126 AHISTORYOFTHE CRUSADES . I 
 
of the marquis, and the suspicious speed with which his protégé
count Henry of Champagne married the widow and succeeded to the throne of
the Latin kingdom, lent some color to the story — and one can rea.dily
understand that it found widespread credence at the time. But whether or
not the Assassins were telling the truth when they confessed is another question.
Ibn-al-AthIr, for whose dislike of Saladin due allowance must be made, mentions
the attribution to Richard simply as a belief current among the Franks. He
himself names Saladin as the instigator, and even knows the sum of money
paid to Sinän for the work. The plan was to kill both Richard himself
and the marquis, but the murder of Richard proved impossible. The Ismã~Ilite
biography attributes the initiative to Sinan, with the prior approval and
cooperation of Saladin; but here too allowance must be made for the author's
obvious desire to present his hero as a loyal collaborator of Saladin in
his holy war. He adds the unlikely information that, in reward for this deed,
Saladin granted the Assassins many privileges, including the right, to set
up houses of propaganda in Cairo, Damascus, Floms, Hamah, Aleppo, and other
cities. In this story we may perhaps discern an exaggerated recollection
of some definite recognition accorded to the Assassins by Saladin in the
period after the agreement at Masyaf. ~Imãd-ad-Din, on the other hand,
tells us that the murder was not opportune for Saladin, since Conrad, though
himself one of the leaders of the crusaders, was an enemy of the more redoubtable
Richard, and was in communication with Saladin at the time of his death.
Richard, aware of this, himself inclined to negotiation and peace. But the
murder of Conrad freed him from anxiety and encouraged him to resume hostilities
~40 
This and the preceding murder raise an important general issue in the history
of the Assassins. Of a score of murders recorded in Syria between 1103 and
1273, almost half are attributed by one or another source to the instigation
of third parties. Sometimes the story is based on an alleged confession by
the actual murderers. Yet it must be remembered that the Assassins were no
mere band of hired cut-throats, but the fanatically devoted adherents of
a religious sect, dedicated ultimately to the achievement of nothing less
than the establishment of a new Fã~imid empire over all 
4° Bahã'-ad-Din, An-nawãdir as-sul;äniyah, p. 165;
abü-Shãmah, II, 596; ~Imãd-ad-Din, 
Al-f atfii al-qussi (ed. C. de Landberg, Conque'te de la Syrie..., Leyden,
r888), pp. 420 to 
422; Ibn-al-Athir, Kãmil, XII, 53 (RHC, Or., II, 58—59); Bar
Hebraeus, p. 339; Nicetas 
Choniates, Historia (RHC, Grecs, I), p. 318; Defrémery, "Ismaéliens
de Sync," op. cit., V. 
25—30; Quatremère, op. cit., p. 357; Lewis, "Saladin and the
Assassins," n. 23.