1246

Oct. 1-12. Patriarch Aimery of Antioch addresses an appeal to all Christians. He describes the victory of Saladin and the Turci [at the battle of Hattin], the capture of the king, his brother the constabularius and the master of the Knights Templar, the deaths of Rainaldus princeps, killed by Saladin himself, the bishops of Lydda and Acre, Templars, Hospitallers, 1200 milites and 30000 pedites, and the seizure of the relic of the True Cross. Tiberias has been taken, together with Acre, Haifa, Caesarea, Jaffa, Nazareth, Sebasten, Nablus, Lydda, Ramata, Arsur, Bethlehem, Hebron, Sidon, Beirut, Biblis and Ascalon. Their inhabitants have been captured and now Jerusalem is besieged. He begs for help. Otherwise, the Holy Sepulchre and then Antioch itself will be lost. He reminds Christians of the achievement of their ancestors when they conquered the Holy Land. He is sending the Valeniensis episcopus and the Gabulensis episcopus to the West for aid.