All the warriors who were in Jerusalem when the capitulation was signed, obtained permission to retire to Tyre or Tripoli. The conqueror granted life to the inhabitants, and allowed them to purchase their liberty. All Christians, with the exception of the Greeks and Syrians, received orders to quit Jerusalem at the expiration of four days. The rate of ransom was fixed at ten pieces of gold for the men, five for the women, and two for the children. Such as could not purchase their liberty, remained in slavery.
These conditions had at first been received with joy by the Christians; but when they saw the day approach on which they were to leave Jerusalem, they experienced nothing but the most bitter grief at quitting the holy places. They watered the tomb of Christ with their tears, and regretted that they had not died to defend it; they visited Calvary and the churches they were never to see again, amidst groans and sighs; they embraced each other in the streets, weeping and lamenting over their fatal dissensions. Such as were unable to pay their ransom, and would only quit Jerusalem to become slaves to the Saracens, gave themselves up to all the excesses of despair. But such, in these deplorable moments, was their attachment to the religion whose precepts they had not always followed, that the insults offered to the sacred objects of their worship, afflicted them more than their own misfortunes.
At length the fatal day[310] arrived on which the Christians were to quit Jerusalem. All the gates were shut except that of David, by which the people were to go out. Saladin, seated on an elevated throne, saw all the Christians pass before him. The patriarch, followed by the clergy, appeared the first, carrying the sacred vases, the ornaments of the church of the Holy Sepulchre, and treasures, of which God alone, says an Arabian author, knew the value. The queen of Jerusalem, accompanied[311] by the barons and knights, came next. Saladin respected her grief, and addressed some words of kindness to her. The queen was followed by a great number of women, bearing their children in their arms, and uttering the most piercing cries. Many of them drew near to the throne of Saladin, and said to him: “You see at your feet the wives, the mothers, the daughters of the warriors you detain prisoners; we leave for ever our country which they have defended with glory; they helped to support our lives; in losing them, we have lost our last hope; if you deign to restore them to us, they will lessen the miseries of our exile, and we shall be no longer without help upon earth.” Saladin was touched with their prayers, and promised to soften the misfortunes of so many bereaved families. He restored the children to their mothers, and the husbands to their wives, who were amongst the unredeemed captives. Several Christians had abandoned their most valuable goods, and bore upon their shoulders, some their parents weakened by age, and others their infirm or sick friends. Saladin was affected by this spectacle, and rewarded with gifts the virtue and piety of his enemies; he took pity upon all distresses, and allowed the Hospitallers to remain in the city to tend pilgrims, and assist such as were prevented from leaving Jerusalem by serious illness.
When the Saracens began the siege, the holy city contained more than a hundred thousand Christians. The greater part of them were able to purchase their own liberty; and Baleau d’Ibelin, who was the depositary of the treasures destined for the defence of the city, employed them in procuring the freedom of part of the inhabitants. Malec Adel, brother of the sultan, paid the ransom of two thousand captives. Saladin followed his example, by breaking the chains of a great number of poor and orphans. There only remained in bondage about fourteen thousand Christians, amongst whom there were four or five thousand children of tender age, who were insensible of their misfortunes, but whose fate the Christians the more deplored, from the certainty that these innocent victims of war would be brought up in the idolatry of Mahomet.
Many modern writers have compared the generous conduct of Saladin with the revolting scenes which accompanied the entrance of the first Crusaders into Jerusalem; but we must not forget that the Christians offered to capitulate, whilst the Mussulmans sustained a long siege with fanatical obstinacy; and that the companions of Godfrey, who were in an unknown land, in the midst of hostile nations, carried the city by assault, after braving numberless perils, and suffering all kinds of miseries. But we beg to observe that we do not make this observation to justify the Christians, or to weaken the praises history owes to Saladin, and which he even obtained from the people he had conquered.
After having done honour to misfortune and consoled humanity, Saladin gave his attention to his triumph. He entered Jerusalem preceded by his victorious standards. A great number of imauns, doctors of the law, and the ambassadors of many Mussulman princes, formed his train. By his orders all the churches, except that of the Holy Sepulchre, were converted into mosques. The sultan caused the walls and the vestibule of the mosque of Omar to be washed with rose-water, brought from Damascus, and with his own hands placed in it the pulpit constructed by Noureddin. On the first Friday which followed his entrance into Jerusalem, the people and the army assembled in the principal mosque, and the chief of the imauns, ascending the pulpit of the Prophet, returned thanks to God for the victories of Saladin. “Glory to God,” said he, “who has caused Islamism to triumph, and who has broken the power of the infidels. Praise with me the Lord, who has restored to us Jerusalem, the dwelling of God, the abode of saints and prophets; it was from the bosom of this sacred dwelling that God caused his servant to travel during the darkness of night; it was to facilitate the conquest of Jerusalem by Joshua that God formerly arrested the course of the sun; and it is in this city, at the end of time, will assemble all the prophets of the earth.” After having recapitulated the wonders and miracles of Jerusalem, the preacher of Islamism addressed himself to the soldiers of Saladin, and congratulated them with having braved so many perils, and having shed their blood to accomplish the will of Mahomet. “The soldiers of the prophet,” added he, “the companions of Omar and Aboubeker, have appointed you places in their holy bands, and expect you amongst the elect of Islamism. Witnesses of your last triumph, the angels on the right hand of the Eternal have rejoiced; the hearts of the messengers of God have leaped with joy. Praise, then, with me the Lord; but yield not to the weaknesses of pride, and do not, above everything, believe that it was your swords of steel, with your horses, rapid as the wind, that have triumphed over the infidels. God is God; God alone is powerful; God alone has given you the victory; he orders you not to stop in a glorious career in which he himself leads you by the hand. The holy war! the holy war! that is the most pure of your adorations, the most noble of your duties. Cut down all the branches of impiety; cause Islamism to triumph everywhere; deliver the earth of the nations against which God is angry.”
The chief of the imauns then prayed for the caliph of Bagdad, and terminated his prayer by naming Saladin. “O God!” cried he, “watch over the days of thy faithful servant, who is thy sharp sword, thy resplendent star, the defender of thy worship, the liberator of thy sacred dwelling. O God! let thy angels surround his empire, and prolong his days for the glory of thy name!”
Thus Jerusalem had changed its worship on changing its masters. Whilst the holy places resounded with the sacrilegious praises of the prophet, the Christians departed sadly, plunged in profound grief, and detesting the life which the Saracens had spared. Repulsed by their brethren of the East, who accused them of having given up the tomb of their God to the infidels, they wandered about Syria, without assistance and without asylum; many died of grief and hunger; the city of Tripoli shut its gates against them. Among this distracted multitude, one woman, urged by despair, cast her infant into the sea, cursing the Christians who refused them succour. They who directed their course to Egypt were less unfortunate, and touched the hearts of the Mussulmans; many embarked for Europe, whither they came to announce, with lamentations, that Jerusalem was in the hands of Saladin.
The loss of the holy city was generally attributed to the crimes of its inhabitants. Such was the policy of those times, that it explained everything by the corruption or the sanctity of the Christians; as if crime had not its moments of good fortune, and virtue its days of calamity. There is no doubt that the corruption of manners had weakened the springs of government, and enervated the courage of the people; but the never-ending discords of the Christians did not contribute less than their licentiousness and forgetfulness of scriptural morality, in producing the disasters of Jerusalem. When we reflect, likewise, that this weak kingdom, surrounded by enemies, was able to support itself, and defer its ruin for eighty-eight years, we are much less astonished at its fall than at the length of its duration. The kingdom of Jerusalem owed its preservation and splendour to the divisions of the Turks and Saracens, and the numerous supplies it received from Europe; it fell as soon as it was left to itself, and its enemies united to attack it.
As it was at that time, however, believed that the welfare of Christianity and the glory even of God were attached to the preservation of Jerusalem, the loss of the holy city created throughout Europe as much surprise as consternation. The news of this disaster was first brought into Italy; and Pope Urban III., who was then at Ferrara, died of grief. Christians forgot all the ills of their own country to weep over Jerusalem; it even superseded all other afflictions in private families. Priests carried from city to city images,[312] representing the holy sepulchre trampled under the feet of horses, and Christ cast to the earth by Mahomet. Melancholy songs deplored the captivity of the king of Jerusalem and his knights, the fate of the virgins of the Lord abandoned to the insults of infidels, and the misfortunes of Christian children brought up in slavery and in the worship of false prophets.