Assassinus - Revision history

Bonsall at 15:42, 6 November 2025

2025-11-06T15:42:40Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:42, 6 November 2025
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	This story recounts the fable of the garden of the assassins, or the Hakesins. Set in an unidentified Islamic country, the story tells of children who are raised entirely in dark, underground or lightless enclosures, such as cisterns or cellars. They know no joy or pleasure of any kind, and are kept in darkness until they are old enough to speak; then, they are shown a beautiful pleasure-garden, full of fruit trees, flowers, and happy knights and ladies laughing and playing in the sunlight. When the children ask who these happy people are, they are told that these are those who have killed Christians. The children are inspired to become assassins, and when they have trained and grown, they are sent to Jerusalem to kill Christians in the hopes of one day being admitted to the garden-paradise.		This story recounts the fable of the garden of the assassins, or the Hakesins. Set in an unidentified Islamic country, the story tells of children who are raised entirely in dark, underground or lightless enclosures, such as cisterns or cellars. They know no joy or pleasure of any kind, and are kept in darkness until they are old enough to speak; then, they are shown a beautiful pleasure-garden, full of fruit trees, flowers, and happy knights and ladies laughing and playing in the sunlight. When the children ask who these happy people are, they are told that these are those who have killed Christians. The children are inspired to become assassins, and when they have trained and grown, they are sent to Jerusalem to kill Christians in the hopes of one day being admitted to the garden-paradise.


			From Runte's edition of [[M ('Male Marastre')]]

			[Added by Jane Bonsall]
	\|Has Note=This story closely resembles the widespread medieval narrative of 'The Old Man of the Mountain', popularised by the travelogues of Marco Polo, William of Tyre, and John Mandeville (among others); Nishimura notes the correspondence, and cites the Thompson Motif Index number K1889.3, 'The False Paradise' (2001). These fictionalised accounts of the so called 'Order of Assassins' were likely inspired by the Nazari Ismaili community, founded by Hasan ibn Sabah, that lived in the mountains of Syria and Persia in the 11th and 12th centuries. Like many of their contemporaries, they were known to engage in politically and/or religiously motivated assassination of their enemies, in particular the Seljuks, and at least amongst their opponents, they developed a particular reputation for these actions. However, scholarship cautions against a too-easy identification of historical 'truth' in the narratives about the 'Order of Assassins'. For example, in Geraldine Heng's article 'Sex, Lies, and Paradise: The Assassins, Prester John, and the Fabulation of Civilizational Identities' (<nowiki>''</nowiki>differences<nowiki>''</nowiki>, 23.1, 2012, pp. 1-31), Heng lays out the modern misappropriations of the medieval narrative, untangling medieval and modern islamophobic readings and reiterations from what we might understand as reflections of historical reality.		\|Has Note=This story closely resembles the widespread medieval narrative of 'The Old Man of the Mountain', popularised by the travelogues of Marco Polo, William of Tyre, and John Mandeville (among others); Nishimura notes the correspondence, and cites the Thompson Motif Index number K1889.3, 'The False Paradise' (2001). These fictionalised accounts of the so called 'Order of Assassins' were likely inspired by the Nazari Ismaili community, founded by Hasan ibn Sabah, that lived in the mountains of Syria and Persia in the 11th and 12th centuries. Like many of their contemporaries, they were known to engage in politically and/or religiously motivated assassination of their enemies, in particular the Seljuks, and at least amongst their opponents, they developed a particular reputation for these actions. However, scholarship cautions against a too-easy identification of historical 'truth' in the narratives about the 'Order of Assassins'. For example, in Geraldine Heng's article 'Sex, Lies, and Paradise: The Assassins, Prester John, and the Fabulation of Civilizational Identities' (<nowiki>''</nowiki>differences<nowiki>''</nowiki>, 23.1, 2012, pp. 1-31), Heng lays out the modern misappropriations of the medieval narrative, untangling medieval and modern islamophobic readings and reiterations from what we might understand as reflections of historical reality.
	}}		}}

Bonsall at 14:39, 18 June 2025

2025-06-18T14:39:56Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:39, 18 June 2025
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	{{Inset Story		{{Inset Story
	\|Has Critical Literature=Heng (2012); Nishimura (2001); Runte (1974); Runte (1971)		\|Has Critical Literature=Heng (2012); Nishimura (2001); Runte (1974); Runte (1971)
	\|Has Motif=Religious conflict; Islamophobia; Caves and underground spaces; Assassination; Murder; Setting: exotic/orientalised; Religion		\|Has Motif=Religious conflict; Islamophobia; Caves and underground spaces; Assassination; Murder; Setting: exotic/orientalised; Religion; Islam; Christianity
	\|Has Summary='''The Assassins (or, 'Li examples des Hakesin qui l'omme ocist')'''		\|Has Summary='''The Assassins (or, 'Li examples des Hakesin qui l'omme ocist')'''

Bonsall at 14:39, 18 June 2025

2025-06-18T14:39:28Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:39, 18 June 2025
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	{{Inset Story		{{Inset Story
	\|Has Critical Literature=Heng (2012); Nishimura (2001); Runte (1974); Runte (1971)		\|Has Critical Literature=Heng (2012); Nishimura (2001); Runte (1974); Runte (1971)
	\|Has Motif=Religious conflict; Islamophobia; Caves and underground spaces; Assassination; Murder~~; Islam; Christianity~~; Setting: exotic/orientalised; Religion~~; Religion: Christianity; Religion: Islam~~		\|Has Motif=Religious conflict; Islamophobia; Caves and underground spaces; Assassination; Murder; Setting: exotic/orientalised; Religion
	\|Has Summary='''The Assassins (or, 'Li examples des Hakesin qui l'omme ocist')'''		\|Has Summary='''The Assassins (or, 'Li examples des Hakesin qui l'omme ocist')'''

Bonsall at 14:34, 18 June 2025

2025-06-18T14:34:26Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:34, 18 June 2025
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	{{Inset Story		{{Inset Story
	\|Has Critical Literature=Heng (2012); Nishimura (2001); Runte (1974); Runte (1971)		\|Has Critical Literature=Heng (2012); Nishimura (2001); Runte (1974); Runte (1971)
	\|Has Motif=~~Orientalised setting;~~ Religious conflict; Islamophobia; Caves and underground spaces; Assassination; Murder; Islam; Christianity		\|Has Motif=Religious conflict; Islamophobia; Caves and underground spaces; Assassination; Murder; Islam; Christianity; Setting: exotic/orientalised; Religion; Religion: Christianity; Religion: Islam
	\|Has Summary='''The Assassins (or, 'Li examples des Hakesin qui l'omme ocist')'''		\|Has Summary='''The Assassins (or, 'Li examples des Hakesin qui l'omme ocist')'''

Noeth: Text replacement - "Has Content Tag=" to "Has Motif="

2025-03-04T19:13:09Z

Text replacement - "Has Content Tag=" to "Has Motif="

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:13, 4 March 2025
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	{{Inset Story		{{Inset Story
	\|Has Critical Literature=Heng (2012); Nishimura (2001); Runte (1974); Runte (1971)		\|Has Critical Literature=Heng (2012); Nishimura (2001); Runte (1974); Runte (1971)
	\|Has ~~Content Tag~~=Orientalised setting; Religious conflict; Islamophobia; Caves and underground spaces; Assassination; Murder; Islam; Christianity		\|Has Motif=Orientalised setting; Religious conflict; Islamophobia; Caves and underground spaces; Assassination; Murder; Islam; Christianity
	\|Has Summary='''The Assassins (or, 'Li examples des Hakesin qui l'omme ocist')'''		\|Has Summary='''The Assassins (or, 'Li examples des Hakesin qui l'omme ocist')'''

Bonsall at 18:57, 18 December 2024

2024-12-18T18:57:24Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:57, 18 December 2024
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	{{Inset Story		{{Inset Story
	\|Has Critical Literature=Heng (2012); Nishimura (2001)		\|Has Critical Literature=Heng (2012); Nishimura (2001); Runte (1974); Runte (1971)
	\|Has Content Tag=Orientalised setting; Religious conflict; Islamophobia; Caves and underground spaces; Assassination; Murder; Islam; Christianity		\|Has Content Tag=Orientalised setting; Religious conflict; Islamophobia; Caves and underground spaces; Assassination; Murder; Islam; Christianity
	\|Has Summary='''The Assassins (or, 'Li examples des Hakesin qui l'omme ocist')'''		\|Has Summary='''The Assassins (or, 'Li examples des Hakesin qui l'omme ocist')'''

Bonsall at 18:56, 18 December 2024

2024-12-18T18:56:54Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:56, 18 December 2024
Line 1:		Line 1:
	{{Inset Story		{{Inset Story
	\|Has Critical Literature=Heng (2012); Nishimura (2001)		\|Has Critical Literature=Heng (2012); Nishimura (2001)
	\|Has Content Tag=Orientalised setting; Religious conflict; Islamophobia; Caves and underground spaces; Assassination; Murder		\|Has Content Tag=Orientalised setting; Religious conflict; Islamophobia; Caves and underground spaces; Assassination; Murder; Islam; Christianity
	\|Has Summary='''The Assassins (or, 'Li examples des Hakesin qui l'omme ocist')'''		\|Has Summary='''The Assassins (or, 'Li examples des Hakesin qui l'omme ocist')'''

Bonsall at 19:37, 13 December 2024

2024-12-13T19:37:35Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:37, 13 December 2024
Line 1:		Line 1:
	{{Inset Story		{{Inset Story
			\|Has Critical Literature=Heng (2012); Nishimura (2001)
			\|Has Content Tag=Orientalised setting; Religious conflict; Islamophobia; Caves and underground spaces; Assassination; Murder
	\|Has Summary='''The Assassins (or, 'Li examples des Hakesin qui l'omme ocist')'''		\|Has Summary='''The Assassins (or, 'Li examples des Hakesin qui l'omme ocist')'''

	This story recounts the fable of the garden of the assassins, or the Hakesins. Set in an unidentified Islamic country, the story tells of children who are raised entirely in dark, underground or lightless enclosures, such as cisterns or cellars. They know no joy or pleasure of any kind, and are kept in darkness until they are old enough to speak; then, they are shown a beautiful pleasure-garden, full of fruit trees, flowers, and happy knights and ladies laughing and playing in the sunlight. When the children ask who these happy people are, they are told that these are those who have killed Christians. The children are inspired to become assassins, and when they have trained and grown, they are sent to Jerusalem to kill Christians in the hopes of one day being admitted to the garden-paradise.		This story recounts the fable of the garden of the assassins, or the Hakesins. Set in an unidentified Islamic country, the story tells of children who are raised entirely in dark, underground or lightless enclosures, such as cisterns or cellars. They know no joy or pleasure of any kind, and are kept in darkness until they are old enough to speak; then, they are shown a beautiful pleasure-garden, full of fruit trees, flowers, and happy knights and ladies laughing and playing in the sunlight. When the children ask who these happy people are, they are told that these are those who have killed Christians. The children are inspired to become assassins, and when they have trained and grown, they are sent to Jerusalem to kill Christians in the hopes of one day being admitted to the garden-paradise.
			\|Has Note=This story closely resembles the widespread medieval narrative of 'The Old Man of the Mountain', popularised by the travelogues of Marco Polo, William of Tyre, and John Mandeville (among others); Nishimura notes the correspondence, and cites the Thompson Motif Index number K1889.3, 'The False Paradise' (2001). These fictionalised accounts of the so called 'Order of Assassins' were likely inspired by the Nazari Ismaili community, founded by Hasan ibn Sabah, that lived in the mountains of Syria and Persia in the 11th and 12th centuries. Like many of their contemporaries, they were known to engage in politically and/or religiously motivated assassination of their enemies, in particular the Seljuks, and at least amongst their opponents, they developed a particular reputation for these actions. However, scholarship cautions against a too-easy identification of historical 'truth' in the narratives about the 'Order of Assassins'. For example, in Geraldine Heng's article 'Sex, Lies, and Paradise: The Assassins, Prester John, and the Fabulation of Civilizational Identities' (<nowiki>''</nowiki>differences<nowiki>''</nowiki>, 23.1, 2012, pp. 1-31), Heng lays out the modern misappropriations of the medieval narrative, untangling medieval and modern islamophobic readings and reiterations from what we might understand as reflections of historical reality.
	This story closely resembles the widespread medieval narrative of 'The Old Man of the Mountain', popularised by the travelogues of Marco Polo, William of Tyre, and John Mandeville (among others); Nishimura notes the correspondence, and cites the Thompson Motif Index number K1889.3, 'The False Paradise' (2001). These fictionalised accounts of the so called 'Order of Assassins' were likely inspired by the Nazari Ismaili community, founded by Hasan ibn Sabah, that lived in the mountains of Syria and Persia in the 11th and 12th centuries. Like many of their contemporaries, they were known to engage in politically and/or religiously motivated assassination of their enemies, in particular the Seljuks, and at least amongst their opponents, they developed a particular reputation for these actions. However, scholarship cautions against a too-easy identification of historical 'truth' in the narratives about the 'Order of Assassins'. For example, in Geraldine Heng's article 'Sex, Lies, and Paradise: The Assassins, Prester John, and the Fabulation of Civilizational Identities' (<nowiki>''</nowiki>differences<nowiki>''</nowiki>, 23.1, 2012, pp. 1-31), Heng lays out the modern misappropriations of the medieval narrative, untangling medieval and modern islamophobic readings and reiterations from what we might understand as reflections fo historical reality.
	}}		}}

Noeth at 18:40, 19 August 2024

2024-08-19T18:40:04Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 18:40, 19 August 2024
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	{{Inset Story		{{Inset Story
	\|Has Summary=~~<nowiki>~~'''The Assassins (or, 'Li examples des Hakesin qui l'omme ocist')'''~~</nowiki>~~		\|Has Summary='''The Assassins (or, 'Li examples des Hakesin qui l'omme ocist')'''

	This story recounts the fable of the garden of the assassins, or the Hakesins. Set in an unidentified Islamic country, the story tells of children who are raised entirely in dark, underground or lightless enclosures, such as cisterns or cellars. They know no joy or pleasure of any kind, and are kept in darkness until they are old enough to speak; then, they are shown a beautiful pleasure-garden, full of fruit trees, flowers, and happy knights and ladies laughing and playing in the sunlight. When the children ask who these happy people are, they are told that these are those who have killed Christians. The children are inspired to become assassins, and when they have trained and grown, they are sent to Jerusalem to kill Christians in the hopes of one day being admitted to the garden-paradise.		This story recounts the fable of the garden of the assassins, or the Hakesins. Set in an unidentified Islamic country, the story tells of children who are raised entirely in dark, underground or lightless enclosures, such as cisterns or cellars. They know no joy or pleasure of any kind, and are kept in darkness until they are old enough to speak; then, they are shown a beautiful pleasure-garden, full of fruit trees, flowers, and happy knights and ladies laughing and playing in the sunlight. When the children ask who these happy people are, they are told that these are those who have killed Christians. The children are inspired to become assassins, and when they have trained and grown, they are sent to Jerusalem to kill Christians in the hopes of one day being admitted to the garden-paradise.

Noeth: Text replacement - "|Has Description" to "|Has Summary"

2024-06-05T09:31:37Z

Text replacement - "|Has Description" to "|Has Summary"

← Older revision		Revision as of 09:31, 5 June 2024
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	{{Inset Story		{{Inset Story
	\|Has ~~Description~~=<nowiki>'''The Assassins (or, 'Li examples des Hakesin qui l'omme ocist')'''</nowiki>		\|Has Summary=<nowiki>'''The Assassins (or, 'Li examples des Hakesin qui l'omme ocist')'''</nowiki>

	This story recounts the fable of the garden of the assassins, or the Hakesins. Set in an unidentified Islamic country, the story tells of children who are raised entirely in dark, underground or lightless enclosures, such as cisterns or cellars. They know no joy or pleasure of any kind, and are kept in darkness until they are old enough to speak; then, they are shown a beautiful pleasure-garden, full of fruit trees, flowers, and happy knights and ladies laughing and playing in the sunlight. When the children ask who these happy people are, they are told that these are those who have killed Christians. The children are inspired to become assassins, and when they have trained and grown, they are sent to Jerusalem to kill Christians in the hopes of one day being admitted to the garden-paradise.		This story recounts the fable of the garden of the assassins, or the Hakesins. Set in an unidentified Islamic country, the story tells of children who are raised entirely in dark, underground or lightless enclosures, such as cisterns or cellars. They know no joy or pleasure of any kind, and are kept in darkness until they are old enough to speak; then, they are shown a beautiful pleasure-garden, full of fruit trees, flowers, and happy knights and ladies laughing and playing in the sunlight. When the children ask who these happy people are, they are told that these are those who have killed Christians. The children are inspired to become assassins, and when they have trained and grown, they are sent to Jerusalem to kill Christians in the hopes of one day being admitted to the garden-paradise.