III. by the Sicilian,— Victor III. by the Imperial

parly. The Templars at first acknowledged the latter ; but at a synod, held at Nazareth, in 1 1 G I, they took tlie side of bis rival. Alexander, who came off victor, was not ungrateful ; and on the 7th January, of the fol- lovring year, the aforesaid bull was issued. By this document, which would ulmost appear to be the dicta- tion of tlie order, the Templars were released from all spiritual obedience except to the Holy See ; tliey were allowed to have peculiar burial-grounds at their houses, and to have chapluins of their own ; they were freed from the obligation to pay tithes, and could, with the consent of the bishop, receive them. It was also prO' hibited to any one who had once entered the order, to leave it, unless it were to enter into a stricter one. These great privileges necessarily awakened the envy and enmity of the clergy iigainst the Templars and the Hospitallers, which last were equally favoured by the pontiffs ; but these artful prelates, who were now aiming ut universal jmwer, knew well the advantage whicli they might derive from attaching firmly to them
* Wilken Geschichlo dur Kieuizilge, Vol. iii
i. r- 39.
I
8BCRBT 80C1BTIES,
these asBoeiotiona, which united tlie valour of (he
knig;lit to the obedience of the monk, whose member?
! of the noblest families in Europe, and whose
: extensive and spread over all parts
of the ChristiEiii world.
In 1167 occurred one of the few instances of cow- ardice, or rather, we raiglit say, treachery, which the annals of the Templars present, Almeric, king of Jerusalem, had committed lo tlie Tempiars the charge of g'uurding one of tliose strong fortified taverns which were on the other side of the Jordao. Here tliey were besieged by the Turks, and, though the king was hastening to Iheir relief, they capitulated. :;ensed at their conduct, though he was a great friend of the order, and particularly of the Master, Philip of Naploos, instantly had twelve of the cowardly or treacherous knights hanged, and he expe- rienced no op])Dsition whatever on the part of the order. Philip, we may observe, was the first Master of the Temple who was a bora Syrian ; hut he appears lo have been a man of fair and honourable chardcter. He was lord of the fortresses of Krak and Montreal in the Stony Arabin, which he had obtained with his wife. It was not till after her death that he became a Templar. Alter holding the dignity of Master for three jears he resigned it. The cause of his resigna- tion is unknown ; but he was highly honoured and respecled during tlte remainder of his life, and was employed on various important occasions.
It was during the mastership of PliiUp of Naploos, that King Almeiic, at the instigation of the Master of the Hospital, and in violation of a solemn treaty, undertook an unprosperons expedition inio Egypt. The Templars loudly protested against this act of periidj, and refused to take any share in the war, eitlier, as William, the honest Archbishop of Tjre, observes, " because it wis agaiusL their conscience, or
THE TBMPLAR8. 209
because the Master of the rival order was the author and projector of it." The prelate seems to regard the more honourable as the true cause. Perhaps we should express ourselves correctly if we said that in this, as in many other cases, duty and prejudice hap- pily combined, and the path which was the most agreeable was also the most honourable.
In the mastership of Ado of St. Amando, the suc- cessor of Philip of Naploos, occurred the treacherous murder of the Ismailite envoy above narrated * — an act which brought the Templars into great disrepute with pious Christians, as it was quite manifest that they preferred money to winning souls to Christ.
* Page 116.
H3i
210 SECftBT SOCIBTIES.'