Guillaume de Villaret (c. 1235 – 1305), was the twenty-fourth
Grand Master of the
Knights 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 ...
, a position he held from 1296 until 1305, succeeding
Odon de Pins
Odo de Pins (1212 – 24 March 1296), also known as Eudes de Pin or Odon de Pins, was the twenty-third Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, serving from 1294 until his death in 1296, succeeding Jean de Villiers.
He moved the headquarters of ...
. He was succeeded by his nephew,
Foulques de Villaret
Foulques de Villaret (Occitan: Folco del Vilaret, Catalan: Folc del Vilaret; died 1 September 1327), a native of Languedoc-Roussillon, France, was the 25th Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, succeeding his paternal uncle Guillaume de Villa ...
, whose career he had done much to advance.
Biography
Guillaume de Villaret was a native of
Languedoc-Roussillon
Languedoc-Roussillon (; oc, Lengadòc-Rosselhon ; ca, Llenguadoc-Rosselló) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, it joined with the region of Midi-Pyrénées to become Occitania. It comprised five departments, and ...
. Before his position as Master, Villaret had been Grand Prior of
Saint-Gilles. He spent the first few years of his mastership in a reforming tour of the Order's priories (in France proper, the
Auvergne
Auvergne (; ; oc, label=Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Auverg ...
and
Provence
Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...
). Guillaume had a nephew, once believed to be his brother, and an uncle in the Order of St. John of Jerusalem who bore the same name. The nephew,
Foulques de Villaret
Foulques de Villaret (Occitan: Folco del Vilaret, Catalan: Folc del Vilaret; died 1 September 1327), a native of Languedoc-Roussillon, France, was the 25th Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, succeeding his paternal uncle Guillaume de Villa ...
, was Admiral of the Order in 1299, then Grand Preceptor in 1302, then Guillaume's lieutenant in 1303 before becoming Grand Master himself in 1305. The uncle Foulques de Villaret, was chaplain of the Hospitaller Commandery of
Millau
Millau (; oc, Milhau ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Aveyron Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region in Southern France. One of two Subprefectures in France, subp ...
from 1239 to 1260.
Received as a knight in the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Guillaume de Villaret's first responsibilities in the Order were those of Grand Conservateur, or Draper, from October 1266. The position of Draper corresponded to that of a steward. In 1269, he was appointed Lieutenant of the Priory of Saint-Gilles. In 1270, he became the prior. This position, which he held until 1296, was one of the most useful for the Order thanks to the relations he maintained with the Pope and several sovereigns.
On 19 February 1274,
Philip III the Bold of France ceded the
Comtat Venaissin
The Comtat Venaissin (; Provençal: , Mistralian norm: , classical norm: ; 'County of Venaissin'), often called the for short, was a part of the Papal States (1274‒1791) in what is now the region of France.
The entire region was an enclave ...
to pope
Gregory X
Pope Gregory X ( la, Gregorius X; – 10 January 1276), born Teobaldo Visconti, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1 September 1271 to his death and was a member of the Secular Franciscan Order. He was ...
. The latter, having known de Villaret in the Holy Land and having been able to judge his capacities as an administrator in Saint-Gilles, appointed him rector of the Comtat on 27 April 1274. Guillaume had his men-at-arms control all the places in
Venaissin
The Comtat Venaissin (; Provençal: , Mistralian norm: , classical norm: ; 'County of Venaissin'), often called the for short, was a part of the Papal States (1274‒1791) in what is now the region of France.
The entire region was an enclave ...
, installing two knights in each ''castrum''. As rector he resided in Pernes-les-Fontaines or in Beaumes-de-Venise. Pierre Rostaing, bishop of Carpentras, was the first to pay homage to the pope's representative in the Comitat. In 1275, the rector summoned the three bishops of the Comtat and the nobles of Venaissin to an assembly to adopt new statutes. The end of his mandate as rector was between 29 March 1284 and 9 October 1287. In 1277, he became advisor to the king of Sicily,
Charles I of Anjou
Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou, was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the Capetian House of Anjou, second House of Anjou. He was Count of Provence (1246–85) and County of Fo ...
. He remained advisor to his son and heir
Charles II of Anjou
Charles II, also known as Charles the Lame (french: Charles le Boiteux; it, Carlo lo Zoppo; 1254 – 5 May 1309), was King of Naples, Count of Provence and Forcalquier (1285–1309), Prince of Achaea (1285–1289), and Count of Anjou and Maine ( ...
. The new king of Naples entrusted several negotiation missions to Guillaume. As a result, benefits accrued to his entourage, with his nephew, Guigue being named valet of Charles II.
Election as Grand Master
Grand Master
Odon de Pins
Odo de Pins (1212 – 24 March 1296), also known as Eudes de Pin or Odon de Pins, was the twenty-third Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, serving from 1294 until his death in 1296, succeeding Jean de Villiers.
He moved the headquarters of ...
died on 26 March 1296. The General Chapter of the Order met a few days later in Limassol. The concern of the General Chapter was the reorganization of the prerogatives of the Chapter and of the Grand Masters who had too much of a tendency not to respect the Chapter ordinances and to decide alone without the advice of the Chapter. Counting on the administrative qualities of Guillaume de Villaret, the chapter elected the prior of Saint-Gilles as the new Grand Master. The latter received in Provence a letter dated 3 April 1296 informing him of his election, but Guillaume did not hasten his departure. In fact, since the loss of the Holy Land, there was also talk of establishing the Order in the West. Guillaume thought that he would be more useful to the Order in France, Italy or even the Iberian Peninsula than in Cyprus, where the understanding was not always good with the island's leaders. It was during his presence outside Cyprus that he created the priory of Fieux in Quercy, the first prioress being Jourdaine de Villaret, his sister.
The longer de Villaret's arrival was delayed, the more discontent grew in Cyprus. When he convened a chapter in Marseilles in 1297, he was reproached for not going overseas and his status as Grand Master was contested, and he promised to convene a general chapter in August 1299 at the latest. When Jean de Toulouse, delegate of the Grand Master, brought to Limassol in the spring of 1299 Guillaume's letter convening a general chapter in Avignon on 1 August 1300, discontent was at its height. The chapter then sent an embassy, composed of Guillaume de Chaus and Jean de Laodicée, to convince de Villaret to go to Cyprus. In the end, the legal arguments presented by the ambassadors overcame the obstinacy of the Grand Master who finally went to Limassol. This new chapter met on 5 November 1300 in Limassol. It was during this chapter that Guillaume de Villaret was finally officially enthroned as Grand Master of the Order.
Reorganization of the Order
One of the first tasks to which de Villaret devoted himself was to reduce the power acquired by the General Chapter. However, he quickly agreed to give back the full extent of their powers to the members. He also sought to return to the founding principles of the Order and the life of the knights. Towards this end, he produced ordinances aimed at re-establishing a rigorous dress code and, above all, at ensuring that the framework of conventual life was respected more precisely.
[Phillips, Walter Alison (1911). " St John of Jerusalem, Knights of the Order of the Hospital of". In ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. 24. (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 12–19.]
In 1301, it was under his magistracy that an administrative division of the Order's possessions in the West was established, according to a chapter decree. This reorganization of the Order was inspired by a proposal made with Boniface de Calamandrana, Grand Commander of the Overseas Territories when he was Prior of Saint-Gilles. This division was based on the notion of the
Hospitaller Langue, because it respected linguistic zones that are more or less homogeneous. Thus seven Langues were formed: Provence (Toulouse and Saint-Gilles), France (Corbeil, Angers and Voulaines), Auvergne (Bourganeuf), Aragon (Amposta, Cizur, Barcelona, Consuegra and Crato), Italy (Asti, Venice, Pisa, Rome, Capua, Barletta and Messina), England (Clerkenwell and Kilmainham) and Germany (Heitersheim, Prague, Antvorskov, Vrana and Sonnenburg).
Villaret was successful in obtaining large additions of property and privileges from the Papacy and from various European princes. He also undertook a major reorganization of the Order and promulgated a series of statutes between 1300 and 1304, the most significant of which was the definition of the powers and status of the admiral, a new great dignitary who had first been appointed in 1299.
Combat in the Holy Land
After the
loss of Acre, the balance of power in the Holy Land between Christians and Mamluks was clearly in favor of the latter, who continued to advance. However, the Christians could count on the Mongols of Persia led by
Mahmud Ghazan Khan, whose expansionism pushed them to covet the Mamluk lands. The khan sent an ambassador to
Nicosia
Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...
, capital of the kingdom of Cyprus, to establish an alliance.
Henry II of Cyprus
Henry II (June 1270 – 31 August 1324) was the last crowned King of Jerusalem (after the fall of Acre on 28 May 1291, this title became empty) and also ruled as King of Cyprus. He was of the Lusignan dynasty.
He was the second surviving so ...
,
David VIII of Georgia
David VIII (Georgian language, Georgian: დავით VIII; 1273–1311), from the Bagrationi dynasty, was King of Georgia (country), Georgia in 1292–1302 and 1308-1311.
Eldest son of Demetre II of Georgia, Demetre II the Self-sacrificing ...
and Templar Grand Master
Jacques de Molay
Jacques de Molay (; c. 1240–1250 – 11 or 18 March 1314), also spelled "Molai",Demurger, pp. 1-4. "So no conclusive decision can be reached, and we must stay in the realm of approximations, confining ourselves to placing Molay's date of birth ...
decided to have him escorted to the pope to support the idea of an alliance. The alliance between Mahmud Ghazan Khan, the Knights Templar of Jacques de Molay, the Hospitallers of Guillaume de Villaret and the kingdom of Cyprus became effective in 1300.
While waiting for the results of this diplomatic initiative, Henry II, Guillaume de Villaret and Jacques de Molay raised a fleet for a raid on Egypt. The Christians, aboard sixteen galleys and a dozen small ships, were accompanied by a Mongolian emissary. In July 1300, they pillaged Rosetta and Alexandria before returning to Cyprus. The booty was considerable and the Christians sent a strong sign to Mahmud Ghazan, demonstrating their determination to engage in the planned battle. The Mongol leader then sent them a message to warn them that he intended to launch his campaign soon and invited them to disembark in Armenia to organize a joint offensive.
The king of Cyprus sent an army to Armenia accompanied by 300 knights of the two orders led by the grand masters in person. They stormed the island of Ruad, near the Syrian coast, with the aim of turning it into a base for their future operations. They then took the port city of Tortosa, pillaged the region, captured many Muslims and sold them as slaves in Armenia while waiting for the arrival of the Mongols, but this only led to the
Fall of Ruad
The fall of Ruad in 1302 was one of the culminating events of the Crusades in the Eastern Mediterranean. When the garrison on the tiny Isle of Ruad fell, it marked the loss of the last Crusader outpost on the coast of the Levant. In 1291, the C ...
, the last battle for the Holy Land.
Hospitaller Rhodes
When the Hospitallers retreated to Cyprus, the island was already occupied by the titular king of Jerusalem,
Henry II of Cyprus
Henry II (June 1270 – 31 August 1324) was the last crowned King of Jerusalem (after the fall of Acre on 28 May 1291, this title became empty) and also ruled as King of Cyprus. He was of the Lusignan dynasty.
He was the second surviving so ...
. He was only moderately pleased that an organization as powerful as the Order could compete with him for the sovereignty of such a small island. According to traditional historians of the Order, it was Henry who set Guillaume on the path to conquer the island of
Rhodes
Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...
. This objective was achieved under Guillaume's successor, resulting in what is known as
Hospitaller Rhodes
The history of Rhodes under the Order of Saint John lasted from 1310 until 1522. The island of Rhodes was a sovereign territorial entity of the Knights Hospitaller who settled on the island from Outremer, Palestine and from Kingdom of Cyprus, Cyp ...
which would last from 1310 until 1522.
Death and succession
Guillaume de Villaret died between 23 November 1304 and 3 November 1305, probably in the spring of 1305 or on 9 June 1305 in Cyprus, which he had been so slow to reach. When the chapter met to decide on his successor, the choice fell on
Foulques de Villaret
Foulques de Villaret (Occitan: Folco del Vilaret, Catalan: Folc del Vilaret; died 1 September 1327), a native of Languedoc-Roussillon, France, was the 25th Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, succeeding his paternal uncle Guillaume de Villa ...
. Although some sources refer to him as Guillaume's brother, it seems that he was his nephew.
See also
* ''
Cartulaire général de l'Ordre des Hospitaliers''
*
List of Knights Hospitaller sites
The Knights Hospitaller operated a wide network of properties in the Middle Ages from their successive seats in Jerusalem, Acre, Cyprus, Rhodes and eventually Malta. In the early 14th century, they received many properties and assets previously ...
*
Langue (Knights Hospitaller)
A langue or tongue ( it, lingua) was an administrative division of the Knights Hospitaller (also known as the Order of St. John of Jerusalem) between 1319 and 1798. The term referred to a rough ethno-linguistic division of the geographical dis ...
*
Flags of the Knights Hospitaller
References
Bibliography
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External links
*
Guillaume de Villaret
Guillaume de Villaret (c. 1235 – 1305), was the twenty-fourth Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, a position he held from 1296 until 1305, succeeding Odon de Pins. He was succeeded by his nephew, Foulques de Villaret, whose career he had d ...
. French Wikipedia.
*
Liste des grands maîtres de l'ordre de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem. French Wikipedia.
*Eugène Harot
Essai d’armorial des Grands-Maîtres de l’Ordre de Saint Jean de JérusalemSeals of the Grand Masters Museum of the Order of St John.
*Charles Moeller,
Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem
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 military order. It was headqu ...
. ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' (1910). 7. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
*
Knights of the Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. 20. (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 12–19.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Villaret, Guillaume De
1305 deaths
Knights Hospitaller
Grand Masters of the Knights Hospitaller
13th-century French people
Year of birth unknown