See also

Family of Robert + of SABLE and Clemence + of MAYENNE

Husband: Robert + of SABLE ( -1196)
Wife: Clemence + of MAYENNE (1168-1209)
Children: Marguerite + of SABLE (1179- )

Husband: Robert + of SABLE

Name: Robert + of SABLE
Sex: Male
Father: Robert III + (1120-1151)
Mother: Hersinde + of ATHENAISE (1120-1151)
Birth
Occupation Grand Master of the Knights Templar
Title frm 1191 to 1193 Grand Master of the Knights Templar
Death 1196 Palestine

Wife: Clemence + of MAYENNE

Name: Clemence + of MAYENNE
Sex: Female
Father: Geoffrey II(IV) + (1145-1169)
Mother: -
Birth 1168
Death 1209 (age 40-41)

Child 1: Marguerite + of SABLE

Name: Marguerite + of SABLE
Sex: Female
Spouse: William + of ROCHES (1165-1222)
Birth 1179 France
Death "6/1238" France
Burial Perray-aux-Nonnains

Note on Husband: Robert + of SABLE

Robert de Sablé was the Grand Master of the Knights Templar from 1191 to 1193 and Lord of Cyprus from 1191 to 1192.

Personal lifeNo exact record of his birth date exists, but it is believed he was relatively old at the time of his death. He was born to a respected military family in Anjou and was "a leading Angevin vassal of the King".[1] His lordship was based in a cluster of lands in the River Sarthe valley, which he inherited in the 1160s.[1] He married Clemence de Mayenne (died before 1209), the daughter of Geoffroy, Seigneur de Mayenne and Isabelle de Meulan. He was succeeded in Anjou by his daughter Marguerite de Sablé, who by marriage passed the entire honor to William des Roches, also a knight of the Third Crusade. Robert died in the Holy Land on 23 September 1193.[2]

 

[edit] Military record[edit] Angevin Civil WarIn 1173, Sablé supported Henry the Young King in a revolt against Henry II. The uprising was crushed but Robert must have remained in favour with the Angevin Kings, as Richard I would later be instrumental in his appointment as Grand Master.[1] He contributed money to French monastic houses in 1190 as a way of making amends.[1]

 

[edit] Third CrusadeDespite only having a short tenure, Sablé's reign was filled with campaigning, and successful campaigning at that. The might of Richard the Lion Heart's strategy, seasoned troops, and the elite Templar knights scored many victories. During the Third Crusade, they laid siege to the city of Acre, which soon fell. Throughout August 1191, they also recaptured many fortresses and cities along the Palestinian coast, which had been lost previously.

 

The new coalition's finest hour was the Battle of Arsuf, 7 September 1191. Saladin's Muslim forces appeared to have become far stronger than the Christians, and a decisive victory was desperately needed. Pooling all of the crusader's strength, the Knights Hospitaller joined the ranks, plus many knights from Sablé's native Anjou, Maine, and Brittany. They met Saladin's troops on the dry plains and soon broke his ranks. Those who stayed to fight were killed, and the remaining Islamic troops were forced to retreat.

 

[edit] Acquisition of CyprusAt the end of 1191, Richard Lion Heart agreed to sell Cyprus to the Templars for 25,000 pieces of silver. Richard had plundered the island from the Byzantine forces of a rival emperor in Cyprus some months earlier and had no real use for it. The Hospitallers would later establish solid bases on the islands Rhodes and Malta, but Sablé failed to do the same with the island of Cyprus. He was lord for two years, until he gave (or sold) the island to Guy de Lusignan, King of Jerusalem, as he was without a kingdom.

 

Sablé did manage to establish a Chieftain House of the Order in Saint-Jean d'Acre, which remained for almost a century.

 

[edit] Delayed electionSablé was lucky to have been Grand Master at all, as at the time of Gerard de Ridefort's death, he was not even a member of the Templar Order. However, the senior knights had become increasingly opposed to Masters fighting on the front line, and the capture and beheading of Grand Master Gerard de Ridefort became the final straw. They delayed elections for over a year so that the rules regarding active service of Grand Masters could be reviewed. During this hiatus, Sablé did join the order, just in time to be considered for election. When he was made Grand Master, he had been a Templar knight for less than a year.

 

[edit] In popular cultureIn the 2007 video game Assassin's Creed, Robert de Sablé is presented as the main antagonist (in addition to being presented as the leader of the Knights Templar within the game's story). However, the game portrays Robert getting assassinated in 1191, whereas in real life, he died in 1193 of natural causes. In the game, it is said that the Templars rewrote history. This might explain the change in the timeline of his death.