Jerusalem, the City of Herod and Saladin

by Walter Besant; Edward Henry Palmer

Hitherto we have seen Saladin prosecuting a career of victory unsullied by a single defeat; the tide of war now began to turn for a time in favour of the Franks.

The first disaster which the Muslims experienced was by sea. The Sultan had ordered all the ships of war to come up and assist in the blockade of Tyre, and those which were at Acre, ten in number, quickly appeared upon the scene, and were joined in a few days by the fleet from Beirút and Jebail. The marquis, seeing that this manœvre was likely to cause him some trouble, determined to counter it, and accordingly sent out his own vessels to give them battle. The Muslim ships were drawn up in line close upon the shore and immediately protected by their own troops. The sailors, confident in the security of their position, neglected to remain upon the alert, and thus gave the marquis his opportunity, of which he was not slow to avail himself. On the night of the 8th of December, a number of the Sultan’s ships were riding at anchor near the entrance to the harbour of Tyre; the sailors and marines were tranquilly sleeping in happy ignorance of the enemy’s movements, when, just before morning, they were rudely awakened to find themselves surrounded and at the mercy of the Christians, by whom they were at once boarded and captured. The Mohammedans were paralysed at this sudden and unexpected reverse, and the remainder of the fleet were hastily ordered off to Beirút, towards which they made the best of their way, the army riding alongside of them upon the shore to cover their flight. Before, however, they had got far, the Frank vessels came suddenly down upon them, and the Mohammedan sailors, precipitating themselves into the water, made hastily for the shore, leaving their vessels without a soul on board. One schooner alone managed to elude her pursuers, and got off with all her crew. When the Christians came upon the deserted vessels (which they still believed to be full of men) they fancied that the Mohammedans were too terrified to give them battle, and poured tumultuously out upon the shore and attacked the main body of Saladin’s troops. The latter had by this time somewhat recovered their presence of mind, and gave them a warm reception; a desperate conflict took place, and the Franks were at last driven back towards the town. Two of their leaders fell into the enemy’s hands, and “a great count” was also taken prisoner. El Melek ed Dháhir, who had not taken part in any of the previous engagements, at once ordered the last mentioned prisoner to be beheaded, and the Mohammedans, believing him to be the Marquis of Montferrat himself (whom he did resemble in form and features) were greatly delighted at the supposed death of so formidable an antagonist. But they had experienced a very heavy blow, and would fain have compelled the Sultan to relinquish the enterprise against Tyre and return home. Saladin, however, reproached them with their faint-heartedness, and, partly by bribes, partly by persuasion, induced them to persevere.

As a slight compensation for his recent losses and defeats he received news about this time of the capitulation of the Fortress of Honein, which had been for some time besieged by one of his officers.

The troops now began to suffer so severely from the winter cold and rains that Saladin was obliged, though with extreme reluctance, to raise the siege of Tyre. He had expended immense sums of money upon his engines of war; but these were for the most part too bulky to remove, while to leave them behind would be to strengthen the hands of the besieged. Some, therefore, which it was possible to take to pieces and pack up, were sent on to Sidon, while others, which could not be so provided for, were set fire to and destroyed. The army then broke up into several divisions, and departed with the understanding that they were to come back again in the early part of the spring and resume the siege. The Sultan himself moved on to Acre and camped outside the city; but the cold presently became so intense that he was compelled to seek shelter within the walls. Remaining here in winter quarters, he occupied himself in regulating and improving the public institutions of the town. With the first mild days of spring Saladin was again on the move, and as the whole complement of the army had not yet come up, he determined to commence the new campaign by laying siege to the fortress of Kokeb; but this proved a longer and more difficult task than he had anticipated.

While the Sultan was at Kokeb he received a visit from the widow of Renaud, Prince of Kerek, who came to beg for the release of her son Humphrey. She was accompanied by the queen and her daughter, who had also married Renaud’s son. Saladin received them with great courtesy, and agreed with the Princess of Kerek for the release of her son on condition that the two fortresses of Kerek and Shobek should surrender at discretion to his arms. Having exacted a promise from her to this effect, Humphrey was sent for from Damascus, and proceeded with his mother and a detachment of Mohammedan troops to arrange for the fulfilment of the terms of the contract. But the people of Kerek were by no means disposed to become a ransom for the young count, and met the widow’s demand for them to lay down their arms with coarse jeers and opprobrious language. At Shobek she fared no better, and was after all constrained to return to the Sultan with the humiliating confession that she had not sufficient authority over her troops to carry out the stipulations. Saladin, like a true and noble gentleman as he was, disdained to take a mean advantage of her failure, and allowed both the lady and her son to proceed to Tyre. In the meantime he sent troops to reduce Kerek and Shobek. Kokeb still maintained an obstinate resistance, and Saladin, leaving an officer with five hundred men behind him to continue the siege, and posting a regiment of five hundred cavalry at Safad to harass the Christians in that quarter, left for Damascus, which he reached on the 5th of March, 1187. Here he received intelligence of the approach of his army from the east, and, remaining only a week in his capital, he again set out for Baalbekk, whence he marched on to Lebweh, and was there joined by ‘Emád-ed-dín, Lord of Sanjár, with his division. Disencumbering themselves of all the heavy baggage, the combined forces hurried on to the sea coast. Several months were consumed in military operations against the Franks without any decisive engagement taking place, though one after another, Jebeleh, Laodicea, Sion, Bekas, and other towns and fortresses fell into the Sultan’s hands, and materially increased his resources by the quantity of arms and provisions which they contained. The fort of Burzíyeh gave him more trouble. This castle enjoyed the reputation of being the strongest in Palestine: and was situated upon a lofty mountain nearly 1700 feet high, with steep escarpments, and surrounded by deep valleys. Notwithstanding its formidable character Saladin determined to attack it, and on the morning after his arrival (21st August) he ascended the heights with his troops, both cavalry and infantry, and the whole of his siege train, and surrounded the fortress on every side. For two days and nights a continuous assault was made upon the walls with the battering rams, and projectiles were thrown into the midst of the castle without intermission. On the morning of the 23rd, preparations were made for taking the place by storm: the whole army was divided into three parts, each of which was to carry on the assault for a portion of the day, so as to give the besieged no interval of rest. The first division, under ‘Emád-ed-dín, commenced the attack with the early morning light, and the contest raged on both sides with unexampled fury; at last, ‘Emád-ed-dín’s men beginning to flag, were relieved by the second division, commanded by the Sultan in person. Placing himself at the head of the storming party, Saladin called out to his soldiers to follow him to victory: answering his appeal by a long and enthusiastic shout, they swarmed like one man up the rocks and battlements, carrying everything before them, and poured into the fortress. The defenders, driven back from the walls, now began to cry out for quarter; but it was too late, the blood of the Muslims was fairly aroused, and even Saladin’s presence and authority could not for some time stop the indiscriminate slaughter. At last order was partially restored, the prisoners—an immense number—were secured, and the soldiers, loaded with booty, returned in triumph to their tents. Amongst the captives were the sister of the Prince of Antioch (to whom the castle belonged), her husband, daughter, and son-in-law; these were all treated by the conqueror with the greatest kindness and consideration, and were, together with a few of their immediate followers, allowed to depart free and unmolested. The fall of Burzíyeh was closely followed by that of Diresak and Bukrás, both strongholds of the Templars, near Antioch. The last of the two was a great depôt of provisions, and by its capture a large quantity of grain fell into the Saracens’ hands.

Saladin next turned his attention to Antioch itself, but the prince of that town, knowing that it was not sufficiently well furnished either with provisions or arms to support a long siege, deemed it more prudent to come to terms. A truce was therefore concluded for five months, and an exchange of prisoners made.

At Bukrás the Sultan took leave of ‘Emád-ed-dín, Zanghi, and the Syrian contingent, who had done him good service in the late campaign. Both the chief and his soldiery received substantial marks of Saladin’s gratitude, who bestowed upon them liberal presents in addition to the share of prize-money which had been already allotted to them.

Saladin then proceeded with his own army by way of Aleppo, Hamath, and Baalbekk to Damascus, whither his men were desirous of returning in time to keep the fast of Ramadhán. Anxiety, however, for the success of the military operations which he had confided to his various generals, would not allow him to remain long in idleness, and in the beginning of October he set out for Safad. On the way he was joined by his brother El Melek el ‘Άdil, who had just concluded the siege of Kerek in Moab, that place having capitulated after a protracted resistance. Safad held out until the 30th of November, when it was ceded to Saladin’s forces; the defenders obtained quarter by the release of a number of Muslim prisoners, who were in their hands, and received permission to withdraw to Tyre. The Christians hoped to make up for the loss of this important stronghold by strengthening their position at Kokeb, which was blockaded by one of Saladin’s generals. They accordingly despatched two hundred picked men to lie in wait for the Muslims at a certain difficult part of the road and attack them at a disadvantage. But a company of Mohammedan troops happened to come across a straggler from this party, who, to save himself, betrayed his companions, and pointed out the ambuscade in the valley. The whole two hundred were captured and brought to the Saracen leader. Amongst the prisoners were two chiefs of the Knights Hospitallers, and being carried before the Sultan one of them said, “Thank God, we shall come to no harm, now that we have looked upon your highness’s face.”

“This speech,” says the Arab writer, “must have been dictated by divine inspiration, for nothing else could have induced the Sultan to spare their lives; as it was, he set them both at liberty.”

The great addition to the besieging force, combined with the extreme cold and scarcity of provisions, proved too much for the endurance of the garrison of Kokeb, and in the beginning of January, 1189, it was added to the list of the Sultan’s conquests. After this, Saladin and his brother returned to Jerusalem, where the latter took leave of him and set out for Egypt with his division of the army.