The Battle of La Forbie and the Templars
The Battle of La Forbie (also spelled Al-Farbiya or Harbiyah) on October 17, 1244, was a catastrophic defeat for the Knights Templar and the other Crusader forces in the Holy Land. Fought near Gaza in what is now the Gaza Strip, the battle ended with the near-annihilation of the combined forces of the Templars, the Hospitallers, the Teutonic Knights, and the secular Crusaders. The Grand Master of the Templars, Armand de Périgord, was killed in the fighting, along with the Grand Masters of the Hospitallers and the Teutonic Knights.
This article examines the battle and its consequences. It is a companion to The Battle of Hattin and to The Grand Masters of the Order.
The Background
The Battle of La Forbie was the result of a complex series of political and military events in the Crusader states in the 13th century. By the mid-13th century, the Kingdom of Jerusalem had been reduced to a narrow strip of territory along the coast, and the Crusader states were under constant pressure from the Ayyubid and Mamluk powers.
In 1244, the Khwarezmian mercenaries, who had been driven out of their homeland by the Mongols, were hired by the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt, al-Salih Ayyub, to attack the Crusader states. The Khwarezmians, who were fierce but undisciplined warriors, invaded the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the summer of 1244, and they captured the city of Jerusalem on August 23, 1244, after a brief siege.
The fall of Jerusalem was a major shock to the Latin Christian states, and it led to a major military response. The combined forces of the Templars, Hospitallers, Teutonic Knights, and the secular nobility of the Kingdom gathered to meet the Khwarezmian-Egyptian army.
For the broader context, see The Knights Templar in the Holy Land.
The Battle
The Crusader army gathered at Gaza under the joint command of the Grand Masters of the three military orders and the lords of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The army was approximately 5,000 strong, including:
- The Knights Templar, with several hundred knights and sergeants.
- The Knights Hospitaller, with a similar number.
- The Teutonic Knights, with a smaller contingent.
- The secular nobility of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, including the Count of Jaffa and other major lords.
The combined army met the much larger Khwarezmian-Egyptian army, estimated at 30,000 to 50,000 men, on the plain of La Forbie, near Gaza. The battle was a complete disaster for the Crusaders. The Khwarezmian cavalry, which was among the best in the world, broke through the Crusader lines, and the Latin Christian forces were surrounded and annihilated.
The Grand Master of the Templars, Armand de Périgord, was killed in the fighting. The Hospitaller Grand Master at the time, Guillaume de Châteauneuf (who had succeeded Pierre de Vieille-Brioude in 1242), survived the battle, as did the master of the Teutonic Knights. The loss of the Templar Grand Master and the annihilation of the Order’s Eastern strength was a major blow to the military orders, and it would take decades for the orders to recover.
The Aftermath
The Battle of La Forbie was one of the worst defeats in the history of the Crusader states. The military strength of the Templars and Hospitallers in the East was severely reduced, and the orders would not recover their pre-1244 strength for a generation.
The fall of Jerusalem in August 1244, followed by the disaster of La Forbie in October, marked a major turning point in the history of the Crusades. The Latin Christian states were now in a desperate situation, and they would never fully recover from the loss of manpower and prestige.
The story of the Crusader states’ decline is told in The Knights Templar in the Holy Land and in The Fall of Acre 1291.
The Death of the Grand Master
The death of Armand de Périgord was the most significant consequence of the battle for the Templars. Armand had been a French nobleman from the Duchy of Aquitaine, and he had served as Grand Master for 12 years. His death marked the beginning of a difficult period for the Order, and it would take the Order decades to recover its pre-1244 strength.
The story of the Grand Masters. See The Grand Masters of the Order.
The Battle in Modern Memory
The Battle of La Forbie is less well remembered than the Battle of Hattin of 1187, but it was a major disaster in its own right. The loss of the Templar Grand Master and the annihilation of the Order’s Eastern contingent in a single battle was a singular event in the history of the Crusades, and it was a major factor in the decline of the military orders in the 13th century.
The battle has been the subject of a number of modern scholarly studies, including those by Malcolm Barber in The New Knighthood (1994) and by Jonathan Riley-Smith in The Crusades: A History (1987).
Conclusion
The Battle of La Forbie in 1244 was a catastrophic defeat for the Knights Templar and the other Crusader forces in the Holy Land. The Grand Master of the Order, Armand de Périgord, was killed, and the bulk of the Order’s Eastern strength was destroyed. The battle was a major turning point in the history of the Crusades, marking the effective end of serious Crusader military operations in the inland areas of the Holy Land. The story of the battle and its consequences is told in The Knights Templar in the Holy Land and in The Grand Masters of the Order.