DOCSLIB.ORG

When the Templars Were Excommunicated by Sir Knight George L

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
When the Templars Were Excommunicated by Sir Knight George L When the Templars Were Excommunicated by Sir Knight George L. Marshall, Jr. s incredible as it may seem, for Grand Master of the Templars in 1193. a short time in the late 12th Cen- Unlike his predecessors, Erail was known Atury, the Knights Templar and for wanting peace between the Chris- their Grand Master were excommuni- tians and the Moslems, though some cated. The very idea that these Knights disagreed and thought that this showed of Christ should or could be excom- treason and collusion with the enemy. municated seems incredible, but it did His pacifist attitude caused friction- be happen, and it shows that some people, tween the Templars and the Hospitallers in particular the clergy in Outremer, who at this time were the more militant had by then mixed feelings if not down- party. It also set him at odds with Pope right hostility toward the Templars. This Innocent III and the more militant of the article will present the three main char- Catholic clergy who desired perpetual acters and the circumstances involved war against the infidel. Unfortunately, in that excom- no contemporary portrait of Erail exists, munication. but his coat of arms is shown to the left. Gilbert Another player in this drama was Erail (or Erill Pope Innocent III, pictured or Horal) was at right. When he became born at Aragon Pope in 1198, he was just in Spain about thirty-seven years old. Well 1152 and had versed in Roman and canon joined the or- law and a firm adherent of der in his teens. papal supremacy, he was He served as also imbued with the crusading spirit Grand Preceptor of the Temple in Jeru- against the Saracens. Upon his accession salem in 1183-84, and in 1185 he was to the papal throne, he confirmed the created Master of the Temple in Spain privileges of the Templars. They were and Provence and thus had seen action exempt from the payment of taxes, tolls, in the Reconquista as well as in the Holy and tithes and ecclesiastical imposts. Land. Then in 1190, he was made Dep- The latter quickly brought them into col- uty Master of the Temple in the West. lision with the clergy. Considering the Each country had its own Master, and Templars as his private army, he saw ex- the Masters reported to the Grand Mas- actly how he could use them as a tool in ter. Following the death of Grand Master his planned Fourth Crusade. In the first Robert de Sable, he became the twelfth seven years of his papacy, he again con- knight templar 7 firmed eight times the bull Omne Datum Bishop of Tiberias sent notice to Grand Optimum (1139) of Innocent II. In this Master Erail that he wanted the money remarkable document, the Templar Rule returned to him. Either by a convenient was officially approved and papal pro- lapse of memory or because of a mis- tection given. Additionally, it promised placement or loss of records during the all spoils from Muslim conquest to the wars with Saladin, the Templars refused order, and made the order exempt from to pay. The Bishop of Tiberias then com- tithes and taxes. plained to Pope Innocent III who chose The final person involved in the spec- the Bishops of Sidon and Gibelet as tacle was the “Bishop of Sidon.” In my mediators, and Erail sent two trusted research I could not find a biography knights as his representatives. Eventu- for him in any sources or references. ally the patriarch settled the matter, but However, there is one noted Melkite the Bishop of Sidon was not satisfied Bishop of Sidon who wrote around with the terms of the settlement, and 1200 an apology (defense) of Christian- summarily demanded that the money ity intended for a Muslim audience, and be returned within three days to the dio- that is Paul of Antioch. The people who cese of Tiberias or he would excommuni- followed the lead of the Byzantine em- cate every Knight Templar. Although un- peror and accepted the decrees of the perturbed by the bishop’s illegal threat, Council of Chalcedon held in 451 were the Templars did make good on the debt called “Melkites” or “King’s Men.” The and returned the money, but for what- great strain between the Melkite Church ever reason, the bishop carried out his and Rome happened because of the ac- threat anyway and publicly excommuni- tions of some of the Crusaders, but the cated all Knights Templar. Melkites never broke off relations with Erail and the Knights were both Rome and the Pope. The question is: did amazed and completely incredulous the crusaders and the Templars accept upon hearing the news. He speedily the ecclesiastical authority of a Melkite sent envoys to Rome with the message bishop, or was there a separate Roman that if the Templars were excommuni- Catholic bishop of Sidon? I believe the cated, then they were no longer bound latter to be true, but these questions re- by their vows and would disband, leave main unanswered. the Holy Land, and return to their homes At any event, the excommunication and do as they wished. Upon hearing of came about because of the Templars’ the action by the bishop, Innocent III reputation for handling money for other was furious, particularly because a mi- people and their reputation for pride nor cleric in an inconsequential diocese and arrogance. Because of their skill at would be so bold as to usurp a privilege safeguarding monies, a Bishop of Tibe- and power reserved to the pope alone. rias lodged the sum of 1300 gold be- Innocent took swift measures support- zants from his diocese with the Templars ing the Knights and removed the Bishop for safekeeping. (At the current rate of of Sidon from his bishopric, accusing about $1200 for an ounce of gold, this him of ignorance and malice. He also sum in today’s money would be rough- ordered the Patriarch, the Archbishop ly $240,000.) In 1199 the succeeding of Tyre, and the Bishop of Acre to an- 8 february 2015 nul the excommunication immediately, December 21, 1200, and he was eventu- which was done. In addition, the pope ally succeeded by Philip de Plessiez. sent a warning to clerics everywhere that the same action would be taken against any man who had the temerity Right Eminent Sir Knight Marshall, KYGCH(3), to interfere with a holy order respon- KCT, 33°, is a Past Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar of sible to the Pope alone. Alabama. He is a member of the Editorial Swift action by the Pope in the mat- Review Board of the Knight Templar maga- ter confirmed the Templars’ powers and zine and has published several articles in privileges, but it also enlarged the wid- that magazine as well as in the Royal Arch ening gap between them and the clergy Mason magazine. He can be reached at in the crusader states. Gilbert died on [email protected]. SOURCES USED • Napier, Gordon, The A to Z of the Knights Templar: A Guide to Their History and Legacy, The History Press, Gloucestershire, England, 2008. • Malcolm Barber, The New Knighthood: A History of the Order of the Temple, Cambridge University Press, NY, 1994. • Robinson, John, Dungeon, Fire and Sword, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, MD, 1991. • Freemasons Magazine and Masonic Mirror, May 23, 1866. • http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10157b.htm • Ebied, Rifaat and Thomas David (Editors), Muslim-Christian Polemic During the Crusades: The Letter from the People of Cyprus and Ibn Abi Talib al- Dimashqi’s Response, Koninklijke Brill, Leiden, Netherlands, 2005. • Thomas, David, “Idealism and Intransigence: A Christian-Muslim Encoun- ter in Early Mamluk Times”, online at http://mamluk.uchicago.edu/MSR_ XIII-2_2009-Thomas_pp85-103.pdf . • Howarth, Stephen, The Knights Templar, Dorset Press, New York, 1991. • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Horal • http://www.templiers.net/maitres/index.php?page=gilbert-erail • Newman, Sharan, The Real History behind the Templars, Berkley Books, NY, 2007 Subscriptions to the Knight Templar magazine are available from the Grand Encampment office at a rate of $15.00 per year. Individual issues in quantities of less than 10 can be obtained for $1.50 each from the of- fice of the managing editor if available. Inquire via e-mail to the manag- ing editor for quantities in excess of 10. Some past issues are archived on our web site. http://www.knightstemplar.org. We publish letters and articles from a variety of sources and points of view. The opinions expressed in these articles do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policy of the Grand Encampment, the Knight Templar magazine, or the Editorial Review Board. knight templar 9.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 1 Templars in the Chartrain (1120-1312)
    1 TEMPLARS IN THE CHARTRAIN (1120-1312) 1. INTRODUCTION So many stories and legends presented as historical truth1 have been told, and still are told, about the Templars and Chartres that it is important to try to assess within our period of interest—the twelfth and thirteenth centuries broadly defined—who they truly were and what influence, if any, they may have had in the region and, in particular, on the design and building of the cathedral as is often stated.2 The spiritual force that gave rise to the Templars has to be sought in the great evangelical awakening of the 11th century, which lasted throughout the 12th century, and that we see at work in the creation of the eremitical movement. In the words of Chenu:3 Looking over the movement as a whole and despite crossbreeding in it, one can discern two basic patterns of foundation on the level of action in the church. One was a special adaptation of the Christianized feudal institutes of knighthood: the Knights Templar and the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre served, both within Christendom and on its frontiers, as a militia of Christ, with the approval and active support of St. Bernard. 1 We have to guard here against the myths surrounding the Knights Templar, what Tyerman (2004, 3) calls “their popular elevation into a sinister, cultic, secret society, guardians of ancient mysteries, precursors of the Freemasons.” This, he says “reflects a false history… championed by…conspiracy theorists allied to cool money sharks bent on commercial exploitation of public credulity.” That is indeed wise and needed advice given the proliferation of books purporting to reveal the secrets and “codes” of enigmatic, shadowy organizations, not to mention films and entertainment exalting “chivalric feats.” However, the baby shouldn’t be thrown out with the bath water either.
    [Show full text]
  • Salutare Animas Nostras: the Ideologies Behind the Foundation of the Templars
    SALUTARE ANIMAS NOSTRAS: THE IDEOLOGIES BEHIND THE FOUNDATION OF THE TEMPLARS A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY, HUMANITIES, PHILOSOPHY, AND POLITICAL SCIENCE IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS By Rev. Fr. Thomas Bailey, OSB NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY MARYVILLE, MISSOURI MAY 2012 Salutare Animas Nostras 1 Running Head: SALUTARE ANIMAS NOSTRAS Salutare Animas Nostras: The Ideologies Behind the Foundation of the Templars Rev. Fr. Thomas Bailey, OSB Northwest Missouri State University THESIS APPROVED Thesis Advisor Date Dean of Graduate School Date Salutare Animas Nostras 2 Abstract From beginning to end, the Knights Templar were a mysterious order. Little is known of their origins, and most of their records were destroyed during the suppression in the fourteenth century. In addition, they combined seemingly incompatible objectives: warriors and monks, as well as laity and clergy. This study bridges those divides, providing the historical developments from a secular and religious context. To understand the Templars’ foundation, it needs to be based on a premise that combines the ideologies of the priestly and knightly classes–salvation and the means to attain it. The conclusions were drawn following a multi-disciplinary approach. The primary source materials included the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures, patristic authors, medieval literature, canon law, the Templars’ rules, in addition to monastic cartularies and chronicles. The secondary sources were a similar collection from various disciplines. The approach allowed for the examination of the Templars from multiple angles, which helped to highlight their diversified origins. The Knights Templar were the product of a long evolution beginning with the Pauline imagery of the Christian as a soldier battling his/her own spiritual demons and continuing through the call for a crusade to defend the Patrimony of Christ.
    [Show full text]
  • St. Francis of Assisi, Orange, TX
    St. Francis of Assisi CATHOLIC COMMUNITY 4300 Meeks Drive, Orange TX 77632 Office: 409-883-9153 Fax: 409-883-9154 Web: www.stfrancisorangetx.orgOffice Email:[email protected] Facebook.com/St.Francis.Church.Orange Parish Office Hours: Monday-Friday 9am-3pm Religious Education Office Hours: Monday-Friday 10am-3pm Wednesday 3-7pm during RE PASTOR: Rev. Sinclair K. Oubre, J.C.L. [email protected] Deacon Hector Maldonado [email protected] Deacon Tommy Ewing [email protected] Deacon Keith Hebert [email protected] MASS SCHEDULE Saturday: 5pm Sunday: 8am Bilingual 10:30am DAILY MASS Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: 8:30am Wednesday: 6:30pm SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM Please call the Pastor to make arrangements for Infant Baptisms. Baptism class is held the third Thursday of each month at 6:00pm. This can be done at least seven (7) months before the birth in order to make proper sacramental preparations. SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE Diocesan policy requires a minimum of six (6) months of sacramental preparations for marriage. Engaged couples are invited to call the Pastor for an appointment. HOLY COMMUNION OR ANOINTING OF THE SICK Please call the Pastor if you or any family members are ill or plan to be hospitalized to arrange the reception of the Sacraments. RITE OF CHRISTIAN INITIATION OF ADULTS - Catechumenate Those interested in becoming a Catholic or in completing their initiation are invited to contact Myrna Stimac (409-883-5771) to learn more about the Catechumenate Process. PARISH MEMBERSHIP Welcome to St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Community! Please register by obtaining a census form from the Parish Office or at one of the two front entrances to the Church.
    [Show full text]
  • The Everyday Life of a Knight Templar
    The Everyday Life of a Knight Templar The Knights Templar, a monastic order of knights established by Bernard of Clairvaux and Hugh de Payens during the Crusades, are mainly known for their military achievements, incredible wealth, and ultimate downfall. However, amongst all of the crusading, banking, and ritual, the Templars led day-to-day lives remarkably typical of medieval monks. Everyday life can reveal a great deal about the Library British The © values of a group and the truth behind their identities. In exploring the everyday lives of the Templars, consider some of the rumours and myths you have heard about them: do the rumours match the way the Templars really lived, or are they perhaps more romantic versions of the truth behind a surprisingly typical medieval monastic order? Rule All medieval monastic orders were governed by a Rule, a set of regulations and instructions for daily life, behaviour, and values. The Rule of Life, as the Templars’ set of instructions were called, was written by Bernard of Clairvaux, the order’s founder. Written in 72 clauses, the Rule of Life calls on brothers to reject secular knighthood, instead upholding justice, defending the weak, and avoiding unnecessary violence. Two of the most important aspects of the Rule were chastity and celibacy; knights of the brotherhood were to avoid women at all costs and could not be married. Dormitories were lit and knights ordered to sleep fully clothed to prevent any sexual sins from occurring. Bernard of Clairvaux seemed quite preoccupied with ensuring the This illustration depicts a knight on horseback from an illuminated manuscript.
    [Show full text]
  • Michael Daniels Deputy Grand Commander
    Sometimes it can be easier to get caught up in the financial woes, DAVID C. LADD, R.E.G.C. membership issues, or the general business of the average day than to 5304 Woodridge Dr. Monroe, NC 28110 be who we really are and rise above these. Our forebears did and so can [email protected] we. They were encumbered with wars, financial depression, social change, public disinformation, and much more. They persevered through it all and emerged stronger and more resilient than before. They Editor: Ludwik Wodka, KT – [email protected] never lost sight of who they were and what they stood for. We are Knights Templar! We hold ourselves to a higher standard and to a nobler Deputy Grand Commander’s Message vision of what the world can be. Often, we lower our guard and let our meetings and events cruise along on autopilot while the world goes Salutations Sir Knights! along on its course unnoticed. The world around us is changing more rapidly than we are. Our mission should include staying relevant to our I’m excited for the future of our Order. I really am. In my travels I have communities and embracing the benefits of the unprecedented growth seen so many hungry Masons who are looking for something more than of technology. We should also be embracing the evolving social and what their current Masonic experience is giving them. This is a good sign. spiritual needs of our society while holding fast to our roots, never It’s a sign that people are more being more deliberate about their life letting go of the universal truths that define us: Truth, Charity, choices and how they spend their time.
    [Show full text]
  • The Origin of the Templars (1119)1
    1 Primary Source 5.3 THE ORIGIN OF THE TEMPLARS (1119)1 The Order of Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, commonly known as the Knights Templar, was founded in 1119 by Hugo de Payens, who became the order’s first Grand Marshal. It emerged as an association of monk-soldiers living by a monastic rule but also protecting Christian pilgrims, thus fusing the two medieval European ideals of human excellence: that of the monk and that of the soldiers. Though the knights were sworn to lives of poverty, the order grew in popularity and received much charity after it was officially recognized by the Catholic Church in 1128. The order provided banking services to pilgrims and crusaders, and its members established a financial network throughout Europe. Soon the order grew tremendously rich and powerful. Its successes inspired the establishment of several other military-monastic orders, including the Knights-Hospitallers, all arising in the borderlands between Christians and Muslims, in the Near East in Spain, thus showing their close link with the Crusades. The Templars lost support after the fall of the crusader states in the Holy Land in the late 1200s. At the behest of King Philip IV, who was immensely indebted to the Templars, Pope Clement V (r. 1305–1314) disbanded the order in 1312. The Templars retained an aura of mystery and power, and left legacy of innovative financial methods. The passage below is excerpted from a history of the Kingdom of Jerusalem by the archbishop of Tyre, William of Tyre (c.
    [Show full text]
  • The Knights Templar & the Protestant Reformation Download Free
    THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR & THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION Author: James Edward Stroud Number of Pages: 288 pages Published Date: 28 Oct 2011 Publisher: Xulon Press Publication Country: Longwood FL, United States Language: English ISBN: 9781619044425 DOWNLOAD: THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR & THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION The Knights Templar & the Protestant Reformation PDF Book Edited by an architect specialising in the schools sector and a leading educationalist and featuring contributions from a wealth of designers, clients and experts in school design this book aims to provide fresh ideas as well as experience and hard-earned knowledge from a variety of perspectives. But it was the lessons he learned from his mother, Lisa, that helped make him a man--lessons about sacrifice, courage, loyalty, dreams, and perseverance. Using critical discourse analysis as a methodological tool in order to build critical language awareness in classrooms and schools, educators working toward a critical social democracy may be better armed to recognize sources of inequity. It also draws from Brott's own experience as a father of three and from the real-world experiences of the thousands of dads he's interviewed. Since Deleuze and Guattari contend that a society is defined by its becomings, its transformations, this collection asks how education, itself a process in becoming, may contribute "collective creations" to a society in continual flux. The book features "From the Field" interviews with leading IT project managers and professionals that offer real-world advice and expert insights. Tracy Letts is the author of Killer Joe, Bug, and Man from Nebraska, which was a finalist for the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
    [Show full text]
  • The Knights Templar IV
    The Knights Templar IV “Ye Shall Know Them by the Fruit of their Will” Matthew 7:16 Establishing the Ideal for America Andrew Linnell Content Asking questions is OK • First Half - Historical – Brief Historical Review of Knights Templar – The Stream that Formed America • Second Half – Secrets, Esoteric Wisdom – Concepts and terminology • Concepts herein may be difficult • Not a religious lecture, rather we’ll try to understand the Mysteries – Wisdom of the Knights Templars hidden in: • Architecture •Art • Answer why? Effect on America Surface: Outer History • First Crusade to the Holy Lands 1096-1099 succeeds – Jerusalem and coastal area comes under European control – Godfroi de Boullion - Count Hugues de Champagne – Hugues de Payens • Hugh de Champagne returns to the Holy Land in 1104-5, 1108, and 1114 • Pope Urban II asks Hugues de Payens to return 1118 to find the Ark of the Covenant – King Baldwin grants Hugues and his 7 relatives a base on Mont Moriah • Excavate under Solomon’s Temple and Al Aqsa [Dome of the Rock] mosque • Birth of the Templars: 1119 to 1128 – No warfare, no military mission at this time. – Something comes over the group – changes their “aura” – Hugues sent to Europe for the Council de Troyes in 1128 • At the Council great presence of Cistercians and Benedictines – Council delegates St. Bernard of Clairvaux to write the rules of the Templar Order » First Monk-Knight order. Fusing streams theme. » Order appears to be assuming all the layman tasks of the monasteries • Many join from across Europe – branches and churches
    [Show full text]
  • Papal Overlordship and Protectio of the King, C.1000-1300
    1 PAPAL OVERLORDSHIP AND PROTECTIO OF THE KING, c.1000-1300 Benedict Wiedemann UCL Submitted for the degree of PhD in History 2017 2 I, Benedict Wiedemann, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. 3 Papal Overlordship and Protectio of the King, c.1000-1300 Abstract This thesis focuses on papal overlordship of monarchs in the middle ages. It examines the nature of alliances between popes and kings which have traditionally been called ‘feudal’ or – more recently – ‘protective’. Previous scholarship has assumed that there was a distinction between kingdoms under papal protection and kingdoms under papal overlordship. I argue that protection and feudal overlordship were distinct categories only from the later twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. Before then, papal-royal alliances tended to be ad hoc and did not take on more general forms. At the beginning of the thirteenth century kingdoms started to be called ‘fiefs’ of the papacy. This new type of relationship came from England, when King John surrendered his kingdoms to the papacy in 1213. From then on this ‘feudal’ relationship was applied to the pope’s relationship with the king of Sicily. This new – more codified – feudal relationship seems to have been introduced to the papacy by the English royal court rather than by another source such as learned Italian jurists, as might have been expected. A common assumption about how papal overlordship worked is that it came about because of the active attempts of an over-mighty papacy to advance its power for its own sake.
    [Show full text]
  • Spiritual Ideals and Political Realities: Inquisitorial Motivations in the Trial of the Knights Templar in the British Isles 1307-1312
    University of Vermont ScholarWorks @ UVM UVM College of Arts and Sciences College Honors Theses Undergraduate Theses 2015 SPIRITUAL IDEALS AND POLITICAL REALITIES: INQUISITORIAL MOTIVATIONS IN THE TRIAL OF THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR IN THE BRITISH ISLES 1307-1312 Emily Stoneking University of Vermont Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/castheses Recommended Citation Stoneking, Emily, "SPIRITUAL IDEALS AND POLITICAL REALITIES: INQUISITORIAL MOTIVATIONS IN THE TRIAL OF THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR IN THE BRITISH ISLES 1307-1312" (2015). UVM College of Arts and Sciences College Honors Theses. 17. https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/castheses/17 This Undergraduate Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Undergraduate Theses at ScholarWorks @ UVM. It has been accepted for inclusion in UVM College of Arts and Sciences College Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ UVM. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT SPIRITUAL IDEALS AND POLITICAL REALITIES: INQUISITORIAL MOTIVATIONS IN THE TRIAL OF THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR IN THE BRITISH ISLES 1307-1312 BY EMILY STONEKING BURLINGTON, VERMONT APRIL, 2015 Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii CHAPTER I: DOMINICAN INQUISITORS AND THE CONTEXT OF THE TEMPLAR TRIAL 1307-1312 1 THE DOWNFALL OF THE TEMPLARS IN FRANCE 1 THE ARREST OF THE TEMPLARS IN THE BRITISH ISLES 3 A BRIEF HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE TRIAL IN THE BRITISH ISLES 4 FRENCH DOMINICANS IN ENGLAND: SICARD DE VAUR AND DIEUDONNÉ 6 INQUISITORIAL MOTIVATIONS, INQUISITORIAL DISCOURSE
    [Show full text]
  • Vatican Official Says Templars Book Nothing New
    Vatican official says Templars book nothing new VATICAN CITY – It was billed as the Vatican’s effort to “come clean” and reveal secret documents about the mysterious Knights Templar, the medieval crusading order that has inspired ancient legends and modern novels. But after seeing exaggerated press reports for two weeks, Bishop Sergio Pagano apparently had had enough. “I’ve read in the papers that this is about discoveries. In no way can one talk about discoveries – every one of these texts was already known,” he said Oct. 25. You could almost feel the air going out of the balloon in the packed Vatican conference room, where journalists had assembled for the unveiling of a collector’s edition of Vatican Secret Archives documents on the Templar order. Since early October, international media had pumped the story, saying parchment records uncovered in the archives would exonerate and rehabilitate the Templars, erasing the charges of heresy that led to the order’s dissolution in 1312. The idea was that the Vatican was finally divulging information it had long hidden – a notion that tied in vaguely with Dan Brown’s novel, “The Da Vinci Code,” which gave the Templars a role in an ongoing church conspiracy. But Bishop Pagano, prefect of the Vatican archives, was having none of this. The new Vatican book is “not a scoop, not something extraordinary, does not reveal or remove penalties that were in fact never imposed, or bring to light hidden things,” he said. The Vatican wasn’t doing this to celebrate or rehabilitate the Knights Templar, he said.
    [Show full text]
  • Francis of Assisi Meets Sultan Malik Al-Kamil One of The
    C.T.R. Hewer: Francis of Assisi meets Sultan Malik al-Kamil, page 1 Francis of Assisi meets Sultan Malik al-Kamil One of the problems in dealing with any historical event eight hundred years ago is to sift the various later accounts to attempt to pare things back to as accurate an account as possible. This is especially difficult when one or more of the people involved have become global figures held up for the admiration and emulation of multitudes. As time goes by, historical facts are overlaid with stories and emphases that aim to paint someone in a fantastic or miraculous light, to bring out elements displaying heroics and to elevate the piety and fearlessness of the individual. This has happened to a significant extent in the case of the life of Francis of Assisi (1182-1226).1 We will endeavour to stay as close as possible to the most likely facts of the encounter between Francis and the Sultan Malik al-Kamil (c.1180-1238). In addition, we will look at the impact that this experience had on the life and vision of Francis, his radical guidance for Christian mission amongst Muslims, and then consider possible lessons for today. The principal characters Francis was born into a rich mercantile family in Assisi and, as a member of such a family, was drawn like many others into seeking fame and honour on the battlefield in the frequent disputes that characterised Italian life at that time. In one such battle, with the neighbouring city of Perugia, Francis was taken prisoner and had to spend a year in prison before he was ransomed and able to return to his family in November 1203.
    [Show full text]