206 THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS
but did not contain someone who had been to the Holy Land
and was able to speak from personal knowledge of the
fighting monks or at least retail the stories current in
the Latin East. Such a returned traveller might praise the
courage of the Knights Templars, but he would also tell
of the luxurious lives of the brethren and whisper the tales
of the jealousy and rivalry of the Orders. When Islam
triumphed and an explanation had to be found for the failure
of the Franks, these tales were recalled and people reminded
each other how the Temple and the Hospital had squandered
the money given for the holy war and wasted their strength
in internecine struggles.
Scandal must have something on which to feed, and the
undoubted jealousy of the fighting Orders offered excellent
opportunities to the scandalmongers. The Temple and the
Hospital had been rivals from the middle of the twelfth
century. Each Order wanted to outshine the other—to have
more land, more castles, more money, more men. The
fraternities competed with each other for members, and in
their eagerness to swell their numbers were not particular
whom they enrolled 5 they planned to attract great barons
whose membership would add lustre to their Order, and
to enlist recruits with large fortunes. The rivalry, however,
was often more healthy than otherwise. The Orders were
spurred to mighty deeds to prove their superior courage and
daring, and many of the most glorious victories were won
because the Temple wished to outdo the Hospital or vice
versa. On several occasions their jealousy led to fights
between them, but the frequency and extent of such clashes
have been very much exaggerated. In the last fifty years
of the Latin occupation, however, there were at least three
considerable fights in which the losses were heavy on both
sides.
The quarrels of the Temple and the Hospital caused
unnecessary loss of life and disturbed the kingdom, but where