Richard and his men then rushed on to the gates of the town, and almost before the Saracens who were in possession of them could recover from their surprise, the gates were seized, those who had been stationed at them were slain or driven away, and then Richard and his troops, rushing through, closed them, and the Saracens that were within the town were shut in. They were soon all overpowered and slain, and thus the possession of the town was recovered.
But this was not the end, as Richard and his men knew full well. Though they had possession of the town itself, they were surrounded by a great army of Saracens, that were hovering around them on the plain, and rapidly increasing in numbers; for Saladin had sent orders to the interior directing all possible assistance to be sent to him. Richard himself, on the other hand, was hourly expecting the arrival of the main body of his troops by land.
They arrived the next day, and then came on the great contest. Richard's troops, on their arrival, attacked the Saracens from without, while he himself, issuing from the gates, assaulted them from the side next the town. The Crusaders fought with the utmost desperation. They knew very well that it was the crisis of their fate. To lose that battle was to lose all. The Saracens, on the other hand, were not under any such urgent pressure. If overpowered, they could retire again to the mountains, and be as secure as before.
They were overpowered. The battle was fought long and obstinately, but at length Richard was victorious, and the Saracens were driven off the ground.
[Illustration: SALADIN'S PRESENT.]
Various accounts are given by the different writers who have narrated the history of this crusade, of a present of a horse made by Saladin to Richard in the course of the war, and the incident has been often commented upon as an evidence of the high and generous sentiments which animated the combatants in this terrible crusade in their personal feelings toward each other. One of the stories makes the case an incident of this battle. The Saracens, flying from the field, came to Saladin, who was watching the contest, and, in conversation with him, they pointed out Richard, who was standing among his knights on a small rising ground.
"Why, he is on foot!" exclaimed Saladin. Richard was on foot. His favorite charger, Favelle, was killed under him that morning, and as he had come from Acre in haste and by sea, there was no other horse at hand to supply his place.
Saladin immediately said that that was not as it should be. "The King of England," said he, "should not fight on foot like a common soldier." He immediately sent over to Richard, with a flag of truce, two splendid horses. King Richard accepted the present, and during the remainder of the day he fought on one of the horses which his enemy had thus sent him.
One account adds a romantic embellishment to this story by saying that Saladin sent only one horse at first-the one that he supposed most worthy of being sent as a gift from one sovereign to another; but that Richard, before mounting him himself, directed one of his knights to mount him and give him trial. The knight found the horse wholly unmanageable. The animal took the bits between his teeth and galloped furiously back to the camp of Saladin, carrying his rider with him, a helpless prisoner. Saladin was exceedingly chagrined at this result; he was afraid Richard might suppose that he sent him an unruly horse from a treacherous design to do him some injury. He accordingly received the knight who had been borne so unwillingly to his camp in the most courteous manner, and providing another horse for him, he dismissed him with presents. He also sent a second horse to Richard, more beautiful than the first, and one which he caused Richard to be assured that he might rely upon as perfectly well trained.
CHAPTER XIX. THE TRUCE.
1192
Richard and Saladin agree upon a three years' truce.-Richard's reason for this course.-The treaty.-The coast.-Ascalon to be dismantled.-Pilgrims to Jerusalem protected.-Events consequent upon the truce.-Visiting the Holy City.-Saladin restraining the Saracens from revenge.-The visit of the bishop to Jerusalem.-Saladin's just opinion of King Richard.-The institution for the entertainment of pilgrims.
The result of the battle of Jaffa greatly strengthened and improved the condition of the Crusaders, and in the same proportion it weakened and discouraged Saladin and the Saracens. But, after all, instead of giving to either party the predominance, it only placed them more nearly on a footing of equality than before. It began to be pretty plain that neither of the contending parties was strong enough, or would soon be likely to be strong enough to accomplish its purposes. Richard could not take Jerusalem from Saladin, nor could Saladin drive Richard out of the Holy Land.
In this state of things, it was finally agreed upon between Richard and Saladin that a truce should be made. The negotiations for this truce were protracted through several weeks, and the summer was gone before it was concluded. It was a truce for a long period, the duration of it being more than three years. Still, it was strictly a truce, not a peace, since a termination was assigned to it.
Richard preferred to make a truce rather than a peace for the sake of appearances at home. He did not wish that it should be understood that, in leaving the Holy Land and returning home, he abandoned all design of recovering the Holy Sepulchre. He allowed three years, on the supposition that that would be time enough for him to return home, to set every thing in order in his dominions, to organize a new crusade on a larger scale, and to come back again. In the mean time, he reserved, by a stipulation of the treaty, the right to occupy, by such portion of his army as he should leave behind, the portion of territory on the coast which he had conquered, and which he then held, with the exception of one of the cities, which one he was to give up. The terms of the treaty, in detail, were as follows:
STIPULATIONS OF THE TREATY.
1. The three great cities of Tyre, Acre, and Jaffa, with all
the smaller towns and castles on the coast between them,
with the territory adjoining, were to be left in the
possession of the Christians, and Saladin bound himself that
they should not be attacked or molested in any way there
during the continuance of the truce.
2. Ascalon, which lay farther to the south, and was not
necessary for the uses of Richard's army, was to be given
up; but Saladin was to pay, on receiving it, the estimated
cost which Richard had incurred in rebuilding the
fortifications. Saladin, however, was not to occupy it
himself as a fortified town. It was to be so far dismantled
as only to be used as a commercial city.
3. The Christians bound themselves to remain within their
territory in peace, to make no excursions from it for
warlike purposes into the interior, nor in any manner to
injure or oppress the inhabitants of the surrounding
country.
4. All persons who might desire to go to Jerusalem in a
peaceful way as visitors or pilgrims, whether they were
knights or soldiers belonging to the army, or actual
pilgrims arriving at Acre from the different Christian
countries of Europe, were to be allowed to pass freely to
and fro, and Saladin bound himself to protect them from all
harm.
5. The truce thus agreed upon was to continue in force three
years, three months, three weeks, three days, and three
hours; and at the end of that time, each party was released
from all obligations arising under the treaty, and either
was at liberty immediately to resume the war.
The signing of the treaty was the signal for general rejoicing in all divisions of the army. One of the first fruits of it was that the knights and soldiers all immediately began to form parties for visiting Jerusalem. It was obvious that all could not go at once; and Richard told the French soldiers who were under the Duke of Burgundy that he did not think they were entitled to go at all. They had done nothing, he said, to help on the war, but every thing to embarrass and impede it, and now he thought that they did not deserve to enjoy any share of the fruits of it.