Gottfried of Saint-Omer

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Gottfried von Saint-Omer and Hugo von Payns with King Baldwin II of Jerusalem

Gottfried von Saint-Omer (also Godefridus de Sancto Andemardo , Gaufred , Godefroi ) was a Flemish knight and founding member of the Templar Order .

Life

Alongside Hugo von Payns, Gottfried von Saint-Omer was a founding member of the Knights Templar in the Holy Land in 1118, where he soon assumed a top position. According to some sources, he was the deputy of the first grand master , Hugo von Payens, but a Gottfried Bisol is also mentioned as his deputy.

Gottfried could be a member of the noble lords of Saint-Omer . William I of Saint-Omer and his son Hugo took part in the First Crusade (1096-1099) as vassals of Count Robert II of Flanders . Hugo von Saint-Omer is later mentioned as one of the best knights in the Kingdom of Jerusalem ( First Battle of Ramla 1101) and was Seneschal of Jerusalem from 1100 and Prince of Tiberias from 1101 .

According to the family chronology, Gottfried could be Hugo's brother; elsewhere it is claimed that he was Hugo von Saint-Omer's son. Under the names of the crusaders there is also a Gauthier de Saint-Omer , which could indicate a typographical or transcription error on Gottfried (Gaufred) ( Gauthier de Saint-Omer was not yet born at this point).

Presumably, Gottfried reached Jerusalem in 1099 as part of the First Crusade in the wake of Wilhelm I and Hugo von Saint-Omer.

Gottfried von Saint-Omer is said to have become a crusader out of grief over the loss of his wife . His son later took on diplomatic missions on behalf of the Knights Templar.

Before 1128 he traveled to Flanders. There he sold his possessions in the Ypres area and donated the proceeds to the order. Several houses that he owned in Ypres were converted into monasteries and churches at his instigation.

literature

  • Alain Demurger (author), Wolfgang Kaiser (translator): Die Templer. Rise and fall 1120-1314 ("Vie et mort de l'ordre du Temple"). CH Beck, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-406-52367-6 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Wilhelm von Tire : Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum. Book XII, Section VII.
  2. ↑ See A. Demurger, p. 37
  3. ↑ See A. Demurger, p. 50
  4. ↑ Cf. Claude M. Jeune: The Knights of the Temple in Jerusalem. Pragmatic History of the Templar Order. Weygand, Leipzig 1790, Volume 1, p. 48
  5. ↑ See A. Demurger, p. 51
personal data
SURNAME Gottfried of Saint-Omer
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Flemish knight, co-founder of the Knights Templar
DATE OF BIRTH 11th century
DATE OF DEATH 12th Century