Geoffrey de St. Omer

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Geoffrey de St Omer (also known as Gaufred, Godefroi, or Godfrey de St Omer, Saint Omer, or Saint-Omer) was a Flemish knight, one of the founding members of the Knights Templar in 1118. He is said to have also come from the family of the Lords of Saint-Omer (in today's northern France): William I, Lord of Saint Omer, and his son Hugh by Melisende de Piquigny, participated in the First Crusade as vassals of Robert II of Flanders. Hugh de Saint-Omer was mentioned as one of the best knights in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Chronologically Gaufred may have been Hugh's brother but it is also said that he was Hugo's son. On the list of crusaders a Gauthier de Saint-Omer is listed, which could be a mistake for Gaufred (Gauthier de Saint-Omer was not yet born). Therefore Geoffrey probably came to Jerusalem in 1099 with William I and Hugh. It has been said that Hughes de Payens (the first Grand-Master) and Geoffrey were so poor that between the two of them they had only one horse, and that this gave rise to the seal of the Templars (two men on one horse).

[edit] References

• Malcolm Barber, The New Knighthood: A History of the Order of the Temple. Cambridge University Press, 1994. ISBN 0-521-42041-5
• Sean Martin, The Knights Templar: The History & Myths of the Legendary Military Order, 2005. ISBN 1-56025-645-1