76 THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS
agreed to withdraw from Egypt,, and as the ostensible purpose
of the Latin intervention was to expel Shirkah, the second
expedition into Egypt may be regarded as a success. It was
a success, however, for which the Latins paid heavily, In the
absence of the greater part of the Franks, Noureddin led his
army against the Christians in Antioch and Tripoli and won
several important towns. This experience did not deter
Amalric from making a third expedition four years later.
Shirkah had again marched into Kgypt with an army, and the
vizir, Shawar, once more asked the Christians for protection,
Neither Amalric nor Shirkah could obtain a decisive victory,
and the campaign ended with the withdrawal of the two
armies, a result which satisfied the Egyptians, if no one else.
Amalric had excused his first expedition against Egypt on
the ground that the Fatimites had not paid a tribute due to
Jerusalem since the capture of Ascalon in 11535 the second
and third expeditions had been in response to appeals from
Shawar. Although the sending of a large part of the Latin
forces to Egypt had left the Christian possessions almost
defenceless, the king was probably justified in organising the
two later expeditions, since the capture of Egypt by Shirkah
would have placed the Latin kingdom in a precarious situa-
tion- The fourth expedition, however, was inspired by
greed, and had no other justification. Fuller remarks,
" When a crown is the prize of the game, we must never
expect fair play of the gamesters "j and Amalric had shown
himself quite unscrupulous on other occasions*
Hugh of Cassarea and the Templar, Geoffrey Fulcher, had
gone on an embassy to the Caliph of Egypt and an agree-
ment had been reached between the Fatimites and the
Christians- So highly had the Fatimites valued the Latin
support against Shirkah that they had given Amalric over a
hundred thousand pounds for his assistance, and they
regarded the Christians as dependable allies. The king had
no qualms about breaking this treaty, but the Templar*