The resources of the Knights Templars increased, in a very short space, in such a remarkable manner, by donations and legacies, that some historians declare that the revenue of the order amounted to four and a half millions sterling; others merely observe that the Templars possessed enormous wealth in Christendom, one item being nine thousand houses. In 1129 they already had several establishments in the Low Countries; six years later the King of Navarre and of Aragon, Alphonso I., bequeathed his states to the order; but it was with great difficulty that the knights obtained possession of even a few of his towns. At that time, however, they possessed seventeen strongholds in the kingdom of Valencia. In their quarters in London were deposited most of the treasures of the English crown, and King Philip Augustus, on the eve of his departure for the Holy Land, entrusted them with the care of his jewels and archives. [Illustration: Fig. 148.--The Earthern Vase, on one side of which is seen, between two fleurs-de-lis, the figure of St. Paul bitten by a serpent, bears a Latin inscription signifying, “In the name of St. Paul, and by this stone, thou shalt drive out poison.” On the other side is engraved in relief the cross of the Temple, between a sword and a serpent. Another Vase bears the head of a saint and a sword, and is surrounded by venomous animals and herbs. On the Medal is represented a dragon with an Italian legend signifying, “The grace of St. Paul is proof against any poison.” These objects were found in 1863 at Florence, on the site of the old Church of the Templars, dedicated to St. Paul.--Collection of M. Gancia.] The Templars were magnificent soldiers, and the annals of the Crusades are full of their feats of arms. Few knights acquired the fame they did in their expeditions across the seas; though always inferior in number to the infidel, who held them in greater fear than the Crusaders, they almost always defeated them. The defence of Gaza, the battle of Tiberias, the capture of Damietta, and the Egyptian Crusade, are all splendid attestations of their courage and prowess. The Templars in time reached the summit of their fortunes, the height of their prosperity and their fame, and nothing was left to them but to decay. Inflated with wealth, laden with privileges which gave them almost sovereign power, the only judges they recognised were the pope and themselves. The order at last became so demoralised by luxury and idleness that it forgot the aim for which it was founded, disdained to obey its own rules, and gave itself up to the love of gain and thirst for pleasure. Its covetousness and pride soon became boundless. The knights pretended that they were above the reach of even crowned heads: they seized and pillaged without concern the property of both infidels and Christians.