Bertrand de Blanchefort (1109??-1169)

Master of the Temple from 1156 to 1169.

Born around 1109, Bertrand de Blanchefort was the youngest son of Lord Godefroy de Blanchefort from the region of Guyenne.
Some chronicles show de Blanchefort becoming Master of the Order some days after the death of Andre Montbard, which presupposes his election was prepared in advance by the General Chapter.

In 1157, de Blanchefort fought beside Baudouin III against Nur-al-Din in the battle near Paneas. Returning from this expedition, Baudouin III dismissed his entire army and went quietly to Jerusalem. Nur-al-Din, informed of the dispersal of the Frankish army, organized an ambush at the Ford of Jacob, along Hule Lake.
The surprise was so great that most of the Frankish knights were killed or captured. Only Baudouin III and a handful of knights managed to escape.
Among the captive knights, were two dignitaries of the Order: Eudes de Saint-Amand, the Marshal of the Order, and Bertrand de Blanchefort.
They stayed prisoners of Nur-al-Din in Damas for 3 years, until the Byzantium Emperor, Manuel 1st Comnene negotiated a Peace Treaty and bought the liberty of the imprisoned Frankish knights.

Once liberated, Bertrand de Blanchefort undertook a small but deep reform of the rule. He wrote the ‘Retraits’, which specified the hierarchical usages and actions of the Master.
In other words, de Blanchefort differentiated the Templar ranks based on the status and mission of each dignitary and member. It also specified that the Master could no longer decide the collective future of the Order without the agreement of the General Chapter.

In 1163, Amaury 1st succeeded his brother Baudouin III as King of Jerusalem. He immediately decided to concentrate all his efforts fighting Cairo’s Caliphate, who already fell prey to a civil war between the Sunnites and Shiites.
Bertrand de Blanchefort, as well as Master of the Hospital, accompanied Amaury 1st in his Egyptian campaign. In September 1163, the Frankish army arrived in at Bilbais (ancient Pelouse), the key city of the Nile delta, and besieged it.
The city was about to fall when Dirghâm, the chief of the Egyptian army, destroyed the river embankments and so flooded the plains where the Franks were entrenched. This left the Franks with no option but to retreat.

The following year, Amaury revisited his campaign against the Egyptians and returned to besiege Bilbais. The armies of the two Orders were a constant help. During this time, Nur-al-Din undertook a great diversionary manoeuvre against the Earldom of Tripoli and the Principality of Antioch. He also seized the city of Harîm (or Harenc).
To counter the expansion of Nur-al-Din the Franks sent a knight of the Temple, Geoffroi Foucher, to the sultan of Cairo. The mission of Foucher was to act as an emissary of Amaury 1st and to strike an alliance against Ayyubids of Nur-al-Din.

In 1168, Amaury decided to again revisit his campaign against the Egyptians, but this time Bertrand de Blanchefort refused to accompany him because of the treaty negotiated by the Templar emissary the previous year.
According to the Reims Obituary, Bertrand de Blanchefort passed away from tiredness and old age on January 2nd 1169.

Previous Master : André de Montbard - Next Master : Philippe de Milly

Back to Masters list

1. "Armorial des Maîtres de l'Ordre du Temple"
   

   Bernard Marillier; Editions Pardès 2000

2. "Histoire des Templiers"
   

   J.-J.-E. Roy ; Editions Pardes 1999