The Siege of Jerusalem: Crusade and Conquest in 1099
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ose in the siege tower were well prepared and they
poured out wineskins full of vinegar on to the beam beside them, drenching the tree trunk and quelling the oily fl ames before they could take hold.
Once the immediate threat of fi re had been overcome, the battle turned into a test of physical strength. Abandoning the relative safety of their mantels, Christian soldiers of all ranks ran to the beam and hooking ropes on to the chain, tried to pull it away from the walls. Inside the city the defenders crowded around their end of the chain to keep the tree trunk in place between the tower and the wall. Never was there such a tug of war contest with so much at stake.
Th
e Christian leverage proved the more eff ective and the chain came away from the walls, allowing the huge piece of timber to be dragged clear. Now there was little more than the thickness of the bags of chaff between the tower and the walls of the city. Not that the tower could be moved any further, the left wheels fi nally gave way leaving the whole construction immobile while tantalizingly close to the city; just too far for a brave warrior to risk the leap. 6
All this time the knights on the tower had been fi ring as fast as they could into the throng of enemy soldiers on the wall just below them and for the fi rst time in the siege the casualties in the missile exchange were far greater on the defenders’ side. Th
e troops of Robert of Normandy, however, were suff ering
greatly from the rocks thrown by the nearest enemy mangonels, while for all his eff orts, Tancred was getting nowhere in his attempts at hurling rocks at a more distant mangonel. Th
e fi ghting was grimmer and fi ercer than at any pre-
vious time in the siege, the air full of missiles and the cries of the wounded.
A sense of frustration was growing on the Christian side. Sensing that the moment was a critical one and that the assault was losing momentum, a priest clad only in his white stole took up a ladder and marched towards the walls.
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Th
ose soldiers who had pulled back out of arrow range regained their enthusiasm at this unexpected sight and marched with him, all singing Kyrie eleison:
‘Lord have mercy’. Th
is surge of crusaders attempting to put ladders up against
the walls was beaten back, but fatally for the defenders of the city it coincided with an outbreak of fi re among the bags and chaff that faced the siege tower.7
One of the unaligned French champions had for some time been systematically attempting to ignite the padding hanging from the walls by devising arrows that had been covered with cotton and set alight before he fi red them into the chaff . When at last the fl ames took hold they sent up plumes of thick black smoke, which seemed to fl ow up over the walls. Th
e defenders of the city
were willing to risk their lives in the unequal battle before the siege tower, suff ering great losses for the sake of holding the walls. What they could not do, however, was breathe where there was no oxygen. 8
As the defenders fell back choking and ducking away from the constant barrage of missiles they left , for a moment, a small section of the walls opposite the siege tower unguarded. Beneath Duke Godfrey’s platform, in the middle section of the tower, were a group of French knights, including two brothers from the town of Tournai: Lethold and Engelbert. Th
ey were at eye level with
the top of the wall and sensing the abatement of activity opposite them, undid some of the protective skins in front of the tower in order to push a plank across and rest it on the top of the wall. Was it foolhardy to cross? Were there soldiers in that dense streaming mass of fumes just waiting for them to try?
Holding the plank steady, Engelbert watched his elder brother commit his life to the honour of being the fi rst crusader to stand on the walls of Jerusalem.
Lethold crawled across the vertiginous gap into the smoke. As soon as he was across, Engelbert scrambled over, assisted by the eager knights pressing from behind. Th
ere were no cheers. Th
is was a moment for silent and deter-
mined action. Next across was Bernard, the advocate of the monastery of Saint Valery-sur-Somme. It was midday on 15 July 1099 and three Christian knights were inside the defences of Jerusalem.9
Th
e two brothers turned left and, side-by-side with their swords drawn, moved towards those enemy fi gures who could be made out through the swirling smoke. Bernard turned to the right. As these three knights advanced, the section of wall available to the Christian army lengthened. Horrifi ed at the sight of the crusading knights inside the battlements of the city, the Fatimid soldiers on the nearby walls rushed back, regardless of the smoke, but they were no match for the chainmail-clad knights: the fi rst man to reach the brothers of Tournai had his head cut off by a fi erce right handed blow, the body
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remaining standing while the helmeted head crashed down into the city, before it was booted from the wall walk.10
By now there was enormous clamour on all sides. Th
e Fatimids and their
civilian allies were hastening to the crisis, but even more swift ly Christian knights were entering the city. As soon as Duke Godfrey had became aware of the possibility of entering the city he had run down from the top level of the tower – Eustace close behind him – and over the planks that now more fi rmly covered the distance between the siege machine and the walls. Robert of Flanders was also alert to the opportunity created by the enterprise of the fi rst knights to cross and as soon as he had seen Lethold standing on the walls, Robert ordered a full charge with all the ladders his men had to hand. By the time the Fatimid defenders had plunged into the smoke, it was full of Christian knights, swarming over the walls or running up the siege tower and across the makeshift bridge.
Face to face, the more lightly armoured Fatimid soldier was no match for the heavily protected Christian knight and in these confi ned spaces it was not possible for the defenders of the city to take advantage of their superior numbers or to fi re missiles into the melee with any eff ectiveness. Th e rallying
cries from the crusaders were growing louder and more urgent as they forced their way on and on, hundreds of Christian knights rushing to the bridgehead and thousands more foot soldiers and poor Christians joining the roars as ladders were raised all along the northern wall. Where the ram had collapsed was a narrow hole through the wall and now gangs of men and women eagerly worked their way through the ruined machine to wriggle through it into the city.
By the time Ift ikhār had been alerted to this breakthrough on the northern side the invasion had become irresistible. His cavalry had been sent over immediately, only to encounter bewildered and terrifi ed soldiers and citizens streaming away from the savage blades of the Christian knights, who even now could be seen rushing towards them. Th
e riders scattered and with great haste
made their way to the last hope of the garrison, David’s Tower. But Christian knights were close in pursuit and as the Fatimid riders reached the safety of the ditch and walls of the fortress, they had to dismount and abandon their horses, bridles and saddles to the eager crusaders. 11
Ift ikhār had just retreated from the southern wall in time to reach the citadel safely; while the Provençal army facing his now abandoned position had been very slow to notice the change in pattern of battle. In fact, up at the Church of the Virgin where Count Raymond had his headquarters, his leading knights
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were proposing that they abandon the assault as a result of the damage to their tower and stone-throwing machines. At that moment a glittering knight on a white horse came riding along the Mount of Olives. By his eager manner and the movements of his hand he indicated that the southern army should renew their eff orts. Th
e sun catching his polish
ed shield made this fi gure look like a
divine messenger and the fact that no knight subsequently claimed the credit for having gone to galvanize the southern army leant a great mystery to this gallant fi gure. Tentatively at fi rst, but with growing confi dence, the Provençal forces and their vast contingent of non-combatants moved back towards the city at the urgent gesturing of this knight. Th
ey placed ladders against the walls
and fi nding the defenders had fl ed, surged up into Jerusalem.12
Th
ere were none among the southern knights now as vigorous as Count Raymond who was running to the city, shouting at those around him to come on: ‘Why are you so slow? Look! All the other Franks are in the city already!’
Th
e next few minutes could be critical with regard to the future ownership of Jerusalem. Alongside Raymond ran his lieutenants Raymond Pilet and William Sabran; his appointee to the bishopric of Albara, Peter of Narbonne; and Isoard I, count of Die, leader of the ‘Adhémar faction’. It was with enormous relief that Raymond and his leading men got to David’s Tower to fi nd that while some Lotharingians had reached this strategic spot fi rst, they had simply taken the abandoned horses and gone off in search of battle and booty. Th
ere were
a great mass of civilians and late arriving soldiers outside the citadel pleading with Ift ikhār to lower the drawbridge and let them cross to the safety of the walls. But they were too late and too many to gain asylum. Screaming, they scattered under the onslaught of the Provencal knights, until – with the dead strewn all around – Count Raymond’s men took up position around the fortress. 13
Under a fl ag of truce, the Provençal count sent a messenger and translator forward to make an off er to Ift ikhār. Given the circumstances, Count Raymond’s off er was a relatively generous one. Th
e entire Fatimid garrison, along with
their wives and children and all their moveable wealth, would be given free exit from the city and a safe conduct to Ascalon in return for surrendering the tower to the Count. With the distant roars of the attacking army in the background and the sight of screaming civilians running for their lives, it was hardly surprising that Ift ikhār immediately accepted the off er and cemented it with a generous gift of gold. Count Raymond was by far the best known of the Christian leaders from his negotiations and alliance with the Fatimid emir of Tripoli. Ift ikhār therefore had some confi dence that the agreement would be honoured. Th
e two parties exchanged hostages and while the Fatimid soldiers
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kept their drawbridge up, they did open the western gate of the city as a token of their agreement. 14
An enormous crowd of Christians was now released into the city from the western side and rushed straight into frightened clusters of civilian citizens who had fl ed there from the north, whom they proceeded to butcher. Meanwhile, at the point of the break-in, having been among the fi rst into the city, Duke Godfrey had quickly mastered the streets of the north-eastern Jewish Quarter in the company of Robert of Flanders, his own followers, and many of the unaligned French knights. A gate facing east, to the Kidron Valley, had been smashed open by some men powerful enough to charge it with their shoulders until the hinge buckled. But it was through the main northern gate that the largest crowds of crusaders entered the city. Once the iron bolts were drawn and the bars were lift ed from the gates, the northern commoners rushed in and what little discipline remained in the Christian army was lost. Th e pressure of
the mob at the gate was lethal. Horses, as they were carried along in the press, grew furious and alarmed and began to bite those around them, despite the eff orts of their riders. So tight was the crush that 16 men died, falling beneath the feet of mounts, mules and their fellows.15
Two years earlier, when Nicea had surrendered to the Byzantine Emperor, there had been extraordinary bitterness in the crusading army, particularly among the foot soldiers and the non-combatants. Th
ey had anticipated gaining
a share of the booty and were furious with their own princes for allowing Alexius to spare the population of the city and preserve their property. Th ereaft er the rule was established in the Christian army that whoever captured property could keep it for themselves. In other words, aft er battle or siege, it was not up to any prince to distribute the booty to their followers, it was ‘fi rst come, fi rst served’.
Th
is policy had been manifest aft er the taking of Antioch, aft er the defeat of Kerbogha, and at the storming of Ma’arra. It had also been publicly and formally reaffi
rmed by Arnulf of Chocques, chaplain to Robert of Normandy, at the time of the barefoot procession around Jerusalem before the assault began. As Arnulf put it when he talked about the issue soon aft er the conquest of the city: ‘it was decreed and universally ordained, that with the town having been entered, he who fi rst seized property will be bequeathed it, no matter who he is.’ In addition to their thirst, their anger at the defenders for mocking the cross, and their desire to remove pollution from the Holy Places the crowds now entering the city had a powerful material incentive to rush in as fast as they could. Th is was
the end of their journey and their last chance to become rich. 16
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It soon became clear through absolutely pitiful scenes that even by the harsh standards of their day, the sack of Jerusalem was to be a brutal one: the most thoroughgoing and violent known in their times. All the pent-up frustration of the siege, exaggerated by the recent mockery of the defenders, was now released in a horrifi c fashion. Th
at the male defenders of the city were doomed was
almost certain, but the citizens of Jerusalem clung to the hope that perhaps the women and children would be spared, as slaves, or for ransom. Similarly, elderly scholars awaited their fate, hoping that the long tradition of respect for learning across the diff erent faiths in the city would lead to their survival.
Muslim and Jewish women and girls threw themselves at their attackers, grasping their knees, begging and weeping for their lives while their small children looked on. Th
ere was no mercy. Th
e women were beheaded or had
their brains smashed out with rocks, the screams of their children intensifying the clamour for a moment, before they too were cut to pieces. Babies were grasped by the leg and swung into walls or lintels of doors so that their necks were broken.
Th
ose inhabitants of Jerusalem who simply had their heads struck off with a sharp blade were the lucky ones. Others, chased to the upper fl oors of buildings and towers, were thrown out to fall to their deaths. Some suff ered for a long time, bound and writhing on fi res. Heaps of heads, hands and feet could be seen piled up along the rows of houses and streets, where blood was pouring swift ly along the gutters.17
Like water fl owing through a burst dam, the mob rushed through the streets and doors of the houses of Jerusalem. Whoever came fi rst to a building fi xed their sword or weapon on the door as a sign that it had already been seized. All the furniture, corn, barley, wine, oil, money and clothing, whatever was in the building, became the property of the new owner without dispute from their fellow crusaders. All respected the rule of ‘fi rst come fi rst served’. Here you could come across a poor crusader proudly leading a newly acquired cow, there a woman carried a bag full of brass candlesticks, mistakenly thinking she had obtained gold. Up and down, through every house in the most obscure parts of the city, through gardens and household plots, over roofs, the excited crowds killed and plundered.
Th
ose who had been on the verge of starvation prioritized food and gathered at ovens to roast newly slaughtered animals. Th
ose desperate for water
satiated themselves at the many cisterns in the city, despite the fact that they were becoming tainted by the fl ow of blood. And
those with a taste for beer and wine became thoroughly drunk. All the while the massacre of the citizens of
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the city continued until it was a common sight to see Christian knights walking through the streets covered from head to foot with the blood of the slain.
Th
ousands of citizens attempted to hide themselves. But however resource-ful they were, it was hard to remain concealed from minds so avid to discover hidden wealth. All over the city a lethal and horrifi c game of hide and seek was taking place. Everywhere citizens of Jerusalem were being dragged from their cupboards, cellars and attics, murdered and their bodies mutilated. Ears and fi ngers were cut away for their jewellery, intestines spilled in case bezants or jewels had been swallowed. Some of the more defi ant citizens would fl y out in a desperate attack on discovery, but the attackers were ready with bows and swords and such eff orts were entirely acts of despair. 18
Meanwhile, in their religious buildings, homes and hostels the Muslim and Jewish scholarly community waited helplessly for their turn. Th
ese elderly men,
who had written important works of philosophy and theology, had their throats cut by fellow human beings whose concerns were more earthly, namely, whether the scrolls in the buildings and pagan places of worship should be thrown on the fl ames or whether they might have a value in coin. Many a crusader became wealthy with the ransom paid for such religious and philosophical works: hundreds of dinars were later paid by the Jewish community of Egypt for the return of 28 Torah scrolls.
Here and there, more pragmatically minded leaders of disciplined Christian soldiers attempted to gather prisoners for ransom, particularly from the more well-to-do citizens. A few houses containing Jewish captives survived the invasion of Jerusalem, but whereas the women amongst them were left alone in the north of the city by their Lotharingian captors, in the south they were raped by Provençal soldiers.19