The Fall Of Jerusalem In 1187: History Of The Crusades

Brady Griffin
Coach Williams
World History
February 9, 2015 The fall of Jerusalem in 1187 was one of the biggest events in the history of the Crusades. It was the end of the second crusade and gave up Jerusalem to the Muslims for the first time and the Crusaders never got it back. The siege of Jerusalem in 1187 lasted from September 20 to October 2 in 1187. Balian, a blacksmith from Ibelin, the son of Godfrey was the leader of Jerusalem at this time. The leader of the Muslims, Saladin had tried to negotiate a peace to avoid bloodshed and a war. He offered generous terms to the people of Jerusalem and was trying to avoid the death of so many people which would surely come with a war. The citizens of Jerusalem and Balian refused to give up
their holy city to the Muslims when they worked so hard to get it back. Saladin started his siege of Jerusalem on September 20, 1187. His army was camped out by the Tower of David and the Damascus Gate. Two of Jerusalem’s strongest points. Saladin ordered his archers to attack the Jerusalem walls constantly and rain down arrows on them. When this wasn’t making a impact on the city, he ordered his army to push Siege towers up to the walls of Jerusalem and attack them from the highest point. He tried this for several days, but to no avail. He was pushed back by the Crusaders each time he attacked and it was obvious the Crusaders were winning this war at the time. The battles and fights like this took place for six days with the Crusaders having the upper hand. Saladin had lost a great number of men while the Crusaders suffered only a few casualties. Finally, after suffering defeat on each attack Saladin moved his camp to a different part of the city. At this point he moved his camp to, the Crusaders weren’t as strong and couldn’t counter-attack. He attacked from this position on September 26. Saladin ordered a full out assault on the walls with Archers, Catapults, Crossbows, and fire. A part of the wall that Saladin was attacking was mined and it crumbled down and collapsed on September 29. The Crusaders had no way of stopping the Muslims because they only had a few dozen knights left and a handful of men that could actually take up arms and fight. Fortunately though for the Crusaders, the Muslims couldn’t break in the hole that was made by the collapse because of the debris and clutter the wall collapsing had made. The Muslims tried and tried to get in, but with the debris and even the small amount of Crusaders there to block the entrance it was enough to defend it. Eventually towards the end of September, Balian saw that his troops couldn’t hold their ground much longer and he rode out on his horse to meet with Saladin about a surrender. Saladin told Balian that he had taken a oath to himself and his army to capture the city of Jerusalem by force and the only way he would accept a surrender was if it was unconditional. Balian told Saladin he could not give him a unconditional surrender and then threatened Saladin that if he couldn’t negotiate a surrender with him that he would destroy all the riches in Jerusalem, kill the 5,000 Muslim slaves they held in captivity, and destroy everything inside of the city walls so Saladin would have nothing by the time he took the city. The negotiations took weeks to finally reach a agreement. Saladin first offered to Balian that for the men, women, and children to leave the city without harm they would all have to pay a certain sum of money. Five dinars for every man, three for every woman, and two for every child. Balian stated that 20,000 of his citizens inside the city walls couldn’t pay such a amount. Saladin then offered for 20,000 citizens to leave the city the people of Jerusalem would have to pay 100,000 dinars.
Balian once again stated that the city did not have such a large amount of money. After a few more weeks of lengthy and complicated negotiations, Saladin and Balian finally reached a agreement. They agreed to 7,000 people could leave the city and not be harmed for a sum of 30,000 dinars. Saladin told Balian that the rest of the remaining citizens inside of Jerusalem would be enslaved to the Muslims and forced to convert to their religion and do as they say. The Crusaders survived from September 20 to October 2, much longer than anyone that was there even thought possible. Balian, the son of Godfrey became a legend in his own right to the Crusaders and to the European nations. The siege of Jerusalem was still to this day one of the biggest events in history and changed the course of the Crusaders. After the Muslims took over Jerusalem and everyone that could leave had ,ade it out, the Crusades ended for two years and Jerusalem was never taken back from the Muslims. The Crusaders survived a siege against a enemy that was known for their tremendous military strength and their superior leader Saladin. Balian was just a blacksmith that became a knight just a few months before he
had to run a entire city that was the holy place of his religion. The siege did more than just portray a war between the Muslims and Crusaders, it sparked a wake up call for the Crusaders that they were not the strongest powers in the world and they could not do whatever they wanted. In conclusion, the Fall of Jerusalem in 1187 was definitely one of the biggest events in history. The Crusaders fought against amazing odds and survived for a lot longer than anyone thought possible. The Fall of Jerusalem in 1187 marked the end of the second crusade and was a wake up call for all of Europe that they could be defeated and definitely needed to make some improvements if they were to take back their holy city of Jerusalem.