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A Brief History Of The Religious And Military Order Of The Knights Templars Of St. John Of Jerusalem.
lowing , and in about a month delivered it up to the emperor . No sooner had they atchieved for him this signal advantage , than he rewarded it by entering into a secret league with the sultan Soliman , by which he engaged to injure the crusaders as much as possible . While this Christian prince thus formed an alliance with the infidels on the one handthe calih of Egyptdreading the power of the
, p , Turcomans , entered into a treaty with the heads of the crusade on the other . The army of the cross pushed on into Asia , and took Antioch , Tarsus , and Edessa ; but while they were thus engaged the caliph of Egypt , separating from them , seized upon Jerusalem , with a determination to reserve it to himself . The Christian princes ,
though surprised at this treachery , yet did not relinquish their design of recovering the capital of Palestine . They arrived before it on the 7 th of June 1099 , but the number of their troops was now reduced to twenty thousand foot , and fifteen hundred horse . The Egyptian commander had garrisoned the place with forty thousand regular troops , besides twenty thousand inhabitants whom he had compelled to military service . After a close siege of five weeks it was taken . by assault , and the whole Christian army entered therein on July 15 , 1099 , putting above
ten thousand of the vanquished to the sword . The streets of the holy city ran down with blood ; and the feeling heart cannot help lamenting that men who professed to be actuated by motives of religion , should disgrace that relig ion by murders of the most cruel kind . The utmost joy was diffused over the Christian world at this conquest , which , was still further enhanced by a glorious victory obtained by Godfrey over the caliph of Egypt , who was marching with a large army to raise the siege .
On his return to Jerusalem Godfrey visited the hospital of St . John , where he was received by the administrator named Gerard , a very p ious man . Here the prince found numbers of the wounded soldiers lodged and treated in the most affectionate manner ; and he was so captivated with the excellent nature of the institution , as not only totake it under his protection , but settled upon it some valuable estates which belonged to his lordship in Brabant .
Several young cavaliers who had experienced the benefits of the hospital , or rather Lodge , entered themselves of the Order , and settled upon it their property . In consequence of this the Society flourished ' to such a degree that Gerard was appointed rector of it , and a regular habit ivas adopted by the fraternity , consisting of a black robe with a white cross of eight points on the side near the heart .
The city of Jerusalem being now in the hands of the Christians , the swarms of pilgrims which resorted thither were innumerable , and as they were mostly entertained in the hospital of St . John , they returned with such accounts of the benevolence exercised in it , as to draw to it large benefactions from all parts of Christendom . Gerard was soon enabled to erect a magnificent church to the memory of St . John the Baptise , and additional buildings to advance the cha-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Brief History Of The Religious And Military Order Of The Knights Templars Of St. John Of Jerusalem.
lowing , and in about a month delivered it up to the emperor . No sooner had they atchieved for him this signal advantage , than he rewarded it by entering into a secret league with the sultan Soliman , by which he engaged to injure the crusaders as much as possible . While this Christian prince thus formed an alliance with the infidels on the one handthe calih of Egyptdreading the power of the
, p , Turcomans , entered into a treaty with the heads of the crusade on the other . The army of the cross pushed on into Asia , and took Antioch , Tarsus , and Edessa ; but while they were thus engaged the caliph of Egypt , separating from them , seized upon Jerusalem , with a determination to reserve it to himself . The Christian princes ,
though surprised at this treachery , yet did not relinquish their design of recovering the capital of Palestine . They arrived before it on the 7 th of June 1099 , but the number of their troops was now reduced to twenty thousand foot , and fifteen hundred horse . The Egyptian commander had garrisoned the place with forty thousand regular troops , besides twenty thousand inhabitants whom he had compelled to military service . After a close siege of five weeks it was taken . by assault , and the whole Christian army entered therein on July 15 , 1099 , putting above
ten thousand of the vanquished to the sword . The streets of the holy city ran down with blood ; and the feeling heart cannot help lamenting that men who professed to be actuated by motives of religion , should disgrace that relig ion by murders of the most cruel kind . The utmost joy was diffused over the Christian world at this conquest , which , was still further enhanced by a glorious victory obtained by Godfrey over the caliph of Egypt , who was marching with a large army to raise the siege .
On his return to Jerusalem Godfrey visited the hospital of St . John , where he was received by the administrator named Gerard , a very p ious man . Here the prince found numbers of the wounded soldiers lodged and treated in the most affectionate manner ; and he was so captivated with the excellent nature of the institution , as not only totake it under his protection , but settled upon it some valuable estates which belonged to his lordship in Brabant .
Several young cavaliers who had experienced the benefits of the hospital , or rather Lodge , entered themselves of the Order , and settled upon it their property . In consequence of this the Society flourished ' to such a degree that Gerard was appointed rector of it , and a regular habit ivas adopted by the fraternity , consisting of a black robe with a white cross of eight points on the side near the heart .
The city of Jerusalem being now in the hands of the Christians , the swarms of pilgrims which resorted thither were innumerable , and as they were mostly entertained in the hospital of St . John , they returned with such accounts of the benevolence exercised in it , as to draw to it large benefactions from all parts of Christendom . Gerard was soon enabled to erect a magnificent church to the memory of St . John the Baptise , and additional buildings to advance the cha-