Richard the LionheartFrom 1189-1199 Richard I was the King of England. His favourite place was France and he spoke French and very little English. He was still known as THE hero even though he spent hardly any of his time in England. Richard had led the Crusades to Jerusalem twice in 1192 but he did not attack. Instead, he decided to truce with Saladin since he thought his army was not strong enough to take hold of Jerusalem and/or keep hold of it.
Two written sources, one by an English Churchman and one by Saladin’s secretary, both say that King Richard was confident and good in war although, they both show different sides to King Richard. The one by the English Churchman tells us how Saladin broke his promise and did not release the Christian prisoners or return the Holy Cross. It also said that King Richard ordered 2,700 prisoners should be taken out of the city and executed and for the Muslim prisoners to be beheaded. In the other one by Saladin’s secretary it says that that King Richard broke his promise. This was to the Muslim prisoners who had surrendered the city of Acre as long as they could live. Saladin needed to pay their ransom for them to be freed. If it was not paid they would become slaves. While Saladin delayed the payment, he decided that even if he got the money he would break his word. After receiving the money, Richard ordered more than 3,000 men to be slaughtered. He was a huge hero to the Christians even though what he did was wrong. The Muslims hated him though he was respected as a great warrior. |
Saladin the GreatIn many ways Saladin was much more merciful then Richard. There is only one Muslim picture of Salah ad-Din Yusuf Ibn Ayyub. He was surprisingly short and frail. Saladin succeeded in getting many of the land back that the Crusaders had won. In the battle of Hattin in 1187 he had many prisoners. Two of these prisoners were King Guy of Jerusalem and Reynold of Chatillon. Saladi was kind to King Guy and gave him ice water to drink. However when King Guy gave Reynold the remains of the water Saladin refused and killed him. He had been meaning to do that for a long time since Reynold attacked Mecca and Medina and destroyed the truce by attacking the traders. Knights Templar, Knights Hospitaller and soldier-monks were all executed as well.
A few months passed and Saladin re-conquered Jerusalem. Surprisingly, he did not destruct the city in any other way besides, taking the Christian crosses of the mosques. This showed much mercy in Saladin since the Christians did not treat the Muslim holy place as Muslims would want them to. Rich and some poor prisoners were let free but some unfortunates became slaves. Christians were allowed to stay and worship in the churches. Saladin even invited Jews to return to Jerusalem. He was very merciful and a great hero to the Muslims. Even some Christians liked him. |