In
1229, Richard de Argentein, Lord of Halesworth Manor, departed from
England to venture forth 'on a
pilgrimage to the Holy Lands'. This
was still the time of the Crusades, and a year earlier in 1228,
Frederick II of Germany was gathering troops and supplies to commence
a new Crusade to free Jerusalem once again from the Turkish
domination.
The
Crusades were started over 150 years earlier to clear the way for
Christian pilgrims to visit the holy places in Jerusalem. Pope Urban
preached 'Christ himself shall be
your leader, wear his cross as your
badge'. So the knights had large crosses sewn onto their
surcoats.
The various crusades won and then lost lands frequently. In England,
when Henry II died, his son Richard was about to leave for the Holy
Land when he was crowned, and was given the popular title 'Coeur de
Lion' or the lion-heart. Of his ten years reign only six months
were
spent in England, with the rest being undergone in battle or
imprisonment.
Two
great military orders were created, the Knights of St John, known as
the Knights Hospitallers, and the Knights of the Temple, called the
Knights Templar. They created hospitals, built churches and were a
kind of mediaeval British Legion. There are 4 round churches built in
England by the Knights Templar which are in the shape of the church
in Jerusalem. One is in Little Maplestead in Essex, while another is
in Cambridge. The pilgrims who travelled to the Holy Land often
returned wearing a badge in the form of a scallop shell as a memento,
they were themselves known as Palmers as the palm branch was another
badge used. At several churches, such as at Wissett and at Holton,
the palmer's scallop shell can be seen carved in the mouldings of the
Norman doorway.
It
is possible that Richard de Argentein sailed from Suffolk from the
harbour at Dunwich, as many pilgrims travelled that way in the Middle
Ages, although when travelling abroad, the ships also left from
Southwold and Ipswich.
The Crusade of Frederick of Germany
was successful, and both Jerusalem and places in the south of
Palestine were captured. Richard de Argentein returned home safely,
and died peacefully in 1246. Not all crusaders were as fortunate, for
Hugh Bigod, owner of Bungay Castle, died in 1178 while on the
Crusades in Syria, fighting against the might of the Great Saladin,
Sultan of Egypt and Syria.