The Siege of Jerusalem

My latest video on the Siege of Jerusalem, using footage from Kingdom of Heaven.
It's currently hanging by a thread because of copyright infringement (pff) so it may be deleted at anytime - enjoy it while you can.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrYmsXIIrbk&feature=channel_video_title

The Siege of Jerusalem ~ 1187
Music: Immediate Music - Preliator
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Background

The Kingdom of Jerusalem, weakened by internal disputes, was completely defeated at the Battle of Hattin on July 4, 1187. Most of the nobility of the kingdom was taken prisoner, including King Guy, and throughout the summer Saladin quickly overran the kingdom. By mid-September, Saladin had taken Acre, Nablus, Jaffa, Toron, Sidon, Beirut, and Ascalon. The survivors of the battle and other refugees fled to Tyre, the only city able to hold out against Saladin, due to the fortuitous arrival of Conrad of Montferrat.

Situation in Jerusalem

In Tyre, Balian of Ibelin had asked Saladin for safe passage to Jerusalem in order to retrieve his wife Maria Comnena and their family. Saladin granted his request, provided that Balian not take up arms against him and not remain in Jerusalem for more than one day. However, upon arrival in the holy city, Patriarch Heraclius, Queen Sibylla, and the rest of the inhabitants begged him to take charge of the defense of the city. Heraclius, who argued that he must stay for the sake of Christianity, offered to absolve him of the oath, and Balian agreed.
He sent word of his decision to Saladin at Ascalon, via a deputation of burgesses, who rejected the sultan's proposals for a negotiated surrender of Jerusalem. However, Saladin arranged for an escort to accompany Maria, their children, and all their household to Tripoli. As the highest ranking lord remaining in Jerusalem, according to the chronicler Ibn al-Athir, Balian was seen by the Muslims as holding a rank "more or less equal to that of a king."
Balian found the situation in Jerusalem dire. The city was filled with refugees fleeing Saladin's conquests, with more arriving daily. There were fewer than fourteen knights in the whole city, so he created sixty new knights from the ranks of the squires (knights in training) and burgesses. He prepared for the inevitable siege by storing food and money. The armies of Syria and Egypt assembled under Saladin, and after a brief and unsuccessful siege of Tyre, the sultan arrived outside Jerusalem on September 20.
It is unknown how many soldiers that Saladin had brought to Jerusalem. Some people believe that the sultan had mustered the remaining Muslim soldiers who survived at the Horns of Hattin, along with a few thousand other troops from Syria and Egypt. But others believed that the numbers might have been as high as 200,000 men, which is the largest amount of soldiers that Saladin had in his entire army.

The Siege

Saladin preferred to take the city without bloodshed, 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. Thus the siege began.
Saladin's army was facing the Tower of David and the Damascus Gate. His archers continually pelted the ramparts with arrows. Siege towers were rolled up to the walls, but were pushed back each time. For six days, skirmishes were fought with little result and thousands of Muslims and Christians were killed. On September 26, Saladin moved his camp to a different part of the city, on the Mount of Olives where there was no major gate from which the crusaders could counter-attack. The walls were constantly pounded by the siege engines, catapults, mangonels, petraries, Greek fire, crossbows, and arrows. A portion of the wall was mined, and it collapsed on September 29. The crusaders were unable to push Saladin's troops back from the breach, but at the same time the Muslims could not gain entrance to the city. The Muslims far outnumbered the crusaders, and soon there were only a few dozen knights and a handful of remaining men-at-arms capable of bearing arms and defending the wall; no more men could be found even for the promise of an enormous fee.

Negotiations between Balian and Saladin

At the end of September, Balian rode out with an embassy to meet with the sultan, offering the surrender that he had initially refused. Saladin would not accept this, seeing that as they spoke, his men had scaled the walls and planted their banners. Soon, however, the crusaders repelled their attack. Saladin acquiesced, and the two agreed that the city would be handed over to Saladin peacefully, preventing the sort of massacre that had occurred when the crusaders captured the city in 1099. It was decided that Saladin would free the seven thousand poor refugees for 30,000 bezants; two women or ten children would be permitted to take the place of one man for the same price.