The Demise of Knights Templar in Holy Land

The Rise of Mamluk Sultan Baybars and His Treaty With Templars

Sep 13, 2009

The Knights Templar emerged from the first Crusader army in order to protect Christian pilgrims moving from the Mediterranean ports to the holy city of Jerusalem.

Since their inception in 1119, the Knights Templar also known as the Poor Knights of the Temple of Solomon and the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Jesus Christ, grew in stature as a military force, cultivating good relations with both church and European royalty and in the process becoming immensely wealthy.

There was however a certain inevitability about the demise of an organisation that grew so rapidly and functioned in such a hostile part of the world although it did take around two hundred years for the cracks to show.

Sultan Baybars

There were many reasons for the decline of the Knights Templar, as a Christian fighting force in the Holy Land. Some will point to the signing of a non-aggression pact with Mamluk sultan Baybars in 1272, prompted almost certainly by the arrival, in Acre in May of the previous year, of Prince Edward of England at the head of yet another Crusading force. The treaty, signed by the Grand Master Guillaume de Beaujeu, effectively nullified the Templar role in Palestine.

To understand the role of Baybars in the final ousting of the Templars it’s important to turn the pages back to the Seventh Crusade of French king Louis IX. It was during this period that Baybars, born a Turkish slave, rose to prominence.

In 1265 Baybars launched his attack on Outremer (general name given to Crusader states), he took Caesarea, Haifa, Arsuf and Safed, which fell the following year.

Crac des Chevaliers

Crusader and Templar positions continued to fall. In 1268 his offensive meant Beaufort, Antioch, Jaffa, Banyas and Baghras joined a growing list of Muslim conquests. In 1271, the biggest prize, the mighty Crac des Chevaliers finally fell.

Whether the appearance in Acre of Prince Edward constituted a continuation of the Eighth Crusade or was in fact the beginning of a Ninth Crusade is a matter of continuing debate among historians. What is not in dispute is the signing of the non-aggression treaty allowed Baybars to concentrate his forces in North Africa against the army of Louis.

Crusader Flight From Sidon

By mid August 1291 following the Crusader’s flight from Sidon, the evacuation of Tortosa and the final abandonment of Castle Pilgrim, the Middle East was in effect free of Christian authority for the first time in around two centuries.

The First Crusade called for by Pope Urban II in 1095 at the Council of Clermont was by the end of the 13th century simply a point in history, gone from living memory.

Although defeated in the Holy Land the Templars were by no means a spent force in Europe where they still had powerful friends in church and state.

They still had ambitions to mount more Crusades and in an attempt to make that a reality, the then Master of the Order, Jacques de Molay began a three year journey through Europe to meet with the Pope and heads of state in England, France, Naples and Aragon.

Source:

James Wasserman, Illustrated History of the Knights Templar, Destiny Books 2006

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