Armand de Périgord

Armand de Périgord (or Hermann of Pierre-Gross) (1178 - 1247?), of the family of the counts of Périgord, was Master of the order of the Temple.

He was Master of the province of Apulie and Sicily of 1205 to 1232, date on which he was elected Master of the order. He organized the attack of Cana, Safita and Sephoria and fought the Infidels in the area of the Lac of Tibériade. All these companies showed a failure and decreased the power of the order.

In 1236, at the border between the Syria and the Cilicie, 120 knights as well as archers and turcopoles were surprised in a ambush close to the town of Darbsâk (Terbezek). At the beginning of the battle which followed, the Templiers invested the city but they met a strong resistance there. When helps arrived of Damas to help the Infidels, Templiers were massacred. There did not remain about it even a score which could join their fortress of Ascalon, to 20 km from there.

In September 1239, Armand arrived at Midsummer's Day d' Acre. He concludes a treaty with the sultan there from Damas, as the Hospitaliers had done it with the Sultan of Egypt. In 1244 the Sultan of Damas asked for the assistance of Templiers to push back the Khwarezm iens of minor Asia. In October 1244, the federate forces of Templiers, Hospital and the Teutoniques, in.liaison.with that of the sultan of Damas, clashed with the sultan of Egypt and with its Khwarezmiens allies with the battles of Forbie. The coalition of the Christians and the Syrian mahométans was overcome, leaving more than 30.000 died on the battle field. Some knights of the Temple and the Hospital managed to take refuge in Saint Jean d' Acre, still with the hands of the Christian forces. The fate of Armand de Périgord is dubious: it is not known if he died, or if he were captured - he could have lived until 1247.

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