The Knights Templars.

the investiture thereof , it being considered a fief loelonging to the Kingdom of Poland , and held by military tenure . Later on , the Knights were 'totally dispossessed of Prussia . Their Grand

Master Albert de Bradenburg , having embraced ¦ ihe Protestant faith , Sj gismund , King of Poland , Ms cousin , invested him with the sovereignty of that country . This took place at Cracow , on 5 th April , 1525 .

From that period it was denominated Ducal Prussia , and Frederick III ., Margrave of Braden'burg , and Elector of the Holy Roman Empire in 1701 , procured its erection into a kingdom , the Emperor Leopold I . having granted an imperial concession to that effect .

Upon this defection of de Bradenburg , the iKnights elected Walter Kronberg , Grand Master , who established the head quarters of the Order at Mergentheim in Suabia , styling himself Administrator of the Grand Mastership in Prussia ,

-and Master of the Teutonic Equestrian Order in Germany , Italy , and their dependencies . As such he was recognised as a Sovereign Prince of the Empire , and was received as a member of the Circle of Franconia . At the peace of Presburg

iu 1805 , the Emperor of Austria obtained the rights and revenues of the Grand Master , but in 1809 Napoleon abolished the Order , its lands passing to the sovereigns , in whose dominions they lay . The Teutonic Order , however , continues to preserve a titular existence in Austria .

The possessions of the Order in 1790 were divided into eleven Bailliewicks , viz ., Alsace , Austria , Tyrol , Coblentz , Franconia , Biesen , Westphalia , and Lorraine ( Roman Catholic ) , and Hesse , Thuringia , and Saxony ( Protestant ) . The

Order will be found constantly appearing in the wars which form the present book of the Templars ' History . * Upon the close of the third crusade the Templars set vigorously to work to repair the

fortifications of the various strongholds still in their possession . They began the erection of the celebrated fortress Chateau Pelerin , or Pilgrim ' s

Castle , referred to in Chapter VIII . of the Second Book of this history . Other strongholds were also built , and the Hospitallers and Teutons were not behind them in erecting defences .

On the 13 th March , 1193 , Saladin hacl . died , and the mighty kingdom which he had constructed like that of the great Alexander , crumbled away . No great conqueror such as Alexander , Saladin , and Napoleon the First , has ever yet been able to

transmit to his posterity , the entire dominions which he has acquired . Like the waters which have been dam'd up , for a brief space they may be held together , but the hour comes when the embankments give way , and the hard won spoil ,

is dispersed . An event of such a nature should have called forth all the energies of the Christians , advantage should have been taken of the dissensions among the Musselmen , the conquest of Palestine lay before them , but the opportunity

slipped past and unemployed . God seemed to have blinded the eyes of the Christians , and the last chance of success for their eyes in the Holy Land , was for ever lost . Saladin ' s kingdom was partitioned , three of his numerous sons erected

thrones at Cairo , Damascus and Aleppo ; but the veterans of his army , followed the flag of his brother , Saif-Eddin , who , at his nephew's expense , created a sovereignty , which embraced a considerable part of Syria .

Throughout Europe Saladin's death caused the utmost joy , and it was considered a favourable opportunity for renewing the crusade . * Pope Celestine III ., then a very aged man , sounded the trumpet for a new crusade , but , with the

exception of Germany , the Christians remained inactive . In Germany the religious war fever raged like fire . North and South , Clergy and Laity , all burned with the divine zeal . f Two expeditions were formed , the one , marshalled by the Dukes of

Brabant and Saxony , the other by the Archbishop of Mayence and Valeran of Limbourg who reached the Holy Land first . The Christians in the Holy Land viewed them with the greatest disfavour , they being in the midst of a profound peace , and

the truce with Saladin still unexpired . The Germans were not to he baulked , they scouted the idea of holding faith with the Infidel , and insisted upon a declaration of war . The Templars , Hospitallers , and others bitterly opposed such a breach