The History of the Knights Templar by Charles G ... - Masonic Renewal

to the succour of the desolated province. We could only get together for this expedition
one hundred and twenty knights and one thousand serving brothers and hired soldiers, for
whose equipment we expended seven thousand crowns at Acre, and one thousand at
Jerusalem. Your paternity knows on what condition we assented to your departure, and
our extreme want of money, of cavalry, and of infantry. We earnestly implore you to
rejoin us as soon as possible, with all the necessary succours for the Eastern Church, our
common mother.
" . . . Scarce had we arrived in the neighbourhood of Antioch, ere we were hemmed in by
the Turcomans on the one side, and the sultan of Aleppo (Noureddin) on the other, who
blockade us in the environs of the town, whilst our vineyards are destroyed, and our
harvests laid waste. Overwhelmed with grief at the pitiable condition to which we are
reduced, we conjure you to abandon everything, and embark without delay. Never was
your presence more necessary to your brethren;--at no conjuncture could your return be
more agreeable to God. . . . The
p. 44
EVERARD
DES
BARRES.
A.D. 1149greater part of those whom we led to the succour of Antioch are dead. . . .
"We conjure you to bring with you from beyond sea all our knights and serving brothers
capable of bearing arms. Perchance, alas! with all your diligence, you may not find one of
us alive. Use, therefore, all imaginable celerity; pray forget not the necessities of our
house: they are such that no tongue can express them. It is also of the last importance to
announce to the Pope, to the King of France, and to all the princes and prelates of Europe,
the approaching desolation of the Holy Land, to the intent that they succour us in person,
or send us subsidies. Whatever obstacles may be opposed to your departure, we trust to
your zeal to surmount them, for now hath arrived the time for perfectly accomplishing
our vows in sacrificing ourselves for our brethren, for the defence of the eastern church,
and the holy sepulchre. . . . .
"For you, our dear brothers in Europe, whom the same engagements and the same vows
ought to make keenly alive to our misfortunes, join yourselves to our chief, enter into his
views, second his designs, fail not to sell everything; come to the rescue; it is from you
we await liberty and life!" *
On the receipt of this letter, the Master of the Temple, instead of proceeding to Palestine,
abdicated his authority, and entered into the monastery of Clairvaux, where he devoted
the remainder of his days to the most rigorous penance and mortification.
He was succeeded (A.D. 1151) by Bernard de Tremelay, a nobleman of an illustrious
family in Burgundy, in France, and a valiant and experienced soldier. †
The infidels made continual incursions into the christian territories,