So he leaped upon his horse and rode on alone. On arriving at the spot, he plunged into the thickest of the fight, and there he fought so furiously, and made such havoc among the Saracens with his battle-axe, that they fell back, and the Templars, and also the party that had gone out with the earl, were rescued, and made good their retreat to the town, leaving only on the field those who had fallen before Richard arrived.
The Troubadours.
Many such adventures as this are recorded in the old histories of this campaign, and they were made the subjects of a great number of songs and ballads, written and sung by the Troubadours in those days in honor of the valiant deeds of the Crusaders.
Negotiations for peace.
The armies remained in Jaffa through the whole of the month of September. During this time a sort of negotiation was opened between Richard and Saladin, with a view to agreeing, if possible, upon some terms of peace. The object, on the part of Saladin, in these negotiations, was probably delay, for the longer he could continue to keep Richard in Jaffa, the stronger he would himself become, and the more able to resist Richard's intended march to Jerusalem. Richard consented to open these negotiations, not knowing but that some terms might possibly be agreed upon by which Saladin would consent to restore Jerusalem to the Christians, and thus end the war.
Saphadin.
The messenger whom Saladin employed in these negotiations was Saphadin, his brother. Saphadin, being provided with a safe-conduct for this purpose, passed back and forth between Jaffa and Saladin's camp, carrying the propositions and counter-propositions to and fro. Saphadin was a very courteous and gentlemanly man, and also a very brave soldier, and Richard formed quite a strong friendship for him.
A marriage proposed.
King Richard offered his sister in marriage to Saphadin.
A number of different plans were proposed in the course of the negotiation, but there seemed to arise insuperable objections against them all. At one time, either at this period or subsequently, when Richard returned again to the coast, a project was formed to settle the dispute, as quarrels and wars were often settled in those days, by a marriage. The plan was for Saladin and Richard to cease their hostility to each other, and become friends and allies; the consideration for terminating the war being, on Richard's side, that he would give his sister Joanna, the ex-queen of Sicily, in marriage to Saphadin; and that Saladin, on his part, should relinquish Jerusalem to Richard. Whether it was that Joanna would not consent to be thus conveyed in a bargain to an Arab chieftain as a part of a price paid for a peace, or whether Saladin did not consider her majesty as a full equivalent for the surrender of Jerusalem, the plan fell through like all the others that had been proposed, and at length the negotiations were fully abandoned, and Richard began again to prepare for taking the field.