There were also several preceptories in Scotland and Ireland, which were dependent on the Temple at London.
The annual income of the order in Europe has been roughly estimated at six millions sterling! According to Matthew Paris,the Templars possessednine thousandmanors or lordships in Christendom, besides a large revenue and immense riches arising from the constant charitable bequests and donations of sums of money from pious persons.[139]“They were also endowed,” says James of Vitry, bishop of Acre, “with farms, towns, and villages, to an immense extent both in the East and in the West, out of the revenues of which they send yearly a certain sum of money for the defence of the Holy Land to their head Master at the chief house of their order in Jerusalem.”[140]The Templars, in imitation of the other monastic establishments, obtained from pious and charitable people all the advowsons within their reach, and frequently retained the tithe and the glebe in their own hands, deputing a priest of the order to perform divine service and administer the sacraments.
The manors of the Templars produced them rent either in money, corn, or cattle, and the usual produce of the soil. By the custom in some of these manors, the tenants were annually to mow three days in harvest, one at the charge of the house; and to plough three days, whereof one at the like charge; to reap one day, at which time they should have a ram from the house, eightpence, twenty-four loaves, and a cheese of the best in the house, together with a pailful of drink. The tenants were not to sell their horse-colts, if they were foaled upon the land belonging to the Templars, without the consent of the fraternity, nor marry their daughters without their license. There were alsovarious regulations concerning the cocks and hens and young chickens.[141]
We have previously given an account of the royal donations of King Henry the First, of King Stephen and his queen, to the order of the Temple. These were far surpassed by the pious benefactions of King Henry the Second. That monarch, for the good of his soul and the welfare of his kingdom, granted the Templars a place situate on the river Fleet, near Bainard’s Castle, with the whole current of that river at London, for erecting a mill;[142]also a messuage near Fleet-street; the church of St. Clement, “quæ dicitur Dacorum extra civitatem Londoniæ;” the churches of Elle, Swinderby and Skarle in Lincolnshire, Kingeswode juxta Waltham in Kent, the manor of Stroder in the hundred of Skamele, the vill of Kele in Staffordshire, the hermitage of Flikeamstede, and all his lands at Lange Cureway, a house in Brosal, and the market of Witham; lands at Berghotte, a mill at the bridge of Pembroke Castle, the vill of Finchingfelde, the manor of Rotheley with its appurtenances, and the advowson of the church and its several chapels, the manor of Blalcolvesley, the park of Haleshall, and threefat bucksannually, either from Essex or Windsor Forest. He likewise granted them an annualfair at Temple Bruere, and superadded many rich benefactions in Ireland.[143]
The principal benefactors to the Templars amongst the nobility were William Marshall, earl of Pembroke, and his sons William and Gilbert; Robert, lord de Ros; the earl of Hereford; William, earl of Devon; the king of Scotland; William, archbishop of York; Philip Harcourt, dean of Lincoln; the earl of Cornwall; Philip, bishop of Bayeux; Simon de Senlis, earl of Northampton; Leticia and William, count and countess of Ferrara; Margaret, countess of Warwick; Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester; Robert de Harecourt, lord of Rosewarden; William de Vernon, earl of Devon, &c. &c.[144]
The Templars, in addition to their amazing wealth, enjoyed vast privileges and immunities within this realm. In the reign of King John they were freed from all amerciaments in the Exchequer, and obtained the privilege of not being compelled to plead except before the king or his chief justice. King Henry the Third granted them free warren in all their demesne lands; and by his famous charter, dated the 9th of February, in the eleventh year of his reign, he confirmed to them all the donations of his predecessors and of their other benefactors; with soc[145]and sac,[146]tol[147]and theam,[148]infangenethef,[149]and unfangenethef,[150]and hamsoca, and grithbrich, and blodwite, and flictwite, and hengewite, and learwite, and flemenefrith, murder, robbery, forestal, ordel, and oreste; and he acquitted them from the royal andsheriff’s aids, and from hidage, carucage, danegeld and hornegeld, and from military and wapentake services, scutages, tallages, lastages, stallages, from shires and hundreds, pleas and quarrels, from ward and wardpeny, and averpeni, and hundredespeni, and borethalpeni, and thethingepeni, and from the works of parks, castles, bridges, the building of royal houses and all other works; and also from waste regard and view of foresters, and from toll in all markets and fairs, and at all bridges, and upon all highways throughout the kingdom. And he also gave them the chattels of felons and fugitives, and all waifs within their fee.[151]
In addition to these particular privileges, the Templars enjoyed, under the authority of the Papal bulls, various immunities and advantages, which gave great umbrage to the clergy. They were freed, as before mentioned, from the obligation of paying tithes, and might, with the consent of the bishop, receive them. No brother of the Temple could be excommunicated by any bishop or priest, nor could any of the churches of the order be laid under interdict except by virtue of a special mandate from the holy see. When any brother of the Temple, appointed to make charitable collections for the succour of the Holy Land, should arrive at a city, castle, or village, which had been laid under interdict, the churches, on their welcome coming, were to be thrown open, (once within the year,) and divine service was to be performed in honour of the Temple, and in reverence for the holy soldiers thereof. The privilege of sanctuary was thrown around their dwellings; and by various papal bulls it is solemnly enjoined that no person shall lay violent hands either upon the persons or the property of those flying for refuge to the Temple houses.[152]
Sir Edward Coke, in the second part of the Institute of the Laws of England, observes, that “the Templars did sooverspread throughout Christendome, and so exceedingly increased in possessions, revenues, and wealth, and specially in England, as you will wonder to reade in approved histories, and withall obtained so great and large priviledges, liberties, and immunities for themselves, their tenants, and farmers, &c., as no other order had the like.”[153]He further observes, that the Knights Templars werecruce signati, and as the cross was the ensign of their profession, and their tenants enjoyed great privileges, they did erect crosses upon their houses, to the end that those inhabiting them might be known to be the tenants of the order, and thereby be freed from many duties and services which other tenants were subject unto; “and many tenants of other lords, perceiving the state and greatnesse of the knights of the said order, and withall seeing the great priviledges their tenants enjoyed, did set up crosses upon their houses, as their very tenants used to doe, to the prejudice of their lords.”
This abuse led to the passing of the statute of Westminster, the second,chap.33,[154]which recites, that many tenants did set up crosses or cause them to be set up on their lands in prejudice of their lords, that the tenants might defend themselves against the chief lord of the fee by the privileges of Templars and Hospitallers, and enacts that such lands should be forfeited to the chief lords or to the king.
Sir Edward Coke observes, that the Templars were freed from tenths and fifteenths to be paid to the king; that they were discharged of purveyance; that they could not be sued for any ecclesiastical cause before the ordinary,sed coram conservatoribus suorum privilegiorum; and that of ancient time they claimed that a felon might take to their houses, having their crosses for his safety, as well as to any church.[155]And concerning these conservers or keepers of their privileges, he remarks, that the Templars and Hospitallers “held an ecclesiasticall court before acanonist, whom they termedconservator privilegiorum suorum, which judge had indeed more authority than was convenient, and did dayly, in respect of the height of these two orders, and at their instance and direction, incroach upon and hold plea of matters determinable by the common law, forcui plus licet quam par est, plus vult quam licet; and this was one great mischiefe. Another mischiefe was, that this judge, likewise at their instance, in cases wherein he had jurisdiction, would make general citations aspro salute animæ, and the like, without expressing the matter whereupon the citation was made, which also was against law, and tended to the grievous vexation of the subject.”[156]To remedy these evils, another act of parliament was passed, prohibiting Hospitallers and Templars from bringing any man in plea before the keepers of their privileges, for any matter the knowledge whereof belonged to the king’s court, and commanding such keepers of their privileges thenceforth to grant no citations at the instance of Hospitallers and Templars, before it be expressed upon what matter the citation ought to be made.[157]
Having given an outline of the great territorial possessions of the order of the Temple in Europe, it now remains for us to present a sketch of its organisation and government. The Master of the Temple, the chief of the entire fraternity, ranked as a sovereign prince, and had precedence of all ambassadors and peers in the general councils of the church. He was elected to his high office by the chapter of the kingdom of Jerusalem, which was composed of all the knights of the East and of the West who could manage to attend. The Master had his general and particular chapters. The first were composed of the Grand Priors of the eastern and western provinces, and of all the knights present in the holy territory. The assembling of these general chapters,however, in the distant land of Palestine, was a useless and almost impracticable undertaking, and it is only on the journeys of the Master to Europe, that we hear of the convocation of the Grand Priors of the West to attend upon their chief. The general chapters called together by the Master in Europe were held at Paris, and the Grand Prior of England always received a summons to attend. The ordinary business and the government of the fraternity in secular matters were conducted by the Master with the assistance of his particular chapter of the Latin kingdom, which was composed of such of the Grand Priors and chief dignitaries of the Temple as happened to be present in the East, and such of the knights as were deemed the wisest and most fit to give counsel. In these last chapters visitors-general were appointed to examine into the administration of the western provinces.
The western nations or provinces of the order were presided over by the provincial Masters,[158]otherwise Grand Priors or Grand Preceptors, who were originally appointed by the chief Master at Jerusalem, and were in theory mere trustees or bare administrators of the revenues of the fraternity, accountable to the treasurer general at Jerusalem, and removeable at the pleasure of the Chief Master. As the numbers, possessions, and wealth of the Templars, however, increased, various abuses sprang up. The members of the order, after their admittance to the vows, very frequently, instead of proceeding direct to Palestine to war against the infidels, settled down upon their property in Europe, and consumed at home a large proportion of those revenues which ought to have been faithfully and strictly forwarded to the general treasury at the Holy City. They erected numerousconvents or preceptories, with churches and chapels, and raised up in each western province a framework of government similar to that of the ruling province of Palestine.
The chief house of the Temple in England, for example, after its removal from Holborn Bars to the banks of the Thames, was regulated and organised after the model of the house of the Temple at Jerusalem. The superior is always styled “Master of the Temple,” and holds his chapters and has his officers corresponding to those of the chief Master in Palestine. The latter, consequently, came to be denominatedMagnus Magister, or Grand Master,[159]by our English writers, to distinguish him from the Master at London, and henceforth he will be described by that title to prevent confusion. The titles given indeed to the superiors of the different nations or provinces into which the order of the Temple was divided, are numerous and somewhat perplexing. In the East, these officers were known only, in the first instance, by the title of Prior, as Prior of England, Prior of France, Prior of Portugal, &c., and afterwards Preceptor of England, preceptor of France, &c.; but in Europe they were called Grand Priors and Grand Preceptors, to distinguish them from the Sub-priors and Sub-preceptors, and also Masters of the Temple. The Prior and PreceptorofEngland, therefore, and the Grand Prior, Grand Preceptor, and Master of the TempleinEngland, were one and the same person. There were also at the New Temple at London, in imitation of the establishment at the chief house in Palestine, in addition to the Master, the Preceptor of the Temple, the Prior of London, the Treasurer, and the Guardian of the church, who had three chaplains under him, called readers.[160]
The Master at London had his general and particular, or hisordinary and extraordinary chapters. The first were composed of the grand preceptors of Scotland and Ireland, and all the provincial priors and preceptors of the three kingdoms, who were summoned once a year to deliberate on the state of the Holy Land, to forward succour, to give an account of their stewardship, and to frame new rules and regulations for the management of the temporalities.[161]The ordinary chapters were held at the different preceptories, which the Master of the Temple visited in succession. In these chapters new members were admitted into the order; lands were bought, sold, and exchanged; and presentations were made by the Master to vacant benefices. Many of the grants and other deeds of these chapters, with the seal of the order of the Temple annexed to them, are to be met with in the public and private collections of manuscripts in this country. One of the most interesting and best preserved, is the Harleian charter (83, c. 39,) in the British Museum, which is a grant of land made by Brother William de la More, the martyr, the last Master of the Temple in England, to the Lord Milo de Stapleton. It is expressed to be made by him, with the common consent and advice of his chapter, held at the Preceptory of Dynneslee, on the feast of Saint Barnabas the Apostle, and concludes, “In witness whereof, we have to this present indenture placed the seal of our chapter.”[162]A fac-simile of this seal is given above. On the reverse of it is a man’s head, decorated with a long beard, and surmounted by a small cap, and around it are the letters TESTISVMAGI. The same seal is to be met with on various other indentures made by the Master and Chapter of the Temple.[163]The more early seals are surrounded with thewords, SigillumMilitisTempli, “Seal of theKnightof the Temple;” as in the case of the deed of exchange of lands at Normanton in the parish of Botisford, in Leicestershire, entered into between Brother Amadeus de Morestello, Master of the chivalry of the Temple in England, and his chapter, of the one part, and the Lord Henry de Colevile, Knight, of the other part. The seal annexed to this deed has the addition of the wordMilitis, but in other respects it is similar to the one above delineated.[164]
The Master of the Temple was controlled by the visitors-general of the order,[165]who were knights specially deputed by the Grand Master and convent of Jerusalem to visit the different provinces, to reform abuses, make new regulations, and terminate such disputes as were usually reserved for the decision of the Grand Master. These visitors-general sometimes removed knights from their preceptories, and even suspended the masters themselves, and it was their duty to expedite to the East all such knights as were young and vigorous, and capable of fighting. Two regular voyages were undertaken from Europe to Palestine in the course of the year, under the conduct of the Templars and Hospitallers, called thepassagium Martis, and thepassagium Sancti Johannis, which took place respectively in the spring and summer, when the newly-admitted knights left the preceptories of the West, taking with them hired foot soldiers, armed pilgrims, and large sums of money, the produce of the European possessions of the fraternity, by which means a continual succour was afforded to the christian kingdom of Jerusalem. One of the grand priors or grand preceptors generally took the command of these expeditions, and was frequently accompanied by many valiant secularknights, who craved permission to join his standard, and paid large sums of money for a passage to the far East. In the interval between these different voyages, the young knights were diligently employed at the different preceptories in the religious and military exercises necessary to fit them for their high vocation.
On any sudden emergency, or when the ranks of the order had been greatly thinned by the casualties of war, the Grand Master sent circular letters to the grand preceptors or masters of the western provinces, requiring instant aid and assistance, on the receipt of which collections were made in the churches, and all the knights that could be spared forthwith embarked for the Holy Land.
The Master of the Temple in England sat in parliament as first baron of the realm, (primus baro Angliæ,) but that is to be understood among priors only. To the parliament holden in the twenty-ninth year of King Henry the Third, there were summoned sixty-five abbots, thirty-five priors, and the Master of the Temple.[166]The oath taken by the grand priors, grand preceptors, or provincial Masters in Europe, on their assumption of the duties of their high administrative office, was drawn up in the following terms:—
“I,A. B., Knight of the Order of the Temple, just now appointed Master of the knights who are in ——, promise to Jesus Christ my Saviour, and to his vicar the sovereign pontiff and his successors, perpetual obedience and fidelity. I swear that I will defend, not only with my lips, but by force of arms and with all my strength, the mysteries of the faith; the seven sacraments, the fourteen articles of the faith, the creed of the Apostles, and that of Saint Athanasius; the books of the Old and the New Testament, with the commentaries of the holy fathers, as received by the church; the unity of God, the pluralityof the persons of the holy Trinity; that Mary, the daughter of Joachim and Anna, of the tribe of Judah, and of the race of David, remained always a virgin before her delivery, during and after her delivery. I promise likewise to be submissive and obedient to the Master-general of the order, in conformity with the statutes prescribed by our father Saint Bernard; that I will at all times in case of need pass the seas to go and fight; that I will always afford succour against the infidel kings and princes; that in the presence of three enemies I will fly not, but cope with them, if they are infidels; that I will not sell the property of the order, nor consent that it be sold or alienated; that I will always preserve chastity; that I will be faithful to the king of ——; that I will never surrender to the enemy the towns and places belonging to the order; and that I will never refuse to the religious any succour that I am able to afford them; that I will aid and defend them by words, by arms, and by all sorts of good offices; and in sincerity and of my own free will I swear that I will observe all these things.”[167]
Among the earliest of the Masters, or Grand Priors, or Grand Preceptors of England, whose names figure in history, is Richard de Hastings, who was at the head of the order in this country on the accession of King Henry the Second to the throne,[168](A. D.1154,) and was employed by that monarch in various important negotiations. In the year 1160 he greatly offended the king of France. The Princess Margaret, thedaughter of that monarch, had been betrothed to Prince Henry, son of Henry the Second, king of England; and in the treaty of peace entered into between the two sovereigns, it was stipulated that Gizors and two other places, part of the dowry of the princess, should be consigned to the custody of the Templars, to be delivered into King Henry’s hands after the celebration of the nuptials. The king of England (A. D.1160) caused the prince and princess, both of whom were infants, to be married in the presence of Richard de Hastings, the Grand Prior or Master of the Temple in England, and two other Knights Templars, who, immediately after the conclusion of the ceremony, placed the fortresses in King Henry’s hands.[169]The king of France was highly indignant at this proceeding, and some writers accuse the Templars of treachery, but from the copy of the treaty published by Lord Littleton[170]it does not appear that they acted with bad faith.
The above Richard de Hastings was the friend and confidant of Thomas à Becket. During the disputes between that haughty prelate and the king, the archbishop, we are told, withdrew from the council chamber, where all his brethren were assembled, and went to consult with Richard de Hastings, the Prior of the Temple at London, who threw himself on his knees before him, and with many tears besought him to give in his adherence to the famous councils of Clarendon.[171]
Richard de Hastings was succeeded by Richard Mallebeench, who confirmed a treaty of peace and concord which had been entered into between his predecessor and the abbot of Kirkested;[172]and the next Master of the Temple appears to have been Geoffrey son of Stephen, who received the Patriarch Heraclius as his guest at the new Temple on the occasion of the consecration of the Temple church. He styles himself “Ministerof the soldiery of the Temple in England.”[173]
In consequence of the high estimation in which the Templars were held, and the privilege of sanctuary enjoyed by them, the Temple at London came to be made “a storehouse of treasure.” The wealth of the king, the nobles, the bishops, and of the rich burghers of London, was generally deposited therein, under the safeguard and protection of the military friars.[174]The money collected in the churches and chapels for the succour of the Holy Land was also paid into the treasury of the Temple, to be forwarded to its destination: and the treasurer was at different times authorised to receive the taxes imposed upon the moveables of the ecclesiastics, also the large sums of money extorted by the rapacious popes from the English clergy, and the annuities granted by the king to the nobles of the kingdom.[175]The money and jewels of Hubert de Burgh, earl of Kent, the chief justiciary, and at one time governor of the king and kingdom ofEngland, were deposited in the Temple, and when that nobleman was disgraced and committed to the Tower, the king attempted to lay hold of the treasure.
Matthew Paris gives the following curious account of the affair:
“It was suggested,” says he, “to the king, that Hubert had no small amount of treasure deposited in the New Temple, under the custody of the Templars. The king, accordingly, summoning to his presence the Master of the Temple, briefly demanded of him if it was so. He indeed, not daring to deny the truth to the king, confessed that he had money of the said Hubert, which had been confidentially committed to the keeping of himself and his brethren, but of the quantity and amount thereof he was altogether ignorant. Then the king endeavoured with threats to obtain from the brethren the surrender to him of the aforesaid money, asserting that it had been fraudulently subtracted from his treasury. But they answered to the king, thatmoney confided to them in trust they would deliver to no man without the permission of him who had intrusted it to be kept in the Temple. And the king, since the above-mentioned money had been placed under their protection, ventured not to take it by force. He sent, therefore, the treasurer of his court, with his justices of the Exchequer, to Hubert, who had already been placed in fetters in the Tower of London, that they might exact from him an assignment of the entire sum to the king. But when these messengers had explained to Hubert the object of their coming, he immediately answered that he would submit himself and all belonging to him to the good pleasure of his sovereign. He therefore petitioned the brethren of the chivalry of the Temple that they would, in his behalf, present all his keys to his lord the king, that he might do what he pleased with the things deposited in the Temple. This being done, the king ordered all that money,faithfully counted, to be placed in his treasury, and the amount of all the things found to be reduced into writing and exhibited before him. The king’s clerks, indeed, and the treasurer acting with them, found deposited in the Temple gold and silver vases of inestimable price, and money and many precious gems, an enumeration whereof would in truth astonish the hearers.”[176]
The kings of England frequently resided in the Temple, and so also did the haughty legates of the Roman pontiffs, who there made contributions in the name of the pope upon the English bishoprics. Matthew Paris gives a lively account of the exactions of the nuncio Martin, who resided for many years at the Temple, and came there armed by the pope with powers such as no legate had ever before possessed. “He made,” says he, “whilst residing at London in the New Temple, unheard of extortions of money and valuables. He imperiously intimated to the abbots and priors that they must send him rich presents, desirable palfreys, sumptuous services for the table, and rich clothing; which being done, that same Martin sent back word that the things sent were insufficient, and he commanded the givers thereof to forward him better things, on pain of suspension and excommunication.”[177]
The convocations of the clergy and the great ecclesiastical councils were frequently held at the Temple, and laws were there made by the bishops and abbots for the government of the church and monasteries in England.[178]
The Patriarch Heraclius quarrels with the king of England—He returns to Palestine without succour—The disappointments and gloomy forebodings of the Templars—They prepare to resist Saladin—Their defeat and slaughter—The valiant deeds of the Marshal of the Temple—The fatal battle of Tiberias—The captivity of the Grand Master and the true Cross—The captive Templars are offered the Koran or death—They choose the latter, and are beheaded—The fall of Jerusalem—The Moslems take possession of the Temple—They purify it with rose-water, say prayers, and hear a sermon—The Templars retire to Antioch—Their letters to the king of England and the Master of the Temple at London—Their exploits at the siege of Acre.“Gloriosa civitas Dei Jerusalem, ubi dominus passus, ubi sepultus, ubi gloriam resurrectionis ostendit, hosti spurio subjicitur polluenda, nec est dolor sicut dolor iste, cum sepulchrum possideant qui sepulchrum persequuntur, crucem teneant qui crucifixum contemnunt.”—The Lamentation of Geoffrey de Vinisauf over the Fall of Jerusalem.“The earth quakes and trembles because the king of heaven hath lost his land, the land on which his feet once stood. The foes of the Lord break into his holy city, even into that glorious tomb where the virgin blossom of Mary was wrapt up in linen and spices, and where the first and greatest flower on earth rose up again.”—St. Bernard, epist. cccxxii.
The Patriarch Heraclius quarrels with the king of England—He returns to Palestine without succour—The disappointments and gloomy forebodings of the Templars—They prepare to resist Saladin—Their defeat and slaughter—The valiant deeds of the Marshal of the Temple—The fatal battle of Tiberias—The captivity of the Grand Master and the true Cross—The captive Templars are offered the Koran or death—They choose the latter, and are beheaded—The fall of Jerusalem—The Moslems take possession of the Temple—They purify it with rose-water, say prayers, and hear a sermon—The Templars retire to Antioch—Their letters to the king of England and the Master of the Temple at London—Their exploits at the siege of Acre.
“Gloriosa civitas Dei Jerusalem, ubi dominus passus, ubi sepultus, ubi gloriam resurrectionis ostendit, hosti spurio subjicitur polluenda, nec est dolor sicut dolor iste, cum sepulchrum possideant qui sepulchrum persequuntur, crucem teneant qui crucifixum contemnunt.”—The Lamentation of Geoffrey de Vinisauf over the Fall of Jerusalem.
“The earth quakes and trembles because the king of heaven hath lost his land, the land on which his feet once stood. The foes of the Lord break into his holy city, even into that glorious tomb where the virgin blossom of Mary was wrapt up in linen and spices, and where the first and greatest flower on earth rose up again.”—St. Bernard, epist. cccxxii.
Gerard de Riderfort.A. D.1185.
The Grand Master, Arnold de Torroge, who died on his journey to England, as before mentioned, was succeeded by Brother Gerard de Riderfort.[179]
On the tenth of the calends of April, a month after the consecration by the patriarch Heraclius of the Temple church, the grand council or parliament of the kingdom, composed of the bishops, earls, and barons, assembled in the house of the Hospitallers at Clerkenwell in London. It was attended by William king of Scotland and David his brother, and many of the counts and barons of that distant land.[180]The august assembly was acquainted, in the king’s name, with the object of the solemn embassy just sent to him from Jerusalem, and with the desire of the royal penitent to fulfil his vow and perform his penance; but the barons were at the same time reminded of the old age of their sovereign, of the bad state of his health, and of the necessity of his presence in England. They accordingly represented to King Henry that the solemn oath taken by him on his coronation was an obligation antecedent to the penance imposed on him by the pope; that by that oath he was bound to stay at home and govern his dominions, and that, in their opinion, it was more wholesome for the king’s soul to defend his own country against the barbarous French, than to desert it for the purpose of protecting the distant kingdom of Jerusalem. They, however, offered to raise the sum of fifty thousand marks for the levying of troops to be sent into Asia, and recommended that all such prelates and nobles as desired to take the cross should be permitted freely to leave the kingdom on so pious an enterprise.[181]
Fabian gives the following quaint account of the king’s answer to the patriarch, from the Chron. Joan Bromton: “Lasteley, the kynge gaue answere, and sayde that he myghte not leue hys lande wythoute kepynge, nor yet leue yt to the praye and robbery of Frenchemen. But he wolde gyue largely of hys owne tosuch as wolde take upon theym that vyage. Wyth thys answere the patryarke was dyscontente, and sayde, ‘We seke a man, and not money; welnere euery crysten regyon sendyth unto us money, but no lande sendyth to us a prince. Therefore we aske a prynce that nedeth money, and not money that nedeth a prynce.’ But the kynge layde for hym suche excuses, that the patryarke departed from hym dyscontentyd and comforteless, whereof the kynge beynge aduertysed, entendynge somwhat to recomforte hym wyth pleasaunte wordes, folowed hym unto the see syde. But the more the kynge thought to satysfye hym wyth hys fayre speche, the more the patryarke was discontented, in so myche that at the laste he sayde unto hym, ‘Hytherto thou haste reygned gloryously, but here after thou shalt be forsaken of him whom thou at thys tyme forsakeste. Thynke on hym what he hath gyuen to thee, and what thou haste yelden to him agayne: howe fyrste thou were false unto the kynge of Fraunce, and after slewe that holy man Thomas of Caunterburye, and lastely thou forsakeste the proteccyon of Crystes faith.’ The kynge was amoued wyth these wordes, and sayde unto the patryarke, ‘Though all the men of my lande were one bodye, and spake with one mouth, they durste not speke to me such wordys.’ ‘No wonder,’ sayde the patriarke, ‘for they loue thyne and not the; that ys to meane, they loue thy goodes temporall, and fere the for losse of promocyon, but they loue not thy soule.’ And when he hadde so sayde, he offeryd hys hedde to the kynge, sayenge, ‘Do by me ryghte as thou dyddest by that blessed man Thomas of Caunterburye, for I had leur to be slayne of the, then of the Sarasyns, for thou art worse than any Sarasyn.’ But the kynge kepte hys pacyence, and sayde, ‘I may not wende oute of my lande, for myne own sonnes wyll aryse agayne me whan I were absente.’ ‘No wonder,’ sayde the patryarke, ‘for of thedeuyll they come, and to the deuyll they shall go,’ and so departyd from the kynge in great ire.”[182]
According to Roger de Hoveden, however, the patriarch, on the 17th of the calends of May, accompanied King Henry into Normandy, where a conference was held between the sovereigns of France and England concerning the proposed succour to the Holy Land. Both monarchs were liberal in promises and fair speeches; but as nothing short of the presence of the king of England, or of one of his sons, in Palestine, would satisfy the patriarch, that haughty ecclesiastic failed in his negotiations, and returned in disgust and disappointment to the Holy Land.[183]On his arrival at Jerusalem with intelligence of his ill success, the greatest consternation prevailed amongst the Latin christians; and it was generally observed that the true cross, which had been recovered from the Persians by the Emperor Heraclius, was about to be lost under the pontificate, and by the fault of a patriarch of the same name.
A resident in Palestine has given us some curious biographicalnotices of this worthy consecrator of our Temple church at London. He says that he was a very handsome parson, and, in consequence of his beauty, the mother of the king of Jerusalem fell in love with him, and made him archbishop of Cæsarea, (biau clerc estoit, et par sa beauté l’ama la mere de roi, et le fist arcevesque de Cesaire.) He then describes how he came to be made patriarch, and how he was suspected to have poisoned the archbishop of Tyre. After his return from Rome he fell in love with the wife of a haberdasher who lived at Naplous, twelve miles from Jerusalem. He went to see her very often, and, not long after the acquaintanceship commenced, the husband died. Then the patriarch brought the lady to Jerusalem, and bought for her a very fine stone house. “Le patriarche la fist venir en Jerusalem, et li acheta bonne maison de pierre. Si la tenoit voiant le siecle ausi com li hons fait sa fame, fors tant que ele n’estoit mie avec lui. Quant ele aloit au mostier, ele estoit ausi atornée de riches dras, com ce fust un emperris, et si serjant devant lui. Quant aucunes gens la veoient qui ne la connoissoient pas, il demandoient qui cele dame estoit. Cil qui la connoissoient, disoient que cestoit la fame du patriarche. Ele avoit nom Pasque de Riveri. Enfans avoit du patriarche, et les barons estoient, que là où il se conseilloient, vint un fol ou patriarche, si li dist; ‘Sire Patriarche, dones moi bon don, car je vous aport bones novellesPasque de Riveri, vostre fame, a une bele fille!’”[184]“When Jesus Christ,” says the learned author, “saw the iniquity and wickedness which they committed in the very place where he was crucified, he could no longer suffer it.”
A. D.1186.
The order of the Temple was at this period all-powerful inPalestine, and the Grand Master, Gerard de Riderfort, coerced with the heavy hand of authority the nobles of the kingdom, and even the king himself. Shortly after the return of Heraclius to Palestine, King Baldwin IV. died, and was succeeded by his infant nephew, Baldwin V., who was crowned in the church of the Resurrection, and was afterwards royally entertained by the Templars in the Temple of Solomon, according to ancient custom.[185]The young king died at Acre after a short reign of only seven months, and the Templars brought the body to Jerusalem, and buried it in the tombs of the christian kings. The Grand Master of the Temple then raised Sibylla, the mother of the deceased monarch, and her second husband, Guy of Lusignan, to the throne. Gerard de Riderfort surrounded the palace with troops; he closed the gates of Jerusalem, and delivered the regalia to the Patriarch. He then conducted Sibylla and her husband to the church of the Resurrection, where they were both crowned by Heraclius, and were afterwards entertained at dinner in the Temple. Guy de Lusignan was a prince of handsome person, but of such base renown, that his own brother Geoffrey was heard to exclaim, “Since they have madehima king, surely they would have mademea God!” These proceedings led to endless discord and dissension; Raymond, Count of Tripoli, withdrew from court; many of the barons refused to do homage, and the state was torn by faction and dissension at a time when all the energies of the population were required to defend the country from the Moslems.[186]
Saladin, on the other hand, had been carefully consolidating and strengthening his power, and was vigorously preparing for the reconquest of the Holy City, the long-cherished enterprise of the Mussulmen. The Arabian writers enthusiastically recount his pious exhortations to the true believers, and describe with vast enthusiasm his glorious preparations for the holy war. Bohadin F. Sjeddadi, his friend and secretary, and great biographer, before venturing upon the sublime task of describing his famous and sacred actions, makes a solemn confession of faith, and offers up praises to the one true God.
“Praise be toGod,” says he, “who hath blessed us withIslam, and hath led us to the understanding of the true faith beautifully put together, and hath befriended us; and, through the intercession of our prophet, hath loaded us with every blessing.... I bear witness that there is no God but that one great God who hath no partner, (a testimony that will deliver our souls from the smoky fire of hell,) that Mohammed is his servant and apostle, who hath opened unto us the gates of the right road to salvation....”
“These solemn duties being performed, I will begin to write concerning the victorious defender of the faith, the tamer of the followers of the cross, the lifter up of the standard of justice and equity, the saviour of the world and of religion, Saladin Aboolmodaffer Joseph, the son of Job, the son of Schadi, Sultan of the Moslems, ay, and of Islam itself; the deliverer of the holy house of God (the Temple) from the hands of the idolaters, the servant of two holy cities, whose tomb may the Lord moisten with the dew of his favour, affording to him the sweetness of the fruits of the faith.”[187]
A. D.1187.
On the 10th of May,A. D.1187, Malek-el-Afdal, “Mostexcellent prince,” one of Saladin’s sons, crossed the Jordan at the head of seven thousand Mussulmen. The Grand Master of the Temple immediately despatched messengers to the nearest convents and castles of the order, commanding all such knights as could be spared to mount and come to him with speed. At midnight, ninety knights of the garrison of La Feue or Faba, forty knights from the garrison of Nazareth, with many others from the convent of Caco, were assembled around their chief, and began their march at the head of the serving brothers and the light cavalry of the order. They joined themselves to the Hospitallers, rashly engaged the seven thousand Moslems, and were cut to pieces in a bloody battle fought near the brook Kishon. The Grand Master of the Temple and two knights broke through the dense ranks of the Moslems, and made their escape. Roger de Molines, the Grand Master of the Hospital, was left dead upon the field, together with all the other brothers of the Hospital and of the Temple.
Jacqueline de Mailly, the Marshal of the Temple, performed prodigies of valour. He was mounted on a white horse, and clothed in the white habit of his order, with the blood-red cross, the symbol of martyrdom, on his breast; he became, through his gallant bearing and demeanour, an object of respect and of admiration even to the Moslems. He fought, say the writers of the crusades, like a wild boar, sending on that day an amazing number of infidels tohell! The Mussulmen severed the heads of the slaughtered Templars from their bodies, and attaching them with cords to the points of their lances, they placed them in front of their array, and marched off in the direction of Tiberias.[188]
The following interesting account is given of the march ofanother band of holy warriors, who, in obedience to the summons of the Grand Master of the Temple, were hastening to rally around the sacred ensigns of their faith.
“When they had travelled two miles, they came to the city of Saphet. It was a lovely morning, and they determined to march no further until they had heard mass. They accordingly turned towards the house of the bishop and awoke him up, and informed him that the day was breaking. The bishop accordingly ordered an old chaplain to put on his clothes and say mass, after which they hastened forwards. Then they came to the castle of La Feue, (a fortress of the Templars,) and there they found, outside the castle, the tents of the convent of Caco pitched, and there was no one to explain what it meant. A varlet was sent into the castle to inquire, but he found no one within but two sick people who were unable to speak. Then they marched towards Nazareth, and after they had proceeded a short distance from the castle of La Feue, they met a brother of the Temple on horseback, who galloped up to them at a furious rate, calling out, Bad news, bad news; and he informed them how that the Master of the Hospital had had his head cut off, and how of all the brothers of the Temple there had escaped but three, the Master of the Temple and two others, and that the knights whom the king had placed in garrison at Nazareth, were all taken and killed.”[189]
In the great battle of Tiberias or of Hittin, fought on the 4th of July, which decided the fate of the holy city of Jerusalem, the Templars were in the van of the Christian army, and led the attack against the infidels. The march of Saladin’s host, which amounted to eighty thousand horse and foot, over the hilly country, is compared by an Arabian writer, an eye-witness, to mountains in movement, or to the vast waves of an agitated sea. The same author speaks of the advance of the Templars againstthem at early dawn in battle array, “horrible in arms, having their whole bodies cased with triple mail.” He compares the noise made by their advancing squadrons to theloud humming of bees! and describes them as animated with “a flaming desire of vengeance.”[190]Saladin had behind him the lake of Tiberias, his infantry was in the centre, and the swift cavalry of the desert was stationed on either wing, under the command ofFaki-ed-deen(teacher of religion.) The Templars rushed, we are told, like lions upon the Moslem infidels, and nothing could withstand their heavy and impetuous charge. “Never,” says an Arabian doctor of the law, “have I seen a bolder or more powerful army, nor one more to be feared by the believers in the true faith.”
Saladin set fire to the dry grass and dwarf shrubs which lay between both armies, and the wind blew the smoke and the flames directly into the faces of the military friars and their horses. The fire, the noise, the gleaming weapons, and all the accompaniments of the horrid scene, have given full scope to the descriptive powers of the oriental writers. They compare it to the last judgment; the dust and the smoke obscured the face of the sun, and the day was turned into night. Sometimes gleams of light darted like the rapid lightning amid the throng of combatants; then you might see the dense columns of armed warriors, now immovable as mountains, and now sweeping swiftly across the landscape like the rainy clouds over the face of heaven. “The sons of paradise and the children of fire,” say they, “then decided their terrible quarrel; the arrows rustled through the air like the wings of innumerable sparrows, the sparks flew from the coats of mail and the glancing sabres, and the blood spurting forth from the bosom of the throng deluged the earth like the rains of heaven.”... “The avenging sword of the true believers was drawn forth against the infidels; the faith of theUNITYwas opposed to the faith of theTRINITY, and speedy ruin, desolation, and destruction, overtook the miserable sons of baptism!”
The cowardly patriarch Heraclius, whose duty it was to bear the holy cross in front of the christian array, confided his sacred charge to the bishops of Ptolemais and Lydda,[191]—a circumstance which gave rise to many gloomy forebodings amongst the superstitious soldiers of Christ. In consequence of the treachery, as it is alleged, of the count of Tripoli, who fled from the field with his retainers, both the Templars and Hospitallers were surrounded, and were to a man killed or taken prisoners. The bishop of Ptolemais was slain, the bishop of Lydda was made captive, and the holy cross, together with the king of Jerusalem, and the Grand Master of the Temple, fell into the hands of the Saracens. “Quid plura?” says Radulph, abbot of the monastery of Coggleshale in Essex, who was then on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and was wounded in the nose by an arrow. “Capta est crux, et rex, et Magister militiæ Templi, et episcopus Liddensis, et frater Regis, et Templarii, et Hospitalarii, et marchio de Montferrat, atque omnes vel mortui vel capti sunt. Plangite super hoc omnes adoratores crucis, et plorate; sublatum est lignum nostræ salutis, dignum ab indignis indigne heu! heu! asportatum. Væ mihi misero, quod in diebus miseræ vitæ meæ talia cogor videre.... O dulce lignum, et suave, sanguine filii Dei roratum atque lavatum! O crux alma, in qua salus nostra pependit! &c.[192]
“I saw,” says the secretary and companion of Saladin, who was present at this terrible fight, and is unable to restrain himself from pitying the disasters of the vanquished—“I saw themountains and the plains, the hills and the valleys, covered with their dead. I saw their fallen and deserted banners sullied with dust and with blood. I saw their heads broken and battered, their limbs scattered abroad, and the blackened corses piled one upon another like the stones of the builders. I called to mind the words of the Koran, ‘The infidel shall say, What am I butdust?’... I saw thirty or forty tied together by one cord. I saw in one place, guarded by one Mussulman, two hundred of these famous warriors gifted with amazing strength, who had but just now walked forth amongst the mighty; their proud bearing was gone; they stood naked with downcast eyes, wretched and miserable.... The lying infidels were now in the power of the true believers. Their king and their cross were captured, that cross before which they bow the head and bend the knee; which they bear aloft and worship with their eyes; they say that it is the identical wood to which the God whom they adore was fastened. They had adorned it with fine gold and brilliant stones; they carried it before their armies; they all bowed towards it with respect. It was their first duty to defend it; and he who should desert it would never enjoy peace of mind. The capture of this cross was more grievous to them than the captivity of their king. Nothing can compensate them for the loss of it. It was their God; they prostrated themselves in the dust before it, and sang hymns when it was raised aloft!”[193]
Among the few christian warriors who escaped from this terrible encounter, was the Grand Master of the Hospital; he clove his way from the field of battle, and reached Ascalon in safety, but died of his wounds the day after his arrival. The multitude of captives was enormous, cords could not be found to bind them, the tent-ropes were all used for the purpose, but were insufficient,and the Arabian writers tell us that, on seeing the dead, one would have thought that there could be no prisoners, and on seeing the prisoners, that there could be no dead. As soon as the battle was over, Saladin proceeded to a tent, whither, in obedience to his commands, the king of Jerusalem, the Grand Master of the Temple, and Reginald de Chatillon, had been conducted. This last nobleman had greatly distinguished himself in various daring expeditions against the caravans of pilgrims travelling to Mecca, and had become on that account particularly obnoxious to the pious Saladin. The sultan, on entering the tent, ordered a bowl of sherbet, the sacred pledge amongst the Arabs of hospitality and security, to be presented to the fallen monarch of Jerusalem, and to the Grand Master of the Temple; but when Reginald de Chatillon would have drunk thereof, Saladin prevented him, and reproaching the christian nobleman with perfidy and impiety, he commanded him instantly to acknowledge the prophet whom he had blasphemed, or be prepared to meet the death he had so often deserved. On Reginald’s refusal, Saladin struck him with his scimitar, and he was immediately despatched by the guards.[194]
Bohadin, Saladin’s friend and secretary, an eye-witness of the scene, gives the following account of it: “Then Saladin told the interpreter to say thus to the king, ‘It is thou, not I, who givest drink to this man!’ Then the sultan sat down at the entrance of the tent, and they brought Prince Reginald before him, and after refreshing the man’s memory, Saladin said to him, ‘Now then, I myself will act the part of the defender of Mohammed!’ He then offered the man the Mohammedan faith, but he refused it; then the king struck him on the shoulder with a drawn scimitar, which was a hint to those that were present to dofor him; so they sent his soul tohell, and cast out his body before the tent-door!”[195]
Two days afterwards Saladin proceeded in cold blood to enact the grand concluding tragedy. The warlike monks of the Temple and of the Hospital, the bravest and most zealous defenders of the christian faith, were, of all the warriors of the cross, the most obnoxious to zealous Mussulmen, and it was determined that death or conversion to Mahometanism should be the portion of every captive of either order, excepting the Grand Master of the Temple, for whom it was expected a heavy ransom would be given. Accordingly, on the christian Sabbath, at the hour of sunset, the appointed time of prayer, the Moslems were drawn up in battle array under their respective leaders. The Mamlook emirs stood in two ranks clothed in yellow, and, at the sound of the holy trumpet, all the captive knights of the Temple and of the Hospital were led on to the eminence above Tiberias, in full view of the beautiful lake of Gennesareth, whose bold and mountainous shores had been the scene of so many of their Saviour’s miracles. There, as the last rays of the sun were fading away from the mountain tops, they were called upon to deny him who had been crucified, to choose God for their Lord, Islam for their faith, Mecca for their temple, the Moslems for their brethren, and Mahomet for their prophet. To a man they refused, and were all decapitated in the presence of Saladin by the devout zealots of his army, and the doctors and expounders of the law. An oriental historian, who was present, says that Saladin sat with a smiling countenance viewing the execution, and that some of the executioners cut off the heads with a degree of dexterity that excited great applause.[196]“Oh,” says Omad’eddin Muhammed,“how beautiful an ornament is the blood of the infidels sprinkled over the followers of the faith and the true religion!”
If the Mussulmen displayed a becoming zeal in the decapitation and annihilation of the infidel Templars, these last manifested a no less praiseworthy eagerness for martyrdom by the swords of the unbelieving Moslems. The Knight Templar, Brother Nicolas, strove vigorously, we are told, with his companions to be the first to suffer, and with great difficulty accomplished his purpose.[197]It was believed by the Christians, in accordance with the superstitious ideas of those times, that heaven testified its approbation by a visible sign, and that for three nights, during which the bodies of the Templars remained unburied on the field, celestial rays of light played around the corpses of those holy martyrs.[198]
The government of the order of the Temple, in consequence of the captivity of the Grand Master, devolved upon the Grand Preceptor of the kingdom of Jerusalem, who addressed letters to all the brethren in the West, imploring instant aid and assistance. One of these letters was duly received by Brother Geoffrey, Master of the Temple at London, as follows:—
“Brother Terric, Grand Preceptor of the poor house of the Temple, and every poor brother, and the whole convent, now, alas! almost annihilated, to all the preceptors and brothers of the Temple to whom these letters may come, salvation through him to whom our fervent aspirations are addressed, through him who causeth the sun and the moon to reign marvellous.”
“The many and great calamities wherewith the anger of God, excited by our manifold sins, hath just now permitted us to be afflicted, we cannot for grief unfold to you, neither by letters nor by our sobbing speech. The infidel chiefs having collected together a vast number of their people, fiercely invaded our christian territories, and we, assembling our battalions, hastened to Tiberias to arrest their march. The enemy having hemmed us in among barren rocks, fiercely attacked us; the holy cross and the king himself fell into the hands of the infidels, the whole army was cut to pieces, two hundred and thirty of our knights were beheaded, without reckoning the sixty who were killed on the 1st of May. The Lord Reginald of Sidon, the Lord Ballovius, and we ourselves, escaped with vast difficulty from that miserable field. The Pagans, drunk with the blood of our Christians, then marched with their whole army against the city of Acre, and took it by storm. The city of Tyre is at present fiercely besieged, and neither by night nor by day do the infidels discontinue their furious assaults. So great is the multitude of them, that they cover like ants the whole face of the country from Tyre to Jerusalem, and even unto Gaza. The holy city of Jerusalem, Ascalon, and Tyre, and Beyrout, are alone left to us and to the christian cause, and the garrisons and the chief inhabitants of these places, having perished in the battle of Tiberias, we have no hope of retaining them without succour from heaven and instant assistance from yourselves.”[199]
Saladin, on the other hand, sent triumphant letters to the caliph. “God and his angels,” says he, “have mercifully succoured Islam. The infidels have been sent to feed the fires of hell! The cross is fallen into our hands, around which theyfluttered like the moth round a light; under whose shadow they assembled, in which they boldly trusted as in a wall; the cross, the centre and leader of their pride, their superstition, and their tyranny.”...[200]
After the conquest of between thirty and forty cities and castles, many of which belonged to the order of the Temple, Saladin laid siege to the holy city. On the 20th of September the Mussulman army encamped on the west of the town, and extended itself from the tower of David to the gate of St. Stephen. The Temple could no longer furnish its brave warriors for the defence of the holy sanctuary of the Christians; two miserable knights, with a few serving brethren, alone remained in its now silent halls and deserted courts.
After a siege of fourteen days, a breach was effected in the walls, and ten banners of the prophet waved in triumph on the ramparts. In the morning a barefoot procession of the queen, the women, and the monks and priests, was made to the holy sepulchre, to implore the Son of God to save his tomb and his inheritance from impious violation. The females, as a mark of humility and distress, cut off their hair and cast it to the winds; and the ladies of Jerusalem made their daughters do penance by standing up to their necks in tubs of cold water placed upon Mount Calvary. But it availed nought; “for our Lord Jesus Christ,” says a Syrian Frank, “would not listen to any prayer that they made; for the filth, the luxury, and the adultery which prevailed in the city, did not suffer prayer or supplication to ascend before God.”[201]
On the surrender of the city (October 2,A. D.1187) the Moslems rushed to the Temple in thousands. “The Imauns and the doctors and expounders of the wicked errors of Mahomet,” says Abbot Coggleshale, who was then in Jerusalem suffering from a wound which he had received during the siege, “first ascended to the Temple of the Lord, called by the infidelsBeit Allah, (the house of God,) in which, as a place of prayer and religion, they place their great hope of salvation. With horrible bellowings they proclaimed the law of Mahomet, and vociferated, with polluted lips,AllahAcbar—AllahAcbar, (Godis victorious.) They defiled all the places that are contained within the Temple; i. e. the place of the presentation, where the mother and glorious virgin Mary delivered the Son of God into the hands of the just Simeon; and the place of the confession, looking towards the porch of Solomon, where the Lord judged the woman taken in adultery. They placed guards that no Christian might enter within the seven atria of the Temple; and as a disgrace to the Christians, with vast clamour, with laughter and mockery, they hurled down the golden cross from the pinnacle of the building, and dragged it with ropes throughout the city, amid the exulting shouts of the infidels and the tears and lamentations of the followers of Christ.”[202]
When every Christian had been removed from the precincts of the Temple, Saladin proceeded with vast pomp to say his prayers in theBeit Allah, the holy house of God, or “Temple of the Lord,” erected by the Caliph Omar.[203]He was preceded by five camels laden with rose-water, which he had procured fromDamascus,[204]and he entered the sacred courts to the sound of martial music, and with his banners streaming in the wind. TheBeit Allah, “the Temple of the Lord,” was then again consecrated to the service of one God and his prophet Mahomet; the walls and pavements were washed and purified with rose-water; and a pulpit, the labour of Noureddin, was erected in the sanctuary.[205]The following account of these transactions was forwarded to Henry the Second, king of England.
“To the beloved Lord Henry, by the grace of God, the illustrious king of the English, duke of Normandy and Guienne, and count of Anjou, Brother Terric,formerlyGrand Preceptor of the house of the Templeat Jerusalem, sendeth greeting,—salvation through him who saveth kings.
“Know that Jerusalem, with the citadel of David, hath been surrendered to Saladin. The Syrian Christians, however, have the custody of the holy sepulchre up to the fourth day after Michaelmas, and Saladin himself hath permitted ten of the brethren of the Hospital to remain in the house of the hospital for the space of one year, to take care of the sick.... Jerusalem, alas, hath fallen; Saladin hath caused the cross to be thrown down from the summit of the Temple of the Lord, and for two days to be publicly kicked and dragged in the dirt through the city. He then caused the Temple of the Lord to be washed within and without, upwards and downwards, with rose-water, and the law of Mahomet to be proclaimed throughout the four quarters of the Temple with wonderful clamour....”[206]
Bohadin, Saladin’s secretary, mentions as a remarkable andhappy circumstance, that the holy city was surrendered to the sultan of most pious memory, and that God restored to the faithful their sanctuary on the twenty-seventh of the month Regeb, on the night of which very day their most glorious prophet Mahomet performed his wonderful nocturnal journey from the Temple, through the seven heavens, to the throne of God. He also describes the sacred congregation of the Mussulmen gathered together in the Temple and the solemn prayer offered up to God; the shouting and the sounds of applause, and the voices lifted up to heaven, causing the holy buildings to resound with thanks and praises to the most bountiful Lord God. He glories in the casting down of the golden cross, and exults in the very splendid triumph of Islam.[207]
Saladin restored the sacred area of the Temple to its original condition under the first Mussulman conquerors of Jerusalem. The ancient christian church of the Virgin (otherwise the mosqueAl Acsa, otherwise the Temple of Solomon) was washed with rose-water, and was once again dedicated to the religious services of the Moslems. On the western side of this venerable edifice the Templars had erected, according to the Arabian writers, an immense building in which they lodged, together with granaries of corn and various offices, which enclosed and concealed a great portion of the edifice. Most of these were pulled down by the sultan to make a clear and open area for the resort of the Mussulmen to prayer. Some new erections placed between the columns in the interior of the structure were taken away, and the floor was covered with the richest carpets. “Lamps innumerable,” says Ibn Alatsyr, “were suspended from the ceiling; verses of the Koran were again inscribed on the walls; the call to prayer was again heard; the bells were silenced; the exiled faith returned to its ancient sanctuary; the devout Mussulmenagain bent the knee in adoration of the one only God, and the voice of the imaun was again heard from the pulpit, reminding the true believers of the resurrection and the last judgment.”[208]
The Friday after the surrender of the city, the army of Saladin and crowds of true believers, who had flocked to Jerusalem from all parts of the East, assembled in the Temple of the Lord to assist in the religious services of the Mussulman sabbath. Omad, Saladin’s secretary, who was present, gives the following interesting account of the ceremony, and of the sermon that was preached. “On Friday morning at daybreak,” says he, “every body was asking whom the sultan had appointedto preach. The Temple was full; the congregation was impatient; all eyes were fixed on the pulpit; the ears were on the stretch; our hearts beat fast, and tears trickled down our faces. On all sides were to be heard rapturous exclamations of ‘What a glorious sight! What a congregation! Happy are those who have lived to seethe resurrection of Islam.’ At length the sultan ordered the judge (doctor of the law)Mohieddin Aboulmehali-Mohammedto fulfil the sacred function of imaun. I immediately lent him the black vestment which I had received as a present from the caliph. He then mounted into the pulpit and spoke. All were hushed. His expressions were graceful and easy; and his discourse eloquent and much admired. He spake of the virtue and the sanctity of Jerusalem, of the purification of the Temple; he alluded to the silence of the bells, and to the flight of the infidel priests. In his prayer he named the caliph and the sultan, and terminated his discourse with that chapter of the Koran in which God orders justice and good works. He then descended from the pulpit,and prayed in the Mihrah. Immediately afterwards a sermon was preached before the congregation.”[209]
This sermon was delivered byMohammed Ben Zeky. “Praise be to God,” saith the preacher, “who by the power of his might hath raised up Islamism on the ruins of Polytheism; who governs all things according to his will; who overthroweth the devices of the infidels, and causeth the truth to triumph.... I praise God, who hath succoured his elect; who hath rendered them victorious and crowned them with glory, who hath purified his holy house from the filthiness of idolatry.... I bear witness that there is no God but that one great God who standeth alone and hath no partner; sole, supreme, eternal; who begetteth not and is not begotten, and hath no equal. I bear witness that Mahomet is his servant, his envoy, and his prophet, who hath dissipated doubts, confounded polytheism, and put downLIES, &c....