The Knights Templars

and slaughter-The valiant deeds of the Marshal of the Temple-The fatal battle of Tiberias-The captivity of the Grand Master and the true cross-The captive Templars are offered the Koran or death-They

the Master of the Temple at London-

ere the virgin blossom of Mary was wrapt up in linen and spices, and where the

n his journey to England, as before mentioned,

assembly was acquainted, in the king's name, with the object of the solemn embassy just sent to him from Jerusalem, and with the desire of the royal penitent to fulfil his vow and perform his penance; but the barons were at the same time reminded of the old age of their sovereign, of the bad state of his health, and of the necessity for his presence in England. They accordingly represented to King Henry

uertysed, entendynge somwhat to recomforte hym with pleasaunte words, folowed hym to the see syde. But the more the kynge thought to satysfye hym with hys fayre speche, the more the patryarke was dyscontentyd, in so myche that at the last he sayde unto hym, 'Hytherto thou haste reygned gloryously, but here after thou shalt be forsaken of hym whom thou at thys tyme forsakeste. Thynke on hym what he hath gyuen to thee, and what thou haste yelden to him agayne: howe fyrste thou were false unto the kynge of Fraunce, and after slewe that holy man Thomas of Caunterburye, and lastely thou forsakeste the proteccyon of Crystes faith.' The kynge was amoued wyth these wordes, and sayde unto the patryarke, 'Though all the men of my lande were one bodye, and spake with on

the Holy Land. On his arrival at Jerusalem with intelligence of his ill success the greatest consternation prevailed amongst the Latin Christians: and it was generally observed that the true cross, which had been recovered from the Persians by the Emperor Heraclius, was about to be lost under the pontificate, and by the fault of a patriarch of the same name. A cotemporary writer of Palestine tells us that the patriarch was a very handsome person, and, in consequence of his beauty, the mother of the king of Jerusalem fell in love

onation of the young prince, and resigned his authority to the count of Tripoli, who was appointed regent of the kingdom during the minority of the sovereign, whilst all the fortresses and castles of the land were committed to the safe keeping of the Templars and Hospitallers. The youthful Baldwin was carried with vast pomp to the great church of the Holy Sepulchre, and was there anointed and crowned by the patriarch in the presence of the Grand Masters of the Temple and the Hospital. According to ancient custom he was taken, wearing his crown, to the Temple of the Lord, to make certain offerings, after which he went to the Temple of Solomon, where the Templars resided, and was entertained at dinner, together with his barons, by the Grand Master of the Temple and the military friars. Shortly after the coronation (A. D. 1186) the ex-king, Baldwin IV., died at Jerusalem, and was buried in the church of the Resurrection, by the side of Godfrey de Bouillon, and the other Christian kings. His death was followed, in the short space of seven months, by that of the infant sovereign Baldwin V., and Sibylla thus became the undoubted heiress to the throne. The count of Tripoli refused, however, to surrender the re

the great church of the Resurrection, where the patriarch Heraclius and all his clergy were in readiness to receive them. The crowns of the Latin kingdom were kept in a large chest in the treasury, fastened with two locks. The Grand Master of the Temple kept the key of one of these locks, and the Grand Master of the Hospital had the other. On their arrival at the church,

ich the countess of Jaffa was seated. Heraclius then performed the solemn ceremony of the coronation, and when he had placed the crown on the queen's head, he reminded her that she was a frail and feeble woman, but ill fitted to contend with the toil and strife in which the beleaguered kingdom of Palestine was continually involved, and he therefore exhorted her to make choice of some person to govern the king

n of Jerusalem. As soon as Humphrey de Thoron heard of the proceedings of the count of Tripoli and the barons, he hurried with the princess to Jerusalem, and the two, throwing themselves at the feet of the king and queen, respectfully tendered to them their allegiance. This loyal and decisive conduct str

lace of great strength, the military power of the count was very considerable, and the friends of the king, foreseeing that the infidels would not fail to take advantage of a civil war, earnestly besought his majesty to offer terms of reconciliation to his powerful vassal. It was accordingly agreed that the Grand Masters of the Temple and the Hospital should proceed with the archbishop of Tyre, the Lord Balian d'Ibelin, and the Lord Reginald of Sidon, to Tiberias, and attempt to bring back the count to his allegiance. These illustrious personages set out from Jerusalem, and slept the first night at

monk of the Cistercian order, and a man of vast learning and erudition. He went on a pilgrimage to Palestine, and was there on the breaking out of the war which immediately preceded the loss of the Holy City. He was present at the siege of Jerusalem, and was wounded by an arrow, "which," says the worthy abbot, "pierced

m Nazareth in the direction of the Jordan, when they came suddenly upon a strong column of Mussulman cavalry amounting to several thousand men, who were watering their horses at the brook Kishon. Without waiting to count the number of their enemies, the Templars raised their war cry, unfolded the blood-red banner, and dashed into the midst of the astonished and terrified Mussulmen, dealing around them, to use the words of Abbot Coggleshale, "death and damnation." The infidels, taken by surprise, were at first thrown into confusion, discomfited, and slaughtered; but when the smallness of the force opposed to them became apparent, they closed in upon the Templars, overwhelmed them with darts and missiles, and speedily thinned their ranks with a terrific slaughter. An eye-witness tells us that the military friars were to be seen bathed with blood and sweat; trembling with fatigue; with their horses killed under them, and with their swords and lances broken, closing with the Mussulman warriors, and rolling headlong with them in the dust. Some tore the darts with which they had b

to the points of their lances, they marched off in the direction of Tiberias. This disastrous engagement was fought on Friday, the 1st of May, the feast of St. James and St. Philip. "In that beautiful season of the year," says Abbot Coggleshale, "when the inhabitants of Nazareth were wont to seek the rose and the violet in the fields, they found on

after which they hastened forwards. Then they came to the castle of La Feue, (a fortress of the Templars,) and there they found, outside the castle, the tents of the convent of Caco pitched, and there was no one to explain what it meant. A varlet was sent into the castle to inquire, but he found no one within but two sick people who were unable to speak. Then they marched towards Nazareth, and after they had proceeded a short distance from the castle of La Feue, they met a brother of the Temple on horseback, who galloped up to them at a furious rate, calling out, 'Bad news, bad news;' and he informed the

st himself into the power of the count, he then retraced his steps to Nazareth. Both the Moslem and the Christian writers agree in asserting that the count of Tripoli had at this period entered into an alliance with Saladin; nevertheless, either smitten with remorse for his past conduct, or moved by the generous overtures of the king, he consented to do homage and become reconciled to his sovereign, and for this purpose im

ons to the true believers to arm in defence of Islam, and describe with vast enthusiasm his glorious preparations for the holy war. Bohadin, son of Sjeddadi, his friend and secretary, and great biographer, before venturing upon the sublime task of describing his famous and sacred actions, makes a solemn confession of faith, and offers up praises to the one true God. "Praise be to God," says he, "who hath blessed us with Islam, and hath led us to the understanding of the true faith beautifully put together, and hath befriended us; and, through the intercession of our prophet, hath loaded us with every blessing. I bear witness that there is no God but that one great God who hath no partner, (a testimony that will deliver our soul

the forces of Al Mawsel, commanded by Màs?d al Zaf'arani, Maredin, and Hamah, he reviewed his army, first on the hill called Tel Taisel, and afterwards at Ashtara, the place of general rendezvous. Whilst completing his preparations at this place, Saladin received intelligence of the reconciliation of the count of Tripoli with the king of Jerusalem, and he determined instantly to lay siege to Tiberias. For this purpose, on Friday the 17th of the month Rabi, he advanced in three divisions upon Al Soheira, a village situate at th

ce from their different castles and fortresses,[67] and came into the camp with the holy cross which had been brought from the church of the Resurrection, to be placed in the front of the christian array. The count of Tripoli joined them with the men of Tri

and scattered dwellings of the christian population. The whole country, before the very noses of the warriors of the cross, was enveloped in flame and smoke, and the christian camp was filled with fugitives who had fled with terror before the merciless swords of the Moslems. To complete the misfortunes of the Latins, the king was irresolute and continually giving contradictory commands, and the christian chieftains, having lost all confidence in their leader, and despairing of being able to contend with success against the vast power of Saladin, seemed to be preparing for a retreat to the sea coast, rather than for a desperate struggle with the infide

rritories spoiled by the enemy, and his countess closely besieged, advised the king to remain inactive where he was; but the Grand Master of the Temple, hearing this advice, rose up in the midst of the assembly, and stigmatized the count as a traitor, urging the king instantly to march to the relief of Tiberias. The barons, however, sided with the count of Tripoli, and it was determined that the army should remain at Sepphoris. The council broke up; each man retired to his tent, and the king went to supper. But the Grand Master of the Temple, agitated by a thousand conflicting emotions, could not rest. At midnight he arose and sought the presence of

Templars were resolute, and the host of the cross soon covered, in full array, the winding road leading to Tiberias. The count of Tripoli insisted upon leading the van of the army, as the christian forces were marching through his territories, and the Templars consequently brought up the rear. T

of the Mussulman army, and were immediately assailed by the light cavalry of the Arabs. During the afternoon of that day a bloody battle was fought. The Christians attempted, but in vain, to penetrate the defiles of the mountains; and when the evening came they found that they had merely been able to hold their ground without advancing a single step. Instead of fighting his way, at all hazards, to the lake of Tiberias, or falling back upon some position where he could have secured a supply of water, the king, following the advice of the count of Tripoli, committed the fatal mistake of ordering the tents to be pitched. "When the Saracens saw that the Christians had p

lem infidels, and nothing could withstand their heavy and impetuous charge. "Never," says an Arabian doctor of the law, "have I seen bolder or more powerful soldiers; none more to be feared by the believers in the true faith." Saladin set fire to the dry grass and dwarf shrubs which lay between both armies, and the wind blew the smoke and the flames directly into the faces of the military friars and their horses. The fire, the noise, the gleaming weapons, and all the accompaniments of the horrid scene, have given full scope to the descriptive powers of the oriental writers. They compare it to the last judgment; the dust and the smoke obscured the face of the sun, and the day was turned into night. Sometimes gleams of light darted like the rapid lightning amid the

an exertions, the Templars and Hospitallers halted, and sent to the king for succour. At this critical juncture the count of Tripoli, who had always insisted on being in the van, and whose conduct, from first to last, had been most suspicious, dashed with a few followers through a party of Mussulmen, who opened their ranks to let him pass, and fled in safety to Tyre. The flight of this distinguished nobleman gave rise to a sudden panic, and the troops that

unable to act against the enemy, and they refused to obey their leaders. Brother Terric, Grand Preceptor of the Temple, who had been attached to the person of the king, the Lord Reginald of Sidon, Balian d'Ibelin, lord of Naplous, and many of the lesser barons and knights, collected their followers together, rushe

, the Grand Master of the Temple, the Marquis of Montferrat, the Lord Reginald de Chatillon, and many other nobles and knights, were at the same time taken prisoners and led away into captivity. "Alas, alas," says Abbot Coggleshale, "that I should have lived to have seen in my time these awful and terrible calamities." When the sun had sunk to rest, and darkness had put an end to the slaughter, a crowd of Christian fugitives, who survived the long and frightful carnage, attempted to gain the summit of Mount Hittin, in the vain hope of escaping from the field of blood, under cover of the obscurity of the night. But every pass and avenue were strictly watched, and when morning came they were found cowering on the elevated summit of the mountain. They we

of Saladin, who was present at this terrible fight, and is unable to restrain himself from pitying the disasters of the vanquished-"I saw the mountains and the plains, the hills and the valleys, covered with their dead. I saw their fallen and deserted banners sullied with dust and with blood. I saw their heads broken and battered, their limbs scattered abroad, and the blackened corpses piled one upon another like the stones of the builders. I called to mind the words of the Koran, 'The infidel shall say, What am I but dust?'... I saw thirty or forty tied together by one cord. I saw in one place, guarded by one Mussulman, two hundred of these famous warriors gifted with amazing strength, who had but just now walked forth amongst the mighty: their proud bearing was gone: they stood naked with downcast

presented to the fallen monarch of Jerusalem, and to the Grand Master of the Temple; but when Reginald de Chatillon would have drunk thereof, Saladin prevented him, and reproaching the christian nobleman with perfidy and impiety, he commanded him instantly to acknowledge the prophet whom he had blasphemed, or to be prepared to meet the death he had so often deserved. On Reginald's refusal, Saladin struck him with his scimitar, and he was immediately despatched by the guards. Bohadin, Saladin's friend and secretary, an eye-witness of the scene, gives the following account of it: "Then S

inence above Tiberias, in full view of the beautiful lake of Gennesareth, whose bold and mountainous shores had been the scene of so many of their Saviour's miracles. There, as the last rays of the sun were fading away from the mountain tops, they were called upon to deny him who had been crucified, to choose God for their Lord, Islam for their faith, Mecca for their temple, the Moslems for their brethren, and Mahomet for their prophet. To a man they refused, and were all decapitated in the presence of Saladin by the devout zealots of his army, and the doctors and expounders of the law. An oriental historian, who was present, says that Saladin sat with a smiling countenance viewing the execution, and that some of the executioners cut off the heads with a degree of dexterity that excited great applause. "Oh," say Omad'eddin Muh

nto the fortress, over the dead bodies of the last of its defenders. From thence they crossed the great plain to Sebaste, and entered the magnificent church erected by the empress Helena, over the prison in which St. John the Baptist was beheaded, and over the humble grave where still repose the remains of St. John and of Zacharias and Elizabeth his parents. The terrified bishop and clergy had removed all the gold and silver vessels from the altars and the rich copes and vestments of the priests, to conceal them from the cupidity of the Moslems, whereupon these last caused the bishop to be stripped naked and beaten with rods, and led away all his clergy into captivity. The wild Turcoman and Bedouin cavalry then dashed up the beautiful valley of Succoth to Naplous, the ancient Shechem; whi

ho came to bathe in the Jordan, and visit the holy places in the neighbourhood of Jericho. From the toppling crag, whereon it was seated, the eye commanded an extensive view of the course of the Jordan, until it falls into the Dead Sea, also of the eastern frontier of the Latin kingdom, and of the important passes communicating with Jerusalem. The place was called Maledoim, or "the Red Mountain," on account of the blood that had been shed upon the spot. Fifty Tyrian dinars had been offered by Saladin, for the head of every Knight Templar that was brought him, and the blood-thirsty infidels surrounded the doomed castle eager

oaked with christian blood. Saifeddin had besieged the strong town of Mirabel, and placed his military engines in position, when the terrified inhabitants sent a suppliant deputation to implore his clemency. He agreed to spare their lives in return for the immediate surrender of the place, and gave them an escort of four hundred Mussulmen, to conduct them in safety to Jerusalem. Accompanied by

abbot of Coggleshale, one of those who fled before the ruthless swords of the infidels, gives a frightful picture of the aspect of the country. He tells us that the whole land was covered with dead bodies, rotting and putrifying in the scorching sun-beams. At early morning you might see the rich and stately church, with the bright and happy dwellings scattered around it, the blooming garden, the silvery olive grove, and the rich vineyard; but the fading rays of the evening sun would fall on smoking masses of shapeless ruins, and on a dreary and solitary

ters to all the brethren in the west, imploring aid and assistance. One of these letters was duly received by Brother Geoffrey, Master of the Temple at London, as follows:-"Brother Terric, Grand Preceptor of the poor house of the Temple, and every poor brother, and t

sixty who were killed on the 1st of May. The Lord Reginald of Sidon, the Lord Ballovius, and we ourselves, escaped with vast difficulty from that miserable field. The pagans, drunk with the blood of our Christians, then marched with their whole army against the city of Acre, and took it by storm. The city of Tyre is at present fiercely besieged, and neither by night nor by day do the infidels discontinue their furious assaults. So great is the multitude of them, that they cover like ants the whole face of the country from Tyre to Jerusalem, and even unto Gaza. The holy city of Jerusalem, Ascalon, and Tyre, and Beyrout, are yet left to us and to the christian

ter the reduction of all the maritime towns between Acre and Tripoli, Saladin ordered his different detachments to concentrate before Jerusalem, and hastened in person to the south to complete the conquest of the few places which still resisted the arms of the Mussulmen. He sat down before Ascalon, and whilst preparing his military engines for battering the walls, he sent messengers to the Templars at Gaza, representing to them that the whole land was in his power, that all further efforts at resistance were useless, and offering them their lives and a safe retreat to Europe, if they would give up to him the important fortress committed to their charge. But the military friars sent back a haughty defiance to the victorious sultan, and recommended him to take Ascalon befor

r his own security. They were to quit Palestine never more to return, and were in the mean time, until a fitting opportunity for their embarkation to Europe could be found, to take up their abode at Naplous, under the surveillance of the Moslem garrison. Immediately after the capture of Ascalon, Saladin pitched his tents beneath the walls of Gaza, the gr

Hospitallers, which he summoned to surrender, but in vain. Leaving a party of horse to watch the place, he pitched his tents the same evening around Bethlehem, and the next morning at sunrise, the Moslem soldiers might be seen pouring into the vast convent and the magnificent church erected by the empress Helena and her son Constantine, over the sacred spot where the Saviour of the world was born. They wandered with unbounded admiration amid the unrivalled Corinthian colonnade, formed by a quadruple row of forty ancient columns, whic

elings experienced by their countrymen on beholding "the long lost sister of Mecca and Medina," on gazing once more upon the swelling domes of the Mosque of Omar, and on the sacred eminence from whence, according to their traditions, "Mahomet ascended from earth to heaven." It must have been, indeed, a strange, and an awful scene. The Moslem host took up their stations around the Holy City at the very hour when the followers both of the Christian and Mahometan religion were wont to assemble to offer up their prayers to the one Great God, the common Father of us all. On the one hand, you might hear the sou

eir hands to heaven, whilst the men hastened to man the battlements. The Temple could no longer furnish its hundreds and thousands of brave warriors for the defence of the holy sanctuary of the Christians; a few miserable knights, with some serving brethren, alone remained in its now silent halls and deserted courts. For fifteen days did the Christians successfully resist the utmost efforts of the enemy; the monks and the canons, the bishops and the priests, took arms in defence of the Holy Sepulchre, and lined in warlike array the dark gray battlements and towers of Jerusalem. But the Mussulman archers soon became so numerous and so expert,

prevent the introduction of supplies. When his engines were completed, he directed all his efforts against the northern wall of the city, which extends between St. Stephen's gate and the gate of Jaffa. Ten thousand soldiers were attached to the military engines, and were employed day and night in battering the fortifications. Barefoot processions of women, monks, and priests were made to the holy sepulchre, to implore the Son of God to save his tomb and his inheritance from impious viol

g. Friends embraced one another as it were for the last time; mothers clung to their little ones, anticipating with heart-rending agony the fearful moment when they would be torn from them for ever; and the men gazed around in gloomy silence, appalled and stupified. Young mothers might be seen carrying their babes in their arms to Mount Calvary, and placing them before the altars of the church of the Resurrection, as if they thought that the sweet innocence of these helpless objects would appease the wrath of heaven. The panic-stricken garrison deserted the f

the few Templars and Hospitallers in Jerusalem manned the breach, and in a desperate struggle the Moslems were repulsed, and the standards of the prophet were torn down from the walls. The messengers then returned to Saladin, and declared that if he refused to treat for the surrender of Jerusalem, the Christians would set fire to the Temple or Mosque of Omar, would destroy all the treasures they possessed in the city, and massacre their Moslem prisoners. The announcement of this desperate determina

poor had been betrayed by the rich; the infidels were already in possession of the tower of David, and their spears were gleaming in the streets of the Holy City. It is recorded to the praise of the few Templars and Hospitallers who were then in Jerusalem, that they spent all the money they possessed in ransoming their poor christian brethren, whom they escorted in safety to Tripoli. T

leppo," says the historian, Azz'eddin Ali Ibn-Al'atsyr, who fought in Saladin's army, and was present at the battle of Tiberias, "I had for a slave one of the christian women taken at Jaffa. She had with her a little child, about a year old, and many a bitter tear did she shed over this tender infant. I did my best to comfort her, but she exclaimed, 'Alas, sir, it is not for this child that I weep; I had a husband and two sisters, and I know not what has become of them. I had also six brothers, all of wh

the misfortunes and miseries of the poor captives, but attributes the fall of Jerusalem, and all the calamities consequent thereon, to the sins and iniquities of the inhabitants. "They honoured God," says he, "with their lips, but their hearts were far from him." He spe

of the presentation, where the mother and glorious Virgin Mary delivered the Son of God into the hands of the just Simeon; and the place of the confession, looking towards the porch of Solomon, where the Lord judged the woman taken in adultery. They placed guards that no Christian might enter within the seven atria of the Temple; and as a disgrace to the Christians, with vast clamour, with laughter and with mockery, they hurled down the golden cross from the pinnacle of the building, and dragged it with ropes throughout the city, amid the exulting shouts of the infidels and the tears and lamentations of the followers of Christ." When every Christia

usalem, with the citadel of David, hath been surrendered to Saladin. The Syrian Christians, however, have the custody of the holy sepulchre up to the fourth day after Michaelmas, and Saladin himself hath permitted ten of the brethren of the Hospital to remain in the house of the hospital for the space of one year, to take care of the sick.... Jerusalem, alas, hath fallen; Saladin ha

iful Lord God. He glories in the casting down of the golden cross, and exults in the very splendid triumph of Islam. Saladin restored the sacred area of the Temple to its original condition under the first Mussulman conquerors of Jerusalem (ante, p. 12). The ancient christian church of the Virgin (the mosque Al Acsa, and "Temple of Solomon") was washed with rose-water, and was once again dedicated to the religious services of the Moslems. On the western side of this venerable edifice the Templars had erected, according to the Arabian writers, an immense building in which they lodged, together with granaries of corn and various offices, which enclosed and concealed a great portion of the edifice. Most o

ere fixed on the pulpit; the ears were on the stretch; our hearts beat fast, and tears trickled down our faces. On all sides were to be heard rapturous exclamations of 'What a glorious sight! What a congregation! Happy are those who have lived to see the resurrection of Islam.' At length the sultan ordered the judge (doctor of the law) Mohieddin Aboulmehali-Mohammed to fulfil the sacred function of imaun. I immediately lent him the black vestment which I had received as a present from the caliph. He then mounted into the pulpit and spoke. All were hu

ed doubts, confounded polytheism, and put down LIES! O men, declare ye the blessings of God, who hath restored to you this holy city, after it has been left in the power of the infidels for a hundred years. This HOLY HOUSE of the Lord hath been built, and its foundations have been established, for the glory of God. This sacred spot is the dwelling-place of the prophets, the kebla (place of prayer) towards which you turn at the commencement of your religious duties, the birth-place of the saints, the scene of the revelation. It is thrice holy, for the angels of God spread their wings over it. This is that blessed land of which God hath spoken in his sacred book. In this house of prayer, Mahomet prayed with the angels who approach God.

l covered it with magnificent carpets. Saladin, in his famous letter to the caliph, giving an account of the conquest of Jerusalem, exclaims-"God hath at length turned towards the supporters of the true faith; he hath let loose his wrath against the infidels, and hath driven them from his sanctuary.... The infidels have erected churches in the holy city, and the great houses of the Templars and Hospitallers. In these structures are rich marbles and many precious things. Thy servant hath restored the Mosque Al-Acsa (the Temple of the Knights Templars, ant

, Grand Preceptor of the Temple, and Treasurer General of the order, to Henry the Second, king of England. "The brothers of the hospital of Belvoir as yet bravely resist the Saracens; they have captured two convoys, and have valiantly possessed themselves of the munitions of war and provisions which were being conveyed by the Saracens from the fortress of La Feue. As yet, also, Carach, in the neighbourhood of Mount Royal, Mount Royal itself, the Temple of Saphet, the hospital of Carach, Margat, and Castellum Blancum, and the territory of Tripoli, and the territory of Antioch, resist Saladin.... From the feast of Saint Martin, up to that of the circumcision of the Lord, Saladin hath besieged Tyre incessantly, by night and by day, throwing into it immense stones from thirteen military engines. On the vigils of St. Silvester, the Lord Conrad, the marquis of Montferrat, distributed knights and foo

n Jerusalem at the time of its surrender to Saladin, had been permitted to join her royal husband at Naplous, and the king, the queen, and the Grand Master of the Temple, consequently proceeded together to Tyre. On their arrival at that place, they found the gates shut against them. The young Conrad declared, that as the city had been p

's exertions, consequently, for the capture of the place were strenuous and incessant. He planted a large body of troops around it, under the command of his brother Saifeddin; but the season was not far enough advanced for their operations to be carried on with any chance of success. The tents of the besiegers were blown off the mountain by the furious whirlwinds, and the operation of the military engines was impeded by heavy rains. The Templars made continued sallies upon the works, burnt the military engines, butchered the soldiers in their sleep, and harassed them with incessant alarms in the dead of night. The siege was consequently turned into a blockade, and Saladin drew off the greater part of his forces to attack the Christian possessions in the principality of Antioch. He divided his army into several detachments, which were sent in different directions, with orders to ravage all the neighbouring country, drive away the oxen, sheep, and cattle, and collect the booty together in the plain of the Orontes, along the banks of the lake of Kades. He crossed the vast mountain ranges which extend between the Orontes and the sea-coast, and appeared in arms before the gates of Trip

of its noble harbour, its beautiful houses, elegant villas, rich marbles, luxuriant gardens, and shady groves. All these became the prey of the fierce Mussulman soldiery, who committed great excesses. They broke to pieces the choice specimens of ancient sculpture, considering them hated evidences of idolatry; they stripped all the churches of their ornaments, and sold the sacred vestments of the priests. From Laodicea, Saladin marched to Sohioun or Sekyun, a fortress of prodigious strength, situate amongst the mountains midway between Gabala and the Orontes. It was almost entirely surrounded by a deep precipitous ravine, the sides of which were in many places perpendicular. After a siege of five days, a part of the Mussulman soldiers clambered over some rocks which were thought to be inac

nded with wooden towers, filled with expert archers, who swept the battlements with their arrows. Under cover of these towers, battering-rams were placed in position, and a vast breach was made in the walls. Saladin's body-guard moved forward to the assault, supported by crowds of archers on either flank, but the Templars filled up the breach with their bodies, and after a bloody contest the Mussulmen were driven back, leaving the ground covered with their dead. The Templars repaired the breach, and the sultan shifted his ground of attack. Hurdles covered with raw hides were advanced against the walls, and an expert party of miners were employed, under cover of these hurdles, to undermine a huge tower, which was considered to be the key of the fortifications. The tower was so well and strongly built, that it resisted for a length of time all the efforts of the miners; they dug away a great part of the foundations, and the tower appeared, says Ibn Alatsyr, to be suspended in the

ng the war, and concluded a treaty with Bohemond, whereby a suspension of arms was agreed upon for the term of eight months, to commence from the first of the approaching month of November, and it was stipulated that all the Moslem prisoners detained in Antioch should be set at liberty. Saladin then returned by the valley of the Orontes to Damascus, and his troops became very impatient to be dismissed to their homes for the winter, but he reminded them of the brevity and uncertainty of human life, told them that there was plenty of work before them, and that they ought not to leave for to-morrow that which could be done to-day. He accordingly set out from Damascus at the head of a large body of forces, and proceeded to lay siege to Saphet, the strong and important castle of the Knights Templars. Bohadin accompanied the sultan, and gives an interesting account of his incessant exertions for the

opportunity of communicating with their beleaguered brethren. Unfortunately one of their number strayed from his place of concealment, and was seen by a Mussulman emir, who immediately called out a strong guard, searched the neighbourhood, and took the whole party prisoners. They were brought into Saladin's presence and condemned to death; but before the sentence was carried into execution negotiations were entered into fo

oly cross, the slaughter of the Templars and Hospitallers, and the fall of Jerusalem, and exhorting all faithful Christians immediately to assume the cross, and march to the deliverance of the Holy City. Crowds of armed pilgrims again quitted the shores of Europe for Palestine, and the Templars, obedient to the pressing calls of their brethren, hurried from their preceptories to the seaports of the Mediterranean, and embarked in the ships of Genoa, Pisa, and Venice. The Grand Master of the Temple, and the king of Jerusalem, placed themselves at the head of the newly arrived battalions, and established their head quarters at Ras el Ain, a small village on the main land opposite Tyre. Many valiant Templars from the Temple at London, and the different pre

moved in order of battle to Tel Kaisan, where the plain of Acre begins. The city of Acre had been regularly invested for some days previous to his arrival, and after reconnoitering the position of the christian army, he encamped, extending his left wing to Al Nahr Al Halu, "the sweet river," and his right to Tel Al'Ayadhiya, in such a manner, that the besiegers themselves became the besieged. He then mad

e right wing of the Mussulman army, which was commanded by Saladin's nephew, and struck such terror into the hearts of the Moslems, that some of them fled, without halting, as far as Tiberias. The undisciplined masses of the christian army, however, thinking that the day was their own, rushed heedlessly on after the infidels, and penetrating to the imperial tent, abandoned themselves to pillage. The Grand Master of the Temple, foreseeing the result, collected his knights and the forces of the order around him. The infidels rallied, they were led on by Saladin in per

y Bohadin, "in the fields of Acre afflicted with a most cruel disease, with boils from the middle of his body to his knees, so that he could not sit down, but only recline on his side when he entered into his tent, yet he went about to the stations nearest to the enemy, arranged his troops for battle, and rode about from dawn till eve, now to the right wing, then to the left, and then to the centre, patiently enduring the severity of his pain." Having received intelligence of the mighty preparations which were being made in Europe for the recovery of Jerusalem, and of the march of the emperor Frederick Barbarossa through Hungary and Greece to Constantinople, with a view of crossing the Hellespont, into Asia, Saladin sent orders to the governors of Senjar, Al Jaz?ra, Al Mawsel, and Arbel, ordering them to attend him with thei

than the walls, was sixty cubits in length, and could contain from five to six hundred warriors, with a proper quantity of arms and military engines. These towers were covered with the raw hides of oxen soaked in vinegar and mud, to render them incombustible; they were strengthened from top to bottom with bands of iron, and were each divided into five platforms or galleries filled with soldiers and military engines. They were rolled on wheels to the walls, and the Templars and the crusaders were about to descend from the platforms and galleries upon the battlements of the city, when the towers, and all the warriors upon them, were consumed by some inextinguishable inflammable composition, discharged out of brass pots by a brazier from Damascus. "We were watching," says Bohadin, who was standing

ars, who were advancing from Constantinople, under the command of the emperor Frederic Barbarossa. These advancing Templars were the especial favourites of Ba

plain of Acre strewed with the lifeless bodies of the best and bravest of their warriors. "The enemies of God," says Bohadin, "had the audacity to enter within the camp of the lions of Islamism, but they speedily experienced the terrible effects of the divine indignation. They fell beneath the sabres of the Mussulmen as the leaves fall from the trees during the tempests of autumn. Their mangled corpses, scattered over the mountain side, cover

rout laden with sacks of meal, cheese, onions, sheep, rice, and other provisions. He disguised the seamen in the Frank habit, put crosses on their pendants, and covered the decks of the vessels with hogs. In this way the little fleet sailed safely through the blockading squadron of the Christians, and entered the port of Acre. On another occasion Saladin sent 1,000 dinars to the garrison, by means of a famous diver named Isa; the man was unfortunately drowned during his passage to the city, but the money, being de

ng-ladders, were brought against the little fortress, but without effect. The boats and vessels were set on fire by the besieged and reduced to ashes, and after losing all their men, the Christians gave over the attempt. On the land side, the combats and skirmishes continued to be incessant. Wooden towers, and vast military machines, and engines, were constantly erected by t

ly after it had been effected, the walls of the city were breached, and preparations were made for an assault. The newly-arrived troops, however, repulsed the assailants, repaired the walls, and once more placed the city in a good posture of defence. The scarcity and famine in the christian camp continued to increase, and a vast many of the crusaders, utterly unable to withstand the hardships and difficulties of their position, deserted to Saladin, embraced the Mohammedan faith, and were employed

ask of burying the dead. The trenches which the Christians had dug for their protection, now became their graves. Putrefying corpses were to be seen floating upon the sea, and lining the sea-shore, and the air was infected with an appalling and intolerable effluvia. The bodies of the living became bloated and swollen, and the most trifling wounds were incurable. In addition to all this,

horon, Lord of Montreal, or Mount Royal; but the latter seemed to think otherwise, and took no steps either to have his wife made queen, or himself king. The enterprising and ambitious Conrad, Marquis of Montferrat, accordingly determined to play a bold game for the advancement of his own fortunes. He paid his addresses to Isabella, and induced her to consent to be divorced from Humphrey de Thoron, and take him for her husband. He went to the bishop of Beauvais, and persuaded that prelate to pronounce the divorce, and immediately after it had been done, he carried off Isabella to Acre, and there married her. As soon as the nuptials had been performed, Conrad caused himself and his wife to be proclaimed king and queen of Jerusalem, and forthwith entered upon the exercise of certain royal functions. He went to the christian camp before A