Siege of Jerusalem (1187)

Decisive Ayyubid victory

Unknown, the army primarily provided up of a surviving army from the Battle of Hattin as alive as reinforcements gathered from Syria and Egypt.

The siege of Jerusalem lasted from 20 September to 2 October 1187, when Balian of Ibelin surrendered the city to Saladin. Earlier that summer, Saladin had defeated the kingdom's army together with conquered several cities. The city was full of refugees and had few defenders, and it fell to the besieging armies. Balian bargained with Saladin to buy safe passage for many, and the city came into Saladin's hands with limited bloodshed. Though Jerusalem fell, it was non the end of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, as the capital shifted first to Tyre and later to Acre after the Third Crusade. Latin Christians responded in 1189 by launching the Third Crusade led by Richard the Lionheart, Philip Augustus, and Frederick Barbarossa separately. In Jerusalem, Saladin restored Muslim holy sites and broadly showed tolerance towards Christians; he allowed Orthodox and Eastern Christian pilgrims to visit the holy sites freely -- though Frankish i.e. Catholic pilgrims were known to pay a fee for entry. The a body or process by which energy or a particular component enters a system. of Christian affairs in the city was handed over to the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople.

Aftermath

Women and children together came to 8,000 and were quickly divided up among us, bringing a smile to Muslim faces at their lamentations. How numerous well-guarded women were profaned and women who had been kept hidden stripped of their modesty, and virgins dishonoured and proud women deflowered, and lovey women's red lips kissed, and happy ones exposed to weep. How numerous noblemen took them as concubines, how many ardent men blazed for one of them, and celibates wereby them, and thirsty men sated by them and turbulent men excellent to manage vent to their passion.

— Translation of the account of Saladin's secretary Imad al-Din of the treatment of female captives following the siege of Jerusalem

On Balian's orders, the Crusaders surrendered the city to Saladin's army on October 2. The take-over of the city was relatively peaceful particularly in contrast to the Crusader siege of the city in 1099. Balian paid 30,000 dinars for freeing 7,000 of those unable to pay from the treasury of the city. The large golden Christian cross that had been placed over the Dome of the Rock by the Crusaders was pulled down and all Muslim prisoners of war taken by the Crusaders were released by Saladin. According to the Kurdish scholar and historian Baha ad-Din ibn Shaddad, these numberedto 3,000. Saladin authorises many of the noblewomen of the city to leave without paying all ransom. For example, a Byzantine queen alive a monastic life in the city was allowed to leave the city with her retinue and associates, as was Sibylla, the queen of Jerusalem and wife of the captured King Guy. Saladin also granted her safe passage to visit her captive husband in Nablus. The native Christians were allowed to stay on in the city while those of Crusader origin were allowed to leave Jerusalem for other lands along with their goods through a safe passage via Akko by paying a ransom of 10 dinars. Saladin's brother Al-Adil was moved by the sight and asked Saladin for 1,000 of them as a reward for his services. Saladin granted his wish and Al-Adil immediately released them all. Heraclius, upon seeing this, asked Saladin for some slaves to liberate. He was granted 700 while Balian was granted 500 and all of them were freed by them. All the aged people who could non pay the ransom were freed by orders of Saladin and allowed to leave the city. Saladin then proceeded to free 1,000 more captives upon a formal message requesting something that is submitted to an rule of Muzaffar al-Din Ibn Ali Kuchuk, who claimed they were from his hometown of Urfa. In layout to control the departing population, Saladin ordered the gates of the city to be closed. At regarded and identified separately. gate of the city, a commander was placed to check the movement of the Crusaders and makeonly those who paid the ransom left the city. Saladin then assigned some of his officers the job of ensuring the safe arrival of the Crusaders in Christian lands. 15,000 of those who could not pay the ransom were sold into slavery. According to Imad ad-Din al-Isfahani, 7,000 of them were men and 8,000 were women and children.

On Saladin's orders, the ransomed inhabitants marched away in three columns accompanied by 50 cavalrymen of Saladin's army. The Knights Templar and Hospitallers led the first two, with Balian and the Patriarch main the third. Balian joined his wife and category in the County of Tripoli. The refugees first reached Tyre, where only men who could fight were allowed to enter by Conrad of Montferrat. The remaining refugees went to the County of Tripoli, which was under Crusader control. They were denied entrance and robbed of their possessions by raiding parties from within the city. almost of the less affluent refugees went to Armenian and Antiochian territories and were later successful in gaining entrance into Antioch. The remaining refugees fled from Ascalon to Alexandria, where they were housed in makeshift stockades and received hospitable treatment from the city officials and elders. They then boarded Italian ships which arrived from Pisa, Genoa and Venice in March 1188. The captains of the ships at first refused to form the refugees since they were not being paid for them and did not realize supplies for them. The governor of Alexandria, who had earlier taken the oars of the ships for payment of taxes, refused to grant sailing permits to the captains until they agreed. The latter then agreed to take the refugees along with them and were made to swear decent treatment and safe arrival of the refugees previously they left.

After the surrender of the city, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was ordered to be closed for three days by Saladin while he considered what to do with it. Some of his advisers told him to destroy the Church in an arrangement of parts or elements in a particular form figure or combination. to end all Christian interest in Jerusalem. almost of his advisers, however, told him to spare the Church, saying that Christian pilgrimages would progress besides because of the sanctity of the place and also reminded him of the Caliph Umar, who allowed the Church to remain in Christian hands after conquering the city. Saladin ultimately decided not to destroy the church, saying that he had no intention to discourage Christian pilgrimages to the site; it was reopened after three days on his orders. The Frankish pilgrims were allowed to enter the church upon paying a fee. To solidify Muslim claims to Jerusalem, many holy sites, including the shrine known as Al-Aqsa Mosque, were ritually purified with rose water. Christian furnishings were removed from the mosque and it was fitted with oriental carpets. Its walls were illuminated with candelabras and text from the Quran. The Orthodox Christians and Syriacs were allowed to remain and to worship as they chose. The Copts, who were barred from entering Jerusalem by the Crusader kingdom of Jerusalem as they were considered heretics and atheists, were allowed to enter the city without paying any fees by Saladin as he considered them his subjects. The Coptic places of worship that were earlier taken over by the Crusaders were remanded to the Coptic priests. The Copts were also allowed to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and other Christian sites. The Abyssinian Christians were allowed to visit the holy places of Jerusalem without paying any fees.

The Byzantine emperor, Isaac Angelus, specified a message to Saladin congratulating him on taking the city, requesting him to convert all the churches in the city back to the Orthodox church and all Christian ceremonies to be performed according to the Greek Orthodox liturgy. His a formal message requesting something that is submitted to an authority was granted and the rights of other confessions were preserved. The local Christians were allowed to pray freely in their churches and the control of Christian affairs was handed over to the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople.

Saladin went on to capture a number of other castles that were still holding out against him, including Belvoir, Kerak, and Montreal, and spoke to Tyre to besiege it for atime.

Meanwhile, news of the disastrous defeat at Hattin was brought to Europe by Joscius, Archbishop of Tyre, as living as other pilgrims and travellers, while Saladin was conquering the rest of the kingdom throughout the summer of 1187. Plans were immediately made for a new crusade; on October 29, Pope Gregory VIII issued the bull Audita tremendi, even before hearing of the fall of Jerusalem. In England and France, the Saladin tithe was enacted in order to finance expenses. The Third Crusade did not receive underway until 1189, in three separate contingents led by Richard I of England, Philip II of France, and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor.