Bertrand de Blanquefort

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Grand Master's coat of arms of Bertrands de Blanquefort
Seal of the Knights Templar

Bertrand de Blanquefort (also Blanchefort , * around 1109; † January 2, 1169 ) was the sixth Grand Master of the Templar Order .

Life

Bertrand was the youngest son of Godfrey de Blanchefort , a knight from the Duchy of Guyenne (see also House Blanchefort ).

He was elected Grand Master in October 1156. At the beginning of his tenure, Bertrand led the Templars on the side of King Baldwin III. from Jerusalem to fight against Nur ad-Din . Following Balduin's defeat at Banyas in 1157, Bertrand was ambushed and captured. He spent three years in the dungeon in Aleppo until he was released along with 6,000 other Christian prisoners as part of a peace treaty between the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus and Nur ad-Din.

In 1163 Bertrand accompanied King Amalrich I during his invasion of Egypt. The expedition failed despite high costs. In 1168 Bertrand refused the Templars' participation in another expedition to Egypt.

Bertrand made some lasting reforms within the Knights Templar. So he had the order rule supplemented by order statutes (so-called "retraez" or "retrais"), which precisely regulated the hierarchical structure of the order. He also obtained from Pope Alexander III. for his office the title "Master by the grace of God" (Magister Dei Gratia).

In his seal of 1157, Bertrand first used the motif of two knights on a horse.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Addison, p. 57.
  2. ↑ See Demburger, p. 111.
  3. ↑ See Addison, p. 61.
  4. ↑ See Demburger, p. 112 ff.
  5. ↑ See Demburger, p. 64.
  6. ↑ See Karen Ralls: Knights Templar Encyclopedia. The Essential Guide to the People, Places, Events, and Symbols of the Order of the Temple. Career Press, 2007, ISBN 1-56414-926-9 , p. 41.

literature

  • Alain Demurger / Wolfgang Kaiser: The Templars. Rise and Fall 1120-1314. CH Beck, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-406-52367-6 .
  • Charles G. Addison: The History of the Knights Templars. BiblioBazaar, 2009, ISBN 0-559-08898-1 .
predecessor Office successor
André de Montbard Grand Master of the Knights Templar
1156–1169 		Philip of Milly
personal data
SURNAME Bertrand de Blanquefort
BRIEF DESCRIPTION 6. Grand Master of the Templar Order
DATE OF BIRTH around 1109
DATE OF DEATH January 2, 1169