2474

Nov. 1-30? In a general letter addressed to all princes, the emperor Frederick II reports that he has received letters brought by frater S., an emissary of Patriarch Albert of Antioch, describing the switching of alliances from Egypt to the sultans of Damascus and Kerak, the invasion of the Khorezmians, the mustering of the Christian army on the borders of Egypt at Gaza, the arrival of the patriarch of Jerusalem, the evacuation of the inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem under the magistri of the Hospital of St Mary of the Germans, the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem and the Knights Templar, their return, the Khorezmian assault on the city and the massacre of the inhabitants, including those who had sought refuge in the church of the Holy Sepulchre. He blames this turn of events on the abandonment of the policy of R. comes Cornubie who, together with the magistri of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem and St Mary of the Germans, was acting on behalf of King Conrad.