{"product_id":"2940013690301","title":"The History of the Knights Templars, the Temple Church, and the Temple","description":"The extraordinary and romantic career of the Knights Templars, their\u003cbr\u003eexploits and their misfortunes, render their history a subject of peculiar\u003cbr\u003einterest.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBorn during the first fervour of the Crusades, they were flattered and\u003cbr\u003eaggrandized as long as their great military power and religious fanaticism\u003cbr\u003ecould be made available for the support of the Eastern church and the\u003cbr\u003eretention of the Holy Land, but when the crescent had ultimately triumphed\u003cbr\u003eover the cross, and the religio-military enthusiasm of Christendom had\u003cbr\u003edied away, they encountered the basest ingratitude in return for the\u003cbr\u003eservices they had rendered to the christian faith, and were plundered,\u003cbr\u003epersecuted, and condemned to a cruel death, by those who ought in justice\u003cbr\u003eto have been their defenders and supporters. The memory of these holy\u003cbr\u003ewarriors is embalmed in all our recollections of the wars of the cross;\u003cbr\u003ethey were the bulwarks of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem during the short\u003cbr\u003eperiod of its existence, and were the last band of Europe's host that\u003cbr\u003econtended for the possession of Palestine.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo the vows of the monk and the austere life of the convent, the Templars\u003cbr\u003eadded the discipline of the camp, and the stern duties of the military\u003cbr\u003elife, joining\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \"The fine vocation of the sword and lance,\u003cbr\u003e  With the gross aims, and body-bending toil\u003cbr\u003e  Of a poor brotherhood, who walk the earth\u003cbr\u003e  Pitied.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe vulgar notion that the Templars were as _wicked_ as they were fearless\u003cbr\u003eand brave, has not yet been entirely exploded; but it is hoped that the\u003cbr\u003ecopious account of the proceedings against the order in this country,\u003cbr\u003egiven in the ninth and tenth chapters of the ensuing volume, will tend to\u003cbr\u003edispel many unfounded prejudices still entertained against the fraternity,\u003cbr\u003eand excite emotions of admiration for their constancy and courage, and of\u003cbr\u003epity for their unmerited and cruel fate.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMatthew Paris, who wrote at _St. Albans_, concerning events in\u003cbr\u003e_Palestine_, tells us that the emulation between the Templars and\u003cbr\u003eHospitallers frequently broke out into open warfare to the great scandal\u003cbr\u003eand prejudice of Christendom, and that, in a pitched battle fought between\u003cbr\u003ethem, the Templars were slain to a man. The solitary testimony of Matthew\u003cbr\u003eParis, who was no friend to the two orders, is invalidated by the silence\u003cbr\u003eof contemporary historians, who wrote on the spot; and it is quite evident\u003cbr\u003efrom the letters of the pope, addressed to the Hospitallers, the year\u003cbr\u003eafter the date of the alleged battle, that such an occurrence never could\u003cbr\u003ehave taken place.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe accounts, even of the best of the antient writers, should not be\u003cbr\u003eadopted without examination, and a careful comparison with other sources\u003cbr\u003eof information. William of Tyre, for instance, tells us that\u003cbr\u003e_Nassr-ed-deen_, son of sultan _Abbas_, was taken prisoner by the\u003cbr\u003eTemplars, and whilst in their hands became a convert to the Christian\u003cbr\u003ereligion; that he had learned the rudiments of the Latin language, and\u003cbr\u003eearnestly sought to be baptized, but that the Templars were bribed with\u003cbr\u003esixty thousand pieces of gold to surrender him to his enemies in Egypt,\u003cbr\u003ewhere certain death awaited him; and that they stood by to see him bound\u003cbr\u003ehand and foot with chains, and placed in an iron cage, to be conducted\u003cbr\u003eacross the desert to Cairo. Now the Arabian historians of that period tell\u003cbr\u003eus that _Nassr-ed-deen_ and his father murdered the caliph and threw his\u003cbr\u003ebody into a well, and then fled with their retainers and treasure into\u003cbr\u003ePalestine; that the sister of the murdered caliph wrote immediately to the\u003cbr\u003ecommandant at Gaza, which place was garrisoned by the Knights Templars,\u003cbr\u003eoffering a handsome reward for the capture of the fugitives; that they\u003cbr\u003ewere accordingly intercepted, and _Nassr-ed-deen_ was sent to Cairo, where\u003cbr\u003ethe female relations of the caliph caused his body to be cut into small\u003cbr\u003epieces in the seraglio. The above act has constantly been made a matter of\u003cbr\u003egrave accusation against the Templars; but what a different complexion\u003cbr\u003edoes the case assume on the testimony of the Arabian authorities!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt must be remembered that William archbishop of Tyre was hostile to the\u003cbr\u003eorder on account of its vast powers and privileges, and carried his\u003cbr\u003ecomplaints to a general council of the church at Rome. He is abandoned, in\u003cbr\u003eeverything that he says to the prejudice of the fraternity, by James of\u003cbr\u003eVitry, bishop of Acre, a learned and most talented prelate, who wrote in\u003cbr\u003ePalestine subsequently to William of Tyre, and has copied largely from the\u003cbr\u003ehistory of the latter. The bishop of Acre speaks of the Templars in the\u003cbr\u003ehighest terms, and declares that they were universally loved by all men\u003cbr\u003efor their piety and humility. \u003cbr\u003econtinued...","brand":"Denise Henry","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47083065409776,"sku":"2940013690301","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013690301_p0.jpg?v=1763597222","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013690301","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}