74 THE JCMGHTS TEMPtAKS
vengeance upon the impious Templars were then said, but,
apparently, without having any effect upon the wrongdoers.
Not only did the Church in Syria quarrel with the military
Orders, but its representatives quarrelled among themselves.
The Patriarch of Antioch had challenged the authority of the
Patriarch of Jerusalem, and, though the matter had been
decided by the Pope in favour of the latter, Antioch often
continued to ignore the decrees of Jerusalem, The Syrian
Church, however, was united against the Temple and the
Hospital, and it condemned the Bull of Alexander III
which affected both the finances and authority of the patriarchs
and bishops. But the Church of Palestine was powerless
against the Holy See. It had shown signs of rebellion against
the Pope on more than one occasion. The ecclesiastics in the
East claimed that the Christian Church in Jerusalem ought
not to be subservient to Rome, and some of them argued that
the ruler of Christ's people should be sought in that city
where Christ had suffered and died*
With the growing power of the Moslem, however, the
Church of Jerusalem was faced with other problems and the
rebellion waned. Zenghi's sons, Noureddin and Saffadin,
had met with some severe reverses in their struggle against
the Latins, but the balance of success was in favour of Islam.
After Saffadin's death, Noureddin had seized some of his
property, and steadily strengthened his position. In 1153
he took Damascus^ which he made his capital, and one by one
he overthrew the Turkish emirs who challenged him. Only
when he had crushed most of the Moslem opposition did he
throw himself against the Franks, and then his plan was to
acquire the Latin possessions, not by smashing the Westerners
in a decisive battle, but by besieging the weak towns in succes-
sion- So well did his campaign succeed that by 1162 he had
reduced the possessions of the Latins to Palestine proper.
Baldwin III had hoped to obtain the assistance of the
Byzantines against Noureddin, and in 1158 he had married