Jerusalem, the City of Herod and Saladin

by Walter Besant; Edward Henry Palmer

El ‘Άdil called the principal men of the army around him, El ‘Emád, Saladin’s secretary, amongst the number, and deputed them to consult the Sultan’s wishes upon the subject. The latter agreed to the conditions, and on the 30th of October the messengers returned to King Richard to inform him of the acceptance of his proposal.

The Frank chiefs, however, strongly opposed the match, while the priests poisoned the princess’s mind, and induced her to withdraw from the engagement, except on the condition that El ‘Άdil should embrace the Christian religion. This, of course, he declined to do, and the negotiations fell through. The Sultan then moved off to Ramleh, so as to be nearer the enemy. Here news was brought him that the Franks had made a sortie at Barzur; hastening against them he approached their camp and completely surrounded it, but the Christians charged fiercely and suddenly, and broke through the Mohammedan ranks.

On the 18th another conference was held between El ‘Άdil and the King of England, but again their attempts at negotiations failed. The Lord of Sidon, who had come from Tyre, was more fortunate, and concluded a peace with the Sultan, hoping by this means to strengthen his own hands against Richard. The latter, on this, again renewed his proposals, but they, as usual, came to nothing, for whenever an arrangement was on the point of being concluded his bad faith or stupidity rendered it abortive.

There was now no longer any doubt but that the Franks were bent upon the conquest of the Holy City, and as winter was coming on apace, the Sultan retired, on the 14th of December, within the walls of Jerusalem, and occupied himself with the fortification of the town. He, however, provided for the safety of the country between Jerusalem and Jaffa by posting brigades of soldiers in the various passes and defiles upon the road.

A party of workmen opportunely arrived at this time from Mosul, despatched by the sovereign of that place, who also sent money to pay them. These were employed in digging the trenches, and remained six months engaged upon the work. In addition to this, Saladin built a strong wall round the town, at which he compelled more than two thousand Frank prisoners to labour. He repaired the towers and battlements between the Damascus and Jaffa gates, expending upon them an immense sum of money, and employing in their construction the large stones which were quarried out in cutting the trench. His sons, his brother, El ‘Άdil, and other princes of his court, acted as overseers of the work, whilst he himself daily rode about from station to station encouraging the labourers, and even bringing in building stones upon the pommel of his saddle. His example was followed by all classes of inhabitants, and the work of fortification went on with great rapidity. By the beginning of the year 1192 the wall was completed, the trenches were dug, and the inhabitants awaited with complacency the arrival of the besieging army. On the 20th of January the Franks left Ramleh, and had advanced as far as Ascalon, when they suddenly changed their intention of marching upon Jerusalem and stayed to rebuild the demolished city. El Mashtúb, who had been taken prisoner by the Franks, but had purchased his ransom for the sum of fifty thousand dinars, of which he had actually paid thirty thousand (and given pledges for the rest), came to Jerusalem on the 18th of March. The Sultan received him graciously, and gave him the town of Nablús and its vicinity as a compensation for his heavy pecuniary loss. The general did not, however, live long to enjoy his good fortune, but died in the course of the year, bequeathing a third of his estate to the Sultan, and leaving the rest to his son.

On the 29th of March the Marquis of Montferrat was assassinated at Tyre by two men as he was leaving the house of the bishop, where he had just been entertained at a repast. The murderers were at once arrested, and put to an ignominious death; not, however, until they had confessed that it was the King of England who had instigated them to the deed. Many attempts have been made by historians to clear King Richard’s character from this foul blot, and a letter purporting to come from the “Old Man of the Mountain” accepting the responsibility of the act is triumphantly appealed to. The document in question is, however, a transparent forgery, and the unscrupulous character and savage brutality of the lion-hearted king afford only too good reason for believing the dying testimony of the actual perpetrators of the crime. At any rate, Richard alone profited by it, and obtained possession of Tyre, which he subsequently made over to Count Henry of Champagne. On the death of the marquis, Richard again endeavoured to come to terms with Saladin, proposing to divide the country equally between the latter and himself, and to leave all Jerusalem and its fortifications in possession of the Muslims, with the sole exception of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

A great reverse was experienced by the Mohammedans about this time by the fall of Dárúm, a strong fortress, situated on the border of the Egyptian territory beyond Gaza. The Franks stormed the town after having effected a breach in the walls, and refused quarter to the inhabitants. The governor, finding all hope of further resistance gone, escaped to Hebron; the superintendent of stores, however, remained, and, determining that the besiegers should reap as little profit as possible from their conquest, hamstrung all the beasts of burden and burnt them. When the Christians entered the city they put nearly every one of the inhabitants to the sword, reserving only a few prisoners, for whom they thought they might obtain a heavy ransom. Several other engagements took place in the same neighbourhood, in which the Franks were not so successful, and on the 3rd of April they divided their camp into two parties, the one making its head-quarters at Ascalon, and the other pitching at Beit Jibrín. Jerusalem was now threatened with an immediate attack, but the vigilance of the Sultan warded off the blow, and a determined sortie compelled the enemy to retire to Colonia.

The Sultan had sent frequent messengers to Egypt to hurry on the departure of the army which was being levied in that country for the relief of Jerusalem. Falek-ed-dín, El ‘Άdil’s brother, who was in command, pitched his tents at Bilbeys; whence, as soon as his numbers were complete he set off, followed by an immense concourse of merchants and traders who had taken advantage of the military escort across the desert. On the 23rd of June news reached the Sultan that the Egyptian contingent was on the march, but that, relying on their numbers, they were proceeding without due caution, while the King of England with a large force was lying in wait for them upon the road. Saladin sent off an officer at the head of a division to meet the approaching force, with orders to conduct them round by the desert, and take them over the river of El Hesy before the enemy should come upon them. Falek-ed-dín, however, did not take any means to inform himself concerning the place of rendezvous, but taking the shortest road, and sending his heavy baggage round by another way, he called a halt, and encamped for the night beside a stream called El Khaweilifeh. With the early dawn next morning the enemy came suddenly upon them, and a scene of indescribable confusion ensued. The Muslims started up from their sleep, ran frantically off in any direction that was open to them, and thus escaped in the twilight. Their baggage, arms, and equipments fell, of course, into the enemy’s hands; this was so far fortunate, for if the Franks loved slaughter well they loved plunder better, and there was sufficient to turn their attention from pursuing the fugitives of the Egyptian force thus completely broken up and routed; some wandered back to Egypt, not a few were lost in the desert, and a miserable remnant found their way by Kerek to Jerusalem, where the Sultan received them kindly and condoled with them upon their misfortune.

The Crusaders, being unsuccessful against Jerusalem, determined to make an expedition against Beirút, as the occupation of that port was most important for their communications with home, and its conquest seemed likely to prove an easy matter.

But they had miscalculated the tactics of the man with whom they had to deal; Saladin, who appears throughout to have possessed the fullest information respecting their movements, sent orders to his son, El Afdhal, at Damascus, to prepare for their reception. Accordingly, when they reached the sea coast of Syria they found Beirút occupied by the Damascene troops, and a large army awaiting them in the Merj ‘Ayún, which prevented the Franks in Acre from coming to the assistance of their comrades. Taking advantage, also, of their absence, Saladin bore down upon Jaffa, which, in the absence of King Richard, could not hold out for long. The Muslims had already effected an entry into the city, and were about to take possession of the fortress, when Saladin, who could never refuse a petition for quarter, and whose experience of the Crusaders’ good faith had not yet taught him prudence, allowed himself to be prevailed upon by promises of submission on the part of the patriarch and other chief men of the town to grant a day’s delay and treat about the terms of capitulation. Of this concession the Christians, as usual, took a mean advantage, and while they deluded the Sultan with false oaths and promises, they were sending express messengers to hasten the return of Richard, who unexpectedly arrived by sea in the very midst of the negotiations and took possession of the citadel. The Muslims thus lost much of the advantage which their victory gave them, but they still retained possession of the town itself, and recovered the greater part of the property which had been plundered from the Egyptian contingent.