HISTOIRE DE L'ORDRE DES ASSASSINS

by Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall

Il existe tant d'analogies entre l'Ordre des Assassins et d'autres Ordres, contemporains ou postrieurs, que, aujourd'hui, certains n'ont pas manqu d'en tablir une supplmentaire entre cet Ordre et les rseaux terroristes, d'autant plus que l'ide du " Paradis l'ombre des pes " est toujours prsente chez certains musulmans dfinis comme " fondamentalistes ". Que faut-il penser de ces rapprochements Cet ouvrage, extrmement document, permettra chacun de se faire son opinion l-dessus. Pour l'auteur : " Si les Templiers, sous beaucoup de rapports, marchrent sur les traces des Assassins, ils trouvrent des imitateurs dans les Jsuites " (ceux-ci, aprs la suppression de leur Ordre, firent comme les Assassins aprs la chute d'Alamout ; ils tchrent de conserver, sinon une puissance politique, du moins une influence cache). " La constitution de la loge du Caire, la srie gradue des initiations, les dnominations de matres, de compagnons, d'apprentis, la doctrine publique et la doctrine secrte, le serment d'obissance passive, nous retrouvons tout cela dans ce que nous avons vu, lu ou entendu, de nos jours, sur les socits secrtes qui ont t les instruments de tant de rvolutions. Toutefois, on ne peut nier que quelques-unes de leurs institutions fussent rellement dignes d'loges ; elles n'avaient d'autre but que la propagation des connaissances et la protection rciproque des initis. C'tait en proclamant partout leur amour des lumires, leur bienfaisance et leur philanthropie, qu'ils sduisaient la multitude et parvenaient leur fin. L'auteur de cette histoire s'est propos un double but : de montrer la dsastreuse influence des socits secrtes sous les gouvernements faibles et, ensuite, d'exhumer les trsors historiques si importants, si rares et souvent trop ddaigns de la littrature orientale. "

Genres: Nonfiction, History

368 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1818

About the author

Baron Joseph Freiherr von Hammer-Purgstall was an Austrian orientalist and historian.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_...

Reviews

[Dorum · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book contains a wealth of information on the Assassins and their history. A lot of details are described and a huge geographical and historical period of time is covered, with many details. It is obvious that the author was quite well read.

Sadly, the bad points of the book outweigh the good ones:

First of all, the book is dated. The author takes Marco Polo's accounts as true. Because of this he bases his etymology on the word hashish. This is incorrect because of various reasons: Marco Polo supposedly passed by in Alamut some 20 years after it was wrecked by the Mongols. Additionally, Ata-Malik Juvayni surveyed the Alamut castle before the Mongol destruction. No gardens were described. Since he was surveying the destruction of the manuscripts left by the Ismailis, he would have taken serious care in exposing such a deceit.

Second, the book is written using sources of the enemies of the Ismailis. Mostly, Sunni texts are used. Because of this, Joseph von Hammer does a serious disservice. Especially since part of the Ismaili sect is still existant, a more balanced viewpoint would have been useful.

As such, during the whole book the assassins are described as motivated only by greed, lust etc. An objective historian should have provided a better account.

The first objection to this book might be dismissed given the time period in which the author lived. Unfortunately, I have no such excuse for the second objection. Ever since Thucydides, historians were required to present a balanced view of the facts. This cannot be seen here.

A third problem is with regards to the manner of writing. Joseph von Hammer follows a roughly chronological narrative. However, he jumps from one idea to the other and doesn't systematically introduce any of the characters appearing in the book. He easily jumps from one to another, and doesn't describe the events in any real detail. The characters are addressed with different names and the phrases are It is

So, where can we find a better book. I believe that The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines by Farhad Daftary is probably a more actual and useful book. Add Bernard Lewis' "The Assasins" and you have an excellent overview over this interesting sect.

One more thing... No Parkour in this book guys, sorry :(. The Assassins were sleeper agents and religious fanatics, not acrobats. Also, they were allies with the Templars at some point. :)

[F S · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wealth of historical information in an easily digestible writing!