CHAPTER III.

Return of the Templars to the East — Exoneration and Refutation of the Charge of a Connection with the *•' Ismailites — ^Actions of the Templars — Crusade of
Louis VII. — Siege of Ascalou — Sale of Nassir-ed-deen — Corruption of the Hospitallers — The Bull, Ormie Datum Optimum — Refusal of the Templars to march against Egypt — Murder of the Ismailite Envoy . 199