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