king, Guy de Lusignan, stood upon his rights; he maintained that, as he had been once a king, he was always a king, and that the death of his wife could not deprive him of the crown which he had solemnly received, according to the established usage of the Latin kingdom. A strong party in the camp declared themselves in his favour, and an equally strong party declared in favour of his rival, Conrad, who prepared to maintain his rights, sword in hand. The misfortunes of the Christians appeared, consequently, to have approached their climax. The sword, the famine, and the pestilence, had successively invaded their camp, and now the demon of discord came to set them one against the other, and to paralyse all their exertions in the christian cause.[86] CHAPTER V. Richard Cœur de Lion joins the Templars before Acre--The city surrenders, and the Templars establish the chief house of their order within it--Cœur de Lion takes up his abode with them--He sells to them the island of Cyprus--The Templars form the van of his army--Their campaigns--The destruction of towns and villages--The treaty with Saladin--Cœur de Lion quits the Holy Land in the disguise of a Knight Templar--The Templars build the Pilgrim’s Castle in Palestine--The exploits of the Templars in Egypt--The letters of the Grand Master to the Master of the Temple at London--The Templars reconquer Jerusalem--The state of the order in England--King John resides in the Temple at London--The barons come to him at that place, and demand MAGNA CHARTA--Consecration of the nave or oblong portion of the Temple Church at London. “Therefore, friends, As far as to the sepulchre of Christ (Whose soldier now under whose blessed cross We are impressed and engag’d to fight,) Forthwith a power of English shall we levy Whose arms were moulded in their mother’s womb, To chase these pagans, in those holy fields, Over whose acres walked those blessed feet, Which, fourteen hundred years ago, were nail’d, For our advantage, on the bitter cross.”