Outremer I

by D. N. Carter

  “There seems to be a lot of Burgundians,” Simon joked.

  “Yes, there does, doesn’t there. But as most had come from family connections, then that is not surprising. André was one of the early members of the Knights Templar. He became the fifth Grand Master of the Order, presiding between 1153 and 1156. André was the younger son of Bernard, Lord of Montbard and Humberge de Ricey. André’s brother Rainard succeeded to the title. André was also the uncle of Bernard of Clairvaux, Bernard apparently being the son of André’s much older half sister Aleth. So as you can probably see, this was indeed almost a family affair…André’s access to St Bernard and Bernard’s influence within the Catholic Church helped ensure the official recognition of the Templars at the Council of Troyes. André arrived in Europe some time before the other founding Templars, charged with gaining support for the Holy Land and negotiating with Fulk the Fifth, Count of Anjou, to come east to marry Melisende, the heiress to the Kingdom of Jerusalem. André returned to the Holy Land, and served as Seneschal of the Order under Everard des Barres, to whom he wrote while the Grand Master was absent in France, urging his return with additional knights and money. André also served under Bernard de Tremelay. He participated in the capture of Ascalon from the Egyptians in 1153. He was elected Grand Master after de Tremelay perished there. Bertrand de Blanquefort was elected as the sixth Grand Master of the Knights Templar in 1156. He presided during the reign of Baldwin the Third, and was one of the first Grand Masters to use the symbol of the two riders on his official seal. Blanquefort is known for extending and revising the Templars’ Rule, adding a number of regulations dealing with specifically military situations and the hierarchy of the Order, which had by this time become more complex as the original Rule had been primarily concerned with monastic living. In 1159 Bertrand de Blanquefort was captured by the Sultan Nur ed-Din of Damascus, after being ambushed by the Saracens in the Jordan Valley. He was released three years later, at Byzantine instigation, after the Emperor Manuel I Comnenus negotiated an alliance between Byzantium and Nur ed-Din, against the Turks of Anatolia. Subsequently Bertrand de Blanquefort recommended to the King of Jerusalem that they should make an alliance with Fatimid Egypt against Nur ed-Din. Amalric the First, the new king, instead preferred a policy of aggression against Egypt. Bertrand accompanied the King against Egypt in 1163. However, in 1168 Bertrand refused to allow any Templar involvement in Amalric’s last invasion of the Nile, arguing that it violated a truce and probably fearing that the army’s departure from the kingdom would leave Jerusalem vulnerable. Blanquefort died the following year and was succeeded by Philip de Milly of Nablus. So as you can see, there was a lot of politic and intrigue already filtering its way into the Order.”

  The old man paused. He studied a small notebook he took out from the large satchel Stephan had brought in earlier. “To continue, and thank the Lord you are all indeed still awake as we come almost up to date with Philip de Milly of Nablus. He was the Lord Nablus, and then of Oultrejordan, holding the castle of Crac de Moab in Kerak. He eventually became a Templar Grand Master. He was the son of Guy de Milly, a Crusader from Picardy. He was well connected, being a step-brother of the lord of Ramla, and brother in law of Barisan of Ibelin, who was married to his sister Helvis. Philip became an influential baron in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. He was loyal to Queen Melisende, and formed part of her response to the fall of Edessa in 1144, at a time when Baldwin the Third was being sidelined for political reasons. Later, Philip fought alongside Baldwin and the Knights Templar at the capture of Ascalon. He was a gifted linguist, knowing French, Latin, Arabic and Armenian. At one point he also made a pilgrimage to the Monastery of Saint Catherine of Alexandria in the Sinai. He joined the Templars himself just before 1166, shortly after the death of his wife Isabella. In 1169 he was elected the Order’s seventh Grand Master, succeeding Bertrand de Blanquefort. Philip was the first Grand Master to have been born in the Orient. He led the Order during the defence of Gaza against an attack by Saladin. Philip resigned as Grand Master in 1171 for reasons not generally known, but you will learn them this eve. In his place Odo de St Amand was elected. Philip then became a royal envoy, to Constantinople. Philip’s daughter Stephanie de Milly was remarried to Reynald de Châtillon, upon his release from a Nur ed-Din’s dungeons. Reynald thus became lord of Kerak and that is why he was so involved in the region and had cause to run into Firgany and Alisha. Stephanie, or Princess Stephanie as most knew her, would in time prove to play an instrumental part in both Alisha’s and Paul’s lives,” the old man explained as he checked through his notes.

  “I knew this Stephanie…she was a beautiful woman, that much I do recall,” the Hospitaller said.

  2 – 4

  “That she was…but it was after her father’s resignation from the Order, that Odo de St Amand followed. He hailed from an aristocratic family of Limousin. He came east and served as Marshal of Jerusalem, before joining the Knights Templar. Odo became the eighth Grand Master of the Templars in 1171, during the reign of Amalric I of Jerusalem. Relations between the Order and the King continued to be difficult, and the troubles came to a head in 1172, when the Templar Walter de Mesnil ambushed an envoy of the Ashashin sect, returning to Syria from negotiations with Amalric. Odo refused to hand over de Mesnil to royal justice, asserting the Temple’s independence, but claiming he would send Walter for judgement in Rome. Amalric seized de Mesnil, in the event, and was considering pressing his case against the Templars when he died. Under Amalric’s son, Baldwin the Fourth, relations between the Crown and the Order improved. In 1177 Odo and the Templars supported Baldwin and played a critical part in his victory over Saladin at Montguisard,” the old man said, pausing to look at both the Templar and Hospitaller.

  “You certainly know your facts that is for sure,” the Templar said quietly.

  “I try…though I do require a little assistance now and then,” the old man said gently, waving the loose bound notebook. “You will of course know then that Odo also defeated an army of Saladin’s at Ramlah. The Grand Master was less lucky in 1179, when he was captured in battle, a few months before the fall of the castle of Jacob’s Ford. William of Tyre recorded his capture but expressed little sympathy, and condemned Odo as an evil man, full of pride and arrogance ‘in whose nostrils dwelt the spirit of fury’. He also claimed that many held Odo responsible for the military disaster. Odo refused to be ransomed, in accordance with the Order’s Rule on being ransomed, and died in chains in prison the following year. He was succeeded in his absence by Arnold de Tarroja, who was elected the ninth Grand Master of the Knights Templar in about 1180. I am sure most of you must know these details…,” the old man stated but most around the table shook their heads no except the Templar and Hospitaller. “Well, taking advantage of a two-year truce agreed between Baldwin the Fourth and Saladin, Arnold set out to tour the courts of Europe to appeal for support for the Holy Land. He had been dispatched by a council in Jerusalem along with Heraclius, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and Roger des Moulins, the Grand Master of the Hospitallers. They hoped especially to secure the support of Henry the Second of England, who had sworn to take the Cross as part of his penance for his part in the death of Thomas à Becket. However, Arnold of Tarroja fell sick, and died before he could get any further than Verona. His companions had to carry on without him. And as you must surely all know, this was when Gerard de Ridefort seized his chance to become the Grand Master of the Order,” the old man explained.

  “Yes, and that was perhaps the worst day for the Order,” the Templar said quietly.

  “Perhaps…and perhaps not. He was not all bad. He realised his ambition and became the tenth Grand Master of the Knights Templar. He presided at the time of many setbacks and disasters that befell the Kingdom of Jerusalem. He was an ally of Guy de Lusignan, Queen Sibylla and Reynald de Chatillon. Gerard has been portrayed as a sinister firebrand and a warmonger of the same cast as Reynald, pursuing policies and tactics inconsistent with the best interests of the Kingdom. But
he certainly did not lack personal courage, however, and perhaps if he had been blessed with more luck he would be better thought of. Still, given his clearly immoderate nature, many find it difficult to account for his rise to the top of the Order of the Temple, especially considering that he was not even a career Templar.”

  “Oh good, then perhaps this night I may actually learn why my life was so turned upon its head by the likes of Gerard after all. Never could understand how such an oaf, as that Alisha called him, ever did become the Order’s Grand Master,” the Templar said and sat up straight whilst catching a look at the other maid and smiling.

  “Gerard was of Flemish extraction and like Reynald he had been a member of the Second Crusade, who chose to remain in the East. Gerard took service as a secular knight under Raymond the Third of Tripoli, on the understanding that he would be rewarded with a grant of land and the hand of the heiress Lucia of Botrun. Raymond later failed to honour the arrangement, and Gerard joined the Templars, nursing a bitter grudge against Raymond. The consequences of which would have disastrous effects years later. Gerard’s rival was a Pisan merchant named Plivano. It seems Plivano had offered Lucia’s weight in gold to Raymond in order to claim the heiress’s hand and power in Botrun. But Gerard’s rise within the Order of the Temple can be directly attributed to his absolute driving ambition and aggressive self-confidence and he became Seneschal of the entire Order in 1183, and had reached the top by 1185. The following year the death of the boy king Baldwin the Fifth plunged the Kingdom of Jerusalem into crisis. Raymond the Third led the barons opposed to the accession of Sibylla and Guy de Lusignan. Gerard supported Guy and Sibylla, as much to spite Raymond as for any other reason. The support of the Knights Templar, who were sworn to obey their master whatever the cost, swung events in favour of the de Lusignan faction, and facilitated Guy’s coronation as co-ruler,” the old man explained as the Templar placed his head in his hands and rested forwards.[7]

  “Yes…I know this only too well for I was a party to that period and those very events,” the Templar sighed.

  “Gerard totally believed in his own invincibility. A belief that would prove fatal for many over the following years. But I am running ahead of myself in this story. But I think I have explained as best as I can the background to the Grand Master’s position and history. It does have relevance later,” the old man said looking at the Templar, still resting his head in his hands. The other maid stood up and slowly made her way over and knelt down beside the Templar and placed a reassuring arm around his shoulders. The Hospitaller looked at her and nodded it was okay to do so seeing that his brother was clearly saddened. The Hospitaller stood up and indicated to Simon to take his chair. Simon moved himself across in his chair as the Hospitaller indicated for the maid to take up Simon’s empty chair and sit next to him. As she did so, the Hospitaller moved to go and sit in her chair further along. “So, that brings us to the point whereby Stewart found himself having to trek all the way back to France with the ambitious and frustrated Gerard whilst Firgany, Alisha and Taqi went via sea heading for La Rochelle.”