Immediately after the conclusion of this curious treaty, the emperor made a peaceful march to the Holy City with a few attendants, and performed the solemn farce of crowning himself in the church of the Resurrection. After a stay of a few days in Jerusalem, he hurried back to Acre to prepare for his departure for Europe. No christian garrison was established in the city, nor did the Templars and Hospitallers venture to return to their ancient abodes. His conduct, immediately preceding his departure, is thus described in a letter from the patriarch of Jerusalem to the pope. “The emperor placed archers at the gates of the city of Acre, to prevent the Templars from entering into or proceeding out of the town. He moreover placed soldiers in all the streets leading to our quarter and the Temple, keeping us in a state of siege; and it is evident that he has never treated the Saracens half so badly as he has treated the Christians. For a long time he refused to permit any provisions to be brought to us, and instructed his soldiers to insult the priests and the Templars whenever they met them. He moreover got possession of the magazines, and removed all the military machines and arms, preserved for the defence of the city, with a view of rendering good service to his kind friend the sultan of Egypt; and afterwards, without saying adieu to anybody, he embarked secretly on the 1st of May, (A. D. 1229,) leaving us worse off than he found us.”[108] The Grand Master of the Temple, Peter de Montaigu, died at Acre at an advanced age, and was succeeded (A. D. 1233) by Brother Hermann de Perigord, Grand Preceptor of Calabria and Sicily.[109] Shortly after his accession to power, the truce with the sultan of Aleppo expired, and Brother William de Montferrat, Preceptor of Antioch, having besieged a fortress of the infidels, refused to retreat before a superior force, and was surrounded and overwhelmed; a hundred knights of the Temple, and three hundred cross-bowmen were slain, together with many secular warriors, and a large number of foot soldiers. The _Balcanifer_, or standard-bearer, on this occasion, was an English Knight Templar, named Reginald d’Argenton, who performed prodigies of valour. He was disabled and covered with wounds, yet he unflinchingly bore the Beauseant aloft with his bleeding arms into the thickest of the fight, until he at last fell dead upon a heap of his slaughtered comrades. The Preceptor of Antioch, before he was slain, “sent sixteen infidels to hell.” As soon as the Templars in England heard of this disaster, they sent, (A. D. 1236,) in conjunction with the Hospitallers, instant succour to their brethren. “Having made their arrangements,” says Matthew Paris, “they started from the house of the Hospitallers at Clerkenwell in London, and passed through the city with spears held aloft, shields displayed, and banners advanced. They marched in splendid pomp to the bridge, and sought a blessing from all who crowded to see them pass.