Long before modern Middle Eastern terrorism, there was the medieval Order of Assassins, a murderous cult led by a mysterious figure known as “The Old Man of the Mountain”. The first European account of the group was written in 1167 by a Spanish rabbi, Benjamin of Tudela, who described a shadowy sect, hidden in mountain fortresses, and terrifyingly ruthless. For decades afterwards, travelers and Crusaders brought back to Europe sensational tales that titillated and terrified, of expert murderers, thoroughly trained since childhood in the arts of deceit and stealth. Below are seventeen fascinating but lesser known facts about the Assassins, history’s most notorious killer cult.
17. Feared Medieval Heretics
Members of the Order of Assassins were so dedicated to their leader, that they reportedly were more than eager to sacrifice their lives in order to carry out his slightest whims. Despised as heretics by most fellow Muslims, relatively few, and geographically dispersed, the Assassins still managed to punch far above their weight. The order and its highly indoctrinated, even fanatical, killers wielded considerable power and influence throughout the Middle East, and terrorized the region for generations in the Middle Ages.
