DYING FOR GOD 239Sinan died inA.D. 1194 and his successor sought out the Crusaders for
a new alliance. This was signed with Henry of Champagne, and by 1213
the Assassins were paying regular tribute to the Hospitallers. This was
probably because the Hospitaller fortress of Krak des Chevaliers domi-
nated their territories.^1
Few assassinations occurred during the reign of Hasan III (1210–20),
and he actually developed a high reputation among the other princes in
the region. However, his alliance with the Christians was not particularly
solid, and inA.D. 1213 the Assassins killed Raymond, son of the Prince
of Antioch. The Templars attempted to avenge this assassination, but they
failed in their siege of the Assassin fortresses. Hasan III was poisoned—
dying in character, one might say. His son, Ala ad-Din Muhammad III
abandoned the mild principles of his father and launched a new era of
assassination. InA.D. 1255 he too was murdered, this time with the con-
trivance of his son, Rukn ad-Din, last ruler of the Assassins. The senior
branch in Persia was also about to expire.
InA.D. 1256 the Mongols invaded Persia. After a siege of Alamut and
many other Assassin castles, Rukn ad-Din was captured. Initially Hulagu,
brother of the Tartar Mangu Kahn, treated him kindly. Rukn ad-Din was
sent to Mangu, who ordered him put to death and sent a messenger back
to Hulagu that commanded him to slay all his captives. The businesslike
Mongols had little patience with fanatics. About 12,000 of the Assassins
were massacred, and their power was permanently crushed.
Though the Persian branch was destroyed, the Syrian branch continued
and cooperated actively with the Mamluks of Egypt. InA.D. 1270 they
assassinated Philip of Montfort at the request of the Mamluk sultan Bai-
bars. The Assassins removed Montfort out of gratitude for Baibar’s con-
quests, which had freed them from the necessity of paying tribute to the
Hospitallers. They also strongly resented the crusaders negotiating with
the Mongols, because the Mongols had destroyed their Persian branch. In
1272 Baibars requested the assassination of Prince Edward of England
and the Prince was wounded in the attempt. In this instance the Assassin,
disguised as a native Christian, had used a poisoned dagger. Prince Edward
was seriously ill for several months.
Eventually, Baibars, not unlike the Mongols, found the Assassins more
trouble than they were worth and crushed them. The few survivors of the
sect continued in the mountains of Syria for many years, and some are
thought to exist there still.
To understand the Assassins, King Louis XI of France sent one of his
knights, Yves le Breton, to Masayaf in order to gain insight into these