Following Orders

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

This date in Medieval Crusading History:

8 May

1192 – Death of Duke Ottokar IV of Styria (b. 1163) (Third Crusade participant)

See More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottokar_IV,_Duke_of_Styria

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

This date in Medieval Crusading History:

9 May

1315 – Death of Hugh V, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1282)


See more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_V,_Duke_of_Burgundy

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

This date in Medieval Crusading History:

10 May

1291 – At the time the Holy Land was lost to the Christians, Scottish nobles recognized the authority of Edward I (Crusader at one time) of England.

See more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_I_of_England#Crusade_and_accession

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

For those looking for some new garb concepts, I've put together this album of a variety of Crusader related Warrior Monks and Clergy.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1824375581895.100076.1615414820&l=f47db3bb12

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

This date in Medieval Crusading History:

11 May

1310 – In France, fifty-four members of the Knights Templar are burned at the stake as heretics.

1304 – Death of Mahmud Ghazan, Mongol ruler (b. 1271) (Military friend of Crusaders)

See more:
http://blog.templarhistory.com/2010/08/brethren-persecuted-%E2%80%93-part-3/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmud_Ghazan#Mamluk-Ilkhanid_War

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

This date in Medieval Crusading History:

12 May

1191 – Richard I (Greatest of Crusader Kings) of England marries Berengaria of Navarre who is crowned Queen consort of England the same day.

1264 – The Battle of Lewes, between King Henry III of England and the rebel Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester (former Crusader), begins.

See more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lewes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_de_Montfort,_6th_Earl_of_Leicester

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

This date in Medieval Crusading History:

13 May

1162 – Death of Géza II of Hungary (b. 1130)

See more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%A9za_II_of_Hungary

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

A word on Friday the 13th:

One of the origins of the superstition traces the event to the arrest of the legendary Knights Templar. (Although for Knights Templar fans, it holds more meaning when occuring in October)

The Knights Templar were a monastic military order founded in Jerusalem in 1118 C.E. Their original mission was to guide and protect Christian pilgrims along the path from Europe to Jerusalem during the Crusades. Through this mission, the Templars developed a banking system to protect the finances of the traveling pilgrims, then expanded this system throughout their holdings in Europe. Over time, France's Philip IV of France amassed a debt to the Knights Templar for years of service. He had nearly depleted his money due to his ongoing battles with England. King Phillip became envious of the Knights Templar and their rise to power, so he set his sights on their famed fortunes. Philip devised a plan to arrest all the Knights Templar and charge them with crimes so devastating that no person or group would come to their defense. The charges against them were religious in nature and backed by the papacy of the Vatican and Pope Clement V. His plan had to be swift and carefully put together so as to not alert the Templars in advance.


King Phillip's orders were sent a month in advance to the King's Men and other Bailiffs. They were not to be opened till dawn on Friday, October 13, 1307. The charges against the Templars were of the highest accusations of heresy: that the Knights Templar asked members to spit on the cross and step on it, to deny Christ, to perform homosexual acts, and so on. The king's orders were to engage and arrest every Templar in France. All Templar outposts, homes, wineries, mills, and castles were to be taken in the name of the King of France and Pope Clement V. This nationwide arrest was widely successful, and medieval torture tactics were used to obtain confessions from the Knights. This single act against the Templar Order is now viewed as one of the most unlucky days in History - Friday the 13th. King Phillip attempted to further bury the Templars in a public manner: a large event in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral would have Templar Grand Master Jacques De Molay publicly admit guilt of heresy. Instead, the defeated grandmaster took to his forum and apologized to the people and Templar Knights for his weakness and for signing forced confessions. He then rescinded his original confession and testified to the public that he, his men, and all Templar Knights were innocent, despite their forced confessions. An embarrassed King Phillip was enraged by the old man's actions and had him burned at the stake along with his second-in-command. De Molay's dying last words were to curse King Phillip and Pope Clement V, claiming that by the year's end they both would meet their demise. To add to the superstition of the Friday the 13th and to the power of the Templars both men did die that year.



The connection between the Friday the 13th superstition and the Knights Templar was popularized in the 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code.

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

This date in Medieval Crusading History:

14 May

1097- Siege of Nicaea begins and lasts till 19 June.

See more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Nicaea

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

This date in Medieval Crusading History:

15 May

1252 – Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull ad exstirpanda, which authorizes, but also limits, the torture of heretics in the Medieval Inquisition. (Templars would see this in full effect in less than 100 years)

1174 – Death of Nur ad-Din Zangi, ruler of Syria (b. 1118)

See more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_exstirpanda
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nur_ad-Din_Zangi

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

This date in Medieval Crusading History:

16 May

1204 – Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders is crowned as the first Emperor of the Latin Empire.

See more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldwin_I_of_Constantinople

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

This date in Medieval Crusading History:

17 May

1101 – Crusaders complete the capture of Caesarea (In 1101, soldiers were paid two pounds of pepper each for their role in the capture of Caesarea.)

1102- Battle of Ramla

See more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesarea_Maritima#Crusader_city
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ramla_(1102)

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

This date in Medieval Crusading History:

18 May

1152 – Henry II of England marries Eleanor of Aquitaine (a Crusader on the Second Crusade and Mother to the greatest of Crusaders-Richard the Lionheart).

1268 – The Principality of Antioch, a crusader state, falls to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars in the Battle of Antioch.

See more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine#Crusade
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine#Ancestors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Antioch

[Monsignor de Beaumanoir]

This date in Medieval Crusading History:

19 May

1102 – Death of Stephen II, Count of Blois (b. c.1045)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_II,_Count_of_Blois