166 THE KNIGHTS TEMPLARS
have shaken the whole of the East with their terrors. They
persecute all, making no distinction between the Christians
and the infidels." The nobles of the Holy Land and the
leaders of the military Orders were summoned and it was
decided to collect every available man in the kingdom and risk
all on a battle with the Khorasmians. Walter of Jaffa was
given the command, and six thousand Christian knights
flocked to his banner. As the Khorasmians were the allies of
the Sultan, the Moslem princes of Damascus and Kerak, at
that time at war with Egypt, were asked to combine with the
Christian army. They agreed to co-operate, but their contri-
bution did not comprise more than five thousand men.
The combined army gathered at Csesarea, where it was
hoped to meet the Khorasmians, but Barbacan, uncertain of
the issue of an engagement against so large a force, retired to
Gaza. Egypt sent troops to his aid, and on October iyth,
1244, the battle was joined. On the left were the
Hospitallers, in the centre the Templars, who guarded
the true cross carried by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and on
the right were the Moslems of Kerak and Damascus. The
struggle raged for two days and ended in an overwhelming
victory for the Khorasmians. The Moslem auxiliaries
deserted the Christians early in the conflict, and the main
burden was borne by the Templars, the Hospitallers and the
Teutonic Knights. "They resisted courageously like doughty
champions of the Lord and virtuous defenders of the faith 5
but their numbers were small against so tremendous a host
and at last they must admit defeat. . . . Out of all the
brethren of the Temple, of the Hospital of St. John, and of
the Teutonic Knights of St. Mary, only thirty-three Templars,
twenty-six Hospitallers, and three of the Teutonic brethren
escaped, the rest being slain or captured." More than thirty
thousand men are said to have died in the battle of Gaza.