The siege we have last described gave birth to one of the
shortest-lived and most troublous monarchies that is to be found in
the pages of history. One or two good monarchs are met with in its
short annals of eighty-eight years, the rest were either wicked or
imbecile, and only hastened the fall which naturally attended its
peculiar construction and existence. The state of Jerusalem when the
errors of its rulers brought upon it the vengeance of Saladin--perhaps
the greatest man that ever figured in the East,--was disgraceful beyond
description; the two great principles which really drew the Crusaders
from their homes,--_military glory and cupidity_, during the few
years of this kingdom upon which all the world was supposed to have
its attention fixed,--were in constant operation to precipitate its
downfall. The stormy passions, inseparable from a feudal government,
had weakened all the resources of the nominal government. The king
was a shadow, totally without power: he could neither avenge his own
injuries, nor those of either the state or religion. Want of bravery
was the only crime he could punish: because cowards found no patrons
amongst the barons: they were useless to them, and they were heedless
of their fate. The king was totally without the first prerogatives
of royalty; he had not the power to support justice or make the laws
of nations respected: the kingdom was covered with strong castles,
whose commanders scarcely acknowledged any fealty to the king; the
summits of the mountains were crowned with threatening towers, and the
caverns at their feet even were converted into fortresses, in which the
barons commanded as masters, and made peace or war at their will. The
military orders, given up to profligacy, luxury, and thirst of wealth,
were divided among themselves, and frequently shed blood in quarrels
that were most fatal to the Christians. Discord prevailed between the
clergy of Jerusalem and the knights of the Temple and of St. John; the
military orders were not subject to ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and
the clergy, accustomed to give laws to princes, could not endure the
haughty independence of these warriors. The Hospitallers built houses
in front of the Church of the Resurrection, for the purpose of annoying
the clergy, and even went so far as to amuse themselves with shooting
arrows at the holy fathers as they entered the church.
The inhabitants and the Crusaders seldom agreed long together; booty
being the object of every new-comer, the people were his readiest
victims, under the pretence of defending them against the infidels. The
maritime cities were divided into ruinous national parties; the barons
and knights were weakened by idleness and debauchery, and could only be
roused to exertion by the hopes of plunder and booty: the love of glory
and the cause of Christ were forgotten. They no longer asked what enemy
they were to attack, what ally they were to defend, but what province
was to be given up to pillage. Some of the leaders, even in the most
perilous circumstances of the state, abandoned their standards, and
sold their inaction or their neutrality. Others went so far as even to
plunder the Christian provinces, or sell their active services to the
Saracens.
Religion had lost all hold upon men’s minds, and principally by the
immorality of the churchmen. It was said by a respectable historian,
that there was scarcely one chaste woman in Jerusalem. The leaders of
the Christian colonies and the heads of the church set the example of
licentiousness; from the throne to the lowest grade of society, all
were vitiated, but particularly those who, from their rank or their
holy functions, ought to have set an example. A people so degenerated
could not be expected to save the kingdom, when attacked by such a man
as Saladin.
To repeat the causes which had exasperated this powerful prince
would trench too much upon the province of general history; suffice
it to say, that the conduct of the Christians was a tissue of
weakness, perfidy, and occasional insane rashness; they were under no
strong-handed or prudent government, they showed themselves subject to
no moral restraints.
Politic, brave, cool, but severe when provoked, Saladin was the
last man the Christians should have made an enemy of. Irritated by
their total want of good faith, and their perpetual invasions of his
territory when they thought he was distant or engaged with other
objects, he at length determined to subdue them, and that effectually,
by taking their capital city.
After gaining the sanguinary battle of Tiberias, and taking every city
in Palestine before which he thought it worth his while to sit down,
the victorious Sultan advanced towards Jerusalem. The moment appeared
to be come at which this religiously important city must fall again
into the power of the Mussulmans, and they implored Mahomet to grant
this crowning triumph to the arms of Saladin. After having taken Gaza,
and several fortresses in the neigbourhood, the Sultan collected his
whole army and surrounded the holy city. A queen in tears, the children
of the warriors killed at the battle of Tiberias, a few fugitive
soldiers, and some pilgrims recently arrived from the West, were the
only guardians of the Holy Sepulchre. A great number of Christian
families who had left the devastated provinces of Palestine filled the
city; but, far from bringing it any assistance, they only served to
augment the trouble and consternation.
When close to the walls, Saladin summoned before him the principal
inhabitants, and said to them: “I know, as well as you do, that
Jerusalem is the house of God, and I do not wish to profane its
sanctity by the effusion of blood: abandon its walls, and I will give
up to you a part of my treasures; I will give you as much land as
you can cultivate.” “We cannot,” they replied, “cede willingly a city
in which our God died; still less can we yield it to you.” Saladin,
irritated by their refusal, swore upon the Koran to level the towers
and ramparts of Jerusalem, and to avenge the death of the Mussulmans
slaughtered by the companions and the soldiers of Godfrey de Bouillon.
At the moment Saladin was speaking to the deputies, an eclipse of
the sun all at once left the heavens in darkness, and appeared
to be a sinister presage for the Christians. Nevertheless, the
inhabitants, encouraged by the clergy, prepared to defend the city.
They had chosen as leader Baleau d’Ibelin, who had been present at
the battle of Tiberias. This old warrior, whose experience and virtue
inspired confidence and respect, immediately set about repairing the
fortifications and disciplining the new defenders of Jerusalem. As he
wanted officers, he created fifty knights from among the citizens; all
the Christians in a condition to fight took up arms, and swore to shed
their blood in the cause of Christ. There was no money to defray the
expenses of the war, but all means of obtaining it appeared legitimate
amidst the danger which threatened the city of God. The churches were
spoiled, and the people, terrified at the approach of Saladin, beheld
without scandal the precious metal which covered the chapel of the Holy
Sepulchre converted into coin.
The standards of Saladin were speedily seen floating over the heights
of Emäus; the Mussulman army pitched its camp on the same places as
were occupied by the tents of Godfrey, Tancred, and the two Roberts,
when they besieged the Holy City. The Christians at first opposed a
warm resistance, and made frequent sorties, in which they held in one
hand the lance or the sword, and in the other a shovel, with which they
threw dust in the eyes of the Saracens. A great number of citizens
received the palm of martyrdom, and ascended, say the historians, into
the celestial Jerusalem. Many Mussulmans fell under the swords of their
adversaries, and went to inhabit the _banks of the river which waters
Paradise_.
Saladin, after being encamped some days on the west of the city,
directed his attacks on the north, and mined the ramparts which extend
from the gate of Josophat to that of St. Stephen. The bravest of the
citizens made a sortie, and endeavoured to destroy the machines and
works of the besiegers, encouraging each other by repeating the words
of Scripture,--“_A single one of us will put ten infidels to flight;
and ten will scatter ten thousand._” They performed prodigies of
valour, but they could not retard the progress of the siege; repulsed
by the Saracens, they slowly retired to the city, whither their return
brought discouragement and terror. The towers and ramparts seemed ready
to fall at the first assault. Despair then seized upon the inhabitants,
who saw before them no defence but tears and prayers. Instead of flying
to arms, the soldiers ran to the churches; the promise of a hundred
pieces of gold could not detain them one night on the threatened
ramparts. The clergy made processions through the streets, to invoke
the assistance of Heaven; some beat their breasts with stones, others
lacerated their bodies with scourges, crying _Mercy! mercy!_ Nothing
was heard in Jerusalem but groans; “_but our Sir Jesus Christ_,” says
an old chronicle, “_would not listen to them; for the luxury and
impurity which were in the city did not allow orisons or prayers to
mount up before God_.” The despair of the inhabitants inspired them
with a thousand contrary projects at once: sometimes they formed the
resolution of leaving the city, and seeking a glorious death in the
ranks of the infidels: at others, they placed all their hopes in the
clemency of Saladin.
Amongst the general trouble and agitation, the Greek and Syrian
Christians, and the Melchite Christians, endured with much pain the
authority of the Latins, and laid to their charge all the misfortunes
of the war. A plot was discovered, in which they had resolved to
deliver Jerusalem to the Mussulmans: this discovery increased the
general alarm, and determined the principal men of the city to ask a
capitulation of Saladin. Accompanied by Baleau d’Ibelin, they went to
propose to the Sultan to give up the place upon the conditions he had
offered before the siege. But Saladin remembered that he had sworn to
take the city by assault, and to put all the inhabitants to the sword.
He sent back the deputies without giving them any hope; Baleau d’Ibelin
returned to him several times, renewed his supplications and prayers,
but found Saladin still inflexible. One day, when the Christian
deputies were conjuring him warmly to accept their capitulation, he
turned towards the place, and, pointing to the standards which floated
over the walls,--“How can you ask me,” said he, “to grant conditions to
a captured city?” Notwithstanding this, the Saracens were repulsed; and
Baleau, animated by the advantage obtained by the Christians, replied
to the Sultan,--“You see, Jerusalem does not want for defences; if we
cannot obtain any mercy from you, we will adopt a terrible resolution,
and the excess of our despair shall fill you with fright. Those temples
and palaces you are so anxious to conquer shall be destroyed, and all
our wealth, which excites the ambition and cupidity of the Saracens,
shall be given up to the flames. We will lay level the mosque of Omar,
and the mysterious stone of Jacob, the object of your worship, shall be
broken and ground into dust. Jerusalem contains five thousand Mussulman
prisoners: they shall perish by the sword. We will, with our own hands,
slaughter our women and our children, and thus spare them the disgrace
of becoming your slaves. When the Holy City shall be nothing but a
mass of ruins--one vast tomb, we will leave it, followed by the angry
manes of our friends and neighbours; we will leave it, fire and sword
in hand; not one of us will gain Paradise, without having sent to Hell
ten Mussulmans. We shall thus obtain a glorious death, and shall yield
our last breath in calling down upon you the maledictions of the God of
Jerusalem.”
This speech produced a great effect upon Saladin, and he invited the
deputies to return next day. He consulted the doctors of the law, and
they decided that he might accept the proposed capitulation without
violating his oath. The conditions were signed on the morrow, in the
tent of the Sultan; thus Jerusalem again fell under the domination
of the Infidels, after having been eighty-four years in the hands of
the Christians. The Latin historians had remarked that the Crusaders
had entered Jerusalem on a Friday, at the same hour that Christ had
suffered death to expiate the crimes of the human race. The Saracens
retook the city on a Friday, the anniversary of the day on which,
according to their belief, Mahomet ascended from Jerusalem to Heaven.
This circumstance, which might have induced Saladin to sign the
capitulation proposed to him, did not fail to add new splendour to his
triumph with the Mussulmans, and caused him to be looked upon as the
favourite of the prophet.
All the warriors in Jerusalem obtained permission to retire to Tyre
or to Tripoli. The conqueror granted their lives to the inhabitants,
and permitted them to purchase their liberty. All Christians, with the
exception of Greeks and Syrians, received an order to quit Jerusalem
within four days. The ransom was fixed at ten pieces of gold for men,
five for women, and two for children. Those who had not the means to
purchase their freedom remained slaves.
These conditions had at first been received with joy by the Christians;
but when the time arrived for their leaving Jerusalem, their grief
at quitting the Holy Places became intense; they watered the tomb of
Christ with their tears, and reproached themselves with not having died
to defend it; they ran, unconsciously, from Calvary to the various
churches they were never to see again, shedding torrents of tears; they
embraced each other, weeping, in the streets, and deploring their fatal
divisions. Such as could not pay their ransom, and could only leave
Jerusalem as the slaves of the Saracens, gave themselves up to the
wildest despair. But so great, in these deplorable moments, appeared
their attachment to a religion whose precepts in happier times they
had completely neglected, that the outrages offered to their worship
afflicted them more than their own proper misery. A cross of gold
having been torn from the dome of the church of the Templars, and
dragged through the streets by the Saracens, all the Christians burst
into cries of grief and indignation, and, although disarmed, Jerusalem
was on the point of rising against its conquerors.
At last the fatal day arrived on which the Christians were to leave
Jerusalem. All the gates of the city were closed, except that of David,
through which the Christians were to go out. Saladin, seated upon
a lofty throne, saw all the people pass before him. The patriarch,
followed by the clergy, appeared the first, bearing the sacred vases,
the ornaments of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and treasures of
which, says an Arabian author, God alone knows the value. The Queen of
Jerusalem, accompanied by the barons and knights, came next. Saladin
respected her grief, and addressed some kind words to her. The Queen
was followed by a great number of women, bearing their children in
their arms, and uttering the most pitiable cries. Several of them
drew near to the throne of Saladin: “You see at your feet,” said
they, “the wives, the mothers, and the daughters of the warriors you
detain prisoners; we are leaving for ever our country, which they have
defended with glory; they assisted us in supporting life; losing them
we have lost our last hope; if you would deign to restore them to us,
they would soften the miseries of our exile, and we should be no longer
without a support upon earth.” Saladin was touched by their prayers,
and promised to mitigate the misfortunes of so many unhappy families.
He restored the sons to mothers, and the husbands to wives, who were
found among the captives. Many Christians had abandoned their valuable
goods and property, in order to bear away upon their shoulders some of
their parents weakened by age, and others their friends, the infirm,
and the sick. Saladin was affected by this spectacle, and rewarded the
virtue and piety of his enemies with gifts and alms; he took pity upon
all these unfortunates, and permitted the Hospitallers to remain in the
city to tend to the sick, as well as such as serious maladies prevented
from moving.
When the Saracens commenced the siege, the Holy City contained more
than a hundred thousand Christians. The greater part of them purchased
their freedom: Baleau d’Ibelin, the depositary of the treasures
destined to defray the expenses of the siege, employed all that was
left in the liberation of the citizens. Malec-Adel, the brother of the
Sultan, paid the ransom of two thousand captives. Saladin followed his
example by setting free great numbers of poor and orphans. There only
remained in slavery about fourteen thousand Christians, among whom were
four or five thousand children, too young to be aware of the extent of
their misfortune, but whose fate the faithful deplored the more, from
the probability that these innocent victims of war would be brought up
in the idolatry of Mahomet. From this period Jerusalem has remained in
the hands of the Mahometans.
We have given these interesting sieges in greater detail than we shall
be able to afford to most others; but we feel satisfied our readers
will be pleased at being made acquainted with as many particulars as
possible regarding a city which occupies so prominent a place in the
religious and civil history of the world. We were fortunate, likewise,
in having an historian[2] to refer to who had devoted great part of
his life and his superior talents to the history of the wars of which
the two latter sieges form a part. We have adopted, in the sieges of
Jerusalem, the plan we shall follow in other cases; we have given the
sieges in one series, thinking that the best way to impress the general
history of the places in young minds, as likewise of showing, by
something like a consecutive account, the causes of wars, defeats, and
successes.