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ORDO SUPREMUS MILITARIS TEMPLI HIEROSOLYMITANI®
The Magistral Grand Priory of The Holy Lands
(Notre Dame, Saint Mary of Magdalene)
Templar Dates to Remember
from the archives of The Most Revd. Gary Beaver KGCTJ
January
(1129) Council of Troyes. This Council formally adopts the Templars into the
Church and replaces their Augustinian rule with a Benedictine rule. The Council
also brings the new Order into line by prohibiting certain semi-heretical
practices of the Order (i.e. baptism of infants, etc.).
February
8th (1250) Battle of Mansurah. At a ford outside the Egyptian town of
Mansurah, 280 Templars are killed after being goaded into battle by the Count
d'Artois. This day marks the end of the Crusader advance during the Sixth
Crusade.
March
10th (1208) The
Albigensian Crusade (1208-1226) begins two months after the murder of the Papal
Legate, Peter of Castlenau, in southwestern France. The Crusade diverts
resources from Palestine and permanently dampens the crusading spirit in Europe.
18th (1314) Jacques de
Molay, last Master of the Temple, and Geoffrey de Charney, Preceptor of
Normandy, are burned at the stake as relapsed heretics. Known history of the
Order ends on this date.
22nd (1312) Pope Clement
V suppresses the Templars at the Council of Vienne with the Papal Bull Vox in
Excelso.
27th (1188) Third
Crusade (1188-92) begins when The Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick I (Barbarossa)
takes the cross.
29th (1138) Omne
Datum Optimum (All Good Things), the first Papal Bull granting privileges to
the Templars, is issued by Pope Innocent II. Milites Templi (Soldiers of
the Temple) and Militia Dei (Soldiers of God) follow in 1144 and 1145.
April
5th (1291) Final seige
of Acre by the Mamlukes begins.
13th (1204)
Constantinople falls to the army of the Fourth Crusade, after a four day battle.
Some historians believe that the Crusaders took the Shroud of Turin (which later
may have gone to the Templars) during the sack of the city. Both the Templars
and their benefactor, Pope Innocent III, harshly criticize this crusade because
it diverts the Crusaders from aiding Palestine. The city remains in Latin hands
until 1261, when it is retaken by the Byzantines.
20th (1314) Pope Clement
V dies. Some historians later claim he was cursed at the stake by Jacques de
Molay. This legend is reinforced when the Babylonian Captivity (The Papacy in
Avignon), begun by Clement in 1309, degenerates into the Papal Schism between
Urban VI and Clement VII in 1378.
May
18th (1291) Guillaume de
Beaujeu, last Master of the Temple in Palestine, is killed at the seige of Acre.
24th (1218) Fifth
Crusade (1218-21) begins.
28th (1291) Acre falls
to the Mamlukes who slaughter everyone inside the city.
June
10th (1190) Frederick
Barbarossa drowns in Anatolia.
July
4th (1187) Battle of Hattin. A force of Frankish nobles, Templars, and
Hospitallers is destroyed by Saladin at the Horns of Hattin. Saladin follows up
the battle with a massacre of over 100 Templars and Hospitallers.
4th (1190) King Richard
I (Lionheart) of England and King Philip II (Augustus) of France leave Vézelay,
France for the Holy Land.
13th (1099) Jerusalem
falls to a Crusader army. The Frankish presence in Palestine begins.
August
14th (1291) The Templar
castle of 'Atlit, the last Crusader fortress in Palestine, is abandoned. The
Frankish presence in Palestine ends.
20th (1191) Massacre at
Ayyadieh. Richard I has over 2700 Muslim prisoners and their families massacred
before the gates of Acre.
September
7th (1191) Battle of
Arsuf. Richard I routs Saladin's army. The military orders are instrumental in
winning the battle.
14th (1307) King Philip
IV (the Fair) of France issues the arrest order for the Templars to his
officers.
17th (1248) Sixth
Crusade (1248-54) begins. Saint Louis IX of France arrives at Limassol. The
Master of the Temple, Guillaume de Sonnac, is among the Frankish leaders
awaiting him there.
October
2nd (1187) Jerusalem
surrenders to Saladin. The Kingdom of Jerusalem ceases to exist.
9th (1238) On the Feast
of St. Denis, James I, Count-King of Catalonia and Aragon, takes Valencia City,
in southeastern Spain. This opens up the entire region to the Christians, who
create the Kingdom of Valencia out of the former taifa Muslim kingdom.
This enormous territory, half the size of Aragon and Catalonia put together,
puts James on an equal footing with his Castillian, Léonese, and Portuguese
rivals on the peninsula.
13th (1307) Arrest of
the Knights Templar in France by Philip IV.
17th (1244) Battle of La
Forbie. A combined force of Khorezmians and Egyptians destroy the Frankish army.
200-300 Templar knights are killed.
November
18th (1095) Council
of Clermont
24th (1202) Fourth
Crusade (1202-4) begins with the capture of Zara (in Dalmatia) after a five day
seige. The Crusaders do this at the behest of the Venetians, despite Zara's
being a friendly city. Zara is a rival of Venice and the Crusaders owe the
Venetians money.
27th (1095) First
Crusade (1095-9) begins. At the Council of Clermont, Urban II's call to take up
the Cross against the Muslims is enthusiastically answered by all levels of
European society.
29th (1314) Philip IV
dies in a hunting accident. He is succeeded by three sons--Louis X, Philip V,
and Charles IV--who all die early. The Capetian line becomes extinct in 1328.
Philip's grandson, Edward III of England, later claims the French throne and
begins the Hundred Years War. Legend attributes these woes to Jacques de Molay's
dying curse.
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