ABSTRACT
It is well known that in 1127 Hugh of Payns travelled to the West in order to raise men and to secure papal endorsement for the emerging Order of the Temple. Clearly the rise of the Templars would be highly significant in the development of the Latin East. But, this has meant that historians have ignored the other element of Hugh's embassy: King Baldwin II of Jerusalem sent him to persuade the leading men of the West to help besiege the key Muslim city of Damascus. 1
