One of the questions that has rung down through the ages is;
"Did the Hospitallers and Templars hate each other?"
Battle Of Tripoli
The reply is no, they emphatically did not. The association was like that of two big, aggressive brothers who would quarrel, occasionally resort to fisticuffs, but who had great respect, one for the other. When Philip the Fourth of France, in his unspeakable greed, persecuted the Templars for their wealth, and put extreme pressure on Pope Clement the Fifth for their dissolution at the Council of Vienne in 1312, the reaction of the Hospitaller knights was one of horror.
Among other things, they stated that the Templars were 'a great and noble Order.' Mark you, the Hospitallers did very well out of the Templar demise, since they were given a great deal of Templar property. There's some seminar here among scholars, about either those Templars who escaped persecution, or who lived to tell the tale, undoubtedly joined up with the Hospitallers.
Some say that many of them freely joined, while others insist that they were strictly forbidden to do so. Personally, I think it was a bit of both. They were forbidden, but heads were often turned the other way.
But the question, 'did the Hospitallers and Templars hate each other,' has forced us to digress and leap ahead of ourselves.
We've noted that the Blessed Gerard, the first specialist of the Order, died in 1120. While the Hospitallers weren't a recognized forces order at that early date, nevertheless they may well have supplied armed escort for pilgrims travelling the perilous road from the coast to Jerusalem.
On the other extreme, the first time mention is made of a Marshall, who served just below the specialist in rank and was in charge of all forces affairs, was in 1160.
But when we ask the question; 'Who owned Krak des Chevaliers?' the reply is the Hospitallers, who were given this magnificent fortress by Raymond the Second, Count of Tripoli in 1142.
Now, it's pretty certain that Krak wasn't going to be used as a hospital! Therefore, we can be certain that the Hospitallers were a forces Order at that time.
Their other major fortress was at Margat. In the 1170s, it was under the control of Reynald the Second Mazoir, of Antioch. However, in 1186, his son sold it to the Knights of the Hospital, for it was becoming far too costly for the Mazoir house to keep up.
The Hospitaller dress was a black sleeved surcoat with a white cross on the front. This tended to restrict their movements in battle, but it wasn't until 1248 that Pope Innocent the Fourth popular ,favorite a red surcoat with a white cross emblazoned on the front.
Did the Hospitallers and Templars Hate Each Other? Who Owned Krak De Chevaliers?
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