The Dream and the Tomb (16 page)

The tower erected by the Count of Toulouse at such a vast expenditure of time and energy, and at such depletion of his own private treasury, proved unnecessary. The Provençals entered Jerusalem through the city gates; but long before they reached the Haram as-Sharif, the vast sacred enclosure which enclosed the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem was being drowned in blood.

Tancred and his knights were the first to reach the Haram as-Sharif. He pillaged the Dome of the Rock, removing its treasure, thus acquiring a vast fortune. The Saracens hoped to make a last stand at the al-Aqsa Mosque, but had no time to put it in a state of defense. They took refuge on the roof, hoping to be able to shoot down on the invaders, but Tancred's shock troops came on them with such speed and force that they quickly surrendered, offering to pay a large ransom for their lives. Tancred agreed to spare them, and the Saracens were allowed to raise his banner over the mosque as a sign that they were under his protection. Elsewhere in the city the Crusaders ran riot. They entered houses where they found the people cowering in corners. Caught up in a rage of destruction they killed mindlessly. The slaughter continued through the long night.

In the morning, Crusaders who had no allegiance to Tancred—probably Provençals—came upon the Saracens taking refuge in the al-Aqsa Mosque and butchered all of them. In the Temple Area, the dead lay everywhere-headless, armless, legless. Men ran over the mutilated bodies as though they were a carpet spread for them. Raymond of Aguilers, who saw the bloodletting, quotes approvingly, “This is the day the Lord has made. We shall rejoice and be glad in it.”

While the Count of Toulouse was merciful to Iftikhar, he had good reasons. Here, at Mount Zion, the Saracens did not panic; they did not retreat. There was no way for the Provençals to enter the city unless the Saracens themselves opened David's Gate. The fanatical defense of the Saracens at Mount Zion threatened that, even though Jerusalem might fall, the Saracens could continue to make life intolerable for the Christians.

The massacre at Jerusalem was carried out deliberately; it was the result of settled policy. Jerusalem was to become a Christian city. The Jews, too, must be destroyed. They had all rushed to the chief synagogue, where they
hoped to receive shelter and protection. The Crusaders, hungry for simple solutions, burned down the synagogue with the Jews inside.

The Crusaders ripped open the bellies of the dead Saracens, because it was learned that sometimes they swallowed gold bezants to prevent them from falling into the hands of their enemies. When, some days later, it was decided to heap the dead into great funeral pyres, the Crusaders kept watch for the melting gold that might trickle down to the bottom of the pyre.

On the night of victory, the Crusaders made their way in procession to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. A mass was celebrated, and the priests chanted the Office of the Resurrection, candles glowed under the vaulted ceilings, knights in chain mail stood beside simple soldiers, and for a few moments, in the half-darkness of the cavernous church, there was the sense of exaltation in a common purpose achieved against overwhelming odds. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was in Christian hands.

EXCERPTS FROM A LETTER FROM DAIMBERT, ARCHBISHOP OF PISA, DUKE GODFREY, DEFENDER OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, AND RAYMOND, COUNT OF ST. GILLES, FROM JERUSALEM, AUGUST 1099.

TO LORD PASCHAL, POPE OF THE ROMAN CHURCH, to all the bishops and to the whole Christian people, 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: greeting and prayer.

Multiply your supplications and prayers in the sight of God with joy and thanksgiving, since God has manifested His mercy in fulfilling by our hands what He has promised in ancient times. . . .

. . . the bishops and princes ordered that all with bare feet should march around the walls of the city, in order that He who entered it humbly on our behalf might be moved by our humility to open it for us and to exercise judgment upon His enemies. God was appeased by this humility and on the eighth day after we had humbled ourselves, He delivered the city and His enemies to us. It was the day indeed when the primitive church was expelled from Jerusalem, the day when the festival of the Dispersion of the Apostles is celebrated. And if you would desire to know what was done with the enemy whom we found there, know that in Solomon's Portico and in his Temple our men rode in the blood of the Saracens up to the knees of their horses.

Then when we were discussing who should hold the city, and there were some who wanted to return home for love of their
fatherland, we learned that the King of Babylon had come to Ascalon with an innumerable multitude of soldiers. He said it was his purpose to lead all the Franks in Jerusalem into captivity and to take Antioch by storm. But God had determined otherwise on our behalf.

Therefore when we learned that the army of the Babylonians was in Ascalon, we went down to meet them, leaving our baggage and the sick in the care of the garrison in Jerusalem. When our army came in sight of the enemy, we fell on our knees to invoke the aid of the Lord, so that He who in all our other adversities had strengthened the Christian faith might now break the strength of the Saracens and of the Devil, and extend the Kingdom of the Church of Christ from sea to sea and over the whole world. There was no delay. God answered when we cried for help, and He provided us with such boldness that if you had seen us rush upon the enemy you would have taken us for a herd of deer hastening to slake their thirst in running water. . . . Marvellous did the Lord appear unto his servants. For before we even engaged in fighting, by our onset alone, He turned this multitude in flight and scattered all their weapons, so that if they wished to attack us later they had no weapons they could rely on. There can be no question about the spoils, for the entire treasury of the King of Babylon was captured. . . .

. . . After we had gained the victory, the army returned to Jerusalem. Leaving Duke Godfrey behind, Raymond, Count of St. Gilles, Robert, Count of Normandy, and Robert, Count of Flanders, made their way to Laodicea, where they found the fleet of the Pisans and Bohemond. After the Archbishop of Pisa had established peace between Bohemond and our leaders, Count Raymond prepared to return to Jerusalem for the sake of God and our brethren.

Therefore we call upon all you who belong to the Catholic Church of Christ and all the Latin people to exult in the wonderful courage and devotion of your brethren, in the glorious and most desirable retribution of Omnipotent God, and in the devoutly hoped for remission of all our sins through the grace of God. . . .

TWO days after the conquest of Jerusalem, the princes and their chief lieutenants met in council to discuss the future administration of the city. There were urgent matters that had to be decided quickly. The city was strewn with corpses—no fewer than fifty thousand Saracens—and orders were given to dispose of the corpses by burial or by burning. The next matter of business was the apportionment of the available residences. Where would the soldiers live? Where would the priests live? Where would the princes live? Knights and ordinary soldiers had been permitted to put their names on houses they entered, thus, in theory, taking ownership of them. In fact, there were endless complications that would be sorted out in the courts. A more pressing matter was the approach of the Egyptian army. Within a few days or weeks the Crusaders could expect to have to defend Jerusalem against a powerful and well-armed army.

Other problems were hotly discussed. Was Tancred to be allowed to keep the treasure, including eight hanging lamps of solid silver, taken from the Dome of the Rock? Finally there was perhaps the most important question of all: Who would be King of Jerusalem?

There was not the least doubt that the Count of Toulouse, as the richest and most powerful of the princes who accompanied the expedition, had a claim on the title. He had not played the most heroic role in the conquest of Jerusalem, but he had fought worthily against Iftikhar at Mount Zion. Raymond of Aguilers says that the princes encouraged the Count of Toulouse to accept the title, but that he refused it, saying that he shuddered at the prospect of being addressed as King of Jerusalem. Raymond is claiming for the count more humility than he probably possessed. He was growing old, he had been very ill, he was not a good administrator, and he had reached a time in his life when he was thinking about retirement. On the other hand he had been closely associated with Bishop Adhémar, who had been vested by the pope with the leadership of the Crusade, and there were long periods when he had in fact acted as the leader in Adhémar's
name. He was a master of diplomacy, as he showed in his dealings with the Byzantine emperor. Now, with Jerusalem in his grasp, he seems to have been delighted by the offer of a crown and to have been equally delighted in refusing it. Only a very proud, stubborn, and private man could have rejected so great a gift.

There remained Robert of Normandy, Robert of Flanders, and Godfrey of Bouillon, all of them able men, practical, down-to-earth, skillful in war but without much intelligence in other matters. None of them had any reputation in diplomacy; none had that elementary training in law that would permit him to be a lawgiver. Robert of Normandy was an English prince and a Norman duke, with a violent temper and a thirst for power, but his interests in England and Normandy outweighed his interest in Jerusalem. Robert of Flanders, who was a capable soldier and perhaps the bravest of the Crusader princes, had interests in Flanders and had already told the other princes that he intended to return home as soon as Jerusalem was conquered.

The debate was conducted with proper bureaucratic decorum. The clerks drew up lists of the attributes, virtues, and vices of the contenders for the crown. Their private and public lives were examined. The only fault they could find in Godfrey was an excessive piety and an excessive fondness for religious exercises. Tall, narrow-hipped, broad-shouldered, he appears to have been chosen over the others because he looked more kingly and was descended from Charlemagne. Because he was so deeply religious, he refused the crown while accepting the kingship. The title he chose for himself was “Advocate of the Holy Sepulchre.”
Advocatus
means “friend” or “witness,” and had the force of “protector.”

In spite of his piety, Godfrey was irascible, stubborn, and devious. He picked a quarrel with the Count of Toulouse, which was totally unnecessary except as an exercise in power. The Count of Toulouse had seized the highly fortified Tower of David, and there he remained with his bodyguard and his army of retainers. Godfrey ordered him out of it. The count refused, saying that he intended to celebrate Easter in Jerusalem, and after that he would willingly surrender it. Godfrey was adamant. The tower must be surrendered, presumably because in his eyes it represented an integral part of the defense of Jerusalem. Robert of Flanders and Robert of Normandy agreed with Godfrey; so did many of the count's staff and many of his soldiers. Godfrey appears to have issued a formal order as liege lord demanding the absolute obedience of his subject, the Count of Toulouse. The Count of Toulouse attempted to avoid carrying out the order by entrusting the Tower of David temporarily to Peter of Narbonne, Bishop of Albara, to await the judgment of a properly constituted court of inquiry. The bishop accepted possession of the tower, and carried off the weapons he found in it to his own house. Then, without any qualms and without
waiting for the court to meet, he handed the Tower of David over to Godfrey.

The Count of Toulouse had a high regard for his own honor; he stormed and raged. He collected some of his followers and, together with his bodyguard, he marched out of Jerusalem and made his way to Jericho to be baptized in the Jordan, remembering that Peter Bartholomew had once told him that this was necessary in the sight of God.

When the count returned to Jerusalem, the princes were meeting to elect a patriarch. Arnulf of Chocques, chaplain of Robert of Normandy, was elected. Some might say he was “the wisest and most honorable of men,” but Raymond of Aguilers protested that the new patriarch had no conscience, ignored canonical decrees, and had a disgraceful birth. All of this suggests that Raymond would have been delighted if the patriarchate had been offered to him.

The patriarch's first act was to attempt to discover the True Cross, which had been concealed when the Turks conquered Jerusalem. Some Orthodox priests were rounded up and examined closely until at last, under threats of torture, they revealed its hiding place. The cross appears to have been concealed in the wall of one of the chapels of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This cross would later be clothed in a golden casing encrusted with jewels and would become, with the empty tomb, the most sacred object in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was in fact only a part of the True Cross, for a large portion of it was in the treasury of the emperor in Constantinople.

The Count of Toulouse was still bitterly upset because he had been humiliated by Godfrey, by the Bishop of Albara, and also because Arnulf, a man he despised, had been appointed to the patriarchate. He would have left Jerusalem if he had not been reminded that the Egyptian army was still on the march and the Holy City was in mortal danger. However profound his disagreements with Godfrey, he was not prepared to see Jerusalem captured by the Egyptians.

The commander in chief of the Egyptian army was al-Afdal, whose father was an Armenian slave who had risen high in the sultan's court. Al-Afdal was by this time well aware of the massacre at Jerusalem and he was determined to have his revenge. His announced plan was the massacre of all the Christians and the utter destruction of all the Christian churches and holy relics, while reserving for himself the right to capture Christian boys and girls, who would be married off to produce a race of warriors capable of defending Egypt against all her enemies.