I was playing Assassins Creed earlier today and got to thinking about the effect hashshashins had during the time of the crusades and how they played into the scene. The hashshashin movement started around 1090 and continued until 1256. They fought under Hasan ibn Sabbah at the beginning with the belief that following him was the only way to receive salvation. They listening to him without question and ended up taking the lives of many nobles including Raymond II of Tripoli, Conrad de Montferrat, and Prince Edward. Sometime they even fought along with the Crusaders but only because they had similar enemies.
There's not much information I could find about how they specifically were involved... but I'd really love to find more information on this!!!
- Abby
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In his early career, Conrad de Montferrat commanded an army against Frederick Bararossa's forces and in the process captured and held the imperial chancellor, Archbishop Christian of Mainz, hostage. Conrad had previously been a hostage of the chancellor.
ReplyDeleteOk, first of all Assassins Creed is an awesome game!
ReplyDeleteAs for the hashshashins, as far as I know, they were an elite group of warriors that evolved into a type of assassination service. They were known for their bravery and absolute dedication to their beliefs. Also, they were known to be insane warriors, in the sense that they would dive into any situation with fervor, no matter what the consequences. One explanation for this last observation is that like many warriors of the time, the hashshashins used brain stimulants (drugs)--hence where the slang "hash" comes from.
~C. Erba
Apparently, the assassins would train 'sleeper commandos' in multiple languages, sciences, trades, and other areas. These people were known as Fedayeen. They would infiltrate enemy positions and remain there, undercover, until they were 'activated' to prevent an attack. They used their skills for political goals as well, avoiding murder. For example, they might place a dagger on the pillow of a victim one night knowing that when the victim awoke, they would understand they are not safe anywhere and even their inner group of trusted men were infiltrated by the assassins. If they were smart, they would stop whatever they were doing to anger the hashashin.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting the similarities between the assassins and other military orders formed during the crusades. Both Templars and assassins were dedicated, were fierce in battle, and served a specific creed, that governed their entire life. Though (especially in assassins creed)the templars and assassins were often enemies, they both served to meet the needs of the times.
ReplyDeleteAfter doing more research on this, I highly doubt assassins ever used 'hash'. Hashish is a drug that causes the user to become very lazy and once they begin using it, they stop almost everything else. How then could these amazing warriors be users of this drug? I think somewhere 'hashashin' was confused with 'hassassin' (coming from their leader Hassan) ... maybe?
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