82 THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS
of the king of Jerusalem *\ says a chronicler, <* went forth
to meet the pagans. Making a bold attack upon the pagans
they forced them to give way, and Q, supreme bounty of
the Most High! the Christians, who were not in number
more than ten thousand fighting men, gained the victory over
five hundred thousand pagans, and that by the aid of the
Most High*" The number of the Christians is correctly
stated in this report, but Saladin had an army of not more
than thirty thousand. Even so, however, the victory at
Ascaion was a remarkable one. The Moslems fled in panic
before the charge of the Latins and Saladin lost nearly a
quarter of his followers.
The result of the battle did not restore confidence among
the Christians* It was felt that the Moslems with their
tremendous reserves would be bound to overthrow the Latins
before long, and so the sale of lands and the emigration of
nobles and others still continued* Saladin had been chastened
by his abject defeat at Ascaion, but in the following year he
marched on Jacob's Ford, where the Templars were building
a fortress. The importance of this fortress, situated in a
strategic position to guard the northern frontier, was recog-
nised by everyone, and Baldwin mustered an army to prevent
any interference with the work. A number of desperate
skirmishes took place, but the fortress was completed and
garrisoned by the Temple. Saladin then tried to destroy the
building and a pitched battle took place between the Moslems
and the royal forces* This time the victory was with the
Moslems. Several of the Christian nobles were killed, the
Master of the Hospital died of wounds, and the Master of
the Temple was taken prisoner. Having defeated the
Christian army, Saladin attacked the fortress which, after a
stem resistance, was captured and demolished, all the
Templars in it being put to death, Saladin offered to
esdiange Odo de St Amand for a Moslem prisoner
(Saladm's nephew), but the Master would not break the rule