Peire de Montagut (? – 28 January 1232) was 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 1218 to 1232. He took part in the

Fifth Crusade The Fifth Crusade (September 1217 - August 29, 1221) was a campaign in a series of Crusades by Western Europeans to reacquire Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land by first conquering Egypt, ruled by the powerful Ayyubid sultanate, led by al- ...

and was against the

Sultan of Egypt Sultan of Egypt was the status held by the rulers of Egypt after the establishment of the Ayyubid dynasty of Saladin in 1174 until the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517. Though the extent of the Egyptian Sultanate ebbed and flowed, it generally ...

's conditions for raising the siege of

Damietta Damietta ( ' ) is a harbor, port city and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt. It is located at the Damietta branch, an eastern distributary of the Nile Delta, from the Mediterranean Sea, and about north of Cairo. It was a Cath ...

. He was previously Master of the Crown of Aragon.

Personal details

A close friend of William of Chartres, it was most likely the trust the previous Grand Master had in him which meant he himself was elected so quickly in 1218. At the same time, the Grand Master of the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...

was

Guérin de Montaigu Guérin de Montaigu (; died 1228), also known as Garin de Montaigu or Pierre Guérin de Montaigu, was a nobleman from Auvergne, who became the fourteenth Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, serving from 1207–1228. He succeeded the Grand Ma ...

, who is likely to have been Pere's brother. The close relationship between the two military orders during this period was probably a result of this.Riley-Smith, Jonathan (1967). ''The Knights of St. John in Jerusalem and Cyprus, c. 1050-1310''. Macmillan. p. 156 His life after retiring from public life is unknown.

Military record

His actions against the Muslim forces working for the capture of

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 ...

were so effective, that they were forced to propose a surrender. In return for the Templars calling off their siege at

, the Islamic forces would return many Frankish soldiers, halt attacks on Jerusalem and most importantly, return the part of the

True Cross According to Christian tradition, the True Cross is the real instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, cross on which Jesus of Nazareth was Crucifixion of Jesus, crucified. It is related by numerous historical accounts and Christian mythology, legends ...

, captured from the Europeans at the

Battle of Hattin The Battle of Hattin took place on 4 July 1187, between the Crusader states of the Levant and the forces of the Ayyubid sultan Saladin. It is also known as the Battle of the Horns of Hattin, due to the shape of the nearby extinct volcano of ...

. Catholic pressure meant the Muslim terms were refused and the carnage continued. His military victories, aided by the Hospitaller knights, made him a renowned warrior.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montagut, Pere De Grand masters of the Knights Templar Christians of the Fifth Crusade 1232 deaths