“ In 1147 a count of Montferrat took part in the Second Crusade; but the connexion with the Holy Land begins to be intimate in 1176. In that year William Longsword, eldest of the five sons of Count William III., came to the kingdom of Jerusalem, on the invitation of Baldwin IV. and the baronage, and married the heiress of the kingdom, Sibylla. He died within a few months; but his wife bore a posthumous son, who became Baldwin V. Count William III. himself (uncle to Philip of France and brother-in-law to Conrad III.) afterwards came to the Holy Land to watch over the interests of his grandson ”

“ Shortly after the battle of Hittin there appeared in Palestine the ablest and most famous of the family, Count William’s second son, Conrad. Conrad, following the family tradition, and invited by the emperor Isaac Angelus, had gone to serve at the court of Constantinople. He soon became a considerable person; married Isaac’s sister, and defeated and killed a usurper ”

“ Putting into Tyre he was able to save the city from the deluge of Mahommedan conquest which followed Saladin’s victory at Hittin. He established himself firmly in Tyre (refusing admission to Guy, the king of Jerusalem) ; and from it he both sent appeals for aid to Europe—which largely contributed to cause the Third Crusade—and despatched reinforcements to the crusaders, who, from 1188 onwards, were engaged in the siege of Acre. ”