Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Brief History Of The Religious And Military Order Of The Knights Templars Of St. John Of Jerusalem.
riotis a prize as Massoure presented to him , answered them with the most shameful reproaches . Stung with his calumnies , ^ he rest" of the generals pushed on with a courage bordering on despair . They entered Massoure without opposition , but soon after the Infidels besieged them there in great force . The inhabitants of the city rose upon theln at the same time the Earl of Salisbury was slainwith a great
; , number of knig hts , the prince fell an early sacrifice to his own imprudence , and the Grand Master of the Temple escaped to the main army , covered with wounds , and with the loss of an . eye . This victory was followed by the defeat of the remainder of the Christian army , and the Kino- of France and most of his officers were taken prisoners . Louis purchased his ransom and that of his people by restoring
Damiata and paying 800 , 000 besants of gold , the most part of which , says Matthew Paris , was advanced by the two Military Orders . The French king having finished his Crusade in this unsuccessful manner , returned to his own dominions early in 1254 . On the departure of that monarch the Templars and Hospitallers , as if they wanted to keep their arms in actionturned against each other . The Templars
, suffered very severely , and the Hospitallers , with a horrible spirit of revenue , cut those of that order who fell into their hands immediately in pieces . These contentions continued till the attack of the common enemy again reconciled them . " The Sultan of Egypt in 126 5 laid sieg-e to the fortress of Sephet , then garrisoned by the Templars .
After an obstinate defence the knights capitulated , on condition that they should be permitted to depart in safety to some place belonging to the Christians . As soon as the sultan got possession of the place he gave the knights , amounting to six hundred , this alternative , either to turn Mahometans or to be put to death . With a glorious zeal for their relis ; ion , and a stern contempt of death , those noble warriors all
presented themselves to their fate , with the prior of the order at their head . Irritated at their firmness , and particularly so at the prior , whom he conceived to be the chief means of their constancy , the sultan commanded him to be flayed alive , and all the rest to be beheaded . The Mahometan prince followed up this success by the reduction of Jaffa , Antiochand a number of other places ; and it appearedthat the
to-, , tal destruction of the Christians was inevitable . The two Grand . Masters repaired to Italy , to solicit the aid of the sovereign pontiff ; this was Pope Gregory X . who , moved by their representations ,-exerted himself exceedingly to raise a force for the maintenance of the Christian possessions in Palestine . Another Crusade Was warmly recommended , it was actually
resolved on , and many sovereign princes assumed the Cross ; but presently after their ardour abated , and the Holy Land was left to its fate . In the year 1285 , the Christians possessed only St . John de Acre , and even that seemed to hang upon a very precarious tenure . In 1591 , the Sultan ofEgypt laid siege to Acre , at the head of above two hundred thousand men . The garrison unanimously elected for their u-overnor , in this exigency , brother Peter de Beaujeau , Grand Master of the Templars . To gain a place of so much importance ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Brief History Of The Religious And Military Order Of The Knights Templars Of St. John Of Jerusalem.
riotis a prize as Massoure presented to him , answered them with the most shameful reproaches . Stung with his calumnies , ^ he rest" of the generals pushed on with a courage bordering on despair . They entered Massoure without opposition , but soon after the Infidels besieged them there in great force . The inhabitants of the city rose upon theln at the same time the Earl of Salisbury was slainwith a great
; , number of knig hts , the prince fell an early sacrifice to his own imprudence , and the Grand Master of the Temple escaped to the main army , covered with wounds , and with the loss of an . eye . This victory was followed by the defeat of the remainder of the Christian army , and the Kino- of France and most of his officers were taken prisoners . Louis purchased his ransom and that of his people by restoring
Damiata and paying 800 , 000 besants of gold , the most part of which , says Matthew Paris , was advanced by the two Military Orders . The French king having finished his Crusade in this unsuccessful manner , returned to his own dominions early in 1254 . On the departure of that monarch the Templars and Hospitallers , as if they wanted to keep their arms in actionturned against each other . The Templars
, suffered very severely , and the Hospitallers , with a horrible spirit of revenue , cut those of that order who fell into their hands immediately in pieces . These contentions continued till the attack of the common enemy again reconciled them . " The Sultan of Egypt in 126 5 laid sieg-e to the fortress of Sephet , then garrisoned by the Templars .
After an obstinate defence the knights capitulated , on condition that they should be permitted to depart in safety to some place belonging to the Christians . As soon as the sultan got possession of the place he gave the knights , amounting to six hundred , this alternative , either to turn Mahometans or to be put to death . With a glorious zeal for their relis ; ion , and a stern contempt of death , those noble warriors all
presented themselves to their fate , with the prior of the order at their head . Irritated at their firmness , and particularly so at the prior , whom he conceived to be the chief means of their constancy , the sultan commanded him to be flayed alive , and all the rest to be beheaded . The Mahometan prince followed up this success by the reduction of Jaffa , Antiochand a number of other places ; and it appearedthat the
to-, , tal destruction of the Christians was inevitable . The two Grand . Masters repaired to Italy , to solicit the aid of the sovereign pontiff ; this was Pope Gregory X . who , moved by their representations ,-exerted himself exceedingly to raise a force for the maintenance of the Christian possessions in Palestine . Another Crusade Was warmly recommended , it was actually
resolved on , and many sovereign princes assumed the Cross ; but presently after their ardour abated , and the Holy Land was left to its fate . In the year 1285 , the Christians possessed only St . John de Acre , and even that seemed to hang upon a very precarious tenure . In 1591 , the Sultan ofEgypt laid siege to Acre , at the head of above two hundred thousand men . The garrison unanimously elected for their u-overnor , in this exigency , brother Peter de Beaujeau , Grand Master of the Templars . To gain a place of so much importance ,