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

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 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. 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 34 Gallia Christiana nova , tom. i. col. 486.

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 35 Odo de Diogilo de Ludov. vii. profectione in Orientem , p. 67.

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 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. 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.”

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 37 Ludovici regis ad abbatem Sugerium epist. 58. — Duchesne hist. franc. scrip. tom. iv. p. 512; see also epist. 59, ibid.

Among the English nobility who enlisted in the second crusade were the two renowned warriors, Roger de Mowbray and William de Warrenne. 38 38 Simeonis Dunelmensis hist. ad ann. 1148, apud X script. 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 39 Dugdale Baronage , tom. i. p. 122, Dugd. Monast. vol. 7, p. 838.

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 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. 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 41 Ex. cod. vet. M. S. penes Anton. Wood, Oxon, fol. 14 a. Ib. p. 843. 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 42 Liber Johannis Stillingflete , M. S. in officio armorum (L. 17) fol. 141 a, Harleian M. S. No. 4937. 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.