ABSTRACT
William of Tyre is justly famous as an early and influential critic of the military orders. Scattered through the latter part of his history are several reports of events that detract from the Templars’ reputation for probity in seeking the best interests of the Latin East. These range from the Templar greed which delayed the capture of Ascalon in 1153 through to the Christian defeat at Marj Ayun in 1179, for which William held the Templar master, Odo of St Amand, responsible. William gives by far the fullest account of the story. He was well placed to know what had happened, but how he chose to construct his narrative to put across his own particular message is another matter. Clearly he had seized on the episode as a chance to cast the Templars in a poor light, but people can never know the extent to which he embellished his tale in order to achieve that purpose.
