Guillaume de Sonnac
Guillaume de Sonnac | |
---|---|
Grand Master of the Knights Templar | |
In office 1247–1250 | |
Preceded by | Richard de Bures |
Succeeded by | Renaud de Vichiers |
Personal details | |
Born | Unknown Rouergue, France |
Died | 6 April 1250 Faraskur, Egypt |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Knights Templar |
Battles/wars | |
Guillaume de Sonnac (died 6 April 1250) was Grand Master of the Knights Templar from 1247 to 1250.
Personal life
Sonnac was born to a noble family in the French region of Rouergue. No date of birth survives for the Grand Master. He was described by Matthew Paris as "a discreet and circumspect man, who was also skilled and experienced in the affairs of war".
De Sonnac was an established member of the order before his election as
Military record
The Seventh Crusade
De Sonnac's tenure was a particularly violent one. By 1247, the Christians had lost power bases in
The Siege Of Damietta
On 5 June 1249, the French crusader army, combined with de Sonnac and his Templar knights, attempted to land in Egypt.[2] They targeted Damietta, just as the Fifth Crusade had years earlier. Fighting on the Egyptian beaches was heavy and the King fought in waist-high water alongside the troops.[2] After a prolonged battle, the Muslims were forced to retreat, leaving the city almost undefended. The next day the de Sonnac wrote to Robert of Sandford, telling how on the morning after the battle, Damietta had been seized with only one crusader casualty.[1]
At the end of November, de Sonnac and King Louis began their march to
Battle of Mansurah
De Sonnac's next engagement was at the
Jean de Joinville claimed that the Count meant to follow on his own and that the rest of the raiding party did so as to not look cowardly. The Templars "thought that they would be dishonored if they allowed the Count to go before them".[3] However, another source, Matthew Paris, reported that de Sonnac was forced into the assault by the Count. Robert was "bellowing and swearing disgracefully as is the French custom",[4] and blaming the Templars and other religious orders for causing the real downfall of the Kingdom. Disgusted, de Sonnac returned to his men and prepared to chase down the numerically superior enemy.[1]
Whatever the fact, the three commanders charged into Mansurah with tired men and no reinforcements and were quickly drawn into heavy fighting. Completely surrounded, "like an island in the sea",[4] de Sonnac refused to surrender and his Templars fought to the last man. Earl Longespee was killed in the fighting, and the Count either fell in combat or drowned fleeing to safety.[1] De Sonnac's escape from the city would make him a famous warrior, when many had considered him more suited to diplomacy. With heavy wounds, only one eye and two remaining knights of the original 280,[1] he fought through the Egyptian army and out of the city, where he found the main Frankish army. He refused to rest and after receiving medical attention he returned and helped repulse a Muslim raiding party.[1]
Battle of Fariskur
The
Next to the troops of Walter of Châtillon was brother Sonnac, Master of the Templars, with those few brothers that had survived Tuesday's battle. He had built a defence in front of him with the Saracen engines which we had captured. When the Saracens came to attack him, they threw Greek fire onto the barrier he had made; and the fire caught easily, for the Templars had put a large quantity of deal planks there. And you should know that the Turks did not wait for the fire to burn itself out, but rushed upon the Templars among the scorching flames. And in this battle, Brother William (Guillaume), Master of the Templars, lost an eye; and he had lost the other on the previous Shrove Tuesday; and that Lord died as a consequence, may God absolve him! And you should know that there was at least an acre of land behind the Templars, which was so covered with arrows fired by the Saracens, that none of the ground could be seen[3]
His death and the capture of
Chronicler
De Sonnac was the first Grand Master to formally record the intricacies of the Templar hierarchy. He added this to existing archives, codified them and stored them in a safe place so that the order would have accurate records in future years. It is certainly ironic that, for a man responsible for creating the order's most in-depth records, there is no indication of when he was born.[5]
In fiction
Guillaume de Sonnac is a prominent character in Crusades, a graphic novel by Izu, Alex Nikolavitch, and Zhang Xiaoyu, published by Les Humanoïdes Associés, in which he is shown as a power hungry plotter.
References
This article cites its page references.(April 2021) ) |
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barber. History of the Templars.[full citation needed]
- ^ ISBN 9780472114634.
- ^ a b John of Joinville[full citation needed]
- ^ a b Matthew Paris[full citation needed]
- ^ "The Masters of the Templar Order : Guillaume de Sonnac".