History
of the Mas de L’Hospitalet
When
you go from Bagard to Saint Christol, you will see the Mas
de L’Hospitalet. It is a solid building whose size,
and opulent architecture and well-preserved stones are impressive.
The building was constructed several centuries ago, before
the Alès Templars dissolved the Order of the Knights
Templar (as featured in the famous Dan Brown novel 'The
Da Vinci Code'), over the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries.
The mission of this House of the Templars was three-fold:
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To collect all the harvests and crops of the large domains
belonging to the Templars and send them by convoy to Saint
Gilles, where they embarked for Palestine;
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To keep the Anduze - Alès road safe. We must not
forget that the Order of the Knights Templar was both
religious and military and the bravery of its members
in defending the Christian world is legendary;
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And finally, perhaps, to be a stopping point for pilgrims
(Bagard was on both the route to Jerusalem and to Saint
Jacques de Compostelle). This mission could possibly have
extended to taking in people in difficulty or who were
ill, although no documents really prove this. Nonetheless,
this hypothesis could perhaps justify the use of the term
l’Espitalet, which evolved into Hospitalet.
Whatever
the case, the power and influence of the order was at its
height at the beginning of the 14th century. The power and
money-thirsty king Philippe le Bel could no longer tolerate
their power. He devoted himself to pulling down the organization
by harassing, imprisoning, even torturing its main members
and confiscating and taking over a certain amount of its property.
In the ensuing long trial, he enlisted the services of pope
Clement V himself, who, in the name of the Church, condemned
the Order of the Templars.
Nonetheless, in the present Gard département, the fate
of the Templars (and that of their dependants) seems to have
been less harsh then elsewhere.
In the 1307 Alès trial of the Templars seven names
of the Templars captured at l’Espitalet appear. They
were shut up in the Alès royal castle along with Templars
captured at Aigues-Mortes, Nîmes or Saint Gilles. The
investigations lasted until 1312. Then the pope lost interest
(or felt remorse) and ordered the bishop in Nîmes to
absolve the Templars who had confessed and repented of the
crimes they had been accused of. The seven templars were absolved
then freed in 1312.
The property belonging to the Espitalet Templars’ house
devolved on the Order of the Hospitaliers of Saint Jean de
Jerusalem, whose vocation was medical. This order later became
the Order of St John of Malta, and the same estate and its
lands then became the responsibility of the Great Priory of
the Hospitaliers of Saint Gilles.
What happened to the estate in later centuries?
How did it fare during the French revolution?
Nobody knows.
For bookings and
enquires please contact:
Mas de L’Hospitalet
F – 30140 Bagard
Tel: 33 – 4 – 66 60 61 23
Email
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