Balian of Ibelin: Encyclopedia II - Balian of Ibelin - Defense of Jerusalem

Balian of Ibelin - Defense of Jerusalem

When Balian arrived in the city, the inhabitants begged him to stay, and he was absolved of his oath to Saladin by Patriarch Heraclius, who argued that a Christian could not make an oath to an infidel. Balian was recruited to lead the defense of the city, but he found that there were only two other knights there, so he created sixty new knights from the ranks of the burgesses. With Queen Sibylla and Heraclius, he prepared for the inevitable siege by storing food and money. Saladin indeed arrived to besiege the city in September, after he had conquered almost all of the rest of the kingdom, including Ibelin, Nablus, Ramla, and Ascalon. The sultan felt no ill-will to Balian for breaking his oath, and arranged for an escort to accompany Maria and their children to Tyre. As the highest ranking lord remaining in Jerusalem, Balian, as Ibn al-Athir wrote, was seen by the Muslims as holding a rank "more or less equal to that of a king."

Saladin was able to knock down portions of the walls but was unable to gain entrance to the city. Balian then rode out to meet with the sultan, to report to him that the defenders would rather kill each other and destroy the city than see it taken by force. After negotiations, it was decided that the city would be handed over peacefully, and that Saladin would free seven thousand men for 30 000 bezants; two women or ten children would be permitted to take the place of one man for the same price. Balian handed over the keys to the Tower of David (the citadel) on October 2. Those who could not pay for their freedom were forced into slavery; Saladin freed some of them, however, and allowed for an orderly march away from Jerusalem, preventing the sort of massacre that had occurred when the crusaders captured the city in 1099. The ransomed inhabitants marched away in three columns, with Balian and the Patriarch leading the third. Balian and his family were permitted to flee to Tripoli.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Defense of Jerusalem", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki