Everard des Barres (also Eberhard von Barres or Eberhard De Bären) (died after 1176) was the third Grand Master of the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

from 1147 to 1152. Everard was Master of the Templars in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and accompanied

Louis VII of France Louis VII (1120 – 18 September 1180), called the Younger or the Young () to differentiate him from his father Louis VI, was King of France from 1137 to 1180. His first marriage was to Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the wealthiest and ...

on the

Second Crusade The Second Crusade (1147–1149) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crus ...

. In 1147, he was one of the three ambassadors that negotiated the passage of the Crusader army through the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

with Emperor

Manuel I Komnenos Manuel I Komnenos (; 28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180), Latinized as Comnenus, also called Porphyrogenitus (; " born in the purple"), was a Byzantine emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history o ...

. Upon the death of

Robert de Craon Robert de Craon or Robert Burgundio (died 13 January 1149) was the second Grand Master of the Knights Templar from June 1136 until his death. He was instrumental in getting papal sanction for the Templar Order, making it independent from ecclesi ...

in 1149, he was elected Grand Master of the Templar Order. His election was clearly influenced by the connection he had with Louis VII, since the Order needed to exploit those contacts and resources within France to maintain its military presence in the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

. Everard later saved Louis during a battle with the

Seljuk Turks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turks, Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate society, Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persi ...

Pisidia Pisidia (; , ; ) was a region of ancient Asia Minor located north of Pamphylia, northeast of Lycia, west of Isauria and Cilicia, and south of Phrygia, corresponding roughly to the modern-day province of Antalya in Turkey. Among Pisidia's set ...

. According to the chronicler Odo of Deuil, Everard was extremely pious and valiant. He seems to have had a strong influence on Louis. During the crusade, in May 1148, Louis asked for his assistance securing a loan from the Templars to continue funding the French campaign. After the failure of the

crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

at the Siege of Damascus in 1148, Louis returned to France, followed by Everard, who was in charge of the king's treasury. Everard's Templars stayed behind and helped defend

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

against a Turkish raid in 1149. Back in France, Everard resigned in 1152 and became a monk at Clairvaux alongside

Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard of Clairvaux, Cistercians, O.Cist. (; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, Mysticism, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templar, and a major leader in the reform of the Benedictines through the nascent Cistercia ...

. He was succeeded by Bernard de Tremelay. He died some time after 1176.

References

Bibliography

*4 * * * * 1174 deaths Grand masters of the Knights Templar Christians of the Second Crusade 12th-century French people Year of birth unknown {{Europe-mil-bio-stub