Armand de Lavoie (or Hermann de Lavoie (Périgord) (1178–c.1244/1247) was a descendant of the
Counts of Périgord
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
and a Grand Master of the
Knights Templar
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.
Armand, possibly from Guienne, was preceptor of the Province of
Calabria
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and
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
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. In 1232, he was elected Grand Master of the Templars. He organized attacks on
Cana
Cana of Galilee ( grc, Κανὰ τῆς Γαλιλαίας; ar, قانا الجليل , translit= Qana al-Jalil , lit=Qana of the Galilee) is the location of the Marriage at Cana, at which the miracle of turning water into wine took place in ...
,
Safita
Safita ( ar, صَافِيتَا '; phn, 𐤎𐤐𐤕𐤄, ''Sōpūte'') is a city in the Tartous Governorate, northwestern Syria, located to the southeast of Tartous and to the northwest of Krak des Chevaliers. It is situated on the tops of ...
,
Sephoria
Sepphoris (; grc, Σέπφωρις, Séphōris), called Tzipori in Hebrew ( he, צִפּוֹרִי, Tzipori),Palmer (1881), p115/ref> and known in Arabic as Saffuriya ( ar, صفورية, Ṣaffūriya) since the 7th century, is an archaeolog ...
and Praetoria, and against the Muslim positions around the
Sea of Galilee
The Sea of Galilee ( he, יָם כִּנֶּרֶת, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ar, بحيرة طبريا), also called Lake Tiberias, Kinneret or Kinnereth, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest ...
. All of these expeditions were failures and diminished the Templars' effectiveness.
In 1236, on the border between
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
and
Cilicia
Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...
, 120 knights, along with some archers and
Turcopole
During the period of the Crusades, turcopoles (also "turcoples" or "turcopoli"; from the el, τουρκόπουλοι, literally "sons of Turks") were locally recruited mounted archers and light cavalry employed by the Byzantine Empire and the ...
s, were ambushed near the town of
Darbsâk (
Terbezek). In the first phase of the battle, the Templars reached the town but they met fierce resistance. When reinforcements from
Aleppo
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arrived, the Templars were massacred. Fewer than twenty of them returned to their castle in
Bagras
Bagras or Baghrās but realistically Bagdas/Bagdans or Bogd·apo, ancient Pagrae ( gr, Πάγραι) ( hy, Պաղրաս, translit=Paġras), is a town and its nearby castle in the İskenderun district of Turkey, in the Amanus Mountains.
Strabo's ...
, fifteen km from the battle.
Ignoring the advice of Walter, count of Jaffa, Armand attacked some foraging Muslim troops near Atlit and Acre during 1237. The battle went badly, with only Armand and nine men returning.
In September 1239, Armand arrived at
Acre
The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imp ...
. He made a treaty with Sultan of
Damascus
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, in parallel with the
Hospitaller
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...
treaty with the Sultan of Egypt. In 1244 the Sultan of Damascus demanded that the Templars help repel the
Seljuks
The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes
by the Turk ...
from
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
. In October 1244, the Templars, Hospitallers and
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...
, together with the Sultan of Damascus, confronted the Sultan of Egypt and his Khwarezmian allies at the
Battle of La Forbie
The Battle of La Forbie, also known as the Battle of Hiribya, was fought October 17, 1244 – October 18, 1244 between the allied armies (drawn from the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the crusading orders, the breakaway Ayyubids of Damascus, Homs, ...
. Despite Armand advising restraint, the Templars gave battle. The Christian-Muslim coalition was defeated, with more than 30,000 deaths. Some Templars and Hospitallers reached
Ascalon, still in Christian hands. Armand may have been killed during the battle, or may have been captured and died soon after.
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Armand De Lavoie
1178 births
1247 deaths
Grand Masters of the Knights Templar
13th-century soldiers
People from Périgueux
13th-century French people