The Patriarch Heraclius quarrels with the king of England--He returns to Palestine without succour--The disappointment and gloomy forebodings of the Templars--They prepare to resist Saladin--Their defeat and slaughter--The valiant deeds of the Marshal of the Temple--The fatal battle of Tiberias--The captivity of the Grand Master and the true cross--The captive Templars are offered the Koran or death--They choose the latter, and are beheaded--The fall of Jerusalem--The Moslems take possession of the Temple--They purify it with rose-water, say prayers, and hear a sermon--The Templars retire to Antioch--Their letters to the king of England and the Master of the Temple at London--Their exploits at the siege of Acre 68 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 foraging expeditions and exploits--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 129 CHAPTER VI. The conquest of Jerusalem by the Carizmians--The slaughter of the Templars, and the death of the Grand Master--Rise and progress of the Comans--They are defeated and destroyed by the Templars--The exploits of the Templars in Egypt--King Louis of France visits the Templars in Palestine--He assists them in putting the country into a defensible state--Henry III., king of England, visits the Temple at Paris--The magnificent hospitality of the Templars in England and France--Bendoedar, sultan of Egypt, invades Palestine--He defeats the Templars, takes their strong fortresses, and decapitates six hundred of their brethren--The Grand Master comes to England for succour--The renewal of the war--The fall of Acre--The Templars establish their head-quarters in the island of Cyprus--Their alliance with the king of Persia--The reconquest of Jerusalem--The desolation of the Holy Land--The final extinction of the Templars in Palestine 180 CHAPTER VII.