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The Assassins versus the Templars.

It's the alien versus predator of the medieval world.

Whoever wins, we lose.

One, a group of warrior monks in white mantles marked with those red crosses,

sworn to defend pilgrims and fight for Christendom.

The other, a secretive sect hidden in mountain fortresses,

striking fear into rulers through targeted, surgical, theatrical killings.

Two small players whose influence and survival depended not only on their bravery and skill and ambition,

but also on the creation of a myth of invincibility by convincing their enemies that this was a fight

that they weren't going to win.

Today I'm joined again by the crusading expert, the historian Steve Tibble, to look at these

two secretive religious orders that have been immortalised in legend and myth. We've got the

Nazari Ishmaelis, the assassins to you and me, and we've got the Templars. Who were they really?

How did these two groups rise to positions of power and influence? And were they truly enemies?

...