Now, again, the disputes regarding the title of the King of Jerusalem were renewed. Two knights, Guy of Lusignan and Conrad of Montferrat, claimed this title, and Philip and Richard espoused opposite sides, Philip agreeing to help Conrad’s claims, and Richard taking part with Guy. This occasioned so much hard feeling that Philip, who had been sick, announced that he was too ill to remain longer in such an unhealthy climate; and leaving ten thousand French troops under the command of the duke of Burgundy, King Philip returned to France.
We now come to the barbarous massacre of the five thousand Saracen prisoners, by the orders of King Richard, which shocking deed has left a dark blot upon the fame of Richard, even though he gloried in the act and considered it a proof of his zeal in the cause of Christ. The writers of those days praised it, and maintained that, as the Saracens were the enemies of God, whoever killed them did God service. How they could be so blinded by ignorance and superstition we cannot understand; and it appears very amazing that the religion of love which Jesus of Nazareth preached, by his words and his example, could have been so misunderstood by the perverted minds of men; that such a diabolical spirit of ferocious brutality could be esteemed as commendable worship of Almighty God.
The time which had been agreed upon for Saladin to comply with the stipulations of the surrender of Acre having expired, Richard ordered the five thousand prisoners, which he held as hostages, to be brutally beheaded; and a false rumor having been raised, that Saladin had put to death his Christian prisoners, the soldiers of Richard were easily infuriated to be willing to execute this barbarous order. In the face of Saladin’s humane treatment of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, when he captured that city, Mussulman though he was, this shocking barbarity of the crusading army, while calling themselves Christians, was an atrocious crime, which no plea of supposed zeal or ignorant superstition can excuse.
Saladin and his army were now retreating towards Jerusalem, which city was his chief point to defend. Richard, having repaired the walls of Acre, and placed a garrison to hold it, proceeded with thirty thousand men in pursuit of the Saracens. The recovery of the Holy Sepulchre was the great object of the crusaders. All their efforts were considered of no avail, if they failed to accomplish this important end. Richard’s army were to follow the sea-shore to Jaffa, which was a port nearly opposite Jerusalem. This band of crusaders presented a brilliant appearance. The knights wore costly armor, and were mounted on horses richly caparisoned. Some of the horses were protected like their riders, with armor of steel. The columns were preceded by trumpeters and bearers of flags and banners, with very gorgeous decorations. When the expedition halted at night, heralds passed through the several camps, to the sound of trumpets, and at a signal all the soldiers knelt, and the heralds exclaimed, “God save the Holy Sepulchre!” and all the soldiers shouted, “Amen.”
Thus the Christian army advanced to Jaffa. The two armies, Christian and Saracen, then met on a plain near the seashore, called Azotus. Saladin commenced the attack upon the wing of Richard’s army, composed of the French troops under the command of the duke of Burgundy. They resisted and drove the Saracens back. Then Richard gave the signal for a charge, and rode forward at the head of his troops, mounted on his famous charger, and flourishing his heavy battle-axe. This axe was a ponderous weapon. Richard had ordered it made before leaving England, and it was so immense that few men could lift it. But as Richard Cœur de Lion was a man of marvellous strength, he wielded this huge weapon with prodigious force. When it came down upon the head of a steel-clad knight, on his horse, it often crushed both man and steed to the ground. The darts and javelins of the Mohammedans glanced off from King Richard’s steel armor, without inflicting any wound, while Saracen after Saracen was felled to the earth by the blows from his ponderous battle-axe.
It was not long before Saladin’s army was flying in all directions, pursued by the crusaders. After this battle Richard established his army in Jaffa. In the meantime Saladin was collecting forces for a more vigorous resistance. Historians have condemned this inactivity of Richard’s army for so many weeks at Jaffa, thus enabling Saladin to rally his men and become more determined in his defence. During the time while Richard’s army was resting and feasting at Jaffa, King Richard and Saladin entered upon several negotiations, which were carried on through Saphadin, the brother of Saladin, who was provided with a safe conduct through the enemies’ lines. One of these propositions was that Richard and Saladin should cease hostilities and become allies, and that their difficulties should be settled by a marriage between Joanna, Richard’s sister, the ex-queen of Sicily, and Saphadin, the brother of Saladin. But this, and all other propositions, at length came to naught, and in November, Richard advanced with his army as far as Bethany, with a forlorn hope that they might find themselves strong enough to attack Jerusalem. But this hope was vain. Richard’s men were dying from sickness and famine, caused by a large amount of their provisions being spoiled by the fall rains which had now set in, and many of the discouraged soldiers deserted. These losses so thinned King Richard’s ranks, that he was obliged to retreat to Acre. While they were at Bethany, a band of crusaders had ascended a mountain overlooking Jerusalem. King Richard was asked to come and see the holy city in the distance. “No,” said he, covering his face with his cloak, “those who are not worthy of conquering Jerusalem should not look upon it.”
While at Acre, Richard learned that Saladin was besieging Jaffa. The historian Guizot thus describes the rescue of Jaffa from the Saracens:—
“When King Richard arrived at Jaffa, the crescent already shone upon the walls; but a priest who had cast himself into the water in front of the royal vessel told Richard that he could yet save the garrison, although the town was already in the hands of the enemy. The ship had not yet reached the landing-stage, and already the king was in the water, which reached to his shoulders, and was uttering the war-cry ‘St. George!’ The infidels, who were then plundering the city, took fright, and three thousand men fled, pursued by four or five knights of the cross. The little corps of Christians intrenched themselves behind planks of wood, and tuns; ten tents held the whole of the army. Day had scarcely dawned, when a soldier flew to Richard’s bedside. ‘O king, we are dead men!’ he cried; ‘the enemy is upon us.’ The king sprang up from his bed, scarcely allowing himself time to buckle on his armor, and omitting his helmet and shield. ‘Silence!’ he said to the bearer of the bad news, ‘or I will kill you.’ Seventeen knights had gathered round Cœur de Lion, kneeling on the ground, and holding their lances; in their midst were some archers, accompanied by attendants who were recharging their arquebuses. The king was standing in the midst. The Saracens endeavored in vain to overawe this heroic little band; not one of them stirred. At length, under a shower of arrows, the knights sprang on their horses, and swept the plain before them. They entered Jaffa towards evening, and drove the Mussulmans from it. From the time of daybreak Richard had not ceased for a moment to deal out his blows, and the skin of his hand adhered to the handle of his battle-axe.”
Still more graphically do the old chronicles thus describe this battle:—
“Where the fight was fiercest there rode King Richard, and the Turks fell beneath his flashing sword. Then the galley-men, fearing for their lives, left the battle and took refuge in their boats, and the Turks thought to seize the town while the army was fighting in the field. But the king, taking with him but two knights and two crossbowmen, entered the town and dispersed the Turks who had entered, and set sentinels to guard it, and then, hasting to the galleys, gathered together the men, and encouraging them with his words, brought them back to the fight. And as he led them to the field, he fell upon the enemy so fiercely, that he cut his way all alone into the midst of the ranks, and they gave way before him. But they closed around him, and he was left alone, and at that sight our men feared greatly. But alone in the midst of his enemies he remained unmoved, and all as they approached him were cut down like corn before the sickle. And there rode against him a great admiral, distinguished above all the rest by his rich caparisons, and with bold arrogance assayed to attack him, but the king with one blow of his sword cut off his head and shoulder and right arm. Then the Turks fled in terror at the sight, and the king returned to his men, and lo! the king was stuck all over with javelins, like the spines of a hedgehog, and the trappings of his horse with arrows. The battle lasted that day from the rising to the setting sun, but the Turks returned to Saladin, and he mocked his men, and asked them where was Malek-Rik, whom they had promised to bring him. But one of them answered, ‘There is no knight on earth like Malek-Rik; nay, nor ever was from the beginning of the world.’”