January 1185 A.D. – Jerusalem – Helping the Order

The last two decades had been good to William Marshal. He had performed loyal service at the royal court in England. Latterly, to the eldest son of Henry II, nicknamed the Young King even whilst his father was still alive.

William Marshal had been a key member of the court of the younger Henry. Some time prior to the royal heir’s premature death, the Prince had his dressmaker stitch the Crusader’s cross into his coat. Dying, the Young King had been consumed with guilt about the lightness with which he had taken his crusading responsibility. William had promised Henry on his deathbed, that he would take the cloak to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. That he would place it on the tomb where the body of Jesus had been buried.

The journey from England to the Holy Land had been long and arduous. But at the beginning of 1185, during the month of January, William had eventually arrived in Jerusalem. It was time to fulfil his promise. The Marshal had located the place he sought. He moved through the magnificent entrance arch and entered the church proper. He knelt down in front of the altar and reverentially placed the cloak down on the floor.

William was glad to have finally discharged his duty. Henry II, the Young King’s father, had been pleased with the knight’s decision to make the trip and he hoped for some further royal patronage when he returned to Europe. As the Marshal stood, and turned to leave the altar, he felt a hand touch him lightly on the shoulder.

Turning, two men were to be found standing close to him on either side. The red cross emblems identified them immediately. The one who had touched him spoke quietly.

“You are William Marshal?”

He nodded.

“We have been sent word of your arrival. The Templar Master has a request of you, before you return to England. Will you hear him out?”

William was intrigued. But he was by now an experienced knight and would allow no emotion to show on his face. So, he merely gave another nod.

“Then, please. Follow us.”

The three men walked back through the church and emerged into Jerusalem’s bright sunlight. They strolled through the city to the Templar headquarters. Entering, William was ushered into the presence of Gerard, the Grand Master. Looking up, he addressed his visitor.

“Welcome to our humble lodgings. I received word earlier this week of your arrival in the City. I know that your former master had taken the cross and I was hoping that you could be persuaded to assist our Holy Order during your stay?”

An eyebrow was raised at the Marshal who determined he had nothing to lose by hearing him out.

The Templar Master had hoped that the Englishman would agree to listen to his position. And had decided some background information on the present situation of the Holy City would be in order.

These were difficult times for Jerusalem. The succession had often been an issue since the Christians had reclaimed the city from the barbarous Islamic heathens nearly a century ago.

The previous King Baldwin IV had died recently and his son had nominally succeeded him. Raymond of Tripoli was acting as regent. But another local nobleman, Guy of Luisignan who was a vassal of the English King Henry II also had a claim to the throne. Gerard explained to the Marshal that he was spending all his time trying to keep the peace between the two warring camps.

This left little time for the Grand Master to concentrate on keeping the Holy City safe from the Muslim forces which were an ever present threat. On top of all that, the winter rains had been almost non-existent this year and Jerusalem was threatened by the prospect of mass starvation. And then he went on to explain what he needed from the English nobleman.

“So, you can see we live in threatening times.”

The Marshal could indeed.

“It would be most useful.”

He repeated for effect.

“Most useful, if we could negotiate some sort of truce with the forces of Islam. At present, the strongest amongst their leaders is a man known as Saladin. He is currently with his supporters some way north in the city of Damascus. I would respectfully ask whether you would consider heading a delegation in a visit to that city to negotiate some sort of agreement?”

“But why me? Surely you have many hundreds of Templars who are much more familiar with the customs of the area than I?”

“You speak the truth. However I am afraid that our reputation is rather low with our Islamic neighbours. I have a suspicion that a request direct from our Order would be badly received. I could though, arrange for you to be presented as a representative of the King of Jerusalem.”

The English knight considered the request. He was unsure of how to proceed. The task sounded dangerous and he wasn’t completely convinced of Gerard’s explanation of why the Templars could not attend Saladin themselves. The Grand Master seemed to sense his hesitation.

“I can assure you William Marshal, that the Order would be most grateful for your assistance. The Temple in London would be available to provide you support on your return. And of course you will be serving the Lord in the land where Christ himself had his ministry.”

Gerard raised his eyes reverentially to the heavens, bowed his head and clasped his bony hands together. Rather than serving the Lord, William was more convinced by the offer of future help from the London Templar Chapter. Somewhat reluctantly he agreed to head north.

In actual fact, luck was once again smiling on the English nobleman. Saladin was only too ready to grant a truce. He had problems of his own defending his borders in the east, where there was already trouble in Mosul. The Muslim leader was anxious to avoid any simultaneous hostilities with the Christians to the south.

So despite Saladin’s commitment to the jihad, the Holy War, he not only agreed to peace but also to provide sufficient food supplies to replace the lost harvest around Jerusalem. The Marshal returned in triumph to the Holy City and the regent Raymond of Tripoli was feted by the population. William returned home, hopeful that he had helped to ensure a strong Christian Jerusalem. That he had assisted a city that could exist in peace with its Islamist neighbours. His hope was in vain. The peace was to prove short-lived.