Conrad of Montferrat was killed by two Assassins disguised as monks as he walked home. The Assassins, one of whom had been captured alive and questioned, had been sent by their leader Sinan. The suspected reasons for the murder are varied, some theories suggest Conrad had intercepted a shipment of wealthy goods bound for the Assassin Order while others suggest Saladin had ordered the murder of both Conrad and Richard I. Some also suggest it was Richard himself who had ordered the murder.

Pope Gregory IX condemned the links that both the Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaller had with the Assassin fighters in the Middle East. He issued a Bull, a formal proclamation issued by the pope, preventing further contact with the Assassins. ¹

The Sultan of Babylon abandoned plans to attack Acre at the arrival of Edward. Edward moved on to Nazarus where large numbers of Muslims were killed. Becoming ill, Edward returned to Acre where he stayed for 18 months. The fortifications of Acre being too strong for any attackers, an assassination attempt was made on Edward by a messenger from the Emir of Jaffa. The messengers had become a regular occurrence and one managed to approach Edward while he was alone and unarmed. The assassin attempted to stab Edward with a poisoned knife, but Edward saved himself and killed the assassin instead. Edward did suffer a cut and the poison took hold. Luckily, a skilful doctor cut away the poisoned area and, with drugs sent by the master of the Knights Templar, Edward survived.