Robert de Craon

Craon family

The Craon family was a French noble house, known to date back to the 11th century. Its most famous member is Pierre de Craon, and its last representative governed Burgundy for a time under Louis XI, after the death of Charles le Téméraire. When the Craon family died out, the Beauvau family took...

(died January 13, 1147) was the second Grand Master of the Knights Templar

Knights Templar

The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...

, from June 1136 until his death.

He was born around the turn of the 12th century, the youngest of the three sons of Renaud de Craon. He settled in Aquitaine

Aquitaine

Aquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, :Lot et Garonne, :Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes...

 and was engaged to the daughter of the lord of Angoumois

Angoumois

Angoumois was a county and province of France, nearly corresponding today to the Charente département. Its capital was Angoulême....

, but gave up his wedding and travelled to Palestine

Palestine

Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....

 after learning of the foundation of the Templar Order by Hughes de Payens

Hughes de Payens

Hugues de Payens , also Hughes de Payns , Hughes de Pagan , a French knight from the Champagne region, was the co-founder and first Grand Master of the Knights Templar...

. He soon showed his military valour and his piety, and in 1136, after the death of Hughes, he was chosen as the new Grand Master. He proved to be a brilliant organizer and legislator, and turned the Order into a major force in the Crusader states. On March 29, 1139, Pope Innocent II

Pope Innocent II

Pope Innocent II , born Gregorio Papareschi, was pope from 1130 to 1143, and was probably one of the clergy in personal attendance on the antipope Clement III .-Early years:...

 issued the bull

Papal bull

A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....

 Omne Datum Optimum

Omne Datum Optimum

Omne Datum Optimum was a Papal Bull issued by Pope Innocent II in 1139 that initially endorsed the Order of the Poor Knights of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , in which the Templar Rule was officially approved, and papal protection given...

, which exempted the order from tithe

Tithe

A tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural products...

s and made them independent of any ecclesiastical jurisdiction. The Templars were also granted the habit of a red cross over a white tunic, which has since become the popular image of any crusader

Crusader

- Military :* Crusader, a participant in one of the Crusades* Crusader states, states set up by the Europeans in the Middle East during The Crusades* Crusader tank, a British cruiser tank of World War II* HMS Crusader, three British naval ships...

.

He was less fortunate as a military leader. As soon as he had been elected, he defeated Zengi

Zengi

Imad ad-Din Zengi was the atabeg of Mosul, Aleppo, Hama and Edessa and founder of the Zengid dynasty, to which he gave his name.-Early life:...

, the emir

Emir

Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...

 of Aleppo

Aleppo

Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...

 and let his knights plunder the enemy camp; Zengi returned and destroyed the unorganized pillagers. Robert authorized the Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 Templars to lead a naval expedition of about 70 ships against Lisbon

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

, but this also ended in defeat. In 1140 the Templars resisted a numerically superior Turkish army at the Battle of Tecua.
In 1143, after protracted negotiations between Raymond Berenguer IV

Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona

Ramon Berenguer IV , sometimes called the Holy, was the Count of Barcelona who effected the union between the Kingdom of Aragon and the Principality of Catalonia into the Crown of Aragon....

 (the Count of Barcelona and a Templar) the order's mission on the Iberian peninsula was defined. According to William of Tyre

William of Tyre

William of Tyre was a medieval prelate and chronicler. As archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from a predecessor, William of Malines...

, Robert participated in the Council of Acre

Council of Acre

The Council of Acre met at Palmarea, near Acre, a major city of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, on 24 June 1148. The Haute Cour of Jerusalem met with recently-arrived crusaders from Europe, to decide on the best target for the crusade. The Second Crusade had been called after the fall of Edessa...

 during the Second Crusade

Second Crusade

The Second Crusade was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa the previous year to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crusade by Baldwin of Boulogne in 1098...

 in 1148, but according to the Obituary of Reims, he died in January of 1147, and was succeeded by Everard des Barres

Everard des Barres

Everard des Barres was the third Grand Master of the Knights Templar from 1147 to 1151....

in April that year.