Now over the horizon sailed a fleet commanded by Marquis Conrad de Montferrat approaching the fortress of Acre. No bells peeled in celebration, nor did a boat put out to greet them as was customary when Christian vessels arrived. For this reason the marquis ordered certain of his mariners to go ashore to find out why they did not hear the bell and get the latest news. They pulled close by the Tower of Flies and called out, asking who governed the city. People in the tower replied that it belonged to Saladin but they might safely land.
We will not, they answered, if it has been captured by enemies.
Sail away to Tyre! shouted some renegade in the tower. There will my lord Saladin take you, even as he has taken your holy cross and your wretched king and all your Christian host!
The men in the boat pulled away. No more did Conrad get this news than he ordered the fleet north to see what was happening at Tyre.
That may be how it was. Yet according to the chronicle of Geoffrey de Vinsauf, Conrad’s galley dropped sail outside the port of Acre near sunset. And because a prevailing silence gave cause for suspicion he ordered all to remain aboard. They observed the sultan’s banner at various quarters and Saracen galleys fast approaching, so the crew was full of alarm. But the marquis stood forth as spokesman to these infidels and declared, when asked who he might be, that he was master of a merchant ship devoted to Saladin. And he would wait on the sultan at break of day to display his excellent wares. However, during the night he took advantage of a strong breeze, hoisted sail and departed swiftly for Tyre.
There he learned to his dismay that the citizens were preparing to surrender. Already they had begun to negotiate with emissaries from Saladin. Indeed, from a watchtower floated the Muslim standard because they had lost heart and were terrified, but the arrival of Conrad hardened their spirit. When they saw how confidently he defied Saracen threats, when they saw him tear apart Muslim banners and fling them in a moat, the citizens of Tyre felt ashamed. They rebuked each other for cowardice and vowed to engage the Turks. Three and four times a day they would sally forth to attack those who were nearest, afterward retreating nimbly through the gates to avoid being chopped up.
No chronicle relates how Sancho Martín arrived at Tyre, nor from what Spanish city. Beyond doubt he felt moved to worship and serve our Lord. His weapons were enameled green and his helmet sprouted antlers like a stag. When he charged out the gate Saracens would dash up to marvel. They called him the Green Knight and his fine bearing gave them pause. It is said that the Muslim lord addressed this Green Knight, urging him to forsake Christianity and join the ranks of Islam. If he returned to Spain or perished in the Holy Land, God knows.
Marquis Conrad soon found out what little food remained in the city and no help imminent. He assembled the principal Franks, English, Pisans, and Genoese to consult. My lords, said he, we have not enough to keep our bodies alive. If any among you has an idea, by the love of God let him step forth.
A Genoese captain spoke up. We have with us many barges and galleys and other vessels, he said. I will take four galleys and embark just before dawn as though trying to escape. When the infidels catch sight of me they will not wait to arm themselves but will make haste to catch me. You and your men must be prepared to sail after them with great speed. When they are between us I will turn around and we will together fight them. If it please God to assist, He will send help.
This plan sounded good to the marquis and to others. Besides, if they did nothing they would starve.
The harbor by which vessels come and go lies within city walls, thus the Genoese and his crew were able to get under way before Saracens detected them. But at once the enemy ships, which numbered almost one hundred, gave chase. And when they had gotten out to sea the ships of Conrad followed, whereupon the Genoese turned about. So, caught between Christian forces, many unbelievers plunged shrieking into the bottomless pit. It is recorded that two Saracen galleys escaped. And Saladin who watched this battle from shore was lamenting, clawing his beard to see his people drowned or butchered. They say he cut off the tail of his favorite horse and rode around in view of his soldiers to disgrace himself.
Now he considered it best to let go of Tyre since his warships were taken or sunk, and when those inside the walls observed Saracen tents folded they stretched up their hands joyously to our compassionate Lord.
No sooner were the Turks out of sight than Archbishop Joscius boarded a galley whose sails had been painted black and sailed away to speak with His Holiness at Rome, pausing first at Sicily to plead with King William for help. King William grieved to learn the state of affairs. He put on sackcloth and hid himself for several days. Then he addressed letters to other monarchs beseeching them to call for a new expedition, a new pilgrimage.
Archbishop Joscius proceeded to Rome, escorted by Sicilian ambassadors. They found His Holiness Urban III old and sick. He could not endure the shock, expiring from grief on the twentieth day of October in that year of our Lord 1187. His successor Gregory, alarmed by such tidings from the Holy Land, despatched a circular letter recounting what had befallen Christ’s kingdom oversea, offering plenary indulgence to all who took the cross, reminding the faithful how Edessa was lost forty years ago. Let true Christians lay up treasure in heaven, he advised. Let them enjoy eternal life in the hereafter by gathering to smite and crush Islam, meanwhile their property on earth would be ensured by the Holy See.
Saladin marched from Tyre to Ascalon where he showed important captives beneath the walls. King Guy of Jerusalem. Gérard de Ridfort, Grand Master of the Temple. Both entreated the citizens of Ascalon to lower the flag, but they would not. They replied with insults. Saladin therefore erected machines for hurling stones and began to attack the city. The inhabitants resisted, during which time they killed two emirs, but after a while they decided to capitulate and ask for mercy. Saladin granted them leave to depart with their goods and had them escorted to Alexandria and lodged under his protection until ships would convey them to Europe. It is reported that on the day he rode triumphantly into Ascalon a shadow passed over the sun, proof of divine supervision.
That same day here came ambassadors from Jerusalem to negotiate terms of surrender. Saladin greeted them in strange darkness, before the light returned. He insisted they must open the gates. They would not agree to this and went back proudly to that city where Jesus Christ gave up His life. Saladin vowed he would take it by the sword. Arabs say an astrologer once prophesied that he would lose an eye if he entered Jerusalem. He answered that he would give both eyes for it.
When these delegates got back to the city here was unexpected help. Balian d’Ibelin. By certain accounts he made his way to Jerusalem after escaping the battle on Mount Hattin. Or it may be that he was captured but asked leave to go and comfort his wife, Maria Comnena. And because Saladin looked indulgently upon princes and their consorts he allowed this distinguished noble to go, admonishing him to remain one night only. Nor should he take up arms. However, the citizens implored him to stay and prepare a defense. There were but fourteen knights inside Jerusalem, according to Geoffrey de Vinsauf. Balian stripped silver from the roof of the Holy Sepulcher and melted gold icons. With this money he recruited mercenaries. He knighted thirty members of the bourgeoisie as well as boys from aristocratic families and distributed swords to burghers as if they were fighting men. And because he had violated an oath he sent word to explain. Saladin, who behaved graciously to men he respected, forgave this breach.
On the twentieth day of September here came God’s mortal enemies wailing and screeching. Hai! Hai! they called amid a clamor of trumpets.
Sepulcher of Christ! True and Holy Cross! shouted the Franks.
Saladin planned to attack the north wall but it was strongly defended and from that direction his soldiers looked up into the sun. After five days he decided to move his pavilion to the Mount of Olives where he could look down into the city. When people observed Saracen tents dismantled they began to celebrate, thinking he meant to withdraw.
But when they understood the turn of it they wrung their hands.
Presently his miners set to work undermining the wall, busying themselves at the place where almost ninety years earlier Duke Godfrey broke through. Frightened citizens clustered about Queen Sibylla and the patriarch Heraclius, beseeching them to seek terms. Lord Balian therefore led a delegation to ask Saladin for a truce. But when they got to his pavilion he talked of how their ancestors ravaged Jerusalem. He declared they would be wise to surrender without argument.
If it please God, they answered, we will not.
I tell you now, Saladin replied. I consider Jerusalem to be the abode of God, whether Christian or Muslim. If I may have the city through peaceful agreement I will not besiege it nor attack the walls. This is what I desire. Here is what I will do. I will give you thirty thousand gold bezants to strengthen it. I will grant you an area two leagues in each direction where you may work and move about as you choose. I will see that you have provisions enough. If by Pentecost you have received no help from Christians oversea you will surrender Jerusalem.
To this offer the delegates replied that they could not give up the city where God’s blood was shed.
Saladin then vowed that he would take it.
Lord Balian asked if his wife and children might be granted safe passage from Jerusalem to Tripoli. Saladin assented, despatching a Saracen knight to escort them.
Before the assault he notified the people once more of his conditions. Again they defied him. Then his soldiers moved against Jerusalem between the Damascus Gate and the Tower of David. On the ramparts stood a cross erected in former times to commemorate the capture of Antioch. Saracens knocked it down with one blow and destroyed much of the wall. Miners dug tunnels that they packed with cloth, wood, and other materials and set ablaze. Petraries, trebuchets, and similar devices pursued their noisy work. Archers launched such flights of arrows that nobody could lift a finger. If the people of Jerusalem sallied forth to do battle they would be met by pagans carrying skins or bags that squirted dust into their eyes. So it became clear how God was determined to punish His recreant children.
In the city were two boys whose fathers chanced to be elsewhere. When these knights heard that Saladin had besieged Jerusalem they sent word asking for custody, explaining that as they themselves were free men it was not right for their children to be taken captive and led off to slavery. Saladin agreed. He directed Balian to let these children out of the city in order that he himself might watch over them. These were Thomassin d’Ibelin, who was a nephew of Lord Balian, and Guillemin de Jubail. And when they were delivered to Saladin he gave them jewels, clean robes, and food, after which he seated them on his knees and began to weep. The emirs asked why he felt sorrowful and he replied that everything is fleeting because whatever we hope to keep will be taken from us. Even now, he said, while I dispossess the children of other men, so will my children be destitute when I am gone. He said this because he did not trust his brother Malik al-Adil. Indeed, after his death Malik would seize control and disinherit Saladin’s children, so the prophecy came to pass.
However that may be, when people in the city understood they could not prevail against these enemies of truth they took counsel, asking each other what to do. Some wanted to rush forth at night to challenge the Turks, thinking it better to fight than be trapped and miserably slaughtered. Heraclius the patriarch disagreed. For each man within these walls, he said, there are countless women and children. If we expend our lives then will the Saracens take our women and children and oblige them to renounce their belief in Jesus Christ. Hence they will be lost to God. But if we treat with Saladin and depart for Christian land, I think it would be better. One by one, next by dozens and hundreds, the people agreed with Heraclius. Lord Balian, seeing this was the case, rode out to consult with Saladin and make peace as best he could. But while they were talking together the Saracens once more attacked, put ladders against the walls and some got up on top and hoisted Muslim banners.
You wish to make peace now that my men have gained the wall, Saladin remarked. You are too late. Behold, the city is mine! And you should know how Godfrey de Bouillon slew thousands in the street, how they were slain while seeking refuge in the temple. I am hard pressed to respond with Christian blood.
Yet even as he spoke, such is the merciful nature of God, heathen banners were torn down and ladders thrust away from the wall. And when he observed this he grew furious. He directed Balian to leave, saying they would speak no further.
Nevertheless, Lord Balian rode out again next morning accompanied by various nobles. Saladin greeted them courteously. He said he would treat those inside the city neither better nor worse than Muslims were treated when Jerusalem was first conquered. Which is to say every man would be put to the sword, women and children sold into slavery. Thus would he exchange evil for evil.
Lord Balian answered rashly, saying that while those inside Jerusalem feared death and clung to life, if death should be inevitable they would kill their women and children and burn their property, leaving the Muslims not an écu. Not one woman would Saladin enslave. Not one man would be left alive to put in irons. The Chapel of the Sakkra and the Mosque al-Aqsa would be demolished, together with every other holy place. Muslims inside the walls, numbering five thousand, would be massacred. Nor would there be one animal left alive. And when we have finished this work, said Lord Balian, we will come out to fight you. We will die, but we will die free.
Saladin consulted his emirs. Then he said the Christians would be treated as captives who might ransom themselves. The price of liberty would be reckoned at ten gold bezants for a man. The value of a woman should be reckoned at five, that of a child at two. As soon as anyone paid this tribute he would be free to go, either to Antioch or under safe conduct to Alexandria for departure by sea. Those who ransomed themselves must leave Jerusalem afoot and take nothing concealed. Payment was expected within forty days, after which those who had not paid or could not pay would be enslaved for life.
So the people laid aside their weapons. And in our year of grace 1187, on the second day of October, the gates of the Holy City opened to Saladin.
By Muslim records this occurred on the twenty-seventh day of Rajab on which day centuries ago their Prophet visited Jerusalem while asleep. They say his winged steed Burac sprang from the rock in the Templum Domini, which they call Dome of the Rock, and carried the Prophet to heaven. There he spoke with Lord Jesus and with Abraham, thereupon descending safely to Mecca. This according to many pagans. Others think he was in Jerusalem that day and met Gabriel who escorted him up a ladder to celestial heights whence he gazed into hell at the dread punishment of sinners. But the faith of unbelievers is a vile repository gorged with misbelief. They argue that our Lord was born in the shade of a palm tree. Some argue that He was born in the mosque at Jerusalem and the Holy Virgin during labor gripped a pillar where the impress of her fingers may yet be seen. They believe a dark sun rising in the west will herald our last day and barbaric hordes led by Gog and Magog come to drink Lake Tiberias dry. And Dajjal with his single eye, who is Antichrist, comes riding through Palestine on a donkey followed by seventy thousand Jews. They say he will enact mock miracles to ridicule our Lord. The sun will decline in the east while a trumpet sounds. All such malignity they imagine. Is it not evident how they would destroy the Holy Church? But those who behold the light of the world will see false counsel scattered.
The gates to Jerusalem opened wide that lamentable day because of Christian wickedness, because Christians strapped on the belt of knighthood and went strutting about with pride in their eye and created factions among themselves and perverted with knavery the Holy Church. Because of this Jerusalem fell. Christians weighted down by execrable sin grew blind to the sovereign light. We hear of a pilgrim wounded in this battle when an arrow struck his nose. The shaft broke off, the barb remained. Now, this arrow came as punishment, the barb embedded to remind him. Yet he lived, proof of our Lord’s infinite mercy.
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Once the city had been given up Saladin directed a crier of Islamic law to proceed to the summit of Calvary. And there, upon the rock, was the doctrine of Mahomet proclaimed. Nor was this enough. They pulled down a cross surmounting the church of the Hospital, spat upon it, kicked it with their feet and dragged it through excrement. Nor was this enough. They pulled down a gold cross adorning the Templum Domini to the accompaniment of loud cries, cries of rage from Christians, of joy from pagans. Three days they carried this gold cross through the streets and beat it with sticks. Infidel priests or bishops, which in their tongue Saracens call fakihs, marched rudely into the Temple of the Lord, which they call Beithhalla, and with ugly bellowings undertook to cleanse it, but defiled the Temple by shouting through impure lips. Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!
One week after Saladin took Jerusalem his followers rejoiced in the mosque al-Aqsa. The qadi of Damascus spoke. They say that his voice was powerful but trembled slightly and he wore a black robe. Glory to God, said he, who has granted Islam this triumph, who has returned Jerusalem to the fold after a century of proscription. Honor to this army chosen by God to effect the reconquest. Honor to Saladin, son of Ayub, by whose will the dignity of Islam is restored.
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