The Mystery of the Va Ished Fleet

THE MYSTERY OF THE VAISHED FLEET By Alan Mason The most wealthy and powerful private organisation in England, with its own lands and buildings, was arbitrarily closed down by the government and its assets were seized. However, its fleet of ships escaped and seem to have vanished into thin air. Here is a mystery; how could this happen? It was all a long time ago, back in the early fourteenth century, to be precise. The government was that of King Edward II and the private organisation was the Knights Templar. 1. The Templar Fleet at Sea The history of the Knights Templar and the story of their suppression is a very large topic about which much has been written. In this essay I want to look at the issue of the English Templar fleet, but for non-specialist readers it is essential first to understand something of the complex historical background. PILGRIMS IN THE HOLY LAND After the time of Jesus, and for many centuries, Christian pilgrims visited the Holy Land, or Palestine, to see places associated either with the life of Jesus, or the Old Testament prophets. The religion of Islam, or Mohammedanism arose in the seventh century and after the death of Mohammed in 632 AD it erupted out of Arabia, over the Middle East, and North Africa, often forcibly converting Christian and Jewish communities at the point of a sword; (“Islam or Death”). 1 By 638 Jerusalem had surrendered to the forces of the Muslim Caliph Omar. The Holy Land was also sacred to Muslims because they saw themselves as successors of Abraham, and Christian and Jewish pilgrims continued to be tolerated by the Islamic authorities, partly because of the money they brought in. This convenient arrangement gradually began to change in the eleventh century when the Turks, a nomadic Asiatic people, conquered the Anatolian Peninsula (modern Turkey) in the 1050s and came to dominate the Middle East region. They had recently converted to Islam and began to dominate the Muslim communities there. Christian pilgrims found access to the Holy Places became restricted by Muslim extremism, and their personal safety became hazardous while travelling along the pilgrim routes. THE CRUSADES In trying to expand westwards the Turks came into conflict with Greek-speaking Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire). The Greeks suffered a major military disaster in 1071 at the Battle of Manzikert when a large part of their forces were destroyed by the Turks. The Greek Emperor, Alexius, (2) finally appealed to the Pope, Urban II in 1095 for western help to drive back the hordes of Turkish Muslims. 2. Alexius, the Greek Byzantine Emperor 2 Alexius was principally concerned to secure the eastern borders of his empire but as bait he added that it might be possible to recover the Holy Places in Palestine from Muslim control. Thus the call for mercenary soldiers to fight for the Greek Empire was presented as a spiritual cause, and the Pope was taken in by this ruse. At the end of 1095 Pope Urban II preached the First Crusade to help the Christians in the east, and to recover the Holy Places, particularly Jerusalem. The recruiting campaign in Western Europe was spectacularly successful, and a considerable military force went to the aid of Emperor Alexius. The Christian Kingdoms The hard-headed barons and knights of the Crusade were not taken in by the deceit of Alexius, and his motives quickly became clear to them . They also had their own agenda and in recovering the Holy Places they hoped to carve out a number of Christian kingdoms over which they could rule, and whose prosperity would support them. (3) 3 Christian Kingdoms in the East during the Crusades 3 The First Crusade was eventually successful and, after a hard siege, on 15 July 1099 Jerusalem was captured and most of its inhabitants, Jews, Muslims and Christians, men, women and children were slaughtered by the victors. THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR Despite this military success, the lot of pilgrims did not improve and during the first decade of the new twelfth century the robbery, murder and kidnapping of pilgrims for slavery was a daily happening, (Contemporary writers were, Saewulf, a Saxon English merchant, Ekkehard, a German abbot, and William of Tyre in Palestine). An organisation was needed to protect pilgrims travelling to, from, and within the Holy Land. The Founder The man who set up a small protection force was Hugues de Payens in 1118, some nineteen years after the capture of Jerusalem. He was probably a relative of St Bernard, the abbot who did most to turn Pope Urban’s wishes into active preaching and recruitment for the Crusades. 4. Official Templar Seal Depicting Two Poor Knights on One Horse Initially there were only seven poor knights, all from Northern France, who took the monastic vows of poverty, chastity and obedience to a rule . This founding ideal of the “poor knights” is reflected in the Templar seals which depicted two knights, so poor that they could only afford one horse between them. (4) The Latin inscription around the edge reads “SIGILLVM: MILITIVM: XPISTI” or in modern typography “SIGILLUM: MILITIUM: CHRISTI” translated as “The Seal of the Soldiers of Christ”. One of the leaders of the First Crusade, Baldwin of Flanders, (in northern France) had been made King of Jerusalem after the successful conquest. King Baldwin gave the poor knights a corner of his royal palace for their headquarters. It was originally a part of the Temple of Jerusalem hence the poor knights began to call themselves “Knights Templar”. The king and the Patriarch (senior bishop) of Jerusalem subsidised the police actions of the Templars in protecting pilgrims. The Knights Hospitallers Earlier than this, in 1070, there was a hospital for pilgrims near the Church of the Holy 4 Sepulchre, combining a guest house and an infirmary. It was dedicated to St John the Baptist , and in 1113 the priests and laymen of the hospital were formally incorporated into an Order by Pope Paschal II. It is possible that the poor knights originally helped to protect this foundation. They later became the “ Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem .” A Religious Order Ten years after the foundation of Hugues “band of poor knights”, there was a council at which the current group was re-organised and regularised as a formal Religious Order. There was a written Rule which governed all conduct. All knights dressed in a white habit while in cloister, (5) and a white cloak over armour when they were equipped for military action. (6) 5. 6. 5. Templars dressed for the Cloister, 6. Templars dressed for Military Combat Thus they were transformed from a morally scrupulous police force into warrior monks, hard and efficient professional soldiers with an organised spiritual life. International Expansion The Order of Knights Templar expanded from 1128 onwards as a result of bequests in wills and donations of property, lands and money. This enabled them to recruit more men as knights. Eventually they owned land in England, Scotland, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Austria, Germany, Hungary and Constantinople. “By the mid-twelfth century, the Temple had already begun to establish itself as the single most wealthy and powerful institution in Christendom, with the sole exception of the Papacy.” (Baigent and Leigh, p. 73) The Templars had an international Grand Master at the top, subordinate national Masters in charge of Provinces, and at a local level Commanders or Preceptors. Their military centres were known as Commanderies or Preceptories, and they built their own churches, which had 5 characteristically circular naves, but with attached rectangular chancels where the altar was situated. This was in imitation of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Their farms were administered from Granges by Bailiffs or Factors operating under the supervision of Templar knights. The Templars in England The Templars in England enjoyed a good relationship with the monarchy, and King Henry I and King Stephen welcomed them. 7. The Temple Church in London, off Fleet Street In 1161, the knights established themselves in a site of which even today bears their name and contains not only their original round church, (7) but also a number of graves. ‘Barram Novi Templi’, or Temple Bar, where Fleet Street meets the Strand, was originally the gate opening into the Order’s precincts (8). This ‘new Temple’ estate extended from Aldwych up the Strand and half-way along Fleet Street, then down to the Thames, where it had its own wharf.” (Baigent and Leigh, pp. 74-75) 8. New Temple Precinct Imposed on Modern Street Plan 6 The Templars as Bankers This combination of military might, strong buildings and internationalism had two important effects. Wealthy people began to ask the Templars to store their cash and keep it safe for them . Thus the Templars became bankers. “Paper transactions” were an obvious next step. If a depositor planned to travel from southern England to Scotland he could withdraw cash locally, and though it was risky, carry it north on his journey. It was more logical for the local Preceptory to give the depositor a letter of credit , which enabled him to withdraw cash at a convenient Scottish Preceptory once he had reached the end of his journey. The letter of credit was essentially a travellers’ cheque. Given the international nature of the Templar organisation it made even more sense when travelling abroad to carry a series of letters of credit to allow as many withdrawals as necessary. As a matter of accuracy the letters of credit were written on vellum (thin leather) and bore the wax seal of the local Preceptory.

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