Capture of Jerusalem
Saladin had captured almost every Crusader city. Saladin preferred to take
Jerusalem without bloodshed and offered generous terms, but those inside refused to leave their holy city, vowing to destroy it in a fight to the death rather than see it handed over peacefully.
Jerusalem capitulated to his forces on Friday, 2 October 1187, after a
siege. When the siege had started, Saladin was unwilling
[103] to promise terms of quarter to the
Frankish inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Balian of Ibelin threatened to kill every Muslim hostage, estimated at 5,000, and to destroy Islam's holy shrines of the
Dome of the Rock and the
al-Aqsa Mosque if such quarter were not provided. Saladin consulted his council and the terms were accepted. The agreement was read out through the streets of Jerusalem so that everyone might within forty days provide for himself and pay to Saladin the agreed tribute for his freedom.
[104] An unusually low ransom for the times (around $50 today) was to be paid for each Frank in the city, whether man, woman, or child, but Saladin, against the wishes of his treasurers, allowed many families who could not afford the ransom to leave.
[105][106] Patriarch Heraclius of Jerusalem organised and contributed to a collection that paid the ransoms for about 18,000 of the poorer citizens, leaving another 15,000 to be enslaved. Saladin's brother al-Adil "asked Saladin for a thousand of them for his own use and then released them on the spot." Most of the foot soldiers were sold into
slavery.
[107] Upon the capture of Jerusalem, Saladin summoned the Jews and permitted them to resettle in the city.[108] In particular, the residents of
Ashkelon, a large Jewish settlement, responded to his request.
[109]
