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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. Iie 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
reliyionem 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 horribleand 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 "MEMOIR ES DE LA SOCIETIE 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."
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