The Knights Templars.

their territories than of revenging the deaths of their gallant brethren who had been so brutally murdered . Bendocdar , after concluding this peace , retired to Aleppo , where he recruited his army by the

addition of fresh troops , and once more carried desolation into the Christian states . The point of his present attack was Armenia , and he reproached the King with forbidding Egyptian merchants from entering his dominions . His army assembled

at Aleppo , and the Prince of Hamah was depatched against Darbesak ; but the Templars made such a stubborn resistance that he was -forced to convert the siege into a blockade . The infidel forced the mountain passes that led to

< Cilicia , and by forced marches suddenly appeared before Sis , the capital of Armenia , which fell almost without a struggle into their hands . The King Leon , his uncle , son and nephew were made captives , while many of the royal family were

slain , and but a few succeeded in escaping . The city was pillaged and burnt . The attention of the infidels was then directed against the Templar castles , which they succeeded in capturing , but only after the garrisons were cut to pieces . Amoud

made a desperate defence , many of the infidel were slaughtered , and when taken every soul was put to the sword . The rest of the towns of Armenia -were taken , and Bendocdar made a triumphal -entry into Damascus , with girls dancing before him , and a long line of captives following .

On every one of his expeditions Bendocciar had . appeared before Acre , but without finding it possible to make a successful attack . On the 1 st of May , 1267 , having collected together a large troop of cavalry , he divided them into two bands , one of

which he clothed and armed in the habit of the "Templars , the other in that of the Hospitallers . Preceded by the banners of the Orders , the infidels marched against the east gate of Acre , and had nearly entered the city' before the ruse was

discovered . The gates were immediately closed in the faces of the enemy , who , enraged at being thus foiled , put to death five hundred people who were ¦ outside of the walls—manyof them being old women who obtained a livelihood by gathering herbs—and

cutting off their heads , tied them up in sacks . Bendocdar thereafter stormed Jaffa ancl destroyed the walls . As yet he had been unable to take Beaufort , but concentrating his army , he marched ¦ against it . The town was defended by two citadels ; the old , which was garrisoned by the Tem-

The Knights Templars.

plars , and the new by the native soldiery . The walls of the new soon fell before the huge military machines of the infidel , and the garrison setting it on fire fled during the night . The Templars , however , proved more formidable antagonists ; they

destroyed the military engines of the infidel and slew great numbers of them . Bendocdar , after seeing the ditches filled with the flower of his army , was forced , although with great reluctance , to accede to the terms of the Templars , and they

were permitted to march forth with banners advanced , sworcl in hand , ancl with all the honours of war . Bendocdar ordered the citadel to be levelled with the ground , and this was done so effectually that not a trace of it was left .

Bendocdar appears to have studied deeply the tactics of Saladin , for on many occasions we see him perform almost the same manoeuvres that the " Scourge of God" executed in his day . Bendocdar divided his army into several bands , and

despatched them in different directions to ravish the principality of Tripoli . The towns were destroyed and the country turned to a waste of ruins and smoking embers . A tower of the Templars near the town of Tripoli was stormed and every

sonl massacred . Hems was appointed the rallying place , and the bands having collected the spoil there , marched in three divisions against Antioch .

The city was surrounded on all sides , the famous stone bridge across the Orontes was attacked , and the iron gates split open with battering-rams . The Templars , led by their Preceptor , clashed out upon the enemy , but were driven back , and compelled

to seek for safety behind the walls of the city . The city was at last stormed , and one hundred thousand Christians fell in the assault . The Templars thereupon abandoned Bagras , which had been over and over again attacked , but the Knights had

easily beaten off the assailants . They also abandoned Gaston and Noche de Rusol , and the territory of Port Bonuel . A few of the maritime towns alone remained in the hands of the Christians .

Famine likewise came upon them to add to the horrors of the time . An assembly of the European Preceptors was held in 1269 at the Temple , Paris , at which Saint Louis was present . An army was raised and sent

under the command of King Louis to the assistance of the Holy Land but Louis fell sick and died at Tunis . Prince Edward of England , however , joined Thomas de Beraud , and the successes of the infidels were checked for the time , but nob