The prince enjoyed a close relationship with the leaders of the Military Orders: the knights of the Temple, the Hospitallers and the Teutonic Knights. Edward’s need for men and materials in the Holy Land played a major role in this, as did his reliance on established communication networks and the political influence of the Orders.
His dependence on them was also dictated by finance. Edward and his followers borrowed about £15,000 from the Hospitallers and Templars, for example. He also enjoyed a long correspondence through the 1270s with the Masters of the Hospital and the Temple. Joseph Chauncy, treasurer of the Hospital since 1248, returned to England and became Edward’s own treasurer until 1281. Edward also gave custody of a tower he built in Acre, the Tower of the English, over to the lesser Order of St Edward of Acre.
The Military Orders were not the power of old. In 1268 the Hospitallers may have been able to field 300 knights in the whole of the Latin East, with a similar commitment from the Temple. It is unlikely that these men were ever gathered in force in one place. Nor were they particularly aggressive. Knights such as Oliver de Termes (a former Cathar) frequently advised caution against the Mamluks, and avoided direct confrontation when possible. This helped to preserve what was left of Christian forces in the East, but did nothing to recover lost territory. The Latin field forces in the East were simply no match for Baibars and the Mamluk army.
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