#assassins

#assassins

The Nizaris had survived in part because of their position on a warring frontier. They had been irritating but, as a buffer state against the Franks, they fulfilled a useful function for their much bigger Sunni neighbours. Now even that usefulness was gone. As the Franks were forced back to their last enclaves on the coast, the Assassins looked increasingly anomalous - a Shi'ite nuisance in the midst of victorious Sunni orthodoxy.

The Assassins and the Knights Templar have become two of the most iconic groups of fighters from the period of the Crusades. In recent times, they have been popularised through the video game and movie franchise, Assassin's Creed. But who were they really and how did they interact in the Holy Land? It's an intriguing story that Dr Steve Tibble and Tony McMahon investigate in the first episode of their new podcast series, Talking Templars.

The Assassins were never popular, but they had a plan. Like all good strategies, the Assassins' plan was simple but profound. It had four elements - castles, conversion, carnage and chaos. With a remote network of mountain castles in your possession, you had safety and a place to regroup. From the security of those bases it was possible to launch conversion programmes, building up a greater base of followers who could provide economic support to the group.

The great Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg once told me that the problem with movie sex scenes is that the movie just stops while we watch the actors have sex. I feel that way about action scenes, especially on TV. Although a handful of directors can make them thrilling Kathryn Bigelow, Jackie Chan, George Miller I nearly always find myself waiting for the chase to end or the gunfire to die down so we can get back to the story.