The Shadowy Order of Hashashins and the Killing of the King of Jerusalem

On April 28, 1192, the assassination of Conrad of Montferrat (Conrad I), King of Jerusalem, in Tyre, occurred two days after his title to the throne was confirmed by election. The killing carried out by Hashshashin. From the article:

"The Shadowy Order of Hashashins and the Killing of the King of Jerusalem
Richard Miller
Conrad of Montferrat is described in the histories as tall, handsome and of a quick wit. He had led victorious armies through Italy, Greece and the Holy Land and proved himself capable on both the battlefield and in politics. Conrad was the ideal warrior prince of the feudal Christian world, a view verified by his noble peers when they elected him the King of Jerusalem. Only a few days after the election, his crowning achievement (literally), Conrad was ambushed by two men from the shadowy and secretive order of Hashashins — killers whose legends we still tell to this day.

Contents:

The Life of Conrad before the 3rd Crusade
The Hashashin
Conrad’s Role in the 3rd Crusade
The Assassination
The Life of Conrad Before the 3rd Crusade
Conrad of Montferrat was born the second son of a Marquis based in Northwestern Italy. His family held close ties with the royal families of the Holy Roman Empire, France, and eventually the Byzantine Empire.

When Frederick I Barbarossa, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, attempted to annex Italy, Conrad and his family were initially on his side. Conrad was a cousin of the German emperor. This familial alliance would prove fleeting, however. The Montferrat family were eventually convinced to switch sides when the Byzantines promised Conrad’s younger brother a Byzantine princess as a wife. This new alliance would initially prove beneficial for both the Greeks and the Montferrat.

Conrad took command of Byzantine-Italian forces in 1179 and, during the battle of Camerino, won a resounding victory over the forces of the Holy Roman Empire.

Conrad was described by the Byzantine Historian Nicetas Choniates as “‘of beautiful appearance,’ in life’s springtime, exceptional and peerless in manly courage and intelligence, and in the flower of his body’s strength”.

This success made Conrad famous throughout Italy and the Greek empire, and he traveled to Constantinople to receive accolades in person from the Byzantine Emperor Manuel Komnenos. The Byzantine court adored the handsome and charming noblemen, and he received a very warm welcome in the lands of the Eastern empire. This would not last for long.

Manuel Komnenos died and Andronikos I Komnenos forcibly took the throne. The initial success of the coup of Andronikos was due to the rising resentment for western “Latin” Europeans that was growing in the city. Adronikos capitalized on this division and wrested the throne from Manuel’s 10-year-old son. The chaos that followed resulted in the deaths of the thousands of Latin citizens, including the poisoning of Conrad’s younger brother and his Byzantine wife.

Conrad had wisely fled Byzantium after the death of Manuel but before Andronikos entered the city, likely sparing himself a similar fate.

Andronikos’ reign was brutal and short. His crackdown and cruelty towards his foes, real and imagined, led to another popular uprising that knocked him from his throne only two years into his reign. The death of Adronikos was said to have taken place at the hands of an unruly mob who beat and tortured him for days.

The man who took his place, Isaac II Angelos, sought to reestablish the alliances with the West that Andronikos shattered. Amongst these partnership building deals was the marriage of his royal sister to Conrad.

Conrad returned to the Greek empire in 1187 and received the title of Caesar which, although being an entirely symbolic title, still carried great prestige.

Conrad was quickly called upon once again to prove his worth. He was given command of the center of the Byzantine forces against a rebellious general, Alexios Branas. In the heat of the battle, Conrad fought hand to hand against Alexios, and although Conrad was wounded, he was able to unhorse the general who was quickly killed by Conrad’s bodyguard. After the battle, Conrad was a hero of the Eastern Empire.

Conrad’s success and popularity would lead the new Emperor to become jealous of him, and Conrad left the Byzantine court to avoid a similar fate as the one that had befallen his brother.

In July of 1187, Conrad set sail aboard a Genoese ship to the Holy Land, where Saladin had already begun his fateful invasion of the Christian kingdom.

The Hashashin
The words assassin and assassination descend directly from the Nizari Ismailis, a secretive sect of Shia Islam that opposed both the Sunni states (Including Saladin) and the Crusaders. Though not much is know of the Assassins history, it is agreed that Hassan-i Sabbah founded the order. Hassan was a devotee of Isma‘ilism and dedicated his life towards spreading the faith.


Hassan was able to accrue a small following through his teachings but was constantly hunted by local leaders hostile to his beliefs. Fleeing persecution Hassan took his followers deep into the Elborz mountains of northern Iran. Recognizing the need for a safe base of operations, Hassan set his sites on the mountain fortress of Alamut.

Alamut fortress was nearly unassailable and had never been taken. Hassan would show his ability for subterfuge, the same type that would later make his sect of assassins famous, in his plotting and underhanded strategies he would employ in its theft.

Hassan sent word out to the many Shia followers in the area he knew he could rely on to back him in his efforts against the local Sunni leaders. Hassan took a job as a schoolteacher in the castle, and over the course of many months (perhaps up to two years), positioned his followers in key positions throughout the local countryside and the castle itself. Some say he was able to secretly convert the deputy of the castle along with many of the defending soldiers to his cause.

The lord of the castle, Lord Mahdi, got word that Hassan was at a nearby port and was under orders to capture him. He rode out, not realizing his target was right under his nose. While Mahdi was away, a large number of the castle workers took ill (likely due to the work of Hassan and his people), and had to be replaced on short notice by those in the countryside. A majority of the replacements were likely Hassan’s people undercover.

When Lord Mahdi returned, he was shocked to see many new faces guarding and working in the castle. Mahdi understood immediately what was happening and ordered the guards to arrest Hassan, only to find they had all turned against their rightful lord. Mahdi was given “payment” for the theft of his castle and sent away. Hassan’s bloodless coup had been successful, and the Assassins now had their fortress.


The modern remains of Alamut Castle
The leader of the Assassins would from then on be referred to as “The Old Man in the Mountain.” in hushed tones by his enemies.

From here the assassins began to recruit throughout the surrounding lands and develop a unique militant culture. They originally coined the term Fedayeen “those willing to sacrifice themselves for God.” when referring to their select group of assassins — a name that is still widely used by Muslim insurgents throughout the Middle East. Since they could never bring large forces to bear, the assassins intimidated and destroyed their enemies through fear and guerrilla tactics.

It isn’t known how the Hashashin’s elite killers were recruited and motivated to perform their deadly attacks. Marco Polo wrote, 100 years after the fall of the assassins, that the Hashashin master would use hashish (possibly leading to their original name) to drug the potential recruits, and through trickery, would lead them to believe he had the keys to paradise. Regardless, the Hashashins employed a force of fiercely loyal killers which they used to threaten death to all who opposed them.

Over the following years, the assassins went on to capture a series of seemingly invincible mountain forts.

Over their 300-year lifespan, they would kill Sultans, Crusader leaders, two Caliphs, and multiple viziers.

When Saladin laid siege to an assassin castle in 1176, it is said he awoke to a poisoned dagger at his bedside and a note saying that if he did not lift the siege, he would be killed. Saladin lifted the siege and would never attack another Hashashin castle.

The assassin order would strike fear into their enemies until the Mongols were finally able to bring a force capable of successfully assaulting their mountain fortresses. This wrath was likely brought upon them after the assassins attempted to kill one of the Khans. The result was a swift Mongol reprisal that would see the Hashasin political power forever crushed.

There are stories of assassins continuing to serve in the courts of influential leaders throughout the Arab world for the next two centuries after the loss of their holdings.

Conrad and the 3rd Crusade
While Conrad sailed from the Byzantine Empire to the Holy Land, Saladin was busy recapturing key crusader cities and fortresses. Sometime in July of 1187, Conrad and his ship arrived at the port of Acre, only to find that the city had been taken by the Muslims. The ship quickly fled the port and headed north to Tyre.

When the Genoese ship carrying Conrad and his retinue arrived at Tyre, the city was already in a state of siege. Towns and castles were readily surrendered to Saladin, and with his army encamped around Tyre, it looked to be next. However, Conrad had not sailed all this way to surrender. Conrad of Montferrat quickly began advocating resistance and through a sheer display of will brought Tyre into a state of defiance.

Saladin was unwilling to commit to a siege with so many other locations willing to bend the knee to him, so he marched away for the time being. Later that year, 1187, Saladin took Jerusalem and returned to Tyre — this time with the intention of bringing it down through force of arms.

While Saladin had been fighting in the south, Conrad had been rebuilding the defenses and attracting soldiers from the other threatened crusader cities.

When Saladin’s army arrived, the Crusaders were ready. Saladin’s forces utilized over a dozen siege engines to pound the fortress while the Crusaders used archers and crossbowmen on ships to shoot back and defend the causeway.

One of the most famous characters of this battle was Sancho Martin or the “Green Knight.” The Green Knight (called so due to the color of his armor) led crusader attacks outside the wall and impressed even Saladin with the ferociousness and gallantry of his attacks.


A battle at the walls of Tyre. The Green Knight can be seen leading a charge.
Saladin had captured Conrad’s father, along with a number of other key figures, in the battle of Hattin. The elder Montferrat was a veteran of the second crusade and had been fighting in the Holy Land for years.

Saladin brought Conrad’s father to the walls and demanded he surrender. Conrad’s father, William V of Montferrat, ordered his son to stand firm. Conrad grabbed a crossbow and yelled out that he’d shoot his father himself, as he had already lived a long and noble life. Saladin’s bluff was called, and his father was eventually released.

The landscape of Tyre made it an extremely difficult city to take. Saladin faced many of the same issues attacking the city as Alexander the Great did nearly a thousand years earlier.

Tyre Remains
In 1188, realizing the only way to take the city was by the sea, Saladin summoned a force of galleys. After a series of naval engagements between the Crusader and Muslim navies, the Crusaders came out the better. During the last of these engagements, the Muslims attempted a last ditch attack on the walls while the defenders were still distracted by an earlier naval assault. Conrad quickly reorganized his forces and led his army outside the gates in a devastating blow to Saladin’s army. Saladin was forced to burn his siege engines and withdraw to Acre.

King Richard the Lionhearted and the key forces of the Third Crusade landed on the 8th of June, 1191. Conrad initially joined with him, aided in his campaign, and was integral in negotiating the surrender of the Muslim garrison at Acre.


The Lionheart
Political disagreements soon fractured the Crusader forces, and while Richard went to on to take Jaffa and fight with Saladin, Conrad returned to his holdings and solidified his position. Richard’s crusade failed to take Jerusalem, but tactically it was a victory for the Crusader states. The Crusaders were on the brink of annihilation, but after Conrad’s defense of Tyre and Richard’s campaign, the Crusader states were back on their feet with a series of strong fortresses and valuable coastal cities.

The Assassination
When Queen Sibylla died of disease, the right of Guy of Lusignan to retain the throne of the Kingdom of Jerusalem went into contention. In April 1192, the throne was put up to a vote, and Conrad was unanimously chosen. This upset Richard, as he had closer political ties to Guy, while Conrad aligned more with the French and German Kingdoms.

One of the attacks often levied against Conrad in the English-speaking world is his “abduction” of Isabella, Sibylla’s younger sister, to solidify his right to the throne. In unbiased examinations, it seems unlikely Conrad’s actions were even a fraction as malevolent as they are made to sound. It is much more likely the then 18-year-old Isabella saw an opportunity to escape the marriage she had been forced into when she was eleven and marry a much more suitable and respected husband.

A few days after his election as king — April 28th, 1192 — Conrad traveled to eat with a friendly Bishop. While returning from the Bishop’s, Conrad and his guards were set upon by a pair of the feared Hashashin disguised as monks. Conrad was likely taken unaware and received wounds to both his side and back. His personal guards were able to kill one assassin and capture the other but were unable to prevent the grave wounding of their liege. Conrad died later that night. It is guessed that he was around 52-years-old. He was buried in Tyre, in the Church of the Hospitaller Knights.


Under torture, the assassin claimed they were paid for and sent by Richard, though that claim may have been a ruse to further divide the Crusader Kings. Regardless, when Richard the Lionhearted was famously captured on his way home, the charge of Conrad’s murder was levied against him.

Conrad’s other brother would go on to lead the notorious Fourth Crusade which sacked the city of Constantinople and established, among others, the Kingdom of Thessalonica in the heart of the Byzantine territories."