is mine.’ ‘Very well, my lord,’ replied the knight, ‘we will ourselves
destroy our city, and the mosque of Omar, and the stone of Jacob,
and when it is nothing but a heap of ruins, we will sally forth with
sword and fire in hand, and not one of us will go to Paradise without
having sent ten Mussulmans to hell.’ Saladin understood enthusiasm and
respected it, and to have had the destruction of Jerusalem connected
with his name would have caused him deep displeasure. He therefore
consented to the terms of capitulation demanded of him. The fighting
men were permitted to retreat to Tyre or Tripolis, which cities were in
the power of the Christians, and the simple inhabitants of Jerusalem
had their lives preserved, and permission given them to purchase their
freedom on certain conditions; but, as many amongst them could not find
the means, Malek-Adhel, the sultan’s brother, and Saladin himself, paid
the ransom of several thousands of captives. All Christians, however,
with the exception of Greeks and Syrians, had orders to leave Jerusalem
within four days. When the day came, all the gates were closed except
that of David, by which the people were to go forth, and Saladin,
seated upon a throne, saw the Christians defile before him. First came
the patriarch, followed by the clergy carrying the sacred vessels and
the ornaments of the church of the Holy Sepulchre. After him came
Sibylla, queen of Jerusalem, who had remained in the city, whilst her
husband, Guy de Lusignan, had been a prisoner at Nablous since the
battle of Tiberias. Saladin saluted her respectfully, and spoke to her
kindly. He had too great a soul to take pleasure in the humiliation
of greatness.” The capture of Jerusalem again roused Europe to arms,
but the story of this third crusade will be more fully narrated, as
we proceed with the personal history of Richard the Lion-hearted, who
became the chief and most illustrious figure in the annals of this
third holy war.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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