First Crusade: Siege of Jerusalem

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According to Professor Joshua Prawer of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, this most crucial part of the fighting took place along a portion of the wall 65 meters (71 yards) between the second tower east of Herod’s Gate and the first salient square in the wall beyond it, across the road between the present-day Rockefeller Museum and the wall. Control of a section of the wall allowed the invaders to use scaling ladders to pour more and more men into the city. Godfrey remained on the wall, encouraging the newcomers and directing men to open the Gate of the Column to allow the masses of the Crusaders inside. It was said that the ghost of Adhémar of Le Puy was seen among those rushing to open the gate.

Tancred and his men, who had been close behind the Lorrainers, penetrated deep into the city. The Muslims fled toward the temple area and took refuge in the al-Aqsa Mosque, but Tancred was upon them before they could establish their defenses. They quickly surrendered, offered a large ransom, and Tancred gave them his banner to display over the mosque. Tancred’s forces had already pillaged the Dome of the Rock, one of the holiest places of Islam, earning them a great fortune.

The people of the Jerusalem reeled back in confusion, trying desperately to escape the invaders. When the Crusaders overran the southern walls, Iftikhar realized that all was lost. Withdrawing into the Tower of David, he prepared to make his last stand.

The Tower of David, the strongest part of the entire defensive network, was an octagonal citadel whose foundations had been welded together with lead. Although it was obvious to them that the city was lost, Iftikhar and his soldiers continued to fight. In the words of Amin Maalouf, What else could they do?

Then the Franj stopped fighting, and a messenger brought an offer from Raymond of Toulouse. The Egyptian general and his men would be allowed to leave if they would surrender the tower to him.

Although Raymond was respected for his skill and valor in battle, the white-haired sexagenarian also had a reputation for treachery. By continuing the battle against the Egyptians, however, he and his Provençals were missing out on the looting that was then in progress. The Franks were arguing about who would get which house, and Raymond was being left out. Iftikhar finally agreed to surrender if Raymond would personally guarantee the safety of him and his men. Raymond agreed and they departed that night. They were the only Muslims to escape the fall of Jerusalem. Most of the others were killed, while a few were taken as slaves.

The Crusaders spent at least that night and the next day killing Muslims, including all of those in the al-Aqsa Mosque, where Tancred’s banner should have protected them. Not even women and children were spared. The city’s Jews sought refuge in their synagogue, only to be burned alive within it by the Crusaders. Raymond of Aquilers reported that he saw piles of heads, hands and feet on a walk through the holy city. Men trotted across the bodies and body fragments as if they were a carpet for their convenience. The Europeans also destroyed the monuments to Orthodox Christian saints and the tomb of Abraham.

There were no recorded instances of rape. The massacre was not insanity but policy, as stated by Fulcher of Chartres: They desired that this place, so long contaminated by the superstition of the pagan inhabitants, should be cleansed from their contagion. The Crusaders intended Jerusalem to be a Christian city–and strictly a Latin Christian city. This is a day the Lord made, wrote Raymond of Aguilers. We shall rejoice and be glad in it.

The Crusaders cut open the stomachs of the dead because someone said that the Muslims sometimes swallowed their gold to hide it. Later, when the corpses were burned, Crusaders kept watch for the melted gold that they expected to see flowing onto the ground. While the slaughter was still going on, many churchmen and princes assembled for a holy procession. Barefoot, chanting and singing, they walked to the shrine of the Holy Sepulchre through the blood flowing around their feet. Reports that the blood was waist deep are believed to have come from a later misreading of a Bible passage. However, in the official letter To Lord Paschal, Pope Of The Roman Church, to all the bishops and to the whole Christian people from the Archbishop of Pisa, Duke Godfrey, now by the grace of God Defender of the Holy Sepulchre, Raymond, Count of St. Gilles, and the whole army of God, the Crusaders recorded that in Solomon’s Portico and in his Temple our men rode in the blood of the Saracens [Muslims] up to the knees of their horses.

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Tags: Ancient-Medieval, Historical Conflicts

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