THE LIFE OF SALADIN AND THE FALL OF THE KINGDOM OF JERUSALEM

CHAPTER XX.

IN SIGHT OF JERUSALEM.

Sept., 1191 — July, 1192.

THE Franks were in no haste to follow up their victory. They declined Saladin's offers of battle, and shut themselves up at Jaffa for two months. They had succeeded, with much difficulty and at the rate of three miles a day, in pushing their way from Acre sixty miles south, and they set about fortifying their base before venturing to leave the coast and the fleet which had hitherto served them with intermittent supplies and reinforcements.

The pleasant orchards of Jaffa were a refreshing change, after a diet of dead horses, and the weary troops showed little eagerness for the advance upon Jerusalem. “The army rested a long time in ease and pleasure; while day after day its manifold sins increased, to wit, drunkenness and luxury. For the women from Acre began to return to the army, and were a source of iniquity to corrupt the whole people, whose love for pilgrimage diminished as its religious zeal abated”; indeed, a number of them began flocking back to Acre, “where they spent their time in taverns”. Richard at least lent no countenance to this sloth and immorality. He sent King Guy to Acre to recall the deserters, and when this appeal proved unavailing, he went himself and preached “a most moving discourse”, exhorting the backsliders to gird up their loins for the holy work.

By these exertions the army was restored to even more than its former strength. But up to the middle of November, beyond strengthening Jaffa, and restoring two or three fortified posts in the plain, a few miles out on the road to Lydda, this large and well-appointed army accomplished nothing. There were some brisk skirmishes with the Saracen outposts, who did not allow them to rebuild the “Casal of the Plains” unmolested, and Richard indulged his love of adventure and deeds of “derring-do”, whilst roving about the country. Once, when out hawking, he was surprised by the Saracens whilst asleep, and might have been taken prisoner but for the devotion of William de Préaux, who calling out in Arabic that he was the “Melik”, passed himself upon the unsuspecting enemy as the King of England, and was carried off in triumph. But as for the object of the Crusade, the Franks never went further than one good day’s march on the road to Jerusalem all the time they were in Palestine.

1191] Razing of Ascalon.

One reason for the inaction of the Crusaders is found in the negotiations for peace which were going on throughout October and part of November. Saladin’s strength, despite his losses at Arsuf, was unbroken, and his army held the road to Jerusalem. He had shown that he would spare no sacrifice to worst his enemy, for immediately after his retreat to Ramla he had begun to raze the fortified city of Ascalon, to prevent its forming a support to the Franks. “Fore God”," he said to Baha-ed-din, “I had sooner lose all my children than throw down a single stone of it; but it is the will of God, and the safety of the Moslems hangs upon it”. The work of demolition and burning took a whole month, amid general lamentations, and the people were transported to Egypt and other lands. The position of Ascalon, as a great port close to the Egyptian frontier, and a powerful base of operations by sea and land for southern Palestine, justified Saladin’s precaution; but the Christians felt that the man who could destroy so noble a city would shrink from nothing.

But even before the razing of Ascalon was known at Jaffa, Richard had made overtures for peace. The example of Acre suggested a possible repetition of a similar bloodless success. Within a week of the battle of Arsuf, he sent Humphrey of Toron, to feel the way towards an arrangement. Saladin was then busy dismantling Ascalon, but his brother, el-Adil, who commanded the advance guard at Lydda, had full powers to treat, and from that time forth generally conducted the negotiations. According to Baha-ed-din, on whom we have mainly to rely for this diplomatic history, the Sultan was anxious for peace, in view of the worn-out state of his army; and indeed the haste with which he leveled Ascalon, and after- wards dismantled Lydda, Ramla, and Natrun, lest they should be taken and garrisoned by the enemy, seems almost a sign of panic. Thus Saladin, almost as impetuous as Richard, was for accepting terms, even though they included the surrender of all the coast to the invaders; but el-Adil was a more cool-headed diplomatist, and resolved to prolong the pourparlers in the orthodox manner, so as at least to give time for the thorough demolition of Ascalon.

1191] Negotiations for Peace.

Whilst thus engaged, a new factor complicated the negotiations, entirely to the advantage of the Saracens. On the 3rd of October Conrad of Montferrat opened from Tyre a separate correspondence with Saladin. He offered to break with the rest of the Crusaders, become the Sultan’s ally, and retake Acre for the Saracens, on condition that Sidon and Beyrut were added to his dominion. Another ambassador from Richard arrived on the same day. Here was indeed a diplomatic godsend: el-Adil, evidently perfectly at home at such manoeuvres, began to play the Marquess off against the King. All through October messages were passing between the camps. Richard scented the treachery of Montferrat, and became pressing in his attentions to el-Adil, called him “my true friend and brother”, and urged a lasting settlement of the quarrel. “Both Moslems and Franks”, wrote the King, according to the Arabic paraphrase, “are worn out; all their cities are being destroyed; lives and wealth are perishing on both sides. This matter has gone far enough. The only question is about the Holy City, the Cross, and the land. As for Jerusalem, we are firm; we will not recede, no, not if there were but a single man of us left. As for the land, give us back to the further side of Jordan. As for the Cross, to you it is only worthless wood, but to us it is priceless; let the Sultan then be gracious to us concerning it, and there shall be peace, and we shall rest from this weary toil”.

To this appeal Saladin made answer :

“Jerusalem is holy to us as well as to you, and more so, seeing it is the scene of our Prophet’s journey, and the place where our people must assemble at the Last Day. Think not that we shall go back therefrom, or that we can be compliant in this matter. And as for the land, it was ours to begin with, and ye invaded it; nor had ye taken it but for the feebleness of the Moslems who then had it; and so long as this war lasts God will not permit you to set up a stone in it. And as for the Cross, our holding it is a point of vantage, nor can we surrender it except for the benefit of Islam”.

The secretary has doubtless infused into these dispatches the tone which he considered appropriate to each side, and they are not to be implicitly accepted as literal copies; but they probably preserve the general sense of the correspondence. His next revelation, however, is more astonishing. He says that on the 20th of October el-Adil acquainted him with the latest proposals of the King of England.

Richard offered peace on these terms: el-Adil was to marry his sister Joan, the widowed Queen of Sicily, who should be dowered with the coast cities. Acre, Ascalon, and Jaffa, and live at Jerusalem; Saladin, on his part, was to endow el-Adil with the rest of Palestine, besides what he already held in fief, and the wedded pair should reign together over the land; the Cross was to be surrendered; prisoners to be freed; the Templars and Hospitallers to be given establishments; these conditions settled, Richard would return to England.

El-Adil thought the scheme excellent, and sent Baha-ed-din to Saladin to obtain his consent; the Sultan said “Nam” (“yes”) energetically three times over, in the presence of witnesses. The secretary adds that Saladin took it as a bad joke on Richard’s part, and the whole affair evidently caused much merriment in diplomatic circles. The fantastic humor of the notion struck Sir Walter Scott, who in the Talisman modified it into a projected alliance between Saladin and the imaginary Edith Plantagenet; whilst Lessing in Nathan der Weise adopts the true version.

The suggestion is not inconsistent, perhaps, with the character of a knight-errant; but it was plainly impossible for so strict a Moslem as Saladin to entertain it seriously. There is no doubt, however, that Richard struck up a warm friendship with el-Adil. Joan, it is true, is reported to have indignantly refused to marry a Mohammedan, and her brother’s next idea, that el-Adil should turn Christian, was scarcely more practical. But he invited him to his camp, on the 8th of November, entertained him sumptuously at dinner in his own tent, and after a day of great festivity they parted in renewed love. This meeting is the only part of the negotiations which is alluded to by the English author of the “Itinerary”, who deplores the successful manner in which el-Adil (or as he calls him “Saphadin”, i.e. Seyf-ed-din) “so imposed upon the unsuspecting king with his cunningly-fashioned speeches, that they seemed to have contracted an intimate friendship with one another. For the king consented to receive Saphadin’s presents, and messengers were always running between them bearing little gifts from Saphadin to king Richard. The king’s conduct seemed very blameworthy to his men, and it was a common saying that friendship with the Gentiles was a heinous crime. But Saphadin declared himself to be anxious to establish a fixed and lasting peace. So the king deemed himself acting wisely in making an open and fair peace for the enlargement of the bounds of Christendom”.

1191] Proposed Marriage and Alliance

Richard's desire for peace was certainly not diminished by the knowledge that at the very moment when he was entertaining el-Adil, Conrad’s ambassador was actually in Saladin’s camp a few miles away. The Marquess was eager to secure the Sultan’s support in his claim upon the crown of Jerusalem, against Richard’s friend and vassal, the nominal King Guy, who had been playing a very minor part in recent events. His ambassador for this purpose was the same ingenious Reginald of Sidon who had passed so scurvy a trick upon Saladin at Belfort two years before. The Sultan, however, bore him no malice, received him hospitably, and provisionally approved the Marquess’s renewed proposal of an alliance against the Crusaders, but postponed a definite reply.

That same evening Humphrey of Toron arrived with fresh suggestions from Richard, in which he reiterated his wish to see el-Adil made King of Palestine, but insisted on the Christians having a share in Jerusalem. To him also Saladin was all complaisance and good will. He then called a council and set the two treaty proposals before the emirs. He found them of opinion that, if peace must be made, it were better to make it with Richard than with the Marquess, because experience had taught them that it was impossible to trust the good-faith of the Syrian Franks. The conditions thus accepted were those by which el-Adil was to marry Joan and be ruler of all Palestine, as previously proposed. The ex-queen’s refusal does not seem to have been regarded as final.

Richard, in his last communication to el-Adil, confessed that the Christians were all blaming him for wishing to give his sister to a Moslem; but he would try to get the Pope’s dispensation; and if that failed, he would give el-Adil his niece instead of his sister.

The niece was declined, but otherwise on this basis negotiations went on, and the sight of Reginald of Sidon riding beside el-Adil on the hills between the camps gave temporary wings to the slow-footed messengers of diplomacy. But nothing seems to have been definitely concluded when winter interrupted the negotiations.

The seasons play an important part in Syrian campaigns. The beginning of the rains drove Saladin into winter quarters. Hitherto he had kept his advance guard at Lydda, but the main army had been camped on the hills, latterly at Tell Jezer, west of the Ramla road, for the sake of forage. These troops were now withdrawn to Jerusalem, whence after a time the more distant contingents were gradually dismissed to their homes as soon as they could safely be spared. Saladin had great faith in the protection of mud, but Richard had yet to learn the virtue of a Syrian winter. In December the Crusaders made their famous march upon the Holy City, the goal of all their pilgrimage. They ventured as far as Ramla, no less than eleven miles from their base at Jaffa, and after waiting six weeks there, in a ruined city, exposed to constant attacks from Saladin’s outposts, they plucked up courage to penetrate seven or eight miles further, as far as Beyt Nuba; and then, almost in sight of Jerusalem, they turned about and went back again.

1192] Richard Retreats from Beyt Nuba

The “Itinerary” tells the tragical story. After describing the delay in the ruined city of Ramla, and the hazardous adventures of the Earl of Leicester and other knights, it continues:

“Our army in due order set forth for the Casal of Betenoble [Beyt Nuba], where we were discomforted by heavy rain and unwholesome weather, owing to which very many of our beasts of burden died. Indeed, so great was the tempest and such the downpour of rain and showers, coupled with the blasts of violent winds, that the stakes of [our] tents were torn up and whirled away, whilst our horses perished of cold and wet. A great part of our food and biscuit was also spoiled; and the swine flesh, commonly called bacon, grew rotten. Our armour and breastplates became fouled with rust and could not be restored to their original brightness by any amount of rubbing; clothes began to wear out and very many people, from long sojourn in a foreign land, lost health and were afflicted with great ills. This comfort alone sustained them: the hope that they were at last on the point of visiting the Lord’s Sepulchre; for beyond measure did they desire to see the city of Jerusalem and finish their pilgrimage ...

“But the wiser set of men did not fall in with the too hasty zeal of the common folk. For the Templars, the Hospitallers, and the Fullani, having a sharper view of the future, dissuaded king Richard from going towards Jerusalem at that moment; because, they said, if he were to lay siege and set himself with all his might to take Saladin and all the Turks cooped up in the city with him, the Turkish army that lay on the mountain heights outside would be making sudden attacks. Thus there would be a double danger in every fight from the enemy in Jerusalem and the enemy outside. Nor, they continued, if they were successful in capturing the city would their success avail much unless they had very stout warriors to whose care they might entrust the city. And this they did not think was likely to be the case, for, in their opinion, the people were showing all eagerness to get their pilgrimage finished, in order that they might get home without delay, being already unspeakably wearied at what they had undergone”.

These prudent counsels prevailed, to the “great grief of the common people; all groaned and sighed at finding the dear hope of their heart to visit the Lord’s Sepulchre so suddenly cast away ... They cursed the delay and those who brought about such untoward things”. But the decree had gone forth, and the multitude was sorrowfully led back in snow and hail to the wretched ruins of what once was Ramla. This was before the feast of St. Hilary, which falls on the 13th of January.

“Now, whilst the army was staying at Ramla in the utmost grief, very many began to desert, either through a distaste for the tiresome march or indignation. Owing to this the army was diminished in no small degree; for the greatest part of the French went off in anger to Jaffa, and there abode at their ease. Some also went off to Acre where there was no lack of food. Some also accepted the urgent invitation of the Marquess of Tyre; whilst some, in their wrath and indignation, accompanied the Duke of Burgundy when he turned off to the Casal of the Plains, at which place he dwelt eight days”.

1192. Richard Rebuilds Ascalon

In order to retrieve this deplorable failure, and put heart into the army, Richard hit upon the plan of rebuilding Ascalon, and restoring it to its former power as a great Christian stronghold. At another season the policy had been admirable, but a winter march was not the most encouraging expedient that could have been devised. Richard and Henry of Champagne led the downhearted and diminished army to Ibelin.

“So marshy and clayey did they find the ways that at the time of pitching their tents they could think of nothing but how best to rest their wearied heads. At Ibelin he stayed for one night, outworn with grief and toil such as no tongue nor pen can describe. At earliest dawn the army went forward in due order, preceded by those whose business it was to pitch the tents. But the misery of the previous day was as nothing to this day's march. For, as our men plodded on wearily, bitter snow drifted in their faces, thick hailstones rattled down, and pouring rain enveloped them. The marshy land too gave way beneath their feet; baggage, horses and men sank in the swamps, and the more men struggled the deeper they became involved ... So battered, so weary, and so worn, cursing the day on which they were born, and smiting themselves, they at last reached Ascalon — only to find it so leveled by the Saracens that they could barely struggle through the gates over the heaps of stones”.

The re-building of Ascalon, and difficulties with the French and with Conrad of Montferrat, occupied the next four months, and no attempt was made to molest the Saracens. There was civil war at Acre; the Duke of Burgundy and the French again deserted; and to crown all, the Prior of Hereford arrived from England with the news that the kingdom was being ruined by the oppression of John, who was plainly usurping the sovereignty. At this Richard declared he must go home and see to his own realm; but since no one would stay to carry on the Crusade unless there were a leader, and there were two claimants to the crown, he made the people choose their King. Without hesitation, one and all chose the Marquess of Montferrat, and Richard gave his reluctant assent. The unpopular widower of Sibylla, who had hitherto held if not enjoyed the title, was compensated with the kingdom of Cyprus. His supplanter was less fortunate. Hardly had Conrad attained his ambition when he was suddenly murdered by two emissaries of the Sheykh of the Assassins (27 April). Henry of Champagne succeeded as King by general acclamation.

Whilst these things were happening on the coast, Saladin had spent the winter quietly at Jerusalem, after sending his army away to their homes. The Franks were still in correspondence with him, for Conrad had not broken off his negotiations during the winter months. An offensive and defensive alliance was actually concluded in April, the details of which are of little interest, since the Marquess-King was murdered immediately afterwards. But the treaty, as epitomized by Baha-ed-din, contains a reference to an understanding already existing between Saladin and Richard which probably explainsa certain mysterious visit of Stephen of Turnham to Jerusalem. Stephen was astonished to see the envoys of the Marquess, Balian of Ibelin and Reginald of Sidon,  “two miserable go-betweens”, coming out of the city. It was apparently a case of Greek meeting Greek. The worthy Stephen was probably himself a “go-between”, for the Arabic secretary mentions a message that was received about March from the King of England asking for an interview with “my brother” el-Adil, with a view to a treaty.

1192] Mission of El-Adil

El-Adil set out on this mission on the 20th of March, with definite instructions. He was empowered to conclude a treaty of peace including a division of the country, the surrender of the Cross, with the right of pilgrimage to Jerusalem and of establishing priests in the Church of the Resurrection; if the King insisted on the cession of Beyrut, he must have it, but only on condition that it was destroyed.

Thus far might el-Adil make concessions. When he reached the plain of Acre, Richard was on the point of returning to Ascalon, but the conditions of the treaty were settled through an intermediary, Abu Bekr the chamberlain, and el-Adil returned at the beginning of April, having apparently succeeded in his mission. Jerusalem was to be divided between the Christians and the Moslems, but the latter were to retain the sacred Dome of the Rock. That the treaty was not ratified is obvious from subsequent events; but a proof of the extraordinary amity then existing is found in the amazing words of the “Itinerary”: “ On Palm Sunday [March 29] King Richard amid much splendor girded with the belt of knighthood the son of Saphadin, who had been sent to him for that purpose”.

It is hard to believe that, after so unprecedented — almost incredible — a mark of friendship, the King took advantage of a rumor of Saladin’s temporary difficulties with a rebellious nephew in Mesopotamia, to postpone the conclusion of peace, in the hope of witnessing a civil war among the Saracens. There is, however, no disputing the fact that in May, in spite of an all but ratified treaty, Richard again assumed the offensive, and sailing down the coast laid siege to the castle of Darum, where the Crusaders unhappily proved that they had lost nothing of their usual savagery in dealing with vanquished Moslems:  

“Those Turks whom our men found holding out on the battlements they hurled down into the ditch there to be dashed to pieces. The number of Turks slain in the different parts of the castle was sixty. Those who had taken refuge in the tower, seeing that they were lost ... surrendered themselves to perpetual slavery on the Friday before Whit-Sunday ... On the Friday night the king made his men keep watch over the Turks who were still in the Tower till early on the Saturday morning. Then on Whitsun Eve the Turks, coming down from the Tower at the king's command, had their hands bound so tightly behind their backs with leathern thongs that they roared for pain. They were three hundred in number, not reckoning little children and women. Thus, before the French came up, with the aid of his own men only did king Richard nobly get possession of Darura after a siege of four days”.

1192. Richard's Glimpse of the Holy City

The capture of Darum so inspirited the Crusaders, unaccustomed of late to success, that they ventured to make a raid across the plain as far as Ibelin of the Hospitallers (Beyt Jibrin), and in June resolved to advance once more upon Jerusalem. Leaving Ascalon on the 7th, Richard marched by way of Blanche Garde and “Toron of the Knights”  (Natrun), and camped once more near Betenoble, where he was joined by the French. Here the whole army waited a month for the new King, Henry, and during the delay Richard scoured the country in search of adventures. Once, “on the morrow of St. Barnabas”, whilst hotly pursuing some Saracens on the hills, he raised his eyes and on a sudden beheld the Holy City afar off; or, as others say, he would not see it, but holding his coat-of-arms before his face, wept and prayed, “O fair Lord God, I pray thee let me not see thy Holy City, if I may not deliver it out of the hands of thine enemies”. But Jerusalem was not to be delivered by his sword.

Whilst the Crusaders were lingering at Beyt Nuba, their enemy was daily gathering strength. Saladin’s provincial contingents began to return from their homes after the breaking of winter, and were joining his colors in thousands. Dolderim, the lord of the old Courtenay fortress of Turbessel, was the first to arrive with his Turkmans at the end of May; others followed close on his heels.

Careful preparations were made for the defence of Jerusalem, and the light troops were taken out by Saladin himself to skirmish with the enemy. Both sides scored successes in these affairs, but on the 23rd of June the loss of an important caravan from Egypt, laden with treasure and stores and arms, was the worst blow the Moslems received. After this, with thousands of fresh baggage animals at their command, Saladin made no doubt that the Crusaders would march without delay on the Holy City, and he set about destroying the wells and cisterns in the neighborhood, till there was not a drop of water left fit to drink. But the enemy still hesitated.

An anxious council was held at Jerusalem on Wednesday night, the 1st of July. Even Abu-l-Heyja “the Fat” attended, though he walked with difficulty and had to be given a chair in the Sultan’s tent. Baha-ed-din was ordered to address the assembled emirs, and he “spoke as God prompted him”, urging to the Holy War. Saladin remained a long time deep in thought; then he made a short earnest appeal to the soldiers: “The lives and children and possessions of the Moslems rest upon you”, he said; “if you fail, which God forfend, they will roll up the land like a scroll ... The Moslems over all the country hang upon your valor. Wa-s-Selam”. Then the Balafré, lately ransomed from his prison at Acre, spoke up:

“O Maulana, we are thy mamluks and thy slaves. Thou hast been gracious to us, and made us great and powerful; thou hast given to us and made us rich; we have only our necks to offer, and they are between thy hands. By God, not a man of us will turn back from helping thee till we die!”

All the emirs said the like, and Saladin was comforted.

1192] The Franks Finally Retreat

Thursday was spent in strenuous exertions, that no means of defence might be neglected, and after they had said the evening prayer together, Saladin and his secretary spent the night in anxious consultation. The Sultan was very uneasy; there were divided opinions among his officers as to the best way of meeting the attack; and the Kurds and Turks were not working well together. Dawn found him still deliberating. It was Friday, and in the mosque he prayed more earnestly than ever, in a low voice, his tears falling on the carpet. At any moment, he felt, the enemy might be at the gate, and Jerusalem might fall — “ the Holy City for which he had an ineffable care”.

That evening came a despatch from old Jurdik, who commanded the advance guard: “ The enemy has ridden out and taken up a position on the hill, and then returned to camp”. The next morning (Saturday the 4th) another message came: Jurdik’s scouts had learnt that there was dissension in the Christian camp; some were for pushing on, others for going back; the French declared that they had left their country for the sake of Jerusalem, and they would not return without recovering it; the “Inkitar” (Englishman) had pointed out that all the wells were fouled, and there was no water to be had; finally a jury was appointed to decide the issue.

The scouts spoke truth: another spell of fatal vacillation had come over the purpose of the Crusaders, and in the mist of divided counsels the decision had been committed to a jury chosen equally from the knights of the Temple and Hospital, the French, and the Syrian Franks. They decided  to abandon the advance upon Jerusalem, which was now almost in sight, and recommended a march upon Cairo—250 miles away, across the desert! The French knights protested in vain.

The next day they were in full retreat. The Sultan rode out at the head of his men to see the wonderful sight. The rejoicing passed description. The danger was over, and Saladin felt that his prayers had indeed been heard. The Holy City was saved.