bishop of the entire Order--The
    different classes of Templars--The knights--Priests--Serving
    brethren--The hired soldiers--The great officers of the
    Temple--Punishment of cowardice--The Master of the Temple is taken
    prisoner, and dies in a dungeon--Saladin's great successes--The
    Christians purchase a truce--The Master of the Temple and the
    Patriarch Heraclius proceed to England for succour--The consecration
    of the TEMPLE CHURCH at LONDON.

    "The firmest bulwark of Jerusalem was founded on the knights of the
    Hospital of St. John and of the Temple of Solomon; on the strange
    association of a monastic and military life, which fanaticism might
    suggest, but of which policy must approve. The flower of the nobility
    of Europe aspired to wear the cross and profess the vows of these
    respectable orders; their spirit and discipline were immortal; and the
    speedy donation of twenty-eight thousand farms or manors enabled them
    to support a regular force of cavalry and infantry for the defence of
    Palestine."--_Gibbon._


[Sidenote: ODO DE ST. AMAND.  A. D. 1170.]

The Master, Philip of Naplous, resigned his authority after a short
government of three years, and was succeeded by Brother Odo de St. Amand,
a proud and fiery warrior, of undaunted courage and resolution; having,
according to William, Archbishop of Tyre, the fear neither of God nor of
man before his eyes.[76]

The Templars were now destined to meet with a more formidable opponent
than any they had hitherto encountered in the field, one who was again to
cause the crescent to triumph over the cross, and to plant the standard of
the prophet upon the walls of the holy city.

When the Fatimite caliph had received intelligence of Amalric's invasion
of Egypt, he sent the hair of his women, one of the greatest tokens of
distress known in the East, to the pious Noureddin, who immediately
despatched a body of troops to his assistance, headed by Sheerkoh, and his
nephew, _Youseef-Ben-Acoub-Ben-Schadi_, the famous Saladin. Sheerkoh died
immediately after his arrival, and Youseef succeeded to his command, and
was appointed vizier of the caliph. Youseef had passed his youth in
pleasure and debauchery, sloth and indolence: he had quitted with regret
the delights of Damascus for the dusty plains of Egypt; and but for the
unjustifiable expedition of King Amalric and the Hospitallers against the
infidels, the powerful talents and the latent energies of the young
Courdish chieftain, which altogether changed the face of affairs in the
East, would in all probability never have been developed.

As soon as Saladin grasped the power of the sword, and obtained the
command of armies, he threw off the follies of his youth, and led a new
life. He renounced the pleasures of the world, and assumed the character
of a saint. His dress was a coarse woollen garment; water was his only
drink; and he carefully abstained from everything disapproved of by the
Mussulman religion. Five times each day he prostrated himself in public
prayer, surrounded by his friends and followers, and his demeanour became
grave, serious, and thoughtful. He fought vigorously with spiritual
weapons against the temptations of the world; his nights were often spent
in watching and meditation, and he was always diligent in fasting and in
the study of the Koran. With the same zeal he combated with carnal
weapons the foes of Islam, and his admiring brethren gave him the name of
_Salah-ed-deen_, "Integrity of Religion," vulgarly called Saladin.

At the head of forty thousand horse and foot, he crossed the desert and
ravaged the borders of Palestine; the wild Bedouins and the enthusiastic
Arabians of the far south were gathered together under his standard, and
hastened with holy zeal to obtain the crown of martyrdom in defence of the
faith. The long remembered and greatly dreaded Arab shout of onset, _Allah
acbar_, GOD _is victorious_, again resounded through the plains and the
mountains of Palestine, and the grand religious struggle for the
possession of the holy city of Jerusalem, equally reverenced by Mussulmen
and by Christians, was once more vigorously commenced. Saladin besieged
the fortified city of Gaza, which belonged to the Knights Templars, and
was considered to be the key of Palestine towards Egypt. The luxuriant
gardens, the palm and olive groves of this city of the wilderness, were
destroyed by the wild cavalry of the desert, and the innumerable tents of
the Arab host were thickly clustered on the neighbouring sand-hills. The
warlike monks of the Temple fasted and prayed, and invoked the aid of the
God of battles; the gates of the city were thrown open, and in an
unexpected sally upon the enemy's camp they performed such prodigies of
valour, that Saladin, despairing of being able to take the place,
abandoned the siege, and retired into Egypt.[77]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1172.]

The year following, Pope Alexander's famous bull, _omne datum optimum_,
confirming the previous privileges of the Templars, and conferring upon
them additional powers and immunities, was published in England. It
commences in the following terms:

"Alexander, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his beloved sons,
Odo, Master of the religious chivalry of the Temple, which is situated at
Jerusalem, and to his successors, and to all the regularly professed
brethren.

"Every good gift and every perfect reward[78] cometh from above,
descending from the Father of light, with whom there is no change nor
shadow of variety. Therefore, O beloved children in the Lord, we praise
the Almighty God, in respect of your holy fraternity, since your religion
and venerated institution are celebrated throughout the entire world. For
although by nature ye are children of wrath, and slaves to the pleasures
of this life, yet by a favouring grace ye have not remained deaf hearers
of the gospel, but, throwing aside all earthly pomps and enjoyments, and
rejecting the broad road which leadeth unto death, ye have humbly chosen
the arduous path to everlasting life. Faithfully fulfilling the character
of soldiery of the Lord, ye constantly carry upon your breasts the sign of
the life-giving cross. Moreover, like true Israelites, and most instructed
fighters of the divine battle, inflamed with true charity, ye fulfil by
your works the word of the gospel which saith, 'Greater love hath no man
than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends;' so that, in
obedience to the voice of the great Shepherd, ye in nowise fear to lay
down your lives for your brethren, and to defend them from the inroad of
the pagans; and ye may well be termed holy warriors, since ye have been
appointed by the Lord defenders of the catholic church and combatants of
the enemies of Christ."

After this preamble, the pope earnestly exhorts the Templars to pursue
with unceasing diligence their high vocation; to defend the eastern church
with their whole hearts and souls, and to strike down the enemies of the
cross of Christ. "By the authority of God, and the blessed Peter prince of
apostles," says the holy pontiff, "we have ordained and do determine, that
the Temple in which ye are gathered together to the praise and glory of
God, for the defence of the faithful, and the deliverance of the church,
shall remain for evermore under the safeguard and protection of the holy
apostolic see, together with all the goods and possessions which ye now
lawfully enjoy, and all that ye may hereafter rightfully obtain, through
the liberality of christian kings and princes, and the alms and oblations
of the faithful.

"We moreover by these presents decree, that the regular discipline, which,
by divine favour, hath been instituted in your house, shall be inviolably
observed, and that the brethren who have there dedicated themselves to the
service of the omnipotent God, shall live together in chastity and without
property; and making good their profession both in word and deed, they
shall remain subject and obedient in all things to the Master, or to him
whom the Master shall have set in authority over them.

"Moreover, as the chief house at Jerusalem hath been the source and
fountain of your sacred institution and order, the Master thereof shall
always be considered the head and chief of all the houses and places
appertaining thereunto. And we further decree, that at the decease of Odo,
our beloved son in the Lord, and of each one of his successors, no man
shall be set in authority over the brethren of the same house, except he
be of the religious and military order; and has regularly professed your
habit and fellowship; and has been chosen by all the brethren unanimously,
or, at all events, by the greater part of them.

"And from henceforth it shall not be permitted to any ecclesiastical or
secular person to infringe or diminish the customs and observances of your
religion and profession, as instituted by the Master and brethren in
common; and those rules which have been put into writing and observed by
you for some time past, shall not be changed or altered except by the
authority of the Master, with the consent of the majority of the chapter.

"... No ecclesiastic or secular person shall dare to exact from the Master
and Brethren of the Temple, oaths, guarantees, or any such securities as
are ordinarily required from the laity.

"Since your sacred institution and religious chivalry have been
established by divine Providence, it is not fit that you should enter into
any other order with the view of leading a more religious life, for God,
who is immutable and eternal, approveth not the inconstant heart; but
wisheth rather the good purpose, when once begun, to be persevered in to
the end of life.

"How many and great persons have pleased the lord of an earthly empire,
under the military girdle and habit! How many and distinguished men,
gathered together in arms, have bravely fought, in these our times, in the
cause of the gospel of God, and in defence of the laws of our Father; and,
consecrating their hands in the blood of the unbelievers in the Lord,
have, after their pains and toil in this world's warfare, obtained the
reward of everlasting life! Do ye therefore, both knights and serving
brethren, assiduously pay attention to your profession, and in accordance
with the saying of the apostle, 'Let each one of you stedfastly remain in
the vocation to which you have been called.' We therefore ordain, that
when your brethren have once taken the vows, and have been received in
your sacred college, and have taken upon themselves your warfare, and the
habit of your religion, they shall no longer have the power of returning
again to the world; nor can any, after they have once made profession,
abjure the cross and habit of your religion, with the view of entering
another convent or monastery of stricter or more lax discipline, without
the consent of the brethren, or Master, or of him whom the Master hath set
in authority over them; nor shall any ecclesiastic or secular person be
permitted to receive or retain them.

"And since those who are defenders of the church ought to be supported and
maintained out of the good things of the church, we prohibit all manner of
men from exacting tithes from you in respect of your moveables or
immoveables, or any of the goods and possessions appertaining unto your
venerable house.

"And that nothing may be wanting to the plenitude of your salvation, and
the care of your souls; and that ye may more commodiously hear divine
service, and receive the sacraments in your sacred college; we in like
manner ordain, that it shall be lawful for you to admit within your
fraternity, honest and godly clergymen and priests, as many as ye may
conscientiously require; and to receive them from whatever parts they may
come, as well in your chief house at Jerusalem, as in all the other houses
and places depending upon it, so that they do not belong to any other
religious profession or order, and so that ye ask them of the bishop, if
they come from the neighbourhood; but if peradventure the bishop should
refuse, yet nevertheless ye have permission to receive and retain them by
the authority of the holy apostolic see.

"If any of these, after they have been professed, should turn out to be
useless, or should become disturbers of your house and religion, it shall
be lawful for you, with the consent of the major part of the chapter, to
remove them, and give them leave to enter any other order where they may
wish to live in the service of God, and to substitute others in their
places who shall undergo a probation of one year in your society; which
term being completed, if their morals render them worthy of your
fellowship, and they shall be found fit and proper for your service, then
let them make the regular profession of life according to your rule, and
of obedience to their Master, so that they have their food and clothing,
and also their lodging, with the fraternity.

"But it shall not be lawful for them presumptuously to take part in the
consultations of your chapter, or in the government of your house; they
are permitted to do so, so far only as they are enjoined by yourselves.
And as regards the cure of souls, they are to occupy themselves with that
business so far only as they are required. Moreover, they shall be subject
to no person, power, or authority, excepting that of your own chapter, but
let them pay perfect obedience, in all matters and upon all occasions, to
thee our beloved son in the Lord, Odo, and to thy successors, as their
_Master_ and _Bishop_.

"We moreover decree, that it shall be lawful for you to send your clerks,
when they are to be admitted to holy orders, for ordination to whatever
catholic bishop you may please, who, clothed with our apostolical power,
will grant them what they require; but we forbid them to preach with a
view of obtaining money, or for any temporal purpose whatever, unless
perchance the Master of the Temple for the time being should cause it to
be done for some special purpose. And whosoever of these are received into
your college, they must make the promise of stedfastness of purpose, of
reformation of morals, and that they will fight for the Lord all the days
of their lives, and render strict obedience to the Master of the Temple;
the book in which these things are contained being placed upon the altar.

"We moreover, without detracting from the rights of the bishops in respect
of tithes, oblations, and buryings, concede to you the power of
constructing oratories in the places bestowed upon the sacred house of the
Temple, where you and your retainers and servants may dwell; so that both
ye and they may be able to assist at the divine offices, and receive there
the rite of sepulture; for it would be unbecoming and very dangerous to
the souls of the religious brethren, if they were to be mixed up with a
crowd of secular persons, and be brought into the company of women on the
occasion of their going to church. But as to the tithes, which, by the
advice and with the consent of the bishops, ye may be able by your zeal to
draw out of the hands of the clergy or laity, and those which with the
consent of the bishops ye may acquire from their own clergy, we confirm to
you by our apostolical authority."

The above bull further provides, in various ways, for the temporal and
spiritual advantage of the Templars, and expressly extends the favours and
indulgences, and the apostolical blessings, to all the serving brethren,
as well as to the knights. It also confers upon the fraternity the
important privilege of causing the churches of towns and villages lying
under sentence of interdict to be opened once a year, and divine service
to be celebrated within them.[79]

A bull exactly similar to the above appears to have been issued by Pope
Alexander, on the seventh id. Jan. A. D. 1162, addressed to the Master
Bertrand de Blanquefort.[80] Both the above instruments are to a great
extent merely confirmatory of the privileges previously conceded to the
Templars.

The exercise or the abuse of these powers and immunities speedily brought
the Templars into collision with the ecclesiastics. At the general council
of the church, held at Rome, (A. D. 1179,) called the third of Lateran, a
grave reprimand was addressed to them by the holy Fathers. "We find," say
they, "by the frequent complaints of the bishops our colleagues, that the
Templars and Hospitallers abuse the privileges granted them by the Holy
See; that the chaplains and priests of their rule have caused parochial
churches to be conveyed over to themselves without the ordinaries'
consent; that they administer the sacraments to excommunicated persons,
and bury them with all the usual ceremonies of the church; that they
likewise abuse the permission granted the brethren of having divine
service said once a year in places under interdict, and that they admit
seculars into their fraternity, pretending thereby to give them the same
right to their privileges as if they were really professed." To provide a
remedy for these irregularities, the council forbad the military orders to
receive for the future any conveyances of churches and tithes without the
ordinaries' consent; that with regard to churches not founded by
themselves, nor served by the chaplains of the order, they should present
the priests they designed for the cure of them to the bishop of the
diocese, and reserve nothing to themselves but the cognizance of the
temporals which belonged to them; that they should not cause service to be
said, in churches under interdict, above once a year, nor give burial
there to any person whatever; and that none of their fraternity or
_associates_ should be allowed to partake of their privileges, if not
actually professed.[81]

Several bishops from Palestine were present at this council, together with
the archbishop of Cæsarea, and William archbishop of Tyre, the great
historian of the Latin kingdom.

The order of the Temple was at this period divided into the three great
classes of knights, priests, and serving brethren, all bound together by
their vow of obedience to the Master of the Temple at Jerusalem, the chief
of the entire fraternity. Every candidate for admission into the first
class must have received the honour of knighthood in due form, according
to the laws of chivalry, before he could be admitted to the vows; and as
no person of low degree could be advanced to the honours of knighthood,
the brethren of the first class, i. e. the _Knights_ Templars, were all
men of noble birth and of high courage. Previous to the council of
Troyes, the order consisted of knights only, but the rule framed by the
holy fathers enjoins the admission of esquires and retainers to the vows,
in the following terms.

"LXI. We have known many out of divers provinces, as well retainers as
esquires, fervently desiring for the salvation of their souls to be
admitted for life into our house. It is expedient, therefore, that you
admit them to the vows, lest perchance the old enemy should suggest
something to them whilst in God's service by stealth or unbecomingly, and
should suddenly drive them from the right path." Hence arose the great
class of serving brethren, (_fratres servientes_,) who attended the
knights into the field both on foot and on horseback, and added vastly to
the power and military reputation of the order. The serving brethren were
armed with bows, bills, and swords; it was their duty to be always near
the person of the knight, to supply him with fresh weapons or a fresh
horse in case of need, and to render him every succour in the affray. The
esquires of the knights were generally serving brethren of the order, but
the services of secular persons might be accepted.

The order of the Temple always had in its pay a large number of retainers,
and of mercenary troops, both cavalry and infantry, which were officered
by the knights. These were clothed in black or brown garments, that they
might, in obedience to the rule,[82] be plainly distinguished from the
professed soldiers of Christ, who were habited in white. The black or
brown garment was directed to be worn by all connected with the Templars
who had not been admitted to the vows, that the holy soldiers might not
suffer, in character or reputation, from the irregularities of secular men
their dependents.[83]

The white mantle of the Templars was a regular monastic habit, having the
red cross on the left breast; it was worn over armour of chain mail, and
could be looped up so as to leave the sword-arm at full liberty. On his
head the Templar wore a white linen coif, and over that a small round cap
made of red cloth. When in the field, an iron scull-cap was probably
added. We must now take a glance at the military organization of the order
of the Temple, and of the chief officers of the society.

Next in power and authority to the Master stood the Marshal, who was
charged with the execution of the military arrangements on the field of
battle. He was second in command, and in case of the death of the Master,
the government of the order devolved upon him until the new superior was
elected. It was his duty to provide arms, tents, horses, and mules, and
all the necessary appendages of war.

The Prior or Preceptor of the kingdom of Jerusalem, also styled "Grand
Preceptor of the Temple," had the immediate superintendence over the chief
house of the order in the holy city. He was the treasurer general of the
society, and had charge of all the receipts and expenditure. During the
absence of the Master from Jerusalem, the entire government of the Temple
devolved upon him.

The Draper was charged with the clothing department, and had to distribute
garments "free from the suspicion of arrogance and superfluity" to all the
brethren. He is directed to take especial care that the habits be "neither
too long nor too short, but properly measured for the wearer, with equal
measure, and with brotherly regard, that the eye of the whisperer or the
accuser may not presume to notice anything."[84]

The Standard Bearer (_Balcanifer_) bore the glorious _Beauseant_, or
war-banner, to the field; he was supported by a certain number of knights
and esquires, who were sworn to protect the colours of the order, and
never to let them fall into the hands of the enemy.

The Turcopilar was the commander of a body of light horse called
Turcopoles (_Turcopuli_.) These were natives of Syria and Palestine, the
offspring frequently of Turkish mothers and christian fathers, brought up
in the religion of Christ, and retained in the pay of the order of the
Temple. They were lightly armed, were clothed in the Asiatic style, and
being inured to the climate, and well acquainted with the country, and
with the Mussulman mode of warfare, they were found extremely serviceable
as light cavalry and skirmishers, and were always attached to the
war-battalions of the Templars.

The Guardian of the Chapel (_Custos Capellæ_) had charge of the portable
chapel and the ornaments of the altar, which were always carried by the
Templars into the field. This portable chapel was a round tent, which was
pitched in the centre of the camp; the quarters of the brethren were
disposed around it, so that they might, in the readiest and most
convenient manner, participate in the divine offices, and fulfil the
religious duties of their profession.

Besides the Grand Preceptor of the kingdom of Jerusalem, there were the
Grand Preceptors of Antioch and Tripoli, and the Priors or Preceptors of
the different houses of the Temple in Syria and in Palestine, all of whom
commanded in the field, and had various military duties to perform under
the eye of the Master.

The Templars and the Hospitallers were the constituted guardians of the
true cross when it was brought forth from its sacred repository in the
church of the Resurrection to be placed at the head of the christian army.
The Templars marched on the right of the sacred emblem, and the
Hospitallers on the left; and the same position was taken up by the two
orders in the line of battle.[85]

An eye-witness of the conduct of the Templars in the field tells us that
they were always foremost in the fight and the last in the retreat; that
they proceeded to battle with the greatest order, silence, and
circumspection, and carefully attended to the commands of their Master.
When the signal to engage had been given by their chief, and the trumpets
of the order sounded to the charge, "then," says he, "they humbly sing the
psalm of David, _Non nobis, non nobis, Domine, sed nomini tuo da gloriam_,
'Not unto us, not unto us, O Lord, but unto thy name give the praise;' and
placing their lances in rest, they either break the enemy's line or die.
If any one of them should by chance turn back, or bear himself less
manfully than he ought, the white mantle, the emblem of their order, is
ignominiously stripped off his shoulders, the cross worn by the fraternity
is taken away from him, and he is cast out from the fellowship of the
brethren; he is compelled to eat on the ground without a napkin or a
table-cloth for the space of one year; and the dogs who gather around him
and torment him he is not permitted to drive away. At the expiration of
the year, if he be truly penitent, the Master and the brethren restore to
him the military girdle and his pristine habit and cross, and receive him
again into the fellowship and community of the brethren. The Templars do
indeed practise the observance of a stern religion, living in humble
obedience to their Master, without property, and spending nearly all the
days of their lives under tents in the open fields."[86] Such is the
picture of the Templars drawn by one of the leading dignitaries of the
Latin kingdom.

We must now resume our narrative of the principal events connected with
the order.

In the year 1172, the Knight Templar Walter du Mesnil was guilty of a foul
murder, which created a great sensation in the East. An odious religious
sect, supposed to be descended from the Ismaelians of Persia, were settled
in the fastnesses of the mountains above Tripoli. They devoted their souls
and bodies in blind obedience to a chief who is called by the writers of
the crusades "the old man of the mountain," and were employed by him in
the most extensive system of murder and assassination known in the history
of the world. Both Christian and Moslem writers enumerate with horror the
many illustrious victims that fell beneath their daggers. They assumed all
shapes and disguises for the furtherance of their deadly designs, and
carried, in general, no arms except a small poniard concealed in the folds
of their dress, called in the Persian tongue _hassissin_, whence these
wretches were called _assassins_, their chief the prince of the assassins;
and the word itself, in all its odious import, has passed into most
European languages.[87]

Raimond, son of the count of Tripoli, was slain by these fanatics whilst
kneeling at the foot of the altar in the church of the Blessed Virgin at
Carchusa or Tortosa; the Templars flew to arms to avenge his death; they
penetrated into the fastnesses and strongholds of "the mountain chief,"
and at last compelled him to purchase peace by the payment of an annual
tribute of two thousand crowns into the treasury of the order. In the
ninth year of Amalric's reign, _Sinan Ben Suleiman_, imaun of the
assassins, sent a trusty counsellor to Jerusalem, offering, in the name
of himself and his people, to embrace the christian religion, provided the
Templars would release them from the tribute money. The proposition was
favourably received; the envoy was honourably entertained for some days,
and on his departure he was furnished by the king with a guide and an
escort to conduct him in safety to the frontier. The Ismaelite had reached
the borders of the Latin kingdom, and was almost in sight of the castles
of his brethren, when he was cruelly murdered by the Knight Templar Walter
du Mesnil, who attacked the escort with a body of armed followers.[88]

The king of Jerusalem, justly incensed at this perfidious action,
assembled the barons of the kingdom at Sidon to determine on the best
means of obtaining satisfaction for the injury; and it was determined that
two of their number should proceed to Odo de St. Amand to demand the
surrender of the criminal. The haughty Master of the Temple bade them
inform his majesty the king, that the members of the order of the Temple
were not subject to his jurisdiction, nor to that of his officers; that
the Templars acknowledged no earthly superior except the Pope; and that to
the holy pontiff alone belonged the cognizance of the offence. He
declared, however, that the crime should meet with due punishment; that he
had caused the criminal to be arrested and put in irons, and would
forthwith send him to Rome, but till judgment was given in his case, he
forbade all persons of whatsoever degree to meddle with him.[89]

Shortly afterwards, however, the Master found it expedient to alter his
determination, and insist less strongly upon the privileges of his
fraternity. Brother Walter du Mesnil was delivered up to the king, and
confined in one of the royal prisons, but his ultimate fate has not been
recorded.

On the death of Noureddin, sultan of Damascus, (A. D. 1175,) Saladin
raised himself to the sovereignty both of Egypt and of Syria. He levied an
immense army, and crossing the desert from Cairo, he again planted the
standard of Mahomet upon the sacred territory of Palestine. His forces
were composed of twenty-six thousand light infantry, eight thousand
horsemen, a host of archers and spearmen mounted on dromedaries, and
eighteen thousand common soldiers. The person of Saladin was surrounded by
a body-guard of a thousand Mamlook emirs, clothed in yellow cloaks worn
over their shirts of mail.

[Sidenote: A. D. 1177.]

In the great battle fought near Ascalon, (Nov. 1, A. D. 1177,) Odo de St.
Amand, the Master of the Temple, at the head of eighty of his knights,
broke through the guard of Mamlooks, slew their commander, and penetrated
to the imperial tent, from whence the sultan escaped with great
difficulty, almost naked, upon a fleet dromedary; the infidels, thrown
into confusion, were slaughtered or driven into the desert, where they
perished from hunger, fatigue, or the inclemency of the weather.[90] The
year following, Saladin collected a vast army at Damascus; and the
Templars, in order to protect and cover the road leading from that city to
Jerusalem, commenced the erection of a strong fortress on the northern
frontier of the Latin kingdom, close to Jacob's ford on the river Jordan,
at the spot where now stands _Djiss'r Beni Yakoob_, "the bridge of the
sons of Jacob." Saladin advanced at the head of his forces to oppose the
progress of the work, and the king of Jerusalem and all the chivalry of
the Latin kingdom were gathered together in the plain to protect the
Templars and their workmen. The fortress was erected notwithstanding all
the exertions of the infidels, and the Templars threw into it a strong
garrison. Redoubled efforts were then made by Saladin to destroy the
place.

[Sidenote: A. D. 1179.]

At a given signal from the Mussulman trumpets, "the defenders of Islam"
fled before "the avengers of Christ;" the christian forces became
disordered in the pursuit, and the swift cavalry of the desert, wheeling
upon both wings, defeated with immense slaughter the entire army of the
cross. The Templars and the Hospitallers, with the count of Tripoli, stood
firm on the summit of a small hillock, and for a long time presented a
bold and undaunted front to the victorious enemy. The count of Tripoli at
last cut his way through the infidels, and fled to Tyre; the Master of the
Hospital, after seeing most of his brethren slain, swam across the Jordan,
and fled, covered with wounds, to the castle of Beaufort; and the
Templars, after fighting with their customary zeal and fanaticism around
the red-cross banner, which waved to the last over the field of blood,
were all killed or taken prisoners, and the Master, Odo de St. Amand, fell
alive into the hands of the enemy.[91] Saladin then laid siege to the
newly-erected fortress, which was of some strength, being defended by
thick walls, flanked with large towers furnished with military engines.
After a gallant resistance on the part of the garrison, it was set on
fire, and then stormed. "The Templars," says Abulpharadge, "flung
themselves some into the fire, where they were burned, some cast
themselves into the Jordan, some jumped down from the walls on to the
rocks, and were dashed to pieces: thus were slain the enemy." The fortress
was reduced to a heap of ruins, and the enraged sultan, it is said,
ordered all the Templars taken in the place to be sawn in two, excepting
the most distinguished of the knights, who were reserved for a ransom, and
were sent in chains to Aleppo.[92]

[Sidenote: ARNOLD DE TORROGE. A. D. 1180.]

Saladin offered Odo de St. Amand his liberty in exchange for the freedom
of his own nephew, who was a prisoner in the hands of the Templars; but
the Master of the Temple haughtily replied, that he would never, by his
example, encourage any of his knights to be mean enough to surrender, that
a Templar ought either to vanquish or die, and that he had nothing to give
for his ransom but his girdle and his knife.[93] The proud spirit of Odo
de St. Amand could but ill brook confinement; he languished and died in
the dungeons of Damascus, and was succeeded by Brother Arnold de Torroge,
who had filled some of the chief situations of the order in Europe.[94]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1184.]

The affairs of the Latin Christians were at this period in a deplorable
situation. Saladin encamped near Tiberias, and extended his ravages into
almost every part of Palestine. His light cavalry swept the valley of the
Jordan to within a day's march of Jerusalem, and the whole country as far
as Panias on the one side, and Beisan, D'Jenneen, and Sebaste, on the
other, was destroyed by fire and the sword. The houses of the Templars
were pillaged and burnt; various castles belonging to the order were taken
by assault;[95] but the immediate destruction of the Latin power was
arrested by some partial successes obtained by the christian warriors, and
by the skilful generalship of their leaders. Saladin was compelled to
retreat to Damascus, after he had burnt Naplous, and depopulated the whole
country around Tiberias. A truce was proposed, (A. D. 1184,) and as the
attention of the sultan was then distracted by the intrigues of the
Turcoman chieftains in the north of Syria, and he was again engaged in
hostilities in Mesopotamia, he agreed to a suspension of the war for four
years, in consideration of the payment by the Christians of a large sum of
money.

Immediate advantage was taken of this truce to secure the safety of the
Latin kingdom. A grand council was called together at Jerusalem, and it
was determined that Heraclius, the patriarch of the Holy City, and the
Masters of the Temple and Hospital, should forthwith proceed to Europe, to
obtain succour from the western princes. The sovereign mostly depended
upon for assistance was Henry the Second, king of England,[96] grandson of
Fulk, the late king of Jerusalem, and cousin-german to Baldwin, the then
reigning sovereign. Henry had received absolution for the murder of Saint
Thomas à Becket, on condition that he should proceed in person at the head
of a powerful army to the succour of Palestine, and should, at his own
expense, maintain two hundred Templars for the defence of the holy
territory.[97]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1185.]

The Patriarch and the two Masters landed in Italy, and after furnishing
themselves with the letters of the pope, threatening the English monarch
with the judgments of heaven if he did not forthwith perform the penance
prescribed him, they set out for England. At Verona, the Master of the
Temple fell sick and died,[98] but his companions proceeding on their
journey, landed in safety in England at the commencement of the year 1185.
They were received by the king at Reading, and throwing themselves at the
feet of the English monarch, they with much weeping and sobbing saluted
him in behalf of the king, the princes, and the people of the kingdom of
Jerusalem. They explained the object of their visit, and presented him
with the pope's letters, with the keys of the holy sepulchre, of the tower
of David, and of the city of Jerusalem, together with the royal banner of
the Latin kingdom.[99] Their eloquent and pathetic narrative of the fierce
inroads of Saladin, and of the miserable condition of Palestine, drew
tears from king Henry and all his court.[100] The English sovereign gave
encouraging assurances to the patriarch and his companions, and promised
to bring the whole matter before the parliament, which was to meet the
first Sunday in Lent.

The patriarch, in the mean time, proceeded to London, and was received by
the Knights Templars at the Temple in that city, the chief house of the
order in Britain, where, in the month of February, he consecrated the
beautiful Temple church, dedicated to the blessed Virgin Mary, which had
just then been erected.[101]




CHAPTER V.

    The Temple at London--The vast possessions of the Templars in
    England--The territorial divisions of the order--The different
    preceptories in this country--The privileges conferred on the Templars
    by the kings of England--The Masters of the Temple at London--Their
    power and importance.

    Li fiere, li Mestre du Temple
    Qu'estoient rempli et ample
    D'or et d'argent et de richesse,
    Et qui menoient tel noblesse,
    Ou sont-il? que sont devenu?
    Que tant ont de plait maintenu,
    Que nul a elz ne s'ozoit prendre
    Tozjors achetoient sans vendre
    Nul riche a elz n'estoit de prise;
    Tant va pot a eue qu'il brise.
                  _Chron._ à la suite du Roman de Favel.


The Knights Templars first established the chief house of their order in
England, without Holborn Bars, on the south side of the street, where
Southampton House formerly stood, adjoining to which Southampton Buildings
were afterwards erected;[102] and it is stated, that about a century and a
half ago, part of the ancient chapel annexed to this establishment, of a
circular form, and built of Caen stone, was discovered on pulling down
some old houses near Southampton Buildings in Chancery Lane.[103] This
first house of the Temple, established by Hugh de Payens himself, before
his departure from England, on his return to Palestine, was adapted to the
wants and necessities of the order in its infant state, when the knights,
instead of lingering in the preceptories of Europe, proceeded at once to
Palestine, and when all the resources of the society were strictly and
faithfully forwarded to Jerusalem, to be expended in defence of the faith;
but when the order had greatly increased in numbers, power, and wealth,
and had somewhat departed from its original purity and simplicity, we find
that the superior and the knights resident in London began to look abroad
for a more extensive and commodious place of habitation. They purchased a
large space of ground, extending from the White Friars westward to Essex
House without Temple Bar,[104] and commenced the erection of a convent on
a scale of grandeur commensurate with the dignity and importance of the
chief house of the great religio-military society of the Temple in
Britain. It was called the _New_ Temple, to distinguish it from the
original establishment at Holborn, which came thenceforth to be known by
the name of the _Old_ Temple.[105]

This New Temple was adapted for the residence of numerous military monks
and novices, serving brothers, retainers, and domestics. It contained the
residence of the superior and of the knights, the cells and apartments of
the chaplains and serving brethren, the council chamber where the chapters
were held, and the refectory or dining-hall, which was connected, by a
range of handsome cloisters, with the magnificent church, consecrated by
the patriarch. Alongside the river extended a spacious pleasure ground for
the recreation of the brethren, who were not permitted to go into the town
without the leave of the Master. It was used also for military exercises
and the training of the horses.

The year of the consecration of the Temple Church, Geoffrey, the superior
of the order in England, caused an inquisition to be made of the lands of
the Templars in this country, and the names of the donors thereof,[106]
from which it appears, that the larger territorial divisions of the order
were then called bailiwicks, the principal of which were London, Warwic,
Couele, Meritune, Gutinge, Westune, Lincolnscire, Lindeseie, Widine, and
Eboracisire, (Yorkshire.) The number of manors, farms, churches,
advowsons, demesne lands, villages, hamlets, windmills, and watermills,
rents of assize, rights of common and free warren, and the amount of all
kinds of property, possessed by the Templars in England at the period of
the taking of this inquisition, are astonishing. Upon the great estates
belonging to the order, prioral houses had been erected, wherein dwelt the
procurators or stewards charged with the management of the manors and
farms in their neighbourhood, and with the collection of the rents. These
prioral houses became regular monastic establishments, inhabited chiefly
by sick and aged Templars, who retired to them to spend the remainder of
their days, after a long period of honourable service against the infidels
in Palestine. They were cells to the principal house at London. There were
also under them certain smaller administrations established for the
management of the farms, consisting of a Knight Templar, to whom were
associated some serving brothers of the order, and a priest who acted as
almoner. The commissions or mandates directed by the Masters of the Temple
to the officers at the head of these establishments, were called precepts,
from the commencement of them, "_Præcipimus tibi_," we enjoin or direct
you, &c. &c. The knights to whom they were addressed were styled
_Præceptores Templi_, or Preceptors of the Temple, and the districts
administered by them _Præceptoria_, or preceptories.

It will now be as well to take a general survey of the possessions and
organization of the order both in Europe and Asia, "whose circumstances,"
saith William archbishop of Tyre, writing from Jerusalem about the period
of the consecration at London of the Temple Church, "are in so flourishing
a state, that at this day they have in their convent (the Temple on Mount
Moriah) more than three hundred knights robed in the white habit, besides
serving brothers innumerable. Their possessions indeed beyond sea, as well
as in these parts, are said to be so vast, that there cannot now be a
province in Christendom which does not contribute to the support of the
aforesaid brethren, whose wealth is said to equal that of sovereign
princes."[107]

The eastern provinces of the order were, 1. Palestine, the ruling
province. 2. The principality of Antioch. 3. The principality of Tripoli.

1. PALESTINE.--Some account has already been given of the Temple at
Jerusalem, the chief house of the order, and the residence of the Master.
In addition to the strong garrison there maintained, the Templars
possessed numerous forces, distributed in various fortresses and
strongholds, for the preservation and protection of the holy territory.

The following castles and cities of Palestine are enumerated by the
historians of the Latin kingdom, as having belonged to the order of the
Temple.

The fortified city of Gaza, the key of the kingdom of Jerusalem on the
side next Egypt, anciently one of the five satrapies of the Lords of the
Philistines, and the stronghold of Cambyses when he invaded Egypt.

  "Placed where Judea's utmost bounds extend,
  Towards fair Pelusium, Gaza's towers ascend.
  Fast by the breezy shore the city stands
  Amid unbounded plains of barren sands,
  Which high in air the furious whirlwinds sweep,
  Like mountain billows on the stormy deep,
  That scarce the affrighted traveller, spent with toil,
  Escapes the tempest of the unstable soil."

It was granted to the Templars, in perpetual sovereignty, by Baldwin king
of Jerusalem.[108]

The Castle of Saphet, in the territory of the ancient tribe of Naphtali;
the great bulwark of the northern frontier of the Latin kingdom on the
side next Damascus. The Castle of the Pilgrims, in the neighbourhood of
Mount Carmel. The Castle of Assur near Jaffa, and the House of the Temple
at Jaffa. The fortress of Faba, or La Feue, the ancient Aphek, not far
from Tyre, in the territory of the ancient tribe of Asher. The hill-fort
Dok, between Bethel and Jericho. The castles of La Cave, Marle, Citern
Rouge, Castel Blanc, Trapesach, Sommelleria of the Temple, in the
neighbourhood of Acca, now St. John d'Acre. Castrum Planorum, and a place
called Gerinum Parvum.[109] The Templars purchased the castle of Beaufort
and the city of Sidon;[110] they also got into their hands a great part of
the town of St. Jean d'Acre, where they erected their famous temple, and
almost all Palestine was in the end divided between them and the
Hospitallers of Saint John.

2. THE PRINCIPALITY OF ANTIOCH.--The principal houses of the Temple in
this province were at Antioch itself, at Aleppo, Haram, &c.

3. THE PRINCIPALITY OF TRIPOLI.--The chief establishments herein were at
Tripoli, at Tortosa, the ancient Antaradus; Castel-blanc in the same
neighbourhood; Laodicea and Beyrout,--all under the immediate
superintendence of the Preceptor of Tripoli. Besides these castles,
houses, and fortresses, the Templars possessed farms and large tracts of
land, both in Syria and Palestine.

The western nations or provinces, on the other hand, from whence the order
derived its chief power and wealth, were,

1. APULIA AND SICILY, the principal houses whereof were at Palermo,
Syracuse, Lentini, Butera, and Trapani. The house of the Temple at this
last place has been appropriated to the use of some monks of the order of
St. Augustin. In a church of the city is still to be seen the celebrated
statue of the Virgin, which Brother Guerrege and three other Knights
Templars brought from the East, with a view of placing it in the Temple
Church on the Aventine hill in Rome, but which they were obliged to
deposit in the island of Sicily. This celebrated statue is of the most
beautiful white marble, and represents the Virgin with the infant Jesus
reclining on her left arm; it is of about the natural height, and, from an
inscription on the foot of the figure, it appears to have been executed by
a native of the island of Cyprus, A. D. 733.[111]

The Templars possessed valuable estates in Sicily, around the base of
Mount Etna, and large tracts of land between Piazza and Calatagirone, in
the suburbs of which last place there was a Temple house, the church
whereof, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, still remains. They possessed also
many churches in the island, windmills, rights of fishery, of pasturage,
of cutting wood in the forests, and many important privileges and
immunities. The chief house was at Messina, where the Grand Prior
resided.[112]

2. UPPER AND CENTRAL ITALY.--The houses or preceptories of the order of
the Temple in this province were very numerous, and were all under the
immediate superintendence of the Grand Prior or Preceptor of Rome. There
were large establishments at Lucca, Milan, and Perugia, at which last
place the arms of the Temple are still to be seen on the tower of the holy
cross. At Placentia there was a magnificent and extensive convent, called
Santa Maria del Tempio, ornamented with a very lofty tower. At Bologna
there was also a large Temple house, and on a clock in the city is the
following inscription, "_Magister Tosseolus de Miolâ me fecit ... Fr.
Petrus de Bon, Procur. Militiæ Templi in curiâ Romanâ_, MCCCIII." In the
church of St. Mary in the same place, which formerly belonged to the
Knights Templars, is the interesting marble monument of Peter de Rotis, a
priest of the order. He is represented on his tomb, holding a chalice in
his hands with the host elevated above it, and beneath the monumental
effigy is the following epitaph:--

  "Stirpe Rotis, Petrus, virtutis munere clarus,
  Strenuus ecce pugil Christi, jacet ordine charus;
  Veste ferens, menteque crucem, nunc sidera scandit,
  Exemplum nobis spectandi cælica pandit:
  Annis ter trinis viginti mille trecentis
  Sexta quarte maii fregit lux organa mentis."[113]

PORTUGAL.--In the province or nation of Portugal, the military power and
resources of the order of the Temple were exercised in almost constant
warfare against the Moors, and Europe derived essential advantage from the
enthusiastic exertions of the warlike monks in that quarter against the
infidels. In every battle, indeed, fought in the south of Europe, after
the year 1130, against the enemies of the cross, the Knights Templars are
to be found taking an active and distinguished part, and in all the
conflicts against the infidels, both in the west and in the east, they
were ever in the foremost rank, battling nobly in defence of the christian
faith. With all the princes and sovereigns of the great Spanish peninsula
they were extremely popular, and they were endowed with cities, villages,
lordships, and splendid domains. Many of the most important fortresses and
castles in the land were entrusted to their safe keeping, and some were
yielded to them in perpetual sovereignty. They possessed, in Portugal, the
castles of Monsento, Idanha, and Tomar; the citadel of Langrovia in the
province of Beira, on the banks of the Riopisco; and the fortress of
Miravel in Estremadura, taken from the Moors, a strong place perched on
the summit of a lofty eminence. They had large estates at Castromarin,
Almural, and Tavira in Algarve, and houses, rents, revenues, and
possessions, in all parts of the country. The Grand Prior or Preceptor of
Portugal resided at the castle of Tomar. It is seated on the river Narboan
in Estremadura, and is still to be seen towering in gloomy magnificence on
the hill above the town. The castle at present belongs to the order of
Christ, and was lately one of the grandest and richest establishments in
Portugal. It possessed a splendid library, and a handsome cloister, the
architecture of which was much admired.[114]

CASTILE AND LEON.--The houses or preceptories of the Temple most known in
this province or nation of the order were those of Cuenca and
Guadalfagiara, Tine and Aviles in the diocese of Oviedo, and Pontevreda in
Galicia. In Castile alone the order is said to have possessed twenty-four
bailiwicks.[115]

ARAGON.--The sovereigns of Aragon, who had suffered grievously from the
incursions of the Moors, were the first of the European princes to
recognize the utility of the order of the Temple. They endowed the
fraternity with vast revenues, and ceded to them some of the strongest
fortresses in the kingdom. The Knights Templars possessed in Aragon the
castles of Dumbel, Cabanos, Azuda, Granena, Chalonere, Remolins, Corbins,
Lo Mas de Barbaran, Moncon, and Montgausi, with their territories and
dependencies. They were lords of the cities of Borgia and Tortosa; they
had a tenth part of the revenues of the kingdom, the taxes of the towns of
Huesca and Saragossa, and houses, possessions, privileges, and immunities
in all parts.[116]

The Templars likewise possessed lands and estates in the Balearic Isles,
which were under the management of the Prior or Preceptor of the island of
Majorca, who was subject to the Grand Preceptor of Aragon.

GERMANY AND HUNGARY.--The houses most known in this territorial division
of the order are those in the electorate of Mayence, at Homburg,
Assenheim, Rotgen in the Rhingau, Mongberg in the Marché of Brandenbourg,
Nuitz on the Rhine, Tissia Altmunmunster near Ratisbon in Bavaria,
Bamberg, Middlebourg, Hall, Brunswick, &c. &c. The Templars possessed the
fiefs of Rorich, Pausin and Wildenheuh in _Pomerania_, an establishment at
Bach in _Hungary_, several lordships in _Bohemia_ and _Moravia_, and
lands, tithes, and large revenues, the gifts of pious German
crusaders.[117]

GREECE.--The Templars were possessed of lands and had establishments in
the Morea, and in several parts of the Greek empire. Their chief house was
at Constantinople, in the quarter called [Greek: Omonoia], where they had
an oratory dedicated to the holy martyrs Marin and Pentaleon.[118]

FRANCE.--The principal preceptories and houses of the Temple, in the
present kingdom of France, were at Besancon, Dole, Salins, à la Romagne, à
la ville Dieu, Arbois in _Franche Comté_.[119]

Bomgarten, Temple Savigné near Corbeil, Dorlesheim near Molsheim, where
there still remains a chapel called Templehoff, Ribauvillier, and a Temple
house in the plain near Bercheim in _Alsace_.

Bures, Voulaine les Templiers, Ville-sous-Gevrey, otherwise St. Philibert,
Dijon, Fauverney, where a chapel dedicated to the Virgin still preserves
the name of the Temple, Des Feuilles, situate in the parish of Villett,
near the chateau de Vernay, St. Martin, Le Chastel, Espesses, Tessones
near Bourges, and La Musse, situate between Baujé and Macon in
_Burgundy_.[120]

Montpelier, Sertelage, Nogarade near Pamiers, Falgairas, Narbonne, St.
Eulalie de Bezieres, Prugnanas, and the parish church of St. Martin
d'Ubertas in _Languedoc_.[121]

Temple Cahor, Temple Marigny, Arras, Le Parc, St. Vaubourg, and Rouen, in
_Normandy_. There were two houses of the Temple at Rouen; one of them
occupied the site of the present _maison consulaire_, and the other stood
in the street now called _La Rue des Hermites_.[122] The preceptories and
houses of the Temple in France, indeed, were so numerous, that it would be
a wearisome and endless task to repeat the names of them. Hundreds of
places in the different provinces are mentioned by French writers as
having belonged to the Templars. Between Joinville and St. Dizier may
still be seen the remains of Temple Ruet, an old chateau surrounded by a
moat; and in the diocese of Meaux are the ruins of the great manorial
house of Choisy le Temple. Many interesting tombs are there visible,
together with the refectory of the knights, which has been converted into
a sheepfold.

The chief house of the order for France, and also for Holland and the
Netherlands, was the Temple at Paris, an extensive and magnificent
structure, surrounded by a wall and a ditch. It extended over all that
large space of ground, now covered with streets and buildings, which lies
between the rue du Temple, the rue St. Croix, and the environs de la
Verrerie, as far as the walls and the fossés of the port du Temple. It was
ornamented with a great tower, flanked by four smaller towers, erected by
the Knight Templar Brother Herbert, almoner to the king of France, and was
one of the strongest edifices in the kingdom.[123] Many of the modern
streets of Paris which now traverse the site of this interesting
structure, preserve in the names given to them some memorial of the
ancient Temple. For instance, _La rue du Temple_, _La rue des fossés du
Temple_, _Boulevard du Temple_, _Faubourg du Temple_, _rue de Faubourg du
Temple_, _Vieille rue du Temple_, &c. &c.

All the houses of the Temple in Holland and the Netherlands were under the
immediate jurisdiction of the Master of the Temple at Paris. The
preceptories in these kingdoms were very numerous, and the property
dependent upon them was of great value. Those most known are the
preceptories of Treves and Dietrich on the Soure, the ruins of which last
still remain; Coberne, on the left bank of the Moselle, a few miles from
Coblentz; Belisch, Temple Spelé, Temple Rodt near Vianden, and the Temple
at Luxembourg, where in the time of Broverus there existed considerable
remains of the refectory, of the church, and of some stone walls covered
with paintings; Templehuis near Ghent, the preceptory of Alphen, Braëckel,
la maison de Slipes near Ostend, founded by the counts of Flanders; Temple
Caestre near Mount Cassel; Villiers le Temple en Condros, between Liege
and Huy; Vaillenpont, Walsberge, Haut Avenes near Arras; Temploux near
Fleuru in the department of Namur; Vernoi in Hainault; Temple Dieu at
Douai; Marles near Valenciennes; St. Symphonier near Mons, &c. &c.[124]

In these countries, as well as in all parts of Europe wherever they were
settled, the Templars possessed vast privileges and immunities, which were
conceded to them by popes, kings, and princes.

ENGLAND.--There were in bygone times the following preceptories of Knight
Templars in the present kingdom of England.

Aslakeby, Temple Bruere, Egle, Malteby, Mere, Wilketon, and Witham, in
_Lincolnshire_.

North Feriby, Temple Hurst, Temple Newsom, Pafflete, Flaxflete, and
Ribstane, in _Yorkshire_.

Temple Cumbe in _Somersetshire_.

Ewell, Strode and Swingfield, near Dover, in _Kent_.

Hadescoe, in _Norfolk_.

Balsall and Warwick, in _Warwickshire_.

Temple Rothley, in _Leicestershire_.

Wilburgham Magna, Daney, and Dokesworth, in _Cambridgeshire_.

Halston, in _Shropshire_.

Temple Dynnesley, in _Hertfordshire_.

Temple Cressing and Sutton, in _Essex_.

Saddlescomb and Chapelay, in _Sussex_.

Schepeley, in _Surrey_.

Temple Cowley, Sandford, Bistelesham, and Chalesey, in _Oxfordshire_.

Temple Rockley, in _Wiltshire_.

Upleden and Garwy, in _Herefordshire_.

South Badeisley, in _Hampshire_.

Getinges, in _Worcestershire_.

Giselingham and Dunwich, in _Suffolk_.[125]

There were also several smaller administrations established, as before
mentioned, for the management of the farms and lands, and the collection
of rent and tithes. Among these were Liddele and Quiely in the diocese of
Chichester; Eken in the diocese of Lincoln; Adingdon, Wesdall, Aupledina,
Cotona, &c. The different preceptors of the Temple in England had under
their management lands and property in every county of the realm.[126]

In _Leicestershire_ the Templars possessed the town and the soke of
Rotheley; the manors of Rolle, Babbegrave, Gaddesby, Stonesby, and Melton;
Rothely wood, near Leicester; the villages of Beaumont, Baresby, Dalby,
North and South Mardefeld, Saxby, Stonesby, and Waldon, with land in above
_eighty_ others! They had also the churches of Rotheley, Babbegrave, and
Rolle; and the chapels of Gaddesby, Grimston, Wartnaby, Cawdwell, and
Wykeham.[127]

In _Hertfordshire_ they possessed the town and forest of Broxbourne, the
manor of Chelsin Templars, (_Chelsin Templariorum_,) and the manors of
Laugenok, Broxbourne, Letchworth, and Temple Dynnesley; demesne lands at
Stanho, Preston, Charlton, Walden, Hiche, Chelles, Levecamp, and Benigho;
the church of Broxbourne, two watermills, and a lock on the river Lea:
also property at Hichen, Pyrton, Ickilford, Offeley Magna, Offeley Parva,
Walden Regis, Furnivale, Ipolitz, Wandsmyll, Watton, Therleton, Weston,
Gravele, Wilien, Leccheworth, Baldock, Datheworth, Russenden, Codpeth,
Sumershale, Buntynford, &c. &c., and the church of Weston.[128]

In the county of _Essex_ they had the manors of Temple Cressynge, Temple
Roydon, Temple Sutton, Odewell, Chingelford, Lideleye, Quarsing, Berwick,
and Witham; the church of Roydon, and houses, lands, and farms, both at
Roydon, at Rivenhall, and in the parishes of Prittlewall and Great and
Little Sutton; an old mansion-house and chapel at Sutton, and an estate
called Finchinfelde in the hundred of Hinckford.[129]

In _Lincolnshire_ the Templars possessed the manors of La Bruere, Roston,
Kirkeby, Brauncewell, Carleton, Akele, with the soke of Lynderby,
Aslakeby, and the churches of Bruere, Asheby, Akele, Aslakeby, Donington,
Ele, Swinderby, Skarle, &c. There were upwards of thirty churches in the
county which made annual payments to the order of the Temple, and about
forty windmills. The order likewise received rents in respect of lands at
Bracebrig, Brancetone, Scapwic, Timberland, Weleburne, Diringhton, and a
hundred other places; and some of the land in the county was charged with
the annual payment of sums of money towards the keeping of the lights
eternally burning on the altars of the Temple church.[130] William Lord of
Asheby gave to the Templars the perpetual advowson of the church of Asheby
in Lincolnshire, and they in return agreed to find him a priest to sing
for ever twice a week in his chapel of St. Margaret.[131]

In _Yorkshire_ the Templars possessed the manors of Temple Werreby,
Flaxflete, Etton, South Cave, &c.; the churches of Whitcherche, Kelintune,
&c.; numerous windmills and lands and rents at Nehus, Skelture, Pennel,
and more than sixty other places besides.[132]

In _Warwickshire_ they possessed the manors of Barston, Shirburne,
Balshale, Wolfhey, Cherlecote, Herbebure, Stodleye, Fechehampstead,
Cobington, Tysho and Warwick; lands at Chelverscoton, Herdwicke, Morton,
Warwick, Hetherburn, Chesterton, Aven, Derset, Stodley, Napton, and more
than thirty other places, the several donors whereof are specified in
Dugdale's history of Warwickshire (p. 694;) also the churches of
Sireburne, Cardinton, &c., and more than thirteen windmills. In 12 Hen.
II., William Earl of Warwick built a new church for them at Warwick.[133]

In _Kent_ they had the manors of Lilleston, Hechewayton, Saunford, Sutton,
Dartford, Halgel, Ewell, Cocklescomb, Strode, Swinkfield Mennes, West
Greenwich, and the manor of Lydden, which now belongs to the archbishop of
Canterbury; the advowsons of the churches of West Greenwich and Kingeswode
juxta Waltham; extensive tracts of land in Romney marsh, and farms and
assize rents in all parts of the county.[134]

In _Sussex_ they had the manors of Saddlescomb and Shipley; lands and
tenements at Compton and other places; and the advowsons of the churches
of Shipley, Wodmancote, and Luschwyke.[135]

In _Surrey_ they had the manor farm of Temple Elfand or Elfante, and an
estate at Merrow in the hundred of Woking. In _Gloucestershire_, the
manors of Lower Dowdeswell, Pegsworth, Amford, Nishange, and five others
which belonged to them wholly or in part, the church of Down Ammey, and
lands in Framton, Temple Guting, and Little Rissington. In
_Worcestershire_, the manor of Templars Lawern, and lands in Flavel,
Temple Broughton, and Hanbury.[136] In _Northamptonshire_, the manors of
Asheby, Thorp, Watervill, &c. &c.; they had the advowson of the church of
the manor of Hardwicke in Orlington hundred, and we find that "Robert
Saunford, Master of the soldiery of the Temple in England," presented to
it in the year 1238.[137] In _Nottinghamshire_, the Templars possessed the
church of Marnham, lands and rents at Gretton and North Carleton; in
_Westmoreland_, the manor of Temple Sowerby; in the Isle of Wight, the
manor of Uggeton, and lands in Kerne.[138] But it would be tedious further
to continue with a dry detail of ancient names and places; sufficient has
been said to give an idea of the enormous wealth of the order in this
country, where it is known to have possessed some hundreds of manors, the
advowson or right of presentation to churches innumerable, and thousands
of acres of arable land, pasture, and woodland, besides villages,
farm-houses, mills, and tithes, rights of common, of fishing, of cutting
wood in forests, &c. &c.

There were also several preceptories in Scotland and Ireland, which were
dependent on the Temple at London.

The annual income of the order in Europe has been roughly estimated at six
millions sterling! According to Matthew Paris, the Templars possessed
_nine thousand_ manors or lordships in Christendom, besides a large
revenue and immense riches arising from the constant charitable bequests
and donations of sums of money from pious persons.[139] "They were also
endowed," says James of Vitry, bishop of Acre, "with farms, towns, and
villages, to an immense extent both in the East and in the West, out of
the revenues of which they send yearly a certain sum of money for the
defence of the Holy Land to their head Master at the chief house of their
order in Jerusalem."[140] The Templars, in imitation of the other monastic
establishments, obtained from pious and charitable people all the
advowsons within their reach, and frequently retained the tithe and the
glebe in their own hands, deputing a priest of the order to perform divine
service and administer the sacraments.

The manors of the Templars produced them rent either in money, corn, or
cattle, and the usual produce of the soil. By the custom in some of these
manors, the tenants were annually to mow three days in harvest, one at the
charge of the house; and to plough three days, whereof one at the like
charge; to reap one day, at which time they should have a ram from the
house, eightpence, twenty-four loaves, and a cheese of the best in the
house, together with a pailful of drink. The tenants were not to sell
their horse-colts, if they were foaled upon the land belonging to the
Templars, without the consent of the fraternity, nor marry their daughters
without their license. There were also various regulations concerning the
cocks and hens and young chickens.[141]

We have previously given an account of the royal donations of King Henry
the First, of King Stephen and his queen, to the order of the Temple.
These were far surpassed by the pious benefactions of King Henry the
Second. That monarch, for the good of his soul and the welfare of his
kingdom, granted the Templars a place situate on the river Fleet, near
Bainard's Castle, with the whole current of that river at London, for
erecting a mill;[142] also a messuage near Fleet-street; the church of St.
Clement, "quæ dicitur Dacorum extra civitatem Londoniæ;" the churches of
Elle, Swinderby and Skarle in Lincolnshire, Kingeswode juxta Waltham in
Kent, the manor of Stroder in the hundred of Skamele, the vill of Kele in
Staffordshire, the hermitage of Flikeamstede, and all his lands at Lange
Cureway, a house in Brosal, and the market of Witham; lands at Berghotte,
a mill at the bridge of Pembroke Castle, the vill of Finchingfelde, the
manor of Rotheley with its appurtenances, and the advowson of the church
and its several chapels, the manor of Blalcolvesley, the park of
Haleshall, and three _fat bucks_ annually, either from Essex or Windsor
Forest. He likewise granted them an annual fair at Temple Bruere, and
superadded many rich benefactions in Ireland.[143]

The principal benefactors to the Templars amongst the nobility were
William Marshall, earl of Pembroke, and his sons William and Gilbert;
Robert, lord de Ros; the earl of Hereford; William, earl of Devon; the
king of Scotland; William, archbishop of York; Philip Harcourt, dean of
Lincoln; the earl of Cornwall; Philip, bishop of Bayeux; Simon de Senlis,
earl of Northampton; Leticia and William, count and countess of Ferrara;
Margaret, countess of Warwick; Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester;
Robert de Harecourt, lord of Rosewarden; William de Vernon, earl of Devon,
&c. &c.[144]

The Templars, in addition to their amazing wealth, enjoyed vast privileges
and immunities within this realm. In the reign of King John they were
freed from all amerciaments in the Exchequer, and obtained the privilege
of not being compelled to plead except before the king or his chief
justice. King Henry the Third granted them free warren in all their
demesne lands; and by his famous charter, dated the 9th of February, in
the eleventh year of his reign, he confirmed to them all the donations of
his predecessors and of their other benefactors; with soc[145] and
sac,[146] tol[147] and theam,[148] infangenethef,[149] and
unfangenethef,[150] and hamsoca, and grithbrich, and blodwite, and
flictwite, and hengewite, and learwite, and flemenefrith, murder, robbery,
forestal, ordel, and oreste; and he acquitted them from the royal and
sheriff's aids, and from hidage, carucage, danegeld and hornegeld, and
from military and wapentake services, scutages, tallages, lastages,
stallages, from shires and hundreds, pleas and quarrels, from ward and
wardpeny, and averpeni, and hundredespeni, and borethalpeni, and
thethingepeni, and from the works of parks, castles, bridges, the building
of royal houses and all other works; and also from waste regard and view
of foresters, and from toll in all markets and fairs, and at all bridges,
and upon all highways throughout the kingdom. And he also gave them the
chattels of felons and fugitives, and all waifs within their fee.[151]

In addition to these particular privileges, the Templars enjoyed, under
the authority of the Papal bulls, various immunities and advantages, which
gave great umbrage to the clergy. They were freed, as before mentioned,
from the obligation of paying tithes, and might, with the consent of the
bishop, receive them. No brother of the Temple could be excommunicated by
any bishop or priest, nor could any of the churches of the order be laid
under interdict except by virtue of a special mandate from the holy see.
When any brother of the Temple, appointed to make charitable collections
for the succour of the Holy Land, should arrive at a city, castle, or
village, which had been laid under interdict, the churches, on their
welcome coming, were to be thrown open, (once within the year,) and divine
service was to be performed in honour of the Temple, and in reverence for
the holy soldiers thereof. The privilege of sanctuary was thrown around
their dwellings; and by various papal bulls it is solemnly enjoined that
no person shall lay violent hands either upon the persons or the property
of those flying for refuge to the Temple houses.[152]

Sir Edward Coke, in the second part of the Institute of the Laws of
England, observes, that "the Templars did so overspread throughout
Christendome, and so exceedingly increased in possessions, revenues, and
wealth, and specially in England, as you will wonder to reade in approved
histories, and withall obtained so great and large priviledges, liberties,
and immunities for themselves, their tenants, and farmers, &c., as no
other order had the like."[153] He further observes, that the Knights
Templars were _cruce signati_, and as the cross was the ensign of their
profession, and their tenants enjoyed great privileges, they did erect
crosses upon their houses, to the end that those inhabiting them might be
known to be the tenants of the order, and thereby be freed from many
duties and services which other tenants were subject unto; "and many
tenants of other lords, perceiving the state and greatnesse of the knights
of the said order, and withall seeing the great priviledges their tenants
enjoyed, did set up crosses upon their houses, as their very tenants used
to doe, to the prejudice of their lords."

This abuse led to the passing of the statute of Westminster, the second,
_chap._ 33,[154] which recites, that many tenants did set up crosses or
cause them to be set up on their lands in prejudice of their lords, that
the tenants might defend themselves against the chief lord of the fee by
the privileges of Templars and Hospitallers, and enacts that such lands
should be forfeited to the chief lords or to the king.

Sir Edward Coke observes, that the Templars were freed from tenths and
fifteenths to be paid to the king; that they were discharged of
purveyance; that they could not be sued for any ecclesiastical cause
before the ordinary, _sed coram conservatoribus suorum privilegiorum_; and
that of ancient time they claimed that a felon might take to their houses,
having their crosses for his safety, as well as to any church.[155] And
concerning these conservers or keepers of their privileges, he remarks,
that the Templars and Hospitallers "held an ecclesiasticall court before
a canonist, whom they termed _conservator privilegiorum suorum_, which
judge had indeed more authority than was convenient, and did dayly, in
respect of the height of these two orders, and at their instance and
direction, incroach upon and hold plea of matters determinable by the
common law, for _cui plus licet quam par est, plus vult quam licet_; and
this was one great mischiefe. Another mischiefe was, that this judge,
likewise at their instance, in cases wherein he had jurisdiction, would
make general citations as _pro salute animæ_, and the like, without
expressing the matter whereupon the citation was made, which also was
against law, and tended to the grievous vexation of the subject."[156] To
remedy these evils, another act of parliament was passed, prohibiting
Hospitallers and Templars from bringing any man in plea before the keepers
of their privileges, for any matter the knowledge whereof belonged to the
king's court, and commanding such keepers of their privileges thenceforth
to grant no citations at the instance of Hospitallers and Templars, before
it be expressed upon what matter the citation ought to be made.[157]

Having given an outline of the great territorial possessions of the order
of the Temple in Europe, it now remains for us to present a sketch of its
organisation and government. The Master of the Temple, the chief of the
entire fraternity, ranked as a sovereign prince, and had precedence of all
ambassadors and peers in the general councils of the church. He was
elected to his high office by the chapter of the kingdom of Jerusalem,
which was composed of all the knights of the East and of the West who
could manage to attend. The Master had his general and particular
chapters. The first were composed of the Grand Priors of the eastern and
western provinces, and of all the knights present in the holy territory.
The assembling of these general chapters, however, in the distant land of
Palestine, was a useless and almost impracticable undertaking, and it is
only on the journeys of the Master to Europe, that we hear of the
convocation of the Grand Priors of the West to attend upon their chief.
The general chapters called together by the Master in Europe were held at
Paris, and the Grand Prior of England always received a summons to attend.
The ordinary business and the government of the fraternity in secular
matters were conducted by the Master with the assistance of his particular
chapter of the Latin kingdom, which was composed of such of the Grand
Priors and chief dignitaries of the Temple as happened to be present in
the East, and such of the knights as were deemed the wisest and most fit
to give counsel. In these last chapters visitors-general were appointed to
examine into the administration of the western provinces.

The western nations or provinces of the order were presided over by the
provincial Masters,[158] otherwise Grand Priors or Grand Preceptors, who
were originally appointed by the chief Master at Jerusalem, and were in
theory mere trustees or bare administrators of the revenues of the
fraternity, accountable to the treasurer general at Jerusalem, and
removeable at the pleasure of the Chief Master. As the numbers,
possessions, and wealth of the Templars, however, increased, various
abuses sprang up. The members of the order, after their admittance to the
vows, very frequently, instead of proceeding direct to Palestine to war
against the infidels, settled down upon their property in Europe, and
consumed at home a large proportion of those revenues which ought to have
been faithfully and strictly forwarded to the general treasury at the Holy
City. They erected numerous convents or preceptories, with churches and
chapels, and raised up in each western province a framework of government
similar to that of the ruling province of Palestine.

The chief house of the Temple in England, for example, after its removal
from Holborn Bars to the banks of the Thames, was regulated and organised
after the model of the house of the Temple at Jerusalem. The superior is
always styled "Master of the Temple," and holds his chapters and has his
officers corresponding to those of the chief Master in Palestine. The
latter, consequently, came to be denominated _Magnus Magister_, or Grand
Master,[159] by our English writers, to distinguish him from the Master at
London, and henceforth he will be described by that title to prevent
confusion. The titles given indeed to the superiors of the different
nations or provinces into which the order of the Temple was divided, are
numerous and somewhat perplexing. In the East, these officers were known
only, in the first instance, by the title of Prior, as Prior of England,
Prior of France, Prior of Portugal, &c., and afterwards Preceptor of
England, preceptor of France, &c.; but in Europe they were called Grand
Priors and Grand Preceptors, to distinguish them from the Sub-priors and
Sub-preceptors, and also Masters of the Temple. The Prior and Preceptor
_of_ England, therefore, and the Grand Prior, Grand Preceptor, and Master
of the Temple _in_ England, were one and the same person. There were also
at the New Temple at London, in imitation of the establishment at the
chief house in Palestine, in addition to the Master, the Preceptor of the
Temple, the Prior of London, the Treasurer, and the Guardian of the
church, who had three chaplains under him, called readers.[160]

The Master at London had his general and particular, or his ordinary and
extraordinary chapters. The first were composed of the grand preceptors of
Scotland and Ireland, and all the provincial priors and preceptors of the
three kingdoms, who were summoned once a year to deliberate on the state
of the Holy Land, to forward succour, to give an account of their
stewardship, and to frame new rules and regulations for the management of
the temporalities.[161] The ordinary chapters were held at the different
preceptories, which the Master of the Temple visited in succession. In
these chapters new members were admitted into the order; lands were
bought, sold, and exchanged; and presentations were made by the Master to
vacant benefices. Many of the grants and other deeds of these chapters,
with the seal of the order of the Temple annexed to them, are to be met
with in the public and private collections of manuscripts in this country.
One of the most interesting and best preserved, is the Harleian charter
(83, c. 39,) in the British Museum, which is a grant of land made by
Brother William de la More, the martyr, the last Master of the Temple in
England, to the Lord Milo de Stapleton. It is expressed to be made by him,
with the common consent and advice of his chapter, held at the Preceptory
of Dynneslee, on the feast of Saint Barnabas the Apostle, and concludes,
"In witness whereof, we have to this present indenture placed the seal of
our chapter."[162] A fac-simile of this seal is given above. On the
reverse of it is a man's head, decorated with a long beard, and surmounted
by a small cap, and around it are the letters TESTISVMAGI. The same seal
is to be met with on various other indentures made by the Master and
Chapter of the Temple.[163] The more early seals are surrounded with the
words, Sigillum _Militis_ Templi, "Seal of the _Knight_ of the Temple;" as
in the case of the deed of exchange of lands at Normanton in the parish of
Botisford, in Leicestershire, entered into between Brother Amadeus de
Morestello, Master of the chivalry of the Temple in England, and his
chapter, of the one part, and the Lord Henry de Colevile, Knight, of the
other part. The seal annexed to this deed has the addition of the word
_Militis_, but in other respects it is similar to the one above
delineated.[164]

The Master of the Temple was controlled by the visitors-general of the
order,[165] who were knights specially deputed by the Grand Master and
convent of Jerusalem to visit the different provinces, to reform abuses,
make new regulations, and terminate such disputes as were usually reserved
for the decision of the Grand Master. These visitors-general sometimes
removed knights from their preceptories, and even suspended the masters
themselves, and it was their duty to expedite to the East all such knights
as were young and vigorous, and capable of fighting. Two regular voyages
were undertaken from Europe to Palestine in the course of the year, under
the conduct of the Templars and Hospitallers, called the _passagium
Martis_, and the _passagium Sancti Johannis_, which took place
respectively in the spring and summer, when the newly-admitted knights
left the preceptories of the West, taking with them hired foot soldiers,
armed pilgrims, and large sums of money, the produce of the European
possessions of the fraternity, by which means a continual succour was
afforded to the christian kingdom of Jerusalem. One of the grand priors or
grand preceptors generally took the command of these expeditions, and was
frequently accompanied by many valiant secular knights, who craved
permission to join his standard, and paid large sums of money for a
passage to the far East. In the interval between these different voyages,
the young knights were diligently employed at the different preceptories
in the religious and military exercises necessary to fit them for their
high vocation.

On any sudden emergency, or when the ranks of the order had been greatly
thinned by the casualties of war, the Grand Master sent circular letters
to the grand preceptors or masters of the western provinces, requiring
instant aid and assistance, on the receipt of which collections were made
in the churches, and all the knights that could be spared forthwith
embarked for the Holy Land.

The Master of the Temple in England sat in parliament as first baron of
the realm, (_primus baro Angliæ_,) but that is to be understood among
priors only. To the parliament holden in the twenty-ninth year of King
Henry the Third, there were summoned sixty-five abbots, thirty-five
priors, and the Master of the Temple.[166] The oath taken by the grand
priors, grand preceptors, or provincial Masters in Europe, on their
assumption of the duties of their high administrative office, was drawn up
in the following terms:--

"I, _A. B._, Knight of the Order of the Temple, just now appointed Master
of the knights who are in ----, promise to Jesus Christ my Saviour, and to
his vicar the sovereign pontiff and his successors, perpetual obedience
and fidelity. I swear that I will defend, not only with my lips, but by
force of arms and with all my strength, the mysteries of the faith; the
seven sacraments, the fourteen articles of the faith, the creed of the
Apostles, and that of Saint Athanasius; the books of the Old and the New
Testament, with the commentaries of the holy fathers, as received by the
church; the unity of God, the plurality of the persons of the holy
Trinity; that Mary, the daughter of Joachim and Anna, of the tribe of
Judah, and of the race of David, remained always a virgin before her
delivery, during and after her delivery. I promise likewise to be
submissive and obedient to the Master-general of the order, in conformity
with the statutes prescribed by our father Saint Bernard; that I will at
all times in case of need pass the seas to go and fight; that I will
always afford succour against the infidel kings and princes; that in the
presence of three enemies I will fly not, but cope with them, if they are
infidels; that I will not sell the property of the order, nor consent that
it be sold or alienated; that I will always preserve chastity; that I will
be faithful to the king of ----; that I will never surrender to the enemy
the towns and places belonging to the order; and that I will never refuse
to the religious any succour that I am able to afford them; that I will
aid and defend them by words, by arms, and by all sorts of good offices;
and in sincerity and of my own free will I swear that I will observe all
these things."[167]

Among the earliest of the Masters, or Grand Priors, or Grand Preceptors of
England, whose names figure in history, is Richard de Hastings, who was at
the head of the order in this country on the accession of King Henry the
Second to the throne,[168] (A. D. 1154,) and was employed by that monarch
in various important negotiations. In the year 1160 he greatly offended
the king of France. The Princess Margaret, the daughter of that monarch,
had been betrothed to Prince Henry, son of Henry the Second, king of
England; and in the treaty of peace entered into between the two
sovereigns, it was stipulated that Gizors and two other places, part of
the dowry of the princess, should be consigned to the custody of the
Templars, to be delivered into King Henry's hands after the celebration of
the nuptials. The king of England (A. D. 1160) caused the prince and
princess, both of whom were infants, to be married in the presence of
Richard de Hastings, the Grand Prior or Master of the Temple in England,
and two other Knights Templars, who, immediately after the conclusion of
the ceremony, placed the fortresses in King Henry's hands.[169] The king
of France was highly indignant at this proceeding, and some writers accuse
the Templars of treachery, but from the copy of the treaty published by
Lord Littleton[170] it does not appear that they acted with bad faith.

The above Richard de Hastings was the friend and confidant of Thomas à
Becket. During the disputes between that haughty prelate and the king, the
archbishop, we are told, withdrew from the council chamber, where all his
brethren were assembled, and went to consult with Richard de Hastings, the
Prior of the Temple at London, who threw himself on his knees before him,
and with many tears besought him to give in his adherence to the famous
councils of Clarendon.[171]

Richard de Hastings was succeeded by Richard Mallebeench, who confirmed a
treaty of peace and concord which had been entered into between his
predecessor and the abbot of Kirkested;[172] and the next Master of the
Temple appears to have been Geoffrey son of Stephen, who received the
Patriarch Heraclius as his guest at the new Temple on the occasion of the
consecration of the Temple church. He styles himself "_Minister_ of the
soldiery of the Temple in England."[173]

In consequence of the high estimation in which the Templars were held, and
the privilege of sanctuary enjoyed by them, the Temple at London came to
be made "a storehouse of treasure." The wealth of the king, the nobles,
the bishops, and of the rich burghers of London, was generally deposited
therein, under the safeguard and protection of the military friars.[174]
The money collected in the churches and chapels for the succour of the
Holy Land was also paid into the treasury of the Temple, to be forwarded
to its destination: and the treasurer was at different times authorised to
receive the taxes imposed upon the moveables of the ecclesiastics, also
the large sums of money extorted by the rapacious popes from the English
clergy, and the annuities granted by the king to the nobles of the
kingdom.[175] The money and jewels of Hubert de Burgh, earl of Kent, the
chief justiciary, and at one time governor of the king and kingdom of
England, were deposited in the Temple, and when that nobleman was
disgraced and committed to the Tower, the king attempted to lay hold of
the treasure.

Matthew Paris gives the following curious account of the affair:

"It was suggested," says he, "to the king, that Hubert had no small amount
of treasure deposited in the New Temple, under the custody of the
Templars. The king, accordingly, summoning to his presence the Master of
the Temple, briefly demanded of him if it was so. He indeed, not daring to
deny the truth to the king, confessed that he had money of the said
Hubert, which had been confidentially committed to the keeping of himself
and his brethren, but of the quantity and amount thereof he was altogether
ignorant. Then the king endeavoured with threats to obtain from the
brethren the surrender to him of the aforesaid money, asserting that it
had been fraudulently subtracted from his treasury. But they answered to
the king, that _money confided to them in trust they would deliver to no
man without the permission of him who had intrusted it to be kept in the
Temple_. And the king, since the above-mentioned money had been placed
under their protection, ventured not to take it by force. He sent,
therefore, the treasurer of his court, with his justices of the Exchequer,
to Hubert, who had already been placed in fetters in the Tower of London,
that they might exact from him an assignment of the entire sum to the
king. But when these messengers had explained to Hubert the object of
their coming, he immediately answered that he would submit himself and all
belonging to him to the good pleasure of his sovereign. He therefore
petitioned the brethren of the chivalry of the Temple that they would, in
his behalf, present all his keys to his lord the king, that he might do
what he pleased with the things deposited in the Temple. This being done,
the king ordered all that money, faithfully counted, to be placed in his
treasury, and the amount of all the things found to be reduced into
writing and exhibited before him. The king's clerks, indeed, and the
treasurer acting with them, found deposited in the Temple gold and silver
vases of inestimable price, and money and many precious gems, an
enumeration whereof would in truth astonish the hearers."[176]

The kings of England frequently resided in the Temple, and so also did the
haughty legates of the Roman pontiffs, who there made contributions in the
name of the pope upon the English bishoprics. Matthew Paris gives a lively
account of the exactions of the nuncio Martin, who resided for many years
at the Temple, and came there armed by the pope with powers such as no
legate had ever before possessed. "He made," says he, "whilst residing at
London in the New Temple, unheard of extortions of money and valuables. He
imperiously intimated to the abbots and priors that they must send him
rich presents, desirable palfreys, sumptuous services for the table, and
rich clothing; which being done, that same Martin sent back word that the
things sent were insufficient, and he commanded the givers thereof to
forward him better things, on pain of suspension and
excommunication."[177]

The convocations of the clergy and the great ecclesiastical councils were
frequently held at the Temple, and laws were there made by the bishops and
abbots for the government of the church and monasteries in England.[178]




CHAPTER VI.

    The Patriarch Heraclius quarrels with the king of England--He returns
    to Palestine without succour--The disappointments and gloomy
    forebodings of the Templars--They prepare to resist Saladin--Their
    defeat and slaughter--The valiant deeds of the Marshal of the
    Temple--The fatal battle of Tiberias--The captivity of the Grand
    Master and the true Cross--The captive Templars are offered the Koran
    or death--They choose the latter, and are beheaded--The fall of
    Jerusalem--The Moslems take possession of the Temple--They purify it
    with rose-water, say prayers, and hear a sermon--The Templars retire
    to Antioch--Their letters to the king of England and the Master of the
    Temple at London--Their exploits at the siege of Acre.

    "Gloriosa civitas Dei Jerusalem, ubi dominus passus, ubi sepultus, ubi
    gloriam resurrectionis ostendit, hosti spurio subjicitur polluenda,
    nec est dolor sicut dolor iste, cum sepulchrum possideant qui
    sepulchrum persequuntur, crucem teneant qui crucifixum
    contemnunt."--_The Lamentation of Geoffrey de Vinisauf over the Fall
    of Jerusalem._

    "The earth quakes and trembles because the king of heaven hath lost
    his land, the land on which his feet once stood. The foes of the Lord
    break into his holy city, even into that glorious tomb where the
    virgin blossom of Mary was wrapt up in linen and spices, and where the
    first and greatest flower on earth rose up again."--_St. Bernard_,
    epist. cccxxii.


[Sidenote: GERARD DE RIDERFORT. A. D. 1185.]

The Grand Master, Arnold de Torroge, who died on his journey to England,
as before mentioned, was succeeded by Brother Gerard de Riderfort.[179]

On the tenth of the calends of April, a month after the consecration by
the patriarch Heraclius of the Temple church, the grand council or
parliament of the kingdom, composed of the bishops, earls, and barons,
assembled in the house of the Hospitallers at Clerkenwell in London. It
was attended by William king of Scotland and David his brother, and many
of the counts and barons of that distant land.[180] The august assembly
was acquainted, in the king's name, with the object of the solemn embassy
just sent to him from Jerusalem, and with the desire of the royal penitent
to fulfil his vow and perform his penance; but the barons were at the same
time reminded of the old age of their sovereign, of the bad state of his
health, and of the necessity of his presence in England. They accordingly
represented to King Henry that the solemn oath taken by him on his
coronation was an obligation antecedent to the penance imposed on him by
the pope; that by that oath he was bound to stay at home and govern his
dominions, and that, in their opinion, it was more wholesome for the
king's soul to defend his own country against the barbarous French, than
to desert it for the purpose of protecting the distant kingdom of
Jerusalem. They, however, offered to raise the sum of fifty thousand marks
for the levying of troops to be sent into Asia, and recommended that all
such prelates and nobles as desired to take the cross should be permitted
freely to leave the kingdom on so pious an enterprise.[181]

Fabian gives the following quaint account of the king's answer to the
patriarch, from the Chron. Joan Bromton: "Lasteley, the kynge gaue
answere, and sayde that he myghte not leue hys lande wythoute kepynge, nor
yet leue yt to the praye and robbery of Frenchemen. But he wolde gyue
largely of hys owne to such as wolde take upon theym that vyage. Wyth
thys answere the patryarke was dyscontente, and sayde, 'We seke a man, and
not money; welnere euery crysten regyon sendyth unto us money, but no
lande sendyth to us a prince. Therefore we aske a prynce that nedeth
money, and not money that nedeth a prynce.' But the kynge layde for hym
suche excuses, that the patryarke departed from hym dyscontentyd and
comforteless, whereof the kynge beynge aduertysed, entendynge somwhat to
recomforte hym wyth pleasaunte wordes, folowed hym unto the see syde. But
the more the kynge thought to satysfye hym wyth hys fayre speche, the more
the patryarke was discontented, in so myche that at the laste he sayde
unto hym, 'Hytherto thou haste reygned gloryously, but here after thou
shalt be forsaken of him whom thou at thys tyme forsakeste. Thynke on hym
what he hath gyuen to thee, and what thou haste yelden to him agayne: howe
fyrste thou were false unto the kynge of Fraunce, and after slewe that
holy man Thomas of Caunterburye, and lastely thou forsakeste the
proteccyon of Crystes faith.' The kynge was amoued wyth these wordes, and
sayde unto the patryarke, 'Though all the men of my lande were one bodye,
and spake with one mouth, they durste not speke to me such wordys.' 'No
wonder,' sayde the patriarke, 'for they loue thyne and not the; that ys to
meane, they loue thy goodes temporall, and fere the for losse of
promocyon, but they loue not thy soule.' And when he hadde so sayde, he
offeryd hys hedde to the kynge, sayenge, 'Do by me ryghte as thou dyddest
by that blessed man Thomas of Caunterburye, for I had leur to be slayne of
the, then of the Sarasyns, for thou art worse than any Sarasyn.' But the
kynge kepte hys pacyence, and sayde, 'I may not wende oute of my lande,
for myne own sonnes wyll aryse agayne me whan I were absente.' 'No
wonder,' sayde the patryarke, 'for of the deuyll they come, and to the
deuyll they shall go,' and so departyd from the kynge in great ire."[182]

According to Roger de Hoveden, however, the patriarch, on the 17th of the
calends of May, accompanied King Henry into Normandy, where a conference
was held between the sovereigns of France and England concerning the
proposed succour to the Holy Land. Both monarchs were liberal in promises
and fair speeches; but as nothing short of the presence of the king of
England, or of one of his sons, in Palestine, would satisfy the patriarch,
that haughty ecclesiastic failed in his negotiations, and returned in
disgust and disappointment to the Holy Land.[183] On his arrival at
Jerusalem with intelligence of his ill success, the greatest consternation
prevailed amongst the Latin christians; and it was generally observed that
the true cross, which had been recovered from the Persians by the Emperor
Heraclius, was about to be lost under the pontificate, and by the fault of
a patriarch of the same name.

A resident in Palestine has given us some curious biographical notices of
this worthy consecrator of our Temple church at London. He says that he
was a very handsome parson, and, in consequence of his beauty, the mother
of the king of Jerusalem fell in love with him, and made him archbishop of
Cæsarea, (biau clerc estoit, et par sa beauté l'ama la mere de roi, et le
fist arcevesque de Cesaire.) He then describes how he came to be made
patriarch, and how he was suspected to have poisoned the archbishop of
Tyre. After his return from Rome he fell in love with the wife of a
haberdasher who lived at Naplous, twelve miles from Jerusalem. He went to
see her very often, and, not long after the acquaintanceship commenced,
the husband died. Then the patriarch brought the lady to Jerusalem, and
bought for her a very fine stone house. "Le patriarche la fist venir en
Jerusalem, et li acheta bonne maison de pierre. Si la tenoit voiant le
siecle ausi com li hons fait sa fame, fors tant que ele n'estoit mie avec
lui. Quant ele aloit au mostier, ele estoit ausi atornée de riches dras,
com ce fust un emperris, et si serjant devant lui. Quant aucunes gens la
veoient qui ne la connoissoient pas, il demandoient qui cele dame estoit.
Cil qui la connoissoient, disoient que cestoit la fame du patriarche. Ele
avoit nom Pasque de Riveri. Enfans avoit du patriarche, et les barons
estoient, que là où il se conseilloient, vint un fol ou patriarche, si li
dist; 'Sire Patriarche, dones moi bon don, car je vous aport bones
novelles _Pasque de Riveri, vostre fame, a une bele fille_!'"[184] "When
Jesus Christ," says the learned author, "saw the iniquity and wickedness
which they committed in the very place where he was crucified, he could no
longer suffer it."

[Sidenote: A. D. 1186.]

The order of the Temple was at this period all-powerful in Palestine, and
the Grand Master, Gerard de Riderfort, coerced with the heavy hand of
authority the nobles of the kingdom, and even the king himself. Shortly
after the return of Heraclius to Palestine, King Baldwin IV. died, and was
succeeded by his infant nephew, Baldwin V., who was crowned in the church
of the Resurrection, and was afterwards royally entertained by the
Templars in the Temple of Solomon, according to ancient custom.[185] The
young king died at Acre after a short reign of only seven months, and the
Templars brought the body to Jerusalem, and buried it in the tombs of the
christian kings. The Grand Master of the Temple then raised Sibylla, the
mother of the deceased monarch, and her second husband, Guy of Lusignan,
to the throne. Gerard de Riderfort surrounded the palace with troops; he
closed the gates of Jerusalem, and delivered the regalia to the Patriarch.
He then conducted Sibylla and her husband to the church of the
Resurrection, where they were both crowned by Heraclius, and were
afterwards entertained at dinner in the Temple. Guy de Lusignan was a
prince of handsome person, but of such base renown, that his own brother
Geoffrey was heard to exclaim, "Since they have made _him_ a king, surely
they would have made _me_ a God!" These proceedings led to endless discord
and dissension; Raymond, Count of Tripoli, withdrew from court; many of
the barons refused to do homage, and the state was torn by faction and
dissension at a time when all the energies of the population were required
to defend the country from the Moslems.[186]

Saladin, on the other hand, had been carefully consolidating and
strengthening his power, and was vigorously preparing for the reconquest
of the Holy City, the long-cherished enterprise of the Mussulmen. The
Arabian writers enthusiastically recount his pious exhortations to the
true believers, and describe with vast enthusiasm his glorious
preparations for the holy war. Bohadin F. Sjeddadi, his friend and
secretary, and great biographer, before venturing upon the sublime task of
describing his famous and sacred actions, makes a solemn confession of
faith, and offers up praises to the one true God.

"Praise be to GOD," says he, "who hath blessed us with _Islam_, and hath
led us to the understanding of the true faith beautifully put together,
and hath befriended us; and, through the intercession of our prophet, hath
loaded us with every blessing.... I bear witness that there is no God but
that one great God who hath no partner, (a testimony that will deliver our
souls from the smoky fire of hell,) that Mohammed is his servant and
apostle, who hath opened unto us the gates of the right road to
salvation...."

"These solemn duties being performed, I will begin to write concerning the
victorious defender of the faith, the tamer of the followers of the cross,
the lifter up of the standard of justice and equity, the saviour of the
world and of religion, Saladin Aboolmodaffer Joseph, the son of Job, the
son of Schadi, Sultan of the Moslems, ay, and of Islam itself; the
deliverer of the holy house of God (the Temple) from the hands of the
idolaters, the servant of two holy cities, whose tomb may the Lord moisten
with the dew of his favour, affording to him the sweetness of the fruits
of the faith."[187]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1187.]

On the 10th of May, A. D. 1187, Malek-el-Afdal, "Most excellent prince,"
one of Saladin's sons, crossed the Jordan at the head of seven thousand
Mussulmen. The Grand Master of the Temple immediately despatched
messengers to the nearest convents and castles of the order, commanding
all such knights as could be spared to mount and come to him with speed.
At midnight, ninety knights of the garrison of La Feue or Faba, forty
knights from the garrison of Nazareth, with many others from the convent
of Caco, were assembled around their chief, and began their march at the
head of the serving brothers and the light cavalry of the order. They
joined themselves to the Hospitallers, rashly engaged the seven thousand
Moslems, and were cut to pieces in a bloody battle fought near the brook
Kishon. The Grand Master of the Temple and two knights broke through the
dense ranks of the Moslems, and made their escape. Roger de Molines, the
Grand Master of the Hospital, was left dead upon the field, together with
all the other brothers of the Hospital and of the Temple.

Jacqueline de Mailly, the Marshal of the Temple, performed prodigies of
valour. He was mounted on a white horse, and clothed in the white habit of
his order, with the blood-red cross, the symbol of martyrdom, on his
breast; he became, through his gallant bearing and demeanour, an object of
respect and of admiration even to the Moslems. He fought, say the writers
of the crusades, like a wild boar, sending on that day an amazing number
of infidels to _hell_! The Mussulmen severed the heads of the slaughtered
Templars from their bodies, and attaching them with cords to the points of
their lances, they placed them in front of their array, and marched off in
the direction of Tiberias.[188]

The following interesting account is given of the march of another band
of holy warriors, who, in obedience to the summons of the Grand Master of
the Temple, were hastening to rally around the sacred ensigns of their
faith.

"When they had travelled two miles, they came to the city of Saphet. It
was a lovely morning, and they determined to march no further until they
had heard mass. They accordingly turned towards the house of the bishop
and awoke him up, and informed him that the day was breaking. The bishop
accordingly ordered an old chaplain to put on his clothes and say mass,
after which they hastened forwards. Then they came to the castle of La
Feue, (a fortress of the Templars,) and there they found, outside the
castle, the tents of the convent of Caco pitched, and there was no one to
explain what it meant. A varlet was sent into the castle to inquire, but
he found no one within but two sick people who were unable to speak. Then
they marched towards Nazareth, and after they had proceeded a short
distance from the castle of La Feue, they met a brother of the Temple on
horseback, who galloped up to them at a furious rate, calling out, Bad
news, bad news; and he informed them how that the Master of the Hospital
had had his head cut off, and how of all the brothers of the Temple there
had escaped but three, the Master of the Temple and two others, and that
the knights whom the king had placed in garrison at Nazareth, were all
taken and killed."[189]

In the great battle of Tiberias or of Hittin, fought on the 4th of July,
which decided the fate of the holy city of Jerusalem, the Templars were in
the van of the Christian army, and led the attack against the infidels.
The march of Saladin's host, which amounted to eighty thousand horse and
foot, over the hilly country, is compared by an Arabian writer, an
eye-witness, to mountains in movement, or to the vast waves of an agitated
sea. The same author speaks of the advance of the Templars against them
at early dawn in battle array, "horrible in arms, having their whole
bodies cased with triple mail." He compares the noise made by their
advancing squadrons to the _loud humming of bees_! and describes them as
animated with "a flaming desire of vengeance."[190] Saladin had behind him
the lake of Tiberias, his infantry was in the centre, and the swift
cavalry of the desert was stationed on either wing, under the command of
_Faki-ed-deen_ (teacher of religion.) The Templars rushed, we are told,
like lions upon the Moslem infidels, and nothing could withstand their
heavy and impetuous charge. "Never," says an Arabian doctor of the law,
"have I seen a bolder or more powerful army, nor one more to be feared by
the believers in the true faith."

Saladin set fire to the dry grass and dwarf shrubs which lay between both
armies, and the wind blew the smoke and the flames directly into the faces
of the military friars and their horses. The fire, the noise, the gleaming
weapons, and all the accompaniments of the horrid scene, have given full
scope to the descriptive powers of the oriental writers. They compare it
to the last judgment; the dust and the smoke obscured the face of the sun,
and the day was turned into night. Sometimes gleams of light darted like
the rapid lightning amid the throng of combatants; then you might see the
dense columns of armed warriors, now immovable as mountains, and now
sweeping swiftly across the landscape like the rainy clouds over the face
of heaven. "The sons of paradise and the children of fire," say they,
"then decided their terrible quarrel; the arrows rustled through the air
like the wings of innumerable sparrows, the sparks flew from the coats of
mail and the glancing sabres, and the blood spurting forth from the bosom
of the throng deluged the earth like the rains of heaven."... "The
avenging sword of the true believers was drawn forth against the infidels;
the faith of the UNITY was opposed to the faith of the TRINITY, and
speedy ruin, desolation, and destruction, overtook the miserable sons of
baptism!"

The cowardly patriarch Heraclius, whose duty it was to bear the holy cross
in front of the christian array, confided his sacred charge to the bishops
of Ptolemais and Lydda,[191]--a circumstance which gave rise to many
gloomy forebodings amongst the superstitious soldiers of Christ. In
consequence of the treachery, as it is alleged, of the count of Tripoli,
who fled from the field with his retainers, both the Templars and
Hospitallers were surrounded, and were to a man killed or taken prisoners.
The bishop of Ptolemais was slain, the bishop of Lydda was made captive,
and the holy cross, together with the king of Jerusalem, and the Grand
Master of the Temple, fell into the hands of the Saracens. "Quid plura?"
says Radulph, abbot of the monastery of Coggleshale in Essex, who was then
on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and was wounded in the nose by an arrow.
"Capta est crux, et rex, et Magister militiæ Templi, et episcopus
Liddensis, et frater Regis, et Templarii, et Hospitalarii, et marchio de
Montferrat, atque omnes vel mortui vel capti sunt. Plangite super hoc
omnes adoratores crucis, et plorate; sublatum est lignum nostræ salutis,
dignum ab indignis indigne heu! heu! asportatum. Væ mihi misero, quod in
diebus miseræ vitæ meæ talia cogor videre.... O dulce lignum, et suave,
sanguine filii Dei roratum atque lavatum! O crux alma, in qua salus nostra
pependit! &c.[192]

"I saw," says the secretary and companion of Saladin, who was present at
this terrible fight, and is unable to restrain himself from pitying the
disasters of the vanquished--"I saw the mountains and the plains, the
hills and the valleys, covered with their dead. I saw their fallen and
deserted banners sullied with dust and with blood. I saw their heads
broken and battered, their limbs scattered abroad, and the blackened
corses piled one upon another like the stones of the builders. I called to
mind the words of the Koran, 'The infidel shall say, What am I but
_dust_?'... I saw thirty or forty tied together by one cord. I saw in one
place, guarded by one Mussulman, two hundred of these famous warriors
gifted with amazing strength, who had but just now walked forth amongst
the mighty; their proud bearing was gone; they stood naked with downcast
eyes, wretched and miserable.... The lying infidels were now in the power
of the true believers. Their king and their cross were captured, that
cross before which they bow the head and bend the knee; which they bear
aloft and worship with their eyes; they say that it is the identical wood
to which the God whom they adore was fastened. They had adorned it with
fine gold and brilliant stones; they carried it before their armies; they
all bowed towards it with respect. It was their first duty to defend it;
and he who should desert it would never enjoy peace of mind. The capture
of this cross was more grievous to them than the captivity of their king.
Nothing can compensate them for the loss of it. It was their God; they
prostrated themselves in the dust before it, and sang hymns when it was
raised aloft!"[193]

Among the few christian warriors who escaped from this terrible encounter,
was the Grand Master of the Hospital; he clove his way from the field of
battle, and reached Ascalon in safety, but died of his wounds the day
after his arrival. The multitude of captives was enormous, cords could not
be found to bind them, the tent-ropes were all used for the purpose, but
were insufficient, and the Arabian writers tell us that, on seeing the
dead, one would have thought that there could be no prisoners, and on
seeing the prisoners, that there could be no dead. As soon as the battle
was over, Saladin proceeded to a tent, whither, in obedience to his
commands, the king of Jerusalem, the Grand Master of the Temple, and
Reginald de Chatillon, had been conducted. This last nobleman had greatly
distinguished himself in various daring expeditions against the caravans
of pilgrims travelling to Mecca, and had become on that account
particularly obnoxious to the pious Saladin. The sultan, on entering the
tent, ordered a bowl of sherbet, the sacred pledge amongst the Arabs of
hospitality and security, to be presented to the fallen monarch of
Jerusalem, and to the Grand Master of the Temple; but when Reginald de
Chatillon would have drunk thereof, Saladin prevented him, and reproaching
the christian nobleman with perfidy and impiety, he commanded him
instantly to acknowledge the prophet whom he had blasphemed, or be
prepared to meet the death he had so often deserved. On Reginald's
refusal, Saladin struck him with his scimitar, and he was immediately
despatched by the guards.[194]

Bohadin, Saladin's friend and secretary, an eye-witness of the scene,
gives the following account of it: "Then Saladin told the interpreter to
say thus to the king, 'It is thou, not I, who givest drink to this man!'
Then the sultan sat down at the entrance of the tent, and they brought
Prince Reginald before him, and after refreshing the man's memory, Saladin
said to him, 'Now then, I myself will act the part of the defender of
Mohammed!' He then offered the man the Mohammedan faith, but he refused
it; then the king struck him on the shoulder with a drawn scimitar, which
was a hint to those that were present to do for him; so they sent his
soul to _hell_, and cast out his body before the tent-door!"[195]

Two days afterwards Saladin proceeded in cold blood to enact the grand
concluding tragedy. The warlike monks of the Temple and of the Hospital,
the bravest and most zealous defenders of the christian faith, were, of
all the warriors of the cross, the most obnoxious to zealous Mussulmen,
and it was determined that death or conversion to Mahometanism should be
the portion of every captive of either order, excepting the Grand Master
of the Temple, for whom it was expected a heavy ransom would be given.
Accordingly, on the christian Sabbath, at the hour of sunset, the
appointed time of prayer, the Moslems were drawn up in battle array under
their respective leaders. The Mamlook emirs stood in two ranks clothed in
yellow, and, at the sound of the holy trumpet, all the captive knights of
the Temple and of the Hospital were led on to the eminence above Tiberias,
in full view of the beautiful lake of Gennesareth, whose bold and
mountainous shores had been the scene of so many of their Saviour's
miracles. There, as the last rays of the sun were fading away from the
mountain tops, they were called upon to deny him who had been crucified,
to choose God for their Lord, Islam for their faith, Mecca for their
temple, the Moslems for their brethren, and Mahomet for their prophet. To
a man they refused, and were all decapitated in the presence of Saladin by
the devout zealots of his army, and the doctors and expounders of the law.
An oriental historian, who was present, says that Saladin sat with a
smiling countenance viewing the execution, and that some of the
executioners cut off the heads with a degree of dexterity that excited
great applause.[196] "Oh," says Omad'eddin Muhammed, "how beautiful an
ornament is the blood of the infidels sprinkled over the followers of the
faith and the true religion!"

If the Mussulmen displayed a becoming zeal in the decapitation and
annihilation of the infidel Templars, these last manifested a no less
praiseworthy eagerness for martyrdom by the swords of the unbelieving
Moslems. The Knight Templar, Brother Nicolas, strove vigorously, we are
told, with his companions to be the first to suffer, and with great
difficulty accomplished his purpose.[197] It was believed by the
Christians, in accordance with the superstitious ideas of those times,
that heaven testified its approbation by a visible sign, and that for
three nights, during which the bodies of the Templars remained unburied on
the field, celestial rays of light played around the corpses of those holy
martyrs.[198]

The government of the order of the Temple, in consequence of the captivity
of the Grand Master, devolved upon the Grand Preceptor of the kingdom of
Jerusalem, who addressed letters to all the brethren in the West,
imploring instant aid and assistance. One of these letters was duly
received by Brother Geoffrey, Master of the Temple at London, as
follows:--

"Brother Terric, Grand Preceptor of the poor house of the Temple, and
every poor brother, and the whole convent, now, alas! almost annihilated,
to all the preceptors and brothers of the Temple to whom these letters may
come, salvation through him to whom our fervent aspirations are addressed,
through him who causeth the sun and the moon to reign marvellous."

"The many and great calamities wherewith the anger of God, excited by our
manifold sins, hath just now permitted us to be afflicted, we cannot for
grief unfold to you, neither by letters nor by our sobbing speech. The
infidel chiefs having collected together a vast number of their people,
fiercely invaded our christian territories, and we, assembling our
battalions, hastened to Tiberias to arrest their march. The enemy having
hemmed us in among barren rocks, fiercely attacked us; the holy cross and
the king himself fell into the hands of the infidels, the whole army was
cut to pieces, two hundred and thirty of our knights were beheaded,
without reckoning the sixty who were killed on the 1st of May. The Lord
Reginald of Sidon, the Lord Ballovius, and we ourselves, escaped with vast
difficulty from that miserable field. The Pagans, drunk with the blood of
our Christians, then marched with their whole army against the city of
Acre, and took it by storm. The city of Tyre is at present fiercely
besieged, and neither by night nor by day do the infidels discontinue
their furious assaults. So great is the multitude of them, that they cover
like ants the whole face of the country from Tyre to Jerusalem, and even
unto Gaza. The holy city of Jerusalem, Ascalon, and Tyre, and Beyrout, are
alone left to us and to the christian cause, and the garrisons and the
chief inhabitants of these places, having perished in the battle of
Tiberias, we have no hope of retaining them without succour from heaven
and instant assistance from yourselves."[199]

Saladin, on the other hand, sent triumphant letters to the caliph. "God
and his angels," says he, "have mercifully succoured Islam. The infidels
have been sent to feed the fires of hell! The cross is fallen into our
hands, around which they fluttered like the moth round a light; under
whose shadow they assembled, in which they boldly trusted as in a wall;
the cross, the centre and leader of their pride, their superstition, and
their tyranny."...[200]

After the conquest of between thirty and forty cities and castles, many of
which belonged to the order of the Temple, Saladin laid siege to the holy
city. On the 20th of September the Mussulman army encamped on the west of
the town, and extended itself from the tower of David to the gate of St.
Stephen. The Temple could no longer furnish its brave warriors for the
defence of the holy sanctuary of the Christians; two miserable knights,
with a few serving brethren, alone remained in its now silent halls and
deserted courts.

After a siege of fourteen days, a breach was effected in the walls, and
ten banners of the prophet waved in triumph on the ramparts. In the
morning a barefoot procession of the queen, the women, and the monks and
priests, was made to the holy sepulchre, to implore the Son of God to save
his tomb and his inheritance from impious violation. The females, as a
mark of humility and distress, cut off their hair and cast it to the
winds; and the ladies of Jerusalem made their daughters do penance by
standing up to their necks in tubs of cold water placed upon Mount
Calvary. But it availed nought; "for our Lord Jesus Christ," says a Syrian
Frank, "would not listen to any prayer that they made; for the filth, the
luxury, and the adultery which prevailed in the city, did not suffer
prayer or supplication to ascend before God."[201]

On the surrender of the city (October 2, A. D. 1187) the Moslems rushed to
the Temple in thousands. "The Imauns and the doctors and expounders of the
wicked errors of Mahomet," says Abbot Coggleshale, who was then in
Jerusalem suffering from a wound which he had received during the siege,
"first ascended to the Temple of the Lord, called by the infidels _Beit
Allah_, (the house of God,) in which, as a place of prayer and religion,
they place their great hope of salvation. With horrible bellowings they
proclaimed the law of Mahomet, and vociferated, with polluted lips, ALLAH
_Acbar_--ALLAH _Acbar_, (GOD is victorious.) They defiled all the places
that are contained within the Temple; i. e. the place of the presentation,
where the mother and glorious virgin Mary delivered the Son of God into
the hands of the just Simeon; and the place of the confession, looking
towards the porch of Solomon, where the Lord judged the woman taken in
adultery. They placed guards that no Christian might enter within the
seven atria of the Temple; and as a disgrace to the Christians, with vast
clamour, with laughter and mockery, they hurled down the golden cross from
the pinnacle of the building, and dragged it with ropes throughout the
city, amid the exulting shouts of the infidels and the tears and
lamentations of the followers of Christ."[202]

When every Christian had been removed from the precincts of the Temple,
Saladin proceeded with vast pomp to say his prayers in the _Beit Allah_,
the holy house of God, or "Temple of the Lord," erected by the Caliph
Omar.[203] He was preceded by five camels laden with rose-water, which he
had procured from Damascus,[204] and he entered the sacred courts to the
sound of martial music, and with his banners streaming in the wind. The
_Beit Allah_, "the Temple of the Lord," was then again consecrated to the
service of one God and his prophet Mahomet; the walls and pavements were
washed and purified with rose-water; and a pulpit, the labour of
Noureddin, was erected in the sanctuary.[205] The following account of
these transactions was forwarded to Henry the Second, king of England.

"To the beloved Lord Henry, by the grace of God, the illustrious king of
the English, duke of Normandy and Guienne, and count of Anjou, Brother
Terric, _formerly_ Grand Preceptor of the house of the Temple AT
JERUSALEM, sendeth greeting,--salvation through him who saveth kings.

"Know that Jerusalem, with the citadel of David, hath been surrendered to
Saladin. The Syrian Christians, however, have the custody of the holy
sepulchre up to the fourth day after Michaelmas, and Saladin himself hath
permitted ten of the brethren of the Hospital to remain in the house of
the hospital for the space of one year, to take care of the sick....
Jerusalem, alas, hath fallen; Saladin hath caused the cross to be thrown
down from the summit of the Temple of the Lord, and for two days to be
publicly kicked and dragged in the dirt through the city. He then caused
the Temple of the Lord to be washed within and without, upwards and
downwards, with rose-water, and the law of Mahomet to be proclaimed
throughout the four quarters of the Temple with wonderful
clamour...."[206]

Bohadin, Saladin's secretary, mentions as a remarkable and happy
circumstance, that the holy city was surrendered to the sultan of most
pious memory, and that God restored to the faithful their sanctuary on the
twenty-seventh of the month Regeb, on the night of which very day their
most glorious prophet Mahomet performed his wonderful nocturnal journey
from the Temple, through the seven heavens, to the throne of God. He also
describes the sacred congregation of the Mussulmen gathered together in
the Temple and the solemn prayer offered up to God; the shouting and the
sounds of applause, and the voices lifted up to heaven, causing the holy
buildings to resound with thanks and praises to the most bountiful Lord
God. He glories in the casting down of the golden cross, and exults in the
very splendid triumph of Islam.[207]

Saladin restored the sacred area of the Temple to its original condition
under the first Mussulman conquerors of Jerusalem. The ancient christian
church of the Virgin (otherwise the mosque _Al Acsa_, otherwise the Temple
of Solomon) was washed with rose-water, and was once again dedicated to
the religious services of the Moslems. On the western side of this
venerable edifice the Templars had erected, according to the Arabian
writers, an immense building in which they lodged, together with granaries
of corn and various offices, which enclosed and concealed a great portion
of the edifice. Most of these were pulled down by the sultan to make a
clear and open area for the resort of the Mussulmen to prayer. Some new
erections placed between the columns in the interior of the structure were
taken away, and the floor was covered with the richest carpets. "Lamps
innumerable," says Ibn Alatsyr, "were suspended from the ceiling; verses
of the Koran were again inscribed on the walls; the call to prayer was
again heard; the bells were silenced; the exiled faith returned to its
ancient sanctuary; the devout Mussulmen again bent the knee in adoration
of the one only God, and the voice of the imaun was again heard from the
pulpit, reminding the true believers of the resurrection and the last
judgment."[208]

The Friday after the surrender of the city, the army of Saladin and crowds
of true believers, who had flocked to Jerusalem from all parts of the
East, assembled in the Temple of the Lord to assist in the religious
services of the Mussulman sabbath. Omad, Saladin's secretary, who was
present, gives the following interesting account of the ceremony, and of
the sermon that was preached. "On Friday morning at daybreak," says he,
"every body was asking whom the sultan had appointed _to preach_. The
Temple was full; the congregation was impatient; all eyes were fixed on
the pulpit; the ears were on the stretch; our hearts beat fast, and tears
trickled down our faces. On all sides were to be heard rapturous
exclamations of 'What a glorious sight! What a congregation! Happy are
those who have lived to see _the resurrection of Islam_.' At length the
sultan ordered the judge (doctor of the law) _Mohieddin
Aboulmehali-Mohammed_ to fulfil the sacred function of imaun. I
immediately lent him the black vestment which I had received as a present
from the caliph. He then mounted into the pulpit and spoke. All were
hushed. His expressions were graceful and easy; and his discourse eloquent
and much admired. He spake of the virtue and the sanctity of Jerusalem, of
the purification of the Temple; he alluded to the silence of the bells,
and to the flight of the infidel priests. In his prayer he named the
caliph and the sultan, and terminated his discourse with that chapter of
the Koran in which God orders justice and good works. He then descended
from the pulpit, and prayed in the Mihrah. Immediately afterwards a
sermon was preached before the congregation."[209]

This sermon was delivered by _Mohammed Ben Zeky_. "Praise be to God,"
saith the preacher, "who by the power of his might hath raised up Islamism
on the ruins of Polytheism; who governs all things according to his will;
who overthroweth the devices of the infidels, and causeth the truth to
triumph.... I praise God, who hath succoured his elect; who hath rendered
them victorious and crowned them with glory, who hath purified his holy
house from the filthiness of idolatry.... I bear witness that there is no
God but that one great God who standeth alone and hath no partner; sole,
supreme, eternal; who begetteth not and is not begotten, and hath no
equal. I bear witness that Mahomet is his servant, his envoy, and his
prophet, who hath dissipated doubts, confounded polytheism, and put down
LIES, &c. ...

"O men, declare ye the blessings of God, who hath restored to you this
holy city, after it has been left in the power of the infidels for a
hundred years.... This holy house of the Lord hath been built, and its
foundations have been established, for the glory of God.... This sacred
spot is the dwelling place of the prophets, the _kebla_, (place of
prayer,) towards which you turn at the commencement of your religious
duties, the birth-place of the saints, the scene of the revelation. It is
thrice holy, for the angels of God spread their wings over it. This is
that blessed land of which God hath spoken in his sacred book. In this
house of prayer, Mahomet prayed with the angels who approach God. It is to
this spot that all fingers are turned after the two holy places.... This
conquest, O men, hath opened unto you the gates of heaven; the angels
rejoice, and the eyes of the prophets glisten with joy...."[210]

Omad informs us that the marble altar and chapel which had been erected
over the sacred rock in the Temple of the Lord, or mosque of Omar, was
removed by Saladin, together with the stalls for the priests, the marble
statues, and all the abominations which had been placed in the venerated
building by the Christians. The Mussulmen discovered with horror that some
pieces of the holy stone or rock had been cut off by the Franks, and sent
to Europe. Saladin caused it to be immediately surrounded by a grate of
iron. He washed it with rose-water and Malek-Afdal covered it with
magnificent carpets.[211]

After the conquest of the holy city, and the loss of the Temple at
Jerusalem, the Knights Templars established the chief house of their order
at Antioch, to which place they retired with Queen Sibylla, the barons of
the kingdom, and the patriarch Heraclius.[212]

The following account of the condition of the few remaining christian
possessions immediately after the conquest of Jerusalem, was conveyed by
the before-mentioned Brother Terric, Grand Preceptor of the Temple, and
Treasurer General of the order, to Henry the Second, king of England.

"The brothers of the hospital of Belvoir as yet bravely resist the
Saracens; they have captured two convoys, and have valiantly possessed
themselves of the munitions of war and provisions which were being
conveyed by the Saracens from the fortress of La Feue. As yet, also,
Carach, in the neighbourhood of Mount Royal, Mount Royal itself, the
Temple of Saphet, the hospital of Carach, Margat, and Castellum Blancum,
and the territory of Tripoli, and the territory of Antioch, resist
Saladin.... From the feast of Saint Martin up to that of the circumcision
of the Lord, Saladin hath besieged Tyre incessantly, by night and by day,
throwing into it immense stones from thirteen military engines. On the
vigils of St. Silvester, the Lord Conrad, the Marquis of Montferrat,
distributed knights and foot soldiers along the wall of the city, and
having armed seventeen galleys and ten small vessels, with the assistance
of the house of the Hospital and the brethren of the Temple, he engaged
the galleys of Saladin, and vanquishing them he captured eleven, and took
prisoners the great admiral of Alexandria and eight other admirals, a
multitude of the infidels being slain. The rest of the Mussulman galleys,
escaping the hands of the Christians, fled to the army of Saladin, and
being run aground by his command, were set on fire and burnt to ashes.
Saladin himself, overwhelmed with grief, having _cut off the ears and the
tail of his horse_, rode that same horse through his whole army in the
sight of all. Farewell!"[213]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1188.]

Tyre was valiantly defended against all the efforts of Saladin until the
winter had set in, and then the disappointed sultan, despairing of taking
the place, burnt his military engines and retired to Damascus. In the mean
time, negotiations had been set on foot for the release from captivity of
Guy king of Jerusalem, and Gerard de Riderfort, the Grand Master of the
Temple. No less than eleven of the most important of the cities and
castles remaining to the Christians in Palestine, including Ascalon, Gaza,
Jaffa, and Naplous, were yielded up to Saladin by way of ransom for these
illustrious personages; and at the commencement of the year 1188, the
Grand Master of the Temple again appeared in arms at the head of the
remaining forces of the order.[214]

The torpid sensibility of Christendom had at this time been aroused by the
intelligence of the fall of Jerusalem, and of the profanation of the holy
places by the conquering infidels. Three hundred knights and a
considerable naval force were immediately despatched from Sicily, and all
the Templars of the West capable of bearing arms hurried from their
preceptories to the sea-ports of the Mediterranean, and embarked for
Palestine in the ships of Genoa, Pisa, and Venice. The king of England
forwarded a large sum of money to the order for the defence of the city of
Tyre; but as the siege had been raised before its arrival, and as Conrad,
the valiant defender of the place, claimed a title to the throne of
Jerusalem in opposition to Guy de Lusignan, the Grand Master of the Temple
refused to deliver the money into Conrad's hands, in consequence whereof
the latter wrote letters filled with bitter complaints to King Henry and
the archbishop of Canterbury.[215]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1189.]

In the spring of the year 1189, the Grand Master of the Temple marched out
of Tyre at the head of the newly-arrived brethren of the order, and, in
conjunction with a large army of crusaders, laid siege to Acre. The
"victorious defender of the faith, tamer of the followers of the cross,"
hastened to its relief, and pitched his tents on the mountains of Carouba.

On the 4th of October, the newly-arrived warriors from Europe, eager to
signalize their prowess against the infidels, marched out to attack
Saladin's camp. The Grand Master of the Temple, at the head of his knights
and the forces of the order, and a large body of European chivalry who had
ranged themselves under the banner of the Templars, formed a reserve. The
Moslem array was broken by the impetuous charge of the soldiers of the
cross, who penetrated to the imperial tent, and then abandoned themselves
to pillage. The infidels rallied, they were led on by Saladin in person;
and the christian army would have been annihilated but for the Templars.
Firm and immovable, they presented, for the space of an hour, an unbroken
front to the advancing Moslems, and gave time for the discomfited and
panic-stricken crusaders to recover from their terror and confusion; but
ere they had been rallied, and had returned to the charge, the Grand
Master of the Temple was slain; he fell pierced with arrows at the head of
his knights; the seneschal of the order shared the same fate, and more
than half the Templars were numbered with the dead.[216]

[Sidenote: WALTER. A. D. 1190.]

To Gerard de Riderfort succeeded the Knight Templar, Brother WALTER.[217]
Never did the flame of enthusiasm burn with fiercer or more destructive
power than at this famous siege of Acre. Nine pitched battles were fought,
with various fortune, in the neighbourhood of Mount Carmel, and during the
first year of the siege a hundred thousand Christians are computed to have
perished. The tents of the dead, however, were replenished by new comers
from Europe; the fleets of Saladin succoured the town, the christian ships
brought continual aid to the besiegers, and the contest seemed
interminable.[218] Saladin's exertions in the cause of the prophet were
incessant. The Arab authors compare him to a mother wandering with
desperation in search of her lost child, to a lioness who has lost its
young. "I saw him," says his secretary Bohadin, "in the fields of Acre
afflicted with a most cruel disease, with boils from the middle of his
body to his knees, so that he could not sit down, but only recline on his
side when he entered into his tent, yet he went about to the stations
nearest to the enemy, arranged his troops for battle, and rode about from
dawn till eve, now to the right wing, then to the left, and then to the
centre, patiently enduring the severity of his pain."... "O God," says his
enthusiastic biographer, "thou knowest that he put forth and lavishly
expended all his energies and strength towards the protection and the
triumph of thy religion; do thou therefore, O Lord, have mercy upon
him."[219]

At this famous siege died the Patriarch Heraclius.[220]




CHAPTER VII.

    Richard Coeur de Lion joins the Templars before Acre--The city
    surrenders, and the Templars establish the chief house of their order
    within it--Coeur de Lion takes up his abode with them--He sells to
    them the island of Cyprus--The Templars form the van of his
    army--Their foraging expeditions and great exploits--Coeur de Lion
    quits the Holy Land in the disguise of a Knight Templar--The Templars
    build the Pilgrim's Castle in Palestine--The state of the order in
    England--King John resides in the Temple at London--The barons come to
    him at that place, and demand MAGNA CHARTA--The exploits of the
    Templars in Egypt--The letters of the Grand Master to the Master of
    the Temple at London--The Templars reconquer Jerusalem.

                      "Therefore, friends,
    As far as to the sepulchre of Christ
    (Whose soldier now under whose blessed cross
    We are impressed and engag'd to fight,)
    Forthwith a power of English shall we levy,
    Whose arms were moulded in their mother's womb,
    To chase these pagans, in those holy fields,
    Over whose acres walked those blessed feet,
    Which, fourteen hundred years ago, were nail'd,
    For our advantage, on the bitter cross."


[Sidenote: WALTER. A. D. 1191.]

[Sidenote: ROBERT DE SABLÉ. A. D. 1191.]

In the mean time a third crusade had been preached in Europe. William,
archbishop of Tyre, had proceeded to the courts of France and England, and
had represented in glowing colours the miserable condition of Palestine,
and the horrors and abominations which had been committed by the infidels
in the holy city of Jerusalem. The English and French monarchs laid aside
their private animosities, and agreed to fight under the same banner
against the infidels, and towards the close of the month of May, in the
second year of the siege of Acre, the royal fleets of Philip Augustus and
Richard Coeur de Lion floated in triumph in the bay of Acre. At the period
of the arrival of king Richard the Templars had again lost their Grand
Master, and Brother Robert de Sablé, or Sabloil, a valiant knight of the
order, who had commanded a division of the English fleet on the voyage
out, was placed at the head of the fraternity.[221] The proudest of the
nobility, and the most valiant of the chivalry of Europe, on their arrival
in Palestine, manifested an eager desire to fight under the banner of the
Temple. Many secular knights were permitted by the Grand Master to take
their station by the side of the military friars, and even to wear the red
cross on their breasts whilst fighting in the ranks.

The Templars performed prodigies of valour; "The name of their reputation,
and the fame of their sanctity," says James of Vitry, bishop of Acre,
"like a chamber of perfume sending forth a sweet odour, was diffused
throughout the entire world, and all the congregation of the saints will
recount their battles and glorious triumph over the enemies of Christ,
knights indeed from all parts of the earth, dukes, and princes, after
their example, casting off the shackles of the world, and renouncing the
pomps and vanities of this life and all the lusts of the flesh for
Christ's sake, hastened to join them, and to participate in their holy
profession and religion."[222]

On the morning of the twelfth of July, six weeks after the arrival of the
British fleet, the kings of England and France, the christian chieftains,
and the Turkish emirs with their green banners, assembled in the tent of
the Grand Master of the Temple, to treat of the surrender of Acre, and on
the following day the gates were thrown open to the exulting warriors of
the cross. The Templars took possession of three localities within the
city by the side of the sea, where they established their famous Temple,
which became from thenceforth the chief house of the order. Richard Coeur
de Lion, we are told, took up his abode with the Templars, whilst Philip
resided in the citadel.[223]

When the fiery monarch of England tore down the banner of the duke of
Austria from its staff and threw it into the ditch, it was the Templars
who, interposing between the indignant Germans and the haughty Britons,
preserved the peace of the christian army.[224]

During his voyage from Messina to Acre, King Richard had revenged himself
on Isaac Comnenus, the ruler of the island of Cyprus, for the insult
offered to the beautiful Berengaria, princess of Navarre, his betrothed
bride. The sovereign of England had disembarked his troops, stormed the
town of Limisso, and conquered the whole island; and shortly after his
arrival at Acre, he sold it to the Templars for three hundred thousand
livres d'or.[225]

During the famous march of Richard Coeur de Lion from Acre to Ascalon, the
Templars generally led the van of the christian army, and the Hospitallers
brought up the rear.[226] Saladin, at the head of an immense force,
exerted all his energies to oppose their progress, and the march to Jaffa
formed a perpetual battle of eleven days. On some occasions Coeur de Lion
himself, at the head of a chosen body of knights, led the van, and the
Templars were formed into a rear-guard.[227] They sustained immense loss,
particularly in horses, which last calamity, we are told, rendered them
nearly desperate.[228]

The Moslem as well as the christian writers speak with admiration of the
feats of heroism performed. "On the sixth day," says Bohadin, "the sultan
rose at dawn as usual, and heard from his brother that the enemy were in
motion. They had slept that night in suitable places about Cæsarea, and
were now dressing and taking their food. A second messenger announced that
they had begun their march; our brazen drum was sounded, all were alert,
the sultan came out, and I accompanied him: he surrounded them with chosen
troops, and gave the signal for attack."... "Their foot soldiers were
covered with thick-strung pieces of cloth, fastened together with rings so
as to resemble coats of mail. I saw with my own eyes several who had not
one nor two but _ten darts sticking in their backs_! and yet marched on
with a calm and cheerful step, without any trepidation!"[229]

Every exertion was made to sustain the courage and enthusiasm of the
christian warriors. When the army halted for the night, and the soldiers
were about to take their rest, a loud voice was heard from the midst of
the camp, exclaiming, "ASSIST THE HOLY SEPULCHRE," which words were
repeated by the leaders of the host, and were echoed and re-echoed along
their extended lines.[230] The Templars and the Hospitallers, who were
well acquainted with the country, employed themselves by night in
marauding and foraging expeditions. They frequently started off at
midnight, swept the country with their turcopoles or light cavalry, and
returned to the camp at morning's dawn with rich prizes of oxen, sheep,
and provisions.[231]

In the great plain near Ramleh, when the Templars led the van of the
christian army, Saladin made a last grand effort to arrest their progress,
which was followed by one of the greatest battles of the age. Geoffrey de
Vinisauf, the companion of King Richard on this expedition, gives a lively
and enthusiastic description of the appearance of the Moslem array in the
great plain around Jaffa and Ramleh. On all sides, far as the eye could
reach, from the sea-shore to the mountains, nought was to be seen but a
forest of spears, above which waved banners and standards innumerable. The
wild Bedouins,[232] the children of the desert, mounted on their fleet
Arab mares, coursed with the rapidity of the lightning over the vast
plain, and darkened the air with clouds of missiles. Furious and
unrelenting, of a horrible aspect, with skins blacker than soot, they
strove by rapid movement and continuous assaults to penetrate the
well-ordered array of the christian warriors. They advanced to the attack
with horrible screams and bellowings, which, with the deafening noise of
the trumpets, horns, cymbals, and brazen kettle-drums, produced a clamour
that resounded through the plain, and would have drowned even the thunder
of heaven.

The engagement commenced with the left wing of the Hospitallers, and the
victory of the Christians was mainly owing to the personal prowess of King
Richard. Amid the disorder of his troops, Saladin remained on the plain
without lowering his standard or suspending the sound of his brazen
kettle-drums, he rallied his forces, retired upon Ramleh, and prepared to
defend the road leading to Jerusalem. The Templars and Hospitallers, when
the battle was over, went in search of Jacques d'Asvesnes, one of the most
valiant of King Richard's knights, whose dead body, placed on their
spears, they brought into the camp amid the tears and lamentations of
their brethren.[233]

The Templars, on one of their foraging expeditions, were surrounded by a
superior force of four thousand Moslem cavalry; the Earl of Leicester,
with a chosen body of English, was sent by Coeur de Lion to their
assistance, but the whole party was overpowered and in danger of being cut
to pieces, when Richard himself hurried to the scene of action with his
famous battle-axe, and rescued the Templars from their perilous
situation.[234] By the valour and exertions of the lion-hearted king, the
city of Gaza, the ancient fortress of the order, which had been taken by
Saladin soon after the battle of Tiberias, was recovered to the christian
arms, the fortifications were repaired, and the place was restored to the
Knights Templars, who again garrisoned it with their soldiers.

As the army advanced, Saladin fell back towards Jerusalem, and the
vanguard of the Templars was pushed on to the small town of Ramleh.

At midnight of the festival of the Holy Innocents, a party of them sallied
out of the camp in company with some Hospitallers on a foraging
expedition; they scoured the mountains in the direction of Jerusalem, and
at morning's dawn returned to Ramleh with more than two hundred oxen.[235]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1192.]

When the christian army went into winter quarters, the Templars
established themselves at Gaza, and King Richard and his army were
stationed in the neighbouring town of Ascalon, the walls and houses of
which were rebuilt by the English monarch during the winter. Whilst the
christian forces were reposing in winter quarters, an arrangement was made
between the Templars, King Richard, and Guy de Lusignan, "the king without
a kingdom," for the cession to the latter of the island of Cyprus,
previously sold by Richard to the order of the Temple, by virtue of which
arrangement, Guy de Lusignan took possession of the island and ruled the
country by the magnificent title of emperor.[236]

When the winter rains had subsided, the christian forces were again put in
motion, but both the Templars and Hospitallers strongly advised Coeur de
Lion not to march upon Jerusalem, and the latter appears to have had no
strong inclination to undertake the siege of the holy city, having
manifestly no chance of success. The English monarch declared that he
would be guided by the advice of the Templars and Hospitallers, who were
acquainted with the country, and were desirous of recovering their ancient
inheritances. The army, however, advanced within a day's journey of the
holy city, and then a council was called together, consisting of five
Knights Templars, five Hospitallers, five eastern Christians, and five
western Crusaders, and the expedition was abandoned.[237]

The Templars took part in the attack upon the great Egyptian convoy,
wherein four thousand and seventy camels, five hundred horses, provisions,
tents, arms, and clothing, and a great quantity of gold and silver, were
captured, and then fell back upon Acre; they were followed by Saladin, who
immediately commenced offensive operations, and laid siege to Jaffa. The
Templars marched by land to the relief of the place, and Coeur de Lion
hurried by sea. Many valiant exploits were performed, the town was
relieved, and the campaign was concluded by the ratification of a treaty
whereby the Christians were to enjoy the privilege of visiting Jerusalem
as pilgrims. Tyre, Acre, and Jaffa, with all the sea-coast between them,
were yielded to the Latins, but it was stipulated that the fortifications
of Ascalon should be demolished.[238]

After the conclusion of this treaty, King Richard being anxious to take
the shortest and speediest route to his dominions by traversing the
continent of Europe, and to travel in disguise to avoid the malice of his
enemies, made an arrangement with his friend Robert de Sablé, the Grand
Master of the Temple, whereby the latter undertook to place a galley of
the order at the disposal of the king, and it was determined that whilst
the royal fleet pursued its course with Queen Berengaria through the
Straits of Gibraltar to Britain, Coeur de Lion himself, disguised in the
habit of a Knight Templar, should secretly embark and make for one of the
ports of the Adriatic. The plan was carried into effect on the night of
the 25th of October, and King Richard set sail, accompanied by some
attendants, and four trusty Templars.[239] The habit he had assumed,
however, protected him not, as is well known, from the cowardly vengeance
of the base duke of Austria.

The lion-hearted monarch was one of the many benefactors to the order of
the Temple. He granted to the fraternity his manor of Calow, with various
powers and privileges.[240]

[Sidenote: GILBERT HORAL. A. D. 1195.]

Shortly after his departure from Palestine, the Grand Master, Robert de
Sablé, was succeeded by Brother Gilbert Horal or Erail, who had previously
filled the high office of Grand Preceptor of France.[241] The Templars, to
retain and strengthen their dominion in Palestine, commenced the erection
of various strong fortresses, the stupendous ruins of many of which remain
to this day. The most famous of these was the Pilgrim's Castle,[242] which
commanded the coast-road from Acre to Jerusalem. It derived its name from
a solitary tower erected by the early Templars to protect the passage of
the pilgrims through a dangerous pass in the mountains bordering the
sea-coast, and was commenced shortly after the removal of the chief house
of the order from Jerusalem to Acre. A small promontory which juts out
into the sea a few miles below Mount Carmel, was converted into a
fortified camp. Two gigantic towers, a hundred feet in height and
seventy-four feet in width, were erected, together with enormous bastions
connected together by strong walls furnished with all kinds of military
engines. The vast inclosure contained a palace for the use of the Grand
Master and knights, a magnificent church, houses and offices for the
serving brethren and hired soldiers, together with pasturages, vineyards,
gardens, orchards, and fishponds. On one side of the walls was the salt
sea, and on the other, within the camp, delicious springs of fresh water.
The garrison amounted to four thousand men in time of war.[243]
Considerable remains of this famous fortress are still visible on the
coast, a few miles to the south of Acre. It is still called by the
Levantines, _Castel Pellegrino_. Pococke describes it as "very
magnificent, and so finely built, that it may be reckoned one of the
things that are best worth seeing in these parts." "It is encompassed,"
says he, "with two walls fifteen feet thick, the inner wall on the east
side cannot be less than forty feet high, and within it there appear to
have been some very grand apartments. The offices of the fortress seem to
have been at the west end, where I saw an oven fifteen feet in diameter.
In the castle there are remains of a fine lofty church of ten sides, built
in a light gothic taste: three chapels are built to the three eastern
sides, each of which consists of five sides, excepting the opening to the
church; in these it is probable the three chief altars stood."[244] Irby
and Mangles referring at a subsequent period to the ruins of the church,
describe it as a double hexagon, and state that the half then standing had
six sides. Below the cornice are human heads and heads of animals in alto
relievo, and the walls are adorned with a double line of arches in the
gothic style, the architecture light and elegant.

To narrate all the exploits of the Templars, and all the incidents and
events connected with the order, would be to write the history of the
Latin kingdom of Palestine, which was preserved and maintained for the
period of ninety-nine years after the departure of Richard Coeur de Lion,
solely by the exertions of the Templars and the Hospitallers. No action of
importance was ever fought with the infidels, in which the Templars did
not take an active and distinguished part, nor was the atabal of the
Mussulmen ever sounded in defiance on the frontier, without the trumpets
of the Templars receiving and answering the challenge.

[Sidenote: PHILIP DUPLESSIES. A. D. 1201.]

The Grand Master, Gilbert Horal, was succeeded by Philip Duplessies or De
Plesseis.[245] We must now refer to a few events connected with the order
of the Temple in England.

Brother Geoffrey, who was Master of the Temple at London at the period of
the consecration of the Temple Church by the 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.[246] Philip Augustus, king of France,
placed a vast sum of gold and silver in the Temple at Paris, and the
treasure of John, king of England, was deposited in the Temple at
London.[247] King John, indeed, frequently resided, for weeks together, at
the Temple in London, and many of his writs and precepts to his
lieutenants, sheriffs, and bailiffs, are dated therefrom.[248] 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, 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.[249]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1213.]

In all the conferences and negotiations between the mean-spirited king and
the imperious and overbearing Roman pontiff, the Knights Templars took an
active and distinguished part. Two brethren of the order were sent by
Pandulph, the papal legate, to king John, to arrange that famous
conference between them which ended in the complete submission of the
latter to all the demands of the holy see. By the advice and persuasion of
the Templars, king 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."[250] 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,[251] 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
_Coeur de Lion_.[252] 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.[253]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1215.]

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."[254]

King John was a considerable benefactor to the order. He granted to the
fraternity the Isle of Lundy, at the mouth of the river Severn; all his
land at Radenach and at Harewood, in the county of Hereford; and he
conferred on the Templars numerous privileges.[255]

[Sidenote: WILLIAM DE CHARTRES. A. D. 1217.]

The Grand Master Philip Duplessies was succeeded by Brother WILLIAM DE
CHARTRES, as appears from the following letter to the Pope:

"To the very reverend father in Christ, the Lord Honorius, by the
providence of God chief pontiff of the Holy Roman Church, William de
Chartres, humble Master of the poor chivalry of the Temple, proffereth all
due obedience and reverence, with the kiss of the foot.

"By these our letters we hasten to inform your paternity of the state of
that Holy Land which the Lord hath consecrated with his own blood. Know
that, at the period of the departure of these letters, an immense number
of pilgrims, both knights and foot soldiers, marked with the emblem of the
life-giving cross, arrived at Acre from Germany and other parts of Europe.
Saphadin, the great sultan of Egypt, hath remained closely within the
confines of his own dominions, not daring in any way to molest us. The
arrival of the king of Hungary, and of the dukes of Austria and Moravia,
together with the intelligence just received of the near approach of the
fleet of the Friths, has not a little alarmed him. Never do we recollect
the power of the Pagans so low as at the present time; and may the
omnipotent God, O holy father, make it grow weaker and weaker day by day.
But we must inform you that in these parts corn and barley, and all the
necessaries of life, have become extraordinarily dear. This year the
harvest has utterly disappointed the expectations of our husbandmen, and
has almost totally failed. The natives, indeed, now depend for support
altogether upon the corn imported from the West, but as yet very little
foreign grain has been received; and to increase our uneasiness, nearly
all our knights are dismounted, and we cannot procure horses to supply the
places of those that have perished. It is therefore of the utmost
importance, O holy father, to advertise all who design to assume the cross
of the above scarcity, that they may furnish themselves with plentiful
supplies of grain and horses.

"Before the arrival of the king of Hungary and the duke of Austria, we had
come to the determination of marching against the city of Naplous, and of
bringing the Saracen chief Coradin to an engagement if he would have
awaited our attack, but we have all now determined to undertake an
expedition into Egypt to destroy the city of Damietta, and we shall then
march upon Jerusalem...."[256]

[Sidenote: Peter de Montaigu. A. D. 1218.]

It was in the month of May, A. D. 1218, that the galleys of the Templars
set sail from Acre on the above-mentioned memorable expedition into Egypt.
They cast anchor in the mouth of the Nile, and, in conjunction with a
powerful army of crusaders, laid siege to Damietta. A pestilence broke out
shortly after their arrival, and hurried the Grand Master, William de
Chartres, to his grave.[257] He was succeeded by the veteran warrior,
Brother PETER DE MONTAIGU, Grand Preceptor of Spain.[258]

James of Vitry, bishop of Acre, who accompanied the Templars on this
expedition, gives an enthusiastic account of their famous exploits, and of
the tremendous battles fought upon the Nile, in one of which a large
vessel of the Templars was sunk, and every soul on board perished. He
describes the great assault on their camp towards the middle of the year
1219, when the trenches were forced, and all the infantry put to flight.
"The insulting shouts of the conquering Saracens," says he, "were heard on
all sides, and a panic was rapidly spreading through the disordered ranks
of the whole army of the cross, when the Grand Master and brethren of the
Temple made a desperate charge, and bravely routed the first ranks of the
infidels. The spirit of Gideon animated the Templars, and the rest of the
army, stimulated by their example, bravely advanced to their support....
Thus did the Lord on that day, through the valour of the Templars, save
those who trusted in Him."[259] Immediately after the surrender of
Damietta, the Grand Master of the Temple returned to Acre to repel the
forces of the sultan of Damascus, who had invaded the Holy Land, as
appears from the following letter to the bishop of Ely.

[Sidenote: A. D. 1222.]

"Brother Peter de Montaigu, Master of the Knights of the Temple, to the
reverend brother in Christ, N., by the grace of God bishop of Ely, health.
We proceed by these letters to inform your paternity how we have managed
the affairs of our Lord Jesus Christ since the capture of Damietta and of
the castle of Taphneos." The Grand Master describes various military
operations, the great number of galleys fitted out by the Saracens to
intercept the supplies and succour from Europe, and the arming of the
galleys, galliots, and other vessels of the order of the Temple to oppose
them, and clear the seas of the infidel flag. He states that the sultan of
Damascus had invaded Palestine, had ravaged the country around Acre and
Tyre, and had ventured to pitch his tents before the castle of the
Pilgrims, and had taken possession of Cæsarea. "If we are disappointed,"
says he, "of the succour we expect in the ensuing summer, all our
newly-acquired conquests, as well as the places that we have held for ages
past, will be left in a very doubtful condition. We ourselves, and others
in these parts, are so impoverished by the heavy expenses we have incurred
in prosecuting the affairs of Jesus Christ, that we shall be unable to
contribute the necessary funds, unless we speedily receive succour and
subsidies from the faithful. Given at Acre, xii. kal. October, A. D.
1222."[260]

The troops of the sultan of Damascus were repulsed and driven beyond the
frontier, and the Grand Master then returned to Damietta, to superintend
the preparations for a march upon Cairo. The results of that disastrous
campaign are detailed in the following letter to Brother Alan Marcel,
Preceptor of England, and Master of the Temple at London.

"Brother Peter de Montaigu, humble Master of the soldiers of Christ, to
our vicegerent and beloved brother in Christ, Alan Marcel, Preceptor of
England.

"Hitherto we have had favourable information to communicate unto you
touching our exertions in the cause of Jesus Christ; now, alas! such have
been the reverses and disasters which our sins have brought upon us in the
land of Egypt, that we have nothing but ill news to announce. After the
capture of Damietta, our army remained for some time in a state of
inaction, which brought upon us frequent complaints and reproaches from
the eastern and the western Christians. At length, after the feast of the
holy apostles, the legate of the holy pontiff, and all our soldiers of the
cross, put themselves in march by land and by the Nile, and arrived in
good order at the spot where the sultan was encamped, at the head of an
immense number of the enemies of the cross. The river Taphneos, an arm of
the great Nile, flowed between the camp of the sultan and our forces, and
being unable to ford this river, we pitched our tents on its banks, and
prepared bridges to enable us to force the passage. In the mean time, the
annual inundation rapidly increased, and the sultan, passing his galleys
and armed boats through an ancient canal, floated them into the Nile below
our positions, and cut off our communications with Damietta."... "Nothing
now was to be done but to retrace our steps. The sultans of Aleppo and
Damascus, the two brothers of the sultan, and many chieftains and kings of
the pagans, with an immense multitude of infidels who had come to their
assistance, attempted to cut off our retreat. At night we commenced our
march, but the infidels cut through the embankments of the Nile, the water
rushed along several unknown passages and ancient canals, and encompassed
us on all sides. We lost all our provisions, many of our men were swept
into the stream, and the further progress of our christian warriors was
forthwith arrested. The waters continued to increase upon us, and in this
terrible inundation we lost all our horses and saddles, our carriages,
baggage, furniture, and moveables, and everything that we had. We
ourselves could neither advance nor retreat, and knew not whither to turn.
We could not attack the Egyptians on account of the great lake which
extended itself between them and us; we were without food, and being
caught and pent up like fish in a net, there was nothing left for us but
to treat with the sultan.

"We agreed to surrender Damietta, with all the prisoners which we had in
Tyre and at Acre, on condition that the sultan restored to us the wood of
the true cross and the prisoners that he detained at Cairo and Damascus.
We, with some others, were deputed by the whole army to announce to the
people of Damietta the terms that had been imposed upon us. These were
very displeasing to the bishop of Acre,[261] to the chancellor, and some
others, who wished to defend the town, a measure which we should indeed
have greatly approved of, had there been any reasonable chance of success;
for we would rather have been thrust into perpetual imprisonment than have
surrendered, to the shame of Christendom, this conquest to the infidels.
But after having made a strict investigation into the means of defence,
and finding neither men nor money wherewith to protect the place, we were
obliged to submit to the conditions of the sultan, who, after having
exacted from us an oath and hostages, accorded to us a truce of eight
years. During the negotiations the sultan faithfully kept his word, and
for the space of fifteen days furnished our soldiers with the bread and
corn necessary for their subsistence.

"Do you, therefore, pitying our misfortunes, hasten to relieve them to the
utmost of your ability. Farewell."[262]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1223.]

Brother Alan Marcell, to whom the above letter is addressed, succeeded
Amaric de St. Maur, and was at the head of the order in England for the
space of sixteen years. He was employed by king Henry the Third in various
important negotiations; and 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.[263]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1224.]

At the commencement of the reign of Henry the Third, the Templars in
England appear to have been on bad terms with the king. The latter made
heavy complaints against them to the pope, and the holy pontiff issued (A.
D. 1223) the bull "DE INSOLENTIA TEMPLARIORUM REPRIMENDA," in which he
states that his very dear son in Christ, Henry, the illustrious king of
the English, had complained to him of the usurpations of the Templars on
the royal domains; that they had placed their crosses upon houses that did
not belong to them, and prevented the customary dues and services from
being rendered to the crown; that they undutifully set at nought the
customs of the king's manors, and involved the bailiffs and royal officers
in lawsuits before certain judges of their own appointment. The pope
directs two abbots to inquire into these matters, preparatory to further
proceedings against the guilty parties;[264] but the Templars soon became
reconciled to their sovereign, and on the 28th of April of the year
following, 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.[265] The year after, the same Alan Marcell was sent into
Germany, to negotiate a treaty of marriage between king Henry and the
daughter of the duke of Austria.[266]

At this period, Brother Hugh de Stocton and Richard Ranger, knights of the
convent of the New Temple at London, were the guardians of the royal
treasure in the Tower, and the former was made the depositary, of the
money paid annually by the king to the count of Flanders. He was also
intrusted by Henry the Third with large sums of money, out of which he was
commanded to pay ten thousand marks to the emperor of Constantinople.[267]

Among the many illustrious benefactors to the order of the Temple at this
period was Philip the Second, king of France, who bequeathed the sum of
one hundred thousand pounds to the Grand Master of the Temple.[268]

[Sidenote: HERMANN DE PERIGORD. A. D. 1236.]

The Grand Master, Peter de Montaigu, was succeeded by Brother HERMANN DE
PERIGORD.[269] Shortly after his accession to power, William de
Montserrat, Preceptor of Antioch, being "desirous of extending the
christian territories, to the honour and glory of Jesus Christ," besieged
a fortress of the infidels in the neighbourhood of Antioch. He refused to
retreat before a superior force, and was surrounded and overwhelmed; a
hundred knights of the Temple and three hundred cross-bowmen were slain,
together with many secular warriors, and a large number of foot soldiers.
The _Balcanifer_, or standard-bearer, on this occasion, was an English
Knight Templar, named Reginald d'Argenton, who performed prodigies of
valour. He was disabled and covered with wounds, yet he unflinchingly bore
the Beauseant, or war-banner, aloft with his bleeding arms into the
thickest of the fight, until he at last fell dead upon a heap of his
slaughtered comrades. The Preceptor of Antioch, before he was slain,
"_sent sixteen infidels to hell_."[270]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1237.]

As soon as the Templars in England heard of this disaster, they sent, in
conjunction with the Hospitallers, instant succour to their brethren. "The
Templars and the Hospitallers," says Matthew Paris, "eagerly prepared to
avenge the blood of their brethren so gallantly poured forth in the cause
of Christ. The Hospitallers appointed Brother Theodore, their prior, a
most valiant soldier, to lead a band of knights and of stipendiary troops,
with an immense treasure, to the succour of the Holy Land. Having made
their arrangements, they all started from the house of the Hospitallers at
Clerkenwell in London, and passed through the city with spears held aloft,
shields displayed, and banners advanced. They marched in splendid pomp to
the bridge, and sought a blessing from all who crowded to see them pass.
The brothers indeed uncovered, bowed their heads from side to side, and
recommended themselves to the prayers of all."[271]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1239.]

Whilst the Knights Templars were thus valiantly sustaining the cause of
the cross against the infidels in the East, one of the holy brethren of
the order, the king's special counsellor, named Geoffrey, was signalising
his zeal against infidels at home in England, (A. D. 1239,) by a fierce
destruction and extermination of the Jews. According to Matthew Paris, he
seized and incarcerated the unhappy Israelites, and extorted from them
immense sums of money.[272] Shortly afterwards, Brother Geoffrey fell into
disgrace and was banished from court, and Brother Roger, another Templar,
the king's almoner, shared the same fate, and was forbidden to approach
the royal presence.[273] Some of the brethren of the order were always
about the court, and when the English monarch crossed the seas, he
generally wrote letters to the Master of the Temple at London, informing
him of the state of the royal health.[274]

It was at this period, (A. D. 1240,) that the oblong portion of the Temple
church was completed and consecrated in the presence of King Henry the
Third.[275]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1242.]

The Grand Mastership of Brother Hermann de Perigord is celebrated for the
treaty entered into with the infidels, whereby the holy city was again
surrendered to the Christians. The patriarch returned thither with all his
clergy, the churches were reconsecrated, and the Templars and Hospitallers
emptied their treasuries in rebuilding the walls.

The following account of these gratifying events was transmitted by the
Grand Master of the Temple to Robert de Sanford, Preceptor of England, and
Master of the Temple at London.

"Brother Hermann de Perigord, humble _minister_ of the knights of the poor
Temple, to his beloved brother in Christ, Robert de Sanford, Preceptor in
England, salvation in 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 Nassr his supporter and abettor, the
great persecutor of the Christians, they were reluctantly compelled to
negotiate 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...."

The Grand Master proceeds to relate the progress of the negotiations, and
the surrender of the holy city and the greater part of Palestine to the
soldiers of Christ ... "whence, to the joy of angels and of men," says he,
"Jerusalem is now inhabited by Christians alone, all the Saracens being
driven out. The holy places have been reconsecrated 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
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....

"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 sultan of Egypt, who is a most
powerful and talented man, unless Christ and his faithful followers extend
to us an efficacious support."[276]




CHAPTER VIII.

    The conquest of Jerusalem by the Carizmians--The slaughter of the
    Templars, and the death of the Grand Master--The exploits of the
    Templars in Egypt--King Louis of France visits the Templars in
    Palestine--He assists them in putting the country into a defensible
    state--Henry II., king of England, visits the Temple at Paris--The
    magnificent hospitality of the Templars in England and
    France--Benocdar, sultan of Egypt, invades Palestine--He defeats the
    Templars, takes their strong fortresses, and decapitates six hundred
    of their brethren--The Grand Master comes to England for succour--The
    renewal of the war--The fall of Acre, and the final extinction of the
    Templars in Palestine.

    "The Knights of the TEMPLE ever maintained their fearless and fanatic
    character; if they neglected to _live_ they were prepared to _die_ in
    the service of Christ."--_Gibbon._


[Sidenote: HERMANN DE PERIGORD. A. D. 1242.]

Shortly after the recovery of the holy city, Djemal'eddeen, the Mussulman,
paid a visit to Jerusalem. "I saw," says he, "the monks and the priests
masters of the Temple of the Lord. I saw the vials of wine prepared for
the sacrifice. I entered into the Mosque al Acsa, (the Temple of Solomon,)
and I saw a bell suspended from the dome. The rites and ceremonies of the
Mussulmen were abolished; the call to prayer was no longer heard. The
infidels publicly exercised their idolatrous practices in the sanctuaries
of the Mussulmen."[277]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1243.]

By the advice of Benedict, bishop of Marseilles, who came to the holy city
on a pilgrimage, the Templars rebuilt their ancient and formidable castle
of Saphet. Eight hundred and fifty workmen, and four hundred slaves were
employed in the task. The walls were sixty _French_ feet in width, one
hundred and seventy in height, and the circuit of them was two thousand
two hundred and fifty feet. They were flanked by seven large round towers,
sixty feet in diameter, and seventy-two feet higher than the walls. The
fosse surrounding the fortress was thirty-six feet wide, and was pierced
in the solid rock to a depth of forty-three feet. The garrison, in time of
peace, amounted to one thousand seven hundred men, and to two thousand two
hundred in time of war.[278] The ruins of this famous castle crowning the
summit of a lofty mountain, torn and shattered by earthquakes, still
present a stupendous appearance. In Pococke's time "two particularly fine
large round towers" were entire, and Van Egmont and Heyman describe the
remains of two moats lined with freestone, several fragments of walls,
bulwarks, and turrets, together with corridors, winding staircases, and
internal apartments. Ere this fortress was completed, the Templars again
lost the holy city, and were well-nigh exterminated in a bloody battle
fought with the Carizmians. These were a fierce, pastoral tribe of
Tartars, who, descending from the north of Asia, and quitting their abodes
in the neighbourhood of the Caspian, rushed headlong upon the nations of
the south. They overthrew with frightful rapidity, and the most terrific
slaughter, all who had ventured to oppose their progress; and, at the
instigation of Saleh Ayoub, sultan of Egypt, with whom they had formed an
alliance, they turned their arms against the Holy Land. In a great battle
fought near Gaza, which lasted two days, the Grand Masters of the Temple
and the Hospital were both slain, together with three hundred and twelve
Knights Templars, and three hundred and twenty-four serving brethren,
besides hired soldiers in the pay of the Order.[279] The following
account of these disasters was forwarded to Europe by the Vice-Master of
the Temple, and the bishops and abbots of Palestine.

[Sidenote: A. D. 1244.]

"To the reverend Fathers in Christ, and to all our friends, archbishops,
bishops, abbots, and other prelates of the church in the kingdoms of
France and England, to whom these letters shall come;--Robert, by the
grace of God, patriarch of the holy church of Jerusalem; Henry, archbishop
of Nazareth; J. elect of Cæsarea; R. bishop of Acre; _William de
Rochefort, Vice-Master of the house of the soldiery of the_ TEMPLE, _and
of the convent of the same house_; H. prior of the sepulchre of the Lord;
B. of the Mount of Olives, &c. &c. Health and prosperity."

"The cruel barbarian, issuing forth from the confines of the East, hath
turned his footsteps towards the kingdom of Jerusalem, that holy land,
which, though it hath at different periods been grievously harassed by the
Saracen tribes, hath yet in these latter days enjoyed ease and
tranquillity, and been at peace with the neighbouring nations. But, alas!
the sins of our christian people have just now raised up for its
destruction an unknown people, and an avenging sword from afar...." They
proceed to describe the destructive progress of the Carizmians from
Tartary, the devastation of Persia, the fierce extermination by those
savage hordes of all races and nations, without distinction of religion,
and their sudden entry into the Holy Land by the side of Saphet and
Tiberias, "when," say they, "_by the common advice, and at the unanimous
desire of the Masters of the religious houses of the chivalry of the
Temple and the Hospital_, we called in the assistance of the sultans of
Damascus and Carac, who were bound to us by treaty, and who bore especial
hatred to the Carizmians; they promised and solemnly swore to give us
their entire aid, but the succour came slow and tardy; the Christian
forces were few in number, and were obliged to abandon the defence of
Jerusalem...."

After detailing the barbarous and horrible slaughter of five thousand
three hundred Christians, of both sexes--men, women, children, monks,
priests, and nuns,--they thus continue their simple and affecting
narrative:

"At length, the before-mentioned perfidious savages having penetrated
within the gates of the holy city of Israel, the small remnant of the
faithful left therein, consisting of children, women, and old men, took
refuge in the church of the sepulchre of our Lord. The Carizmians rushed
to that holy sanctuary; they butchered them all before the very sepulchre
itself, and cutting off the heads of the priests who were kneeling with
uplifted hands before the altars, they said one to another, 'Let us here
shed the blood of the Christians _on the very place where they offer up
wine to their God, who they say was hanged here_.' Moreover, in sorrow be
it spoken, and with sighs we inform you, that laying their sacrilegious
hands on the very sepulchre itself, they sadly disturbed it, utterly
battering to pieces the marble shrine which was built around that holy
sanctuary. They have defiled, with every abomination of which they were
capable, Mount Calvary, where Christ was crucified, and the whole church
of the resurrection. They have taken away, indeed, the sculptured columns
which were placed as a decoration before the sepulchre of the Lord, and as
a mark of victory, and as a taunt to the Christians, they have sent them
to the sepulchre of the wicked Mahomet. They have violated the tombs of
the happy kings of Jerusalem in the same church, and they have scattered,
to the hurt of Christendom, the ashes of those holy men to the winds,
irreverently profaning the revered Mount Sion. The Temple of the Lord, the
church of the Valley of Jehoshaphat, where the Virgin lies buried, the
church of Bethlehem, and the place of the nativity of our Lord, they have
polluted with enormities too horrible to be related, far exceeding the
iniquity of all the Saracens, who, though they frequently occupied the
land of the Christians, yet always reverenced and preserved the holy
places...."

They then describe the subsequent military operations, the march of the
Templars and Hospitallers, on the 4th of October, A. D. 1244, from Acre to
Cæsarea; the junction of their forces with those of the Moslem sultans;
the retreat of the Carizmians to Gaza, where they received succour from
the sultan of Egypt; and the preparation of the Hospitallers and Templars
for the attack before that place.

"Those holy warriors," say they, "boldly rushed in upon the enemy, but the
Saracens who had joined us, having lost many of their men, fled, and the
warriors of the cross were left alone to withstand the united attack of
the Egyptians and Carizmians. Like stout champions of the Lord, and true
defenders of catholicity, whom the same faith and the same cross and
passion make true brothers, they bravely resisted; but as they were few in
number in comparison with the enemy, they at last succumbed, so that of
the convents of the house of the chivalry of the Temple, and of the house
of the Hospital of Saint John at Jerusalem, only thirty-three Templars and
twenty-six Hospitallers escaped; the archbishop of Tyre, the bishop of
Saint George, the abbot of Saint Mary of Jehoshaphat, and the Master of
the Temple, with many other clerks and holy men, being slain in that
sanguinary fight. We ourselves, having by our sins provoked this dire
calamity, fled half dead to Ascalon; from thence we proceeded by sea to
Acre, and found that city and the adjoining province filled with sorrow
and mourning, misery and death. There was not a house or a family that had
not lost an inmate or a relation...."

"The Carizmians have now pitched their tents in the plain of Acre, about
two miles from the city. The whole country, as far as Nazareth and Saphet,
is overrun by them, so that the churches of Jerusalem and the christian
kingdom have now no territory, except a few fortifications, which are
defended with great difficulty and labour by the Templars and
Hospitallers....

"To you, dearest Fathers, upon whom the burthen of the defence of the
cause of Christ justly resteth, we have caused these sad tidings to be
communicated, earnestly beseeching you to address your prayers to the
throne of grace, imploring mercy from the Most High; that he who
consecrated the Holy Land with his own blood in redemption of all mankind,
may compassionately turn towards it and defend it, and send it succour. Do
ye yourselves, dearest Fathers, as far as ye are able, take sage counsel
and speedily assist us, that ye may receive a heavenly reward. But know,
assuredly, that unless, through the interposition of the Most High, or by
the aid of the faithful, the Holy Land is succoured in the next spring
passage from Europe, its doom is sealed, and utter ruin is inevitable.

"Since it would be tedious to explain by letter all our necessities, we
have sent to you the venerable father bishop of Beirout, and the holy man
Arnulph, of the Order of Friars Preachers, who will faithfully and truly
unfold the particulars to your venerable fraternity. We humbly entreat you
liberally to receive and patiently to hear the aforesaid messengers, who
have exposed themselves to great dangers for the church of God, by
navigating the seas in the depth of winter. Given at Acre, this fifth day
of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand twelve hundred and
forty-four."[280]

The above letter was read before a general council of the church, which
had been assembled at Lyons by Pope Innocent IV., and it was resolved that
a new crusade should be preached. It was provided that those who assumed
the cross should assemble at particular places to receive the Pope's
blessing; that there should be a truce for four years between all
christian princes; that during all that time there should be no
tournaments, feasts, nor public rejoicings; that all the faithful in
Christ should be exhorted to contribute, out of their fortunes and
estates, to the defence of the Holy Land; and that ecclesiastics should
pay towards it the tenth, and cardinals the twentieth, of all their
revenues, for the term of three years successively. The ancient
enthusiasm, however, in favour of distant expeditions to the East had died
away; the addresses and exhortations of the clergy now fell on unwilling
ears, and the Templars and Hospitallers received only some small
assistance in men and money.

[Sidenote: WILLIAM DE SONNAC. A. D. 1245.]

The temporary alliance between the Templars and the Mussulman sultans of
Syria, for the purpose of insuring their common safety, did not escape
animadversion. The emperor Frederick the Second, the nominal king of
Jerusalem, in a letter to Richard earl of Cornwall, the brother of Henry
the Third, king of England, accuses the Templars of making war upon the
sultan of Egypt, in defiance of a treaty entered into with that monarch,
of compelling him to call in the Carizmians to his assistance; and he
compares the union of the Templars with the infidel sultans, for purposes
of defence, to an attempt to extinguish a fire by pouring upon it a
quantity of oil. "The proud religion of the Temple," says he, in
continuation, "nurtured amid the luxuries of the barons of the land,
waxeth wanton. It hath been made manifest to us, by certain religious
persons lately arrived from parts beyond sea, that the aforesaid sultans
and their trains were received with pompous alacrity within the gates of
the houses of the Temple, and that the Templars suffered them to perform
within them their superstitious rites and ceremonies, with invocation of
Mahomet, and to indulge in secular delights."[281] The Templars,
notwithstanding their disasters, successfully defended all their strong
fortresses in Palestine against the efforts of the Carizmians, and
gradually recovered their footing in the Holy Land. The galleys of the
Order kept the command of the sea, and succour speedily arrived to them
from their western brethren. A general chapter of knights was assembled in
the Pilgrim's Castle, and the veteran warrior, brother WILLIAM DE SONNAC,
was chosen Grand Master of the Order.[282] Circular mandates were, at the
same time, sent to the western preceptories, summoning all the brethren to
Palestine, and directing the immediate transmission of all the money in
the different treasuries to the head-quarters of the Order at Acre. These
calls appear to have been promptly attended to, and the Pope praises both
the Templars and Hospitallers for the zeal and energy displayed by them in
sending out the newly-admitted knights and novices with armed bands and a
large amount of treasure to the succour of the holy territory.[283] The
aged knights, and those whose duties rendered them unable to leave the
western preceptories, implored the blessings of heaven upon the exertions
of their brethren; they observed extraordinary fasts and mortification,
and directed continual prayers to be offered up throughout the Order.[284]
Whilst the proposed crusade was slowly progressing, the holy pontiff wrote
to the sultan of Egypt, the ally of the Carizmians, proposing a peace or a
truce, and received the following grand and magnificent reply to his
communication:

[Sidenote: A. D. 1246.]

"To the Pope, the noble, the great, the spiritual, the affectionate, the
holy, the thirteenth of the apostles, the leader of the sons of baptism,
the high priest of the Christians, (may God strengthen him, and establish
him, and give him happiness!) from the most powerful sultan ruling over
the necks of nations; wielding the two great weapons, the sword and the
pen; possessing two pre-eminent excellencies--that is to say, learning and
judgment; king of two seas; ruler of the South and North; king of the
region of Egypt and Syria, Mesopotamia, Media, Idumea, and Ophir; King
Saloph Beelpheth, Jacob, son of Sultan Camel, Hemevafar Mehameth, son of
Sultan Hadel, Robethre, son of Jacob, whose kingdom may the Lord God make
happy.

"IN THE NAME OF GOD THE MOST MERCIFUL AND COMPASSIONATE.

"The letters of the Pope, the noble, the great, &c. &c. ... have been
presented to us. May God favour him who earnestly seeketh after
righteousness and doeth good, and wisheth peace and walketh in the ways of
the Lord. May God assist him who worshippeth him in truth. We have
considered the aforesaid letters, and have understood the matters treated
of therein, which have pleased and delighted us; and the messenger sent by
the holy Pope came to us, and we caused him to be brought before us with
honour, and love, and reverence; and we brought him to see us face to
face, and inclining our ears towards him, we listened to his speech, and
we have put faith in the words he hath spoken unto us concerning Christ,
upon whom be salvation and praise. But we know more concerning that same
Christ than ye know, and we magnify him more than ye magnify him. And as
to what you say concerning your desire for peace, tranquillity, and quiet,
and that you wish to put down war, so also do we; we desire and wish
nothing to the contrary. But let the Pope know, that between ourselves
and the Emperor (Frederick) there hath been mutual love, and alliance, and
perfect concord, from the time of the sultan, my father, (whom may God
preserve and place in the glory of his brightness;) and between you and
the Emperor there is, as ye know, strife and warfare; whence it is not fit
that we should enter into any treaty with the Christians until we have
previously had his advice and assent. We have therefore written to our
envoy at the imperial court upon the propositions made to us by the Pope's
messenger, &c. ...

"This letter was written on the seventh of the month _Maharan_. Praise be
to the one only God, and may his blessing rest upon our master
Mahomet."[285]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1247.]

The year following, (A. D. 1247,) the Carizmians were annihilated; they
were cut up in detail by the Templars and Hospitallers, and were at last
slain to a man. Their very name perished from the face of the earth, but
the traces of their existence were long preserved in the ruin and
desolation they had spread around them.[286] The Holy Land, although
happily freed from the destructive presence of these barbarians, had yet
everything to fear from the powerful sultan of Egypt, with whom
hostilities still continued; and Brother William de Sonnac, the Grand
Master of the Temple, for the purpose of stimulating the languid energies
of the English nation, and reviving their holy zeal and enthusiasm in the
cause of the Cross, despatched a distinguished Knight Templar to England,
charged with the duty of presenting to king Henry the Third a magnificent
crystal vase, containing a portion of the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ,
which had been poured forth upon the sacred soil of Palestine for the
remission of the sins of all the faithful.

A solemn attestation of the genuineness of this precious relic, signed by
the patriarch of Jerusalem, and the bishops, the abbots, and the barons of
the Holy Land, was forwarded to London for the satisfaction of the king
and his subjects, and was deposited, together with the vase and its
inestimable contents, in the cathedral church of Saint Paul.[287]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1249.]

In the month of June, A. D. 1249, the galleys of the Templars left Acre
with a strong body of forces on board, and joined the expedition
undertaken by the French king, Louis IX., against Egypt. The following
account of the capture of Damietta was forwarded to the Master of the
Temple at London.

"Brother William de Sonnac, by the grace of God Master of the poor
chivalry of the Temple, to his beloved brother in Christ, Robert de
Sanford, Preceptor of England, salvation in the Lord.

"We hasten to unfold to you by these presents agreeable and happy
intelligence.... (He details the landing of the French, the defeat of the
infidels with the loss of one christian soldier, and the subsequent
capture of the city.) Damietta, therefore, has been taken, not by our
deserts, nor by the might of our armed bands, but through the divine power
and assistance. Moreover, be it known to you that king Louis, with God's
favour, proposes to march upon Alexandria or Cairo for the purpose of
delivering our brethren there detained in captivity, and of reducing, with
God's help, the whole land to the christian worship. Farewell."[288]

The Lord de Joinville, the friend of king Louis, and one of the bravest of
the French captains, gives a lively and most interesting account of the
campaign, and of the famous exploits of the Templars. During the march
towards Cairo, they led the van of the christian army, and on one
occasion, when the king of France had given strict orders that no attack
should be made upon the infidels, and that an engagement should be
avoided, a body of Turkish cavalry advanced against them. "One of these
Turks," says Joinville, "gave a Knight Templar in the first rank so heavy
a blow with his battle-axe, that it felled him under the feet of the Lord
Reginald de Vichier's horse, who was Marshall of the Temple; the Marshall,
seeing his man fall, cried out to his brethren, 'At them in the name of
God, for I cannot longer stand this.' He instantly stuck spurs into his
horse, followed by all his brethren, and as their horses were fresh, not a
Saracen escaped." On another occasion, the Templars marched forth at the
head of the christian army, to make trial of a ford across the Tanitic
branch of the Nile. "Before we set out," says Joinville, "the king had
ordered that the Templars should form the van, and the Count d'Artois, his
brother, should command the second division after the Templars; but the
moment the Compte d'Artois had passed the ford, he and all his people fell
on the Saracens, and putting them to flight, galloped after them. The
Templars sent to call the Compte d'Artois back, and to tell him that it
was his duty to march behind and not before them; but it happened that the
Count d'Artois could not make any answer by reason of my Lord Foucquault
du Melle, who held the bridle of his horse, and my Lord Foucquault, who
was a right good knight, being deaf, heard nothing the Templars were
saying to the Count d'Artois, but kept bawling out, '_Forward! forward!_'
("Or a eulz! or a eulz!") When the Templars perceived this, they thought
they should be dishonoured if they allowed the Count d'Artois thus to take
the lead; so they spurred their horses more and more, and faster and
faster, and chased the Turks, who fled before them, through the town of
Massoura, as far as the plains towards Babylon; but on their return, the
Turks shot at them plenty of arrows, and attacked them in the narrow
streets of the town. The Count d'Artois and the Earl of Leicester were
there slain, and as many as three hundred other knights. The Templars
lost, as their chief informed me, full fourteen score men-at-arms, and all
his horsemen."[289]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1250.]

The Grand Master of the Temple also lost an eye, and cut his way through
the infidels to the main body of the christian army, accompanied only by
two Knights Templars.[290] There he again mixed in the affray, took the
command of a vanguard, and is to be found fighting by the side of the Lord
de Joinville at sunset. In his account of the great battle fought on the
first Friday in Lent, Joinville thus commemorates the gallant bearing of
the Templars:--

"The next battalion was under the command of Brother William de Sonnac,
Master of the Temple, who had with him the small remnant of the brethren
of the order who survived the battle of Shrove Tuesday. The Master of the
Temple made of the engines which we had taken from the Saracens a sort of
rampart in his front, but when the Saracens marched up to the assault,
they threw Greek fire upon it, and as the Templars had piled up many
planks of fir-wood amongst these engines, they caught fire immediately;
and the Saracens, perceiving that the brethren of the Temple were few in
number, dashed through the burning timbers, and vigorously attacked them.
In the preceding battle of Shrove Tuesday, Brother William, the Master of
the Temple, lost one of his eyes, and in this battle the said lord lost
his other eye, and was slain. God have mercy on his soul! And know that
immediately behind the place where the battalion of the Templars stood,
there was a good acre of ground, so covered with darts, arrows, and
missiles, that you could not see the earth beneath them, such showers of
these had been discharged against the Templars by the Saracens!"[291]

[Sidenote: REGINALD DE VICHIER. A. D. 1252.]

The Grand Master, William de Sonnac, was succeeded by the Marshall of the
Temple, Brother Reginald de Vichier.[292] King Louis, after his release
from captivity, proceeded to Palestine, where he remained two years. He
repaired the fortifications of Jaffa and Cæsarea, and assisted the
Templars in putting the country into a defensible state. The Lord de
Joinville remained with him the whole time, and relates some curious
events that took place during his stay. It appears that the scheik of the
assassins still continued to pay tribute to the Templars; and during the
king's residence at Acre, the chief sent ambassadors to him to obtain a
remission of the tribute. He gave them an audience, and declared that he
would consider of their proposal. "When they came again before the king,"
says Joinville, "it was about vespers, and they found the Master of the
Temple on one side of him, and the Master of the Hospital on the other.
The ambassadors refused to repeat what they had said in the morning, but
the Masters of the Temple and the Hospital commanded them so to do. Then
the Masters of the Temple and Hospital told them that their lord had very
foolishly and impudently sent such a message to the king of France, and
had they not been invested with the character of ambassadors, they would
have thrown them into the filthy sea of Acre, and have drowned them in
despite of their master. 'And we command you,' continued the masters, 'to
return to your lord, and to come back within fifteen days with such
letters from your prince, that the king shall be contented with him and
with you.'"

The ambassadors accordingly did as they were bid, and brought back from
their scheik a shirt, the symbol of friendship, and a great variety of
rich presents, "crystal elephants, pieces of amber, with borders of pure
gold," &c. &c.[293] "You must know that when the ambassadors opened the
case containing all these fine things, the whole apartment was instantly
embalmed with the odour of their sweet perfumes."

The Lord de Joinville accompanied the Templars in several marches and
expeditions against the infidel tribes on the frontiers of Palestine, and
was present at the storming of the famous castle of Panias, situate near
the source of the Jordan.

[Sidenote: A. D. 1254.]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1255.]

At the period of the return of the king of France to Europe, (A. D. 1254,)
Henry the Third, king of England, was in Gascony with Brother Robert de
Sanford, Master of the Temple at London, who had been previously sent by
the English monarch into that province to appease the troubles which had
there broken out.[294] King Henry proceeded to the French capital, and was
magnificently entertained by the Knights Templars at the Temple in Paris,
which Matthew Paris tells us was of such immense extent that it could
contain within its precincts a numerous army. The day after his arrival,
king Henry ordered an innumerable quantity of poor people to be regaled at
the Temple with meat, fish, bread, and wine; and at a later hour the king
of France and all his nobles came to dine with the English monarch.
"Never," says Matthew Paris, "was there at any period in bygone times so
noble and so celebrated an entertainment. They feasted in the great hall
of the Temple, where hang the shields on every side, as many as they can
place along the four walls, according to the custom of the order beyond
sea...."[295] The Knights Templars in this country likewise exercised a
magnificent hospitality, and constantly entertained kings, princes,
nobles, prelates, and foreign ambassadors, at the Temple. Immediately
after the return of king Henry to England, some illustrious ambassadors
from Castile came on a visit to the Temple at London; and as the king
"greatly delighted to honour them," he commanded three pipes of wine to be
placed in the cellars of the Temple for their use,[296] and ten fat bucks
to be brought them at the same place from the royal forest in Essex.[297]
He, moreover, commanded the mayor and sheriffs of London, and the
commonalty of the same city, to take with them a respectable assemblage of
the citizens, and to go forth and meet the said ambassadors without the
city, and courteously receive them, and honour them, and conduct them to
the Temple.[298]

[Sidenote: THOMAS BERARD. A. D. 1256.]

The Grand Master, Reginald de Vichier, was succeeded by Brother Thomas
Berard,[299] who wrote several letters to the king of England, displaying
the miserable condition of the Holy Land, and earnestly imploring succour
and assistance.[300] The English monarch, however, was too poor to assist
him, being obliged to borrow money upon his crown jewels, which he sent to
the Temple at Paris. The queen of France, in a letter "to her very dear
brother Henry, the illustrious king of England," gives a long list of
golden wands, golden combs, diamond buckles, chaplets, and circlets,
golden crowns, imperial beavers, rich girdles, golden peacocks, and rings
innumerable, adorned with sapphires, rubies, emeralds, topazes, and
carbuncles, which she says she had inspected in the presence of the
treasurer of the Temple at Paris, and that the same were safely deposited
in the coffers of the Templars.[301]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1261.]

The military power of the orders of the Temple and the Hospital in
Palestine was at last completely broken by Bibars, or Benocdar, the fourth
Mamlook sultan of Egypt, who, from the humble station of a Tartar slave,
had raised himself to the sovereignty of that country, and through his
valour and military talents had acquired the title of "the Conqueror." He
invaded Palestine (A. D. 1262) at the head of thirty thousand cavalry, and
defeated the Templars and Hospitallers with immense slaughter.[302] After
several years of continuous warfare, during which the most horrible
excesses were committed by both parties, all the strongholds of the
Christians, with the solitary exception of the Pilgrim's Castle and the
city of Acre, fell into the hands of the infidels.

[Sidenote: A. D. 1266.]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1268.]

On the last day of April, (A. D. 1265,) Benocdar stormed Arsuf, one of the
strongest of the castles of the Hospitallers; he slew ninety of the
garrison, and led away a thousand into captivity. The year following he
stormed Castel Blanco, a fortress of the Knights Templars, and immediately
after laid siege to their famous and important castle of Saphet. After an
obstinate defence, the Preceptor, finding himself destitute of provisions,
agreed to capitulate, on condition that the surviving brethren and their
retainers, amounting to six hundred men, should be conducted in safety to
the nearest fortress of the Christians. The terms were acceded to, but as
soon as Benocdar had obtained possession of the castle, he imposed upon
the whole garrison the severe alternative of the Koran or death. They
chose the latter, and, according to the christian writers, were all
slain.[303] The Arabian historian Schafi Ib'n Ali Abbas, however, in his
life of Bibars, or Benocdar, states that one of the garrison named
_Effreez Lyoub_, embraced the Mahommetan faith, and was circumcised, and
that another was sent to Acre to announce the fall of the place to his
brethren. This writer attempts to excuse the slaughter of the remainder,
on the ground that they had themselves first broken the terms of the
capitulation, by attempting to carry away arms and treasure.[304] "By the
death of so many knights of both orders," says Pope Clement IV., in one of
his epistles, "the noble college of the Hospitallers, and the illustrious
chivalry of the Temple, are almost destroyed, and I know not how we shall
be able, after this, to find gentlemen and persons of quality sufficient
to supply the places of such as have perished."[305] The year after the
fall of Saphet, (A. D. 1267,) Benocdar captured the cities of Homs,
Belfort, Bagras, and Sidon, which belonged to the order of the Temple; the
maritime towns of Laodicea, Gabala, Tripoli, Beirout, and Jaffa,
successively fell into his hands, and the fall of the princely city of
Antioch was signalized by the slaughter of seventeen and the captivity of
one hundred thousand of her inhabitants.[306] The utter ruin of the Latin
kingdom, however, was averted by the timely assistance brought by Edward
Prince of Wales, son of Henry the Second, king of England, who appeared at
Acre with a fleet and an army. The infidels were once more defeated and
driven back into Egypt, and a truce for ten years between the sultan and
the Christians was agreed upon.[307] Prince Edward then prepared for his
departure, but, before encountering the perils of the sea on his return
home, he made his will; it is dated at Acre, June 18th, A. D. 1272, and
Brother Thomas Berard, Grand Master of the Temple, appears as an attesting
witness.[308] Whilst the prince was pursuing his voyage to England, his
father, the king of England, died, and the council of the realm, composed
of the archbishops of Canterbury and York, and the bishops and barons of
the kingdom, assembled in the Temple at London, and swore allegiance to
the prince. They there caused him to be proclaimed king of England, and,
with the consent of the queen-mother, they appointed Walter Giffard,
archbishop of York, and the earls of Cornwall and Gloucester, guardians of
the realm. Letters were written from the Temple to acquaint the young
sovereign with the death of his father, and many of the acts of the new
government emanated from the same place.[309]

King Henry the Third was a great benefactor to the Templars. He granted
them the manors of Lilleston, Hechewayton, Saunford, Sutton, Dartfeld, and
Halgel, in Kent; several lands, and churches and annual fairs at Baldok,
Walnesford, Wetherby, and other places, and various weekly markets.[310]

[Sidenote: WILLIAM DE BEAUJEU. A.D. 1273.]

The Grand Master, Thomas Berard, was succeeded by Brother William de
Beaujeu,[311] who came to England for the purpose of obtaining succour,
and called together a general chapter of the order at London. Whilst
resident at the Temple in that city, he received payment of a large sum of
money which Edward, the young king, had borrowed of the Templars during
his residence in Palestine.[312] The Grand Master of the Hospital also
came to Europe, and every exertion was made to stimulate the languid
energies of the western Christians, and revive their holy zeal in the
cause of the Cross. A general council of the church was opened at Lyons by
the Pope in person; the two Grand Masters were present, and took
precedence of all the ambassadors and peers at that famous assembly. It
was determined that a new crusade should be preached, that all
ecclesiastical dignities and benefices should be taxed to support an
armament, and that the sovereigns of Europe should be compelled by
ecclesiastical censures to suspend their private quarrels, and afford
succour to the desolate city of Jerusalem. The Pope, who had been himself
resident in Palestine, took a strong personal interest in the promotion of
the crusade, and induced many nobles, princes, and knights to assume the
Cross; but the holy pontiff died in the midst of his exertions, and with
him expired all hope of effectual assistance from Europe. A vast change
had come over the spirit of the age; the fiery enthusiasm of the holy war
had expended itself, and the Grand Masters of the Temple and Hospital
returned without succour, in sorrow and disappointment, to the East.

[Sidenote: A. D. 1275.]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1291.]

William de Beaujeu arrived at the Temple of Acre on Saint Michael's Day,
A. D. 1275, and immediately assumed the government of Palestine.[313] As
there was now no hope of recovering the lost city of Jerusalem, he bent
all his energies to the preservation of the few remaining possessions of
the Christians in the Holy Land. At the expiration of the ten years' truce
he entered into a further treaty with the infidels, called "the peace of
Tortosa." It is expressed to be made between sultan Malek-Mansour and his
son Malek-Saleh Ali, "honour of the world and of religion," of the one
part, and Afryz Dybadjouk (William de Beaujeu) Grand Master of the order
of the Templars, of the other part. The truce is further prolonged for ten
years and ten months from the date of the execution of the treaty, (A. D.
1282;) and the contracting parties strictly bind themselves to make no
irruptions into each other's territories during the period. To prevent
mistakes, the towns, villages, and territory belonging to the Christians
in Palestine are specified and defined, together with the contiguous
possessions of the Moslems.[314] This treaty, however, was speedily
broken, the war was renewed with various success, and another treaty was
concluded, which was again violated by an unpardonable outrage. Some
European adventurers, who had arrived at Acre, plundered and hung nineteen
Egyptian merchants, and the sultan of Egypt immediately resumed
hostilities, with the avowed determination of crushing for ever the
christian power in the East. The fortress of Margat was besieged and
taken; the city of Tripoli shared the same fate; and in the third year
from the re-commencement of the war, the christian dominions in Palestine
were reduced within the narrow confines of the strong city of Acre and the
Pilgrim's Castle. In the spring of the year 1291, the sultan Khalil
marched against Acre at the head of sixty thousand horse and a hundred and
forty thousand foot.

"An innumerable people of all nations and every tongue," says a chronicle
of the times, "thirsting for christian blood, were assembled together from
the deserts of the East and the South; the earth trembled beneath their
footsteps, and the air was rent with the sound of their trumpets and
cymbals. The sun's rays, reflected from their shields, gleamed on the
distant mountains, and the points of their spears shone like the
innumerable stars of heaven. When on the march, their lances presented the
appearance of a vast forest rising from the earth, and covering all the
landscape."... "They wandered round about the walls, spying out their
weaknesses and defects; some barked like dogs, some roared like lions,
some lowed and bellowed like oxen, some struck drums with twisted sticks
after their fashion, some threw darts, some cast stones, some shot arrows
and bolts from cross-bows."[315] On the 5th of April, the place was
regularly invested. No rational hope of saving it could be entertained;
the sea was open; the harbour was filled with christian vessels, and with
the galleys of the Temple and the Hospital; yet the two great monastic and
military orders scorned to retire to the neighbouring and friendly island
of Cyprus; they refused to desert, even in its last extremity, that cause
which they had sworn to maintain with the last drop of their blood. For a
hundred and seventy years their swords had been constantly employed in
defending the Holy Land from the profane tread of the unbelieving Moslem;
the sacred territory of Palestine had been everywhere moistened with the
blood of the best and bravest of their knights, and, faithful to their
vows and their chivalrous engagements, they now prepared to bury
themselves in the ruins of the last stronghold of the christian faith.

William de Beaujeu, the Grand Master of the Temple, a veteran warrior of a
hundred fights, took the command of the garrison, which amounted to about
twelve thousand men, exclusive of the forces of the Temple and the
Hospital, and a body of five hundred foot and two hundred horse, under the
command of the king of Cyprus. These forces were distributed along the
walls in four divisions, the first of which was commanded by Hugh de
Grandison, an English knight. The old and the feeble, women and children,
were sent away by sea to the christian island of Cyprus, and none remained
in the devoted city but those who were prepared to fight in its defence,
or to suffer martyrdom at the hands of the infidels. The siege lasted six
weeks, during the whole of which period the sallies and the attacks were
incessant. Neither by night nor by day did the shouts of the assailants
and the noise of the military engines cease; the walls were battered from
without, and the foundations were sapped by miners, who were incessantly
labouring to advance their works. More than six hundred catapults,
balistæ, and other instruments of destruction, were directed against the
fortifications; and the battering machines were of such immense size and
weight, that a hundred wagons were required to transport the separate
timbers of one of them.[316] Moveable towers were erected by the Moslems,
so as to overtop the walls; their workmen and advanced parties were
protected by hurdles covered with raw hides, and all the military
contrivances which the art and the skill of the age could produce, were
used to facilitate the assault. For a long time their utmost efforts were
foiled by the valour of the besieged, who made constant sallies upon their
works, burnt their towers and machines, and destroyed their miners. Day by
day, however, the numbers of the garrison were thinned by the sword,
whilst in the enemy's camp the places of the dead were constantly supplied
by fresh warriors from the deserts of Arabia, animated with the same wild
fanaticism in the cause of _their_ religion as that which so eminently
distinguished the military monks of the Temple. On the fourth of May,
after thirty-three days of constant fighting, the great tower, considered
the key of the fortifications, and called by the Moslems _the cursed
tower_, was thrown down by the military engines. To increase the terror
and distraction of the besieged, sultan Khalil mounted three hundred
drummers, with their drums, upon as many dromedaries, and commanded them
to make as much noise as possible whenever a general assault was ordered.
From the 4th to the 14th of May, the attacks were incessant. On the 15th,
the double wall was forced, and the king of Cyprus, panic-stricken, fled
in the night to his ships, and made sail for the island of Cyprus, with
all his followers, and with near three thousand of the best men of the
garrison. On the morrow the Saracens attacked the post he had deserted;
they filled up the ditch with the bodies of dead men and horses, piles of
wood, stones, and earth, and their trumpets then sounded to the assault.
Ranged under the yellow banner of Mahomet, the Mamlooks forced the breach,
and penetrated sword in hand to the very centre of the city; but their
victorious career and insulting shouts were there stopped by the mail-clad
Knights of the Temple and the Hospital, who charged on horseback through
the narrow streets, drove them back with immense carnage, and precipitated
them headlong from the walls.

At sunrise the following morning the air resounded with the deafening
noise of drums and trumpets, and the breach was carried and recovered
several times, the military friars at last closing up the passage with
their bodies, and presenting a wall of steel to the advance of the enemy.
Loud appeals to God and to Mahomet, to heaven and the saints, were to be
heard on all sides; and after an obstinate engagement from sunrise to
sunset, darkness put an end to the slaughter. On the third day, (the
18th,) the infidels made the final assault on the side next the gate of
St. Anthony. The Grand Masters of the Temple and the Hospital fought side
by side at the head of their knights, and for a time successfully resisted
all the efforts of the enemy. They engaged hand to hand with the Mamlooks,
and pressed like the meanest of the soldiers into the thick of the battle.
But as each knight fell beneath the keen scimitars of the Moslems, there
were none in reserve to supply his place, whilst the vast hordes of the
infidels pressed on with untiring energy and perseverance. The Marshall of
the Hospital fell covered with wounds, and William de Beaujeu, as a last
resort, requested the Grand Master of that order to sally out of an
adjoining gateway at the head of five hundred horse, and attack the
enemy's rear. Immediately after the Grand Master of the Temple had given
these orders, he was himself struck down by the darts and the arrows of
the enemy; the panic-stricken garrison fled to the port, and the infidels
rushed on with tremendous shouts of _Allah acbar! Allah acbar!_ "GOD is
victorious." Three hundred Templars, the sole survivors of their
illustrious order in Acre, were now left alone to withstand the shock of
the victorious Mamlooks. In a close and compact column they fought their
way, accompanied by several hundred christian fugitives, to the Temple,
and shutting their gates, they again bade defiance to the advancing foe.

[Sidenote: GAUDINI. A. D. 1291.]

The surviving knights now assembled together in solemn chapter, and
appointed the Knight Templar Brother Gaudini Grand Master.[317] The Temple
at Acre was a place of great strength, and surrounded by walls and towers
of immense extent. It was divided into three quarters, the first and
principal of which contained the palace of the Grand Master, the church,
and the habitation of the knights; the second, called the Bourg of the
Temple, contained the cells of the serving brethren; and the third, called
the Cattle Market, was devoted to the officers charged with the duty of
procuring the necessary supplies for the order and its forces.

The following morning very favourable terms were offered to the Templars
by the victorious sultan, and they agreed to evacuate the Temple on
condition that a galley should be placed at their disposal, and that they
should be allowed to retire in safety with the christian fugitives under
their protection, and to carry away as much of their effects as each
person could load himself with. The Mussulman conqueror pledged himself to
the fulfilment of these conditions, and sent a standard to the Templars,
which was mounted on one of the towers of the Temple. A guard of three
hundred Moslem soldiers, charged to see the articles of capitulation
properly carried into effect, was afterwards admitted within the walls of
the convent. Some christian women of Acre, who had refused to quit their
fathers, brothers, and husbands, the brave defenders of the place, were
amongst the fugitives, and the Moslem soldiers, attracted by their beauty,
broke through all restraint, and violated the terms of the surrender. The
enraged Templars closed and barricadoed the gates of the Temple; they set
upon the treacherous infidels, and put every one of them, "from the
greatest to the smallest," to death.[318] Immediately after this massacre
the Moslem trumpets sounded to the assault, but the Templars successfully
defended themselves until the next day (the 20th.) The Marshall of the
order and several of the brethren were then deputed by Gaudini with a flag
of truce to the sultan, to explain the cause of the massacre of his guard.
The enraged monarch, however, had no sooner got them into his power than
he ordered every one of them to be decapitated, and pressed the siege with
renewed vigour. In the night, Gaudini, with a chosen band of his
companions, collected together the treasure of the order and the ornaments
of the church, and sallying out of a secret postern of the Temple which
communicated with the harbour, they got on board a small vessel, and
escaped in safety to the island of Cyprus.[319] The residue of the
Templars retired into the large tower of the Temple, called "The Tower of
the Master," which they defended with desperate energy. The bravest of the
Mamlooks were driven back in repeated assaults, and the little fortress
was everywhere surrounded with heaps of the slain. The sultan, at last,
despairing of taking the place by assault, ordered it to be undermined. As
the workmen advanced, they propped the foundations with beams of wood,
and when the excavation was completed, these wooden supports were consumed
by fire; the huge tower then fell with a tremendous crash, and buried the
brave Templars in its ruins. The sultan set fire to the town in four
places, and the last stronghold of the christian power in Palestine was
speedily reduced to a smoking solitude.[320] A few years back the ruins of
the christian city of Acre were well worthy of the attention of the
curious. You might still trace the remains of several churches; and the
quarter occupied by the Knights Templars continued to present many
interesting memorials of that proud and powerful order.




CHAPTER IX.

    The downfall of the Templars--The cause thereof--The Grand Master
    comes to Europe at the request of the Pope--He is imprisoned, with all
    the Templars in France, by command of king Philip--They are put to the
    torture, and confessions of the guilt of heresy and idolatry are
    extracted from them--Edward II. king of England stands up in defence
    of the Templars, but afterwards persecutes them at the instance of the
    Pope--The imprisonment of the Master of the Temple and all his
    brethren in England--Their examination upon eighty-seven horrible and
    ridiculous articles of accusation before foreign inquisitors appointed
    by the Pope--A council of the church assembles at London to pass
    sentence upon them--The curious evidence adduced as to the mode of
    admission into the order, and of the customs and observances of the
    fraternity.

    En cel an qu'ai dist or endroit,
    Et ne sait a tort ou a droit,
    Furent li Templiers, sans doutance,
    Tous pris par le royaume de France.
    Au mois d'Octobre, au point du jor,
    Et un vendredi fu le jor.
                                _Chron. MS._


[Sidenote: JAMES DE MOLAY. A. D. 1297.]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1302.]

It now only remains for us to describe the miserable fate of the surviving
brethren of the order of the Temple, and to tell of the ingratitude they
encountered from their fellow Christians in the West. Shortly after the
fall of Acre, a general chapter of the fraternity was called together, and
James de Molay, the Preceptor of England, was chosen Grand Master.[321]
He attempted once more (A. D. 1302) to plant the banners of the Temple
upon the sacred soil of Palestine, but was defeated by the sultan of Egypt
with the loss of a hundred and twenty of his brethren.[322] This
disastrous expedition was speedily followed by the downfall of the
fraternity. Many circumstances contributed to this memorable event.

With the loss of all the christian territory in Palestine had expired in
Christendom every serious hope and expectation of recovering and retaining
the Holy City. The services of the Templars were consequently no longer
required, and men began to regard with an eye of envy and of covetousness
their vast wealth and immense possessions. The privileges conceded to the
fraternity by the popes made the church their enemy. The great body of the
clergy regarded with jealousy and indignation their exemption from the
ordinary ecclesiastical jurisdiction. The bull _omne datum optimum_ was
considered a great inroad upon the rights of the church, and broke the
union which had originally subsisted between the Templars and the
ecclesiastics. Their exemption from tithe was a source of considerable
loss to the parsons, and the privilege they possessed of celebrating
divine service during interdict brought abundance of offerings and alms to
the priests and chaplains of the order, which the clergy looked upon as so
many robberies committed upon themselves. Disputes arose between the
fraternity and the bishops and priests, and the hostility of the latter to
the order was manifested in repeated acts of injustice, which drew forth
many severe bulls and indignant animadversions from the Roman pontiffs.
Pope Alexander, in a bull fulminated against the clergy, tells them that
if they would carefully reflect upon the contests which his beloved sons,
the brethren of the chivalry of the Temple, continually maintained in
Palestine for the defence of Christianity, and their kindness to the poor,
they would not only cease from annoying and injuring them, but would
strictly restrain others from so doing. He expresses himself to be grieved
and astonished to hear that many ecclesiastics had vexed them with
grievous injuries, had treated his apostolic letters with contempt, and
had refused to read them in their churches; that they had subtracted the
customary alms and oblations from the fraternity, and had admitted
aggressors against the property of the brethren to their familiar
friendship, insufferably endeavouring to press down and discourage those
whom they ought assiduously to uphold. From other bulls it appears that
the clergy interfered with the right enjoyed by the fraternity of
collecting alms; that they refused to bury the brethren of the order when
deceased without being paid for it, and arrogantly claimed a right to be
entertained with sumptuous hospitality in the houses of the Temple. For
these delinquencies, the bishops, archdeacons, priests, and the whole body
of the clergy, are threatened with severe measures by the Roman
pontiff.[323]

The Templars, moreover, towards the close of their career, became
unpopular with the European sovereigns and their nobles. The revenues of
the former were somewhat diminished through the immunities conceded to the
Templars by their predecessors, and the paternal estates of the latter had
been diminished by the grant of many thousand manors, lordships, and fair
estates to the order by their pious and enthusiastic ancestors.
Considerable dislike also began to be manifested to the annual
transmission of large sums of money, the revenues of the order, from the
European states to be expended in a distant warfare in which Christendom
now took comparatively no interest. Shortly after the fall of Acre, and
the total loss of Palestine, Edward the First, king of England, seized and
sequestered to his own use the monies which had been accumulated by the
Templars, to forward to their brethren in Cyprus, alleging that the
property of the order of the Temple had been granted to it by the kings of
England, his predecessors, and their subjects, for the defence of the Holy
Land, and that since the loss thereof, no better use could be made of the
money than by appropriating it to the maintenance of the poor. At the
earnest request of the pope, however, the king afterwards permitted their
revenues to be transmitted to them in the island of Cyprus in the usual
manner.[324] King Edward had previously manifested a strong desire to lay
hands on the property of the Templars. On his return from his victorious
campaign in Wales, finding himself unable to disburse the arrears of pay
due to his soldiers, he went with Sir Robert Waleran and some armed
followers to the Temple, and calling for the treasurer, he pretended that
he wanted to see his mother's jewels, which were there kept. Having been
admitted into the house, he deliberately broke open the coffers of the
Templars, and carried away ten thousand pounds with him to Windsor
Castle.[325] His son, Edward the Second, on his accession to the throne,
committed a similar act of injustice. He went with his favourite, Piers
Gavaston, to the Temple, and took away with him fifty thousand pounds of
silver, with a quantity of gold, jewels, and precious stones, belonging to
the bishop of Chester.[326] The impunity with which these acts of
violence were committed, manifests that the Templars then no longer
enjoyed the power and respect which they possessed in ancient times.

As the enthusiasm, too, in favour of the holy war diminished, large
numbers of the Templars remained at home in their western preceptories,
and took an active part in the politics of Europe. They interfered in the
quarrels of christian princes, and even drew their swords against their
fellow-Christians. Thus we find the members of the order taking part in
the war between the houses of Anjou and Aragon, and aiding the king of
England in his warfare against the king of Scotland. In the battle of
Falkirk, fought on the 22nd of July, A. D. 1298, seven years after the
fall of Acre, perished both the Master of the Temple at London, and his
vicegerent the Preceptor of Scotland.[327] All these circumstances,
together with the loss of the Holy Land, and the extinction of the
enthusiasm of the crusades, diminished the popularity of the Templars in
Europe.

At the period of the fall of Acre, Philip the Fair, son of St. Louis,
occupied the throne of France. He was a needy and avaricious monarch,[328]
and had at different periods resorted to the most violent expedients to
replenish his exhausted exchequer. On the death of Pope Benedict XI., (A.
D. 1304,) he succeeded, through the intrigues of the French Cardinal
Dupré, in raising the archbishop of Bourdeaux, a creature of his own, to
the pontifical chair. The new pope removed the Holy See from Rome to
France; he summoned all the cardinals to Lyons, and was there consecrated,
(A. D. 1305,) by the name of Clement V., in the presence of king Philip
and his nobles. Of the ten new cardinals then created _nine_ were
Frenchmen, and in all his acts the new pope manifested himself the
obedient slave of the French monarch. The character of this pontiff has
been painted by the Romish ecclesiastical historians in the darkest
colours: they represent him as wedded to pleasure, eaten up with ambition,
and greedy for money; they accuse him of indulging in a criminal intrigue
with the beautiful countess of Perigord, and of trafficking in holy
things.[329]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1306.]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1307.]

On the 6th of June, A. D. 1306, a few months after his coronation, this
new French pontiff addressed letters from Bourdeaux to the Grand Masters
of the Temple and Hospital, expressing his earnest desire to consult them
with regard to the measures necessary to be taken for the recovery of the
Holy Land. He tells them that they are the persons best qualified to give
advice upon the subject, and to conduct and manage the enterprize, both
from their great military experience and the interest they had in the
success of the expedition. "We order you," says he, "to come hither
without delay, with as much secrecy as possible, and with a _very little
retinue_, since you will find on this side the sea a sufficient number of
your knights to attend upon you."[330] The Grand Master of the Hospital
declined obeying this summons; but the Grand Master of the Temple
forthwith accepted it, and unhesitatingly placed himself in the power of
the pope and the king of France. He landed in France, attended by sixty of
his knights, at the commencement of the year 1307, and deposited the
treasure of the order which he had brought with him from Cyprus, in the
Temple at Paris. He was received with distinction by the king, and then
took his departure for Poictiers to have an interview with the pope. He
was there detained with various conferences and negotiations relative to a
pretended expedition for the recovery of the Holy Land.

Among other things, the pope proposed an union between the Templars and
Hospitallers, and the Grand Master handed in his objections to the
proposition. He says, that after the fall of Acre, the people of Italy and
of other christian nations clamoured loudly against Pope Nicholas, for
having afforded no succour to the besieged, and that he, by way of
screening himself, had laid all the blame of the loss of the place on
pretended dissensions between the Templars and Hospitallers, and projected
an union between them. The Grand Master declares that there had been no
dissensions between the orders prejudicial to the christian cause; that
there was nothing more than a spirit of rivalry and emulation, the
destruction of which would be highly injurious to the Christians, and
advantageous to the Saracens; for if the Hospitallers at any time
performed a brilliant feat of arms against the infidels, the Templars
would never rest quiet until they had done the same or better, and _e
converso_. So also if the Templars made a great shipment of brethren,
horses, and other beasts across sea to Palestine, the Hospitallers would
always do the like or more. He at the same time positively declares, that
a member of one order had never been known to raise his hand against a
member of the other.[331] The Grand Master complains that the reverence
and respect of the christian nations for both orders had undeservedly
diminished, that everything was changed, and that most persons were then
more ready to take from them than to give to them, and that many powerful
men, both clergy and laity, brought continual mischiefs upon the
fraternities.

In the mean time, the secret agents of the French king industriously
circulated various dark rumours and odious reports concerning the
Templars, and it was said that they would never have lost the Holy Land if
they had been good Christians. These rumours and accusations were soon put
into a tangible shape.

According to some writers, Squin de Florian, a citizen of Bezieres, who
had been condemned to death or perpetual imprisonment in one of the royal
castles for his iniquities, was brought before Philip, and received a free
pardon, and was well rewarded in return, for an accusation on oath,
charging the Templars with heresy, and with the commission of the most
horrible crimes. According to others, Nosso de Florentin, an apostate
Templar, who had been condemned by the Grand Preceptor and chapter of
France to perpetual imprisonment for impiety and crime, made in his
dungeon a voluntary confession of the sins and abominations charged
against the order.[332] Be this as it may, upon the strength of an
information sworn to by a condemned criminal, king Philip, on the 14th of
September, despatched secret orders to all the baillis of the different
provinces in France, couched in the following extravagant and absurd
terms:

"Philip, by the grace of God king of the French, to his beloved and
faithful knights ... &c. &c.

"A deplorable and most lamentable matter, full of bitterness and grief, a
monstrous business, a thing that one cannot think on without affright,
cannot hear without horror, transgressions unheard of, enormities and
atrocities contrary to every sentiment of humanity, &c. &c., have reached
our ears." After a long and most extraordinary tirade of this kind, Philip
accuses the Templars of insulting Jesus Christ, and making him suffer more
in those days than he had suffered formerly upon the cross; of renouncing
the christian religion; of mocking the sacred image of the Saviour; of
sacrificing to idols; and of abandoning themselves to impure practices and
unnatural crimes. He characterises them as ravishing wolves in sheep's
clothing; a perfidious, ungrateful, idolatrous society, whose words and
deeds were enough to pollute the earth and infect the air; to dry up the
sources of the celestial dews, and to put the whole church of Christ into
confusion.

"We being charged," says he, "with the maintenance of the faith; after
having conferred with the pope, the prelates, and the barons of the
kingdom, at the instance of the inquisitor, from the informations already
laid, from violent suspicions, from probable conjectures, from legitimate
presumptions, conceived against the enemies of heaven and earth; and
because the matter is important, and it is expedient to prove the just
like gold in the furnace by a rigorous examination, have decreed that the
members of the order who are our subjects shall be arrested and detained
to be judged by the church, and that all their real and personal property
shall be seized into our hands, and be faithfully preserved," &c. To these
orders are attached instructions requiring the baillis and seneschals
accurately to inform themselves, with great secrecy, and without exciting
suspicion, of the number of the houses of the Temple within their
respective jurisdictions; they are then to provide an armed force
sufficient to overcome all resistance, and on the 13th of October are to
surprise the Templars in their preceptories, and make them prisoners. The
inquisition is then directed to assemble to examine the guilty, and to
employ _torture_ if it be necessary. "Before proceeding with the inquiry,"
says Philip, "you are to inform them (the Templars) that the pope and
ourselves have been convinced, by irreproachable testimony, of the errors
and abominations which accompany their vows and profession; you are to
promise them pardon and favour if they _confess_ the truth, but if not,
you are to acquaint them that they will be condemned to death."[333]

As soon as Philip had issued these orders, he wrote to the principal
sovereigns of Europe, urging them to follow his example,[334] and sent a
confidential agent, named Bernard Peletin, with a letter to the young
king, Edward the Second, who had just then ascended the throne of England,
representing in frightful colours the pretended sins of the Templars. On
the 22nd of September, king Edward replied to this letter, observing that
he had considered of the matters mentioned therein, and had listened to
the statements of that discreet man, Master Bernard Peletin; that he had
caused the latter to unfold the charges before himself, and many prelates,
earls, and barons of his kingdom, and others of his council; but that they
appeared so astonishing as to be beyond belief; that such abominable and
execrable deeds had never before been heard of by the king and the
aforesaid prelates, earls, and barons, and it was therefore hardly to be
expected that an easy credence could be given to them. The English
monarch, however, informs king Philip that by the advice of his council he
had ordered the seneschal of Agen, from whose lips the rumours were said
to have proceeded, to be summoned to his presence, that through him he
might be further informed concerning the premises; and he states that at
the fitting time, after due inquiry, he will take such steps as will
redound to the praise of God, and the honour and preservation of the
catholic faith.[335]

On the night of the 13th of October, all the Templars in the French
dominions were simultaneously arrested. Monks were appointed to preach
against them in the public places of Paris, and in the gardens of the
Palais Royale; and advantage was taken of the folly, the superstition, and
the credulity of the age, to propagate the most horrible and extravagant
charges against the order. They were accused of worshipping an idol
covered with an old skin, embalmed, having the appearance of a piece of
polished oil-cloth. "In this idol," we are assured, "there were two
carbuncles for eyes, bright as the brightness of heaven, and it is certain
that all the hope of the Templars was placed in it; it was their sovereign
god, and they trusted in it with all their heart." They are accused of
burning the bodies of the deceased brethren, and making the ashes into a
powder, which they administered to the younger brethren in their food and
drink, to make them hold fast their faith and idolatry; of cooking and
roasting infants, and anointing their idols with the fat; of celebrating
hidden rites and mysteries, to which young and tender virgins were
introduced, and of a variety of abominations too absurd and horrible to be
named.[336] Guillaume Paradin, in his history of Savoy, seriously repeats
these monstrous accusations, and declares that the Templars had "un lieu
creux ou cave en terre, fort obscur, en laquelle ils avoient un image en
forme d'un homme, sur lequel ils avoient appliqué la peau d'un corps
humain, et mis deux clairs et luisans escarboucles au lieu des deux yeux.
A cette horrible statue etoient contraints de sacrifier ceux qui vouloient
etre de leur damnable religion, lesquels avant toutes ceremonies ils
contragnoient de renier Jesus Christ, et fouler la croix avec les pieds,
et apres ce maudit sacre auquel assistoient femmes et filles (seduites
pour etre de ce secte) ils estegnoient les lampes et lumieres qu'ils
avoient en cett cave.... Et s'il advenoit que d'un Templier et d'un
pucelle nasquit, un fils, ils se rangoit tous en un rond, et se jettoient
cet enfant de main en main, et ne cessoient de le jetter jusqu'a ce qu'il
fu mort entre leurs mains: etant mort ils se rotissoient (chose execrable)
et de la graisse ils en ognoient leur grand statue!"[337] The character of
the charges preferred against the Templars proves that their enemies had
no serious crimes to allege against the order. Their very virtues indeed
were turned against them, for we are told that "_to conceal the iniquity
of their lives_ they made much almsgiving, constantly frequented church,
comported themselves with edification, frequently partook of the holy
sacrament, and manifested always much modesty and gentleness of deportment
in the house, as well as in public."[338]

During twelve days of severe imprisonment, the Templars remained constant
in the denial of the horrible crimes imputed to the fraternity. The king's
promises of pardon extracted from them no confession of guilt, and they
were therefore handed over to the tender mercies of the brethren of St.
Dominic, who were the most refined and expert torturers of the day.

On the 19th of October, the grand inquisitor proceeded with his myrmidons
to the Temple at Paris, and a hundred and forty Templars were one after
another put to the torture. Days and weeks were consumed in the
examination, and thirty-six Templars perished in the hands of their
tormentors, maintaining with unshaken constancy to the very last the
entire innocence of their order. Many of them lost the use of their feet
from the application of the torture of fire, which was inflicted in the
following manner: their legs were fastened in an iron frame, and the soles
of their feet were greased over with fat or butter; they were then placed
before the fire, and a screen was drawn backwards and forwards, so as to
moderate and regulate the heat. Such was the agony produced by this
roasting operation, that the victims often went raving mad. Brother
Bernarde de Vado, on subsequently revoking a confession of guilt, wrung
from him by this description of torment, says to the commissary of police,
before whom he was brought to be examined, "They held me so long before a
fierce fire that the flesh was burnt off my heels, two pieces of bone came
away, which I present to you."[339] Another Templar, on publicly revoking
his confession, declared that four of his teeth were drawn out, and that
he confessed himself guilty to save the remainder.[340] Others of the
fraternity deposed to the infliction on them of the most revolting and
indecent torments;[341] and, in addition to all this, it appears that
forged letters from the Grand Master were shown to the prisoners,
exhorting them to confess themselves guilty. Many of the Templars were
accordingly compelled to acknowledge whatever was required of them, and to
plead guilty to the commission of crimes which in the previous
interrogatories they had positively denied.[342]

These violent proceedings excited the astonishment and amazement of
Europe.

On the 20th of November, the king of England summoned the seneschal of
Agen to his presence, and examined him concerning the truth of the
horrible charges preferred against the Templars; and on the 4th of
December the English monarch wrote letters to the kings of Portugal,
Castile, Aragon, and Sicily, to the following effect:

"To the magnificent prince the Lord Dionysius, by the grace of God the
illustrious king of Portugal, his very dear friend Edward, by the same
grace king of England, &c. Health and prosperity.

"It is fit and proper, inasmuch as it conduceth to the honour of God and
the exaltation of the faith, that we should prosecute with benevolence
those who come recommended to us by strenuous labours and incessant
exertions in defence of the Catholic faith, and for the destruction of the
enemies of the cross of Christ. Verily, a certain clerk, (Bernard
Peletin,) drawing nigh unto our presence, applied himself, with all his
might, to the destruction of the order of the brethren of the Temple of
Jerusalem. He dared to publish before us and our council certain horrible
and detestable enormities repugnant to the Catholic faith, to the
prejudice of the aforesaid brothers, endeavouring to persuade us, through
his own allegations, as well as through certain letters which he had
caused to be addressed to us for that purpose, that by reason of the
premises, and without a due examination of the matter, we ought to
imprison all the brethren of the aforesaid order abiding in our dominions.
But, considering that the order, which hath been renowned for its religion
and its honour, and in times long since passed away was instituted, as we
have learned, by the Catholic Fathers, exhibits, and hath from the period
of its first foundation exhibited, a becoming devotion to God and his holy
church, and also, up to this time, hath afforded succour and protection to
the Catholic faith in parts beyond sea, it appeared to us that a ready
belief in an accusation of this kind, hitherto altogether unheard of
against the fraternity, was scarcely to be expected. We affectionately
ask, and require of your royal majesty, that ye, with due diligence,
consider of the premises, and turn a deaf ear to the slanders of
ill-natured men, who are animated, as we believe, not with the zeal of
rectitude, but with a spirit of _cupidity_ and envy, permitting no injury
unadvisedly to be done to the persons or property of the brethren of the
aforesaid order, dwelling within your kingdom, until they have been
legally convicted of the crimes laid to their charge, or it shall happen
to be otherwise ordered concerning them in these parts."[343]

A few days after the transmission of this letter, king Edward wrote to the
pope, expressing his disbelief of the horrible and detestable rumours
spread abroad concerning the Templars. He represents them to his holiness
as universally respected by all men in his dominions for the purity of
their faith and morals. He expresses great sympathy for the affliction and
distress suffered by the master and brethren, by reason of the scandal
circulated concerning them; and he strongly urges the holy pontiff to
clear, by some fair course of inquiry, the character of the order from the
unjust and infamous aspersions cast against it.[344] On the 22nd of
November, however, a fortnight previously, the Pope had issued the
following bull to king Edward.

"Clement, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his very dear son in
Christ, Edward, the illustrious king of England, health and apostolical
blessing.

"Presiding, though unworthy, on the throne of pastoral pre-eminence, by
the disposition of him who disposeth all things, we fervently seek after
this one thing above all others; we with ardent wishes aspire to this,
that shaking off the sleep of negligence, whilst watching over the Lord's
flock, by removing that which is hurtful, and taking care of such things
as are profitable, we may be able, by the divine assistance, to bring
souls to God.

"In truth, a long time ago, about the period of our first promotion to the
summit of the apostolical dignity, there came to our ears a light rumour,
to the effect that the Templars, though fighting ostensibly under the
guise of religion, have hitherto been secretly living in perfidious
apostasy, and in detestable heretical depravity. But, considering that
their order, in times long since passed away, shone forth with the grace
of much nobility and honour, and that they were for a length of time held
in vast reverence by the faithful, and that we had then heard of no
suspicion concerning the premises, or of evil report against them; and
also, that from the beginning of their religion, they have publicly borne
the cross of Christ, exposing their bodies and goods against the enemies
of the faith, for the acquisition, retention, and defence of the Holy
Land, consecrated by the precious blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, we were unwilling to yield a ready belief to the accusation...."

The holy pontiff then states, that afterwards, however, the same dreadful
intelligence was conveyed to the king of France, who, animated by a lively
zeal in the cause of religion, took immediate steps to ascertain its
truth. He describes the various confessions of the guilt of idolatry and
heresy made by the Templars in France, and requires the king forthwith to
cause all the Templars in his dominions to be taken into custody on the
same day. He directs him to hold them, in the name of the pope, at the
disposition of the Holy See, and to commit all their real and personal
property to the hands of certain trustworthy persons, to be faithfully
preserved until the holy pontiff shall give further directions concerning
it.[345] King Edward received this bull immediately after he had
despatched his letter to the pope, exhorting his holiness not to give ear
to the accusation against the order. The young king was now either
convinced of the guilt of the Templars, on the high authority of the
sovereign pontiff, or hoped to turn the proceedings against them to a
profitable account, as he yielded a ready and prompt compliance with the
pontifical commands. An order in council was made for the arrest of the
Templars, and the seizure of their property. Inventories were directed to
be taken of their goods and chattels, and provision was made for the
sowing and tilling of their lands during the period of their
imprisonment.[346] This order in council was carried into effect in the
following manner:

On the 20th of December, the king's writs were directed to each of the
sheriffs throughout England, commanding them to make sure of certain
trustworthy men of their bailiwicks, to the number of ten or twelve in
each county, such as the king could best confide in, and have them at a
certain place in the county, on pain of forfeiture of everything that
could be forfeited to the king; and commanding the sheriffs, on pain of
the like forfeiture, to be in person at the same place, on the Sunday
before the feast of Epiphany, to do certain things touching the king's
peace, which the sheriff would find contained in the king's writ about to
be directed to him. And afterwards the king sent sworn clergymen with his
writs, containing the said order in council to the sheriffs, who, before
they opened them, were to take an oath that they would not disclose the
contents of such writs until they proceeded to execute them.[347] The same
orders, to be acted upon in a similar manner in Ireland, were sent to the
justiciary of that country, and to the treasurer of the Exchequer at
Dublin; also, to John de Richemund, guardian of Scotland; and to Walter de
Pederton, justiciary of West Wales; Hugh de Aldithelegh, justiciary of
North Wales; and to Robert de Holland, justiciary of Chester, who were
strictly commanded to carry the orders into execution before the king's
proceedings against the Templars in England were noised abroad. All the
king's faithful subjects were commanded to aid and assist the officers in
the fulfilment of their duty.[348]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1308.]

On the 26th of December the king wrote to the Pope, informing his holiness
that he would carry his commands into execution in the best and speediest
way that he could; and on the 8th of January, A. D. 1308, the Templars
were suddenly arrested in all parts of England, and their property was
seized into the king's hands.[349] Brother William de la More was at this
period Master of the Temple, or Preceptor of England. He succeeded the
Master Brian le Jay, who was slain, as before mentioned, in the battle of
Falkirk, and was taken prisoner, together with all his brethren of the
Temple at London, and committed to close custody in Canterbury Castle. He
was afterwards liberated on bail at the instance of the bishop of
Durham.[350]

On the 12th of August, the Pope addressed the bull _faciens misericordiam_
to the English bishops as follows:--"Clement, bishop, servant of the
servants of God, to the venerable brethren the archbishop of Canterbury
and his suffragans, health and apostolical benediction. The Son of God,
the Lord Jesus Christ, _using mercy_ with his servant, would have us taken
up into the eminent mirror of the apostleship, to this end, that being,
though unworthy, his vicar upon earth, we may, as far as human frailty
will permit in all our actions and proceedings, follow his footsteps." He
describes the rumours which had been spread abroad in France against the
Templars, and his unwillingness to believe them, "because it was not
likely, nor did seem credible, that such religious men, who particularly
often shed their blood for the name of Christ, and were thought very
frequently to expose their persons to danger of death for his sake; and
who often showed many and great signs of devotion, as well in the divine
offices as in fasting and other observances, should be so unmindful of
their salvation as to perpetrate such things; we were unwilling to give
ear to the insinuations and impeachments against them, being taught so to
do by the example of the same Lord of ours, and the writings of canonical
doctrine. But afterwards, our most dear son in Christ, Philip, the
illustrious king of the French, to whom the same crimes had been made
known, _not from motives of avarice_, (since he does not design to apply
or to appropriate to himself any portion of the estates of the Templars,
nay, has washed his hands of them!) but inflamed with zeal for the
orthodox faith, following the renowned footsteps of his ancestors, getting
what information he properly could upon the premises, gave us much
instruction in the matter by his messengers and letters." The holy pontiff
then gives a long account of the various confessions made in France, and
of the absolution granted to such of the Templars as were truly contrite
and penitent; he expresses his conviction of the guilt of the order, and
makes provision for the trial of the fraternity in England.[351] King
Edward, in the mean time, had begun to make free with their property, and
the Pope, on the 4th of October, wrote to him to the following effect:

"Your conduct begins again to afford us no slight cause of affliction,
inasmuch as it hath been brought to our knowledge from the report of
several barons, that in contempt of the Holy See, and without fear of
offending the divine Majesty, you have, of your own sole authority,
distributed to different persons the property which belonged formerly to
the order of the Temple in your dominions, which you had got into your
hands at our command, and which ought to have remained at our
disposition.... We have therefore ordained that certain fit and proper
persons shall be sent into your kingdom, and to all parts of the world
where the Templars are known to have had property, to take possession of
the same conjointly with certain prelates specially deputed to that end,
and to make an inquisition concerning the execrable excesses which the
members of the order are said to have committed."[352]

To this letter of the supreme pontiff, king Edward sent the following
short and pithy reply:

"As to the goods of the Templars, we have done nothing with them up to the
present time, nor do we intend to do with them aught but what we have a
right to do, and what we know will be acceptable to the Most High."[353]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1309.]

On the 13th of September, A. D. 1309, the king granted letters of safe
conduct "to those discreet men, the abbot of Lagny, in the diocese of
Paris, and Master Sicard de Vaur, canon of Narbonne," the inquisitors
appointed by the Pope to examine the Grand Preceptor and brethren of the
Temple in England;[354] and the same day he wrote to the archbishop of
Canterbury, and the bishops of London and Lincoln, enjoining them to be
personally present with the papal inquisitors, at their respective sees,
as often as such inquisitors, or any one of them, should proceed with
their inquiries against the Templars.[355]

On the 14th of September writs were sent, in pursuance of an order in
council, to the sheriffs of Kent and seventeen other counties, commanding
them to bring all their prisoners of the order of the Temple to London,
and deliver them to the constable of the Tower; also to the sheriffs of
Northumberland and eight other counties, enjoining them to convey their
prisoners to York Castle; and to the sheriffs of Warwick and seven other
counties, requiring them, in like manner, to conduct their prisoners to
the Castle of Lincoln.[356] Writs were also sent to John de Cumberland,
constable of the Tower, and to the constables of the castles of York and
Lincoln, commanding them to receive the Templars, to keep them in safe
custody, and hold them at the disposition of the inquisitors.[357] The
total number of Templars in custody was two hundred and twenty-nine. Many,
however, were still at large, having successfully evaded capture by
obliterating all marks of their previous profession, and some had escaped
in disguise to the wild and mountainous parts of Wales, Scotland, and
Ireland. Among the prisoners confined in the Tower were brother William de
la More, Knight, Grand Preceptor of England, otherwise Master of the
Temple; Brother Himbert Blanke, Knight, Grand Preceptor of Auvergne, one
of the veteran warriors who had fought to the last in defence of
Palestine, had escaped the slaughter at Acre, and had accompanied the
Grand Master from Cyprus to France, from whence he crossed over to
England, and was rewarded for his meritorious and memorable services, in
defence of the christian faith, with a dungeon in the Tower.[358] Brother
_Radulph de Barton_, priest of the order of the Temple, custos or guardian
of the Temple church, and prior of London; Brother _Michael de
Baskeville_, Knight, Preceptor of London; Brother _John de Stoke_, Knight,
Treasurer of the Temple at London; together with many other knights and
serving brethren of the same house. There were also in custody in the
Tower the knights preceptors of the preceptories of Ewell in Kent, of
Daney and Dokesworth in Cambridgeshire, of Getinges in Gloucestershire, of
Cumbe in Somersetshire, of Schepeley in Surrey, of Samford and Bistelesham
in Oxfordshire, of Garwy in Herefordshire, of Cressing in Essex, of
Pafflet, Hippleden, and other preceptories, together with several priests
and chaplains of the order.[359] A general scramble appears to have taken
place for possession of the goods and chattels of the imprisoned
Templars; and the king, to check the robberies that were committed,
appointed Alan de Goldyngham and John de Medefeld to inquire into the
value of the property that had been carried off, and to inform him of the
names of the parties who had obtained possession of it. The sheriffs of
the different counties were also directed to summon juries, through whom
the truth might be better obtained.[360]

On the 22nd of September, the archbishop of Canterbury transmitted letters
apostolic to all his suffragans, enclosing copies of the bull _faciens
misericordiam_, and also the articles of accusation to be exhibited
against the Templars, which they are directed to copy and deliver again,
under their seals, to the bearer, taking especial care not to reveal the
contents thereof.[361] At the same time the archbishop, acting in
obedience to the papal commands, before a single witness had been examined
in England, caused to be published in all churches and chapels a papal
bull, wherein the Pope declares himself perfectly convinced of the guilt
of the order, and solemnly denounces the penalty of excommunication
against all persons, of whatever rank, station, or condition in life,
whether clergy or laity, who should knowingly afford, either publicly or
privately, assistance, counsel, or kindness to the Templars, or should
dare to shelter them, or give them countenance or protection, and also
laying under interdict all cities, castles, lands, and places, which
should harbour any of the members of the proscribed order.[362] At the
commencement of the month of October, the inquisitors arrived in England,
and immediately published the bull appointing the commission, enjoining
the citation of the criminals, and of witnesses, and denouncing the
heaviest ecclesiastical censures against the disobedient, and against
every person who should dare to impede the inquisitors in the exercise of
their functions. Citations were made in St. Paul's Cathedral, and in all
the churches of the ecclesiastical province of Canterbury, at the end of
high mass, requiring the Templars to appear before the inquisitors at a
certain time and place, and the articles of accusation were transmitted to
the constable of the Tower, in Latin, French, and English, to be read to
all the Templars imprisoned in that fortress. On Monday, the 20th of
October, after the Templars had been languishing in the English prisons
for more than a year and eight months, the tribunal constituted by the
Pope to take the inquisition in the province of Canterbury assembled in
the episcopal hall of London. It was composed of the bishop of London,
Dieudonné, abbot of the monastery of Lagny, in the diocese of Paris, and
Sicard de Vaur, canon of Narbonne, the Pope's chaplain, and hearer of
causes in the pontifical palace. They were assisted by several foreign
notaries. After the reading of the papal bulls, and some preliminary
proceedings, the monstrous and ridiculous articles of accusation, a
monument of human folly, superstition, and credulity, were solemnly
exhibited as follows:

"_Item._ At the place, day, and hour aforesaid, in the presence of the
aforesaid lords, and before us the above-mentioned notaries, the articles
inclosed in the apostolic bull were exhibited and opened before us, the
contents whereof are as underwritten.

"These are the articles upon which inquisition shall be made against the
brethren of the military order of the Temple, &c.

"1. That at their first reception into the order, or at some time
afterwards, or as soon as an opportunity occurred, they were induced or
admonished by those who had received them within the bosom of the
fraternity, to deny Christ or Jesus, or the crucifixion, or at one time
God, and at another time the blessed virgin, and sometimes all the saints.

"2. That the brothers jointly did this.

"3. That the greater part of them did it.

"4. That they did it sometimes after their reception.

"5. That the receivers told and instructed those that were received, that
Christ was not the true God, or sometimes Jesus, or sometimes the person
crucified.

"6. That they told those they received that he was a false prophet.

"7. That they said he had not suffered for the redemption of mankind, nor
been crucified but for his own sins.

"8. That neither the receiver nor the person received had any hope of
obtaining salvation through him, and this they said to those they
received, or something equivalent, or like it.

"9. That they made those they received into the order spit upon the cross,
or upon the sign or figure of the cross, or the image of Christ, though
they that were received did sometimes spit aside.

"10. That they caused the cross itself to be trampled under foot.

"11. That the brethren themselves did sometimes trample on the same cross.

"12. Item quod mingebant interdum, et alios mingere faciebant, super ipsam
crucem, et hoc fecerunt aliquotiens in die veneris sanctâ!!

"13. Item quod nonnulli eorum ipsâ die, vel alia septimanæ sanctæ pro
conculcatione et minctione prædictis consueverunt convenire!

"14. That they worshipped a cat which was placed in the midst of the
congregation.

"15. That they did these things in contempt of Christ and the orthodox
faith.

"16. That they did not believe the sacrament of the altar.

"17. That some of them did not.

"18. That the greater part did not.

"19. That they believed not the other sacraments of the church.

"20. That the priests of the order did not utter the words by which the
body of Christ is consecrated in the canon of the mass.

"21. That some of them did not.

"22. That the greater part did not.

"23. That those who received them enjoined the same.

"24. That they believed, and so it was told them, that the Grand Master of
the order could absolve them from their sins.

"25. That the visitor could do so.

"26. That the preceptors, of whom many were laymen, could do it.

"27. That they in fact did do so.

"28. That some of them did.

"29. That the Grand Master confessed these things of himself, even before
he was taken, in the presence of great persons.

"30. That in receiving brothers into the order, or when about to receive
them, or some time after having received them, the receivers and the
persons received kissed one another on the mouth, the navel...!!

       *       *       *       *       *

"36. That the receptions of the brethren were made clandestinely.

"37. That none were present but the brothers of the said order.

"38. That for this reason there has for a long time been a vehement
suspicion against them."

The succeeding articles proceed to charge the Templars with crimes and
abominations too horrible and disgusting to be named.

"46. That the brothers themselves had idols in every province, viz. heads;
some of which had three faces, and some one, and some a man's skull.

"47. That they adored that idol, or those idols, especially in their great
chapters and assemblies.

"48. That they worshipped it.

"49. As their God.

"50. As their Saviour.

"51. That some of them did so.

"52. That the greater part did.

"53. That they said that that head could save them.

"54. That it could produce riches.

"55. That it had given to the order all its wealth.

"56. That it caused the earth to bring forth seed.

"57. That it made the trees to flourish.

"58. That they bound or touched the head of the said idols with cords,
wherewith they bound themselves about their shirts, or next their skins.

"59. That at their reception the aforesaid little cords, or others of the
same length, were delivered to each of the brothers.

"60. That they did this in worship of their idol.

"61. That it was enjoined them to gird themselves with the said little
cords, as before mentioned, and continually to wear them.

"62. That the brethren of the order were generally received in that
manner.

"63. That they did these things out of devotion.

"64. That they did them everywhere.

"65. That the greater part did.

"66. That those who refused the things above mentioned at their reception,
or to observe them afterwards, were killed or cast into prison."[363]

       *       *       *       *       *

The remaining articles, twenty-one in number, are directed principally to
the mode of confession practised amongst the fraternity, and to matters of
heretical depravity. Such an accusation as this, justly remarks Voltaire,
_destroys itself_.

Brother William de la More, and thirty more of his brethren, being
interrogated before the inquisitors, positively denied the guilt of the
order, and affirmed that the Templars who had made the confessions alluded
to in France _had lied_. They were ordered to be brought up separately to
be examined.

On the 23rd of October, brother William Raven, being interrogated as to
the mode of his reception into the order, states that he was admitted by
brother William de la More, the Master of the Temple at Temple Coumbe, in
the diocese of Bath; that he petitioned the brethren of the Temple that
they would be pleased to receive him into the order to serve God and the
blessed Virgin Mary, and to end his life in their service; that he was
asked if he had a firm wish so to do; and replied that he had; that two
brothers then expounded to him the strictness and severity of the order,
and told him that he would not be allowed to act after his own will, but
must follow the will of the preceptor; that if he wished to do one thing,
he would be ordered to do another; and that if he wished to be at one
place, he would be sent to another; that having promised so to act, he
swore upon the holy gospels of God to obey the Master, to hold no
property, to preserve chastity, never to consent that any man should be
unjustly despoiled of his heritage, and never to lay violent hands on any
man, except in self-defence, or upon the Saracens. He states that the oath
was administered to him in the chapel of the preceptory of Temple Coumbe,
in the presence only of the brethren of the order; that the rule was read
over to him by one of the brothers, and that a learned serving brother,
named John de Walpole, instructed him, for the space of one month, upon
the matters contained in it. The prisoner was then taken back to the
Tower, and was directed to be strictly separated from his brethren, and
not to be suffered to speak to any one of them.

The two next days (Oct. 24 and 25) were taken up with a similar
examination of Brothers Hugh de Tadecastre and Thomas le Chamberleyn, who
gave precisely the same account of their reception as the previous
witness. Brother Hugh de Tadecastre added, that he swore to succour the
Holy Land with all his might, and defend it against the enemies of the
christian faith; and that after he had taken the customary oaths and the
three vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, the mantle of the order
and the cross with the coif on the head were delivered to him in the
church, in the presence of the Master, the knights, and the brothers, all
seculars being excluded. Brother Thomas le Chamberleyn added, that there
was the same mode of reception in England as beyond sea, and the same mode
of taking the vows; that all seculars are excluded, and that when he
himself entered the Temple church to be professed, the door by which he
entered was closed after him; that there was another door looking into
the cemetery, but that no stranger could enter that way. On being asked
why none but the brethren of the order were permitted to be present at the
reception and profession of brothers, he said he knew of no reason, but
that it was so written in their book of rules.

Between the 25th of October and the 17th of November, thirty-three
knights, chaplains, and serving brothers, were examined, all of whom
positively denied every article imputing crime or infidelity to their
order. When Brother Himbert Blanke was asked why they had made the
reception and profession of brethren _secret_, he replied, _Through their
own unaccountable folly_. They avowed that they wore little cords round
their shirts, but for no bad end; they declared that they never touched
idols with them, but that they were worn by way of penance, or according
to a knight of forty-three years' standing, by the instruction of the holy
father St. Bernard. Brother Richard de Goldyngham says that he knows
nothing further about them than that they were called _girdles of
chastity_. They state that the receivers and the party received kissed one
another on the face, but everything else regarding the kissing was false,
abominable, and had never been done.

Brother Radulph de Barton, priest of the order of the Temple, and custos
or guardian of the Temple church at London, stated, with regard to Article
24, that the Grand Master in chapter could absolve the brothers from
offences committed against the rules and observances of the order, but not
from private sin, as he was not a priest; that it was perfectly true that
those who were received into the order swore not to reveal the secrets of
the chapter, and that when any one was punished in the chapter, those who
were present at it durst not reveal it to such as were absent; but if any
brother revealed the mode of his reception, he would be deprived of his
chamber, or else stripped of his habit. He declares that the brethren
were not prohibited from confessing to priests not belonging to the order
of the Temple; and that he had never heard of the crimes and iniquities
mentioned in the articles of inquiry previous to his arrest, except as
regarded the charges made against the order by Bernard Peletin, when he
came to England from king Philip of France. He states that he had been
guardian of the Temple church for ten years, and for the last two years
had enjoyed the dignity of preceptor at the same place. He was asked about
the death of Brother Walter le Bachelor, knight, formerly Preceptor of
Ireland, who died at the Temple at London, but he declares that he knows
nothing about it, except that the said Walter was fettered and placed in
prison, and there died; that he certainly had heard that great severity
had been practised towards him, but that he had not meddled with the
affair on account of the danger of so doing; he admitted also that the
aforesaid Walter was not buried in the cemetery of the Temple, as he was
considered excommunicated on account of his disobedience of his superior,
and of the rule of the order.

Many of the brethren thus examined had been from twenty to thirty, forty,
forty-two, and forty-three years in the order, and some were old veteran
warriors who had fought for many a long year in the East, and richly
merited a better fate. Brother Himbert Blanke, knight, Preceptor of
Auvergne, had been in the order thirty-eight years. He was received at the
city of Tyre in Palestine, had been engaged in constant warfare against
the infidels, and had fought to the last in defence of Acre. He makes in
substance the same statements as the other witnesses; declares that no
religious order believes the sacrament of the altar better than the
Templars; that they truly believed all that the church taught, and had
always done so, and that if the Grand Master had confessed the contrary,
_he had lied_.

Brother Robert le Scott, knight, a brother of twenty-six years' standing,
had been received at the Pilgrim's Castle, the famous fortress of the
Knights Templars in Palestine, by the Grand Master, Brother William de
Beaujeu, the hero who died so gloriously at the head of his knights at the
last siege and storming of Acre. He states that from levity of disposition
he quitted the order after it had been driven out of Palestine, and
absented himself for two years, during which period he came to Rome, and
confessed to the Pope's penitentiary, who imposed on him a heavy penance,
and enjoined him to return to his brethren in the East, and that he went
back and resumed his habit at Nicosia in the island of Cyprus, and was
re-admitted to the order by command of the Grand Master, James de Molay,
who was then at the head of the convent. He adds, also, that Brother
Himbert Blanke (the previous witness) was present at his first reception
at the Pilgrim's Castle. He fully corroborates all the foregoing
testimony.

Brother Richard de Peitevyn, a member of forty-two years' standing,
deposes that, in addition to the previous oaths, he swore that he would
never bear arms against Christians except in his own defence, or in
defence of the rights of the order; he declares that the enormities
mentioned in the articles were never heard of before Bernard Peletin
brought letters to his lord, the king of England, against the Templars.

On the 22nd day of the inquiry, the following entry was made on the record
of the proceedings:--

"Memorandum. Brothers Philip de Mewes, Thomas de Burton, and Thomas de
Staundon, were advised and earnestly exhorted to abandon their religious
profession, who severally replied that _they would rather die_ than do
so."[364]

On the 19th and 20th of November, seven lay witnesses, unconnected with
the order, were examined before the inquisitors in the chapel of the
monastery of the Holy Trinity, but could prove nothing against the
Templars that was criminal or tainted with heresy.

Master William le Dorturer, notary public, declared that the Templars rose
at midnight, and held their chapters before dawn, and he _thought_ that
the mystery and secrecy of the receptions were owing to a bad rather than
a good motive, but declared that he had never observed that they had
acquired, or had attempted to acquire, anything unjustly. Master Gilbert
de Bruere, clerk, said that he had never suspected them of anything worse
than an _excessive correction_ of the brethren. William Lambert, formerly
a "messenger of the Temple," (nuntius Templi,) knew nothing bad of the
Templars, and thought them perfectly innocent of all the matters alluded
to. And Richard de Barton, priest, and Radulph de Rayndon, an old man,
both declared that they knew nothing of the order, or of the members of
it, but what was good and honourable.

On the 25th of November, a provincial council of the church, summoned by
the archbishop of Canterbury, in obedience to a papal bull, assembled in
the cathedral church of St. Paul. It was composed of the bishops, abbots,
priors, heads of colleges, and all the principal clergy, who were called
together to treat of the reformation of the English church, of the
recovery and preservation of the Holy Land, and to pronounce sentence of
absolution or of condemnation against singular persons of the order of the
chivalry of the Temple in the province of Canterbury, according to the
tenor of the apostolical mandate. The council was opened by the archbishop
of Canterbury, who rode to St. Paul's on horseback. The bishop of Norwich
celebrated the mass of the Holy Ghost at the great altar, and the
archbishop preached a sermon in Latin upon the 20th chapter of the Acts of
the Apostles; after which a papal bull was read, in which the holy
pontiff dwells most pathetically upon the awful sins of the Templars, and
their great and tremendous fall from their previous high estate. Hitherto,
says he, they have been renowned throughout the world as the special
champions of the faith, and the chief defenders of the Holy Land, whose
affairs have been mainly regulated by those brothers. The church,
following them and their order with the plenitude of its especial favour
and regard, armed them with the emblem of the cross against the enemies of
Christ, exalted them with much honour, enriched them with wealth, and
fortified them with various liberties and privileges. The holy pontiff
displays the sad report of their sins and iniquities which reached his
ears, filled him with bitterness and grief, disturbed his repose, smote
him with horror, injured his health, and caused his body to waste away! He
gives a long account of the crimes imputed to the order, of the
confessions and depositions that had been made in France, and then bursts
out into a paroxysm of grief, declares that the melancholy affair deeply
moved all the faithful, that all Christianity was shedding bitter tears,
was overwhelmed with grief, and clothed with mourning. He concludes by
decreeing the assembly of a general council of the church at Vienne to
pronounce the abolition of the order, and to determine on the disposal of
its property, to which council the English clergy are required to send
representatives.[365]

After the reading of the bulls and the closing of the preliminary
proceedings, the council occupied themselves for six days with
ecclesiastical matters; and on the seventh day, being Tuesday, Dec. 2nd,
all the bishops and members assembled in the chamber of the archbishop of
Canterbury in Lambeth palace, in company with the papal inquisitors, who
displayed before them the depositions and replies of the forty-three
Templars, and of the seven witnesses previously examined. It was decreed
that a copy of these depositions and replies should be furnished to each
of the bishops, and that the council should stand adjourned until the next
day, to give time for deliberation upon the premises.

On the following day, accordingly, (Wednesday, December the 3rd,) the
council met, and decided that the inquisitors and three bishops should
seek an audience of the king, and beseech him to permit them to proceed
against the Templars in the way that should seem to them the best and most
expedient for the purpose of eliciting the truth. On Sunday, the 7th, the
bishops petitioned his majesty in writing, and on the following Tuesday
they went before him with the inquisitors, and besought him that they
might proceed against the Templars according to the ecclesiastical
constitutions, and that he would instruct his sheriffs and officers to
that effect. The king gave a written answer complying with their request,
which was read before the council,[366] and, on the 16th of December,
orders were sent to the gaolers, commanding them to permit the prelates
and inquisitors to do with the bodies of the Templars that which should
seem expedient to them according to ecclesiastical law. Many Templars were
at this period wandering about the country disguised as secular persons,
successfully evading pursuit, and the sheriffs were strictly commanded to
use every exertion to capture them.[367] On Wednesday, the ecclesiastical
council again met, and adjourned for the purpose of enabling the
inquisitors to examine the prisoners confined in the castles of Lincoln
and of York.

In Scotland, in the mean time, similar proceedings had been instituted
against the order.[368] On the 17th of November, Brother Walter de Clifton
being examined in the parish church of the Holy Cross at Edinburgh, before
the bishop of St. Andrews and John de Solerio, the pope's chaplain, states
that the brethren of the order of the Temple in the kingdom of Scotland
received their orders, rules, and observances from the Master of the
Temple in England, and that the Master in England received the rules and
observances of the order from the Grand Master and the chief convent in
the East; that the Grand Master or his deputy was in the habit of visiting
the order in England and elsewhere; of summoning chapters, and making
regulations for the conduct of the brethren and the administration of
their property. Being asked as to the mode of his reception, he states
that when William de la More, the Master, held his chapter at the
preceptory of Temple Bruere in the county of Lincoln, he sought of the
assembled brethren the habit and the fellowship of the order; that they
told him that he little knew what it was he asked, in seeking to be
admitted to their fellowship; that it would be a very hard matter for him,
who was then his own master, to become the servant of another, and to have
no will of his own; but notwithstanding their representations of the
rigour of their rules and observances, he still continued earnestly to
seek their habit and fellowship. He states that they then led him to the
chamber of the Master, where they held their chapter, and that there, on
his bended knees, and with his hands clasped, he again prayed for the
habit and the fellowship of the Temple; that the Master and the brethren
then required him to answer questions to the following effect:--Whether he
had a dispute with any man, or owed any debts? whether he was betrothed to
any woman? and whether he had any secret infirmity of body? or knew of
anything to prevent him from remaining within the bosom of the fraternity?
And having answered all those questions satisfactorily, the Master then
asked of the surrounding brethren, "Do ye give your consent to the
reception of brother Walter?" who unanimously answered that they did; and
the Master and the brethren then standing up, received him the said Walter
in this manner. On his bended knees, and with his hands joined, he
solemnly promised that he would be the perpetual servant of the Master,
and of the order, and of the brethren, for the purpose of defending the
Holy Land. Having done this, the Master took out of the hands of a brother
chaplain of the order the book of the holy gospels, upon which was
depicted a cross, and laying his hands upon the book and upon the cross,
he swore to God and the blessed Virgin Mary to be for ever thereafter
chaste, obedient, and to live without property. And then the Master gave
to him the white mantle, and placed the coif on his head, and admitted him
to the kiss on the mouth, after which he made him sit down on the ground,
and admonished him to the following effect: that from thenceforth he was
to sleep in his shirt, drawers, and stockings, girded with a small cord
over his shirt; that he was never to tarry in a house where there was a
woman in the family way; never to be present at a marriage, nor at the
purification of women; and likewise instructed and informed him upon
several other particulars. Being asked where he had passed his time since
his reception, he replied that he had dwelt three years at the preceptory
of Blancradok in Scotland; three years at Temple Newsom in England; one
year at the Temple at London, and three years at Aslakeby. Being asked
concerning the other brothers in Scotland, he stated that John de Hueflete
was Preceptor of Blancradok, the chief house of the order in that country,
and that he and the other brethren, having heard of the arrest of the
Templars, threw off their habits and fled, and that he had not since heard
aught concerning them.

_Brother William de Middleton_, being examined, gave the same account of
his reception, and added that he remembered that brother William de la
More, the Master in England, went, in obedience to a summons, to the Grand
Master beyond sea, as the superior of the whole order, and that in his
absence Brother Hugh de Peraut, the visitor, removed several preceptors
from their preceptories in England, and put others in their places. He
further states, that he swore he would never receive any service at the
hands of a woman, not even water to wash his hands with.

After the examination of the above two Templars, forty-one witnesses,
chiefly abbots, priors, monks, priests, and serving men, and retainers of
the order in Scotland, were examined upon various interrogatories, but
nothing of a criminatory nature was elicited. The monks observed that the
receptions of other orders were public, and were celebrated as great
religious solemnities, and the friends, parents, and neighbours of the
party about to take the vows were invited to attend; that the Templars, on
the other hand, shrouded their proceedings in mystery and secrecy, and
therefore they _suspected_ the worst. The priests thought them guilty,
because they were always _against the church_! Others condemned them
because (as they say) the Templars closed their doors against the poor and
the humble, and extended hospitality only to the rich and the powerful.
The abbot of the monastery of the Holy Cross at Edinburgh declared that
they appropriated to themselves the property of their neighbours, right or
wrong. The abbot of Dumferlyn knew nothing of his own knowledge against
them, but had _heard_ much, and _suspected_ more. The serving men and the
tillers of the lands of the order stated that the chapters were held
sometimes by night and sometimes by day, with extraordinary secrecy; and
some of the witnesses had heard old men say that the Templars would _never
have lost the Holy Land, if they had been good Christians_![369]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1310.]

On the 9th of January, A. D. 1310, the examination of witnesses was
resumed at London, in the parish church of St. Dunstan's West, near the
Temple. The rector of the church of St. Mary de la Strode declared that he
had strong _suspicions_ of the guilt of the Templars; he had, however,
often been at the Temple church, and had observed that the priests
performed divine service there just the same as elsewhere. William de
Cumbrook, of St. Clement's church, near the Temple, the vicar of St.
Martin's-in-the-Fields, and many other priests and clergymen of different
churches in London, all declared that they had nothing to allege against
the order.[370]

On the 27th of January, Brother John de Stoke, a serving brother of the
order of the Temple, of seventeen years' standing, being examined by the
inquisitors in the chapel of the Blessed Mary of Berkyngecherche at
London, states, amongst other things, that secular persons were allowed to
be present at the burial of Templars; that the brethren of the order all
received the sacraments of the church at their last hour, and were
attended to the grave by a chaplain of the Temple. Being interrogated
concerning the death and burial of the Knight Templar Brother Walter le
Bachelor, he deposes that the said knight was buried like any other
Christian, except that he was not buried in the burying-ground, but in the
court, of the house of the Temple at London; that he confessed to Brother
Richard de Grafton, a priest of the order, then in the island of Cyprus,
and partook, as he believed, of the sacrament. He states that he himself
and Brother Radulph de Barton carried him to his grave at the dawn of day,
and that the deceased knight was in prison, as he believes, for the space
of eight weeks; that he was not buried in the habit of his order, and was
interred without the cemetery of the brethren, because he was considered
to be excommunicated, in pursuance, as he believed, of a rule or statute
among the Templars, to the effect that every one who privily made away
with the property of the order, and did not acknowledge his fault, was
deemed excommunicated. Being asked in what respect he considered that his
order required reformation, he replied, "By the establishment of a
probation of one year, and by making the receptions public."

Two other Templars were examined on the same 27th day of January, from
whose depositions it appears that there were at that time many brethren of
the order, natives of England, in the island of Cyprus.

On the 29th of January, the inquisitors exhibited twenty-four fresh
articles against the prisoners, drawn up in an artful manner. They were
asked if they knew anything of the crimes mentioned in the papal bulls,
and _confessed_ by the Grand Master, the heads of the order, and many
knights in France; and whether they knew of anything sinful or
dishonourable against the Master of the Temple in England, or the
preceptors, or any of the brethren. They were then required to say whether
the same rules, customs, and observances did not prevail throughout the
entire order; whether the Grand Preceptors, and especially the Grand
Preceptor of England, did not receive all the observances and regulations
from the Grand Master; and whether the Grand Preceptors and all the
brethren of the order in England did not observe them in the same mode as
the Grand Master, and visitors, and the brethren in Cyprus and in Italy,
and in the other kingdoms, provinces, and preceptories of the order;
whether the observances and regulations were not commonly delivered by the
visitors to the Grand Preceptor of England; and whether the brothers
received in England or elsewhere had not of their own free will confessed
what these observances were. They were, moreover, required to state
whether a bell was rung, or other signal given, to notify the time of the
assembling of the chapter; whether all the brethren, without exception,
were summoned and in the habit of attending; whether the Grand Master
could relax penances imposed by the regular clergy; whether they believed
that the Grand Preceptor or visitor could absolve a layman who had been
excommunicated for laying hands on a brother or lay servant of the order;
and whether they believed that any brother of the order could absolve from
the sin of perjury a lay servant, when he came to receive the discipline
in the Temple-hall, and the serving brother scourged him in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, &c. &c.

Between the 29th of January and the 6th of February, thirty-four Templars,
many of whom appeared for the first time before the inquisitors, were
examined upon these articles in the churches of St. Botolph without
Aldgate, St. Alphage near Cripplegate, and St. Martin de Ludgate, London.
They deny everything of a criminatory nature, and declare that the
abominations mentioned in the confessions and depositions made in France
were not observances of the order; that the Grand Master, Preceptors,
visitors, and brethren in France had never observed such things, and if
they said they had, _they lied_. They declare that the Grand Preceptor and
brethren in England were all good men, worthy of faith, and would not
deviate from the truth by reason of hatred of any man, for favour, reward,
or any other cause; that there had been no suspicion in England against
them, and no evil reports current against the order before the publication
of the papal bull, and they did not think that any _good man_ would
believe the contents of the articles to be true. From the statements of
the prisoners, it appears that the bell of the Temple was rung to notify
the assembling of the chapter, that the discipline was administered in the
hall, in the presence of the assembled brethren, by the Master, who
punished the delinquent on the bare back with a scourge made of leathern
thongs, after which he himself absolved the offender from the guilt of a
transgression against the rule of the order; but if he had been guilty of
immoral conduct, he was sent to the priest for absolution. It appears
also, that Brother James de Molay, before his elevation to the office of
Grand Master, was visitor of the order in England, and had held chapters
or assemblies of the brethren, at which he had enforced certain rules and
regulations; that all the orders came from the Grand Master and chief
convent in the East to the Grand Preceptor of England, who caused them to
be published at the different preceptories.[371]

On the 1st of March, the king sent orders to the constable of the Tower,
and to the sheriffs of Lincoln and of York, to obey the directions of the
inquisitors, or of one bishop and of one inquisitor, with regard to the
confinement of the Templars in separate cells, and he assigns William de
Diene to assist the inquisitors in their arrangements. Similar orders were
shortly afterwards sent to all the gaolers of the Templars in the English
dominions.[372]

On the 3rd of March five fresh interrogatories were exhibited by the
inquisitors, upon which thirty-one Templars were examined at the palace of
the bishop of London, the chapel of St. Alphage, and the chapter-house of
the Holy Trinity. They were chiefly concerning the reception and
profession of the brethren, the number that each examinant had seen
received, their names, and as to whether the burials of the order were
conducted in a clandestine manner. From the replies it appears that many
Templars had died during their imprisonment in the Tower. The twenty-sixth
prisoner examined was the Master of the Temple, Brother William de la
More, who gives an account of the number of persons he had admitted into
the order during the period of his mastership, specifying their names. It
is stated that many of the parishioners of the parish adjoining the New
Temple had been present at the interment of the brethren of the
fraternity, and that the burials were not conducted in a clandestine
manner.

In Ireland, in the mean time, similar proceedings against the order had
been carried on. Between the 11th of February and the 23rd of May, thirty
Templars were examined in Saint Patrick's Church, Dublin, by Master John
de Mareshall, the pope's commissary, but no evidence of their guilt was
obtained. Forty-one witnesses were then heard, nearly all of whom were
monks. They spoke merely from hearsay and suspicion, and the gravest
charges brought by them against the fraternity appear to be, that the
Templars had been observed to be inattentive to the reading of the holy
Gospels at church, and to have cast their eyes on the ground at the period
of the elevation of the host.[373]

On the 30th of March the papal inquisitors opened their commission at
Lincoln, and between that day and the 10th of April twenty Templars were
examined in the chapter-house of the cathedral, amongst whom were some of
the veteran warriors of Palestine, men who had moistened with their blood
the distant plains of the far East in defence of that faith which they
were now so infamously accused of having repudiated. Brother William de
Winchester, a member of twenty-six years' standing, had been received into
the order at the castle _de la Roca Guille_ in the province of Armenia,
bordering on Palestine, by the valiant Grand Master William de Beaujeu.
He states that the same mode of reception existed there as in England, and
everywhere throughout the order. Brother Robert de Hamilton declares that
the girdles were worn from an honourable motive, that they were called the
girdles of Nazareth, because they had been pressed against the column of
the Virgin at that place, and were worn in remembrance of the blessed
Mary; but he says that the brethren were not compelled to wear them, but
might make use of any girdle that they liked. With regard to the
confessions made in France, they all say that if their brethren in that
country confessed such things, _they lied_![374]

At York the examination commenced on the 28th of April, and lasted until
the 4th of May, during which period twenty-three Templars, prisoners in
York Castle, were examined in the chapter-house of the cathedral, and
followed the example of their brethren in maintaining their innocence.
Brother Thomas de Stanford, a member of thirty years' standing, had been
received in the East by the Grand Master William de Beaujeu, and Brother
Radulph de Rostona, a priest of the order, of twenty-three years'
standing, had been received at the preceptory of Lentini in Sicily by
Brother William de Canello, the Grand Preceptor of Sicily. Brother Stephen
de Radenhall refused to reveal the mode of reception, because it formed
part of the secrets of the chapter, and if he discovered them he would
lose his chamber, be stripped of his mantle, or be committed to
prison.[375]

On the 20th of May, in obedience to the mandate of the archbishop of York,
an ecclesiastical council of the bishops and clergy assembled in the
cathedral. The mass of the Holy Ghost was solemnly celebrated, after
which the archbishop preached a sermon, and then caused to be read to the
assembled clergy the papal bulls fulminated against the order of the
Temple.[376] He exhibited to them the articles upon which the Templars had
been directed to be examined; but as the inquiry was still pending, the
council was adjourned until the 23rd of June of the following year, when
they were to meet to pass sentence of condemnation, or of absolution,
against all the members of the order in the province of York, in
conformity with ecclesiastical law.[377]

On the 1st of June the examination was resumed before the papal
inquisitors at Lincoln. Sixteen Templars were examined upon points
connected with the secret proceedings in the general and particular
chapters of the order, the imposition of penances therein, and the nature
of the absolution granted by the Master. From the replies it appears that
the penitents were scourged three times with leathern thongs, in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, after which they
were absolved either by the Master or by a priest of the order, according
to the particular circumstances of each case. It appears, also, that none
but preceptors were present at the general chapters of the order, which
were called together principally for the purpose of obtaining money to
send to the Grand Master and the chief convent in Palestine.[378]

After closing the examinations at Lincoln, the abbot of Lagny and the
canon of Narbonne returned to London, and immediately resumed the inquiry
in that city. On the 8th and 9th days of June, Brother William de la More,
the Master of the Temple, and thirty-eight of his knights, chaplains, and
sergeants, were examined by the inquisitors in the presence of the bishops
of London and Chichester, and the before-mentioned public notaries, in the
priory of the Holy Trinity. They were interrogated for the most part
concerning the penances imposed, and the absolution pronounced in the
chapters. The Master of the Temple was required to state what were the
precise words uttered by him, as the president of the chapter, when a
penitent brother, having bared his back and acknowledged his fault, came
into his presence and received the discipline of the leathern thongs. He
states that he was in the habit of saying, "Brother, pray to God that he
may forgive you;" and to the bystanders he said, "And do ye, brothers,
beseech the Lord to forgive him his sins, and say a _pater-noster_;" and
that he said nothing further, except to warn the offender against sinning
again. He declares that he did not pronounce absolution in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost! and relates, that in a
general chapter, and as often as he held a particular chapter, he was
accustomed to say, after prayers had been offered up, that all those who
did not acknowledge their sins, or who appropriated to their own use the
alms of the house, could not be partakers in the spiritual blessings of
the order; but that which through shamefacedness, or through fear of the
justice of the order, they dared not confess, he, out of the power
conceded to him by God and the pope, forgave him as far as he was able.
Brother William de Sautre, however, declares that the president of the
chapter, after he had finished the flagellation of a penitent brother,
said, "I forgive you, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Ghost," and then sent him to a priest of the order for
absolution; and the other witnesses vary in their account of the exact
words uttered, either because they were determined, in obedience to their
oaths, not to reveal what actually did take place, or else (which is very
probable) because the same form of proceeding was not always rigidly
adhered to.

When the examination was closed, the inquisitors drew up a memorandum,
showing that, from the apostolical letters, and the depositions and
attestations of the witnesses, it was to be collected that certain
practices had crept into the order of the Temple, which were not
consistent with the orthodox faith.[379]




CHAPTER X.

    The Templars in France revoke their rack-extorted confessions--They
    are tried as relapsed heretics, and burnt at the stake--The progress
    of the inquiry in England--The curious evidence adduced as to the mode
    of holding the chapters of the order--As to the penance enjoined
    therein, and the absolution pronounced by the Master--The Templars
    draw up a written defence, which they present to the ecclesiastical
    council--They are placed in separate dungeons, and put to the
    torture--Two serving brethren and a chaplain of the order then make
    confessions--Many other Templars acknowledge themselves guilty of
    heresy in respect of their belief in the religious authority of their
    Master--They make their recantations, and are reconciled to the church
    before the south door of Saint Paul's cathedral--The order of the
    Temple is abolished by the Pope--The last of the Masters of the Temple
    in England dies in the Tower--The disposal of the property of the
    order--Observations on the downfall of the Templars.

    Veggio 'l nuovo Pilato sì crudele,
    Che cio nol sazia, ma, senza decreto
    Porta nel TEMPIO le cupide vele.
                            _Dante._ Del Purgatorio. Canto xx. 91.


[Sidenote: JAMES DE MOLAY. A. D. 1310.]

In France, on the other hand, the proceedings against the order had
assumed a most sanguinary character. Many Templars, both in the capital
and the provinces, had made confessions of guilt whilst suffering upon the
rack, but they had no sooner been released from the hands of their
tormentors, and had recovered their health, than they disavowed their
confessions, maintained the innocence of their order, and appealed to all
their gallant actions, in ancient and modern times, in refutation of the
calumnies of their enemies. The enraged Philip caused these Templars to be
brought before an ecclesiastical tribunal convoked at Paris, and sentence
of death was passed upon them by the archbishop of Sens, in the following
terms:--

"You have avowed," said he, "that the brethren who are received into the
order of the Temple are compelled to renounce Christ and spit upon the
cross, and that you yourselves have participated in that crime: you have
thus acknowledged that you have fallen into the sin of _heresy_. By your
confession and repentance you had merited absolution, and had once more
become reconciled to the church. As you have revoked your confession, the
church no longer regards you as reconciled, but as having fallen back to
your first errors. You are, therefore, _relapsed heretics(!)_ and as such,
we condemn you to the fire."[380]

The following morning, (Tuesday, May 12,) in pursuance of this absurd and
atrocious sentence, fifty-four Templars were handed over to the secular
arm, and were led out to execution by the king's officers. They were
conducted into the open country, in the environs of the Porte St. Antoine
des Champs at Paris, and were burnt to death in a most cruel manner before
a slow fire. All historians speak with admiration of the heroism and
intrepidity with which they met their fate.[381]

Many hundred other Templars were dragged from the dungeons of Paris before
the archbishop of Sens and his council. Those whom neither the agony of
the torture nor the fear of death could overcome, but who remained
stedfast amid all their trials in the maintenance of the innocence of
their order, were condemned to perpetual imprisonment as _unreconciled
heretics_; whilst those who, having made the required confessions of
guilt, continued to persevere in them, received absolution, were declared
reconciled to the church, and were set at liberty. Notwithstanding the
terror inspired by these executions, many of the Templars still persisted
in the revocation of their confessions, which they stigmatized as the
result of insufferable torture, and boldly maintained the innocence of
their order.

On the 18th of August, four other Templars were condemned as relapsed
heretics by the council of Sens, and were likewise burned by the Porte St.
Antoine; and it is stated that a hundred and thirteen Templars were from
first to last burnt at the stake in Paris. Many others were burned in
Lorraine; in Normandy; at Carcassone, and nine, or, according to some
writers, twenty-nine, were burnt by the archbishop of Rheims at Senlis!
King Philip's officers, indeed, not content with their inhuman cruelty
towards the living, invaded the sanctity of the tomb; they dragged a dead
Templar, who had been Treasurer of the Temple at Paris, from his grave,
and burnt the mouldering corpse as a heretic.[382] In the midst of all
these sanguinary atrocities, the examinations continued before the
ecclesiastical tribunals. Many aged and illustrious warriors, who merited
a better fate, appeared before their judges pale and trembling. At first
they revoked their confessions, declared their innocence, and were
remanded to prison; and then, panic-stricken, they demanded to be led back
before the papal commissioners, when they abandoned their retractations,
persisted in their previous avowals of _guilt_, humbly expressed their
sorrow and repentance, and were then pardoned, absolved, and reconciled
to the church! The torture still continued to be applied, and out of
thirty-three Templars confined in the chateau d'Alaix, four died in
prison, and the remaining twenty confessed, amongst other things, the
following absurdities:--that in the provincial chapter of the order held
at Montpelier, the Templars set up a head and worshipped it; that the
devil often appeared there in the shape of a cat, and conversed with the
assembled brethren, and promised them a good harvest, with the possession
of riches, and all kinds of temporal property. Some asserted that the head
worshipped by the fraternity possessed a long beard; others that it was a
woman's head; and one of the prisoners declared that as often as this
wonderful head was adored, a great number of devils made their appearance
in the shape of beautiful women...!![383]

We must now unfold the dark page in the history of the order in England.
All the Templars in custody in this country had been examined separately
and apart, and had, notwithstanding, deposed in substance to the same
effect, and given the same account of their reception into the order, and
of the oaths that they took. Any reasonable and impartial mind would
consequently have been satisfied of the truth of their statements; but it
was not the object of the inquisitors to obtain evidence of the
_innocence_, but proof of the _guilt_, of the order. At first, king Edward
the Second, to his honour, forbade the infliction of torture upon the
illustrious members of the Temple in his dominions--men who had fought and
bled for Christendom, and of whose piety and morals he had a short time
before given such ample testimony to the principal sovereigns of Europe.
But the virtuous resolution of the weak king was speedily overcome by the
all-powerful influence of the Roman pontiff, who wrote to him in the month
of June, upbraiding him for preventing the inquisitors from submitting
the Templars to the discipline of the rack.[384] Influenced by the
admonitions of the pope, and the solicitations of the clergy, king Edward,
on the 26th of August, sent orders to John de Crumbewell, constable of the
Tower, to deliver up all the Templars in his custody, at the request of
the inquisitors, to the sheriffs of London, in order that the inquisitors
might be able to proceed more conveniently and effectually with their
inquisition.[385] And on the same day he directed the sheriffs to receive
the prisoners from the constable of the Tower, and cause them to be placed
in the custody of gaolers appointed by the inquisitors, to be confined in
prisons or such other convenient places in the city of London as the
inquisitors and bishops should think expedient, and generally to permit
them to do with the bodies of the Templars whatever should seem fitting,
in accordance with ecclesiastical law. He directs, also, that from
thenceforth the Templars should receive their sustenance at the hands of
such newly-appointed gaolers.[386]

On the Tuesday after the feast of St. Matthew, (Sept. 21st,) the
ecclesiastical council again assembled at London, and caused the
inquisitions and depositions taken against the Templars to be read, which
being done, great disputes arose touching various alterations observable
in them. It was at length ordered that the Templars should be again
confined in separate cells in the prisons of London; that fresh
interrogatories should be prepared, to see if by such means the _truth_
could be extracted, and if by straitenings and confinement they would
_confess nothing further_, then the torture was to be applied; but it was
provided that the examination by torture should be conducted without the
PERPETUAL MUTILATION OR DISABLING OF ANY LIMB, AND WITHOUT A VIOLENT
EFFUSION OF BLOOD! and the inquisitors and the bishops of London and
Chichester were to notify the result to the archbishop of Canterbury, that
he might again convene the assembly for the purpose of passing sentence,
either of absolution or of condemnation. These resolutions having been
adopted, the council was prorogued, on the following Saturday, _de die in
diem_, until the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, A. D.
1311.[387]

On the 6th of October, a fortnight after the above resolution had been
formed by the council, the king sent fresh instructions to the constable
of the Tower, and the sheriffs of London, directing them to deliver up the
Templars, one at a time, or altogether, and receive them back in the same
way, at the will of the inquisitors.[388] The gaolers of these unhappy
gentlemen seem to have been more merciful and considerate than their
judges, and to have manifested the greatest reluctance to act upon the
orders sent from the king. On the 23rd of October, further and more
peremptory commands were forwarded to the constable of the Tower,
distinctly informing him that the king, on account of his respect for the
holy apostolic see, had lately conceded to the prelates and inquisitors
deputed to take inquisition against the order of the Temple, and the Grand
Preceptor of that order in England, the power of ordering and disposing of
the Templars and their bodies, of examining them by TORTURE or otherwise,
and of doing to them whatever they should deem expedient, according to the
ecclesiastical law; and he again strictly enjoins the constable to deliver
up all the Templars in his custody, either together or separately, or in
any way that the inquisitors or one bishop and one inquisitor may direct,
and to receive them back when required so to do.[389] Corresponding orders
were again sent to the sheriffs, commanding them, at the requisition of
the inquisitors, to get the Templars out of the hands of the constable of
the Tower, to guard them in convenient prisons, and to permit certain
persons deputed by the inquisitors to see that the imprisonment was
properly carried into effect, to do with the bodies of the Templars
whatever they should think fit according to ecclesiastical law. When the
inquisitors, or the persons appointed by them, had done with the Templars
what they pleased, they were to deliver them back to the constable of the
Tower, or his lieutenant, there to be kept in custody as before.[390]
Orders were likewise sent to the constable of the castle of Lincoln, and
to the mayor and bailiffs of the city of Lincoln, to the same effect. The
king also directed Roger de Wyngefeld, clerk, guardian of the lands of the
Templars, and William Plummer, sub-guardian of the manor of Cressing, to
furnish to the king's officers the sums required for the keep, and for the
expenses of the detention of the brethren of the order.[391]

On the 22nd of November the king condescended to acquaint the mayor,
aldermen, and commonalty of his faithful city of London, that out of
reverence to the pope he had authorised the inquisitors, sent over by his
holiness, to question the Templars by TORTURE; he puts them in possession
of the orders he had sent to the constable of the Tower, and to the
sheriffs; and he commands them, in case it should be notified to them by
the inquisitors that the prisons provided by the sheriffs were
insufficient for their purposes, to procure without fail fit and
convenient houses in the city, or near thereto, for carrying into effect
the contemplated measures; and he graciously informs them that he will
reimburse them all the expenses that may be incurred by them or their
officers in fulfilling his commands.[392] Shortly afterwards the king
again wrote to the mayor, aldermen, and commonalty of London, acquainting
them that the sheriffs had made a return to his writ, to the effect that
the four gates (prisons) of the city were not under their charge, and that
they could not therefore obtain them for the purposes required; and he
commands the mayor, aldermen, and commonalty, to place those four gates at
the disposal of the sheriffs.[393]

On the 12th of December, all the Templars in custody at Lincoln were, by
command of the king, brought up to London, and placed in solitary
confinement in different prisons and private houses provided by the mayor
and sheriffs. Shortly afterwards orders were given for all the Templars in
custody in London to be loaded with chains and fetters; the myrmidons of
the inquisitors were to be allowed to make periodical visits to see that
the imprisonment was properly carried into effect, and were to be allowed
to TORTURE the bodies of the Templars in any way that they might think
fit.[394]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1311.]

On the 30th of March, A. D. 1311, after some months' trial of the above
severe measures, the examination was resumed before the inquisitors, and
the bishops of London and Chichester, at the several churches of St.
Martin's, Ludgate, and St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate. The Templars had now
been in prison in England for the space of three years and some months.
During the whole of the previous winter they had been confined in chains
in the dungeons of the city of London, compelled to receive their scanty
supply of food from the officers of the inquisition, and to suffer from
cold, from hunger, and from torture. They had been made to endure all the
horrors of solitary confinement, and had none to solace or to cheer them
during the long hours of their melancholy captivity. They had been already
condemned collectively by the pope, as members of an heretical and
idolatrous society, and as long as they continued to persist in the truth
of their first confessions, and in the avowal of their innocence, they
were treated as obstinate, unreconciled heretics, living in a state of
excommunication, and doomed, when dead, to everlasting punishment in hell.
They had heard of the miserable fate of their brethren in France, and they
knew that those who had confessed crimes of which they had never been
guilty, had been immediately declared reconciled to the church, had been
absolved and set at liberty, and they knew that freedom, pardon, and peace
could be immediately purchased by a confession of guilt; notwithstanding
all which, every Templar, at this last examination, persisted in the
maintenance of his innocence, and in the denial of all knowledge of, or
participation in, the crimes and heresies imputed to the order. They
declare that everything that was done in their chapters, in respect of
absolution, the reception of brethren, and other matters, was honourable
and honest, and might well and lawfully be done; that it was in no wise
heretical or vicious; and that whatever was done was from the
appointment, approbation, and regulation of all the brethren.[395] From
their statements, it appears that the Master of the Temple in England was
in the habit of summoning a general chapter of the order once a year, at
which the preceptors of Ireland and of Scotland were present. These were
always called together to take into consideration the affairs of the Holy
Land, and to determine on sending succour to their brethren in the East.
At the close of their examination the Templars were again sent back to
their dungeons, and loaded with chains; and the inquisitors, disappointed
of the desired confessions, addressed themselves to the enemies of the
order for the necessary proofs of guilt.

During the month of April, seventy-two witnesses were examined in the
chapter-house of the Holy Trinity. They were nearly all monks, Carmelites,
Augustinians, Dominicans, and Minorites; their evidence is all hearsay,
and the nature of it will be seen from the following choice specimens.

Henry Thanet, an Irishman, had _heard_ that Brother Hugh de Nipurias, a
Templar, deserted from the castle of Tortosa in Palestine, and went over
to the Saracens, abjuring the christian faith; and that a certain
preceptor of the Pilgrim's Castle was in the habit of making all the
brethren he received into the order deny Christ; but the witness was
unable to give either the name of the preceptor or of the persons so
received. He had also _heard_ that a certain Templar had in his custody a
brazen head with two faces, which would answer all questions put to it!

Master John de Nassington declared that Milo de Stapelton and Adam de
Everington, knights, told him that they had once been invited to a great
feast at the preceptory of Templehurst, and were there informed that the
Templars celebrated a solemn festival once a year, at which they
worshipped a _calf_!

John de Eure, knight, sheriff of the county of York, deposed that he had
once invited Brother William de la Fenne, Preceptor of Wesdall, to dine
with him, and that after dinner the preceptor drew a book out of his
bosom, and delivered it to the knight's lady to read, who found a piece of
paper fastened into the book, on which were written abominable, heretical
doctrines, to the effect that Christ was not the Son of God, nor born of a
virgin, but conceived of the seed of Joseph, the husband of Mary, after
the manner of other men, and that Christ was not a true but a false
prophet, and was not crucified for the redemption of mankind, but for his
own sins, and many other things contrary to the christian faith. On the
production of this important evidence, Brother William de la Fenne was
called in and interrogated; he admitted that he had dined with the sheriff
of York, and had lent his lady a book to read, but he swore that he was
ignorant of the piece of paper fastened into the book, and of its
contents. It appears that the sheriff of York had kept this dangerous
secret to himself for the space of six years!

William de la Forde, a priest, rector of the church of Crofton in the
diocese of York, had _heard_ William de Reynbur, priest of the order of
St. Augustine, who was then dead, say, that the Templar, Brother Patrick
of Rippon, son of William of Gloucester, had confessed to him, that at his
entrance into the order, he was led, clothed only in his shirt and
trousers, through a long passage to a secret chamber, and was there made
to deny his God and his Saviour; that he was then shown a representation
of the crucifixion, and was told that since he had previously honoured
that emblem he must now dishonour it and spit upon it, and that he did so.
"Item dictum fuit ei quod, depositis brachis, dorsum verteret ad
crucifixum," and this he did bitterly weeping. After this they brought an
image, as it were, of a calf, placed upon an altar, and they told him he
must kiss that image, and worship it, and he did so, and after all this
they covered up his eyes and led him about, kissing and being kissed by
all the brethren, but he could not recollect in what part. The worthy
priest was asked when he had first _heard_ all these things, and he
replied _after_ the arrest of the brethren by the king's orders!

Robert of Oteringham, senior of the order of Minorites, stated that on one
occasion he was partaking of the hospitality of the Templars at the
preceptory of Ribstane in Yorkshire, and that when grace had been said
after supper, the chaplain of the order reprimanded the brethren of the
Temple, saying to them, "The devil will burn you," or some such words; and
hearing a bustle amongst them, he got up to see what was the matter, and,
as far as he recollects, he saw one of the brothers of the Temple,
"brachis depositis, tenentem faciem versus occidentem et posteriora versus
altare!" Being asked who it was that did this, he says he does not exactly
remember. He then goes on to state, that about twenty years before that
time! he was again the guest of the Templars, at the preceptory of
Wetherby (query Feriby) in Yorkshire, and when evening came he heard that
the preceptor was not coming to supper, as he was arranging some relics
that he had brought with him from the Holy Land, and afterwards at
midnight he heard a confused noise in the chapel, and getting up he looked
through the keyhole, and saw a great light therein, either from a fire or
from candles, and on the morrow he asked one of the brethren of the Temple
the name of the saint in whose honour they had celebrated so grand a
festival during the night, and that brother, aghast and turning pale,
thinking he had seen what had been done amongst them, said to him, "Go thy
way, and if you love me, or have any regard for your own life, never speak
of this matter." This same "Senior of the Minorites" declares also that he
had seen, in the chapel of the preceptory of Ribstane, a cross, with the
image of our Saviour nailed upon it, thrown carelessly upon the altar,
and he observed to a certain brother of the Temple, that the cross was in
a most indecent and improper position, and he was about to lift it up and
stand it erect, when that same brother called out to him, "Lay down the
cross and depart in peace!"

Brother John de Wederal, another Minorite, sent to the inquisitors a
written paper, wherein he stated that he had lately _heard_ in the
country, that a Templar, named Robert de Baysat, was once seen running
about a meadow uttering, "Alas! alas! that ever I was born, seeing that I
have denied God and sold myself to the devil!" Brother N. de Chinon,
another Minorite, had _heard_ that a certain Templar had a son who peeped
through a chink in the wall of the chapter-room, and saw a person who was
about to be professed, slain because he would not deny Christ, and
afterwards the boy was asked by his father to become a Templar, but
refused, and he immediately shared the same fate. Twenty witnesses, who
were examined in each other's presence, merely repeated the above
absurdities, or related similar ones.[396]

At this stage of the proceedings, the papal inquisitor, Sicard de Vaur,
exhibited two rack-extorted confessions of Templars which had been
obtained in France. The first was from Robert de St. Just, who had been
received into the order by brother Himbert, Grand Preceptor of England,
but had been arrested in France, and there tortured by the myrmidons of
Philip. In this confession, Robert de St. Just states that, on his
admission to the vows of the Temple, he denied Christ, and spat _beside_
the cross. The second confession had been extorted from Geoffrey de
Gonville, Knight of the Order of the Temple, Preceptor of Aquitaine and
Poitou, and had been given on the 15th of November A. D. 1307, before the
grand inquisitor of France. In this confession, (which had been afterwards
revoked, but of which revocation no notice was taken by the inquisitors,)
Sir Geoffrey de Gonville states that he was received into the order in
England in the house of the Temple at London, by Brother Robert de
Torvibe, knight, the Master of all England, about twenty-eight years
before that time; that the master showed him on a missal the image of
Jesus Christ on the cross, and commanded him to deny him who was
crucified; that, terribly alarmed, he exclaimed, "Alas! my lord, why
should I do this? I will on no account do it." But the master said to him,
"Do it boldly; I swear to thee that the act shall never harm either thy
soul or thy conscience;" and then proceeded to inform him that the custom
had been introduced into the order by a certain bad Grand Master, who was
imprisoned by a certain sultan, and could escape from prison only on
condition that he would establish that form of reception in his order, and
compel all who were received to deny Christ Jesus! but the deponent
remained inflexible; he refused to deny his Saviour, and asked where were
his uncle and the other good people who had brought him there, and was
told that they were all gone; and at last a compromise took place between
him and the Master, who made him take his oath that he would tell all his
brethren that he had gone through the customary form, and never reveal
that it had been dispensed with! He states also that the ceremony was
instituted in memory of St. Peter, who three times denied Christ![397]

Ferinsius le Mareschal, a secular knight, being examined, declared that
his grandfather entered into the order of the Temple, active, healthy, and
blithesome as the birds and the dogs, but on the third day from his taking
the vows he was dead, and, as he _now suspects_, was killed because he
refused to participate in the iniquities practised by the brethren. An
Augustine monk declared that he had heard a Templar say that a man after
death had no more soul than a dog. Roger, rector of the church of
Godmersham, swore that about fifteen years before he had an intention of
entering into the order of the Temple himself, and consulted Stephen
Queynterel, one of the brothers, on the subject, who advised him not to do
so, and stated that they had _three_ articles amongst themselves in their
order, known only to God, the devil, and the brethren of the Temple, and
the said Stephen would not reveal to the deponent what those articles
were.

The vicar of the church of Saint Clement at Sandwich had _heard_ that a
boy had secreted himself in the large hall where the Templars held their
chapter, and heard the Master preach to the brethren, and explain to them
in what mode they might enrich themselves; and after the chapter was
concluded, one of the brothers, in going out of the hall, dropped his
girdle, which the boy found and carried to the brother who had so dropped
it, when the latter drew his sword and instantly slew him! But to crown
all, Brother John de Gertia, a Minorite, had _heard_ from a certain woman
called Cacocaca! who had it from Exvalettus, Preceptor of London, that one
of the servants of the Templars entered the hall where the chapter was
held, and secreted himself, and after the door had been shut and locked by
the last Templar who entered, and the key had been brought by him to the
superior, the assembled Templars jumped up and went into another room, and
opened a closet, and drew therefrom a certain black figure with shining
eyes, and a cross, and they placed the cross before the Master, and the
"culum idoli vel figuræ" they placed upon the cross, and carried it to the
Master, who kissed the said image, (in ano,) and all the others did the
same after him; and when they had finished kissing, they all spat three
times upon the cross, except one, who refused, saying, "I was a bad man in
the world, and placed myself in this order for the salvation of my soul;
what could I do worse? I will not do it;" and then the brethren said to
him, "Take heed, and do as you see the order do;" but he answered that he
would not do so, and then they placed him in a well which stood in the
midst of their house, and covered the well up, and left him to perish.
Being asked as to the time when the woman heard this, the deponent stated
that she told it to him about fourteen years back at London, where she
kept a shop for her husband, Robert Cotacota! This witness also knew a
certain Walter Salvagyo of the family of Earl Warrenne, grandfather of the
then earl, who, having entered into the order of the Temple, was about two
years afterwards entirely lost sight of by his family, and neither the
earl nor any of his friends could ever learn what had become of him.

John Walby de Bust, another Minorite, had _heard_ John de Dingeston say
that _he had heard_ that there was in a secret place of the house of the
Templars at London a gilded head, and that when one of the Masters was on
his deathbed, he summoned to his presence several preceptors, and told
them that if they wished for power, and dominion, and honour, they must
worship that head.

Brother Richard de Koefeld, a monk, had _heard_ from John de Borna, who
had it from the Knight Templar Walter le Bacheler, that every man who
entered into the order of the Temple had to sell himself to the devil; he
had also _heard_ from the priest Walter, rector of the church of Hodlee,
who had it from a certain vicar, who was a priest of the said Walter le
Bacheler, that there was one article in the profession of the Templars
which might not be revealed to any living man.

Gasper de Nafferton, chaplain of the parish of Ryde, deposed that three
years back he was in the employ of the Templars for about six months,
during which period William de Pokelington was received into the order;
that he well recollected that the said William made his appearance at the
Temple on Sunday evening, with the equipage and habit of a member of the
order, accompanied by Brother William de la More, the Master of the
Temple, Brother William de Grafton, Preceptor of Ribbestane and
Fontebriggs; and other brethren: that the same night, during the first
watch, they assembled in the church, and caused the deponent to be
awakened to say mass; that, after the celebration of the mass, they made
the deponent with his clerk go out into the hall beyond the cloister, and
then sent for the person who was to be received; and on his entry into the
church one of the brethren immediately closed all the doors opening into
the cloister, so that no one within the chambers could get out, and thus
they remained till daylight; but what was done in the church the deponent
knew not; the next day, however, he saw the said William clothed in the
habit of a Templar, looking very sorrowful. The deponent also declared
that he had threatened to peep through a secret door to see what was going
on, but was warned that it was inevitable death so to do. He states that
the next morning he went into the church, and found the books and crosses
all removed from the places in which he had previously left them; that he
afterwards saw the knight Templar Brother William deliver to the
newly-received brother a large roll of paper, containing the rule of the
order, which the said newly-received brother was directed to transcribe in
private; that after the departure of the said Brother William, the
deponent approached the said newly-received brother, who was then
diligently writing, and asked to be allowed to inspect the roll, but was
told that none but members of the order could be allowed to read it; that
he was then about to depart, when Brother William made his appearance,
and, astonished and confounded at the sight of the deponent, snatched up
the roll and walked away with it, declaring, with a great oath, that he
would never again allow it to go out of his hands.

Brother John de Donyngton, of the order of the Minorites, the
seventy-sixth witness examined, being sworn, deposed that some years back
an old veteran of the Temple (whose name he could not recollect) told him
that the order possessed four chief idols in England, one at London in the
sacristy of the Temple; another at the preceptory of Bistelesham; a third
at Bruere in Lincolnshire; and the fourth in some place beyond the Humber,
(the name of which he had forgotten;) that Brother William de la More, the
Master of the Temple, introduced the melancholy idolatry of the Templars
into England, and brought with him into the country a great roll, whereon
were inscribed in large characters the wicked practices and observances of
the order. The said old veteran also told the deponent that many of the
Templars carried idols about with them in boxes, &c. &c.

The deponent further states that he recollected well that a private
gentleman, Master William de Shokerwyk, a short time back, had prepared to
take the vows of the order, and carried his treasures and all the property
he had to the Temple at London; and that as he was about to deposit it in
the treasury, one of the brethren of the Temple heaved a profound sigh,
and Master William de Shokerwyk having asked what ailed him, he
immediately replied, "It will be the worse for you, brother, if you enter
our order;" that the said Master William asked why, and the Templar
replied, "You see us externally, but not internally; take heed what you
do; but I shall say no more;" and the deponent further declares, that on
another occasion the said Master William entered into the Temple Hall, and
found there an old Templar, who was playing at the game called Daly; and
the old Templar observing that there was no one in the hall besides
himself and the said Master William, said to the latter, "If you enter
into our order, it will be the worse for you."

The witness then goes into a rambling account of various transactions in
the East, tending to show that the Templars were in alliance with the
Saracens, and had acted with treachery towards the christian cause![398]

After the delivery of all this hearsay, these vague suspicions and
monstrous improbabilities, the notaries proceeded to arrange the valuable
testimony adduced, and on the 22nd of April all the Templars in custody in
the Tower and in the prisons of the city were assembled before the
inquisitors and the bishops of London and Chichester, in the church of the
Holy Trinity, to hear the depositions and attestations of the witnesses
publicly read. The Templars required copies of these depositions, which
were granted them, and they were allowed eight days from that period to
bring forward any defences or privileges they wished to make use of.
Subsequently, before the expiration of the eight days, the officer of the
bishop of London was sent to the Tower with scriveners and witnesses, to
know if they would then set up any matters of defence, to whom the
Templars replied that they were unlettered men, ignorant of law, and that
all means of defence were denied them, since they were not permitted to
employ those who could afford them fit counsel and advice. They observed,
however, that they were desirous of publicly proclaiming the faith, and
the religion of themselves and of the order to which they belonged, of
showing the privileges conceded to them by the chief pontiffs, and their
own depositions taken before the inquisitors, all which they said they
wished to make use of in their defence.

On the eighth day, being Thursday the 29th of April, they appeared before
the papal inquisitors and the bishops of London and Chichester, in the
church of All Saints of Berkyngecherche, and presented to them the
following declaration, which they had drawn up amongst themselves, as the
only defence they had to offer against the injustice, the tyranny, and the
persecution of their powerful oppressors; adding, that if they had in any
way done wrong, they were ready to submit themselves to the orders of the
church.

This declaration is written in the Norman French of that day, and is as
follows:

"_Conue chese seit a nostre honurable pere, le ercevesque de Canterbiere,
primat de toute Engletere, e a touz prelaz de seinte Eglise, e a touz
Cristiens, qe touz les freres du Temple que sumes ici assemblez et
chescune singulere persone par sen sumes cristien nostre seignur Jesu
Crist, e creoms en Dieu Pere omnipotent, qui fist del e terre, e en Jesu
soen fiz, qui fust conceu du Seint Esperit, nez de la Virgine Marie,
soeffrit peine e passioun, morut sur la croiz pour touz peccheours,
descendist e enferns, e le tierz jour releva de mort en vie, e mounta en
ciel, siet au destre soen Pere, e vendra au jour de juise, juger les vifs
e les morz, qui fu saunz commencement, e serra saunz fyn; e creoms comme
seynte eglise crets, e nous enseigne. E que nostre religion est foundee
sus obedience, chastete, vivre sans propre, aider a conquere la seint
terre de Jerusalem, a force e a poer, qui Dieu nous ad preste. E nyoms e
firmement en countredioms touz e chescune singulere persone, par sei
toutes maneres de heresies e malvaistes, que sount encountre la foi de
Seinte Eglise. E prioms pour Dieu e pour charite a vous, que estes en lieu
nostre seinte pere l'apostoile, que nous puissoms aver lez drettures de
seinte eglise, comme ceus que sount les filz de sainte eglise, que bien
avoms garde, e tenu la foi, e la lei de seinte eglise, e nostre religion,
la quele est bone, honeste e juste, solom les ordenaunces, e les
privileges de la court de Rome avons grauntez, confermez, e canonizez par
commun concile, les qels priviliges ensemblement ou lestablisement, e la
regle sount en la dite court enregistrez. E mettoms en dur e en mal eu
touz Cristiens saune noz anoisourz, par la ou nous avoms este conversaunt,
comment nous avoms nostre vie demene. E se nous avoms rien mesprys de
aucun parole en nos examinacions par ignorance de seu, si comme nous sumes
genz laics prest sumes, a ester a lesgard de seint eglise, comme cely que
mourust pour nouz en la beneite de croiz. E nous creoms fermement touz les
sacremenz de seinte eglise. E nous vous prioms pour Dieu e pour salvacioun
de vous almes, que vous nous jugez si comme vous volez respoundre pour
vous et pour nous devaunt Dieu: e que nostre examinement puet estre leu e
oii devaunt nous e devaunt le people, solom le respouns e le langage que
fust dit devaunt vous, e escrit en papier._[399]

"Be it known to our honourable father, the archbishop of Canterbury,
primate of all England, and to all the prelates of holy church, and to all
Christians, that all we brethren of the Temple here assembled, and every
of one of us are Christians, and believe in our Saviour Jesus Christ, in
God the Father omnipotent, &c. &c. ..."

"And we believe all that the holy church believes and teaches us. We
declare that our religion is founded on vows of obedience, chastity, and
poverty, and of aiding in the conquest of the Holy Land of Jerusalem, with
all the power and might that God affordeth us. And we firmly deny and
contradict, one and all of us, all manner of heresy and evil doings,
contrary to the faith of holy church. And for the love of God, and for
charity, we beseech you, who represent our holy father the pope, that we
may be treated like true children of the church, for we have well guarded
and preserved the faith and the law of the church, and of our own
religion, the which is good, honest, and just, according to the ordinances
and the privileges of the court of Rome, granted, confirmed, and canonized
by common council; the which privileges, together with the rule of our
order, are enregistered in the said court. And we would bring forward all
Christians, (save our enemies and slanderers,) with whom we are
conversant, and among whom we have resided, to say how and in what manner
we have spent our lives. And if, in our examinations, we have said or done
anything wrong through ignorance of a word, since we are unlettered men,
we are ready to suffer for holy church like him who died for us on the
blessed cross. And we believe all the sacraments of the church. And we
beseech you, for the love of God, and as you hope to be saved, that you
judge us as you will have to answer for yourselves and for us before God;
and we pray that our examination may be read and heard before ourselves
and all the people, _in the very language and words in which it was given
before you, and written down on paper_."

The above declaration was presented by Brother William de la More, the
Master of the Temple; the Knights Templars Philip de Mewes, Preceptor of
Garwy; William de Burton, Preceptor of Cumbe; Radulph de Maison, Preceptor
of Ewell; Michael de Baskevile, Preceptor of London; Thomas de Wothrope,
Preceptor of Bistelesham; William de Warwick, Priest; and Thomas de
Burton, Chaplain of the Order; together with twenty serving brothers. The
same day the inquisitors and the two bishops proceeded to the different
prisons of the city to demand if the prisoners confined therein wished to
bring forward anything in defence of the order, who severally answered
that they would adopt and abide by the declaration made by their brethren
in the Tower.

It appears that in the prison of Aldgate there were confined Brother
William de Sautre, Knight, Preceptor of Samford; Brother William de la
Ford, Preceptor of Daney; Brother John de Coningeston, Preceptor of
Getinges; Roger de Norreis, Preceptor of Cressing; Radulph de Barton,
priest, Prior of the New Temple; and several serving brethren of the
order. In the prison of Crepelgate were detained William de Egendon,
Knight, Preceptor of Schepeley; John de Moun, Knight, Preceptor of
Dokesworth; and four serving brethren. In the prison of Ludgate were five
serving brethren; and in Newgate was confined Brother Himbert Blanke,
Knight, Grand Preceptor of Auvergne.

The above declaration of faith and innocence was far from agreeable to the
papal inquisitors, who required a confession of _guilt_, and the torture
was once more directed to be applied. The king sent fresh orders to the
mayor and the sheriffs of the city of London, commanding them to place the
Templars in separate dungeons; to load them with chains and fetters; to
permit the myrmidons of the inquisitors to pay periodical visits to see
that the wishes and intentions of the inquisitors, with regard to the
severity of the confinement, were properly carried into effect; and,
lastly, to inflict TORTURE upon the bodies of the Templars, and generally
to do whatever should be thought fitting and expedient in the premises,
according to ecclesiastical law.[400] In conformity with these orders, we
learn from the record of the proceedings, that the Templars were placed in
solitary confinement in loathsome dungeons; that they were placed on a
short allowance of bread and water, and periodically visited by the agents
of the inquisition; that they were moved from prison to prison, and from
dungeon to dungeon; were now treated with rigour, and anon with
indulgence; and were then visited by learned prelates, and acute doctors
in theology, who, by exhortation, persuasion, and by menace, attempted in
every possible mode to wring from them the required avowals. We learn that
all the engines of terror wielded by the church were put in force, and
that torture was unsparingly applied "_usque ad judicium sanguinis_!" The
places in which these atrocious scenes were enacted were the Tower, the
prisons of Aldgate, Ludgate, Newgate, Bishopsgate, and Crepelgate, the
house formerly belonging to John de Banguel, and the tenements once the
property of the brethren of penitence.[401] It appears that some French
monks were sent over to administer the torture to the unhappy captives,
and that they were questioned and examined in the presence of notaries
whilst suffering under the torments of the rack. The relentless
perseverance and the incessant exertions of the foreign inquisitors were
at last rewarded by a splendid triumph over the powers of endurance of two
poor serving brethren, and one chaplain of the order of the Temple, who
were at last induced to make the long-desired avowals.

On the 23rd of June, Brother Stephen de Stapelbrugge, described as an
apostate and fugitive of the order of the Temple, captured by the king's
officers in the city of Salisbury, deposed in the house of the head gaoler
of Newgate, in the presence of the bishops of London and Chichester, the
chancellor of the archbishop of Canterbury, Hugh de Walkeneby, doctor of
theology, and other clerical witnesses, that there were two modes of
profession in the order of the Temple, the one good and lawful, and the
other contrary to the christian faith; that he himself was received into
the order by Brother Brian le Jay, Grand Preceptor of England at
Dynneslee, and was led into the chapel, the door of which was closed as
soon as he had entered; that a cross was placed before the Master, and
that a brother of the Temple, with a drawn sword, stood on either side of
him; that the Master said to him, "Do you see this image of the
crucifixion?" to which he replied, "I see it, my lord;" that the Master
then said to him, "You must deny that Christ Jesus was God and man, and
that Mary was his mother; and you must spit upon this cross;" which the
deponent, through immediate fear of death, did with his mouth, but not
with his heart, and he spat _beside_ the cross, and not on it; and then
falling down upon his knees, with eyes uplifted, with his hands clasped,
with bitter tears and sighs, and devout ejaculations, he besought the
mercy and the favour of holy church, declaring that he cared not for the
death of the body, or for any amount of penance, but only for the
salvation of his soul.

On Saturday, the 25th of June, Brother Thomas Tocci de Thoroldeby, serving
brother of the order of the Temple, described as an apostate who had
escaped from Lincoln after his examination at that place by the papal
inquisitors, but had afterwards surrendered himself to the king's
officers, was brought before the bishops of London and Chichester, the
archdeacon of Salisbury, and others of the clergy in St. Martin's Church
in Vinetriâ; and being again examined, he repeated the statement made in
his first deposition, but added some particulars with regard to penances
imposed and absolutions pronounced in the chapter, showing the difference
between sins and defaults, the priest having to deal with the one, and the
Master with the other. He declared that the little cords were worn from
honourable motives, and relates a story of his being engaged in a battle
against the Saracens, in which he lost his cord, and was punished by the
Grand Master for a default in coming home without it. He gives the same
account of the secrecy of the chapters as all the other brethren, states
that the members of the order were forbidden to confess to the friars
mendicants, and were enjoined to confess to their own chaplains; that they
did nothing contrary to the christian faith, and as to their endeavouring
to promote the advancement of the order by any means, right or wrong, that
exactly the contrary was the case, as there was a statute in the order to
the effect, that if any one should be found to have acquired anything
unjustly, he should be deprived of his habit, and be expelled the order.
Being asked what induced him to become an apostate, and to fly from his
order, he replied that it was through fear of death, because the abbot of
Lagny, (the papal inquisitor,) when he examined him at Lincoln, asked him
if he would not confess anything further, and he answered that he knew of
nothing further to confess, unless he were to say things that were not
true; and that _the abbot, laying his hand upon his breast, swore by the
word of God that he would make him confess before he had done with him_!
and that being terribly frightened he afterwards bribed the gaoler of the
castle of Lincoln, giving him forty florins to let him make his escape.

The abbot of Lagny, indeed, was as good as his word, for on the 29th of
June, four days after this imprudent avowal, Brother Thomas Tocci de
Thoroldeby was brought back to Saint Martin's Church, and there, in the
presence of the same parties, he made a third confession, in which he
declares that, coerced by two Templars with drawn swords in their hands,
he denied Christ with his mouth, but not with his heart; and spat _beside_
the cross, but not on it; that he was required to spit upon the image of
the Virgin Mary, but contrived, instead of doing so, to give her a kiss on
the foot. He declares that he had heard Brian le Jay, the Master of the
Temple at London, say a hundred times over, that Jesus Christ was not the
true God, but a man, and that the smallest hair out of the beard of one
Saracen was of more worth than the whole body of any Christian. He
declares that he was once standing in the presence of Brother Brian, when
some poor people besought charity of him for the love of God and our lady
the blessed Virgin Mary; and he answered, "_Que dame, alez vous pendre a
vostre dame_"--"What lady? go and be hanged to your lady," and violently
casting a halfpenny into the mud, he made the poor people hunt for it,
although it was in the depth of a severe winter. He also relates that at
the chapters the priest stood like a beast, and had nothing to do but to
repeat the psalm, "God be merciful unto us, and bless us," which was read
at the closing of the chapter. (The Templars, by the way, must have been
strange idolaters to have closed their chapters, in which they are accused
of worshipping a cat, a man's head, and a black idol, with the reading of
the beautiful psalm, "God be merciful unto us, and bless us, and show us
the light of thy countenance, that _thy way may be known upon earth_, thy
saving health among all nations," &c. Psalm lxvii.) This witness further
states, that the priest had no power to impose a heavier penance than a
day's fast on bread and water, and could not even do that without the
permission of the brethren. He is made also to relate that the Templars
always favoured the Saracens in the holy wars in Palestine, and oppressed
the Christians! and he declares, speaking of himself, that for three years
before he had never seen the body of Christ without thinking of the devil,
nor could he remove that evil thought from his heart by prayer, or in any
other way that he knew of; but that very morning he had heard mass with
great devotion, and since then had thought only of Christ, and thinks
there is no one in the order of the Temple whose soul will be saved,
unless a reformation takes place.[402]

Previous to this period, the ecclesiastical council had again assembled,
and these last depositions of Brothers Stephen de Stapelbrugge and Thomas
Tocci de Thoroldeby having been produced before them, the following solemn
farce was immediately publicly enacted. It is thus described in the record
of the proceedings:

"To the praise and glory of the name of the most high Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost, to the confusion of heretics, and the
strengthening of all faithful Christians, begins the public record of the
reconciliation of the penitent heretics, returning to the orthodox faith
published in the council, celebrated at London in the year 1311.

"In the name of God, Amen. In the year of the incarnation of our Lord
1311, on the twenty-seventh day of the month of June, in the hall of the
palace of the bishop of London, before the venerable fathers the Lord
Robert by the grace of God archbishop of Canterbury, primate of all
England, and his suffragans in provincial council assembled, appeared
Brother Stephen de Stapelbrugge, of the order of the chivalry of the
Temple; and the denying of Christ and the blessed Virgin Mary his mother,
the spitting upon the cross, and the heresies and errors acknowledged and
confessed by him in his deposition being displayed, the same Stephen
asserted in full council, before the people of the City of London,
introduced for the occasion, that all those things so deposed by him were
true, and that to that confession he would wholly adhere; humbly
confessing his error on his bended knees, with his hands clasped, with
much lamentation and many tears, he again and again besought the mercy and
pity of holy mother church, offering to abjure all heresies and errors,
and praying them to impose on him a fitting penance, and then the book of
the holy gospels being placed in his hands, he abjured the aforesaid
heresies in this form:

"I, brother Stephen de Stapelbrugge, of the order of the chivalry of the
Temple, do solemnly confess," &c. &c. (he repeats his confession, makes
his abjuration, and then proceeds;) "and if at any time hereafter I shall
happen to relapse into the same errors, or deviate from any of the
articles of the faith, I will account myself _ipso facto_ excommunicated;
I will stand condemned as a manifest perjured heretic, and the punishment
inflicted on perjured relapsed heretics shall be forthwith imposed upon me
without further trial or judgment!!"

He was then sworn upon the holy gospels to stand to the sentence of the
church in the matter, after which Brother Thomas Tocci de Thoroldeby was
brought forward to go through the same monstrous ceremony, which being
concluded, these two poor serving brothers of the order of the Temple, who
were so ignorant that they could not write, were made to place their mark
(_loco subscriptionis_) on the record of the abjuration.

"And then our lord the archbishop of Canterbury, for the purpose of
absolving and reconciling to the unity of the church the aforesaid Thomas
and Stephen, conceded his authority and that of the whole council to the
bishop of London, in the presence of me the notary, specially summoned for
the occasion, in these words: 'We grant to you the authority of God, of
the blessed Mary, of the blessed Thomas the Martyr our patron, and of all
the saints of God (sanctorum atque _sanctarum_ Dei) to us conceded, and
also the authority of the present council to us transferred, to the end
that thou mayest reconcile to the unity of the church these miserables,
separated from her by their repudiation of the faith, and now brought
back again to her bosom, reserving to ourselves and the council the right
of imposing a fit penance for their transgressions!' And as there were two
penitents, the bishop of Chichester was joined to the bishop of London for
the purpose of pronouncing the absolution, which two bishops, putting on
their mitres and pontificals, and being assisted by twelve priests in
sacerdotal vestments, placed themselves in seats at the western entrance
of the cathedral church of Saint Paul, and the penitents, with bended
knees, humbly prostrating themselves in prayer upon the steps before the
door of the church, the members of the council and the people of the city
standing around; and the psalm, _Have mercy upon me, O God, after thy
great goodness_," having been chaunted from the beginning to the end, and
the subjoined prayers and sermon having been gone through, they absolved
the said penitents, and received them back to the unity of the church in
the following form:

"In the name of God, Amen. Since by your confession we find that you,
Brother Stephen de Stapelbrugge, have denied Christ Jesus and the blessed
Virgin Mary, and have spat _beside_ the cross, and now taking better
advice wishest to return to the unity of the holy church with a true heart
and sincere faith, as you assert, and all heretical depravity having for
that purpose been previously abjured by you according to the form of the
church, we, by the authority of the council, absolve you from the bonds of
excommunication wherewith you were held fast, and we reconcile you to the
unity of the church, if you shall have returned to her in sincerity of
heart, and shall have obeyed her injunctions imposed upon you."

Brother Thomas Tocci de Thoroldeby was then absolved and reconciled to the
church in the same manner, after which various psalms (Gloria Patri,
Kyrie Eleyson, Christe Eleyson, &c. &c.) were sung, and prayers were
offered up, and then the ceremony was concluded.[403]

On the 1st of July, an avowal of guilt was wrung by the inquisitors from
Brother John de Stoke, chaplain of the order, who, being brought before
the bishops of London and Chichester in St. Martin's church, deposed that
he was received in the mode mentioned by him on his first examination; but
a year and fifteen days after that reception, being at the preceptory of
Garwy in the diocese of Hereford, he was called into the chamber of
Brother James de Molay, the Grand Master of the order, who, in the
presence of two other Templars of foreign extraction, informed him that he
wished to make proof of his obedience, and commanded him to take a seat at
the foot of the bed, and the deponent did so. The Grand Master then sent
into the church for the crucifix, and two serving brothers, with naked
swords in their hands, stationed themselves on either side of the doorway.
As soon as the crucifix made its appearance, the Grand Master, pointing to
the figure of our Saviour nailed thereon, asked the deponent whose image
it was, and he answered, "The image of Jesus Christ, who suffered on the
cross for the redemption of mankind;" but the Grand Master exclaimed,
"Thou sayest wrong, and are much mistakened, for he was the son of a
certain woman, and was crucified because he called himself the Son of God,
and I myself have been in the place where he was born and crucified, and
thou must now deny him whom this image represents." The deponent
exclaimed, "Far be it from me to deny my Saviour;" but the Grand Master
told him he must do it, or he would be put into a sack and be carried to a
place which he would find by no means agreeable, and there were swords in
the room, and brothers ready to use them, &c. &c.; and the deponent asked
if such was the custom of the order, and if all the brethren did the
same; and being answered in the affirmative, he, through fear of immediate
death, denied Christ with his _tongue_, but not with his _heart_. Being
asked in whom he was told to put his faith after he had denied Christ
Jesus, he replies, "In that great Omnipotent God who created the heaven
and the earth."[404]

Such, in substance, was the whole of the criminatory evidence that could
be wrung by torture, by a long imprisonment, and by hardships of every
kind, from the Templars in England. It amounts simply to an assertion that
they compelled all whom they received into their order to renounce the
christian religion, a thing perfectly incredible. Is it to be supposed
that the many good Christians of high birth, and honour, and exalted
piety, who entered into the order of the Temple, taking the cross for
their standard and their guide, would thus suddenly have cast their faith
and their religion to the winds? Would they not rather have denounced the
impiety and iniquity to the officers of the Inquisition, and to the pope,
the superior of the order?

  "Ainsi que la vertu, le crime a ses degrés
  Et jamais on n'a vu la timide innocence
  Passer subitement à l'extreme licence.
  Un seul jour ne fait point d'un mortel vertueux
  Un perfide apostat, un traitre audacieux."
                                _Phedre_, Acte iv. Scene 2.

On Saturday, the 3rd of July, the archbishop of Canterbury, and the
bishops, the clergy, and the people of the city of London, were again
assembled around the western door of Saint Paul's cathedral, and Brother
John de Stoke, chaplain of the order of the Temple, made his public
recantation of the heresies confessed by him, and was then absolved and
reconciled to the church in the same manner as Brothers Thomas de
Stapelbrugge and Tocci de Thoroldeby, after which a last effort was made
to bend the remaining Templars to the wishes of the papal inquisitors.

On Monday, July 5th, at the request of the ecclesiastical council, the
bishop of Chichester had an interview with Sir William de la More, the
Master of the Temple, taking with him certain learned lawyers,
theologians, and scriveners. He exhorted and earnestly pressed him to
abjure the heresies of which he stood convicted, by his own confessions
and those of his brethren, respecting the absolutions pronounced by him in
the chapters, and submit himself to the disposition of the church; but the
Master declared that he had never been guilty of the heresies mentioned,
and that he would not abjure crimes which he had never committed; so he
was sent back to his dungeon.

The next day, (Tuesday, July the 6th,) the bishops of London, Winchester,
and Chichester, had an interview in Southwark with the Knight Templar,
Philip de Mewes, Preceptor of Garwy, and some serving brethren of the New
Temple at London, and told them that they were manifestly guilty of
heresy, as appeared from the pope's bulls, and the depositions taken
against the order both in England and France, and also from their own
confessions regarding the absolutions pronounced in their chapters,
explaining to them that they had grievously erred in believing that the
Master of the Temple, who was a mere layman, had power to absolve them
from their sins by pronouncing an absolution in the mode previously
described, and they warned them that if they persisted in that error they
would be condemned as heretics, and that as they could not clear
themselves therefrom, it behoved them to abjure all the heresies of which
they were accused. The Templars replied that they were ready to abjure the
error they had fallen into respecting the absolution, and _all heresies
of every kind_, before the archbishop of Canterbury and the prelates of
the council, whenever they should be required so to do, and they humbly
and reverently submitted themselves to the orders of the church,
beseeching pardon and grace.

A sort of compromise was then made with most of the Templars in custody in
London. They were required publicly to repeat a form of confession and
abjuration drawn up by the bishops of London and Chichester, and were then
solemnly absolved and reconciled to the church in the following terms:--

"In the name of God, Amen. Since you have confessed in due form before the
ecclesiastical council of the province of Canterbury that you have gravely
erred concerning the sacrament of repentance, in believing that the
absolution pronounced by the Master in chapter had as much efficacy as is
implied in the words pronounced by him, that is to say, 'The sins which
you have omitted to confess through shamefacedness, or through fear of the
justice of the order, we, by virtue of the power delegated to us by God
and our lord the pope, forgive you, as far as we are able;' and since you
have confessed that you cannot entirely purge yourselves from the heresies
set forth under the apostolic bull, and taking sage counsel with a good
heart and unfeigned faith, have submitted yourselves to the judgment and
the mercy of the church, having previously abjured the aforesaid heresies,
and all heresies of every description, we, by the authority of the
council, absolve you from the chain of excommunication wherewith you have
been bound, and reconcile you once more to the unity of the church, &c.
&c."

On the 9th of July, Brother Michael de Baskevile, Knight, Preceptor of
London, and seventeen other Templars, were absolved and reconciled in full
council, in the Episcopal Hall of the see of London, in the presence of a
vast concourse of the citizens.

On the 10th of the same month, the Preceptors of Dokesworth, Getinges, and
Samford, the guardian of the Temple church at London, Brother Radulph de
Evesham, chaplain, with other priests, knights, and serving brethren of
the order, were absolved by the bishops of London, Exeter, Winchester, and
Chichester, in the presence of the archbishop of Canterbury and the whole
ecclesiastical council.

The next day many more members of the fraternity were publicly reconciled
to the church on the steps before the south door of Saint Paul's
cathedral, and were afterwards present at the celebration of high mass in
the interior of the sacred edifice, when they advanced in a body towards
the high altar bathed in tears, and falling down on their knees, they
devoutly kissed the sacred emblems of Christianity.

The day after, (July 12,) nineteen other Templars were publicly absolved
and reconciled to the church at the same place, in the presence of the
earls of Leicester, Pembroke, and Warwick, and afterwards assisted in like
manner at the celebration of high mass. The priests of the order made
their confessions and abjurations in Latin; the knights pronounced them in
Norman French, and the serving brethren for the most part repeated them in
English.[405] The vast concourse of people collected together could have
comprehended but very little of what was uttered, whilst the appearance of
the penitent brethren, and the public spectacle of their recantation,
answered the views of the papal inquisitors, and doubtless impressed the
commonalty with a conviction of the guilt of the order. Many of the
Templars were too _sick_ (suffering doubtless from the effect of torture)
to be brought down to St. Paul's, and were therefore absolved and
reconciled to the church by the bishops of London, Winchester, and
Chichester, at Saint Mary's chapel near the Tower.

Among the prisoners absolved at the above chapel were many old veteran
warriors in the last stage of decrepitude and decay. "They were so old and
so infirm," says the public notary who recorded the proceedings, "that
they were unable to stand;" their confessions were consequently made
before two masters in theology; they were then led before the west door of
the chapel, and were publicly reconciled to the church by the bishop of
Chichester; after which they were brought into the sacred building, and
were placed on their knees before the high altar, which they devoutly
kissed, whilst the tears trickled down their furrowed cheeks. All these
penitent Templars were now released from prison, and directed to do
penance in different monasteries. Precisely the same form of proceeding
was followed at York: the reconciliations and absolution being there
carried into effect before the south door of the cathedral.[406]

Thus terminated the proceedings against the order of the Temple in
England.

Similar measures had, in the mean time, been prosecuted against the
Templars in all parts of Christendom, but no better evidence of their
guilt than that above mentioned was ever discovered. The councils of
Tarragona and Aragon, after applying the torture, pronounced the order
free from heresy. In Portugal and in Germany the Templars were declared
innocent, and in no place situate beyond the sphere of the influence of
the king of France and his creature the pope was a single Templar
condemned to death.[407]

[Sidenote: A. D. 1312.]

On the 16th of October a general council of the church, which had been
convened by the pope to pronounce the abolition of the order, assembled at
Vienne near Lyons in France. It was opened by the holy pontiff in person,
who caused the different confessions and avowals of the Templars to be
read over before the assembled nobles and prelates, and then moved the
suppression of an order wherein had been discovered such crying iniquities
and sinful abominations; but the entire council, with the exception of an
Italian prelate, nephew of the pope, and the three French bishops of
Rheims, Sens, and Rouen, all creatures of Philip, who had severally
condemned large bodies of Templars to be burnt at the stake in their
respective dioceses, were unanimously of opinion, that before the
suppression of so celebrated and illustrious an order, which had rendered
such great and signal services to the christian faith, the members
belonging to it ought to be heard in their own defence.[408] Such a
proceeding, however, did not suit the views of the pope and king Philip,
and the assembly was abruptly dismissed by the holy pontiff, who declared
that since they were unwilling to adopt the necessary measures, he
himself, out of the plenitude of the papal authority, would supply every
defect. Accordingly, at the commencement of the following year, the pope
summoned a private consistory; and several cardinals and French bishops
having been gained over, the holy pontiff abolished the order by an
apostolical ordinance, perpetually prohibiting every one from thenceforth
entering into it, or accepting or wearing the habit thereof, or
representing themselves to be Templars, on pain of excommunication.[409]

On the 3rd of April, the second session of the council was opened by the
pope at Vienne. King Philip and his three sons were present, accompanied
by a large body of troops, and the papal decree abolishing the order was
published before the assembly.[410] The members of the council appear to
have been called together merely to hear the decree read. History does not
inform of any discussion with reference to it, nor of any suffrages having
been taken.

A few months after the close of these proceedings, Brother William de la
More, the Master of the Temple in England, died of a broken heart in his
solitary dungeon in the Tower, persisting with his last breath in the
maintenance of the innocence of his order. King Edward, in pity for his
misfortunes, directed the constable of the Tower to hand over his goods
and chattels, valued at the sum of 4_l._ 19_s._ 11_d._, to his executors,
to be employed in the liquidation of his debts, and he commanded Geoffrey
de la Lee, guardian of the lands of the Templars, to pay the arrears of
his prison pay (2_s._ per diem) to the executor, Roger Hunsingon.[411]

Among the Cotton MS. is a list of the Masters of the Temple, otherwise the
Grand Priors or Grand Preceptors of England, compiled under the direction
of the prior of the Hospital of Saint John at Clerkenwell, to the intent
that the brethren of that fraternity might remember the antient Masters of
the Temple in their prayers.[412] A few names have been omitted which are
supplied in the following list:--

  Magister R. de Pointon.[413]
           Rocelinus de Fossa.[414]
           Richard de Hastings,[415] A. D. 1160.
           Richard Mallebeench.[416]
           Geoffrey, son of Stephen,[417] A. D. 1180.
           Thomas Berard, A. D. 1200.
           Amaric de St. Maur,[418] A. D. 1203.
           Alan Marcel,[419] A. D. 1224.
           Amberaldus, A. D. 1229.
           Robert Mountforde,[420] A. D. 1234.
           Robert Sanford,[421] A. D. 1241.
           Amadeus de Morestello, A. D. 1254.
           Himbert Peraut,[422] A. D. 1270.
           Robert Turvile,[423] A. D. 1290.
           Guido de Foresta,[424] A. D. 1292.
           James de Molay, A. D. 1293.
           Brian le Jay,[425] A. D. 1295.
           WILLIAM DE LA MORE THE MARTYR.

The only other Templar in England whose fate merits particular attention
is Brother Himbert Blanke, the Grand Preceptor of Auvergne. He appears to
have been a knight of high honour and of stern unbending pride. From
first to last he had boldly protested against the violent proceedings of
the inquisitors, and had fearlessly maintained, amid all trials, his own
innocence and that of his order. This illustrious Templar had fought under
four successive Grand Masters in defence of the christian faith in
Palestine, and after the fall of Acre, had led in person several daring
expeditions against the infidels. For these meritorious services he was
rewarded in the following manner:--After having been tortured and
half-starved in the English prisons for the space of five years, he was
condemned, as he would make no confession of guilt, to be shut up in a
loathsome dungeon, to be loaded with double chains, and to be occasionally
visited by the agents of the inquisition, to see if he would confess
_nothing further_![426] In this miserable situation he remained until
death at last put an end to his sufferings.

[Sidenote: A. D. 1313.]

James de Molay, the Grand Master of the Temple, Guy, the Grand Preceptor,
a nobleman of illustrious birth, brother to the prince of Dauphiny, Hugh
de Peralt, the Visitor-general of the Order, and the Grand Preceptor of
Aquitaine, had now languished in the prisons of France for the space of
five years and a half. The Grand Master had been compelled to make a
confession which he afterwards disowned and stigmatized as a forgery,
swearing that if the cardinals who had subscribed it had been of a
different cloth, he would have proclaimed them liars, and would have
challenged them to mortal combat.[427] The other knights had also made
confessions which they had subsequently revoked. The secrets of the dark
prisons of these illustrious Templars have never been brought to light,
but on the 18th of March, A. D. 1313, a public scaffold was erected
before the cathedral church of Notre Dame, at Paris, and the citizens were
summoned to hear the Order of the Temple convicted by the mouths of its
chief officers, of the sins and iniquities charged against it. The four
knights, loaded with chains and surrounded by guards, were then brought
upon the scaffold by the provost, and the bishop of Alba read their
confessions aloud in the presence of the assembled populace. The papal
legate then, turning towards the Grand Master and his companions, called
upon them to renew, in the hearing of the people, the avowals which they
had previously made of the guilt of their order. Hugh de Peralt, the
Visitor-General, and the Preceptor of the Temple of Aquitaine, signified
their assent to whatever was demanded of them, but the Grand Master
raising his arms bound with chains towards heaven, and advancing to the
edge of the scaffold, declared in a loud voice, that to say that which was
untrue was a crime, both in the sight of God and man. "I do," said he,
"confess my guilt, which consists in having, to my shame and dishonour,
suffered myself, through the pain of torture and the fear of death, to
give utterance to falsehoods, imputing scandalous sins and iniquities to
an illustrious order, which hath nobly served the cause of Christianity. I
disdain to seek a wretched and disgraceful existence by engrafting another
lie upon the original falsehood." He was here interrupted by the provost
and his officers, and Guy, the Grand Preceptor, having commenced with
strong asseverations of his innocence, they were both hurried back to
prison.

King Philip was no sooner informed of the result of this strange
proceeding, than, upon the first impulse of his indignation, without
consulting either pope, or bishop, or ecclesiastical council, he commanded
the instant execution of both these gallant noblemen. The same day at dusk
they were led out of their dungeons, and were burned to death in a slow
and lingering manner upon small fires of charcoal which were kindled on
the little island in the Seine, between the king's garden and the convent
of St. Augustine, close to the spot where now stands the equestrian statue
of Henri IV.[428]

Thus perished the last Grand Master of the Temple.

The fate of the persecutors of the order is not unworthy of notice.

A year and one month after the above horrible execution, the pope was
attacked by a dysentery, and speedily hurried to his grave. The dead body
was transported to Carpentras, where the court of Rome then resided; it
was placed at night in a church which caught fire, and the mortal remains
of the holy pontiff were almost entirely consumed. His relations
quarrelled over the immense treasures he left behind him, and a vast sum
of money, which had been deposited for safety in a church at Lucca, was
stolen by a daring band of German and Italian freebooters.

Before the close of the same year, king Philip died of a lingering disease
which baffled all the art of his medical attendants, and the condemned
criminal, upon the strength of whose information the Templars were
originally arrested, was hanged for fresh crimes. "History attests," says
Monsieur Raynouard, "that all those who were foremost in the persecution
of the Templars, came to an untimely and miserable death." The last days
of Philip were embittered by misfortune; his nobles and clergy leagued
against him to resist his exactions; the wives of his three sons were
accused of adultery, and two of them were publicly convicted of that
crime. The misfortunes of Edward the Second, king of England, and his
horrible death in Berkeley Castle, are too well known to be further
alluded to.

To save appearances, the pope had published a bull transferring the
property, late belonging to the Templars, to the order of the Hospital of
Saint John,[429] which had just then acquired additional renown and
popularity in Europe by the conquest from the infidels of the island of
Rhodes. This bull, however, remained for a considerable period nearly a
dead letter, and the Hospitallers never obtained a twentieth part of the
antient possessions of the Templars.

The kings of Castile, Aragon, and Portugal, created new military orders in
their own dominions, to which the estates of the late order of the Temple
were transferred, and, annexing the Grand Masterships thereof to their own
persons, by the title of Perpetual Administrators, they succeeded in
drawing to themselves an immense revenue.[430] The kings of Bohemia,
Naples, and Sicily, retained possession of many of the houses and
strongholds of the Templars in their dominions, and various religious
orders of monks succeeded in installing themselves in the convents of the
fraternity. The heirs of the donors of the property, moreover, claimed a
title to it by escheat, and in most cases where the Hospitallers obtained
the lands and estates granted them by the pope, they had to pay large
fines to adverse claimants to be put into peaceable possession.[431]

"The chief cause of the ruin of the Templars," justly remarks Fuller, "was
their extraordinary wealth. As Naboth's vineyard was the chiefest ground
of his blasphemy, and as in England Sir John Cornwall Lord Fanhope said
merrily, not he, but his stately house at Ampthill in Bedfordshire was
guilty of high treason, so certainly their wealth was the principal cause
of their overthrow.... We may believe that king Philip would never have
taken away their lives if he might have taken their lands without putting
them to death, but the mischief was, he could not get the honey unless he
burnt the bees."[432]

King Philip, the pope, and the European sovereigns, appear to have
disposed of all the personalty of the Templars, the ornaments, jewels, and
treasure of their churches and chapels, and during the period of five
years, over which the proceedings against the order extended, they
remained in the actual receipt of the vast rents and revenues of the
fraternity. After the promulgation of the bull, assigning the property of
the Templars to the Hospitallers, king Philip put forward a claim upon the
land to the extent of two hundred thousand pounds for the expenses of the
prosecution, and Louis Hutin, his son, required a further sum of sixty
thousand pounds from the Hospitallers, before he would consent to
surrender the estates into their hands.[433] "J'ignore," says Voltaire,
"ce qui revint au pape, mais je vois evidemment que les frais des
cardinaux, des inquisiteurs déléguès pour faire ce procès épouvantable
monterent à des sommés immenses."[434] The holy pontiff, according to his
own account, received only a _small portion_ of the personalty of the
order,[435] but others make him a large participator in the good things of
the fraternity.[436]

On the imprisonment of the Templars in England, the Temple at London, and
all the preceptories dependent upon it, with the manors, farms, houses,
lands, and revenues of the fraternity, were placed under the survey of
the Court of Exchequer, and extents[437] were directed to be taken of the
same, after which they were confided to the care of certain trustworthy
persons, styled "Guardians of the lands of the Templars," who were to
account for the rents and profits to the king's exchequer. The bishop of
Lichfield and Coventry had the custody of all the lands and tenements in
the county of Hants. John de Wilburgham had those in the counties of
Norfolk and Suffolk, and there were thirty-two other guardians entrusted
with the care of the property in the remaining counties of England.[438]
These guardians were directed to pay various pensions to the old servants
and retainers of the Templars dwelling in the different preceptories,[439]
also the expenses of the prosecution against the order, and they were at
different times required to provide for the exigencies of the public
service, and to victual the king's castles and strongholds. On the 12th of
January, A. D. 1312, William de Slengesby, guardian of the manor of
Ribbestayn in the county of York, was commanded to forward to the
constable of the castle of Knaresburgh a hundred quarters of corn, ten
quarters of oats, twenty fat oxen, eighty sheep, and two strong carts,
towards the victualling of the said fortress, and the king tells him that
the same shall be duly deducted when he renders his account to the
exchequer of the rents and profits of the said manor.[440] The king,
indeed, began to dispose of the property as if it was wholly vested in the
crown, and made munificent donations to his favourites and friends. In the
month of February of the same year, he gave the manors of Etton and Cave
to David Earl of Athol, directing the guardians of the lands and tenements
of the Templars in the county of York to hand over to the said earl all
the corn in those manors, the oxen, calves, ploughs, and all the goods and
chattels of the Templars existing therein, together with the ornaments and
utensils of the chapel of the Temple.[441]

On the 16th of May, however, the pope addressed bulls to the king, and to
all the earls and barons of the kingdom, setting forth the proceedings of
the council of Vienne and the publication of the papal decree, vesting the
property late belonging to the Templars in the brethren of the Hospital of
St. John, and he commands them forthwith to place the members of that
order in possession thereof. Bulls were also addressed to the archbishops
of Canterbury and York and their suffragans, commanding them to enforce by
ecclesiastical censures the execution of the papal commands.[442] King
Edward and his nobles very properly resisted this decree, and on the 21st
of August the king wrote to the Prior of the Hospital of St. John at
Clerkenwell, telling him that the pretensions of the pope to dispose of
property within the realm of England, without the consent of parliament,
were derogatory to the dignity of the crown and the royal authority; and
he commands him, under severe pains and penalties, to refrain from
attempting to obtain any portion of the possessions of the Templars.[443]
The king, indeed, continued to distribute the lands and rents amongst his
friends and favourites. At the commencement of the year 1313, he granted
the Temple at London, with the church and all the buildings therein, to
Aymer de Valence earl of Pembroke;[444] and on the 5th of May of the same
year he caused several merchants, from whom he had borrowed money, to be
placed in possession of many of the manors of the Templars.[445]

Yielding, however, at last to the exhortations and menaces of the pope,
the king, on the 21st of Nov. A. D. 1313, granted the property to the
Hospitallers,[446] and sent orders to all the guardians of the lands of
the Templars, and to various powerful barons who were in possession of the
estates, commanding them to deliver them up to certain parties deputed by
the Grand Master and chapter of the Hospital of Saint John to receive
them.[447] At this period, however, many of the heirs of the donors, whose
title had been recognized by the law, were in possession of the lands, and
the judges held that the king had no power of his own sole authority to
transfer them to the order of the Hospital.[448] The thunders of the
Vatican were consequently vigorously made use of, and all the detainers of
the property were doomed by the Roman pontiff to everlasting
damnation.[449] Pope John, in one of his bulls, dated A. D. 1322, bitterly
complains of the disregard by all the king's subjects of the papal
commands. He laments that they had hardened their hearts and despised the
sentence of excommunication fulminated against them, and declares that his
heart was riven with grief to find that even the ecclesiastics, who ought
to have been as a wall of defence to the Hospitallers, had themselves been
heinously guilty in the premises.[450]

At last (A. D. 1324) the pope, the bishops, and the Hospitallers, by their
united exertions, succeeded in obtaining an act of parliament, vesting all
the property late belonging to the Templars in the brethren of the
Hospital of Saint John, in order that the intentions of the donors might
be carried into effect by the appropriation of it to the defence of the
Holy Land and the succour of the christian cause in the East.[451] This
statute gave rise to the greatest discontent. The heirs of the donors
petitioned parliament for its repeal, alleging that it had been made
against law and against reason, and contrary to the opinion of the
judges;[452] and many of the great barons who held the property by a title
recognised by the common law, successfully resisted the claims of the
order of the Hospital, maintaining that the parliament had no right to
interfere with the tenure of private property, and to dispose of their
possessions without their consent.

This struggle between the heirs of the donors on the one hand, and the
Hospitallers on the other, continued for a lengthened period; and in the
reign of Edward the Third it was found necessary to pass another act of
parliament, confirming the previous statute in their favour, and writs
were sent to the sheriffs (A. D. 1334) commanding them to enforce the
execution of the acts of the legislature, and to take possession, in the
king's name, of all the property unjustly detained from the brethren of
the Hospital.[453]

Whilst the vast possessions, late belonging to the Templars, thus
continued to be the subject of contention, the surviving brethren of that
dissolved order continued to be treated with the utmost inhumanity and
neglect. The ecclesiastical council had assigned to each of them a pension
of fourpence a day for subsistence, but this small pittance was not paid,
and they were consequently in great danger of dying of hunger. The king,
pitying their miserable situation, wrote to the prior of the hospital of
St. John at Clerkenwell, earnestly requesting him to take their hard lot
into his serious consideration, and not suffer them to come to beggary in
the streets.[454] The archbishop of Canterbury also exerted himself in
their behalf, and sent letters to the possessors of the property,
reproving them for the non-payment of the allotted stipends. "This
inhumanity," says he, "awakens our compassion, and penetrates us with the
most lively grief. We pray and conjure you in kindness to furnish them,
for the love of God and for charity, with the means of subsistence."[455]
The archbishop of York caused many of them to be supported in the
different monasteries of his diocese.[456]

Many of the quondam Templars, however, after the dissolution of their
order, assumed a secular habit; they blended themselves with the laity,
mixed in the pleasures of the world, and even presumed to contract
matrimony, proceedings which drew down upon them the severe indignation of
the Roman pontiff. In a bull addressed to the archbishop of Canterbury,
the pope stigmatises these marriages as unlawful concubinages; he observes
that the late Templars remained bound, notwithstanding the dissolution of
their order, by their vows of perpetual chastity, and he orders them to be
separated from the women whom they had married, and to be placed in
different monasteries, where they are to dedicate themselves to the
service of God, and the strict performance of their religious vows.[457]

The Templars adopted the oriental fashion of long beards, and during the
proscription of the fraternity, when the fugitives who had thrown off
their habits were hunted out like wild beasts, it appears to have been
dangerous for laymen to possess beards of more than a few weeks' growth.

Papers and certificates were granted to men with long beards, to prevent
them from being molested by the officers of justice as suspected Templars,
as appears from the following curious certificate given by king Edward the
Second to his valet, who had made a vow not to shave himself until he had
performed a pilgrimage to a certain place beyond sea.

"Rex, etc. Cum dilectus valettus noster Petrus Auger, exhibitor
præsentium, nuper voverit quod barbam suam radi non faciat, quousque
peregrinationem fecerit in certo loco in partibus transmarinis; et idem
Petrus sibi timeat, quod aliqui ipsum, ratione barbæ suæ prolixæ fuisse
Templarium imponere sibi velint, et ei inferre impedimenta seu gravamina
ex hac causa; Nos veritati volentes testimonium pertulere, vobis tenore
præsentium intimamus, quod prædictus Petrus est valettus cameræ nostræ,
_nec unquam fuit Templarius, sed barbam suam sic prolixam esse permittit,
ex causa superius annotata_, etc. Teste Rege, &c."[458]




CHAPTER XI.

THE TEMPLE CHURCH.

    The restoration of the Temple Church--The beauty and magnificence of
    the venerable building--The various styles of architecture displayed
    in it--The discoveries made during the recent restoration--The
    sacrarium--The marble piscina--The sacramental niches--The penitential
    cell--The ancient Chapel of St. Anne--Historical matters connected
    with the Temple Church--The holy relics anciently preserved
    therein--The interesting monumental remains.

    "If a day should come when pew lumber, preposterous organ cases, and
    pagan altar screens, are declared to be unfashionable, no religious
    building, stript of such nuisances, would come more fair to the sight,
    or give more general satisfaction to the antiquary, than the chaste
    and beautiful Temple Church."--_Gentleman's Magazine_ for May, 1808,
    p. 1087.


"After three centuries of demolition, the solemn structures raised by our
Catholic ancestors are being gradually restored to somewhat of their
original appearance, and buildings, which, but a few years since, were
considered as unsightly and barbarous erections of ignorant times, are now
become the theme of general eulogy and models for imitation."[459]

It has happily been reserved for the present generation, after a lapse of
two centuries, to see the venerable Temple Church, the chief
ecclesiastical edifice of the Knights Templars in Britain, and the most
beautiful and perfect relic of the order now in existence, restored to the
simple majesty it possessed near seven hundred years ago; to see it once
again presenting the appearance which it wore when the patriarch of
Jerusalem exercised his sacred functions within its walls, and when the
mailed knights of the most holy order of the Temple of Solomon, the sworn
champions of the christian faith, unfolded the red-cross banner amid "the
long-drawn aisles," and offered their swords upon the altar to be blessed
by the ministers of religion.

From the period of the reign of Charles the First down to our own times,
the Temple Church has remained sadly disfigured by incongruous innovations
and modern _embellishments_, which entirely changed the antient character
and appearance of the building, and clouded and obscured its elegance and
beauty.

Shortly after the Reformation, the Protestant lawyers, from an
over-anxious desire to efface all the emblems of the popish faith, covered
the gorgeously-painted ceiling of this venerable structure with an uniform
coating of simple whitewash; they buried the antique tesselated pavement
under hundreds of cart-loads of earth and rubbish, on the surface of
which, two feet above the level of the antient floor, they placed another
pavement, formed of old grave-stones. They, moreover, disfigured all the
magnificent marble columns with a thick coating of plaster and paint, and
destroyed the beauty of the elaborately-wrought mouldings of the arches,
and the exquisitely-carved marble ornaments with thick incrustations of
whitewash, clothing the whole edifice in one uniform garb of plain white,
in accordance with the puritanical ideas of those times.

Subsequently, in the reign of Charles the Second, the fine open area of
the body of the church was filled with long rows of stiff and formal pews,
which concealed the bases of the columns, while the plain but handsome
stone walls of the sacred edifice were encumbered, to a height of eight
feet from the ground, with oak wainscoting, which was carried entirely
round the church, so as to shut out from view the elegant marble piscina
on the south side of the building, the interesting arched niches over the
high altar, and the _sacrarium_ on the eastern side of the edifice. The
elegant gothic arches connecting the Round with the oblong portion of the
building were filled up with an oak screen and glass windows and doors,
and with an organ-gallery adorned with Corinthian columns and pilastres
and Grecian ornaments, which divided the building into two parts,
altogether altered its original character and appearance, and sadly marred
its architectural beauty. The eastern end of the church was, at the same
time, disfigured with an enormous altarpiece in the _classic_ style,
decorated with Corinthian columns and Grecian cornices and entablatures,
and with enrichments of cherubims and wreaths of fruit, leaves, and
flowers, exquisitely carved and beautiful in themselves, but heavy and
cumbrous, and quite at variance with the gothic character of the edifice.
A huge pulpit and sounding-board, elaborately carved, were also erected in
the middle of the nave, forming a great obstruction to the view of the
interior of the building, and the walls and all the columns were thickly
clustered and disfigured with mural monuments.

All these unsightly and incongruous additions to the antient fabric have,
thanks to the good taste and the public spirit of the Masters of the
Benches of the societies of the Inner and Middle Temple, been recently
removed; the ceiling of the church has been repainted; the marble columns
and the tesselated pavement have been restored, and the venerable
structure has now been brought back to its antient condition.

The historical associations and recollections connected with the Temple
Church throw a powerful charm around the venerable building. During the
holy fervour of the crusades, the kings of England and the haughty legates
of the pope were wont to mix with the armed bands of the Templars in this
their chief ecclesiastical edifice in Britain. In the twelfth and
thirteenth centuries some of the most remarkable characters of the age
were buried in the Round, and their mail-clad marble monumental effigies,
reposing side by side on the cold pavement, still attract the wonder and
admiration of the inquiring stranger.

The solemn ceremonies attendant in days of yore upon the admission of a
novice to the holy vows of the Temple, conducted with closed doors during
the first watch of the night; the severe religious exercises performed by
the stern military friars; the vigils that were kept up at night in the
church, and the reputed terrors of the penitential cell, all contributed
in times past to throw an air of mystery and romance around the sacred
building, and to create in the minds of the vulgar a feeling of awe and of
superstitious terror, giving rise to those strange and horrible tales of
impiety and crime, of magic and sorcery, which led to the unjust and
infamous execution at the stake of the Grand Master and many hundred
Knights of the Temple, and to the suppression and annihilation of their
proud and powerful order.

The first and most interesting portion of the Temple Church, denominated
by the old writers "THE ROUND," was consecrated in the year 1185 by
Heraclius, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, on his arrival in England from
Palestine, as before mentioned, to obtain succour from king Henry the
Second against the formidable power of the famous Saladin.[460] The old
inscription which formerly stood over the small door of the Round leading
into the cloisters, and which was broken and destroyed by the workmen
whilst repairing the church, in the year 1695, was to the following
effect:--

"On the 10th of February, in the year from the incarnation of our Lord
1185, this church was consecrated in honour of the blessed Mary by our
lord Heraclius, by the grace of God patriarch of the church of the
Resurrection, who hath granted an indulgence of fifty days to those yearly
seeking it."[461]

The oblong portion of the church, which extendeth eastwards from the
Round, was consecrated on Ascension-day, A. D. 1240, as appears from the
following passage in the history of Matthew Paris, the monk of St.
Alban's, who was probably himself present at the ceremony.

"About the same time (A. D. 1240) was consecrated the noble church of the
New Temple at London, an edifice worthy to be seen, in the presence of the
king and much of the nobility of the kingdom, who, on the same day, that
is to say, the day of the Ascension, after the solemnities of the
consecration had been completed, royally feasted at a most magnificent
banquet, prepared at the expense of the Hospitallers."[462]

It was after the promulgation, A. D. 1162 and 1172, of the famous bull
_omne datum optimum_, exempting the Templars from the ordinary
ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and enabling them to admit priests and
chaplains into their order, and appoint them to their churches without
installation and induction, and free from the interference of the bishops,
that the members of this proud and powerful fraternity began to erect at
great cost, in various parts of Christendom, churches of vast splendour
and magnificence, like the one we now see at London. It is probable that
the earlier portion of this edifice was commenced immediately after the
publication of the above bull, so as to be ready (as churches took a long
time in building in those days) for consecration by the Patriarch on his
arrival in England with the Grand Master of the Temple.

As there is a difference in respect of the time of the erection, so also
is there a variation in the style of the architecture of the round and
oblong portions of the church; the one presenting to us a most beautiful
and interesting specimen of that mixed style of ecclesiastical
architecture termed the semi-Norman, and by some writers the intermediate,
when the rounded arch and the short and massive column became mingled
with, and were gradually giving way to, the early Gothic; and the other
affording to us a pure and most elegant example of the latter style of
architecture, with its pointed arches and light slender columns. These two
portions of the Temple Church, indeed, when compared together, present
features of peculiar interest to the architect and the antiquary. The
oblong portion of the venerable fabric affords, perhaps, the first
specimen of the complete conquest of the pointed style over the massive
circular or Norman architecture which preceded its erection, whilst the
Round displays the different changes which the latter style underwent
previous to its final subversion.

The Temple Church is entered by a beautiful semicircular arched doorway,
an exquisite specimen of the Norman style of architecture, still
unfortunately surrounded and smothered by the smoke-dried buildings of
studious lawyers. It is deeply recessed and ornamented on either side
with columns bearing foliated capitals, from whence spring a series of
arched mouldings, richly carved and decorated. Between these columns
project angular piers enriched with lozenges, roses, foliage, and
ornaments of varied pattern and curious device. The upper part of these
piers between the capitals of the columns is hollowed out, and carved
half-length human figures, representing a king and queen, monks and
saints, have been inserted. Some of these figures hold scrolls of paper in
their hands, and others rest in the attitude of prayer. Over them, between
the ribs of the arch, are four rows of enriched foliage springing from the
mouths of human heads.

Having passed this elegant and elaborately-wrought doorway, we enter that
portion of the church called by the old writers

The Round,

which consists of an inner circular area formed by a round tower resting
on six clustered columns, and of a circular external aisle or cloister,
connected with the round tower by a sloping roof on the outside, and
internally by a groined vaulted ceiling. The beauty and elegance of the
building from this point, with its circular colonnades, storied windows,
and long perspective of architectural magnificence, cannot be
described--it must be seen.

From the centre of the Round, the eye is carried upward to the vaulted
ceiling of the inner circular tower with its groined ribs and carved
bosses. This tower rests on six clustered marble columns, from whence
spring six pointed arches enriched with numerous mouldings. The clustered
columns are composed of four marble shafts, surmounted by foliated
capitals, which are each of a different pattern, but correspond in the
general outline, and display great character and beauty. These shafts are
connected together by bands at their centres; and the bases and capitals
run into each other, so as to form the whole into one column. Immediately
above the arches resting on these columns, is a small band or cornice,
which extends around the interior of the tower, and supports a most
elegant arcade of interlaced arches. This arcade is formed of numerous
small Purbeck marble columns, enriched with ornamented bases and capitals,
from whence spring a series of arches which intersect one another, and
produce a most pleasing and striking combination of the round and pointed
arch. Above this elegant arcade is another cornice surmounted by six
circular-headed windows pierced at equal intervals through the thick walls
of the tower. These windows are ornamented at the angles with small
columns, and in the time of the Knights Templars they were filled with
stained glass. Between each window is a long slender circular shaft of
Purbeck marble, which springs from the clustered columns, and terminates
in a bold foliated capital, whereon rest the groined ribs of the ceiling
of the tower.

From the tower, with its marble columns, interlaced arches, and elegant
decorations, the attention will speedily be drawn to the innumerable small
columns, pointed arches, and grotesque human countenances which extend
around the lower portion of the external aisle or cloister encircling the
Round. The more these human countenances are scrutinised, the more
astonishing and extraordinary do they appear. They seem for the most part
distorted and agonised with pain, and have been supposed, not without
reason, to represent the writhings and grimaces of the damned. Unclean
beasts may be observed gnawing the ears and tearing with their claws the
bald heads of some of them, whose firmly-compressed teeth and quivering
lips plainly denote intense bodily anguish. These sculptured visages
display an astonishing variety of character, and will be regarded with
increased interest when it is remembered, that an arcade and cornice
decorated in this singular manner have been observed among the ruins of
the Temple churches at Acre, and in the Pilgrim's Castle. This circular
aisle or cloister is lighted by a series of semicircular-headed windows,
which are ornamented at the angles with small columns.

Over the western doorway leading into the Round, is a beautiful Norman
wheel-window, which was uncovered and brought to light by the workmen
during the recent reparation of this interesting building. It is
considered a masterpiece of masonry.

The entrance from the Round to the oblong portion of the Temple Church is
formed by three lofty pointed arches, which open upon the nave and the two
aisles. The mouldings of these arches display great beauty and elegance,
and the central arch, which forms the grand entrance to the nave, is
supported upon magnificent Purbeck marble columns.

Having passed through one of these elegant and richly-embellished
archways, we enter a large, lofty, and light structure, consisting of a
nave and two aisles of equal height, formed by eight clustered marble
columns, which support a groined vaulted ceiling richly and elaborately
painted. This chaste and graceful edifice presents to us one of the most
pure and beautiful examples in existence of the early pointed style, which
immediately succeeded the mixed order of architecture visible in the
Round. The numerous elegantly-shaped windows which extend around this
portion of the building, the exquisite proportions of the slim marble
columns, the beauty and richness of the architectural decorations, and the
extreme lightness and airiness of the whole structure, give us the idea of
a fairy palace.

The marble columns supporting the pointed arches of the roof, four in
number on each side, do not consist of independent shafts banded together,
as in the Round, but form solid pillars which possess vast elegance and
beauty. Attached to the walls of the church, in a line with these pillars,
are a series of small clustered columns, composed of three slender shafts,
the central one being of Purbeck marble, and the others of Caen stone;
they are bound together by a band at their centres and their bases, which
are of Purbeck marble, rest on a stone seat or plinth, which extends the
whole length of the body of the church. These clustered columns, which are
placed parallel to the large central pillars, are surmounted by foliated
capitals, from whence spring the groined ribs which traverse the vaulted
ceiling of the roof. The side walls are thus divided into five
compartments on either side, which are each filled up with a triple
lancet-headed window, of a graceful form, and richly ornamented. It is
composed of three long narrow openings surmounted by pointed arches, the
central arch rising above the lateral ones. The mouldings of the arches
rest upon four slender marble columns which run up in front of the stone
mullions of the windows, and impart to them great elegance and beauty. The
great number of these windows, and the small intervening spaces of blank
wall between them, give a vast lightness and airiness to the whole
structure.

Immediately beneath them is a small cornice or stringing course of Purbeck
marble, which runs entirely round the body of the church, and supports the
small marble columns which adorn the windows.

The roof is composed of a series of pointed arches supported by groined
ribs, which, diverging from the capitals of the columns, cross one another
at the centre of the arch, and are ornamented at the point of intersection
with richly-carved bosses. This roof is composed principally of chalk, and
previous to the late restoration, had a plain and somewhat naked
appearance, being covered with an uniform coat of humble whitewash. On
the recent removal of this whitewash, extensive remains of an ancient
painted ceiling were brought to light, and it was consequently determined
to repaint the entire roof of the body of the church according to a design
furnished by Mr. Willement.

At the eastern end of the church are three elegant windows opening upon
the three aisles; they are similar in form to the side windows, but the
central one is considerably larger than any of the others, and has in the
spandrels formed by the line of groining two small quatrefoil panels. The
label mouldings on either side of this central window terminate in two
crowned heads, which are supposed to represent king Henry the Third and
his queen. These windows are to be filled with stained glass as in the
olden time, and will, when finished, present a most gorgeous and
magnificent appearance. Immediately beneath them, above the high altar,
are three niches, in which were deposited in days of yore the sacred
vessels used during the celebration of the mass. The central recess,
surmounted by a rounded arch, contained the golden chalice and patin
covered with the veil and bursa; and the niches on either side received
the silver cruets, the ampullæ, the subdeacon's veil, and all the
paraphernalia used during the sacrament. In the stonework around them may
be observed the marks of the locks and fastenings of doors.

These niches were uncovered and brought to light on the removal of the
large heavy oak screen and altar-piece, which disfigured the eastern end
of the church.

On the southern side of the building, near the high altar, is an elegant
marble _piscina_ or _lavacrum_, which was in like manner discovered on
pulling down the modern oak wainscoting. This interesting remnant of
antiquity has been beautifully restored, and well merits attention. It
was constructed for the use of the priest who officiated at the adjoining
altar, and was intended to receive the water in which the chalice had been
rinsed, and in which the priest washed his hands before the consecration
of the bread and wine. It consists of two perforated hollows or small
basins, inclosed in an elegant marble niche, adorned with two graceful
arches, which rest on small marble columns. The holes at the bottom of the
basins communicate with two conduits or channels for draining off the
water, which antiently made its exit through the thick walls of the
church. In the olden time, before the consecration of the host, the priest
walked to the piscina, accompanied by the clerk, who poured water over his
hands, that they might be purified from all stain before he ventured to
touch the body of our Lord. One of these channels was intended to receive
the water in which the priest washed his hands, and the other that in
which he had rinsed the chalice. The piscina, consequently, served the
purposes of a sink.[463]

Adjoining the piscina, towards the eastern end of the church, is a small
elegant niche, in which the ewer, basin, and towels were placed; and
immediately opposite, in the north wall of the edifice, is another niche,
which appears to have been a _sacrarium_ or tabernacle for holding the
eucharist preserved for the use of the sick brethren.[464]

In the centre of the northern aisle of the church, a large recess has been
erected for the reception of the organ, as no convenient place could be
found for it in the old structure. Below this recess, by the side of the
archway communicating with the Round, is a small Norman doorway, opening
upon a dark circular staircase which leads to the summit of the round
tower, and also to


THE PENITENTIAL CELL.

This dreary place of solitary confinement is formed within the thick wall
of the church, and is only four feet six inches long, and two feet six
inches wide, so that it would be impossible for a grown person to lie down
with any degree of comfort within it. Two small apertures, or loopholes,
four feet high and nine inches wide, have been pierced through the walls
to admit light and air. One of these apertures looks eastward into the
body of the church towards the spot where stood the high altar, in order
that the prisoner might see and hear the performance of divine service,
and the other looks southward into the Round, facing the west entrance of
the church. The hinges and catch of a door, firmly attached to the doorway
of this dreary prison, still remain, and at the bottom of the staircase is
a stone recess or cupboard, where bread and water were placed for the
prisoner.

In this miserable cell were confined the refractory and disobedient
brethren of the Temple, and those who were enjoined severe penance with
solitary confinement. Its dark secrets have long since been buried in the
silence of the tomb, but one sad tale of misery and horror, probably
connected with it, has been brought to light.

Several of the brethren of the Temple at London, who were examined before
the papal inquisitors, tell us of the miserable death of Brother Walter le
Bacheler, Knight, Grand Preceptor of Ireland, who, for disobedience to his
superior the Master of the Temple, was fettered and cast into prison, and
there expired from the rigour and severity of his confinement. His dead
body was taken out of the solitary cell in the Temple at morning's dawn,
and was buried by Brother John de Stoke and Brother Radulph de Barton, in
the midst of the court, between the church and the hall.[465]

The discipline of the Temple was strict and austere to an extreme. An
eye-witness tells us that disobedient brethren were confined in chains and
dungeons for a longer or a shorter period, or perpetually, according as it
might seem expedient, in order that their souls might be saved at the last
from the eternal prison of hell.[466] In addition to imprisonment, the
Templars were scourged on their bare backs, by the hand of the Master
himself, in the Temple Hall, and were frequently whipped on Sundays in the
church, in the presence of the whole congregation.

Brother Adam de Valaincourt, a knight of a noble family, quitted the order
of the Temple, but afterwards returned, smitten with remorse for his
disobedience, and sought to be admitted to the society of his quondam
brethren. He was compelled by the Master to eat for a year on the ground
with the dogs; to fast four days in the week on bread and water, and every
Sunday to present himself naked in the church before the high altar, and
receive the discipline at the hands of the officiating priest, in the
presence of the whole congregation.[467]

On the opposite side of the church, corresponding with the doorway and
staircase leading to the penitential cell, there was formerly another
doorway and staircase communicating with a very curious antient structure,
called the chapel of St. Anne, which stood on the south side of the Round,
but was removed during the repairs in 1827. It was two stories in height.
The lower story communicated with the Round through a doorway formed under
one of the arches of the arcade, and the upper story communicated with
the body of the church by the before-mentioned doorway and staircase,
which have been recently stopped up. The roofs of these apartments were
vaulted, and traversed by cross-ribs of stone, ornamented with bosses at
the point of intersection.[468] This chapel antiently opened upon the
cloisters, and formed a private medium of communication between the
convent of the Temple and the church. It was here that the papal legate
and the English bishops frequently had conferences respecting the affairs
of the English clergy, and in this chapel Almaric de Montforte, the pope's
chaplain, who had been imprisoned by king Edward the First, was set at
liberty at the instance of the Roman pontiff, in the presence of the
archbishop of Canterbury, and the Bishops of London, Lincoln, Bath,
Worcester, Norwich, Oxford, and several other prelates, and of many
distinguished laymen; the said Almeric having previously taken an oath
that he would forthwith leave the kingdom, never more to return without
express permission.[469] In times past, this chapel of St. Anne, situate
on the south of "the round about walles," was widely celebrated for its
productive powers. It was resorted to by barren women, and was of great
repute for making them "joyful mothers of children!"[470]

There were formerly numerous priests attached to the Temple church, the
chief of whom was styled _custos_ or guardian of the sacred edifice. King
Henry the Third, for the salvation of his own soul, and the souls of his
ancestors and heirs, gave to the Templars eight pounds per annum, to be
paid out of the exchequer, for the maintenance of three chaplains in the
Temple to say mass daily for ever; one was to pray in the church for the
king himself, another for all christian people, and the third for the
faithful departed.[471] Idonea de Veteri Ponte also gave thirteen bovates
of her land, at Ostrefeld, for the support of a chaplain in the house of
the Temple at London, to pray for her own soul and that of her deceased
husband, Robert de Veteri Ponte.[472]

The _custos_ or guardian of the Temple church was appointed by the Master
and Chapter of the Temple, and entered upon his spiritual duties, as did
all the priests and chaplains of the order, without any admission,
institution, or induction. He was exempt from the ordinary ecclesiastical
authority, and was to pay perfect obedience in all matters, and upon all
occasions, to the Master of the Temple, as his lord and bishop. The
priests of the order took precisely the same vows as the rest of the
brethren, and enjoyed no privileges above their fellows. They remained,
indeed, in complete subjection to the knights, for they were not allowed
to take part in the consultations of the chapter, unless they had been
enjoined so to do, nor could they occupy themselves with the cure of souls
unless required. The Templars were not permitted to confess to priests who
were strangers to the order, without leave so to do.

"_Et les freres chapeleins du Temple dovinent oyr la confession des
freres, ne nul ne se deit confesser a autre chapelein saunz counge, car il
ount greigneur poer du Pape, de els assoudre que un evesque._"

The particular chapters of the Master of the Temple, in which
transgressions were acknowledged, penances were enjoined, and quarrels
were made up, were frequently held on a Sunday morning in the above
chapel of St. Anne, on the south side of the Temple church, when the
following curious form of absolution was pronounced by the Master of the
Temple in the Norman French of that day.

"La manere de tenir chapitre e d'assoudre."

"Apres chapitre dira le mestre, ou cely qe tendra le chapitre. 'Beaus
seigneurs freres, le pardon de nostre chapitre est tiels, qe cil qui
ostast les almones de la meson a tout e male resoun, ou tenist aucune
chose en noun de propre, ne prendreit u tens ou pardoun de nostre
chapitre. Mes toutes les choses qe vous lessez a dire pour hounte de la
char, ou pour poour de la justice de la mesoun qe lein ne la prenge requer
Dieu, e de par la poeste, que nostre sire otria a sein pere, la quele
nostre pere le pape lieu tenaunt a terre a otrye a la maison, e a noz
sovereyns, e nous de par Dieu, e de par nostre mestre, e de tout nostre
chapitre tiel pardoun come ieo vous puis fere, ieo la vous faz, de bon
quer, e de bone volonte. E prioms nostre sire, qe issi veraiement come il
pardona a la glorieuse Magdaléyne, quant ele plura ses pechez. E al larron
en la croiz mis pardona il ses pechez, e a vous face les vos a pardone a
moy les miens. Et pry vous que se ieo ouges meffis oudis a mil de vous que
vous depleise que vous le me pardonez.'"[473]

At the close of the chapter, the Master or the President of the chapter
shall say, "Good and noble brethren, the pardon of our chapter is such,
that he who unjustly maketh away with the alms of the house, or holdeth
anything as his own property, hath no part in the pardon of our chapter,
or in the good works of our house. But those things which through
shame-facedness, or through fear of the justice of the order, you have
neglected to confess before God, I, by the power which our Lord obtained
from his Father, and which our father the pope, his vicar, has granted to
the house, and to our superiors, and to us, by the authority of God and
our Master, and all our chapter, grant unto you, with hearty good will,
such pardon as I am able to give. And we beseech our Lord, that as he
forgave the glorious Mary Magdalene when she bewailed her sins, and
pardoned the robber on the cross, that he will in like manner mercifully
pardon both you and me. And if I have wronged any of you, I beseech you to
grant me forgiveness."

The Temple Church in times past contained many holy and valuable relics,
which had been sent over by the Templars from Palestine. Numerous
indulgences were granted by the bishops of London to all devout Christians
who went with a lively faith to adore these relics. The bishop of Ely also
granted indulgences to all the faithful of his diocese, and to all pious
Christians who attended divine worship in the Temple Church, to the honour
and praise of God, and his glorious mother the Virgin Mary, the
resplendent Queen of Heaven, and also to all such as should contribute,
out of their goods and possessions, to the maintenance and support of the
lights which were kept eternally upon the altars.[474]

The circular form of the oldest portion of the Temple Church imparts an
additional interest to the venerable fabric, as there are only three other
ancient churches in England of this shape. It has been stated that all the
churches of the Templars were built in the circular form, after the model
of the church of the holy sepulchre at Jerusalem; but this was not the
case. The numerous remains of these churches, to be met with in various
parts of Christendom, prove them to have been built of all shapes, forms,
and sizes.

We must now say a word concerning the ancient monuments in the Temple
Church.

In a recess in the south wall, close to the elegant marble piscina,
reposes the recumbent figure of a bishop clad in pontifical robes, having
a mitre on his head and a crosier in his hand. It rests upon an
altar-tomb, and has been beautifully carved out of a single block of
Purbeck marble. On the 7th of September, 1810, this tomb was opened, and
beneath the figure was found a stone coffin, about three feet in height
and ten feet in length, having a circular cavity to receive the head of
the corpse. Within the coffin was found a human skeleton in a state of
perfect preservation. It was wrapped in sheet-lead, part of which had
perished. On the left side of the skeleton were the remains of a crosier,
and among the bones and around the skull were found fragments of sackcloth
and of garments wrought with gold tissue. It was evident that the tomb had
been previously violated, as the sheet-lead had been divided
longitudinally with some coarse cutting instrument, and the bones within
it had been displaced from their proper position. The most remarkable
discovery made on the opening of this tomb was that of the skeleton of an
infant a very few months old, which was found lying at the feet of the
bishop.

Nichols, the antiquary, tells us that Brown Willis ascribed the above
monument to Silvester de Everdon, bishop of Carlisle, who was killed in
the year 1255 by a fall from a mettlesome horse, and was buried in the
Temple Church.[475]

All the monumental remains of the ancient Knights Templars, formerly
existing in the Temple Church, have unfortunately long since been utterly
destroyed. Burton, the antiquary, who was admitted a member of the Inner
Temple in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, on the 20th of May, 1593, tells us
that in the body of the church there was "a large blue marble inlaid with
brasse," with this circumscription--"Hic requiescit Constantius de
Houerio, quondam visitator generalis ordinis militiæ Templi in Angliâ,
Franciâ, et Italiâ."[476] "Here lies Constance de Hover, formerly
visitor-general of the order of the Temple, in England, France, and
Italy." Not a vestige of this interesting monument now remains. During the
recent excavation in the churchyard for the foundations of the new organ
gallery, two very large stone coffins were found at a great depth below
the present surface, which doubtless enclosed the mortal remains of
distinguished Templars. The churchyard appears to abound in ancient stone
coffins.

In the Round of the Temple Church, the oldest part of the present fabric,
are the famous monuments of secular warriors, with their legs crossed, in
token that they had assumed the cross, and taken the vow to march to the
defence of the christian faith in Palestine. These cross-legged effigies
have consequently been termed "the monuments of the crusaders," and are so
singular and interesting, that a separate chapter must be devoted to the
consideration of them.




CHAPTER XII.

THE TEMPLE CHURCH.

    THE MONUMENTS OF THE CRUSADERS--The tomb and effigy of Sir Geoffrey de
    Magnaville, earl of Essex, and constable of the Tower--His life and
    death, and famous exploits--Of William Marshall, earl of Pembroke,
    Protector of England--Of the Lord de Ross--Of William and Gilbert
    Marshall, earls of Pembroke--Of William Plantagenet, fifth son of
    Henry the Third--The anxious desire manifested by king Henry the
    Third, queen Eleanor, and various persons of rank, to be buried in the
    Temple Church.

    "The knights are dust,
    And their good swords are rust,
    Their souls are with the saints, we trust."


The mail-clad monumental effigies reposing side by side on the pavement of
"the Round" of the Temple Church, have been supposed to be monuments of
Knights Templars, but this is not the case. The Templars were always
buried in the habit of their order, and are represented in it on their
tombs. This habit was a long white mantle, as before mentioned, with a red
cross over the left breast; it had a short cape and a hood behind, and
fell down to the feet unconfined by any girdle. In a long mantle of this
description, with the cross of the order carved upon it, is represented
the Knight Templar Brother Jean de Dreux, in the church of St. Yvod de
Braine in France, with this inscription, in letters of gold, carved upon
the monument--F. JEAN LI TEMPLIER FUIS AU COMTE JEAN DE DREUX.[477]

Although not monuments of Knight Templars, yet these interesting
cross-legged effigies have strong claims to our attention upon other
grounds. They appear to have been placed in the Temple Church, to the
memory of a class of men termed "Associates of the Temple," who, though
not actually admitted to the holy vows and habit of the order, were yet
received into a species of spiritual connexion with the Templars,
curiously illustrative of the superstition and credulity of the times.

Many piously-inclined persons of rank and fortune, bred up amid the
pleasures and the luxuries of the world, were anxiously desirous of
participating in the spiritual advantages and blessings believed to be
enjoyed by the holy warriors of the Temple, in respect of the good works
done by the fraternity, but could not bring themselves to submit to the
severe discipline and gloomy life of the regularly-professed brethren. For
the purpose of turning the tendencies and peculiar feelings of such
persons to a good account, the Master and Chapter of the Temple assumed
the power of admitting them into a spiritual association and connexion
with the order, so that, without renouncing their pleasures and giving up
their secular mode of life, they might share in the merit of the good
works performed by the brethren. The mode in which this was frequently
done is displayed to us by the following public authentic document,
extracted by Ducange from the Royal Registry of Provence.

"Be it known to all persons present and to come, that in the year of the
incarnation 1209, in the month of December, I, William D. G., count of
Forcalquier, and son of the deceased Gerald, being inspired with the love
of God, of my own free will, and with hearty desire, dedicate my body and
soul to the Lord, to the most blessed Virgin Mary, and to the house of the
chivalry of the Temple, in manner following. If at any time I determine on
taking the vows of a religious order, I will choose the religion of the
Temple, and none other; but I will not embrace it except in sincerity, of
my own free will, and without constraint. Should I happen to end my days
amid the pleasures of the world, I will be buried in the cemetery of the
house of the Temple. I promise, through love of God, for the repose of my
soul, and the souls of my parents, and of all the dead faithful in Christ,
to give to the aforesaid house of the Temple and to the brethren, at my
decease, my own horse, with two other saddle-horses, all my equipage and
armour complete, as well iron as wood, fit for a knight, and a hundred
marks of silver. Moreover, in acknowledgement of this donation, I promise
to give to the aforesaid house of the Temple and to the brethren, as long
as I lead a secular life, a hundred pennies a year at the feast of the
nativity of our Lord; and all the property of the aforesaid house,
wheresoever situate, I take under my safeguard and protection, and will
defend it in accordance with right and justice against all men.

"This donation I have made in the presence of Brother Peter de Montaigu,
Preceptor of Spain; Brother Peter Cadelli, Preceptor of Provence; and many
other brothers of the order.

"And we, Brother Peter de Montaigu, Master, with the advice and consent of
the other brothers, receive you, the aforesaid Lord William, count of
Fourcalquier, as a benefactor and brother (_in donatum et confratrem_) of
our house, and grant you a bountiful participation in all the good works
that are done in the house of the Temple, both here and beyond sea. Of
this our grant are witnesses, of the brethren of the Temple, Brother
William Cadelli, Preceptor of Provence; Brother Bermond, Preceptor of
Rue; the reverend Brother Chosoardi, Preceptor of Barles; Brother Jordan
de Mison, Preceptor of Embrun; Brother G. de la Tour, Preceptor of the
house of Limaise. Of laymen are witnesses, the lady countess, the mother
of the aforesaid count; Gerald, his brother, &c. &c."[478]

William of Asheby in Lincolnshire was admitted into this species of
spiritual confraternity with the Templars, as appears from the following
grant to the order:

"William of Asheby, to all the barons and vavasors of Lincolnshire, and to
all his friends and neighbours, both French and English, Salvation. Be it
known to all present and to come, that since the knights of the Temple
have received me into confraternity with them, and have taken me under
their care and protection, I the said William have, with the consent of my
Brothers Ingram, Gerard, and Jordan, given and granted to God and the
blessed Mary, and to the aforesaid knights of the Temple, all the residue
of my waste and heath land, over and above what I have confirmed to them
by my previous grant ... &c. &c."[479]

By these curious arrangements with secular persons, the Templars succeeded
in attaching men of rank and influence to their interests, and in
obtaining bountiful alms and donations, both of land and money. It is
probable that the cross-legged monuments in the Temple Church were erected
to the memory of secular warriors who had been admitted amongst the class
of associated brethren of the Temple, and had bequeathed their bodies to
be buried in the Temple cemetery.

During the recent repairs it became necessary to make an extensive
excavation in the Round, and beneath these monumental effigies were found
two enormous stone coffins, together with five leaden coffins curiously
and beautifully ornamented with a device resembling the one observable on
the old tesselated pavement of the church; and an arched vault, which had
been formed in the inner circular foundation, supporting the clustered
columns and the round tower. The leaden coffins had been inclosed in small
vaults, the walls of which had perished. The skeletons within them were
entire and undisturbed; they were enveloped in coarse sackcloth, which
crumbled to dust on being touched. One of these skeletons measured six
feet four inches in length, and another six feet two inches! The large
stone coffins were of immense thickness and weight; they had long
previously been broken open and turned into charnel-houses. In the one
nearest the south window were found three skulls, and a variety of bones,
amongst which were those of some young person. Upon the lid, which was
composed of Purbeck marble, was a large and elegantly-shaped cross,
beautifully sculptured, and in an excellent state of preservation. The
vault constructed in the solid foundations of the pillars of the round
tower, on the north side of the church, contained the remains of a
skeleton wrapped in sackcloth; the skull and the upper part of it were in
a good state of preservation, but the lower extremities had crumbled to
dust.

Neither the number nor the position of the coffins below corresponded with
the figures above, and it is quite clear that these last have been removed
from their original position.

In Camden's Britannia, the first edition of which was published in the
38th of Eliz., A. D. 1586, we are informed that many noblemen lie buried
in the Temple Church, whose effigies are to be seen cross-legged, among
whom were William the father, and William and Gilbert his sons, earls of
Pembroke and marshals of England.[480] Stow, in his Survey of London, the
first edition of which was published A. D. 1598, speaks of them as
follows:

"In the round walk (which is the west part without the quire) there remain
monuments of noblemen there buried, to the number of eleven. _Eight_ of
them are images of armed knights; _five_ lying cross-legged, as men vowed
to the Holy Land against the infidels and unbelieving Jews, the other
three straight-legged. The rest are coped stones, all of gray
marble."[481] A manuscript history of the Temple in the Inner Temple
library, written at the commencement of the reign of Charles the First,
tells us that "the crossed-legged images or portraitures remain in carved
stone in _the middle of the round walke, environed with barres of
iron_."[482] And Dugdale, in his Origines Juridiciales, published 1666,
thus describes them: "Within a spacious _grate of iron in the midst of the
round walk_ under the steeple, do lye _eight_ statues in military habits,
each of them having large and deep shields on their left armes, of which
_five_ are cross-legged. There are also three other gravestones lying
about five inches above the level of the ground, on one of which is a
large escocheon, with a lion rampant graven thereon."[483] Such is the
ancient account of these monuments; now, however, _six_ instead of five
cross-legged statues are to be seen, making _nine_ armed knights, whilst
only _one_ coped gravestone remains. The effigies are no longer inclosed
"within a spacious grate of iron," but are divided into two groups
environed by iron railings, and are placed on either side of the entrance
to the oblong portion of the church.

Whatever change was made in their original position appears to have been
effected at the time that the church was so shamefully disfigured by the
Protestant lawyers, either in the year 1682, when it was "thoroughly
repaired," or in 1695, when "the ornamental screen was set up in it;"
inasmuch, as we are informed by a newspaper, called the Flying Post, of
the date of the 2nd of January, 1696, that Roger Gillingham, Esq.,
treasurer of the Middle Temple, who died on the 29th of December, 1695,
æt. seventy, had the credit of facing the Temple Church with New Portland
stone, and of "_marshalling the Knights Templars in uniform order_."[484]
Stow tells us that "the first of the crossed-legged was William Marshall,
the elder, earl of Pembroke," but the effigy of that nobleman now stands
the second; the additional figure appears to have been placed the first,
and seems to have been brought from the western doorway and laid by the
side of the others.

During the recent restoration of the church, it was necessary to excavate
the earth in every part of the Round, and just beneath the pavement of the
external circular aisle or portico environing the tower, was found a
broken sarcophagus of Purbeck marble, containing a skull and some bones
apparently of very great antiquity; the upper surface of the sarcophagus
was on a level with the ancient pavement; it had no mark or inscription
upon it, and seemed originally to have been decorated with a monumental
effigy.

From two ancient manuscript accounts of the foundation of Walden Abbey,
written by the monks of that great religious house, we learn that Geoffrey
de Magnaville, earl of Essex, the founder of it, being slain by an arrow,
in the year 1144, was taken by the Knights Templars to the Old Temple,
that he was afterwards removed to the cemetery of the New Temple, and that
his body was buried in the portico before the western door of the
church.[485] The sarcophagus lately found in that position is of Purbeck
marble; so also is the first figure on the south side of the Round, whilst
nearly all the others are of common stone. The tablet whereon it rests had
been grooved round the edges and polished; three sides were perfect, but
the fourth had decayed away to the extent of six or seven inches. The
sides of the marble sarcophagus had also been carefully smoothed and
polished. The same thing was not observable amongst the other sarcophagi
and figures. It must, moreover, be mentioned, that the first figure on the
south side had no coffin of any description under it. We may, therefore,
reasonably conclude, that this figure is the monumental effigy of Geoffrey
de Magnaville, earl of Essex. It represents an armed knight with his legs
crossed,[486] in token that he had assumed the cross, and taken a vow to
fight in defence of the christian faith. His body is cased in chain mail,
over which is worn a loose flowing garment confined to the waist by a
girdle, his right arm is placed on his breast, and his left supports a
long shield charged with rays on a diamond ground. On his right side hangs
a ponderous sword of immense length, and his head, which rests on a stone
cushion, is covered with an elegantly-shaped helmet.

Geoffrey de Magnaville, earl of Essex, to whose memory the above monument
appears to have been erected, was one of the most violent of those "barons
bold" who desolated England so fearfully during the reign of king Stephen.
He was the son of that famous soldier, Geoffrey de Magnaville, who fought
so valiantly at the battle of Hastings, and was endowed by the conqueror
with one hundred and eighteen lordships in England. From his father
William de Magnaville, and his mother Magaret, daughter and heiress of the
great Eudo Dapifer, Sir Geoffrey inherited an immense estate in England
and in Normandy. On the accession of king Stephen to the throne, he was
made constable of the Tower, and created earl of Essex, and was sent by
the king to the Isle of Ely to put down a rebellion which had been excited
there by Baldwin de Rivers, and Nigel bishop of Ely.[487]

In A. D. 1136, he founded the great abbey of Walden in Essex, which was
consecrated by the bishops of London, Ely, and Norwich, in the presence of
Sir Geoffrey, the lady Roisia his wife, and all his principal
tenants.[488] For some time after the commencement of the war between
Stephen and the empress Matilda for the succession to the throne, he
remained faithful to the former, but after the fatal result of the bloody
battle of Lincoln, in which king Stephen was taken prisoner, he, in common
with most of the other barons, adhered to the party of Matilda; and that
princess, fully sensible of his great power and commanding influence, left
no means untried to attach him permanently to her interests. She confirmed
him in his post of constable of the Tower; granted him the hereditary
shrievalties of several counties, together with large estates and
possessions both in England and in Normandy, and invested him with
numerous and important privileges.[489] On the flight of the empress,
however, and the discomfiture of her party, king Stephen was released from
prison, and an apparent reconciliation took place between him and his
powerful vassal the earl of Essex, but shortly afterward the king
ventured upon the bold step of seizing and imprisoning the earl and his
father-in-law, Aubrey de Vere, whilst they were unsuspectingly attending
the court at Saint Alban's.

The earl of Essex was compelled to surrender the Tower of London, and
several of his strong castles, as the price of his freedom;[490] but he
was no sooner at liberty, than he collected together his vassals and
adherents, and raised the standard of rebellion. He was joined by crowds
of freebooters and needy adventurers, and soon found himself at the head
of a powerful army. He laid waste the royal domains, pillaged the king's
servants, and subsisted his followers upon plunder. He took and sacked the
town of Cambridge, laid waste the surrounding country, and stormed several
royal castles. He was afterwards compelled to retreat for a brief period
into the fens before a superior force led against him by king Stephen in
person.

The most frightful excesses are said to have been committed by this potent
earl. He sent spies, we are told, to beg from door to door, and discover
where rich men dwelt, that he might seize them at night in their beds,
throw them into dungeons, and compel the payment of a heavy ransom for
their liberty.[491] He got by water to Ramsey, and entering the abbey of
St. Benedict at morning's dawn, surprised the monks asleep in their beds
after the fatigue of nocturnal offices; he turned them out of their
cells, filled the abbey with his soldiers, and made a fort of the church;
he took away all the gold and silver vessels of the altar, the copes and
vestments of the priests and singers ornamented with precious stones, and
all the decorations of the church, and sold them for money to reward his
soldiers.[492] The monkish historians of the period speak with horror of
these sacrilegious excesses.

"He dared," says William, the monk of Newburgh, who lived in the reign of
king Stephen, "to make that celebrated and holy place a robber's cave, and
to turn the sanctuary of the Lord into an abode of the devil. He infested
all the neighbouring provinces with frequent incursions, and at length,
emboldened by constant success, he alarmed and harassed king Stephen
himself by his daring attacks. He thus, indeed, raged madly, and it seemed
as if the Lord slept and cared no longer for human affairs, or rather his
own, that is to say, ecclesiastical affairs, so that the pious labourers
in Christ's vineyard exclaimed, 'Arise, O God, maintain thine own cause
... how long shall the adversary do this dishonour, how long shall the
enemy blaspheme thy name?' But God, willing to make his power known, as
the apostle saith, endured with much 'long-suffering the vessels of wrath
fitted to destruction,' and at last smote his enemies in their hinder
parts. It was discovered indeed, a short time before the destruction of
this impious man, as we have learned from the true relation of many
witnesses, that the walls of the church sweated pure blood,--a terrible
manifestation, as it afterwards appeared, of the enormity of the crime,
and of the speedy judgement of God upon the sinners."[493]

For this sacrilege and impiety Sir Geoffrey was excommunicated, but,
deriding the spiritual thunders, he went and laid siege to the royal
castle at Burwell. After a successful attack which brought him to the foot
of the rampart, he took off his helmet, it being summer-time and the
weather hot, that he might breathe more freely, when a foot soldier
belonging to the garrison shot an arrow from a loophole in the castle
wall, and gave him a slight wound on the head; "which slight wound," says
our worthy monk of Newburgh, "although at first treated with derision,
after a few days destroyed him, so that that most ferocious man, never
having been absolved from the bond of the ecclesiastical curse, went to
hell."[494]

Peter de Langtoft thus speaks of these evil doings of the earl of Essex,
in his curious poetic chronicle.

  "The abbay of Rameseie bi nyght he robbed it
  The tresore bare aweie with hand thei myght on hit.
  Abbot, and prior, and monk, thei did outchace,
  Of holy kirke a toure to theft thei mad it place.
  Roberd the Marmion, the same wayes did he,
  He robbed thorgh treson the kirk of Couentre.
  Here now of their schame, what chance befelle,
  The story sais the same soth as the gospelle:
  Geffrey of Maundeuile to fele wrouh he wouh,[495]
  The deuelle gald him his while with an arrowe him slouh.
  The gode bishop of Chestre cursed this ilk Geffrey,
  The lif out of his estre in cursing went away.
  Arnulf his sonne was taken als thefe, and brouht in bond,
  Before the kyng forsaken, and exiled out of his lond."[496]

The monks of Walden tell us, that as the earl lay wounded on his sick
couch, and felt the hand of death pressing heavy upon him, he bitterly
repented of his evil deeds, and sought, but in vain, for ecclesiastical
assistance. At last some Knights Templars came to him, and finding him
humble and contrite, praying earnestly to God, and making what
satisfaction he could for his past offences, they put on him the habit of
their religion marked with the red cross. After he had expired, they
carried the dead body with them to the Old Temple at London; but as the
earl had died excommunicated, they durst not give him christian burial in
consecrated ground, and they accordingly soldered him up in lead, and hung
him on a crooked tree in their orchard.[497] Some years afterwards,
through the exertions and at the expense of William, whom the earl had
made prior of Walden Abbey, his absolution was obtained from pope
Alexander the Third, so that his body was permitted to be received amongst
Christians, and the divine offices to be celebrated for him. The prior
accordingly endeavoured to take down the corpse and carry it to Walden;
but the Templars, being informed of his design, buried it in their own
cemetery at the New Temple,[498] in the portico before the western door of
the church.[499]

Pope Alexander, from whom the absolution was obtained, was elected to the
pontifical chair in September, 1159, and died in 1181. It was this pontiff
who, who by the bull _omne datum optimum_, promulgated in the year 1162,
conceded to the Templars the privilege of having their own cemeteries free
from the interference of the regular clergy. The land whereon the convent
of the New Temple was erected, was purchased soon after the publication of
the above bull, and a cemetery was doubtless consecrated there for the
brethren long before the completion of the church. To this cemetery the
body of the earl was removed after the absolution had been obtained, and
when the church was consecrated by the patriarch, (A. D. 1185,) it was
finally buried in the portico before the west door.

The monks of Walden tell us that the above earl of Essex was a religious
man, endowed with many virtues.[500] He was married to the famous Roisia
de Vere, of the family of the earls of Oxford, who in her old age led an
ascetic life, and constructed for herself an extraordinary subterranean
cell or oratory, which was curiously discovered towards the close of the
last century.[501] He had issue by this illustrious lady four sons,
Ernulph, Geoffrey, William, and Robert. Ernulph was exiled as the
accomplice of the father in his evil deeds, and Geoffrey succeeded to the
title and the estates.

The second of the cross-legged figures on the south side, in the Round of
the Temple Church, is the monumental effigy of

WILLIAM MARSHALL, EARL OF PEMBROKE,

Earl Marshall, and Protector of England, during the minority of king Henry
the Third, and one of the greatest of the warriors and statesmen who shine
in English history. Matthew Paris describes his burial in the Temple
Church in the year 1119, and in Camden's time, (A. D. 1586,) the
inscription upon his monument was legible. "In altero horum tumulo," says
Camden, "literis fugientibus legi, _Comes Pembrochiæ_, et in latere,
_Miles eram Martis, Mars multos vicerat armis_."[502] Although no longer,
("the first of the cross-legged,") as described by Stow, A. D. 1598, yet
tradition has always, since the days of Roger Gillingham, who moved these
figures, pointed it out as "the monument of the protector," and the lion
rampant, still plainly visible upon the shield, was the armorial bearing
of the Marshalls.

This interesting monumental effigy is carved in a common kind of stone,
called by the masons fire-stone. It represents an armed warrior clothed
from head to foot in chain mail; he is in the act of sheathing a sword
which hangs on his left side; his legs are crossed, and his feet, which
are armed with spurs, rest on a _lion couchant_. Over his armour is worn a
loose garment, confined to the waist by a girdle, and from his left arm
hangs suspended a shield, having a lion rampant engraved thereon. The
greater part of the sword has been broken away and lost, which has given
rise to the supposition that he is sheathing a dagger. The head is
defended by a round helmet, and rests on a stone pillow.

The family of the Marshalls derived their name from the hereditary office
of earl marshall, which they held under the crown.

The above William Marshall was the son and heir of John Marshall, earl of
Strigul, and was the faithful and constant supporter of the royal house of
Plantagenet. When the young prince Henry, eldest son of king Henry the
Second, was on his deathbed at the castle of Martel near Turenne, he gave
to him, as his best friend, his cross to carry to Jerusalem.[503] On the
return of William Marshall from the holy city, he was present at the
coronation of Richard Coeur de Lion, and bore on that occasion the royal
sceptre of gold surmounted by a cross.[504] King Richard the same year
gave him in marriage Isabel de Clare, the only child and heiress of
Richard de Clare, earl of Pembroke, surnamed Strongbow, and granted him
with this illustrious lady the earldom of Pembroke.[505] The year
following (A. D. 1190) he became one of the sureties for the performance
by king Richard of his part of the treaty entered into with the king of
France for the accomplishment of the crusade to the Holy Land, and on the
departure of king Richard for the far East he was appointed by that
monarch one of the council for the government of the kingdom during his
absence.[506]

From the year 1189 to 1205 he was sheriff of Lincolnshire, and was after
that sheriff of Sussex, and held that office during the whole of king
Richard's reign. He attended Coeur de Lion in his expedition to Normandy,
and on the death of that monarch by the hand of Bertram, the
cross-bow-man, before the walls of Castle Chaluz, he was sent over to
England to keep the peace of the kingdom until the arrival of king John.
In conjunction with Hubert, archbishop of Canterbury, he caused the
freemen of England, both of the cities and boroughs, and most of the
earls, barons, and free tenants, to swear fealty to John.[507]

On the arrival of the latter in England he was constituted sheriff of
Gloucestershire and of Sussex, and was shortly afterwards sent into
Normandy at the head of a large body of forces. He commanded in the famous
battle fought A. D. 1202 before the fortress of Mirabel, in which the
unfortunate prince Arthur and his lovely sister Eleanor, "the pearl of
Brittany," were taken prisoners, together with the earl of March, most of
the nobility of Poictou and Anjou, and two hundred French knights, who
were ignominiously put into fetters, and sent away in carts to Normandy.
This battle was followed, as is well known, by the mysterious death of
prince Arthur, who is said to have been murdered by king John himself,
whilst the beautiful Eleanor, nicknamed _La Bret_, who, after the death of
her brother, was the next heiress to the crown of England, was confined in
close custody in Bristol Castle, where she remained a prisoner for life.
At the head of four thousand infantry and three thousand cavalry, the earl
Marshall attempted to relieve the fortress of Chateau Gaillard, which was
besieged by Philip king of France, but failed in consequence of the
non-arrival of seventy flat-bottomed vessels, whose progress up the river
Seine had been retarded by a strong contrary wind.[508] For his fidelity
and services to the crown he was rewarded with numerous manors, lands, and
castles, both in England and in Normandy, with the whole province of
Leinster in Ireland, and he was made governor of the castles of
Caermerden, Cardigan, and Coher.

In the year 1204 he was sent ambassador to Paris, and on his return he
continued to be the constant and faithful attendant of the English
monarch. He was one of the witnesses to the surrender by king John at
Temple Ewell of his crown and kingdom to the pope,[509] and when the
barons' war broke out he was the constant mediator and negotiator between
the king and his rebellious subjects, enjoying the confidence and respect
of both parties. When the armed barons came to the Temple, where king John
resided, to demand the liberties and laws of king Edward, he became surety
for the performance of the king's promise to satisfy their demands. He was
afterwards deputed to inquire what these laws and liberties were, and
after having received at Stamford the written demands of the barons, he
urged the king to satisfy them. Failing in this, he returned to Stamford
to explain the king's denial, and the barons' war then broke out. He
afterwards accompanied king John to the Tower, and when the barons entered
London he was sent to announce the submission of the king to their
desires. Shortly afterwards he attended king John to Runnymede, in company
with Brother Americ, the Master of the Temple, and at the earnest request
of these two exalted personages, king John was at last induced to sign
MAGNA CHARTA.[510]

On the death of that monarch, in the midst of a civil war and a foreign
invasion, he assembled the loyal bishops and barons of the land at
Gloucester, and by his eloquence, talents, and address, secured the throne
for king John's son, the young prince Henry.[511] The greater part of
England was at that time in the possession of prince Louis, the dauphin of
France, who had landed with a French army at Sandwich, and was supported
by the late king's rebellious barons in a claim to the throne. Pembroke
was chosen guardian and protector of the young king and of the kingdom,
and exerted himself with great zeal and success in driving out the French,
and in bringing back the English to their antient allegiance.[512] He
offered pardon in the king's name to the disaffected barons for their past
offences. He confirmed, in the name of the youthful sovereign, MAGNA
CHARTA and the CHARTA FORESTÆ; and as the great seal had been lost by king
John, together with all his treasure, in the washes of Lincolnshire, the
deeds of confirmation were sealed with the seal of the earl marshall.[513]
He also extended the benefit of Magna Charta to Ireland, and commanded all
the sheriffs to read it publicly at the county courts, and enforce its
observance in every particular. Having thus exerted himself to remove the
just complaints of the disaffected, he levied a considerable army, and
having left the young king at Bristol, he proceeded to lay siege to the
castle of Mountsorel in Leicestershire, which was in the possession of the
French.

Prince Louis had, in the mean time, despatched an army of twenty thousand
men, officered by six hundred knights, from London against the northern
counties. These mercenaries stormed various strong castles, despoiled the
towns, villages, and religious houses, and laid waste the open country.
The protector concentrated all his forces at Newarke, and on Whit-monday,
A. D. 1217, he marched at their head, accompanied by his eldest son and
the young king, to raise the siege of Lincoln Castle. On arriving at Stow
he halted his army, and leaving the youthful monarch and the royal family
at that place under the protection of a strong guard, he proceeded with
the remainder of his forces to Lincoln. On Saturday in Whitsun week (A. D.
1217) he gained a complete victory over the disaffected English and their
French allies, and gave a deathblow to the hopes and prospects of the
dauphin. Four earls, eleven barons, and four hundred knights, were taken
prisoners, besides common soldiers innumerable. The earl of Perch, a
Frenchman, was slain whilst manfully defending himself in a churchyard,
having previously had his horse killed under him. The rebel force lost all
their baggage, provisions, treasure, and the spoil which they had
accumulated from the plunder of the northern provinces, among which were
many valuable gold and silver vessels torn from the churches and the
monasteries.

As soon as the fate of the day was decided, the protector rode back to the
young king at Stow, and was the first to communicate the happy
intelligence of his victory.[514] He then marched upon London, where
prince Louis and his adherents had fortified themselves, and leaving a
corps of observation in the neighbourhood of the metropolis, he proceeded
to take possession of all the eastern counties. Having received
intelligence of the concentration of a French fleet at Calais to make a
descent upon the English coast, he armed the ships of the Cinque Ports,
and, intercepting the French vessels, he gained a brilliant victory over
a much superior naval force of the enemy.[515] By his valour and military
talents he speedily reduced the French prince to the necessity of suing
for peace.[516] On the 11th of September a personal interview took place
between the latter and the protector at Staines near London, and it was
agreed that the prince and all the French forces should immediately
evacuate the country.

Having thus rescued England from the danger of a foreign yoke, and having
established tranquillity throughout the country, and secured the young
king Henry in the peaceable and undisputed possession of the throne, he
died (A. D. 1219) at Caversham, leaving behind him, says Matthew Paris,
such a reputation as few could compare with. His dead body was, in the
first instance, conveyed to the abbey at Reading, where it was received by
the monks in solemn procession. It was placed in the choir of the church,
and high mass was celebrated with vast pomp. On the following day it was
brought to Westminster Abbey, where high mass was again performed; and
from thence it was borne in state to the Temple Church, where it was
solemnly interred on Ascension-day, A. D. 1219.[517] Matthew Paris tells
us that the following epitaph was composed to the memory of the above
distinguished nobleman:--

  "Sum quem Saturnum sibi sensit Hibernia, solem
  Anglia, Mercurium Normannia, Gallia Martem."

For he was, says he, always the tamer of the mischievous Irish, the honour
and glory of the English, the negotiator of Normandy, in which he
transacted many affairs, and a warlike and invincible soldier in France.

The inscription upon his tomb was, in Camden's time, almost illegible, as
before mentioned, and the only verse that could be read was,

"Miles eram Martis Mars multos vicerat armis."

All the historians of the period speak in the highest terms of the earl of
Pembroke as a warrior[518] and a statesman, and concur in giving him a
noble character. Shakspeare, consequently, in his play of King John,
represents him as the eloquent intercessor in behalf of the unfortunate
prince Arthur.

Surrounded by the nobles, he thus addresses the king on his throne--

    "PEMBROKE. I (as one that am the tongue of these,
  To sound the purposes of all their hearts,)
  Both for myself and them, (but, chief of all,
  Your safety, for the which myself and them
  Bend their best studies,) heartily request
  The enfranchisement of Arthur; whose restraint
  Doth move the murmuring lips of discontent
  To break into this dangerous argument,--
  If, what in rest you have, in right you hold,
  Why then your fears, (which, as they say, attend
  The steps of wrong,) should move you to mew up
  Your tender kinsman, and to choke his days
  With barbarous ignorance, and deny his youth
  The rich advantage of good exercise?
  That the time's enemies may not have this
  To grace occasions, let it be our suit
  That you have bid us ask his liberty;
  Which for our goods we do no further ask,
  Than whereupon our weal, on you depending.
  Counts it your weal, he have his liberty."

Afterwards, when he is shown the dead body of the unhappy prince, he
exclaims--

  "O death, made proud with pure and princely beauty!
  The earth had not a hole to hide this deed.

       *       *       *       *       *

  All murders past do stand excused in this:
  And this, so sole, and so unmatchable,
  Shall give a holiness, a purity,
  To the yet unbegotten sin of times,
  And prove a deadly bloodshed but a jest,
  Exampled by this heinous spectacle."

This illustrious nobleman was a great benefactor to the Templars. He
granted them the advowsons of the churches of Spenes, Castelan-Embyan,
together with eighty acres of land in Eschirmanhir.[519]

By the side of the earl of Pembroke, towards the northern windows of the
Round of the Temple Church, reposes a youthful warrior, clothed in armour
of chain mail; he has a long buckler on his left arm, and his hands are
pressed together in supplication upon his breast. This is the monumental
effigy of Robert Lord de Ros, and is the most elegant and interesting in
appearance of all the cross-legged figures in the Temple Church. The head
is uncovered, and the countenance, which is youthful, has a remarkably
pleasing expression, and is graced with long and flowing locks of curling
hair. On the left side of the figure is a ponderous sword, and the armour
of the legs has a ridge or seam up the front, which is continued over the
knee, and forms a kind of garter below the knee. The feet are trampling on
a lion, and the legs are crossed in token that the warrior was one of
those military enthusiasts who so strangely mingled religion and romance,
"whose exploits form the connecting link between fact and fiction, between
history and the fairy tale." It has generally been thought that this
interesting figure is intended to represent a genuine Knight Templar
clothed in the habit of his order, and the loose garment or surcoat thrown
over the ring-armour, and confined to the waist by a girdle, has been
described as "a flowing mantle with a kind of _cowl_." This supposed cowl
is nothing more than a fold of the chain mail, which has been covered with
a thick coating of paint. The mantle is the common surcoat worn by the
secular warriors of the day, and is not the habit of the Temple. Moreover,
the long curling hair manifests that the warrior whom it represents could
not have been a Templar, as the brethren of the Temple were required to
cut their hair close, and they wore long beards.

In an antient genealogical account of the Ros family,[520] written at the
commencement of the reign of Henry the Eighth, A. D. 1513, two centuries
after the abolition of the order of the Temple, it is stated that Robert
Lord de Ros became a Templar, and was buried at London. The writer must
have been mistakened, as that nobleman remained in possession of his
estates up to the day of his death, and his eldest son, after his decease,
had livery of his lands, and paid his fine to the king in the usual way,
which would not have been the case if the Lord de Ros had entered into the
order of the Temple. He was doubtless an associate or honorary member of
the fraternity, and the circumstance of his being buried in the Temple
Church probably gave rise to the mistake. The shield of his monumental
effigy is charged with three water bougets, the armorial ensigns of his
family, similar to those observable in the north aisle of Westminster
Abbey.

Robert Lord de Ros, in consequence of the death of his father in the
prime of life, succeeded to his estates at the early age of thirteen, and
in the second year of the reign of Richard Coeur de Lion, (A. D. 1190,) he
paid a fine of one thousand marks, (£666, 13_s._ 4_d._,) to the king for
livery of his lands. In the eighth year of the same king, he was charged
with the custody of _Hugh de Chaumont_, an illustrious French prisoner of
war, and was commanded to keep him _safe as his own life_. He, however,
devolved the duty upon his servant, William de Spiney, who, being bribed,
suffered the Frenchman to escape from the Castle of Bonville, in
consequence whereof the Lord de Ros was compelled by king Richard to pay
eight hundred pounds, the ransom of the prisoner, and William de Spiney
was executed.[521]

On the accession of king John to the throne, the Lord de Ros was in high
favour at court, and received by grant from that monarch the barony of his
ancestor, Walter l'Espec. He was sent into Scotland with letters of safe
conduct to the king of Scots, to enable that monarch to proceed to England
to do homage, and during his stay in Scotland he fell in love with
Isabella, the beautiful daughter of the Scottish king, and demanded and
obtained her hand in marriage. He attended her royal father on his journey
into England to do homage to king John, and was present at the interview
between the two monarchs on the hill near Lincoln, when the king of
Scotland swore fealty on the cross of Hubert archbishop of Canterbury, in
the presence of the nobility of both kingdoms, and a vast concourse of
spectators.[522] From his sovereign the Lord de Ros obtained various
privileges and immunities, and in the year 1213 he was made sheriff of
Cumberland. He was at first faithful to king John, but, in common with the
best and bravest of the nobles of the land, he afterwards shook off his
allegiance, raised the standard of rebellion, and was amongst the
foremost of those bold patriots who obtained MAGNA CHARTA. He was chosen
one of the twenty-five conservators of the public liberties, and engaged
to compel John to observe the great charter.[523] he infant prince Henry,
through the influence and persuasions of the earl of Pembroke, the
Protector,[524] and he received from the youthful monarch various marks of
the royal favour. He died in the eleventh year of the reign of the young
king Henry the Third, (A. D. 1227,) and was buried in the Temple
Church.[525]

The above Lord de Ros was a great benefactor to the Templars. He granted
them the manor of Ribstane, and the advowson of the church; the ville of
Walesford, and all his windmills at that place; the ville of Hulsyngore,
with the wood and windmill there; also all his land at Cattall, and
various tenements in Conyngstreate, York.[526]

Weever has evidently misapplied the inscription seen on the antient
monument of Brother Constance Hover, the visitor-general of the order of
the Temple, to the above nobleman.

As regards the remaining monumental effigies in the Temple Church, it
appears utterly impossible at this distance of time to identify them, as
there are no armorial bearings on their shields, or aught that can give us
a clue to their history. There can be no doubt but that two of the figures
are intended to represent William Marshall, junior, and Gilbert Marshall,
both earls of Pembroke, and sons of the Protector. Matthew Paris tells us
that these noblemen were buried by the side of their father in the Temple
Church, and their identification would consequently have been easy but
for the unfortunate removal of the figures from their original situations
by the immortal _Roger Gillingham_.

Next to the Lord de Ros reposes a stern warrior, with both his arms
crossed on his breast. He has a plain wreath around his head, and his
shield, which has no armorial bearings, is slung on his left arm. By the
side of this figure is a coaped stone, which formed the lid of an antient
sarcophagus. The ridges upon it represent a cross, the top of which
terminates in a trefoil, whilst the foot rests on the head of a lamb. From
the middle of the shaft of the cross issue two fleurets or leaves. As the
lamb was the emblem of the order of the Temple, it is probable that the
sarcophagus to which this coaped stone belonged, contained the dead body
either of one of the Masters, or of one of the visitors-general of the
Templars.

Of the figures in the northernmost group of monumental effigies in the
Temple Church, only two are cross-legged. The first figure on the south
side of the row, which is straight-legged, holds a drawn sword in its
right hand pointed towards the ground; the feet are supported by a
leopard, and the cushion under the head is adorned with sculptured foliage
and flowers. The third figure has the sword suspended on the right side,
and the hands are joined in a devotional attitude upon the breast. The
fourth has a spirited appearance. It represents a cross-legged warrior in
the act of drawing a sword, whilst he is at the same time trampling a
dragon under his feet. It is emblematical of the religious soldier
conquering the enemies of the christian church. The next and last
monumental effigy, which likewise has its legs crossed, is similar in
dress and appearance to the others; the right arm reposes on the breast,
and the left hand rests on the sword. These two last figures, which
correspond in character, costume, and appearance, may perhaps be the
monumental effigies of William and Gilbert Marshall, the two sons of the
Protector.

WILLIAM MARSHALL, commonly called THE YOUNGER, was one of the bold and
patriotic barons who compelled king John to sign MAGNA CHARTA. He was
appointed one of the twenty-five conservators of the public liberties, and
was one of the chief leaders and promoters of the barons' war, being a
party to the covenant for holding the city and Tower of London.[527] On
the death of king John, his father the Protector brought him over to the
cause of the young king Henry, the rightful heir to the throne, whom he
served with zeal and fidelity. He was a gallant soldier, and greatly
distinguished himself in a campaign in Wales. He overthrew Prince
Llewellyn in battle with the loss of eight thousand men, and laid waste
the dominions of that prince with fire and sword.[528] For these services
he had scutage of all his tenants in _twenty counties in England_! He was
made governor of the castles of Cardigan and Carmarthen, and received
various marks of royal favour. In the fourteenth year of the reign of king
Henry the Third, he was made captain-general of the king's forces in
Brittany, and, whilst absent in that country, a war broke out in Ireland,
whereupon he was sent to that kingdom with a considerable army to restore
tranquillity. He married Eleanor, the daughter of king John by the
beautiful Isabella of Angoulême, and he was consequently the
brother-in-law of the young king Henry the Third.[529] He died without
issue, A. D. 1231, (15 Hen. III.,) and on the 14th of April he was buried
in the Temple Church at London, by the side of his father the Protector.
He was greatly beloved by king Henry the Third, who attended his funeral,
and Matthew Paris tells us, that when the king saw the dead body covered
with the mournful pall, he heaved a deep sigh, and was greatly
affected.[530]

The manors, castles, estates, and possessions of this powerful nobleman in
England, Wales, Ireland, and Normandy, were immense. He gave extensive
forest lands to the monks of Tinterne in Wales; he founded the monastery
of Friars preachers in Dublin, and to the Templars he gave the church of
Westone with all its appurtenances, and granted and confirmed to them the
borough of Baudac, the estate of Langenache, with various lands,
windmills, and _villeins_ of the soil.[531]

GILBERT MARSHALL, EARL OF PEMBROKE, brother to the above, and third son of
the Protector, succeeded to the earldom and the vast estates of his
ancestors on the melancholy murder in Ireland of his gallant brother
Richard, "the flower of the chivalry of that time," (A. D. 1234.) The year
after his accession to the title he married Margaret, the daughter of the
king of Scotland, who is described by Matthew Paris as "a most elegant
girl,"[532] and received with her a splendid dowry. In the year 1236 he
assumed the cross, and joined the king's brother, the earl of Cornwall, in
the promotion of a Crusade to the Holy Land.

Matthew Paris gives a long account of an absurd quarrel which broke out
between this earl of Pembroke and king Henry the Third, when the latter
was eating his Christmas dinner at Winchester, in the year 1239.[533]

At a great meeting of Crusaders at Northampton, he took a solemn oath upon
the high altar of the church of All Saints to proceed without delay to
Palestine to fight against the enemies of the cross;[534] but his
intentions were frustrated by the hand of death. At a tournament held at
Ware, A. D. 1241, he was thrown from his horse, and died a few hours
afterwards at the monastery at Hertford. His entrails were buried in the
church of the Virgin at that place, but his body was brought up to London,
accompanied by all his family, and was interred in the Temple Church by
the side of his father and eldest brother.[535]

The above Gilbert Marshall granted to the Templars the church of Weston,
the borough of Baldok, lands and houses at Roydon, and the wood of
Langnoke.[536]

All the five sons of the elder Marshall, the Protector, died without issue
in the reign of Henry the Third, and the family became extinct. They
followed one another to the grave in regular succession, so that each
attained for a brief period to the dignity of the earldom, and to the
hereditary office of EARL MARSHALL.

Matthew Paris accounts for the melancholy extinction of this noble and
illustrious family in the following manner.

He tells us that the elder Marshall, the Protector, during a campaign in
Ireland, seized the lands of the reverend bishop of Fernes, and kept
possession of them in spite of a sentence of excommunication which was
pronounced against him. After the Protector had gone the way of all flesh,
and had been buried in the Temple Church, the reverend bishop came to
London, and mentioned the circumstance to the king, telling him that the
earl of Pembroke had certainly died excommunicated. The king was much
troubled and alarmed at this intelligence, and besought the bishop to go
to the earl's tomb and absolve him from the bond of excommunication,
promising the bishop that he would endeavour to procure him ample
satisfaction. So anxious, indeed, was king Henry for the safety of the
soul of his quondam guardian, that he accompanied the bishop in person to
the Temple Church; and Matthew Paris declares that the bishop, standing by
the tomb in the presence of the king, and in the hearing of many
bystanders, pronounced these words: "O William, who lyest here interred,
and held fast by the chain of excommunication, if those lands which thou
hast unjustly taken away from my church be rendered back to me by the
king, or by your heir, or by any of your family, and if due satisfaction
be made for the loss and injury I have sustained, I grant you absolution;
but if not, I confirm my previous sentence, so that, enveloped in your
sins, you stand for evermore condemned to hell!"

The restitution was never made, and the indignant bishop pronounced this
further curse, in the words of the Psalmist: "His name shall be rooted out
in one generation, and his sons shall be deprived of the blessing,
INCREASE AND MULTIPLY; some of them shall die a miserable death; their
inheritance shall be scattered; and this thou, O king, shall behold in thy
lifetime, yea, in the days of thy flourishing youth." Matthew Paris dwells
with great solemnity on the remarkable fulfilment of this dreadful
prophecy, and declares that when the oblong portion of the Temple Church
was consecrated, the body of the Protector was found entire, sewed up in
a bull's hide, but in a state of putridity, and disgusting in
appearance.[537]

It will be observed that the dates of the burial of the above nobleman, as
mentioned by Matthew Paris and other authorities, are as follow:--William
Marshall the elder, A. D. 1219; Lord de Ros, A. D. 1227; William Marshall
the younger, A. D. 1231; all before the consecration of the oblong portion
of the church. Gilbert Marshall, on the other hand, was buried A. D. 1241,
the year after that ceremony had taken place. Those, therefore, who
suppose that the monumental effigies of the Marshall originally stood in
the eastern part of the building, are mistaken.

Amongst the many distinguished persons interred in the Temple Church is
WILLIAM PLANTAGENET, the fifth son of Henry the Third, who died A. D.
1256, under age.[538] The greatest desire was manifested by all classes of
persons to be buried in the cemetery of the Templars.

King Henry the Third provided for his own interment in the Temple by a
formal instrument couched in the following pious and reverential terms:--

"To all faithful Christians to whom these presents shall come, Henry by
the grace of God king of England, lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy and
Aquitaine, and count of Anjou, salvation. Be it known to all of you, that
we, being of sound mind and free judgment, and desiring with pious
forethought to extend our regards beyond the passing events of this life,
and to determine the place of our sepulture, have, on account of the love
we bear to the order and to the brethren of the chivalry of the Temple,
given and granted, after this life's journey has drawn to a close, and we
have gone the way of all flesh, our body to God and the blessed Virgin
Mary, and to the house of the chivalry of the Temple at London, to be
there buried, expecting and hoping that through our Lord and Saviour it
will greatly contribute to the salvation of our soul.... We desire that
our body, when we have departed this life, may be carried to the aforesaid
house of the chivalry of the Temple, and be there decently buried as above
mentioned.... As witness the venerable father R., bishop of Hereford, &c.
Given by the hand of the venerable father Edmund, bishop of Chichester,
our chancellor, at Gloucester, the 27th of July, in the nineteenth year of
our reign."[539]

Queen Eleanor also provided in a similar manner for her interment in the
Temple Church, the formal instrument being expressed to be made with the
consent and approbation of her lord, Henry the illustrious king of
England, who had lent a willing ear to her prayers upon the subject.[540]
These sepulchral arrangements, however, were afterwards altered, and the
king by his will directed his body to be buried as follows:--"I will that
my body be buried in the church of the blessed Edward at Westminster,
there being no impediment, having formerly appointed my body to be buried
in the New Temple."[541]




CHAPTER XIII.

THE TEMPLE.

    Antiquities in the Temple--The history of the place subsequent to the
    dissolution of the order of the Knights Templars--The establishment of
    a society of lawyers in the Temple--The antiquity of this society--Its
    connexion with the antient society of the Knights Templars--An order
    of knights and serving brethren established in the law--The degree of
    _frere serjen_, or _frater serviens_, borrowed from the antient
    Templars--The modern Templars divide themselves into the two societies
    of the Inner and Middle Temple.

                    "Those bricky towers,
    The which on Themme's brode aged back do ride,
    Where now the studious lawyers have their bowers;
    There whilom wont the Templer Knights to bide,
    Till they decayed thro' pride."


There are but few remains of the antient Knights Templars now existing in
the Temple beyond the church. The present Inner Temple Hall was their
antient hall, but it has at different periods been so altered and repaired
as to have lost every trace and vestige of antiquity. In the year 1816 it
was almost entirely rebuilt, and the following extract from "The Report
and Observations of the Treasurer on the late Repairs of the Inner Temple
Hall" may prove interesting, as showing the state of the edifice previous
to that period.

"From the proportions, the state of decay, the materials of the eastern
and southern walls, the buttresses of the southern front, the pointed form
of the roof and arches, and the rude sculpture on the two doors of public
entrance, the hall is evidently of very great antiquity.... The northern
wall appears to have been rebuilt, except at its two extremities, in
modern times, but on the old foundations.... The roof was found to be in a
very decayed and precarious state; many timbers were totally rotten. It
appeared to have undergone reparation at three separate periods of time,
at each of which timber had been unnecessarily added, so as finally to
accumulate a weight which had protruded the northern and southern walls.
It became, therefore, indispensable to remove all the timber of the roof,
and to replace it in a lighter form. On removing the old wainscoting of
the western wall, a perpendicular crack of considerable height and width
was discovered, which threatened at any moment the fall of that extremity
of the building with its superincumbent roof.... The turret of the clock
and the southern front of the hall are only cased with stone; this was
done in the year 1741, and very ill executed. The structure of the turret,
composed of chalk, rag-stone, and rubble, (the same material as the walls
of the church,) seems to be very antient.... The wooden cupola of the bell
was so decayed as to let in the rain, and was obliged to be renewed in a
form to agree with the other parts of the southern front."

"Notwithstanding the Gothic character of the building, in the year 1680,
during the treasurership of Sir Thomas Robinson, prothonotary of C. B., a
Grecian screen of the Doric order was erected, surmounted by lions' heads,
cones, and other incongruous devices."

"In the year 1741, during the treasurership of John Blencowe, esq., low
windows of Roman architecture were formed in the southern front."

"The dates of such innovations appear from inscriptions with the
respective treasurers' names."

This antient hall formed the far-famed refectory of the Knights Templars,
and was the scene of their proud and sumptuous hospitality. Within its
venerable walls they at different periods entertained king John, king
Henry the Third, the haughty legates of Roman pontiffs, and the
ambassadors of foreign powers. The old custom, alluded to by Matthew
Paris,[542] of hanging around the wall the shields and armorial devices of
the antient knights, is still preserved, and each succeeding treasurer of
the Temple still continues to hoist his coat of arms on the wall, as in
the high and palmy days of the warlike monks of old.

At the west end of the hall are considerable remains of the antient
convent of the Knights Templars. A groined Gothic arch of the same style
of architecture as the oldest part of the Temple Church forms the ceiling
of the present buttery, and in the apartment beyond is a groined vaulted
ceiling of great beauty. The ribs of the arches in both rooms are
elegantly moulded, but are sadly disfigured with a thick coating of
plaster and barbarous whitewash. In the cellars underneath these rooms are
some old walls of immense thickness, the remains of an antient window, a
curious fireplace, and some elegant pointed Gothic arches corresponding
with the ceilings above; but they are now, alas! shrouded in darkness,
choked with modern brick partitions and staircases, and soiled with the
damp and dust of many centuries. These interesting remains form an upper
and an under story, the floor of the upper story being on a level with the
floor of the hall, and the floor of the under story on a level with the
terrace on the south side thereof. They were formerly connected with the
church by means of a covered way or cloister, which ran at right angles
with them over the site of the present cloister-chambers, and communicated
with the upper and under story of the chapel of St. Anne, which formerly
stood on the south side of the church. By means of this corridor and
chapel the brethren of the Temple had private access to the church for the
performance of their strict religious duties, and of their secret
ceremonies of admitting novices to the vows of the order. In 9 Jac. I. A.
D. 1612, some brick buildings three stories high were erected over this
antient cloister by Francis Tate, esq., and being burnt down a few years
afterwards, the interesting covered way which connected the church with
the antient convent was involved in the general destruction, as appears
from the following inscription upon the present buildings:

"VETUSTISSIMA TEMPLARIORUM PORTICU IGNE CONSUMTA, ANNO 1678, NOVA HÆC,
SUMPTIBUS MEDII TEMPLI EXTRUCTA ANNO 1681 GULIELMO WHITELOCKE ARMIGERO,
THESAURARIO.

"The very antient portico of the Templars being consumed by fire in the
year 1678, these new buildings were erected at the expense of the Middle
Temple in the year 1681, William Whitlock, esq., being treasurer."

The cloisters of the Templars formed the medium of communication between
the hall, the church, and the cells of the serving brethren of the
order.[543]

During the formation of the present new entrance into the Temple by the
church, at the bottom of the Inner Temple-lane, a considerable portion of
the brickwork of the old houses was pulled down, and an antient wall of
great thickness was disclosed. It was composed of chalk, rag-stone, and
rubble, exactly resembling the walls of the church. It ran in a direction
east and west, and appeared to have formed the extreme northern boundary
of the old convent.

The site of the remaining buildings of the antient Temple cannot now be
determined with certainty.

The mansion-house, (_Mansum Novi Templi_,) the residence of the Master and
knights, who were lodged separately from the serving brethren and ate at a
separate table, appears to have stood at the east end of the hall, on the
site of the present library and apartments of the masters of the bench.

The proud and powerful Knights Templars were succeeded in the occupation
of the TEMPLE by a body of learned lawyers, who took possession of the old
hall and the gloomy cells of the military monks, and converted the chief
house of their order into the great and most antient Common Law University
of England.

For more than five centuries the retreats of the religious warriors have
been devoted to "the studious and eloquent pleaders of causes," a new kind
of Templars, who, as Fuller quaintly observes, now "defend one Christian
from another as the old ones did Christians from Pagans." The modern
Templars have been termed _milites justitiæ_, or "_soldiers of justice_,"
for, as John of Salisbury, a writer of the twelfth century, saith, "neque
reipublicæ militant soli illi, qui galeis thoracisque muniti in hostes
exercent tela quælibet, sed et patroni causarum, qui lapsa erigunt,
fatigata reparant, nec minus provident humano generi, quam si laborantium
vitam, spem, posterosque, armorum præsidio, ab hostibus tuerentur." "They
do not alone fight for the state who, panoplied in helmets and
breastplates, wield the sword and the dart against the enemy, for the
pleaders of causes, who redress wrongs, who raise up the oppressed, do
protect and provide for the human race as much as if they were to defend
the lives, fortunes, and families of industrious citizens with the
sword."[544]

  "Besides encounters at the bar
  Are braver now than those in war,
  In which the law does execution
  With less disorder and confusion;
  Has more of honour in't, some hold,
  Not like the new way, but the old,
  When those the pen had drawn together
  Decided quarrels with the feather,
  And winged arrows killed as dead,
  And more than bullets now of lead:
  So all their combats now, as then,
  Are managed chiefly by the pen;
  That does the feat, with braver vigours,
  In words at length, as well as figures."

The settlement of the lawyers in the Temple was brought about in the
following manner.

On the imprisonment of the Knights Templars, the chief house of the order
in London, in common with the other property of the military monks, was
seized into the king's hands, and was committed to the care of James le
Botiller and William de Basing, who, on the 9th of December, A. D. 1311,
were commanded to hand it over to the sheriffs of London, to be taken
charge of by them.[545] Two years afterwards the Temple was granted to
that powerful nobleman, Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, who had been
one of the leaders of the baronial conspiracy against Piers
Gavaston.[546] As Thomas earl of Lancaster, however, claimed the
Temple by escheat as the immediate lord of the fee, the earl of Pembroke,
on the 3rd of Oct., A. D. 1315, at the request of the king, and in
consideration of other lands being granted to him by his sovereign,
remised and released all his right and title therein to Lancaster.[547]
This earl of Lancaster was cousin-german to the English monarch, and first
prince of the blood; he was the most powerful and opulent subject of the
kingdom, being possessed of no less than six earldoms, with a
proportionable estate in land, and at the time that the Temple was added
to his numerous other possessions he was at the head of the government,
and ruled both the king and country as president of the council. In an
antient MS. account of the Temple, formerly belonging to lord Somers and
afterwards to Nicholls, the celebrated antiquary, apparently written by a
member of the Inner Temple, it is stated that the lawyers "made
composition with the earl of Lancaster for a lodging in the Temple, and so
came hither, and have continued here ever since." That this was the case
appears highly probable from various circumstances presently noticed.

The earl of Lancaster held the Temple rather more than six years and a
half.

When the king's attachment for Hugh le Despenser, another favourite, was
declared, he raised the standard of rebellion. He marched with his forces
against London, gave law to the king and parliament, and procured a
sentence of attainder and perpetual exile against Hugh le Despenser. The
fortune of war, however, soon turned against him. He was defeated, and
conducted a prisoner to his own castle of Pontefract, where king Edward
sat in judgment upon him, and sentenced him to be hung, drawn, and
quartered, as a rebel and a traitor. The same day he was clothed in mean
attire, was placed on a lean jade without a bridle, a hood was put on his
head, and in this miserable condition he was led through the town of
Pontefract to the place of execution, in front of his own castle.[548]

A few days afterwards, the king, whilst he yet tarried at Ponfract,
granted the Temple to Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, by a royal
charter couched in the following terms:--

"Edward by the grace of God, king, &c., to the archbishops, bishops,
abbots, priors, earls, barons, justiciaries, &c. &c., health. Know that on
account of the good and laudable service which our beloved kinsman and
faithful servant Aymer de Valence hath rendered and will continue to
render to us, we have given and granted, and by our royal charter have
confirmed to the said earl, the mansion-house and messuage called the New
Temple in the suburb of London, with the houses, rents, and all other
things to the same mansion-house and messuage belonging, formerly the
property of the Templars, and afterwards of Thomas earl of Lancaster, our
enemy and rebel, and which, by the forfeiture of the same Thomas, have
come into our hands by way of escheat, to be had and holden by the same
Aymer and the heirs of his body lawfully begotten, of us and our heirs,
and the other chief lords of the fee, by the same services as those
formerly rendered; but if the said Aymer shall die without heirs of his
body lawfully begotten, then the said mansion-house, messuage, &c. &c.,
shall revert to us and our heirs."[549]

Rather more than a year after the date of this grant, Aymer de Valence was
murdered. He had accompanied queen Isabella to the court of her father,
the king of France, and was there slain (June 23rd, A. D. 1323) by one of
the English fugitives of the Lancastrian faction, in revenge for the death
of the earl of Lancaster, whose destruction he was believed to have
compassed. His dead body was brought over to England, and buried in
Westminster Abbey at the head of Edmund Crouchback, earl of Lancaster. He
left no issue, and the Temple, consequently, once more reverted to the
crown.[550]

It was now granted to Hugh le Despenser the younger, the king's favourite,
at the very time that the act of parliament (17 Edward II.) was passed,
conferring all the lands of the Templars upon the Hospitallers of St.
John.[551] Hugh le Despenser, in common with the other barons, paid no
attention to the parliament, and held the Temple till the day of his
death, which happened soon after, for on the 24th of September, A. D.
1326, Queen Isabella landed in England with the remains of the Lancastrian
faction; and after driving her own husband, Edward the Second, from the
throne, she seized the favourite, and caused him instantly to be condemned
to death. On St. Andrew's Eve he was led out to execution; they put on him
his surcoat of arms reversed, a crown of nettles was placed on his head,
and on his vestment they wrote six verses of the psalm, beginning, _Quid
gloriaris in malitiâ_.[552] After which he was hanged on a gallows eighty
feet high, and was then beheaded, drawn, and quartered. His head was sent
to London, and stuck upon the bridge; and of the four quarters of his
body, one was sent to York, another to Bristol, another to Carlisle, and
the fourth to Dover.[553]

Thus perished the last private possessor of the Temple at London.

The young prince, Edward the Third, now ascended the throne, leaving his
parent, the dethroned Edward the Second, to the tender mercies of the
gaolers of Berkeley Castle. He seized the Temple, as forfeited to him by
the attainder of Hugh le Despenser, and committed it to the keeping of the
mayor of London, his escheator in the city. The mayor, as guardian of the
Temple, took it into his head to close the gate leading to the waterside,
which stood at the bottom of the present Middle Temple Lane, whereby the
lawyers were much incommoded in their progress backwards and forwards from
the Temple to Westminster. Complaints were made to the king on the
subject, who, on the 2nd day of November, in the third year of his reign,
wrote as follows to the mayor:

"The king to the mayor of London, his escheator[554] in the same city.

"Since we have been given to understand that there ought to be a free
passage through the court of the New Temple at London to the river Thames,
for our justices, clerks, and others, who may wish to pass by water to
Westminster to transact their business, and that you keep the gate of the
Temple shut by day, and so prevent those same justices, clerks of ours,
and other persons, from passing through the midst of the said court to the
waterside, whereby as well our own affairs as those of our people in
general are oftentimes greatly hindered, we command you, that you keep the
gates of the said Temple open by day, so that our justices and clerks, and
other persons who wish to go by water to Westminster, may be able so to do
by the way to which they have hitherto been accustomed.

"Witness ourself at Kenilworth, the 2nd day of November, and third year of
our reign."[555]

The following year the king again wrote to the mayor, his escheator in the
city of London, informing him that he had been given to understand that
the bridge in the said court of the Temple, leading to the river, was so
broken and decayed, that his clerks and law officers, and others, could no
longer get across it, and were consequently prevented from passing by
water to Westminster. "We therefore," he proceeds, "being desirous of
providing such a remedy as we ought for this evil, command you to do
whatever repairs are necessary to the said bridge, and to defray the cost
thereof out of the proceeds of the lands and rents appertaining to the
said Temple now in your custody; and when we shall have been informed of
the things done in the matter, the expense shall be allowed you in your
account of the same proceeds.

"Witness ourself at Westminster, the 15th day of January, and fourth year
of our reign."[556]

Two years afterwards (6 E. III, A. D. 1333) the king committed the custody
of the Temple to "his beloved clerk," William de Langford, "and farmed out
the rents and proceeds thereof to him for the term of ten years, at a rent
of 24_l._ per annum, the said William undertaking to keep all the houses
and tenements in good order and repair, and so deliver them up at the end
of the term."[557]

In the mean time, however, the pope, the bishops, and the Hospitallers had
been vigorously exerting themselves to obtain a transfer of the property,
late belonging to the Templars, to the order of the Hospital of Saint
John. The Hospitallers petitioned the king, setting forth that the church,
the cloisters, and other places within the Temple, were consecrated and
dedicated to the service of God, that they had been unjustly occupied and
detained from them by Hugh le Despenser the younger, and, through his
attainder, had lately come into the king's hands, and they besought the
king to deliver up to them possession thereof. King Edward accordingly
commanded the mayor of London, his escheator in that city, to take
inquisition concerning the premises.

From this inquisition, and the return thereof, it appears that many of the
founders of the Temple Church, and many of the brethren of the order of
Knights Templars, then lay buried in the church and cemetery of the
Temple; that the bishop of Ely had his lodging in the Temple, known by the
name of the bishop of Ely's chamber; that there was a chapel dedicated to
St. Thomas-à-Becket, which extended from the door of the TEMPLE HALL as
far as the ancient gate of the Temple; also a cloister which began at the
bishop of Ely's chamber, and ran in an _easterly_ direction; and that
there was a wall which ran in a northerly direction as far as the said
king's highway; that in the front part of the cemetery towards the north,
bordering on the king's highway, were thirteen houses formerly erected,
with the assent and permission of the Master and brethren of the Temple,
by Roger Blom, a messenger of the Temple, for the purpose of holding the
lights and ornaments of the church; that the land whereon these houses
were built, the cemetery, the church, and all the space inclosed between
St. Thomas's chapel, the church, the cloisters, and the wall running in a
northerly direction, and all the buildings erected thereon, together with
the hall, cloisters, and St. Thomas's chapel, were sanctified places
dedicated to God; that Hugh le Despenser occupied and detained them
unjustly, and that through his attainder and forfeiture, and not
otherwise, they came into the king's hands.[558]

After the return of this inquisition, the said sanctified places were
assigned to the prior and brethren of the Hospital of Saint John; and the
king, on the 11th of January, in the tenth year of his reign, A. D. 1337,
directed his writ to the barons of the Exchequer, commanding them to take
inquisition of the value of the said sanctified places, so given up to the
Hospitallers, and of the residue of the Temple, and certify the same under
their seals to the king, in order that a reasonable abatement might be
made in William de Langford's rent. From the inquiry made in pursuance of
this writ before John de Shorditch, a baron of the Exchequer, it further
appears that on the said residue of the Temple upon the land then
remaining in the custody of William de Langford, and withinside the great
gate of the Temple, were another HALL[559] and four chambers connected
therewith, a kitchen, a garden, a stable, and a chamber beyond the great
gate; also eight shops, seven of which stood in Fleet Street, and the
eighth in the suburb of London, without the bar of the New Temple; that
the annual value of these shops varied from ten to thirteen, fifteen, and
sixteen shillings; that the fruit out of the garden of the Temple sold for
sixty shillings per annum in the gross; that seven out of the thirteen
houses erected by Roger Blom were each of the annual value of eleven
shillings; and that the eighth, situated beyond the gate of entrance to
the church, was worth four marks per annum. It appears, moreover, that the
total annual revenue of the Temple then amounted to 73_l._ 6_s._ 11_d._, equal
to about 1,000_l._ of our present money, and that William de Langford was
abated 12_l._ 4_s._ 2_d._ of his said rent.[560]

Three years after the taking of this inquisition, and in the thirteenth
year of his reign, A. D. 1340, king Edward the Third in consideration of
the sum of one hundred pounds, which the prior of the Hospital promised to
pay him towards the expense of his expedition into France, granted to the
said prior all the residue of the Temple then remaining in the king's
hands, to hold, together with the cemetery, cloisters, and the other
sanctified places, to the said prior and his brethren, and their
successors, of the king and his heirs, for charitable purposes, for
ever.[561] From the above grant it appears that the porter of the Temple
received sixty shillings and tenpence per annum, and twopence a day wages,
which were to be paid him by the Hospitallers.

At this period Philip Thane was prior of the Hospital; and he appears to
have exerted himself to impart to the celebration of divine service in the
Temple Church, the dignity and the splendour it possessed in the time of
the Templars. He, with the unanimous consent and approbation of the whole
chapter of the Hospital, granted to Brother Hugh de Lichefeld, priest, and
to his successors, guardians of the Temple Church, towards the improvement
of the lights and the celebration of divine service therein, all the land
called Ficketzfeld, and the garden called Cotterell Garden;[562] and two
years afterwards he made a further grant, to the said Hugh and his
successors, of a thousand fagots a year to be cut of the wood of
Lilleston, and carried to the New Temple to keep up the fire in the said
church.[563]

King Edward the Third, in the thirty-fifth year of his reign, A. D. 1362,
notwithstanding the grant of the Temple to the Hospitallers, exercised the
right of appointing to the porter's office and by his letters patent he
promoted Roger Small to that post for the term of his life, in return for
the good service rendered him by the said Roger Small.[564]

It is at this period that the first distinct mention of a society of
lawyers in the Temple occurs.

The poet Chaucer, who was born at the close of the reign of Edward the
Second, A. D. 1327, and was in high favour at court in the reign of Edward
the Third, thus speaks of the MANCIPLE, or the purveyor of provisions of
the lawyers in the Temple:

  "A gentil Manciple was there of the TEMPLE,
  Of whom achatours mighten take ensemple,
  For to ben wise in bying of vitaille.
  For whether that he paid or toke by taille,
  Algate he waited so in his achate,
  That he was aye before in good estate.
  Now is not that of God a full fayre grace,
  That swiche a lewed mannes wit shal pace,
  The wisdome of an hepe of lerned men?"
  "Of maisters had he mo than thries ten,
  THAT WERE OF LAWE EXPERT AND CURIOUS:
  Of which there was a dosein in that hous
  Worthy to ben stewardes of rent and lond
  Of any lord that is in Englelond,
  To maken him live by his propre good,
  In honour detteles, but if he were wood,
  Or live as scarsly, as him list desire;
  And able for to helpen all a shire,
  In any cas that mighte fallen or happe;
  And yet this manciple sette hir aller cappe."[565]

It appears, therefore, that the lawyers in the Temple, in the reign of
Edward the Third, had their purveyor of provisions as at this day, and
were consequently then keeping commons, or dining together in hall.

In the fourth year of the reign of Richard the Second, A. D. 1381, a still
more distinct notice occurs of the Temple, as the residence of the
_learners_ and the _learned_ in the law.

We are told in an antient chronicle, written in Norman French, formerly
belonging to the abbey of St. Mary's at York, that the rebels under Wat
Tyler went to the Temple and pulled down the houses, and entered the
church and took all the books and the rolls of remembrances which were in
the chests of the LEARNERS OF THE LAW in the Temple, and placed them under
the large chimney and burnt them. ("Les rebels alleront a le TEMPLE et
jetteront les measons a la terre et avegheront tighles, issint que ils
fairont coverture en mal array; et alleront en l'esglise, et pristeront
touts les liveres et rolles de remembrances, que furont en leur huches
deins LE TEMPLE DE APPRENTICES DE LA LEY; et porteront en le haut chimene
et les arderont."[566]) And Walsingham, who wrote in the reign of Henry
the Sixth, about fifty years after the occurrence of these events, tells
us that after the rebels, under Wat Tyler and Jack Straw, had burnt the
Savoy, the noble palace of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, they pulled
down the place called Temple Barr, where the apprentices or learners of
the highest branch of the profession of the law dwelt, on account of the
spite they bore to Robert Hales, Master of the Hospital of Saint John of
Jerusalem, and burnt many deeds which the lawyers there had in their
custody. ("Quibus perpetratis, satis malitiose etiam locum qui vocatur
Temple Barre, in quo _apprenticii juris_ morabantur _nobiliores_,
diruerunt, ob iram quam conceperant contra Robertum de Hales Magistrum
Hospitalis Sancti Johannis Jerusalem, ubi plura munimenta, quæ Juridici in
custodiâ habuerunt, igne consumpta sunt.")[567]

In a subsequent passage, however, he gives us a better clue to the attack
upon the Temple, and the burning of the deeds and writings, for he tells
us that it was the intention of the rebels to decapitate all the lawyers,
for they thought that by destroying them they could put an end to the law,
and so be enabled to order matters according to their own will and
pleasure. ("Ad decollandum omnes juridicos, escaetores, et universos qui
vel in lege docti fuere, vel cum jure ratione officii communicavere. Mente
nempe conceperant, doctis in lege necatis, universa juxta communis plebis
scitum de cætero ordinare, et nullam omnino legem fore futuram, vel si
futura foret, esse pro suorum arbitrio statuenda.")

It is evident that the lawyers were the immediate successors of the
Knights Templars in the occupation of the Temple, as the _lessees_ of the
earl of Lancaster.

Whilst the Templars were pining in captivity in the dungeons of London and
of York, king Edward the Second paid to their servants and retainers the
pensions they had previously received from the treasury of the Temple, on
condition that they continued to perform the services and duties they had
rendered to their antient masters. On the 26th of November, A. D. 1311, he
granted to Robert Styfford, clerk, for his maintenance in the house of the
Temple at London, two deniers a day, and five shillings a year for
necessaries, provided he did service in the church; and when unable to do
so, he was to receive only his food and lodging. Geoffrey Talaver was to
receive, in the same house of the Temple, three deniers a day for his
sustenance, and twenty shillings a year for necessaries, during the
remainder of his life; also one denier a day for the support of his boy,
and five shillings a year for his wages. Geoffrey de Cave, clerk, and John
de Shelton, were also, each of them, to receive from the same house, for
their good services, an annual pension of forty shillings for the term of
their lives.[568] Some of these retainers, in addition to their various
stipends, were to have a gown of the class of free-serving brethren of the
order of the Temple[569] each year; one old garment out of the stock of
old garments belonging to the brethren;[570] one mark a year for their
shoes, &c.; their sons also received so much _per diem_, on condition that
they did the daily work of the house. These retainers were of the class of
free servants of office; they held their posts for life, and not being
members of the order of the Temple, they were not included in the general
proscription of the fraternity. In return for the provision made them by
the king, they were to continue to do their customary work as long as they
were able.

Now it is worthy of remark, that many of the rules, customs, and usages of
the society of Knights Templars are to this day observed in the Temple,
naturally leading us to conclude that these domestics and retainers of the
antient brotherhood became connected with the legal society formed
therein, and transferred their services to that learned body.

From the time of Chaucer to the present day, the lawyers have dined
together in the antient hall, as the military monks did before them; and
the rule of their order requiring "two and two to eat together," and "all
the fragments to be given in brotherly charity to the domestics," is
observed to this day, and has been in force from time immemorial. The
attendants at table, moreover, are still called _paniers_, as in the days
of the Knights Templars.[571] The leading punishments of the Temple, too,
remain the same as in the olden time. The antient Templar, for example,
for a light fault, was "withdrawn from the companionship of his fellows,"
and not allowed "to eat with them at the same table,"[572] and the modern
Templar, for impropriety of conduct, is "expelled the hall" and "put out
of commons." The brethren of the antient fraternity were, for grave
offences, in addition to the above punishment, deprived of their
lodgings,[573] and were compelled to sleep with the beasts in the open
court; and the members of the modern fellowship have in bygone times, as a
mode of punishment, been temporarily deprived of their chambers in the
Temple for misconduct, and padlocks have been put upon the doors. The
Master and Chapter of the Temple, in the time of the Knights Templars,
exercised the power of imprisonment and expulsion from the fellowship, and
the same punishments have been freely used down to a recent period by the
Masters of the Bench of the modern societies. Until of late years, too,
the modern Templars have had their readers, officers of great dignity,
whose duty it has been to read and expound LAW in the hall, at and after
meals, in the same way as the readers of the Knights Templars read and
expounded RELIGION.

There has also been, in connexion with the modern fellowship, a class of
_associates_ similar to the associates of the antient Templars.[574] These
were illustrious persons who paid large sums of money, and made presents
of plate, to be admitted to the fellowship of the Masters of the Bench;
they were allowed to dine at the Bench table, to be as it were honorary
members of the society, but were freed from the ordinary exercises and
regulations of the house, and had at the same time no voice in the
government thereof.

The conversion of the chief house of the most holy order of the Temple of
Solomon in England into a law university, was brought about in the
following manner.

Both before, and for a very considerable period after, the Norman
conquest, the study of the law was confined to the ecclesiastics, who
engrossed all the learning and knowledge of the age.[575] In the reign of
king Stephen, the foreign clergy who had flocked over after the conquest,
attempted to introduce the ancient civil law of Rome into this country, as
calculated to promote the power and advantage of their order, but were
resolutely resisted by the king and the barons, who clung to their old
customs and usages. The new law, however, was introduced into all the
ecclesiastical courts, and the clergy began to abandon the municipal
tribunals, and discontinue the study of the common law. Early in the reign
of Henry the Third, episcopal constitutions were published by the bishop
of Salisbury, forbidding clerks and priests to practise as advocates in
the common law courts. (_Nec advocati sint clerici vel sacerdotes in foro
sæculari, nisi vel proprias causas vel miserabilium personarum
prosequantur._[576]) Towards the close of the same reign, (A. D. 1254,)
Pope Innocent IV. forbade the reading of the common law by the clergy in
the English universities and seminaries of learning, because its decrees
were not founded on the _imperial constitutions_, but merely on the
_customs of the laity_.[577]

As the common law consequently gradually ceased to be studied and taught
by the clergy, who were the great depositaries of legal learning, as of
all other knowledge in those days, it became necessary to educate and
train up a body of laymen to transact the judicial business of the
country; and Edward the First, who, from his many legal reforms and
improvements, has been styled "the English Justinian," made the practice
of the common law a distinct profession.

In antient times the Court of _Common Pleas_ had the exclusive
administration of the _common law_, and settled and decided all the
disputes which arose between _subject_ and _subject_; and in the twentieth
year of the reign of Edward the First, (A. D. 1292,) the privilege of
pleading causes in this court was confined to a certain number of learned
persons appointed by authority. By an order in council, the king commanded
John de Metingham, chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and the
rest of his fellow justices, that they, according to their discretions,
should provide and ordain from every county a certain number of attorneys
and apprentices of the law, of the best and most apt for their learning
and skill, to do service to his court and people, and those so chosen
should follow his court and transact the affairs therein, and _no others_;
the king and his council deeming the number of fourscore to be sufficient
for that employment; but it was left to the discretion of the said
justices to add to that number, or to diminish it, as they should think
fit.[578]

At this period the Court of Common Pleas had been fixed at Westminster,
which brought together the professors of the common law at London; and
about the period of the dissolution of the order of the Temple, a society
appears to have been in progress of formation, under the sanction of the
judges, for the education of a body of learned secular lawyers to attend
upon that court. The deserted convent of the Knights Templars, seated in
the suburb of London, away from the noise and bustle of the city, and
presenting a ready and easy access by water to Westminster, was a
desirable retreat for the learned members of this infant legal society;
and we accordingly find, that very soon after the dissolution of the
religio-military order of Knights Templars, the professors of the common
law of England mustered in considerable strength in the Temple.

In the sixth year of the reign of Edward the Third, (A. D. 1333,) when the
lawyers had just established themselves in the convent of the Temple, and
had engrafted upon the old stock of Knights Templars their infant society
for the study of the practice of the common law, the judges of the Court
of Common Pleas were made KNIGHTS,[579] being the earliest instance on
record of the grant of the honour of knighthood for services purely
civil, and the professors of the common law, who had the exclusive
privilege of practising in that court, assumed the title or degree of
FRERES SERJENS or FRATRES SERVIENTES, so that knights and
serving-brethren, similar to those of the antient order of the Temple,
were most curiously revived and introduced into the profession of the law.

It is true that the word _serviens_, _serjen_, or serjeant, was applied to
the professors of the law long before the reign of Edward the Third, but
not to denote a _privileged brotherhood_. It was applied to lawyers in
common with all persons who did any description of work for another, from
the _serviens domini regis ad legem_, who prosecuted the pleas of the
crown in the county court, to the _serviens_ or _serjen_ who walked with
his cane before the concubine of the Patriarch in the streets of
Jerusalem.[580] The priest who worked for the Lord was called _serjens de
Dieu_, and the lover who served the lady of his affections _serjens
d'amour_.[581] It was in the order of the Temple that the word _freres_
serjens or _fratres_ servientes signified an honorary title or degree, and
denoted a powerful privileged class of men. The _fratres servientes
armigeri_ or _freres serjens des armes_, of the chivalry of the Temple,
were of the rank of gentlemen. They united in their own persons the
monastic and the military character, they were allotted one horse each,
they wore the red cross of the order of the Temple on their breasts,[582]
they participated in all the privileges of the brotherhood, and were
eligible to the dignity of Preceptor. Large sums of money were frequently
given by seculars who had not been advanced to the honour of knighthood,
to be admitted amongst this highly-esteemed order of men.

The _freres serjens_ of the Temple wore linen _coifs_, and red caps close
over them.[583] At the ceremony of their admission into the fraternity,
the Master of the Temple placed the coif upon their heads, and threw over
their shoulders the white mantle of the Temple; he then caused them to sit
down on the ground, and gave them a solemn admonition concerning the
duties and responsibilities of their profession.[584] They were warned
that they must enter upon a new life, that they must keep themselves fair
and free from stain, like the white garment that had been thrown around
them, which was the emblem of purity and innocence; that they must render
complete and perfect obedience to their superiors; that they must protect
the weak, succour the needy, reverence old men, and do good to the poor.

The knights and serjeants of the common law, on the other hand, have ever
constituted a privileged _fraternity_, and always address one another by
the endearing term _brother_. The religious character of the antient
ceremony of admission into this legal brotherhood, which took place in
church, and its striking similarity to the antient mode of reception into
the fraternity of the Temple, are curious and remarkable.

"Capitalis Justitiarius," says an antient MS. account of the creation of
serjeants-at-law in the reign of Henry the Seventh, "monstrabat eis plura
bona exempla de eorum prædecessoribus, et tunc posuit les _coyfes_[585]
super eorum capitibus, et induebat eos singulariter de capital de
skarletto, et sic creati fuerunt _servientes ad legem_." In his admonitory
exhortation, the chief justice displays to them the moral and religious
duties of their profession. "Ambulate in vocatione in quâ vocati estis....
Disce cultum Dei, _reverentiam superioris(!), misericordiam pauperi_." He
tells them the coif is sicut vestis _candida_ et immaculata, the emblem of
purity and virtue, and he commences a portion of his discourse in the
scriptural language used by the popes in the famous bull conceding to the
Templars their vast spiritual and temporal privileges, "_Omne datum
optimum et omne donum perfectum desursum est descendens a patre luminum,
&c. &c._!"[586]

The _freres serjens_ of the Temple were strictly enjoined to "eat their
bread in silence," and "place a watch upon their mouths," and the _freres
serjens_ of the law, we are told, after their admission, did "dyne
together with sober countenance and lytel communycacion."

The common-law lawyers, after their location in the Temple, continued
rapidly to increase, and between the reigns of Richard the Second and
Henry the Sixth, they divided themselves into two bodies. "In the raigne
of king Henry the Sixth," says the MS. account of the Temple, written 9
Charles the First, "they were soe multiplied and grown into soe great a
bulke as could not conveniently be regulated into one society, nor indeed
was the old hall capable of containing so great a number, whereupon they
were forced to divide themselves. A new hall was then erected which is now
the Junior Temple Hall, whereunto divers of those who before took their
repast and diet in the old hall resorted, and in process of time became a
distinct and divided society."

From the inquisition taken 10. E. III. A. D. 1337, it appears that in the
time of the Knights Templars there were _two halls_ in the Temple, so that
it is not likely that a fresh one was built. One of these halls, the
present Inner Temple Hall, had been assigned, the year previous to the
taking of that inquisition, to the prior and brethren of the Hospital of
Saint John, together with the church, cloisters, &c., as before mentioned,
whilst the other hall remained in the hands of the crown, and was not
granted to the Hospitallers until 13 E. III. A. D. 1340. It was probably
soon after this period that the Hospitallers conceded the use of _both
halls_ to the professors of the law, and these last, from dining apart and
being attached to different halls, at last separated into two societies,
as at present.

"Although there be two several societies, yet in sundry places they are
promiscuously lodged together without any metes or bounds to distinguish
them, and the ground rooms in some places belong to the new house, and the
upper rooms to the old one, a manifest argument that both made at first
but one house, nor did they either before or after this division claim by
several leases, but by one entire grant. And as they took their diet
apart, so likewise were they stationed apart in the church, viz. those of
the Middle Temple on the left hand side as you go therein, and those of
the old house on the right hand side, and so it remains between them at
this day."[587]

Burton, the antiquary, who wrote in the reign of queen Elizabeth, speaks
of this "old house" (the Inner Temple) as "the mother and most antient of
all the other houses of courts, to which," says he, "I must acknowledge
all due respect, being a fellow thereof, admitted into the same society on
the 20th of May, 1593."[588] The two societies of the Temple are of _equal
antiquity_; the members in the first instance dined together in one or
other of the antient halls of the Templars as it suited their convenience
and inclination; and to this day, in memory of the old custom, the
benchers or antients of the one society dine once every year in the hall
of the other society. The period of the division has been generally
referred to the commencement of the reign of Henry the Sixth, as at the
close of that long reign the present _four_ Inns of Court were all in
existence, and then contained about two thousand students. The Court of
King's Bench, the Court of Exchequer, and the Court of Chancery, had then
encroached upon the jurisdiction of the Common Pleas, and had taken
cognizance of civil causes between subject and subject, which were
formerly decided in that court alone.[589] The legal business of the
country had consequently greatly increased, the profession of the law
became highly honourable, and the gentry and the nobility considered the
study of it a necessary part of education.

Sir John Fortescue, who was chief justice of the King's Bench during half
the reign of Henry the Sixth, in his famous discourse _de laudibus legum
Angliæ_, tells us that in his time the annual expenses of each law-student
amounted to more than 28_l._, (equal to about 450_l._ of our present
money,) that all the students of the law were gentlemen by birth and
fortune, and had great regard for their character and honour; that in each
Inn of Court there was an academy or _gymnasium_, where singing, music,
and dancing, and a variety of accomplishments, were taught. Law was
studied at stated periods, and on festival days: after the offices of the
church were over, the students employed themselves in the study of
history, and in reading the Holy Scriptures. Everything good and virtuous
was there taught, vice was discouraged and banished, so that knights,
barons, and the greatest of the nobility of the kingdom, placed their sons
in the Temple and the other Inns of Court; and not so much, he tells us,
to make the law their study, or to enable them to live by the profession,
as to form their manners and to preserve them from the contagion of vice.
"Quarrelling, insubordination, and murmuring, are unheard of; if a student
dishonours himself, he is expelled the society; a punishment which is
dreaded more than imprisonment and irons, for he who has been driven from
one society is never admitted into any of the others; whence it happens,
that there is a constant harmony amongst them, the greatest friendship,
and a general freedom of conversation."

The two societies of the Temple are now distinguished by the several
denominations of the Inner and the Middle Temple, names that appear to
have been adopted with reference to a part of the antient Temple, which,
in common with other property of the Knights Templars, never came into the
hands of the Hospitallers. After the lawyers of the Temple had separated
into two bodies and occupied distinct portions of ground, this part came
to be known by the name of the outward Temple, as being the farthest away
from the city, and is thus referred to in a manuscript in the British
Museum, written in the reign of James the First.--"A third part, called
_outward Temple_, was procured by one Dr. Stapleton, bishop of Exeter, in
the days of king Edward the Second, for a residing mansion-house for him
and his successors, bishops of that see. It was called Exeter Inn until
the reign of the late queen Mary, when the lord Paget, her principal
secretary of state, obtained the said third part, called Exeter-house, to
him and his heirs, and did re-edify the same. After whom the said third
part of the Templar's house came to Thomas late duke of Norfolk, and was
by him conveyed to Sir Robert Dudley, knight, earl of Leicester, who
bequeathed the same to Sir Robert Dudley, knight, his son, and lastly, by
purchase, came to Robert late earl of Essex, who died in the reign of the
late queen Elizabeth, and is still called Essex-house."[590]

When the lawyers came into the Temple, they found engraved upon the
antient buildings the armorial bearings of the Knights Templars, which
were, on a shield argent, a plain cross gules, and (_brochant sur le
tout_) the holy lamb bearing the banner of the order, surmounted by a red
cross. These arms remained the emblem of the Temple until the fifth year
of the reign of queen Elizabeth, when unfortunately the society of the
Inner Temple, yielding to the advice and persuasion of Master Gerard
Leigh, a member of the College of Heralds, abandoned the antient and
honourable device of the Knights Templars, and assumed in its place a
galloping winged horse called a Pegasus, or, as it has been explained to
us, "a horse striking the earth with its hoof, or _Pegasus luna on a field
argent_!" Master Gerard Leigh, we are told, "emblazoned them with precious
stones and planets, and by these strange arms he intended to signify that
the knowledge acquired at the learned seminary of the Inner Temple would
raise the professors of the law to the highest honours, adding, by way of
motto, _volat ad æthera virtus_, and he intended to allude to what are
esteemed the more liberal sciences, by giving them Pegasus forming the
fountain of Hippocrene, by striking his hoof against the rock, as a proper
emblem of lawyers becoming poets, as Chaucer and Gower, who were both of
the Temple!"

The society of the Middle Temple, with better taste, still preserves, in
that part of the Temple over which its sway extends, the widely-renowned
and time-honoured badge of the antient order of the Temple.

The assumption of the prancing winged horse by the one society, and the
retention of the lamb by the other, have given rise to the following witty
lines--

  "As thro' the Templars' courts you go,
    The lamb and horse displayed,
  The emblematic figures show
    The merits of their trade.

  That clients may infer from hence
    How just is their profession;
  The lamb denotes their INNOCENCE,
    The horse their EXPEDITION.

  Oh, happy Britain! happy isle!
    Let foreign nations say,
  Here you get justice without guile,
    And law without delay."


  ANSWER.

  "Unhappy man! those courts forego,
    Nor trust such cunning elves,
  The artful emblems only show
    Their _clients_, not _themselves_.

  These all are tricks,
  These all are shams,
    With which they mean to cheat ye,
  But have a care, for you're the LAMBS,
    And they the wolves that eat ye.

  Nor let the plea of no delay
    To these their courts misguide ye,
  For you're the PRANCING HORSE; and they
    The jockeys that would ride you!"




CHAPTER XIV.

THE TEMPLE.

    The Temple Garden--The erection of new buildings in the Temple--The
    dissolution of the order of the Hospital of Saint John--The law
    societies become lessees of the crown--The erection of the magnificent
    Middle Temple Hall--The conversion of the old hall into chambers--The
    grant of the inheritance of the Temple to the two law societies--Their
    magnificent present to his Majesty--Their antient orders and customs,
    and antient hospitality--Their grand entertainments--Reader's
    feasts--Grand Christmasses and Revels--The fox-hunt in the hall--The
    dispute with the Lord Mayor--The quarrel with the custos of the Temple
    Church.

    "PLANTAGENET. Great lords and gentlemen, what means this silence?
                  Dare no man answer in a case of truth?

    SUFFOLK.      Within the TEMPLE HALL we were too loud:
                  The GARDEN here is more convenient."


Shakspeare makes the Temple Garden, which is to this day celebrated for
the beauty and profusion of its flowers, the scene of the choice of the
white and red roses, as the badges of the rival houses of York and
Lancaster. Richard Plantagenet and the earl of Somerset retire with their
followers from the hall into the garden, where Plantagenet thus addresses
the silent and hesitating bystanders:

    "Since you are tongue-ty'd, and so loath to speak,
  In dumb significants proclaim your thoughts:
  Let him, that is a true-born gentleman,
  And stands upon the honour of his birth,
  If he suppose that I have pleaded truth,
  From off this brier pluck a white rose with me.
    _Somerset._ Let him that is no coward, nor no flatterer,
  But dare maintain the party of the truth,
  Pluck a red rose from off this thorn with me.
    _Warwick._ I love no colours; and, without all colour
  Of base insinuating flattery,
  I pluck this white rope with Plantagenet.
    _Suffolk._ I pluck this red rose with young Somerset,
  And say withal I think he held the right.

       *       *       *       *       *

    _Vernon._ Then for the truth and plainness of the case,
  I pluck this pale and maiden blossom here,
  Giving my verdict on the white rose side.
    _Somerset._ ... Come on, who else?
    _Lawyer._ Unless my study and my books be false,
  The argument you held was wrong in you;
  In sign whereof I pluck a white rose too.     [TO SOMERSET.

       *       *       *       *       *

    _Warwick._ ... This brawl to-day,
  Grown to this faction in the Temple Garden,
  Shall send, between the red rose and the white,
  A thousand souls to death and deadly night."

In the Cotton Library is a manuscript written at the commencement of the
reign of Henry the Eighth, entitled "A description of the Form and Manner,
how, and by what Orders and Customs the State of the Fellowshyppe of the
Myddil Temple is maintained, and what ways they have to attaine unto
Learning."[591] It contains a great deal of curious information concerning
the government of the house, the readings, mot-yngs, boltings, and other
exercises formerly performed for the advancement of learning, and of the
different degrees of benchers, readers, cupboard-men, inner-barristers,
utter-barristers, and students, together with "the chardges for their mete
and drynke by the yeare, and the manner of the dyet, and the stipende of
their officers." The writer tells us that it was the duty of the "Tresorer
to gather of certen of the fellowship a tribute yerely of iii_s._ iii_d._
a piece, and to pay out of it the rent due to my lord of Saint John's for
the house that they dwell in."

"Item; they have no place to walk in, and talk and confer their learnings,
but in the church; which place all the terme times hath in it no more of
quietnesse than the perwyse of Pawles, by occasion of the confluence and
concourse of such as be suters in the lawe." The conferences between
lawyers and clients in the Temple Church are thus alluded to by Butler:

  "Retain all sorts of witnesses
  That ply in the Temple under trees,
  Or walk the Round with knights of the posts,
  About the cross-legged knights their hosts."

"Item; they have every day three masses said one after the other, and the
first masse doth begin at seaven of the clock, or thereabouts. On
festivall days they have mattens and masse solemnly sung; and during the
matyns singing they have three masses said."[592]

At the commencement of the reign of Henry VIII. a wall was built between
the Temple Garden and the river; the Inner Temple Hall was "seeled,"
various new chambers were erected, and the societies expended sums of
money, and acted as if they were absolute proprietors of the Temple,
rather than as lessees of the Hospitallers of Saint John.

In 32 Hen. VIII. was passed the act of parliament dissolving the order of
the Hospital, and vesting all the property of the brethren in the crown,
saving the rights and interests of lessees, and others who held under
them.

The two law societies consequently now held of the crown.

In 5 Eliz. the present spacious and magnificent Middle Temple Hall, one of
the most elegant and beautiful structures in the kingdom, was commenced,
(the old hall being converted into chambers;) and in the reigns both of
Mary and Elizabeth, various buildings and sets of chambers were erected in
the Inner and Middle Temple, at the expense of the Benchers and members of
the two societies. All this was done in full reliance upon the justice and
honour of the crown. In the reign of James I., however, some Scotchman
attempted to obtain from his majesty a grant of the fee-simple or
inheritance of the Temple, which being brought to the knowledge of the two
societies, they forthwith made "humble suit" to the king, and obtained a
grant of the property to themselves. By letters patent, bearing date at
Westminster the 13th of August, in the sixth year of his reign, A. D.
1609, king James granted the Temple to the Benchers of the two societies,
their heirs and assigns for ever, for the lodging, reception, and
education of the professors and students of the laws of England, the said
Benchers yielding and paying to the said king, his heirs, and successors,
ten pounds yearly for the mansion called the Inner Temple, and ten pounds
yearly for the Middle Temple.[593]

In grateful acknowledgment of this donation, the two societies caused to
be made, at their mutual cost, "a stately cup of pure gold, weighinge two
hundred ounces and an halfe, of the value of one thousand markes, or
thereabouts, the which in all humbleness was presented to his excellent
majestie att the court att Whitehall, in the said sixth year of his
majestie's raigne over the realme of England, for a new yeare's gifte, by
the hands of the said sir Henry Mountague, afterwards baron Mountague,
viscount Mandevil, the earl of Manchester, Richard Daston, esq., and other
eminent persons of both those honourable societies, the which it pleased
his majesty most gratiously to accept and receive.... Upon one side of
this cup is curiously engraven the proporcion of a church or temple
beautified, with turrets and pinnacles, and on the other side is figured
an altar, whereon is a representation of a holy fire, the flames propper,
and over the flames these words engraven, _Nil nisi vobis_. The cover of
this rich cup of gold is in the upper parte thereof adorned with a fabrick
fashioned like a pyramid, whereon standeth the statue of a military person
leaning, with the left hand upon a Roman-fashioned shield or target, the
which cup his excellent majestie, whilst he lived, esteemed for one of his
roialest and richest jewells."[594]

Some of the antient orders and regulations for the government of the two
societies are not unworthy of attention.

From the record of a parliament holden in the Inner Temple on the 15th of
November, 3 and 4 Ph. and Mary, A. D. 1558, it appears that eight
gentlemen of the house, in the previous reading vocation, "were _committed
to the Fleete_ for wilfull demenoure and disobedience to _the Bench_, and
were worthyly expulsed the fellowshyppe of the house, since which tyme,
upon their humble suite and submission unto the said Benchers of the said
house, it is agreed that they shall be readmitted into the fellowshyppe,
and into commons again, without payeing any ffine."[595]

Amongst the ancient customs and usages derived from the Knights Templars,
which were for a lengthened period religiously preserved and kept up in
the Temple, was the oriental fashion of long beards. In the reign of
Philip and Mary, at the personal request of the queen, attempts were made
to do away with this time-honoured custom, and to limit

THE LENGTH OF A LAWYER'S BEARD.

On the 22nd of June, 3 and 4 Philip and Mary, A. D. 1557, it was ordered
that none of the companies of the Inner and Middle Temple, under the
degree of a knight being in commons, should wear their beards above three
weeks growing, upon pain of XL_s._, and so double for every week after
monition. They were, moreover, required to lay aside their arms, and it
was ordered "that none of the companies, when they be in commons, shall
wear Spanish cloak, sword and buckler, or rapier, or gownes and hats, or
gownes girded with a dagger;" also, that "none of the COMPANIONS, except
Knights or Benchers, should thenceforth wear in their doublets or hoses
any light colours, except scarlet and crimson; or wear any upper velvet
cap, or any scarf, or wings on their gownes, white jerkyns, buskins or
_velvet shoes_, double cuffs on their shirts, feathers or ribbens on their
caps"! That no attorney should be admitted into either of the houses, and
that, in all admissions from thenceforth, it should be an implied
condition, that if the party admitted "should practyse any attorneyship,"
he was _ipso facto_ dismissed.[596]

In 1 Jac. I., it was ordered, in obedience to the commands of the king,
that no one should be admitted a member of either society who was not _a
gentleman by descent_;--that none of the gentlemen should come into the
hall "in cloaks, boots, spurs, swords, or daggers;" and it was publicly
declared that their "yellow bands, and ear toyes, and short cloaks, and
weapons," were "much disliked and forbidden."

In A. D. 1623, king James recommended the antient way of wearing caps to
be carefully observed; and the king was pleased to take notice of the good
order of the house of the Inner Temple in that particular. His majesty was
further pleased to recommend that boots should be laid aside as ill
befitting gownsmen; "for boots and spurs," says his majesty, "are the
badges rather of roarers than of civil men, who should use them only when
they ride. Therefore we have made example in our own court, that no boots
shall come into our presence."

The modern Templars for a long period fully maintained the antient
character and reputation of the Temple for sumptuous and magnificent
hospitality, although the venison from the royal forests, and the wine
from the king's cellars,[597] no longer made its periodical appearance
within the walls of the old convent. Sir John Fortescue alludes to the
revels and pastimes of the Temple in the reign of Henry VI., and several
antient writers speak of the grand Christmasses, the readers' feasts, the
masques, and the sumptuous entertainments afforded to foreign ambassadors,
and even to royalty itself. Various dramatic shows were got up upon these
occasions, and the leading characters who figured at them were the
"_Marshall of the Knights Templars_!" the constable marshall, the master
of the games, the lieutenant of the Tower, the ranger of the forest, the
lord of misrule, the king of Cockneys, and Jack Straw!

_The Constable Marshall_ came into the hall on banqueting days "fairly
mounted on his mule," clothed in complete armour, with a nest of feathers
of all colours upon his helm, and a gilt pole-axe in his hand. He was
attended by halberdiers, and preceded by drums and fifes, and by sixteen
trumpeters, and devised some sport "for passing away the afternoon."

_The Master of the Game_, and _the Ranger of the Forest_, were apparelled
in green velvet and green satin, and had hunting horns about their necks,
with which they marched round about the fire, "blowing three blasts of
venery."

The most remarkable of all the entertainments was _the hunt in the hall_,
when the huntsman came in with his winding horn, dragging in with him a
cat, a fox, a purse-net, and nine or ten couple of hounds! The cat and the
fox were both tied to the end of a staff, and were turned loose into the
hall; they were hunted with the dogs amid the blowing of hunting horns,
and were killed under the grate!!

The quantity of venison consumed on these festive occasions, particularly
at the readers' feasts, was enormous. In the reign of Queen Mary, it was
ordered by the benchers of the Middle Temple, that no reader should spend
less than fifteen bucks in the hall, and this number was generally greatly
exceeded: "there be few summer readers," we are informed in an old MS.
account of the readers' feasts, "who, in half the time that heretofore a
reading was wont to continue, spent so little as threescore bucks, besides
red deer; some have spent fourscore, some a hundred...."[598] The lawyers
in that golden age breakfasted on "brawn and malmsey," and supped on
"venison pasties and roasted hens!" Among the viands at dinner were "faire
and large bores' heads served upon silver platters, with minstralsye,
roasted swans, bustards, herns, bitterns, turkey chicks, curlews, godwits,
&c. &c."

The following observations concerning the Temple, and a grand
entertainment there, in the reign of Queen Mary, will be read with
interest. "Arriuing in the faire river of Thames, I landed within halfe a
leage from the city of London, which was, as I coniecture, in December
last. And drawing neere the citie, sodenly hard the shot of double
cannons, in so great a number, and so terrible, that it darkened the whole
aire, wherewith, although I was in my native countrie, yet stoode I
amazed, not knowing what it ment. Thus, as I abode in despaire either to
returne or to continue my former purpose, I chaunced to see comming
towardes me an honest citizen, clothed in long garment, keping the
highway, seming to walke for his recreation, which prognosticated rather
peace than perill. Of whom I demaunded the cause of this great shot, who
frendly answered, 'It is the warning shot to th' officers of the Constable
Marshall of the Inner Temple to prepare to dinner!' Why, said I, is he of
that estate, that seeketh not other meanes to warn his officers, then with
such terrible shot in so peaceable a countrey? Marry, saith he, he
vttereth himselfe the better to be that officer whose name he beareth. I
then demanded what prouince did he gouerne that needeth such an officer.
Hee answered me, the prouince was not great in quantitie, but antient in
true nobilitie; a place, said he, priuileged by the most excellent
princess, the high gouernour of the whole land, wherein are store of
gentilmen of the whole realme, that repaire thither to learne to rule, and
obey by LAWE, to yeelde their fleece to their prince and common weale, as
also to vse all other exercises of bodie and minde whereunto nature most
aptly serueth to adorne by speaking, countenance, gesture, and vse of
apparel, the person of a gentleman; whereby amitie is obtained and
continued, that gentilmen of al countries in theire young yeares, norished
together in one place, with such comely order and daily conference, are
knit by continual acquaintance in such vnitie of mindes and manners, as
lightly neuer after is seuered, then which is nothing more profitable to
the commonweale.

"And after he had told me thus much of honor of the place, I commended in
mine own conceit the pollicie of the gouernour, which seemed to vtter in
itselfe the foundation of a good commonweale. For that the best of their
people from tender yeares trayned vp in precepts of justice, it could not
chose but yeelde forth a profitable people to a wise commonweale.
Wherefore I determined with myselfe to make proofe of that I heard by
reporte.

"The next day I thought for my pastime to walke to this Temple, and
entering in at the gates, I found the building nothing costly; but many
comly gentlemen of face and person, and thereto very courteous, saw I
passe too and fro. Passing forward, I entered into a church of auncient
building, wherein were many monumentes of noble personnages armed in
knighteley habite, with their cotes depainted in auncient shieldes,
whereat I took pleasure to behold....

"Anon we heard the noise of drum and fyfe. What meaneth this drumme? said
I. Quod he, this is to warn gentlemen of the household to repaire to the
dresser; wherefore come on with me, and yee shall stand where ye may best
see the hall serued; and so from thence brought me into a long gallerie
that stretcheth itselfe alongest the hall, neere the prince's table, where
I saw the prince set, a man of tall personage, of mannelye countenance,
somewhat browne of visage, strongelie featured, and thereto comelie
proportioned. At the neather end of the same table were placed the
ambassadors of diuers princes. Before him stood the caruer, seruer, and
cup-bearer, with great number of gentlemen wayters attending his person.
The lordes steward, treasorer, with diuers honorable personages, were
placed at a side-table neere adjoyning the prince on the right hand, and
at another table on the left side were placed the treasorer of the
household, secretarie, the prince's serjeant of law, the four masters of
the reaulles, the king of armes, the deane of the chapell, and diuers
gentlemen pentioners to furnish the same. At another table, on the other
side, were set the maister of the game, and his chiefe ranger, maisters of
household, clerkes of the greene cloth and checke, with diuers other
strangers to furnish the same. On the other side, againste them, began the
table of the lieutenant of the Tower, accompanied with diuers captaines of
footbandes and shot. At the neather ende of the hall, began the table of
the high butler and panter, clerkes of the kitchen, maister cooke of the
priue kitchen, furnished throughout with the souldiours and guard of the
prince....

"The prince was serued with tender meates, sweet fruites, and daintie
delicates, confectioned with curious cookerie, as it seemed woonder a word
to serue the prouision. And at euerie course, the trompettes blew the
courageous blaste of deadlye warre, with noise of drum and fyfe, with the
sweet harmony of viollens, shakbuts, recorders, and cornettes, with other
instruments of musicke, as it seemed Apolloe's harpe had tewned their
stroke."

After dinner, prizes were prepared for "tilt and turney, and such
knighteley pastime, and for their solace they masked with bewtie's dames
with such heauenly armonie as if Apollo and Orpheus had shewed their
cunning."[599]

Masques, revels, plays, and eating and drinking, seem to have been as much
attended to in the Temple in those days as the grave study of the law. Sir
Christopher Hatton, a member of the Inner Temple, gained the favour of
Queen Elizabeth, for his grace and activity in a _masque_ which was acted
before her majesty. He was made vice-chamberlain, and afterwards lord
chancellor![600] In A. D. 1568, the tragedy of Tancred and Gismund, the
joint production of five students of the Inner Temple, was acted at the
Temple before queen Elizabeth and her court.[601]

On the marriage of the lady Elizabeth, daughter of king James I., to
prince Frederick, the elector palatine, (Feb. 14th, A. D. 1613,) a masque
was performed at court by the gentlemen of the Temple, and shortly after,
twenty Templars were appointed barristers there in honour of prince
Charles, who had lately become prince of Wales, "the chardges thereof
being defrayed by a contribution of xxxs, from each bencher, xvs. from
euery barister of seauen years' standing, and xs. a peice from all other
gentlemen in commons."[602]

Of all the pageants prepared for the entertainment of the sovereigns of
England, the most famous one was that splendid masque, which cost upwards
of £20,000, presented by the Templars, in conjunction with the members of
Lincoln's Inn and Gray's Inn, to king Charles I., and his young queen,
Henrietta of France. Whitelock, in his Memorials, gives a minute and most
animated account of this masque, which will be read with interest, as
affording a characteristic and admirable exhibition of the manners of the
age.

The procession from the Temple to the palace of Whitehall was the most
magnificent that had ever been seen in London. "One hundred gentlemen in
very rich clothes, with scarce anything to be seen on them but gold and
silver lace, were mounted on the best horses and the best furniture that
the king's stable and the stables of all the noblemen in town could
afford." Each gentleman had a page and two lacqueys in livery waiting by
his horse's side. The lacqueys carried torches, and the page his master's
cloak. "The richness of their apparel and furniture glittering by the
light of innumerable torches, the motion and stirring of their mettled
horses, and the many and gay liveries of their servants, but especially
the personal beauty and gallantry of the handsome young gentlemen, made
the most glorious and splendid show that ever was beheld in England."

These gallant Templars were accompanied by the finest band of picked
musicians that London could afford, and were followed by the _antimasque_
of beggars and cripples, who were mounted on "the poorest, leanest jades
that could be gotten out of the dirt-carts." The habits and dresses of
these cripples were most ingeniously arranged, and as the "gallant Inns of
Court men" had their music, so also had the beggars and cripples. It
consisted of _keys, tongs, and gridirons_, "snapping and yet playing in
concert before them." After the beggars' antimasque came a band of pipes,
whistles, and instruments, sounding notes like those of birds, of all
sorts, in excellent harmony; and these ushered in "_the antimasque of
birds_," which consisted of an owl in an ivy bush, with innumerable other
birds in a cluster about the owl, gazing upon her. "These were little boys
put into covers of the shape of those birds, rarely fitted, and sitting on
small horses with footmen going by them with torches in their hands, and
there were some besides to look unto the children, and these were very
pleasant to the beholders." Then came a wild, harsh band of northern
music, bagpipes, horns, &c., followed by the "_antimasque of projectors_,"
who were in turn succeeded by a string of chariots drawn by four horses
abreast, filled with "gods and goddesses," and preceded by heathen
priests. Then followed the chariots of the grand masquers drawn by four
horses abreast.

The chariots of the Inner and Middle Temple were silver and blue. The
horses were covered to their heels with cloth of tissue, and their heads
were adorned with huge plumes of blue and white feathers. "The torches and
flaming flamboys borne by the side of each chariot made it seem lightsom
as at noonday.... It was, indeed, a glorious spectacle."

Whitelock gives a most animated description of the scene in the
banqueting-room. "It was so crowded," says he, "with fair ladies
glittering with their rich cloaths and richer jewels, and with lords and
gentlemen of great quality, that there was scarce room for the king and
queen to enter in." The young queen danced with the masquers herself, and
judged them "as good dancers as ever she saw!" The great ladies of the
court, too, were "very free and easy and civil in dancing with all the
masquers as they were taken out by them."

Queen Henrietta was so delighted with the masque, "the dances, speeches,
musick, and singing," that she desired to see the whole thing _acted over
again_! whereupon the lord mayor invited their majesties and all the Inns
of Court men into the city, and entertained them with great state and
magnificence at Merchant Taylor's Hall.[603]

Many of the Templars who were the foremost in these festive scenes
afterwards took up arms against their sovereign. Whitelock himself
commanded a body of horse, and fought several sanguinary engagements with
the royalist forces.

The year after the restoration, Sir Heneage Finch, afterwards earl of
Nottingham, kept his readers' feast in the great hall of the Inner Temple
with extraordinary splendour. The entertainments lasted from the 4th to
the 17th of August.

At the first day's dinner were several of the nobility of the kingdom and
privy councillors, with divers others of his friends; at the second were
the lord mayor, aldermen, and principal citizens of London; to the third,
which was two days after the former, came the whole college of physicians,
who all appeared in their caps and gowns; at the fourth were all the
judges, advocates, and doctors of the civil law, and all the society of
Doctors' Commons; at the fifth were entertained the archbishops, bishops,
and chief of the clergy; and on the 15th of August his majesty king
Charles the Second came from Whitehall in his state barge, and dined with
the reader and the whole society in the hall. His majesty was accompanied
by the duke of York, and attended by the lord chancellor, lord treasurer,
lord privy seal, the dukes of Buckingham, Richmond, and Ormond; the lord
chamberlain, the earls of Ossory, Bristol, Berks, Portland, Strafford,
Anglesy, Essex, Bath, and Carlisle; the lords Wentworth, Cornbury, De la
Warre, Gerard of Brandon, Berkley of Stratton and Cornwallis, the
comptroller and vice-chamberlain of his majesties's household; Sir William
Morice, one of his principal secretaries of state; the earl of Middleton,
lord commissioner of Scotland, the earl of Glencairne, lord chancellor of
Scotland, the earls of Lauderdale and Newburgh, and others the
commissioners of that kingdom, and the earl of Kildare and others,
commissioners of Ireland.

An entrance was made from the river through the wall into the Temple
Garden, and his majesty was received on his landing from the barge by the
reader and the lord chief justice of the Common Pleas, whilst the path
from the garden to the hall was lined with the readers' servants in
scarlet cloaks and white tabba doublets, and above them were ranged the
benchers, barristers, and students of the society, "the loud musick
playing from the time that his majesty landed till he entered the hall,
where he was received with xx. violins." Dinner was brought up by fifty of
the young gentlemen of the society in their gowns, "who gave their
attendance all dinner-while, none other appearing in the hall but
themselves."

On the 3rd of November following, his royal highness the duke of York, the
duke of Buckingham, the earl of Dorset, and Sir William Morrice, secretary
of state, were admitted members of the society of the Inner Temple, the
duke of York being called to the bar and bench.[604]

In 8 Car. II., A. D. 1668, Sir William Turner, lord mayor of London, came
to the readers' feast in the Inner Temple with his sword and mace and
external emblems of civic authority, which was considered to be an affront
to the society, and the lord mayor was consequently very roughly handled
by some of the junior members of the Temple. His worship complained to the
king, and the matter was inquired into by the council, as appears from the
following proceedings:--

"At the Courte att Whitehall, the 7th April, 1669,

"Present the king's most excellent majestie."

  H. R. H. the duke of York.      Lord bishop of London.
  Lord Keeper.                    Lord Arlington.
  Duke of Ormonde.                Lord Newport.
  Lord Chamberlaine.              Mr. Treasurer.
  Earle of Bridgewater.           Mr. Vice-chamberlaine.
  Earle of Bath.                  Mr. Secretary Trevor.
  Earle of Craven.                Mr. Chancellor of the Dutchy.
  Earle of Middleton.             Mr. John Duncombe.

"Whereas, it was ordered the 31st of March last, that the complaints of
the lord maior of the city of London concerneing personall indignities
offered to his lordshippe and his officers when he was lately invited to
dine with the reader of the Inner Temple, should this day have a further
hearing, and that Mr. Hodges, Mr. Wyn, and Mr. Mundy, gentlemen of the
Inner Temple, against whome particular complaint was made, sshould appeare
att the board, when accordingly, they attendinge, and both parties being
called in and heard by their counsell learned, and affidavits haveing been
read against the said three persons, accuseing them to have beene the
principall actors in that disorder, to which they haveing made their
defence, and haveing presented severall affidavits to justifie their
carriage that day, though they could not extenuate the faults of others
who in the tumult affronted the lord maior and his officers; and, the
officers of the lord maior, who was alleaged to have beene abused in the
tumult, did not charge it upon anie of their particular persons; upon
consideration whereof it appeareing to his majestie that the matter
dependinge very much upon the right and priviledge of beareing up the lord
maior's sword within the Temple, which by order of this board of the 24th
of March last is left to be decided by due proceedings of lawe in the
courts of Westminster Hall; his majestie therefore thought fitt to suspend
the declaration of his pleasure thereupon until the said right and
priviledge shall accordinglie be determined att lawe."

On the 4th of November, 14 Car. II., his highness Rupert prince palatine,
Thomas earl of Cleveland, Jocelyn lord Percy, John lord Berkeley of
Stratton, with Henry and Bernard Howard of Norfolk, were admitted members
of the fellowship of the Inner Temple.[605]

We must now close our remarks on the Temple, with a short account of the
quarrel with Dr. Micklethwaite, the _custos_ or guardian of the Temple
Church.

After the Hospitallers had been put into possession of the Temple by king
Edward the Third, the prior and chapter of that order, appointed to the
antient and honourable post of _custos_, and the priest who occupied that
office, had his diet in one or other of the halls of the two law
societies, in the same way as the guardian priest of the order of the
Temple formerly had his diet in the hall of the antient Knights Templars.
He took his place, as did also the chaplains, by virtue of the appointment
of the prior and chapter of the Hospital, without admission, institution
or induction, for the Hospitallers were clothed with the privileges, as
well as with the property, of the Knights Templars, and were exempt from
episcopal jurisdiction. The _custos_ had, as before mentioned, by grant
from the prior and chapter of the order of St. John, one thousand faggots
a year to keep up the fire in the church, and the rents of Ficketzfeld and
Cotterell Garden to be employed in improving the lights and providing for
the due celebration of divine service. From two to three chaplains were
also provided by the Hospitallers, and nearly the same ecclesiastical
establishment appears to have been maintained by them, as was formerly
kept up in the Temple by the Knights Templars. In 21 Hen. VII. these
priests had divers lodgings in the Temple, on the east side of the
churchyard, part of which were let out to the students of the two
societies.

By sections 9 and 10 of the act 32 _Hen._ VIII., dissolving the order of
the Hospital of St. John, it is provided that William Ermsted, clerk, the
_custos_ or guardian of the Temple Church, who is there styled "Master of
the Temple," and Walter Limseie and John Winter, chaplains, should receive
and enjoy, during their lives, all such mansion-houses, stipends, and
wages, and all other profits of money, in as large or ample a manner as
they then lawfully had the same, the said Master and chaplains of the
Temple doing their duties and services there, as they had previously been
accustomed to do, and letters patent confirming them in their offices and
pensions were to be made out and passed under the great seal. This
appellation of "Master of the Temple," which antiently denoted the
superior of the proud and powerful order of Knights Templars in England,
the counsellor of kings and princes, and the leader of armies, was
incorrectly applied to the mere _custos_ or guardian of the Temple Church.
The act makes no provision for the _successors_ of the _custos_ and
chaplains, and Edward the Sixth consequently, after the decease of William
Ermsted, conveyed the lodgings, previously appropriated to the officiating
ministers, to a Mr. Keilway and his heirs, after which the custos and
clergymen had no longer _of right_ any lodgings at all in the Temple.[606]

From the period of the dissolution of the order of Saint John, down to the
present time, the _custos_, or, as he is now incorrectly styled, "the
Master of the Temple," has been appointed by letters patent from the
crown, and takes his place as in the olden time, without the ceremony of
admission, institution, or induction. These letters patent are couched in
very general and extensive terms, and give the _custos_ or Master many
things to which he is justly entitled, as against the crown, but no longer
obtains, and profess to give him many other things which the crown had no
power whatever to grant. He is appointed, for instance, "to rule, govern,
and superintend the house of the New Temple;" but the crown had no power
whatever to make him governor thereof, the government having always been
in the hands of the Masters of the bench of the two societies, who
succeeded to the authority of the Master and chapter of the Knights
Templars. In these letters patent the Temple is described as a rectory,
which it never had been, nor anything like it. They profess to give to the
_custos_ "all and all manner of tythes," but there were no tythes to give,
the Temple having been specially exempted from tythe as a religious house
by numerous papal bulls. The letters patent give the _custos_ all the
revenues and profits of money which the _custodes_ had at any time
previously enjoyed by virtue of their office, but these revenues were
dissipated by the crown, and the property formerly granted by the prior
and chapter of Saint John, and by pious persons in the time of the
Templars, for the maintenance of the priests and the celebration of
divine service in the Temple Church was handed over to strangers, and the
_custos_ was thrown by the crown for support upon the voluntary
contributions of the two societies. He received, indeed, a miserable
pittance of 37_l._ 6_s._ 8_d._ per annum from the exchequer, but for this
he was to find at his own expense a minister to serve the church, and also
a clerk or sexton!

As the crown retained in its own hands the appointment of the custos and
all the antient revenues of the Temple Church, it ought to have provided
for the support of the officiating ministers, as did the Hospitallers of
Saint John.

"The chardges of the fellowshyppe," says the MS. account of the Temple
written in the reign of Hen. VIII., "towards the salary or mete and drink
of the priests, is none; for they are found by my lord of Saint John's,
and they that are of the fellowshyppe of the house are chardged with
nothing to the priests, saving that they have eighteen offring days in the
yeare, so that the chardge of each of them is xviii_d._"[607]

In the reign of James the First, the _custos_, Dr. Micklethwaite, put
forward certain unheard-of claims and pretensions, which led to a rupture
between him and the two societies. The Masters of the bench of the society
of the Inner Temple, taking umbrage at his proceedings, deprived the
doctor of his place at the dinner-table, and "willed him to forbear the
hall till he was sent for." In 8 Car. I., A. D. 1633, the doctor presented
a petition to the king, in which he claims precedence within the Temple
"according to auncient custome, he being master of the house," and
complains that "his place in the hall is denyed him and his dyett, which
place the Master of the Temple hath ever had both before the profession of
the lawe kept in the Temple and ever since, whensoever he came into the
hall. That tythes are not payde him, whereas by pattent he is to have
_omnes et omnimodas decimas_.... That they denye all ecclesiastical
jurisdiction to the Master of the Temple, who is appointed by the king's
majesty master and warden of the house _ad regendum, gubernandum, et
officiendum domum et ecclesiam_," &c. The doctor goes into a long list of
grievances showing the little authority that he possessed in the Temple,
that he was not summoned to the deliberations of the houses, and he
complains that "they will give him no consideracion in the Inner House for
his supernumerarie sermons in the forenoon, nor for his sermons in the
afternoon," and that the officers of the Inner Temple are commanded to
disrespect the Master of the Temple when he comes to the hall.

The short answer to the doctor's complaint is, that the _custos_ of the
church never had any of the things which the doctor claimed to be entitled
to, and it was not in the power of the crown to give them to him.

The antient _custos_ being, as before mentioned, a priest of the order of
the Temple, and afterwards of the order of the Hospital, was a perfect
slave to his temporal superiors, and could be deprived of his post, be
condemned to a diet of bread and water, and be perpetually imprisoned,
without appeal to any power, civil or ecclesiastical, unless he could
cause his complaints to be brought to the ear of the pope. Dr.
Micklethwaite quite misunderstood his position in the Temple, and it was
well for him that the masters of the benches no longer exercised the
despotic power of the antient master and chapter, or he would certainly
have been condemned to the penitential cell in the church, and would not
have been the first _custos_ placed in that unenviable retreat.[608]

The petition was referred to the lords of the council, and afterwards to
Noy, the attorney-general, and in the mean time the doctor locked up the
church and took away the keys. The societies ordered fresh keys to be
made, and the church to be set open. Noy, to settle all differences,
appointed to meet the contending parties in the church, and then alluding
to the pretensions of the doctor, he declared that if he were visitor he
would proceed against him _tanquam elatus et superbus_.

In the end the doctor got nothing by his petition.

In the time of the Commonwealth, after Dr. Micklethwaite's death, Oliver
Cromwell sent to inquire into the duties and emoluments of the post of
"Master of the Temple," as appears from the following letter:--

"From his highness I was commanded to speake with you for resolution and
satisfaction in theise following particulers--

"1. Whether the Master of the Temple be to be putt in him by way of
presentation, or how?

"2. Whether he be bound to attend and preach among them in terme times and
out of terme?

"3. Or if out of terme an assistant must be provided? then, whether at the
charge of the Master, or how otherwise?

"4. Whether publique prayer in the chapell be allwayes performable by the
Master himselfe in terme times? And whether in time of vacation it be
constantly expected from himselfe or his assistant.

"5. What the certain revenue of the Master is, and how it arises?

"2. Sir, the gentleman his highness intends to make Master is Mr. Resburne
of Oundle, a most worthy and learned man, pastor of the church there,
whereof I myselfe am an unworthy member.

"3. The church would be willing (for publique good) to spare him in terme
times, but will not part with him altogether. And in some of the
particulers aforementioned Mr. R. is very desirous to be satisfyd; his
highness chiefly in the first.

"4. I begg of you to leave a briefe answer to the said particulars, and I
shall call on your servant for it.

"For the honourable Henry Scobell, esq., theise."[609]

During the late repair of the Temple Church, A. D. 1830, the workmen
discovered an antient seal of the order of the Hospital, which was carried
away, and appears to have got into the hands of strangers. On one side of
it is represented the holy sepulchre of Jerusalem, with the Saviour in his
tomb. At his head is an elevated cross, and above is a tabernacle or
chapel, from the roof of which depend two incense pots. Around the seal is
the inscription, "FR---- BERENGARII CUSTOS PAUPERUM HOSPITALIS
JHERUSALEM." On the reverse a holy man is represented on his knees in the
attitude of prayer before a patriarchal cross, on either side of which are
the letters _Alpha_ and _Omega_. Under the first letter is a star.

These particulars have been furnished me by Mr. Savage, the architect.


THE END.


LONDON:

PRINTED BY G. J. PALMER, SAVOY STREET, STRAND.




FOOTNOTES:

[1] Elmacin, Hist. Saracen. Eutychius.

[2] Ingulphus, the secretary of William the Conqueror, one of the number,
states that he sallied forth from Normandy with _thirty_ companions, all
stout and well-appointed horsemen, and that they returned _twenty_
miserable palmers, with the staff in their hand and the wallet at their
back.--_Baronius ad ann. 1064_, No. 43, 56.

[3] _Will. Tyr._, lib. i. cap. 10, ed. 1564.

[4] Omnibus mundi partibus divites et pauperes, juvenes et virgines, senes
cum junioribus, loca sancta visitaturi Hierosolymam pergerent.--Jac. de
Vitriaco. _Hist. Hierosol._ cap. lxv.

[5] "To kiss the holy monuments," says William of Tyre, "came sacred and
chaste widows, forgetful of feminine fear, and the multiplicity of dangers
that beset their path."--Lib. xviii. cap. 5.

[6] Quidam autem Deo amabiles et devoti milites, charitate ferventes,
mundo renuntiantes, et Christi se servitio mancipantes in manu Patriarchæ
Hierosolymitani professione et voto solemni sese astrinxerunt, ut a
prædictis latronibus, et viris sanguinum, defenderent peregrinos, et
stratas publicas custodirent, more canonicorum regularium in _obedientia
et castitate et sine proprio_ militaturi summo regi. _Jac. de Vitr. Hist.
Hierosol. apud Gesta Dei per Francos_, cap. lxv. p. 1083.--_Will. Tyr._
lib. xii. cap. 7. There were three kinds of poverty. The first and
strictest (_altissima_) admitted not of the possession of any description
of property whatever. The second (_media_) forbade the possession of
individual property, but sanctioned any amount of wealth when shared by a
fraternity in common. The lowest was where a separate property in some few
things was allowed, such as food and clothing, whilst everything else was
shared in common. The second kind of poverty (media) was adopted by the
Templars.

[7] _Pantaleon_, lib. iii. p. 82.

[8] _D'Herbelot Bib. Orient._ p. 270, 687, ed. 1697. William of Tyre, who
lived at Jerusalem shortly after the conquest of the city by the
Crusaders, tells us that the Caliph Omar required the Patriarch Sophronius
to point out to him the site of the temple destroyed by Titus, which being
done, the caliph immediately commenced the erection of a fresh temple
thereon, "Quo postea infra modicum tempus juxta conceptum mentis suæ
feliciter consummato, _quale hodie Hierosolymis esse dinoscitur_, multis
et infinites ditavit possessionibus."--_Will. Tyr._ lib. i. cap. 2.

[9] Erant porro in eodem Templi ædificio, intus et extra ex opere musaico,
Arabici idiomatis literarum vetustissima monimenta, quibus et auctor et
impensarum quantitas et quo tempore opus inceptum quodque consummatum
fuerit evidenter declaratur.... In hujus superioris areæ medio Templum
ædificatum est, forma quidem _octogonum_ et laterum totidem, tectum habens
sphericum plumbo artificiose copertum.... Intus vero in medio Templi,
infra interiorem columnarum ordinem _rupes_ est, &c.--_Will. Tyr._ lib. i.
cap 2, lib. viii. cap. 3. In hoc loco, supra _rupem_ quæ adhuc in eodem
Templo consistit, dicitur stetisse et apparuisse David exterminator
Angelus.... Templum Dominicum in tanta veneratione habent Saraceni, ut
nullus eorum ipsum audeat aliquibus sordibus maculare; sed a remotis et
longinquis regionibus, a temporibus Salomonis usque ad tempora præsentia,
veniunt adorare.--_Jac. de Vitr. Hist. Hierosol._ cap. lxii. p. 1080.

[10] _Procopius de ædificiis Justiniani_, lib. 5.

[11] Phocas believes the whole space around these buildings to be the area
of the ancient temple. [Greek: En tô archaiô dapedô tou periônymou naou
ekeinou tou Solomôntos theôroumenos ... Exôthen de tou naou esti
periaulion mega lithostôton to palaion, hôs oimai, tou megalou naou
dapedon.]--_Phocæ descript. Terr. Sanc._ cap. xiv. Colon. 1653.

[12] Quibus quoniam neque _ecclesia_ erat, neque certum habebant
domicilium, Rex in Palatio suo, quod secus Templum Domini ad _australem_
habet partem, eis concessit habitaculum.--_Will. Tyr._ lib. xii. cap. 7.
And in another place, speaking of the Temple of the Lord, he says, Ab
_Austro_ vero domum habet Regiam, quæ vulgari appellatione _Templum
Salomonis_ dicitur.--_Ib._ lib. viii. cap. 3.

[13] Qui quoniam juxta Templum Domini, ut prædiximus, in Palatio regio
mansionem habent, fratres militiæ Templi dicuntur.--_Will. Tyr._ lib. xii.
cap. 7.

[14] Est præterea Hierosolymis Templum aliud immensæ quantitatis et
amplitudinis, _a quo fratres militiæ Templi, Templarii nominantur_, quod
Templum Salomonis nuncupatur, forsitan ad distinctionem alterius quod
specialiter Templum Domini appellatur.--_Jac. de Vitr._ cap. 62.

[15] In Templo Domini abbas est et canonici regulares, et sciendum est
quod aliud est Templum Domini, aliud Templum militiæ. Isti _clerici_, illi
_milites_.--_Hist. Orient. Jac. de Vitr. apud Thesaur. Nov. Anecd.
Martene_, tom. iii. col. 277.

[16] _Will. Tyr._ lib. xii. cap. 7.

[17] Prima autem eorum professio quodque eis a domino Patriarcha et
reliquis episcopis in remissionem peccatorum injunctum est, ut vias et
itinera, ad salutem peregrinorum contra latronum et incursantium insidias,
pro viribus conservarent.--_Will. Tyr._ lib. xii. cap. 7.

[18] _Gibbon._

[19] _Reg. Constit. et Privileg. Ordinis Cisterc._ p. 447.

[20] _Chron. Cisterc. Albertus Miræus._ Brux. 1641. _Manricus ad ann.
1128_, cap. ii. _Act. Syn. Trec._ tom. x. edit. Labb.

[21] Ego Joannes Michaelensis, præsentis paginæ, jussu consilii ac
venerabilis abbatis Clarævallensis, cui creditum ac debitum hoc fuit,
humilis scriba esse, divinâ gratiâ merui.--_Chron. Cisterc._ ut sup.

[22] See also Hoveden apud X script. page 479. Hen. Hunting. ib. page 384.

[23] _Annales Benedictini_, tom. vi. page 166.

[24] _Histoire de Languedoc_, lib. xvii. p. 407.

[25] _Hist. de l'eglise de Gandersheim. Mariana de rebus Hispaniæ_, lib.
x. cap. 15, 17, 18. _Zurita anales de la corona de Aragon_, tom. i. lib.
i. cap. 52. _Quarita_, tom. i. lib. ii. cap. 4.

[26] Semel et secunda, et tertio, ni fallor, petiisti a me. Hugo
carrissime, ut tibi tuisque commilitonibus scriberem exhortationis
sermonem, et adversus hostilem tyrannidem, quia lanceam non liceret,
stilum vibrarem. _Exhortatio S. Bernardi ad Milites Templi, ed. Mabillon.
Parisiis_, 1839, tom. i. col. 1253 to 1278.

[27] i. e. Without any _separate_ property.

[28] _Will. Tyr._ lib. xiii. cap. 26; _Anselmus_, lib. iii. epistolarum.
epist. 43, 63, 66, 67; _Duchesne in Hist. Burg._ lib. iv. cap. 37.

[29] Miles eximius et in armis strenuus, nobilis carne et moribus, dominus
Robertus cognomine Burgundio Magister militiæ Templi.--_Will. Tyr._ lib.
xv. cap. 6.

[30] Vir eximius frater militiæ Templi Otto de Monte Falconis, omnes de
morte suâ moerore et gemitu conficiens, occisus est.--_Will. Tyr._ lib.
xv. cap. 6.

[31] _Abulfeda_, ad ann. Hegir. 534, 539. _Will. Tyr._ lib. xvi. cap. 4,
5, 7, 15, 16, who terms Zinghis, Sanguin. _Abulfaradge Chron. Syr._ p.
326, 328. _Will. Tyr._ lib. xvi. cap. 14.

[32] _Odo de Diogilo_, p. 33. _Will. Tyr._ lib. xii. cap. 7; _Jac. de
Vitr._ cap. lxv.; _Paul. Æmil._ p. 254; _Monast. Angl._ vol. vii. p. 814.

[33] In nomine sanctæ et individuæ Trinitatis omnibus dominis et amicis
suis, et Sanctæ Dei ecclesiæ filiis, Bernardus de Baliolo Salutem. Volo
notum fieri omnibus tam futuris quam præsentibus, quod pro dilectione Dei
et pro salute animæ meæ, antecessorumque meorum fratribus militibus de
Templo Salomonis dedi et concessi Wedelee, &c. ... Hoc donum in capitulo,
quod in Octavis Paschæ Parisiis fuit feci, domino apostolico Eugenio
præsente, et ipso rege Franciæ et archiepiscopo Seuver, et Bardell et
Rothomagi, et Frascumme, et fratribus militibus Templi alba chlamide
indutis cxxx præsentibus.--_Reg. Cart. S. Joh. Jerus. in Bib. Cotton. Nero
E. b._ No. xx. fo. 118.

[34] _Gallia Christiana nova_, tom. i. col. 486.

[35] _Odo de Diogilo de Ludov._ vii. _profectione in Orientem_, p. 67.

[36] Rex per aliquot dies in Palatio Templariorum, ubi olim Regia Domus,
quæ et Templum Salomonis constructa fuit manens, et sancta ubique loca
peragrans, per Samariam ad Galilæam Ptolemaidam rediit.... Convenerat enim
cum rege militibusque Templi, circa proximum Julium, in Syriam ad
expugnationem Damasci exercitum ducere.--_Otto Frising_, cap. 58.

[37] Ludovici regis ad abbatem Sugerium epist. 58.--_Duchesne hist. franc.
scrip._ tom. iv. p. 512; see also epist. 59, ibid.

[38] _Simeonis Dunelmensis hist._ ad ann. 1148, _apud_ X _script._

[39] _Dugdale Baronage_, tom. i. p. 122, _Dugd. Monast._ vol. 7, p. 838.

[40] Ex regist. Hosp. S. Joh. Jerusalem in Angli in _Bib. Cotton._ fol.
289, a-b. _Dugd. Monast. Angl._ ed. 1830, vol. vii. p. 820.

[41] Ex. cod. vet. M. S. penes Anton. Wood, Oxon, fol. 14 a. Ib. p. 843.

[42] _Liber Johannis Stillingflete_, M. S. in officio armorum (L. 17) fol.
141 a, Harleian M. S. No. 4937.

[43] _Geoffrey of Clairvaux_ observes, however, that the second crusade
could hardly be called _unfortunate_, since, though it did not at all help
the Holy Land, it served to _people heaven with martyrs_.

[44] His head and right hand were cut off by Noureddin, and sent to the
caliph at Bagdad.--_Abulfarag. Chron. Syr._ p. 336.

[45] _Spicilegii Dacheriani_, tom. ii. p. 511; see also _Will. Tyr._ lib.
xvii. cap. 9.

[46] _Will. Tyr._ lib. xvii. cap. 21. _L'art de verifier les dates_, p.
340. _Nobiliaire de Franche-Compté_, par Dunod, p. 140.

[47] _Will. Tyr._ lib. xvii. cap. 20, ad ann. 1152.

[48] _S. Bernardi epistolæ_, 288, 289, 392, ed. Mabillon.

[49] _Anselmi Gemblacensis Chron._ ad ann. 1153. _Will. Tyr._ lib. xvii.
cap. 27.

[50] Captus est inter cæteros ibi Bertrandus de Blanquefort, Magister
Militiæ Templi, vir religiosus ac timens Deum. _Will. Tyr._ lib. xviii.
cap. 14. _Registr. epist._ apud _Martene_ vet. script. tom. ii. col. 647.

[51] Milites Templi circa triginta, ducentos Paganorum euntes ad nuphas
verterent in fugam, et divino præsidio comitante, omnes partim ceperunt,
partim gladio trucidarunt. _Registr. epist._ ut sup. col. 647.

[52] _Will. Tyr._ lib. xix. cap. 8.

[53] _Epist._ xvi. S. Remensi archiepiscopo et ejus suffraganeis pro
ecclesia Jerosolymitana et militibus Templi, apud _Martene vet. script._
tom. ii. col. 647.

[54] _Islam_, the name of the Mahometan religion. The word signifies
literally, delivering oneself up to God.

[55] Keightley's Crusaders.

[56] The virtues of Noureddin are celebrated by the Arabic Historian
_Ben-Schunah_, in his _Raoudhat Almenadhir_, by _Azzeddin Ebn-al-ather_,
by _Khondemir_, and in the work entitled, "The flowers of the two
gardens," by _Omaddeddin Kateb_. See also _Will. Tyr._ lib. xx. cap. 33.

[57] _Regula_, cap. xlviii.

[58] Vexillum bipartitum ex Albo et Nigro quod nominant _Beau-seant_ id
est Gallicâ linguâ _Bien-seant_; eo quod Christi amicis candidi sunt et
benigni, inimicis vero terribiles atque nigri, _Jac. de Vitr. Hist.
Hierosol. apud Gesta Dei_, cap. lxv. The idea is quite an oriental one,
black and white being always used among the Arabs metaphorically, in the
sense above described. Their customary salutation is, May your day be
_white_, i. e. may you be happy.

[59] _Alwakidi Arab. Hist._ translated by Ockley. _Hist. Saracen._ It
refers to a period antecedent to the crusades, but the same
religio-military enthusiasm prevailed during the holy war for the recovery
of Jerusalem.

[60] _Cinnamus_, lib. iv. num. 22.

[61] _Gesta Dei_, inter regum et principum epistolas, tom. i. p. 1173, 6,
7. _Hist. Franc. Script._ tom. iv. p. 692, 693.

[62] Hist. de Saladin, par _M. Marin_, tom. i. p. 120, 1. _Gibbon_, cap.
59.

[63] _Gesta Dei_, epist. xiv. p. 1178, 9.

[64] De fratribus nostris ceciderunt LX. milites fortissimi, præter
fratres clientes et Turcopulos, nec nisi _septem_ tantum evasêre
periculum. Epist. _Gauf. Fulcherii_ procuratoris Templi Ludovico regi
Francorum. _Gesta Dei_, tom. i. p. 1182, 3, 4.

[65] Registr. epist. apud _Martene_, vel script. tom. ii. col. 846, 847,
883.

[66] "... præcipue pro fratribus Templi, vestram exoramus Majestatem ...
qui quotidie moriuntur pro Domino et servitio, et per quos possumus, si
quid possumus. In illis enim tota summa post Deum consistit omnium eorum,
qui sano fiunt consilio in partibus orientis...." _Gesta Dei_, tom. i.
epist. xxi. p. 1181.

[67] Dominus fuit Arabiæ secundæ, quæ est Petracensis, qui locus hodie
Crach dicitur, et Syriæ Sobal ... factus est Magister Militiæ
Templi.--_Will. Tyr._ lib. xxii. cap. 5.

[68] _Will. Tyr._ lib. xviii. cap. 4, 5.

[69] Fratres ejusdem domus non formidantes pro fratribus suis animas
ponere; cum servientibus et equitaturis _ad hoc officium specialiter
deputatis et propriis sumptibus retentis_, tam in eundo, quam redeundo ab
incursibus Paganorum defensant.--_De Vertot._ hist. des chev. de Malte,
liv. i. preuve 9.

[70] _Will. Tyr._ lib. xx. cap. 5.

[71] Prædicti enim Hospitalis fratres _ad imitationem_ fratrum militiæ
Templi, armis materialibus utentes, milites cum servientibus in suo
collegio receperunt.--_Jac. de Vit._ cap. lxv.

[72] _Will. Tyr._ lib. xx. cap. 5.

[73] This assumption of arms by the Hospitallers was entirely at variance
with the original end and object of their institution. Pope Anastasius, in
a bull dated A. D. 1154, observes, "omnia vestra _sustentationibus
peregrinorum et pauperum_ debent cedere, ac per hoc nullatenus aliis
usibus ea convenit applicari."--_De Vertot_, liv. i. preuve 13.

[74] _Gest. Dei per Francos_, p. 1177.

[75] _Will. Tyr._ lib. xx. cap. 5. _Hoveden_ in Hen. 2, p. 622. _De
Vertot_, Hist. des Chevaliers de Malte, liv. ii. p. 150 to 161, ed. 1726.

[76] _Will. Tyr._ lib. xxi. cap. 29.

[77] _Will. Tyr._ lib. xx. xxi. xxii.

[78] _Omne datum optimum_ et omne donum perfectum desursum est, descendens
a Patre luminum, apud quem non est transmutatio, nec vicissitudinis
obumbratio.

[79] Acta Rymeri, tom. i. ad ann. 1172, p. 30, 31, 32.

[80] _Wilcke_, Geschichte des Tempelherrenordens, vol. ii. p. 230.

[81] 3 Concil. Lat. cap. 9.

[82] Regula, cap. 20.

[83] Cap. 21, 22.

[84] Cap. 20, 27, of the rule.

[85] _Jac. de Vitr._ Hist. Orient. apud _Martene_ thesaur. nov. anecdot.
tom. iii. col. 276, 277.

[86] Narratio Patriarchæ Hierosolymitani coram summo Pontifice de statu
Terræ Sanctæ. ex M. S. Cod. Bigotiano, apud _Martene_ thesaur. nov.
anecdot. tom. iii. col. 276, 277.

[87] Dissertation sur les Assassins, Académie des Inscriptions, tom. xvii.
p. 127, 170. _De Guignes_, Hist. des Huns.--_Will. Tyr._ lib. xx. cap. 31.

[88] _Jac. de Vitr._ Hist. Orient. lib. iii. p. 1142. _Will. Tyr._ lib.
xx. cap. 32.

[89] Adjecit etiam et alia _a spiritu superbiæ_, quo ipse plurimum
abundabat, dictata, quæ præsenti narrationi no multum necessarium est
interserere.--_Will. Tyr._ lib. xx. cap. 32.

[90] _Will. Tyr._ lib. xxi. cap. 20, 22, 23. Abulfeda Abulpharadge, Chron.
Syr. p. 379.

[91] Capti sunt ibi de nostris, Otto de Sancto Amando militiæ Templi
Magister, homo nequaquam superbus et arrogans, spiritum furoris habens in
naribus, nec Deum timens, nec ad homines habens reverentiam.--_Will. Tyr._
lib. xxi. cap. 29, Abulpharadge, Chron. Syr. p. 380, 381.

[92] _Abulpharadge_, Chron. Syr. ut sup. Menologium Cisterciente, p. 194.
_Bernardus Thesaurarius_ de acq. _Terr. Sanc._ cap. 139.

[93] Dicens non esse consuetudinis militum Templi ut aliqua redemptio
daretur pro eis præter cingulum et cultellum. Chron. _Trivet_ apud _Hall_,
vol. i. p. 77.

[94] Eodem anno quo captus est in vinculis et squalore carceris, nulli
lugendus, dicitur obiisse.--_Will. Tyr._ lib. xxi. cap. 29. Ib. lib. xxii.
cap. 7. Gallia christiana nova, tom. i. col. 258; ibid p. 172,
instrumentorum.

[95] _Abulfeda_, ad ann. 1182, 3. _Will. Tyr._ lib. xxii. cap. 16-20.

[96] Unde propter causas prædictas generali providentia statutum est, ut
Jerosolymitanus Patriarcha, petendi contra immanissimum hostem Saladinum
auxilii gratia, ad christianos principos in Europam mitteretur; sed maxime
ad illustrem Anglorum regem, cujus efficacior et promptia opera
sperabatur.--_Hemingford_, cap. 33; _Radulph de Diceto_, inter; _Hist.
Angl._ X. script. p. 622.

[97] Concil. Magn. Brit. tom. iv. p. 788, 789.

[98] _Arnauld_ of Troy. _Radulph de Diceto_, ut sup. p. 625.

[99] Eodem anno (1185,) Baldewinus rex Jerusalem, et Templares et
Hospitalares, miserunt ad regem Angliæ Heraclium, sanctæ civitatis
Jerusalem Patriarcha, et summos Hospitalis et Templi Magistros una cum
vexillo regio, et clavibus sepulchri Domini, et turris David, et civitatis
Jerusalem; postulantes ab eo celerem succursum ... qui statim ad pedes
regis provoluti cum fletu magno et singultu, verba salutationis ex parte
regis et principum et universæ plebis terræ Jerosolymitanæ proferebant ...
tradiderunt ei vexillum regium, etc. etc.--_Hoveden_, ad ann. 1185;
_Radulph de Diceto_, p. 626.

[100] _Matt. Westm._ ad ann. 1185; _Guill. Neubr._ tom. i. lib. iii. cap.
12, 13. _Chron. Dunst._

[101] _Speed._ Hist. Britain, p. 506. A. D. 1185.

[102] _Stowe's_ Survey; _Tanner_, Notit. Monast.; _Dugd._ Orig. Jurid.

[103] _Herbert_, Antiq. Inns of Court.

[104] "Yea, and a part of that too," says Sir William Dugdale, in his
_origines juridiciales_, as appears from the first grant thereof to Sir
William Paget, Knight, Pat. ii. Edward VI. p. 2.

[105] We read on many old charters and deeds, "Datum apud _vetus_ Templum
Londoniæ." See an example, _Nichols'_ Leicestershire, vol. iii. p. 959;
see also the account, in Matt. Par. and Hoveden, of the king's visit to
Hugh bishop of Lincoln, who lay sick of a fever at the Old Temple, and
died there, the 16th November, A. D. 1200.

[106] Anno ab incarnatione Domini MCLXXXV. facta est ista inquisitio de
terrarum donatoribus, et earum possessoribus, ecclesiarum scil. et
molendinorum, et terrarum assisarum, et in dominico habitarum, et de
redditibus assisis per Angliam, per fratrem Galfridum filium Stephani,
quando ipse suscepit balliam de Anglia, qui summo studio prædicta
inquirendo curam sollicitam exhibuit, ut majoris notitiæ posteris
expressionem generaret, et pervicacibus omnimodam nocendi rescinderet
facultatem. Ex. cod. MS. in Scacc. penes Remor. Regis. fol. i. a.; _Dugd._
Monast. Angl. vol. vi. part ii. p. 820.

[107] Quorum res adeo crevit in immensum, ut hodie, trecentos in conventu
habeant equites, albis chlamydibus indutos: exceptis fratribus, quorum
pene infinitus est numerus. Possessiones autem, tam ultra quam citra mare,
adeo dicuntur immensas habere, ut jam non sit in orbe christiano provincia
quæ prædictis fratribus suorum portionem non contulerit, et regiis
opulentiis pares hodie dicuntur habere copias.--_Will. Tyr._ lib. xii.
cap. 7.

[108] Dominus Baldwinus illustris memoriæ, Hierosolymorum rex quartus,
Gazam munitissimam fratribus militiæ Templi donavit, _Will. Tyr._ lib. xx.
cap. 21. Milites Templi Gazam antiquam Palæstinæ civitatem reædificant, et
turribus eam muniunt, _Rob. de Monte_, appen. ad chron. Sig. p. 631.

[109] _Marin. Sanut_, p. 221. _Bernard Thesaur._ p. 768. _Radulph
Coggleshale_, p. 249. Hoveden, p. 636. Radulph de Diceto, ut sup. p. 623.
Matt. Par. p. 142. Italia sacra, tom. iii. p. 407.

[110] Tunc Julianus Dominus Sydonis vendidit Sydonem et Belfort
Templariis, _Marin. Sanut_, cap. vi. p. 221.

[111] Atlas _Marianus_, p. 156; Siciliæ Antiq., tom. iii. col. 1000.

[112] Gallia christiana nova, tom. iii. col. 118; Probat. tom. ix. col.
1067, tom. x. col. 1292, tom. xi. col. 46; _Roccus Pyrrhus_, Sicil. Antiq.
tom. iii. col. 1093, 4, 5, 6, 7, &c.

[113] _Petrus Maria Campus_ Hist. Placent. part ii. n. 28; _Pauli M.
Paciandi_ de cultu S. Johannis Bapt. Antiq. p. 297.

[114] Description et delices d'Espagne, tom. iii. p. 259; Hist. Portugal,
_La Clede_, tom. i. p. 200, 202, &c.; Hispania illustrata, tom. iii. p.
49.

[115] Annales Minorum, tom. v. p. 247; tom. vi. p. 211, 218; tom. viii. p.
26, 27; tom. ix. p. 130, 141.--_Campomanes._

[116] _Marcæ_ Hispanicæ, col. 1291, 1292, 1304. Gall. christ. nov. tom. i.
col. 195. _Mariana_, de. reb. Hisp. lib. ii. cap. 23.

[117] Script. rer. Germ. tom. ii. col. 584. Annales Minorum, tom. vi. p.
5, 95, 177. Suevia and Vertenbergia sacra, p. 74. Annal. Bamb. p. 186.
Notitiæ episcopatûs Middelb. p. 11. Scrip. de rebus Marchiæ Brandeburg, p.
13. _Aventinus_ annal. lib. vii. cap. 1. n. 7. Gall. christ. nov. tom.
viii. col. 1382; tom. i. col. 1129.

[118] Constantinopolis christiana, lib. iv. p. 157.

[119] Hist. de l'Eglise de Besancon, tom. ii. p. 397, 421, 450, 474, 445,
470, 509, &c.

[120] Hist. de l'Eglise de St. Etienne à Dijon, p. 133, 137, 205. Hist. de
Bresse, tom. i. p. 52, 55, 84.

[121] Hist. gen. de Languedoc, liv. ii. p. 523; liv. xvi., p. 362; liv.
xvii. p. 427; liv. xxii. p. 25, 226. Gall. christ. tom. vi. col. 727.
_Martene_ Thesaur. anecd. tom. i. col. 575.

[122] Gall. christ. nov. tom. i. p. 32; tom. iii. col. 333; tom. ii. col.
46, 47, and 72. _La Martiniere_ dict. geogr. _Martene_, ampl. collect.
tom. vi. col. 226. Gloss. nov. tom. iii. col. 223.

[123] Histoire de la ville de Paris, tom. i. p. 174. Gall. christ. nov.
tom. vii. col. 853.

[124] Annales Trevir. tom. ii. p. 91, 197, 479. _Prodromus_ hist. Trevir.
p. 1077. _Bertholet_ hist. de Luxembourg, tom. v. p. 145. _Joh. Bapt._
Antiq. Flandriæ Gandavum, p. 24, 207. Antiq. Bredanæ, p. 12, 23.
_Austroburgus_, p. 115. _Aub Miræi_ Diplomat. tom. ii. p. 1165, &c.

[125] _Dugd._ Monast. Angl. vol. vi. part 2, p. 800 to 817. Concilia Magnæ
Britanniæ, tom. iii. p. 333 to 382. Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 279, 288,
291, 295, &c.

[126] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 279, 288, 291, 297, &c.

[127] _Nichols'_ hist. of Leicestershire.

[128] _Clutterbuck's_ hist. Hertfordshire. _Chauncey_, antiq. Hert. Acta
_Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 133, 134. _Dodsworth_, M. S. vol. xxxv.

[129] _Morant's_ hist. Essex, _Rymer._ tom. iii. p. 290 to 294.

[130] Redditus omnium ecclesiarum et molendinorum et terrarum de bailliâ
de Lincolnscire. Inquis. terrar. ut sup. fol. 41 b to 48 b and 49 a.
_Peck's_ MS. in Museo Britannico, vol. iv. fol. 95 et seq.

[131] _Peck's_ MS. ut sup. fol. 95.

[132] Inquis. ut. sup. 58 b to 65 b.

[133] Inquis. terrar. ut sup. fol. 12 a to 23 a. Dodsworth MS. vol. xx. p.
65, 67, ex quodam rotulo tangente terras Templariorum. Rot. 42, 46, p.
964. Dugd. Baron. tom. i. p. 70.

[134] Monast. Angl. ut sup. p. 840. _Hasted._ hist. Kent.

[135] Ex cod. MS. in officio armorum, L. xvii. fol. 141 a. Calendarium
Inquis. post mortem, p. 13. 18.

[136] _Manning's_ Surrey. _Atkyn's_ Gloucestershire; and see the
references in Tanner. _Nash's_ Worcestershire.

[137] _Bridge's_ Northamptonshire, vol. ii. p. 100.

[138] _Thoroton's_ Nottinghamshire. _Burn and Nicholson's_ Westmoreland.
_Worsley's_ Isle of Wight.

[139] Habuerunt insuper Templarii in Christianitate _novem millia_
maneriorum ... præter emolumenta et varios proventus ex fraternitatibus et
prædicationibus provenientes, et per privilegia sua accrescentes. _Mat.
Par._ p. 615, ed. Lond. 1640.

[140] Amplis autem possessionibus tam citra mare quam ultra ditati sunt in
immensum, villas, civitates et oppida, ex quibus certam pecuniæ summam,
pro defensione Terræ Sanctæ, summo eorum magistro cujus sedes principalis
erat in Jerusalem, mittunt annuatim.--_Jac. de Vitr._ Hist. Hierosol. p.
1084.

[141] Masculum pullum, si natus sit super terram domus, vendere non
possunt sine licentiâ fratrum. Si filiam habent, dare non possunt sine
licentiâ fratrum. Inquisitio terrarum, ut supr. fol. 18 a.

[142] The Templars, by diverting the water, created a great nuisance. In
A. D. 1290, the _Prior et fratres de Carmelo_ (the white friars)
complained to the king in parliament of the putrid exhalations arising
from the Fleet river, which were so powerful as to overcome all the
frankincense burnt at their altar during divine service, and had
occasioned the deaths of many of their brethren. They beg that the stench
may be removed, lest they also should perish. The Friars preachers (black
friars) and the bishop of Salisbury (whose house stood in Salisbury-court)
made a similar complaint; as did also Henry Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, who
alleges that the Templars (_ipsi de novo Templo_) had turned off the water
of the river to their mills at Castle Baignard.--_Rot. Parl._ vol. i. p.
60, 200.

[143] Ex cod. MS. in officio armorum, L. xvii. fol. 141 a. _Dugd._ Monast.
Angl. ut sup. p. 838. _Tanner_, Notit. Monast.

[144] _Dugd._ Baronage. Monast. Angl. p. 800 to 844.

[145] Power to hold courts;

[146] to impose and levy fines and amerciaments upon their tenants;

[147] to buy and sell, or to hold a kind of market;

[148] to judge and punish their villains and vassals;

[149] to try thieves and malefactors belonging to their manors, and taken
within the precincts thereof;

[150] to judge foreign thieves taken within the said manors, &c.

[151] Cart. 11. Hen. 3. M. 33. _Dugd._ Monast. p. 844.

[152] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. i. p. 54, 298, 574, 575.

[153] Page 431.

[154] 13 Edward I.

[155] 2 Inst. p. 432.

[156] 2 Inst. p. 465.

[157] Stat. Westr. 2, cap. 43, 13 Ed. I.

[158] The title Master of the Temple was so generally applied to the
superiors of the western provinces, that we find in the Greek of the lower
empire, the words [Greek: Templou Maistôr]. _Ducange._ Gloss.

[159] Also summus magister, magister generalis.

[160] Concil. Mag. Brit. tom. ii. p. 335, 339, 340. Monast. Angl. p. 818.

[161] Concil. Mag. Brit. tom. ii. p. 355, 356.

[162] In cujus rei testimonium huic præsenti scripto indentato sigillum
capituli nostri apposuimus.

[163] MS. apud Belvoir. _Peck's_ MS. in Museo Britannico, vol. iv. p. 65.

[164] _Nicholl's_ Hist. Leicestershire, vol. iii. pl. cxxvii. fig. 947, p.
943; vol. ii. pl. v. fig. 13.

[165] Two of these visitors-general have been buried in the Temple Church.

[166] Rot. claus. 49. H. III. m. xi. d. Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 802.

[167] L'histoire des Cisteaux, _Chrisost. Henriques_, p. 479.

[168] Ricardus de Hastinges, Magister omnium militum et fratrum Templi qui
sunt in Angliâ, salutem. Notum vobis facimus quod omnis controversia quæ
fuit inter nos et monachos de Kirkested ... terminata et finita est
assensu et consilio nostro et militum et fratrum, &c., anno ab
incarnatione Domini 1155, 11 die kal. Feb. The archbishop of Canterbury,
the papal legate, the bishop of Lincoln, and several abbots, are witnesses
to this instrument.--_Lansdown_ MS. 207 E, fol. 467, p. 162, 163; see also
p. 319, where he is mentioned as Master, A. D. 1161.

[169] Et paulo post rex Angliæ fecit Henricum filium suum desponsare
Margaritam filiam regis Franciæ, cum adhuc essent pueruli in cunis
vagientes; videntibus et consentientibus Roberto de Pirou et Toster de
Sancto Homero et Ricardo de Hastinges, Templariis, qui custodiebant
præfata castella, et statim tradiderunt illa castella regi Angliæ, unde
rex Franciæ plurimum iratus fugavit illos tres Templarios de regno
Franciæ, quos rex Angliæ benigne suscipiens, multis ditavit
honoribus.--_Rog. Hoveden_, script. post Bedam, p. 492. _Guilielmi
Neubrigiensis_ hist. lib. ii. cap. 4, apud _Hearne_.

[170] Life of Henry II. tom. iv. p. 203.

[171] Ib. tom. ii. p. 356. Hist. quad. p. 38. _Hoveden_, 453. _Chron.
Gervasii_, p. 1386, apud X script.

[172] Ricardus Mallebeench, magister omnium pauperum militum et fratrum
Templi Salomonis in Angliâ, &c. ... Confirmavimus pacem et concordiam quam
Ricardus de Hastings fecit cum Waltero abbate de Kirkested.--_Lansdown_
MS. 207 E., fol. 467.

[173] Gaufridus, filius Stephani, militiæ Templi in Angliâ _Minister_,
assensu totius capituli nostri dedi, &c., totum illud tenementum in villâ
de Scamtrun quod Emma uxor Walteri Camerarii tenet de domo nostrâ, &c. Ib.
fol. 201.

[174] Post.

[175] The money is ordered to be paid "dilecto filio nostro Thesaurario
domus militiæ Templi Londonien." Acta _Rymeri_, tom. i. p. 442, 4, 5.
_Wilkins_ Concilia, tom. ii. p. 230.

[176] _Matt. Par._ p. 381.

[177] _Matt. Par._ p. 253, 645.

[178] _Wilkins_, Concilia Magnæ Britanniæ, tom. ii. p. 19, 26, 93, 239,
253, 272, 292.

[179] _Bernard Thesaur._ cap. 157, apud _Muratori_ script. rer. Ital. p.
792. _Cotton_ MS., Nero E. vi. p. 60, fol. 466.

[180] _Radulph de Diceto_, ut sup. p. 626. _Matt. Par._ ad ann. 1185.

[181] _Hoveden_ annal. apud rer. Angl. script. post Bedam, p. 636, 637.

[182] The above passage is almost literally translated from Abbot
Bromton's Chronicle. The Patriarch there says to the king, "Hactenus
gloriose regnasti, sed amodo ipse te deseret quem tu deseruisti. Recole
quæ dominus tibi contulit, et qualia illi reddidisti; quomodo regi Franciæ
infidus fuisti, beatum Thomam occidisti, et nunc protectionem
Christianorum abjecisti. Cumque ad hæc rex excandesceret, obtulit
patriarcha caput suum et collum extensum, dicens, 'Fac de me quod de
_Thomá_ fecisti. Adeo libenter volo a te occidi in Anglia, sicut a
Saracenis in Syria, quia tu omni Saraceno pejor es.' Cui rex, 'Si omnes
homines mei unum corpus essent, unoque ore loquerentur, talia mihi dicere
non auderent.' Cui ille, 'Non est mirum, quia tu et non te diligunt,
prædam etiam et non hominem sequitur turba ista.' 'Recedere non possum,
quia filii mei insurgerent in me absentem.' Cui ille, 'Nec mirum, quia de
diabolo venerunt, et ad diabolum ibunt.' Et sic demum patriarcha navem
ascendens in Galliam reversus est."--_Chron. Joan. Bromton_, abbatis
Jornalensis, script. X. p. 1144, ad ann. 1185.

[183] Sed hæc omnia præfatus Patriarcha parum pendebat, sperabat enim quod
esset reducturus secum ad defensionem Ierosolymitanæ terræ præfatum regem
Angliæ, vel aliquem de filiis suis, vel aliquem virum magnæ auctoritatis;
sed quia hoc esse non potuit, repatriaturus dolens et confusus a curiâ
recessit.--_Hoveden_ ut sup. p. 630.

[184] _Contin. Hist. Bell. Sacr._ apud _Martene_, tom. v. col. 606. It
appears from _Mansi_ that this valuable old chronicle, formerly attributed
to Hugh Plagon, is the original French work of _Bernard the Treasurer_.

[185] Quand le roi avoit offert sa corone au Temple Dominus, si avaloit
uns degrès qui sont dehors le Temple, et entroit en son pales au Temple de
Salomon, ou li Templiers manoient. La etoient les tables por mengier, ou
le roi s'asseoit, et si baron et tuit cil qui mengier voloient.--Contin.
bell. sacr. apud _Martene_, tom. v. col. 586.

[186] Contin. hist. ut sup., col. 593, 4. _Bernard. Thesaur._ apud
_Muratori_ script. rer. Ital., tom. vii. cap. 147, col. 782, cap. 148,
col. 173. Assizes de Jerusalem, cap. 287, 288. _Guill. Neubr._ cap. 16.

[187] Vita et res gestæ Saladini by _Bohadin F. Sjeddadi_, apud
_Schultens_, ex. MS. Arab. Pref.

[188] Chron. terræ Sanctæ apud _Martene_, tom. v. col. 551. Hist.
Hierosol. Gest. Dei, tom. i. pt. ii. p. 1150, 1. _Geoffrey de Vinisauf._

[189] Contin. hist. bell. sacr. ut sup., col. 599.

[190] _Muhammed F. Muhammed_, _N. Koreisg. Ispahan_, apud _Schultens_, p.
18.

[191] _Radulph Coggleshale_, an eye-witness, apud _Martene_, tom. v. col.
553.

[192] Chron. Terræ Sanctæ, apud _Martene_, tom. v. col. 558 and 545. A
most valuable history.

[193] _Omad'eddin Kateb-Abou-hamed-Mohamed-Benhamed_, one of Saladin's
secretaries. Extraits Arabes, par _M. Michaud_.

[194] Contin. hist. bell. sacr. apud _Martene_, tom. v. col. 608.
_Bernard. Thesaur._ apud _Muratori_ script. rer. Ital., cap. 46. col. 791.

[195] _Bohadin_, cap. 35. _Abulfeda._ _Abulpharag._

[196] _Omad'eddin Kateb_, in his book called _Fatah_, celebrates the above
exploits of Saladin. Extraits Arabes, _Michaud_. _Radulph Coggleshale_,
Chron. Terr. Sanct. apud _Martene_, tom. v. col. 553 to 559. _Bohadin_, p.
70. _Jac. de Vitr._ cap. xciv. _Guil. Neubr._ apud Hearne, tom. i. lib.
iii. cap. 17, 18. _Chron. Gervasii_, apud X. script. col. 1502.
_Abulfeda_, cap. 27. _Abulpharag._ Chron. Syr. p. 399, 401, 402.
_Khondemir._ _Ben-Schunah._

[197] _Geoffrey de Vinisauf_ apud _Gale_, script. Antiq. Anglic. p. 15, "O
zelus fidei! O fervor animi!" says that admiring historian, cap. xv. p.
251.

[198] _Geoffrey de Vinisauf_, ut sup. cap. v. p. 251.

[199] Epistola Terrici Præceptoris Templi de captione terræ
Jerosolymitanæ, _Hoveden_ annal. apud rer. Angl. script. post Bedam, p.
636, 637. _Chron. Gervas._ ib. col. 1502. _Radulph de Diceto_, apud X.
script. col. 635.

[200] Saladin's letter to the caliph _Nassir Deldin-Illah Aboul Abbas
Ahmed_.--_Michaud_, Extraits Arabes.

[201] Les dames de Jerusalem firent prendre _cuves_ et mettre en la place
devant le monte Cauviaire, et emplir _d'eue froide_, et firent lors filles
entrer jusqu'au col, et couper lor treices et jeter les.--Contin. hist.
bell. sacr. apud _Martene_, tom. v. col. 615.

[202] Chron. Terræ Sanctæ, _Radulphi Coggeshale_, apud _Martene_, tom. v.
col. 572, 573; flentibus christianis, crines et vestes rumpentibus,
pectora et capita tundentibus, says the worthy abbot.

[203] See ante, p. 6.

[204] Saladin ot mandé a Damas por euë rose assés por le Temple laver ...
il avoit quatre chamiex ou cinq tous chargiés.--Contin. hist. Bell. Sacr.
col. 621.

[205] Bohadin, cap. xxxvi., and the extracts from _Abulfeda_, apud
_Schultens_, cap. xxvii. p. 42, 43. _Ib'n Alatsyr_, Michaud, Extraits
Arabes.

[206] _Hoveden_, annal. apud rer. Angl. script. post Bedam, p. 645, 646.

[207] _Bohadin_ apud _Schultens_, cap. xxxvi.

[208] _Ibn-Alatsyr_, hist. Arab. and the _Raoudhatein_, or "the two
gardens." _Michaud_, Extraits Arabes. Excerpta ex _Abulfeda_ apud
_Schultens_, cap. xxvii. p. 43. _Wilken_ Comment. Abulfed. hist. p. 148.

[209] Omad'eddin Kateb.--_Michaud_, Extraits Arabes.

[210] _Khotbeh_, or sermon of _Mohammed Ben Zeky_.--_Michaud_, Extraits
Arabes.

[211] See the account of this remarkable stone, ante p. 7, 8.

[212] _Hist. Hierosol._ Gesta Dei per Francos, tom. i. pt. ii. p. 1155.

[213] _Hoveden_ ut sup. p. 646. _Schahab'eddin_ in the
Raoudhatein.--_Michaud._

[214] _Jac. de Vitr._ cap. xcv. _Vinisauf_, apud XV script. p. 257.
_Trivet_ ad ann. 1188, apud _Hall_, p. 93.

[215] _Radulph de Diceto_ ut sup. col. 642, 643. _Matt. Par._ ad ann.
1188.

[216] _Radulph Coggleshale_, p. 574. Hist. Hierosol. apud Gesta Dei, tom.
i. pars 2, p. 1165. _Radulph de Diceto_ ut sup., col. 649. _Vinisauf_,
cap. xxix. p. 270.

[217] _Ducange_ Gloss. tom. vi. p. 1036.

[218] _Geoffrey de Vinisauf_, apud XV script. cap. xxxv. p. 427. _Rad.
Coggleshale_ apud _Martene_, tom. v. col. 566, 567. _Bohadin_, cap. l. to
c.

[219] _Bohadin_, cap. v. vi.

[220] L'art de verif. tom. i. p. 297.

[221] Hist. de la maison de Sablé, liv. vi. chap. 5. p. 174, 175. Cotton
MS. Nero, E. vi. p. 60. folio 466, where he is called Robert de Sambell.
L'art de Verif. p. 347.

[222] _Jac. de Vitr._ cap. 65.

[223] Le roi de France ot le chastel d'Acre, ot le fist garnir et le roi
d'Angleterre se herberja en la maison du Temple.--Contin. Hist. bell.
sacr. apud _Martene_, tom. v. col. 634.

[224] _Chron. Ottonis_ a S. Blazio, c. 36. apud Scriptores Italicos, tom.
vi. col. 892.

[225] _Contin. Hist. bell. sacr._ apud Martene, tom. v. col. 633.
_Trivet_, ad. ann. 1191. _Chron. de S. Denis_, lib. ii. cap. 7.
_Vinisauf_, p. 328.

[226] Primariam aciem deducebant Templarii et ultimam Hospitalarii, quorum
utrique strenue agentes magnarum virtutum prætendebant
imaginem.--_Vinisauf_, cap. xii. p. 350.

[227] Ibi rex præordinaverat quod die sequenti primam aciem ipse
deduceret, et quod Templarii extremæ agminis agerent
custodiam.--_Vinisauf_, cap. xiv. p. 351.

[228] Deducendæ extremæ legioni præfuerant Templarii, qui tot equos eâ die
Turcis irruentibus, a tergo amiserunt, quod fere desperati sunt.--Ib.

[229] _Bohadin_, cap. cxvi. p. 189.

[230] Singulis noctibus antequam dormituri cubarent, quidam ad hoc
deputatus voce magnâ clamaret fortiter in medio exercitu dicens, ADJUVA
SEPULCHRUM SANCTUM; ad hanc vocem clamabant universi eadem verba
repetentes, et manus suas cum lacrymis uberrimis tendentes in cælum, Dei
misericordiam postulantes et adjutorium.--_Vinisauf_, cap. xii. p. 351.

[231] Ibid. cap. xxxii. p. 369.

[232] _Bedewini_ horridi, fuligine obscuriores, pedites improbissimi,
arcus gestantes cum pharetris, et ancilia rotunda, gens quidem acerrima et
expedita.--_Vinisauf_, cap. xviii. p. 355.

[233] _Vinisauf_, cap. xxii. p. 360. _Bohadin_, cap. cxx.

[234] Expedite descenderunt (Templarii) ex equis suis, et dorsa singuli
dorsis sociorum habentes hærentia, facie versâ in hostes, sese viriliter
defendere coeperunt. Ibi videri fuit pugnam acerrimam, ictus validissimos,
tinniunt galeæ a percutientium collisione gladiorum, igneæ exsiliunt
scintillæ, crepitant arma tumultuantium, perstrepunt voces; Turci se
viriliter ingerunt, Templarii strenuissime defendunt.--Ib. cap. xxx. p.
366, 367.

[235] _Vinisauf_, cap. xxxii. p. 369.

[236] Ib. cap. xxxvii. p. 392. _Contin. Hist. Bell. Sacr._ apud _Martene_,
v. col. 638.

[237] _Vinisauf_, lib. v. cap. 1, p. 403. Ibid. lib. vi. cap. 2, p. 404.

[238] Ib. cap. iv. v. p. 406, 407, &c. &c.; cap. xi. p. 410; cap. xiv. p.
412. King Richard was the first to enter the town. Tunc rex per cocleam
quandam, quam forte prospexerat in domibus Templariorum solus primus
intravit villam.--_Vinisauf_, p. 413, 414.

[239] _Contin. Hist. Bell. Sacr._ apud _Martene_, tom. v. col. 641.

[240] Concessimus omne jus, omne dominium quod ad nos pertinet et
pertineat, omnem potestatem, omnes libertates et liberas consuetudines
quas regia potestas conferre potest. _Cart. Ric._ 1. ann. 5, regni sui.

[241] _Hispania Illustrata_, tom. iii. p. 59. _Hist. gen. de Languedoc_,
tom. iii. p. 409. Cotton, MS. Nero E. VI. 23. i.

[242] Castrum nostrum quod Peregrinorum dicitur, see the letter of the
Grand Master _Matt. Par._ p. 312, and _Jac. de Vitr._ lib. iii. apud Gest.
Dei, p. 1131.

[243] "Opus egregium," says _James of Vitry_, "ubi tot et tantas
effuderunt divitias, quod mirum est unde eas accipiunt."--_Hist. Orient._
lib. iii. apud Gest. Dei, tom. i. pars 9, p. 1131. _Martene_, tom. iii.
col. 288. Hist. capt. Damietæ, apud Hist. Angl. script. XV. p. 437, 438,
where it is called Castrum Filii Dei.

[244] _Pococke_, Travels in the East, book i. chap. 15.

[245] _Dufresne_, Gloss. _Archives d'Arles._ Cotton, MS. Nero E. VI.

[246] Acta et Foedera _Rymeri_, tom. i. p. 134, ad. ann. 1203, ed. 1704.

[247] _Rigord_ in Gest. Philippi. Acta _Rymeri_, tom. i. p. 165, 173.

[248] Itinerarium regis Johannis, compiled from the grants and precepts of
that monarch, by _Thomas Duff Hardy_, published by the Record
Commissioners.

[249] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. i. p. 170, ad. ann. 1213.

[250] _Matt. Par._ ad. ann. 1213, p. 234, 236, 237. _Matt. Westr._ p. 271,
2. _Bib. Cotton._ Nero C. 2. Acta _Rymeri_, tom. i. p. 172, 173. King John
resided at Temple Ewell from the 7th to the 28th of May.

[251] Teste meipso apud Novum Templum London.... Acta _Rymeri_, tom. i. p.
105. ad. ann. 1214, ed. 1704.

[252] "Formam autem rei prolocutæ inter nos et ipsos, scriptam et sigillo
nostro sigillatam ... in custodiam Templariorum commisimus."--_Literæ
Regis sorori suæ Reginæ Berengariæ_, ib. p. 194.

[253] Berengaria Dei gratiâ, quondam humilis Angliæ Regina. Omnibus, &c.
salutem.... Hanc pecuniam solvet in domo Novi Templi London. Ib. p. 208,
209, ad. ann. 1215.

[254] _Matt. Par._ p. 253, ad. ann. 1215.

[255] _Monast. Angl._ vol. vi. part ii.

[256] Ital. et Raven. Historiarum _Hieronymi Rubei_, lib. vi. p. 380, 381,
ad ann. 1217. ed. Ven. 1603.

[257] _Jac. de Vitr._ lib. iii. ad. ann. 1218. Gesta Dei, tom. i. 1, pars
2, p. 1133, 4, 5.

[258] _Gall. Christ. nov._ tom. ii. col. 714, tom. vii. col. 229.

[259] _Jac. de Vitr._ Hist. Orient. ut sup. p. 1138. Bernard Thesaur. apud
Muratori, cap. 190 to 200.

[260] Epist. Magni Magistri Templi apud Matt. Par. p. 312, 313.

[261] Our historian, James de Vitry; he subsequently became one of the
hostages. Contin. Hist. apud _Martene_, tom. v. col. 698.

[262] Matt. Par. ad ann. 1222, p. 314. See also another letter, p. 313.

[263] Actum London in domo Militiæ Templi, II. kal. Octob. _Acta Rymeri_,
tom. i. p. 234, ad ann. 1219.

[264] _Acta Rymeri_, tom. i. ad ann. 1223, p. 258.

[265] Mittimus ad vos dilect. nobis in Christo, fratrem Alanum Marcell
Magistrum militiæ Templi in Angliâ, &c. ... Teste meipso apud Novum
Templum London coram Domino Cantuar--archiepiscopo, Huberto de Burgo
justitiario et J. Bath--Sarum episcopis. _Acta Rymeri_, tom. i. p. 270, ad
ann. 1224.

[266] Ib. p. 275.

[267] Ib. p. 311, 373, 380.

[268] Sanut, lib. iii. c. x. p. 210.

[269] _Cotton_, MS. Nero E. VI. p. 60. fol. 466. Nero E. VI. 23. i.

[270] Cecidit autem in illo infausto certamine illustris miles Templarius,
Anglicus natione, Reginaldus de Argentomio, eâ die Balcanifer; ...
indefessus vero vexillum sustinebat, donec tibiæ cum cruribus et manibus
frangerentur. Solus quoque eorum Preceptor priusquam trucidaretur,
sexdecim hostium ad inferos destinavit.--_Matt. Par._ p. 443, ad ann.
1237.

[271] A _Clerkenwelle_ domo sua, quæ est Londoniis, per medium civitatis,
clypeis circiter triginta detectis, hastis elevatis, et prævio vexillo,
versus pontem, ut ab omnibus videntibus, benedictionem obtinerent,
perrexerunt eleganter. Fratres verò inclinatis capitibus, hinc et inde
caputiis depositis, se omnium precibus commendaverunt.--_Matt. Par._ p.
443, 444.

[272] Et eodem anno (1239) ... passi sunt Judæi exterminium magnum et
destructionem, eosdem arctante et incarcerante, et pecuniam ab eisdem
extorquente Galfrido Templario, Regis speciali consiliario.--_Matt. Par._
p. 489, ad ann. 1239.

[273] In ipsâ irâ aufugavit fratrem Rogerum Templarium ab officio
eleemosynariæ, et a curiâ jussit elongari.--Ib.

[274] _Rymer_, tom. i. p. 404.

[275] Post.

[276] _Matt. Par._ p. 615.

[277] _Michaud_ Extraits Arabes, p. 549.

[278] _Steph. Baluz_. Miscell., lib. vi. p. 357.

[279] _Marin Sanut_, p. 217.

[280] _Matt. Par._ p. 631 to 633, ad ann. 1244. Huic scripto originali,
quod erat hujus exemplum, appensa fuerunt duodecim sigilla.

[281] _Matt. Par._ p. 618-620.

[282] Cotton MS. Nero E. VI. p. 60, fol. 466, vir discretus et
circumspectus; in negotiis quoque bellicis peritus.

[283] Hospitalarii et Templarii milites neophitos et manum armatam cum
thesauro non modico illuc ad consolationem et auxilium ibi commorantium
festinanter transmiserunt. Epist. Pap. Innocent IV.

[284] _Matt. Par._ p. 697, 698.

[285] Literæ Soldani Babyloniæ ad Papam missæ, a quodam Cardinali ex
Arabico translatæ.--_Matt. Par._ p. 711.

[286] Ibid. p. 733.

[287] _Matt. Par._ p. 735.

[288] Ib. in additamentis, p. 168, 169.

[289] Quant les Templiers virent-ce, il se penserent que il seroient
honniz se il lessoient le Compte d'Artois aler devant eulz; si ferirent
des esperons qui plus plus, et qui miex miex, et chasserent les Turcs.
Hist. de San Louis par _Jehan Sire de Joinville_, p. 47.

[290] Nec evasit de totâ illâ gloriosâ militiâ nisi duo Templarii.--_Matt.
Par._ ad ann. 1250. Chron. _Nangis_, p. 790.

[291] Et à celle bataille frere Guillaume le Mestre du Temple perdi l'un
des yex, et l'autre avoit il perdu le jour de quaresm pernant, et en fu
mort ledit seigneur, que Dieux absoille.--_Joinville_, p. 58.

[292] Et sachez que il avoit bien un journel de terre dariere les
Templiers, qui estoit si chargé de pyles que les Sarrazins leur avoient
lanciées, que il n'i paroit point de terre pour la grant foison de
pyles.--Ib.

[293] _Joinville_, p. 95, 96.

[294] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. i. p. 474, ad ann. 1252.

[295] _Matt. Par._ ad ann. 1254, p. 899, 900.

[296] ... Mandatum est Johanni de Eynfort, camerario regis London, quod
sine dilatione capiat quatuor dolia boni vini, et ea liberet Johanni de
Suwerk, ponenda in cellaria Novi Templi London. ad opus nuntiorum
ipsorum.--Acta _Rymeri_, tom. i. p. 557, ad ann. 1255.

[297] Et mandatum est Ricardo de Muntfichet, custodi forestæ Regis Essex,
quod eadem forestâ sine dilatione capiat X. damos, et eos usque ad Novum
Templum London cariari faciat, liberandos prædicto Johanni, ad opus
prædictorum nuntiorum.--_Ib._

[298] Acta _Rymeri_, p. 557, 558.

[299] MCCLVI. morut frère Renaut de Vichieres Maistre du Temple. Apres lui
fu fait Maistre frère Thomas Berard.--Contin. hist. apud _Martene_, tom.
v. col. 736.

[300] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. i. p. 698, 699, 700.

[301] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. i. p. 730, 878, 879, ad ann. 1261.

[302] Furent mors et pris, et perdirent les Templiers tot lor hernois, et
le commandeor du Temple frère Matthieu le Sauvage.--Contin. hist. bell.
sacr. ut sup. col. 737. _Marin Sanut_, cap. 6.

[303] _Marin Sanut Torsell_, lib. iii. pars 12, cap. 6, 7, 8. Contin.
hist. bell. sacr. apud _Martene_, tom. v. col. 742. See also Abulfed.
Hist. Arab. apud Wilkens, p. 223. _De Guignes_, Hist. des Huns, tom. iv.
p. 141.

[304] _Michaud_, Extraits Arabes, p. 668.

[305] _De Vertot_, liv. iii. Preuve. xiii. See also epist. ccccii. apud
_Martene_ thesaur. anec. tom. ii. col. 422.

[306] Facta est civitas tam famosa quasi solitudo deserti.--_Marin Sanut_,
lib. iii. pars. 12, cap. 9. _De Guignes_, Hist. des Huns, tom. iv. p. 143.
Contin. Hist. apud _Martene_, tom. v. col. 743. _Abulpharag._ Chron. Syr.
p. 546. _Michaud_, Extraits Arabes, p. 681.

[307] _Marin Sanut_ ut sup. cap. 11, 12. Contin. Hist. apud _Martene_,
col. 745, 746.

[308] En testimoniaunce de la queu chose, a ceo testament avons fet mettre
nostre sel, et avoms pries les honurables Bers frere Hue, Mestre de
l'Hospital, et frere Thomas Berard, Mestre du Temple, ke a cest escrit
meisent ausi lur seus, etc. Acta _Rymeri_, tom. i. p. 885, 886, ad ann.
1272.

[309] Trivet ad ann. 1272. Walsingham, p. 43. Acta _Rymeri_, tom. i. p.
889, ad ann. 1272, tom. ii. p. 2.

[310] Monast. Angl., vol. vi. part 2, p. 800-844.

[311] MCCLXXIII. a viii. jors d'Avri morut frere Thomas Berart, Maistre du
Temple le jor de la notre dame de Mars, et fu fait Maistre a xiii. jors de
May, frere Guillaume de Bieaujeu qui estoit outre _Commendeor_ du Temple
en Pouille, et alerent por lui querire frere Guillaume de Poucon, qui
avait tenu lieu de Maistre, et frere Bertrand de Fox; et frere Gonfiere fu
fait _Commandeor_ gran tenant lieu de Maistre.--Contin. Hist. apud
_Martene_, tom. v. col. 746, 747. This is the earliest instance I have met
with of the application of the term COMMANDER to the high officers of the
Temple.

[312] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. ii. p. 34, ad ann. 1274.

[313] Contin. hist. bell. sacr. apud _Martene_, tom. v. col. 748.

[314] Life of Malek Mansour Kelaoun. _Michaud_, Extraits Arabes, p. 685,
686, 687.

[315] De excidio urbis Aconis apud _Martene_ vet. script. tom. v. col.
767.

[316] The famous Abul-feda, prince of Hamah, surnamed Amod-ed-deen,
(Pillar of Religion,) the great historian and astronomer, superintended
the transportation of the military engines from Hasn-el-Akrah to St. Jean
d'Acre.

[317] Ex ipsis fratrem monachum Gaudini elegerunt ministrum generalem. De
excidio urbis Acconis apud _Martene_, tom. v. col. 782.

[318] Videntes pulchros Francorum filios ac filias, manus his
injecerunt.--_Abulfarag_, Chron. Syr. p. 595. Maledicti Saraceni mulieres
et pueros ad loca domus secretiora ex eisdem abusuri distrahere
conabantur, turpibus ecclesiam obscoenitatibus cum nihil possent aliud
maculantes. Quod videntes christiani, clausis portis, in perfidos
viriliter irruerunt, et omnes a minimo usque ad maximum occiderunt, muros,
turres, atque portas Templi munientes ad defensam.--De excid. Acconis ut
sup. col. 782. _Marin Sanut_ ut sup. cap. xxii. p. 231.

[319] Per totam noctem illam, dum fideles vigilarent contra perfidorum
astutiam, domum contra eos defensuri, fratrum adjutorio de thesauris quod
potuit cum sacrosanctis reliquiis ecclesiæ Templi, ad mare salubriter
deportavit. Inde quidem cum fratribus paucis auspicato remigio, in Cyprum
cum cautelâ transfretavit.--De excid. Acconis, col. 782.

[320] De excidio urbis Acconis apud _Martene_, tom. v. col. 757. _De
Guignes_, Hist. des Huns, tom. iv. p. 162. _Michaud_, Extraits Arabes, p.
762, 808. Abulfarag. Chron. Syr. p. 595. Wilkens, Comment. Abulfed. Hist.
p. 231-234. _Marin. Sanut Torsell_, lib. iii. pars 12, cap. 21.

[321] _Raynald_, tom. xiv. ad ann. 1298. Cotton MS. Nero E. vi. p. 60.
fol. 466.

[322] _Marin Sanut Torsell._ lib. iii. pars. 13, cap. x. p. 242. _De
Guignes_, Hist. des Huns, tom. iv. p. 184.

[323] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. i. p. 575, 576-579, 582, tom. ii. p. 250.
_Martene_, vet. script. tom. vii. col. 156.

[324] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. ii. p. 683. ad ann. 1295.

[325] Chron. _Dunmow_. Annals of _St. Augustin_. _Rapin._

[326] Ipse vero Rex et Petrus thesaurum ipsius episcopi, apud Novum
Templum Londoniis reconditum, ceperunt, ad summam quinquaginta millia
librarum argenti, præteraurum multum, jocalia et lapides preciosos....
Erant enim ambo præsentes, cum cistæ frangerentur, et adhuc non erat
sepultum corpus patris sui.--_Hemingford_, p. 244.

[327] Chron. _Triveti_, ad ann. 1298. _Hemingford_, vol. i. p. 159.

[328] _Dante_ styles him _il mal di Francia_, Del. Purgat. cant. 20, 91.

[329] Questo Papa fue huomo molto cupido di moneta, e fue lusurioso, si
dicea che tenea per amica la contessa di Paragordo, bellissima donna!!
_Villani_, lib. ix. cap. 58. Fuit nimis cupiditatibus deditus.... Sanct.
Ant. Flor. de Concil. Vien. tit. 21. sec. 3. Circa thesauros colligendos
insudavit, says _Knighton_ apud X script. col. 2494. _Fleuri_, l. 92. p.
239. _Chron. de Namgis_, ad ann. 1305.

[330] _Rainald._ tom. xv. ad ann. 1306, n. 12. _Fleuri_, Hist. Eccles.
tom. xix. p. 111.

[331] _Bal. Pap. Aven._ tom. ii. p. 176.

[332] _Bal. Pap. Aven._ tom. i. p. 99. Sexta Vita, Clem. V. apud _Baluz_,
tom. i. col. 100.

[333] Hist. de la Condemnation des Templiers.--_Dupuy_, tom. ii. p. 309.

[334] _Mariana_ Hispan. Illustr. tom. iii. p. 152. _Le Gendre_ Hist. de
France, tom. ii. p. 499.

[335] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 18. ad ann. 1307.

[336] Les forfaits pourquoi les Templiers furent ars et condamnez, pris et
contre eux approuvez. _Chron. S. Denis._ Sexta vita, Clem. V. _Dupuy_, p.
24. edition de 1713.

[337] Liv. ii. chap. 106, chez _Dupuy_.

[338] Sexta vita, Clem. V. col. 102.

[339] Ostendens duo ossa quod dicebat illa esse quæ ceciderunt de talis
suis. _Processus contra Templarios._ _Raynouard_ Monumens Historiques, p.
73, ed. 1813.

[340] In quibus tormentis dicebat se quatuor dentes perdidisse. Ib. p. 35.

[341] Fuit quæstionibus ponderibus appensis in genitalibus, et in aliis
membris usque ad exanimationem. Ib.

[342] Tres des Chart. TEMPLIERS, cart. 3, _n._ 20.

[343] Dat. apud Redyng, 4 die Decembris. Consimiles litteræ diriguntur
Ferando regi Castillæ et Ligionis, consanguineo regis, domino Karolo, regi
Siciliæ, et Jacobo regi Aragoniæ, amico Regis. Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. ad
ann. 1307, p. 35, 36.

[344] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 37, ad ann. 1307.

[345] Dat. Pictavis 10, kal. Dec. Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. ad ann. 1307,
p. 30-32.

[346] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 34, 35, ad ann. 1307.

[347] Ibid. p. 34, 35.

[348] Ibid. p. 45.

[349] _Knyghton_, apud X. script. col. 2494, 2531.

[350] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 83.

[351] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 101, 2, 3.

[352] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 110, 111. _Vitæ paparum Avenion_, tom.
ii. p. 107.

[353] Ibid. tom. iii. p. 121, 122.

[354] Ibid. p. 168.

[355] Ibid. p. 168, 169.

[356] Ibid. p. 174.

[357] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 173, 175.

[358] _Rainald_, tom. xv. ad ann. 1306.

[359] Concil. Mag. Brit. tom. ii. p. 346, 347.

[360] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 178, 179.

[361] Concil. Mag. Brit. tom. ii. p. 304-311.

[362] _Processus contra Templarios_, _Dugd._ Monast. Angl. vol. vi. part
2, p. 844-846 ed. 1830.

[363] The original draft of these articles of accusation, with the
corrections and alterations, is preserved in the Tresor des Chartres
_Raynouard_, Monumens Historiques, p. 50, 51. The proceedings against the
Templars in England are preserved in MS. in the British Museum, Harl. No.
252, 62, f. p. 113; No. 247, 68, f. p. 144. Bib. Cotton Julius, b. xii. p.
70; and in the Bodleian Library and Ashmolean Museum. The principal part
of them has been published by _Wilkins_ in the Concilia Magnæ Britanniæ,
tom. ii. p. 329-401, and by _Dugdale_, in the Monast. Angl. vol. vi. part
2. p. 844-848.

[364] Actum in Capella infirmariæ prioratus Sanctæ Trinitatis præsentibus,
etc. Concilia Magnæ Britanniæ, tom. iii. p. 344. Ibid. p. 334-343.

[365] _Concil. Mag. Brit._, tom. ii. p. 305-308.

[366] _Concil. Mag. Brit._, tom. ii. p. 312-314.

[367] _Acta Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 194, 195.

[368] Ibid. p. 182.

[369] Et ad evidentius præmissorum testimonium reverendus in Christo pater
dominus Willielmus, providentiâ divinâ S. Andreæ episcopus, et magister
Johannes de Solerio prædicti sigilla sua præsenti inquisitioni
appenderunt, et eisdem sigillis post subscriptionem meam eandem
inquisitionem clauserunt. In quorum etiam firmius testimonium ego
Willielmus de Spottiswod auctoritate imperiali notarius qui prædictæ
inquisitioni interfui die, anno, et loco prædictis, testibus præsentibus
supra dictis, signum meum solitum eidem apposui requisitus, et propriâ
manu scripsi rogatus.--_Acta contra Templarios._ _Concil. Mag. Brit._,
tom. ii. p. 380, 383.

[370] Act. in ecclesiâ parochiali S. Dunstani prope Novum Templum.--Ib.,
p. 349.

[371] _Acta contra Templarios._ _Concil. Mag. Brit._, tom. ii. p. 350,
351, 352.

[372] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. ad ann. 1310. p. 202, 203.

[373] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 179, 180. _Concil. Mag. Brit._, tom. ii.
p. 373 to 380.

[374] Terrore tormentorum confessi sunt et _mentiti_.--_Concil. Mag.
Brit._, tom. ii. p. 365, 366, 367.

[375] Depositiones Templariorum in Provinciâ Eboracensi.--_Concil. Mag.
Brit._, tom. ii. p. 371-373.

[376] Eodem anno (1310) XIX. die Maii apud Eborum in ecclesiâ cathedrali,
ex mandato speciali Domini Papæ, tenuit dominus Archiepiscopus concilium
provinciale. Prædicavitque et erat suum thema; _omnes isti congregati
venerunt tibi_, factoque sermone, recitavit et legi fecit _sequentem
bullam horribilem contra Templarios_, &c. &c. _Hemingford_ apud _Hearne_,
vol. i. p. 249.

[377] Processus observatus in concilio provinciali Eboracensi in ecclesiâ
beati Petri Ebor. contra Templarios celebrato A. D. 1310, ex. reg. Will.
Grenefeld Archiepiscopi Eborum, fol. 179, p. 1.--_Concil. Mag. Brit._,
tom. ii. p. 393.

[378] _Concil. Mag. Brit._, tom. ii. p. 367.

[379] _Acta contra Templarios._ _Concil. Mag. Brit._, tom. ii. p. 358.

[380] _Joan. can. Sanct. Vict._ Contin. de _Nangis_ ad ann. 1310. Ex
secundâ vitâ _Clem._ V. p. 37.

[381] Chron. _Cornel. Zanfliet_, apud _Martene_, tom. v. col. 159.
_Bocat._ de cas. vir. illustr. lib. 9. chap. xxi. _Raynouard_, Monumens
historiques. _Dupuy_, Condemnation des Templiers.

[382] Vit. prim. et tert. Clem. V. col. 57, 17. _Bern. Guac._ apud
_Muratori_, tom. iii. p. 676. Contin. Chron. de _Nangis_ ad ann. 1310.
_Raynouard_, p. 120.

[383] _Raynouard_, p. 155.

[384] Inhibuisti ne contra ipsas personas et ordinem per _quæstiones_ ad
inquirendum super eisdem criminibus procedatur, quamvis iidem Templarii
diffiteri dicuntur super eisdem articulis veritatem.... Attende, quæsumus,
fili carissime, et prudenti deliberatione considera, si hoc tuo honori et
saluti conveniat, et statui congruat regni tui. Arch. secret. Vatican.
Registr. literar. curiæ anno 5 domini Clementis Papæ 5.--_Raynouard_, p.
152.

[385] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. ad ann. 1310, p. 224.

[386] Ib., p. 224, 225. claus. 4. E. 2. M. 22.

[387] Et si per hujusmodi arctationes et separationes nihil aliud, quam
prius, vellent confiteri, quod extunc _quæstionarentur_; ita quod
_quæstiones_ illæ fierent ABSQUE MUTILATIONE ET DEBILITATIONE PERPETUA
ALICUJUS MEMBRI, ET SINE VIOLENTA SANGUINIS EFFUSIONE.--_Concil. Mag.
Brit._, tom. ii. p. 314.

[388] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 227, 228.

[389] Cum nuper, OB REVERIENTIAM SEDIS APOSTOLICÆ, concessimus prælatis et
inquisitoribus ad inquirendum contra ordinem Templariorum, et contra
Magnum Præceptorem ejusdem ordinis in regno nostro Angliæ, quod iidem
prælati et inquisitores, de ipsis Templariis et eorum corporibus IN
QUÆSTIONIBUS, et aliis ad hoc convenientibus ordinent et faciant, quoties
voluerint, id quod eis secundum legem ecclesiasticam, videbitur faciendum,
&c.--Teste rege apud Linliscu in Scotiâ, 23 die Octobris. Ibid. tom. iii.
p. 228, 229.

[390] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 229.

[391] Ibid. p. 230.

[392] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 231.

[393] Ibid. p. 231, 232.

[394] Ibid. tom. iii. p. 232-235.

[395] _Acta contra Templarios, Concil. Mag. Brit._ tom. ii. p. 368-371.

[396] Suspicio (quæ loco testis 21, in MS. allegatur,) probare videtur,
quod omnes examinati in aliquo dejeraverunt (pejeraverunt,) ut ex
inspectione processuum apparet.--MS. Bodl. Oxon. f. 5. 2. _Concil._ tom.
ii. p. 359.

[397] This knight had been tortured in the Temple at Paris, by the
brothers of St. Dominic, in the presence of the grand inquisitor, and he
made his confession when suffering on the rack; he afterwards revoked it,
and was then tortured into a withdrawal of his revocation, notwithstanding
which the inquisitor made the unhappy wretch, in common with others, put
his signature to the following interrogatory, "Interrogatus utrum _vi_ vel
_metu carceris_ aut _tormentorum_ immiscuit in suâ depositione aliquam
falsitatem, dicit _quod non_!"

[398] _Acta contra Templarios._--_Concil. Mag. Brit._ tom. ii. p. 358-364.

[399] _Concil. Mag. Brit._ tom. ii. p. 364.

[400] Vobis, præfati vicecomites, mandamus quod illos, quos dicti prælati
et inquisitores, seu aliquis eorum, cum uno saltem inquisitore,
deputaverint ad supervidendum quod dicta custodia bene fiat, id
supervidere; et corpora dictorum Templariorum in QUÆSTIONIBUS et aliis ad
hoc convenientibus, ponere; et alia, quæ in hac parte secundum legem
ecclesiasticam fuerint facienda, facere permittatis. Claus. 4, E. 2. m. 8.
Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 290.

[401] _M. S. Bodl._ F. 5, 2. _Concil._ p. 364, 365. Acta _Rymeri_, tom.
iii. p. 228, 231, 232.

[402] _Concil. Mag. Brit._, tom. ii. p. 383-387.

[403] _Concil. Mag. Brit._, tom. ii. p. 388, 389.

[404] Acta fuerunt hæc die et loco prædictis, præsentibus patribus
antedictis, et venerandæ discretionis viris magistris Michaele de Bercham,
cancellario domini archiepiscopi Cantuar.... et me Ranulpho de Waltham,
London, episcoporum notariis publicis.--_Acta contra Templarios._ _Concil.
Mag. Brit._, tom. ii. p. 387, 388.

[405] _Concil. Mag. Brit._, tom. ii. p. 390, 391.

[406] _Concil. Mag. Brit._, tom. ii. p. 394-401.

[407] _Concilia Hispaniæ_, tom. v. p. 233. _Zurita_, lib. v. c. 73. 101.
_Mariana_, lib. xv. cap. 10. _Mutius_, chron. lib. xxii. p. 211.
_Raynouard_, p. 199-204.

[408] Ut det Templariis audientiam sive defensionem. In hac sententiâ
concordant omnes prælati Italiæ præter unum, Hispaniæ, Theutoniæ, Daniæ,
Angliæ, Scotiæ, Hiberniæ, etc. etc., ex secund. vit. Clem. V. p.
43.--_Rainald_ ad ann. 1311, n. 55. _Walsingham_, p. 99. _Antiq.
Britann._, p. 210.

[409] _Muratorii_ collect. tom. iii. p. 448; tom. x. col. 377. _Mariana._
tom. iii. p. 157. _Raynouard_, p. 191, 192.

[410] _Raynouard_ ut supra. Tertia vita Clem. V.

[411] Pro executoribus testamenti Wilielmi de la More, quondam Magistri
militiæ Templi in Anglia, claus 6. E. 2. m. 15. Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii.
p. 380.

[412] Registr. Hosp. S. Joh. Jerus. _Cotton_ MS. Nero E. vi. 23. i. Nero
E. vi. p. 60. fol. 466.

[413] _Lansdown_, MS. 207. E. vol. v. fol. 317.

[414] Ib., fol. 284.

[415] Ib., fol. 162, 163, 317.

[416] Ib., fol. 467.

[417] Ib., fol. 201.

[418] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. i. p. 134, ad ann. 1203. He was one of those who
advised king John to sign Magna Charta.--_Matt. Par._, p. 253-255.

[419] Ib., p. 258, 270. _Matt. Par._, p. 314.

[420] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. i. p. 342, 344, 345. He was employed to
negotiate a marriage between king Henry the Third and the fair Eleanor of
Provence.

[421] _Matt. Par._, p. 615, et in additamentis, p. 480.

[422] _Concil. Mag. Brit._, tom. ii. p. 340.

[423] Ib., p. 339, 341, 344.

[424] Ib., p. 335, 343. _Prynne_, collect 3, 143.

[425] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. i. part iii. p. 104.

[426] In vilissimo carcere, ferro duplici constrictus, jussus est recludi,
et ibidem, donec aliud ordinatum extiterit, reservari; et interim
visitari, ad videndum si vellet _alterius aliqua confiteri_!--_Concil.
Mag. Brit._, tom. ii. p. 393.

[427] _Processus contra Templarios._ _Dupuy_, p. 128, 139. _Raynouard_, p.
60.

[428] _Villani_, lib. viii. cap. 92. Contin. Chron. de _Nangis_, ad ann.
1313. _Pap. Mass._ in Philip. pulchr. lib. iii. p. 393. _Mariana_ de reb.
Hisp. lib. xv. cap. 10. _Dupuy_, ed. 1700, p. 71. Chron. _Corn. Zanfliet_
apud _Martene_, tom. v. col. 160. _Raynouard_, p. 209, 210.

[429] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 323, 4, 5, ad ann. 1312.

[430] _Zurita_, lib. v. c. 101. Institut. milit. Christi apud _Henriquez_,
p. 534.

[431] Annales Minorum. Gall. Christ. nov. _Aventinus_, Annal. _De Vertot_,
liv. 3.

[432] _Fuller's_ Hist. Holy War, book v. ch. iii.

[433] _Dupuy_, p. 179, 184.

[434] Essai sur les moeurs, &c., tom. ii. p. 242.

[435] Nihil ad nos unquam pervenit nisi modica bona mobilia. Epist. ad
Philip, 2 non. May, 1309. _Raynouard_, p. 198. _De Vertot_, liv. iii.

[436] _Raynouard_, 197, 198, 199.

[437] The extents of the lands of the Templars are amongst the unarranged
records in the Queen's Remembrancer's office, and various sheriffs'
accounts are in the third chest in the Pipe Office.

[438] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 130, 134, 139, 279, 288, 290, 1, 2, 297,
321. _Dodsworth._ MS. vol. xxxv. p. 65, 67.

[439] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 292, 3, 4, 5.

[440] Ib. tom. iii. p. 299.

[441] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 303.

[442] Ib., tom. iii. p. 326, 327.

[443] Ib., tom. iii. p. 337.

[444] Cart. 6. E. 2. No. 4. 41.

[445] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 409, 410.

[446] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 451.

[447] Ib., p. 451, 454, 455, 457, 459-463. _Dugd. Monast. Angl._, vol. vi.
part 2. p. 809.

[448] Rolls of Parliament, vol. ii. p. 41.

[449] _Dugd. Monast. Angl._, vol. vi. part 2, p. 849, 850. _Concil. Mag.
Brit._, tom. ii. p. 499.

[450] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 956-959, ad ann. 1322.

[451] _Statutes at Large_, vol. ix. Appendix, p. 23.

[452] _Rolls of Parliament_, vol. ii. p. 41. No. 52.

[453] _Monast. Angl._, p. 810.

[454] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 472.

[455] _Concil. Mag. Brit._, tom. ii.

[456] _Walsingham_, p. 99.

[457] _Monast. Angl._, vol. vi. part ii. p. 848.

[458] _Pat._ 4, E. 2, p. 2; m. 20. _Dugdale_, Hist. Warwickshire, vol. i.
p. 962, ed. 1730.

[459] _Dublin Review_ for May, 1841, p. 301.

[460] See ante, p. 80. On the 10th of March, before his departure from
this country, Heraclius consecrated the church of the Hospitallers at
Clerkenwell, and the altars of St. John and St. Mary. Ex registr. S. John
Jerus. in Bib. _Cotton_, fol. 1.

[461] A fac-simile of this inscription was faithfully delineated by Mr.
Geo. Holmes, the antiquary, and was published by Strype, A. D. 1670. The
earliest copy I have been able to find of it is in a manuscript history of
the Temple, in the Inner Temple library, supposed to have been written at
the commencement of the reign of Charles the First by John Wilde, Esq., a
bencher of the society, and Lent reader in the year 1630.

[462] Tempore quoque sub eodem (A. D. 1240) dedicata est nobilis ecclesia,
structuræ aspectabilis Novi Templi _Londinensis_, præsente Rege et multis
regni Magnatibus; qui eodem die, scilicet die Ascensionis, completis
dedicationis solemniis, convivium in mensá nimis laute celebrarunt,
sumptibus Hospitaliorum.--_Matt. Par._ ad ann. 1240, p. 526, ed. 1640.

[463] A large piscina, similar to the one in the Temple Church, may be
seen in Cowling church, Kent. _Archæologia_, vol. xi. pl. xiv. p. 320.

[464] Ib. p. 347 to 359.

[465] _Acta contra Templarios._ Concil. Mag. Brit. tom. ii. p. 336, 350,
351.

[466] _Jac. de Vitr._ De Religione fratrum militiæ Templi, cap. 65.

[467] _Processus contra Templarios_, apud Dupuy, p. 65; ed. 1700.

[468] See the plan of this chapel and of the Temple Church, in the vetusta
monumenta of the Society of Antiquaries.

[469] Acta fuerunt hæc in capellâ juxta ecclesiam, apud Novum Templum
London, ex parte Australi ipsius ecclesiæ sitâ, coram reverendis patribus
domino archiepiscopo et episcopis, &c. &. Acta _Rymeri_, tom. ii. p. 193,
ad ann. 1282.

[470] Anecdotes and Traditions published by the _Camden_ Society. No.
clxxxi. p. 110.

[471] De tribus Capellanis inveniendis, apud Novum Templum, Londoniarum,
pro animâ Regis Henrici Tertii. Ex regist. Hosp. S. Johannis Jerus. in
Angliâ. Bib. Cotton, f. 25. a.

[472] Ibid. 30. b.

[473] _Acta contra Templarios._ Concil. Mag. Brit., tom. ii. p. 383.

[474] E registro mun. eviden. Prior. Hosp. Sanc. Joh. fol. 23, b.; fo. 24,
a.

[475] _Nicholls'_ Hist. Leicestershire, vol. iii. p. 960, note. _Malcolm_,
Londinium Redivivum, vol. ii. p. 294.

[476] _Burton's_ Leicestershire, p. 235, 236.

[477] Monumens de la monarchie Françoise, par _Montfaucon_, tom. ii. p.
184, plate p. 185. Hist. de la Maison de Dreux, p. 86, 276.

[478] _Ducange._ Gloss. tom. iii. p. 16, 17; ed. 1678, verb. _Oblati_.

[479] _Peck._ MS. vol. iv. p. 67.

[480] Plurimique nobiles apud eos humati fuerunt, quorum imagines visuntur
in hoc Templo, tibiis in crucem transversis (sic enim sepulti fuerunt
quotquot illo sæculo nomina bello sacro dedissent, vel qui ut tunc
temporis sunt locuti crucem suscepissent.) E quibus fuerunt Guilielmus
Pater, Guilielmus et Gilbertus ejus filii, omnes marescalli Angliæ,
comitesque Pembrochiæ.--_Camden's_ Britannia, p. 375.

[481] _Stow's_ Survey.

[482] MS. Inner Temple Library, No. 17. fol. 402.

[483] Origines Juridiciales, p. 173.

[484] _Nicholls'_ Leicestershire, vol. iii. p. 960.

[485] "In _porticu_ ante ostium ecclesiæ occidentale." The word porticus,
which means "a walking place environed with pillars," exactly corresponds
with the external circular walk surrounding the round tower of the church.

[486] Some surprise has been expressed that the effigies of women should
be found in this curious position. It must be recollected, that women
frequently fought in the field during the Crusades, and were highly
applauded for so doing.

[487] _Hoveden_ apud rer. Anglicar. script. post Bedam, p. 488.
_Dugdale's_ Baronage, vol. i. p. 201. Lel. Coll. vol. i. 864.

[488] _Monast. Angl._, vol. i. p. 444 to 464.

[489] _Dugd._ Bar., vol. i. p. 202. _Selden_, tit. hon. p. 647.

[490] _Triveti_ annales apud Hall, p. 12, 13, ad ann. 1143. _Guill.
Neubr._ lib. i. cap. ii. p. 44, ad ann. 1143. _Hoveden_, p. 488, Hist.
Minor. Matt. Par. in bib. reg. apud S. Jacobum.

[491] _Henry Huntingdon_, lib. viii. Rer. Anglicar. script. post Bedam, p.
393. _Chron. Gervasii_, apud script. X. col. 1360. _Radulph de Diceto_,
ib. col. 508. Vir autem iste magnanimus, velut equus validus et infrænus,
maneria, villas, cæteraque, proprietatem regiam contingentes, invasit,
igni combussit, &c. &c. MS. in Bibl. Arund., A. D. 1647, a. 43. cap. ix.,
now in the Library of the Royal Society. _Annales Dunstaple_ apud Hearne,
tom. i. p. 25.

[492] Vasa autem altaris aurea et argentea Deo sacrata, capas etiam
cantorum lapidibus preciosis ac opere mirifico contextas, casulas cum
albis et cæteris ecclesiastici decoris ornamentis rapuit, &c. MS. ut sup.
Gest. reg. Steph. p. 693, 694.

[493] De vitâ sceleratâ et condigno interitu Gaufridi de
Magnavilla.--_Guill. Neubr._ lib. i. cap. xi. p. 44 to 46. Henry of
Huntingdon, who lived in king Stephen's reign, and kept up a
correspondence with the abbot of Ramsay, thus speaks of this wonderful
phenomenon, of which he declares himself an eye-witness. Dum autem
ecclesia illa pro castello teneretur, ebullivit sanguis a parietibus
ecclesiæ et claustri adjacentis, indignationem divinam manifestans;
sceleratorum exterminationem denuntians, quod quidem multi viderant, et
_ego ipse quidem meis oculis inspexi_! _Script. post Bedam._ lib. viii. p.
393, ed. 1601, Francfort. Hoveden, who wrote shortly after, has copied
this account. Annales, ib. p. 488.

[494] _Guill. Neubr._ ut supr. p. 45, 46. Chron. _Gervasii_, apud X.
script. col. 1360. _Annal. S. Augustin._ _Trivet_ ad ann. 1144, p. 14.
_Chron. Brompton_, col. 1033. _Hoveden_, ut supr. p. 488.

[495] Grew mad with much anger.

[496] Peter Langtoft's Chronicle, vol. i. 123, by Robert of Brunne,
translated from a MS. in the Inner Temple Library, Oxon. 1725.

[497] In pomoerio suo veteris, scilicet Templi apud London, canali
inclusum plumbeo, in arbore torvâ suspenderant. _Antient MS. de fundatione
coenobii Sancti Jacobi de Waldena_, fol. 43, a. cap. ix. no. 51, in the
Library of the Royal Society.

[498] Cumque Prior ille, corpus defunctum deponere, et secum Waldenam
transferre satageret, Templarii caute premeditati, statim illud tollentes,
in cimiterio Novi Templi ignobili satis tradiderunt sepulturæ.--Ib.

[499] A. D. MCLXIIII, sexto kal. Octobris, obiit Galfridus de Mandeuil,
comes Essexiæ, fundator primus hujus monasterii de Walden, cujus corpus
jacet Londoniis humatum, apud Temple-bar _in porticu ante ostium ecclesiæ
occidentale_. MS. in the library of the Royal Society, marked No. 29,
entitled _Liber de fundatione Sancti Jacobi Apostoli de Waldenâ_.
_Cotton_, MS. Vesp. E. vi. fol. 25.

[500] Hoveden speaks of him as a man of the highest probity, but
irreligious. Erat autem summæ probitatis, sed summæ in Deum obstinationis,
magnæ in mundanis diligentiæ, magnæ in Deum negligentiæ. _Hoveden_ ut
supra.

[501] It was a recess, hewn out of the chalk, of a bell shape and exactly
circular, thirty feet high and seventy feet in diameter. The sides of this
curious retreat were adorned with imagery in basso relievo of crucifixes,
saints, martyrs, and historical pieces, which the pious and eccentric lady
is supposed to have cut for her entertainment.--See the extraordinary
account of the discovery, in 1742, of the Lady Roisia's Cave at Royston,
published by _Dr. Stukeley_. Cambridge, 1795.

[502] _Camden's_ Britannia, ed. 1600, p. 375.

[503] Tradidit Willielmo Marescallo, familiari suo, crucem suam
Jerosolymam deferendam. _Hoveden_ ad ann. 1183, apud rer. Anglic. script.
post Bedam, p. 620.

[504] _Chron. Joan Brompton_, apud X. script. col. 1158. _Hoveden_, p.
655, 666.

[505] Selden's Tit. of Honour, p. 677.

[506] _Hoveden_, p. 659, 660. _Radulf de Diceto_, apud X. script. p. 659.

[507] _Matt. Par._, p. 196. _Hoveden_, p. 792. _Dugdale_ Baronage, tom. i.
p. 601.

[508] _Trivet_, p. 144. _Gul. Britt._, lib. vii. _Ann. Waverley_, p. 168.

[509] _Matt. Par._, p. 237.

[510] _Matt. Par._, p. 253-256, ad ann. 1215.

[511] See his eloquent address to the bishops and barons in behalf of the
young king.--_Hemingford_, lib. iii. cap. 1. p. 562, apud _Gale_ XV.
script.

[512] _Matt. Par._, p. 289, ad ann. 1216. Acta _Rymeri_, tom. i. p. 216.

[513] _Hemingford_, p. 565, 568. "These liberties, distinctly reduced to
writing, we send to you our faithful subjects, sealed with the seal of our
faithful William Marshall, earl of Pembroke, the guardian of us and our
kingdom, because we have not as yet any seal." Acta _Rymeri_, tom. i. part
1. p. 146, ed. 1816. _Thomson_, on Magna Charta, p. 117, 130. All the
charters and letters patent were sealed with the seal of the earl
marshall, "Rectoris nostri et regni, eo quod _nondum sigillum habuimus_."
Acta _Rymeri_, tom. i. p. 224, ed. 1704.

[514] _Matt. Par._, p. 292-296.

[515] Matthew Paris bears witness to the great superiority of the English
sailors over the French even in those days.--Ibid. p. 298. _Trivet_, p.
167-169.

[516] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. i. p. 219, 221, 223.

[517] _Dugd._ Baronage, tom. i. p. 602, A. D. 1219. Willielmus senior,
mareschallus regis et rector regni, diem clausit extremum, et Londini apud
Novum Templum honorifice tumulatur, scilicet in ecclesiâ, in Ascensionis
die videlicet xvii. calendas Aprilis.--_Matt. Par._ p. 304. _Ann.
Dunstaple_, ad ann. 1219. _Ann. Waverley_.

[518] Miles strenuissimus et per universum orbem nominatissimus.--_Chron.
T. Wikes_ apud _Gale_, script. XV. p. 39.

[519] _Monast. Angl._, p. 833, 834, 837, 843.

[520] MS. Bib. Cotton. _Vitellius_, F. 4. _Monast. Angl._, tom. i. p. 728,
ed. 1655.

[521] _Matt. Par._, p. 182. ad ann. 1196.

[522] _Hoveden_ apud rer. Anglicar. script. post Bedam, p. 811.

[523] _Matt. Par._ p. 254, 262. _Lel._ col. vol. i. p. 362.

[524] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. i. p. 224, ad ann. 1217.

[525] _Dugd._ Baronage, vol. i. p. 545, 546.

[526] _Monast. Angl._, vol. vi. part ii. p. 838, 842.

[527] _Matt. Par._ p. 254, 256. _Lel. col._ vol. i. p. 841.

[528] _Matt. Par._ p. 317, ad ann. 1223.

[529] _Matt. Par._ p. 366. _Ann. Dunst._ p. 99. 134, 150.

[530] Eodem tempore, A. D. 1231, mense Aprili, Willielmus, Marescallus
comes Pembrochiæ, in militiâ vir strenuus, in dolorem multorum, diem
clausit extremum, et Londoniis apud Novum Templum sepultus est, juxta
patrem suum, XVII calend. Maii. Rex autem qui eum indissolubiliter
dilexit, cum hæc audivit, et cum vidisset, corpus defuncti pallâ
coopertum, ex alto trahens suspiria, ait, Heu, heu, mihi! nonne adhuc
penitus vindicatus est sanguis beati Thomæ Martyris.--_Matt. Par._ p. 368.

[531] _Dugd._ Monast. Angl. ut sup. p. 820.

[532] Margaretam _puellam elegantissimam_ matrimonio sibi
copulaverat.--_Matt. Par._, p. 432, 404.

[533] _Matt. Par._ p. 483.

[534] Ib. p. 431, 483, 516, 524.

[535] In crastino autem delatum est corpus Londinum, fratre ipsius prævio,
cum tota sua familia comitante, juxta patrem suum et fratrem
tumulandum.--Ib. p. 565. ad ann. 1241.

[536] _Dugd._ Monast. Angl., p. 833.

[537] "Paucis ante evolutis annis, post mortem omnium suorum filiorum,
videlicet, quando dedicata est ecclesia Novi Templi, inventum est corpus
sæpedicti comitis quod erat insutum corio taurino, integrum, putridum
tamen et prout videri potuit detestabile."--_Matt. Par._ p. 688. Surely
this must be an interpolation by some wag. The last of the Pembrokes died
A. D. 1245, whilst, according to Matthew Paris's own showing, the eastern
part of the church was consecrated A. D. 1240, p. 526.

[538] _Mill's_ Catalogues, p. 145. _Speed_, p. 551. _Sandford's_
Genealogies, p. 92, 93, 2nd edition.

[539] Ex Registr. Hosp. S. Joh. Jerus. in Angliâ, in _Bib. Cotton_, fol.
25 a.

[540] Ib.

[541] _Nicolas_, Testamenta Vetusta, p. 6.

[542] P. 899, 900.

[543] Ante, p. 255.

[544] _Joan Sarisburiensis._ Polycrat. lib. vi. cap. 1.

[545] Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 296, 297.

[546] Cart. vi. E. 2. n. 41. _Trivet._ cont., p. 4. _T. de la More_, p.
593.

[547] Pat. 8. E. 2. m. 17. The Temple is described therein as "de feodo
Thomæ Comitis Lancastriæ, et de honore Leicestrie."

[548] Processus contra comitem Lancastriæ. Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p.
936. _Lel._ coll. vol. i. p. 668. _La More, Walsingham._

[549] Cart. 15. E. II. m. 21. Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 940.

[550] _Dugd._ Baron., vol. i. p. 777, 778.

[551] Rot. Escaet. 1. E. III.

[552] _H. Knyghton_, apud X. script. col. 2546. 7. _Lel._ Itin. vol. vi. p
86. _Walsingham_, 106.

[553] Claus. 4. E. III. m. 9. Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iv. p. 461.

[554] There was in those days an _escheator_ in each county, and in
various large towns: it was the duty of this officer to seize into the
king's hands all lands held _in capite_ of the crown, on receiving a writ
_De diem clausit extremum_, commanding him to assemble a jury to take
inquisition of the value of the lands, as to who was the next heir of the
deceased, the rents and services by which they were holden, &c. &c.

[555] Claus 3. E. III. m. 6. d. Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iv. p. 406.

[556] Claus. 4. E. III. m. 7. Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iv. p. 464.

[557] Pat. 6. E. III. p. 2. m. 22. in original, apud Rolls Garden ex parte
Remembr. Thesaur.

[558] Rot. Escaet. 10. E. 3. 66. Claus 11 E. 3. p. 1. m. 10.

[559] Sunt etiam ibidem claustrum, capella Sancti Thomæ, et quædam platea
terræ eidem capellæ annexata, cum _una aula_ et camera supra edificata,
quæ sunt loca sancta, et Deo dedicata, et dictæ ecclesiæ annexata, et
eidem Priori per idem breve liberata.... Item dicunt, quod præter ista,
sunt ibidem in custodia Wilielmi de Langford infra Magnam Portam dicti
Novi Templi, _extra metas et disjunctiones prædictas_, una _aula_ et
quatuor cameræ, una coquina, unum gardinum, unum stabulum, et una camera
ultra Magnam Portam prædictam, &c.

[560] In memorandis Scacc. inter recorda de Termino Sancti Hilarii, 11. E.
3. in officio Remembratoris Thesaurarii.

[561] Pat. 12. E. 3. p. 2. m. 22. _Dugd._ Monasticon, vol. vii. p. 810,
811.

[562] Ex registr. Sancti Johannis Jerus. fol. 141. a. _Dugd._ Monast.,
tom. vi. part 2, p. 832.

[563] Ibid. ad ann. 1341.

[564] Rex omnibus ad quos &c. salutem. Sciatis quod de gratiâ nostrâ
speciali, et pro bono servitio quod Rogerus Small nobis impendit et
impendat in futuro, concessimus ei officium _Janitoris Novi Templi_ London
Habend. &c. pro vitâ suâ &c. pertinend. &c. omnia vada et feoda &c. eodem
modo qualia Robertus Fetyt defunct. Qui officium illud ex concessione
domini Edwardi nuper regis Angliæ patris nostri habuit.... Teste meipso
apud Westm. 5 die Aprilis, anno regni nostri 35. Pat. 35. E. 3. p. 2. m.
33.

[565] Prologue to the Canterbury Tales. The wages of the Manciples of the
Temple, temp. Hen. VIII. were xxxvis. viiid. per annum. Bib. _Cotton._
Vitellius, c. 9. f. 320, a.

[566] Annal. Olim-Sanctæ Mariæ Ebor.

[567] _Walsing._ 4 Ric. 2. ad ann. 1381. Hist. p. 249, ed. 1603.

[568] Rot. claus 5. E. 2. m. 19. Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 292, 293,
294.

[569] Unam robam per annum de secta liberorum servientium, et quinque
solidos per annum, et deserviat quamdiu poterit loco liberi servientis in
domo prædictâ. Ib. m. 2. Acta _Rymeri_, tom. iii. p. 331, 332.

[570] Quolibet anno ad Natale Domini unum vetus indumentum de veteribus
indumentis fratrum, et quolibet die 2 denarios pro victu garcionis sui, et
5 solidos per annum per stipendiis ejusdem garcionis, sed idem garcio
deserviet in domo illâ. Ib.

[571] Thomas of Wothrope, at the trial of the Templars in England, was
unable to give an account of the reception of some brethren into the
order, quia erat _panetarius_ et vacabat circa suum officium. _Concil.
Mag. Brit._, tom. ii. p. 355. Tunc panetarius mittat comiti duos panes
atque vini sextarium.... Ita appellabant officialem domesticum, qui mensæ
panem, mappas et manutergia subministrabat. _Ducange_, Gloss. verb.
panetarius.

[572] _Regula Templariorum_, cap. lxvii. ante p. 25.

[573] _Concil. Mag. Brit._, tom. ii. p. 371 to 373, ante, p. 235.

[574] _Dugd._ Orig. Jurid., p. 212.

[575] Nullus clericus nisi causidicus. Will. Malm., lib. iv. f. 69.
_Radulph de Diceto_, apud Hist. Angl. Script. Antiq., lib. vii. col. 606,
from whom it appears that the chief justitiary and justices itinerant were
all _priests_.

[576] _Spelm._ Concil., tom. ii. ad ann. 1217.

[577] INNOCENTIUS, &c. ... Præterea cum in Angliæ, Scotiæ, Walliæ regnis,
causæ laicorum non imperatoriis legibus, sed laicorum consuetudinibus
decidantur, fratrum nostrorum, et aliorum religiosorum consilio et rogatu,
statuimus quod in prædictis regnis _leges sæculares_ de cætero non
legantur. _Matt. Par._, p. 883, ad ann. 1254, et in additamentis, p. 191.

[578] Et quod ipsi quos ad hoc elegerint, curiam sequantur, et se de
negotiis in eadem curia intromittant, et alii non. Et videtur regi et ejus
concilio, quod septies vigenti sufficere poterint, &c.--_Rolls of Parl._
20. E. 1. vol. i. p. 84, No. 22.

[579] _Dugd._ Orig. Jurid., cap. xxxix. p. 102.

[580] Ante, p. 118. Mace-bearers, bell-ringers, thief-takers, gaolers,
bailiffs, public executioners, and all persons who performed a specific
task for another, were called servientes, serjens, or serjeants.
--_Ducange_ Gloss.

[581] _Pasquier's_ Researches, liv. viii. cap. 19.

[582] _Will. Tyr._, lib. i. p. 50, lib. xii. p. 814.

[583] _Dugd._ Hist. Warwickshire, p. 704.

[584] Et tunc Magister Templi dedit sibi mantellum, et imposuit pileum
capiti suo, et tunc fecit eum sedere ad terram, injungens sibi, &c.--_Acta
contra Templarios._ _Concil. Mag. Brit._, tom. ii. p. 380. See also p.
335.

[585] It has been supposed that the coif was first introduced by the
clerical practitioners of the common law to hide the _tonsure_ of those
priests who practised in the Court of Common Pleas, notwithstanding the
ecclesiastical prohibition. This was not the case. The early portraits of
our judges exhibit them with a coif of very much larger dimensions than
the coifs now worn by the serjeants-at-law, very much larger than would be
necessary to hide the _mere clerical tonsure_. A covering for that purpose
indeed would be absurd. The antient coifs of the serjeants-at-law were
small linen or silk caps fitting close to the top of the head. This
peculiar covering is worn universally in the East, where the people shave
their heads and cut their hair close. It was imported into Europe by the
Knights Templars, and became a distinguishing badge of their order. From
the _freres serjens_ of the Temple it passed to the _freres serjens_ of
the law.

[586] Ex cod. MS. apud sub-thesaurarium Hosp. Medii Templi, f. 4. a. Dugd.
Orig. Jurid. cap. 43, 46.

[587] MS. in Bib. Int. Temp. No. 17. fo. 408.

[588] _Burton's_ Leicestershire, p. 235.

[589] After the courts of King's Bench and Exchequer had by a fiction of
law drawn to themselves a vast portion of the civil business originally
transacted in the Common Pleas alone, the degree of serjeant-at-law, with
its exclusive privilege of practising in the last-named court, was not
sought after as before. The advocates or barristers of the King's Bench
and Exchequer were, consequently, at different times, commanded by writ to
take upon them the degree of the _coif_, and transfer their practice to
the Common Pleas.

[590] _Malcom._ Lond. Rediviv., vol. ii. p. 282.

[591] MS. _Bib. Cotton._ Vitellius, c. 9, fol. 320, a.

[592] MS. _Bib. Cotton_, c. 9, fol. 320, a.

[593] _Hargrave,_ MS. No. 19, 81. f. 5. fol. 46.

[594] MS. in Bib. In. Temp., No. 19, fol.

[595] In. Temp. Ad. Parliament, ibm. XV. die Novembris Anno Philippi et
Mariæ tertio et quarto, coram Johe Baker Milite, Nicho Hare Milite, Thoma
Whyte Milite, et al. MS. Bib. In. Tem. Div. 9, shelf 5, vol. xvii. fol.
393.

[596] Ex registr. In. Temp., f. 112, 119, b. Med. Temp., f. 24, a.
_Dugd._, Orig. Jurid., p. 310, 311.

[597] Ante, p. 180.

[598] _Dugd._ Orig. Jurid. p. 316. _Herbert_ Antiq., p. 223 to 272.

[599] _Leigh's_ Armorie, fol. 119. ed. 1576.

[600] _Naunton's_ Fragmenta Regalia, p. 248.

[601] _Chalmer's_ Dict. Biograph., vol. xvii. p. 227.

[602] _Dugd._ Orig. Jurid., p. 150. Ex registro Hosp. In. Temp. f. 123.

[603] _Whitelock's_ Memorials, p. 18-22. Ed. 1732.

[604] _Dugd._ Orig. p. 157. _Biog. Brit._ vol. xiv. p. 305.

[605] _Dugd._ Orig. p. 158.

[606] _Harleian_ MS., No. 830.

[607] MS. Bib. _Cotton._ Vitellius, c. 9. fol. 320 a.

[608] See the examination of Brother Radulph de Barton, priest of the
order of the Temple, and _custos_ of the Temple Church, before the papal
inquisitors at London.--_Concil. Mag. Brit._, tom. ii. p. 335, 337, ante,
p. 221, 222.

[609] _Peck_, Desiderata Curiosa, lib. xiii. p. 504, 505. Ed. 1779.




Transcriber's Notes:

Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_.

The original text includes Greek characters. For this text version these
letters have been replaced with transliterations.








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