The exterior of the Knight’s Hall, Crac des Chevaliers, Syria. In 1271 the great Muslim warlord Beybars laid siege to the castle. The knights at the Crac were a last outpost. Jerusalem had been lost, the Christians were on the retreat, the 200 soldiers in the castle were surrounded by the armies of Islam and there was no hope of rescue. The Crac must have seemed more like a prison than a stronghold. After one month the Crusaders agreed to leave the castle in return for safe conduct.