Saladin's assent.
Perhaps Saladin agreed to these terms, under the pressure of dire necessity, compelled as he was to assent to whatever Richard might propose by the dreadful extremity to which the town was reduced, without sufficiently considering whether he would be really able to fulfill his promises. At any rate, these were the promises that he made; and as soon as the treaty was duly executed, the gates of Acre were opened to the conquerors, while Saladin himself broke up his encampment on the mountains, and withdrew his troops farther into the interior of the country.
Richard enters Acre in triumph.
The Archduke of Austria's banner.
Although the treaty was made and executed in the name of both the kings, Richard had taken into his hands almost the whole conduct of the negotiation, and now that the army was about to take possession of the town, he considered himself the conqueror of it. He entered with great parade, assigning to Philip altogether a secondary part in the ceremony. He also took possession of the principal palace of the place as his quarters, and there established himself with Berengaria and Joanna, while he left Philip to take up his residence wherever he could. The flags of both monarchs were, however, raised upon the walls, and so far Philip's claim to a joint sovereignty over the place was acknowledged. But none of the other princes or potentates who had been engaged in the siege were allowed to share this honor. One of them—the Archduke of Austria—ventured to raise his banner on one of the towers, but Richard pulled it down, tore it to pieces, and trampled it under his feet.
This, of course, threw the archduke into a dreadful rage, and most of the other smaller princes in the army shared the indignation that he felt at the grasping disposition which Richard manifested, and at his violent and domineering behavior. But they were helpless. Richard was stronger than they, and they were compelled to submit.
Philip in trouble.
Philip's secret plans.
As for Philip, he had long since begun to find his situation extremely disagreeable. He was very sensitive to the overbearing and arrogant treatment which he received, but he either had not the force of character or the physical strength to resist it. Now, since Acre had fallen, he found his situation worse than ever. There was no longer any enemy directly before them, and it was only the immediate presence of an enemy that had thus far kept Richard within any sort of bounds. Philip saw now plainly that if he were to remain in the Holy Land, and attempt to continue the war, he could only do it by occupying an altogether secondary and subordinate position, and to this he thought it was wholly inconsistent with his rights and dignities as an independent sovereign to descend; so he began to revolve secretly in his mind how he could honorably withdraw from the expedition and return home.
Title of King of Jerusalem.
Sibylla.
While things were in this state, a great quarrel, which had for a long time been gradually growing up in the camp of the Crusaders, but had been restrained and kept, in some degree, subdued by the excitement of the siege, broke out in great violence. The question was who should claim the title of King of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was at this time in the hands of the Saracens, so that the title was, for the time being at least, a mere empty name. Still, there was a very fierce contention to decide who should possess it. It seems that it had originally descended to a certain lady named Sibylla. It had come down to her as the descendant and heir of a very celebrated crusader named Godfrey of Bouillon, who was the first king of Jerusalem. He became King of Jerusalem by having headed the army of Crusaders that first conquered it from the Saracens. This was about a hundred years before the time of the taking of Acre. The knights and generals of his army elected him King of Jerusalem a short time after he had taken it, and the title descended from him to Sibylla.
Guy of Lusignan.
Isabella.
Conrad of Montferrat.