- Robert de Craon
Robert de Craon (died
January 13 ,1147 ) was the second Grand Master of theKnights Templar , from June 1136 until his death.He was born around the turn of the 12th century, the youngest of the three sons of Renaud de Craon. He settled in
Aquitaine and was engaged to the daughter of the lord ofAngoumois , but gave up his fiancée and travelled toPalestine after learning of the foundation of the Templar Order byHughes de Payens . He soon showed his military valour and his piety, and in 1136, after the death of Hughes, he was chosen as the new Grand Master. He proved to be a brilliant organizer and legislator, and turned the Order into a major force in theCrusader state s. OnMarch 29 ,1139 ,Pope Innocent II issued the bull "Omne Datum Optimum ", which exempted the order fromtithe s and made them independent of any ecclesiastical jurisdiction. The Templars were also granted the habit of a red cross over a white tunic, which has since become the popular image of anycrusade r.He was less fortunate as a military leader. As soon as he had been elected, he defeated
Zengi , theemir ofAleppo and let his knights plunder the enemy camp; Zengi returned and destroyed the unorganized pillagers. Robert authorized the Spanish Templars to lead a naval expedition of about 70 ships againstLisbon , but this also ended in defeat. In 1140 the Templars resisted a numerically superior Turkish army at the Battle of Tecua. In 1143, after protracted negotiations between Raymond Berenguer IV (theCount of Barcelona and a Templar) the order's mission on the Iberian peninsula was defined. According toWilliam of Tyre , Robert participated in theCouncil of Acre during theSecond Crusade in 1148, but according to the "Obituary of Reims", he died in January of 1147, and was succeeded byEverard des Barres in April of that year.
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