Also,:"At the peak of their [Templars] power and influence they were the most disciplined and formidable fighting force ever seen, respected even bytheir opposite numbers, the Hashishim, or Assassins of Islam. It was hardly by coincidence that one of the Templars' greatest centers of influence was at Troyes, where Chretiens' Le Conte del Graal first appeared...The Templars certainly had many clandestine contacts with both the Islamic and Arabian traditions." (from The Holy Grail by Malcolm Godwin.)