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With him was a whole band of scholars and sufis and a certain number of devout men and ascetics; each begged to be allowed to kill one of them and drew his sword and rolled back his sleeve. Saladin, his face joyful, was sitting on his dais; the unbelievers in black despair … there were some who slashed and cut cleanly, and were thanked for it; some who refused and failed to act, and others took their places …
Imad al-Din writing of Saladin’s wrath upon the Templars and Hospitallers after the Battle of the Horns of Hattin.
Guy, Reynald and an exhausted group of Templars and Hospitallers lay prostrate from exhaustion around the king’s tent. The number of prisoners was so large that groups of thirty were led on ropes by their captors and their value as slaves was reckoned, under the normal market conditions of supply and demand, at only three dinars each. The exchange of a prisoner for a single shoe was even recorded.
The bodies were denied burial and Reynald was executed by the sultan’s own hand in revenge for his attempts on Mecca and Medina, and for his slaughter of pilgrims. Reynald had watched as Guy was offered water by Saladin, which was an indication that he would be spared. However, when he took the goblet back from the king, the sultan made it very plain that he was not offering Reynald either water or mercy.
To all intents and purposes, the Crusader field army had ceased to exist, and there was little hope for any of the cities of the kingdom. Tiberias surrendered bloodlessly the next day, followed by Acre, Nablus, Nazareth and Toron. Jaffa resisted but the entire populace was sold into slavery after it was stormed.
Tyre held out as Saladin moved onto easier prey. Sidon, Beirut and Jebail fell in early August, followed by Ascalon and Gaza. Christian refugees flocked to Tyre, and Conrad of Montferrat unexpectedly arrived with a small fleet. Conrad took command of the defence of Tyre, and a few days later Saladin paraded his father, William of Montferrat, before the city walls, threatening to kill him if Conrad did not surrender. Conrad refused but Saladin did not kill the old man.
The sultan perhaps somewhat neglected the siege of Tyre and moved to take Jerusalem. It is possible to criticise the hero of the jihad for allowing the Crusaders this foothold, but in truth he could not have predicted the ferocity of the West’s response to the fall of Jerusalem. He was also unable to divert his army from the Holy City and capital of the Crusader kingdom.
Balian of Ibelin received permission from Saladin to enter Jerusalem to escort his wife and children away to the safety of Tyre, but then wrote to the sultan to say that the populace were begging him to remain in the city. Saladin’s chivalry extended not only to freeing Balian from his oath, but to providing Balian’s family with safe conduct to Tyre. The Muslim attack began against the western sector of the wall, but there was fierce resistance and Saladin transferred his attack to the north. The citizens, threatened by the collapse of their walls, decided to surrender. The sultan’s generous terms were quickly accepted. The city surrendered unconditionally and Latin Christians were allowed to buy their freedom at ten dinars for a man, five for a woman and one for a child. The poor were freed for a single payment of 30,000 dinars. Saladin’s brother released a thousand captives that he had been awarded by the sultan and Saladin freed every elderly captive. In an act of re-sanctification, rose petals were scattered across the floor of the Dome of the Rock.
