“The Carizmians have now pitched their tents in the plain of Acre, about two miles from the city. They have spread themselves over the whole face of the country as far as Nazareth and Saphet. They have slaughtered or driven away the house-holders, occupied their houses, and divided their property amongst them. They have appointed bailiffs and tax-gatherers in the towns and villages, and they compel the countrymen and the villeins of the soil to pay to themselves the rents and tribute which they have heretofore been wont to pay to the Christians, so that the church of Jerusalem and the christian kingdom have now no territory, except a few fortifications, which are defended with great difficulty and labour by the Templars and Hospitallers.... To you, dear Father, upon whom the burthen of the defence of the cause of Christ justly resteth, we have caused these sad tidings to be communicated, earnestly beseeching you to address your prayers to the throne of grace, imploring mercy from the Most High; that he who consecrated the Holy Land with his own blood in redemption of all mankind, may compassionately turn towards it and defend it, and send it succour. But know, assuredly, that unless, through the interposition of the Most High, or by the aid of the faithful, the Holy Land is succoured in the next spring passage from Europe, its doom is sealed, and utter ruin is inevitable. Given at Acre, this fifth day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand two hundred and forty-four.”[120]