Saladin Seizes Jerusalem: Crusader Rule Ends
Saladin took Jerusalem on October 2, 1187, ending 88 years of Crusader control without the mass slaughter that had marked the Christian conquest in 1099. Where the Crusaders had waded through blood, Saladin offered terms: residents could buy their freedom for ten dinars per man, five per woman, one per child. Those who couldn't pay were enslaved, but Saladin's brother al-Adil freed a thousand of his own share. The contrast with the First Crusade's butchery was deliberate and effective propaganda. Christian Europe erupted. Pope Urban III reportedly died of shock. The Third Crusade launched within months, bringing Richard the Lionheart to the Levant, but Jerusalem remained in Muslim hands for the next seven centuries.
October 2, 1187
839 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Jerusalem
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Crusade
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Kingdom of Jerusalem
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Saladin
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Siege of Jerusalem (1187)
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Saladin
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Siege of Jerusalem (1187)
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Jerusalem
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Portail:Croisades/Éphéméride du jour/2 octobre
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Kingdom of Jerusalem
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Third Crusade
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Crusades
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