Crusades · 1187

Siege of Jerusalem

On 2 October 1187, after a short siege, the city surrendered. Unlike 1099 there was no massacre, and residents could ransom themselves or leave.

The site of the battle on the 1190 map. Shaded: Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, Ayyubid Sultanate, 1192, Crusader territory left in 1192.

Key facts

When: 1187
Where: Jerusalem
Sides: Ayyubids vs crusader defenders
Commanders: Salahuddin vs Balian of Ibelin
Result: City surrendered
Type: Crusades
Chapter: 3. The Abbasids, the Crusades and the Mongols

Who led it

Salahuddin al-Ayyubi1137 to 1193
A Kurdish officer who ended the Fatimid caliphate in 1171 and united Egypt and Syria.

The wider picture: The Crusades and Salahuddin

The Seljuk win at Manzikert in 1071 opened Anatolia to the Turks, and Byzantium asked Europe for help. The First Crusade took Jerusalem in 1099. Zengi, his son Nur al-Din and then Salahuddin rebuilt Muslim unity, and Salahuddin won back Jerusalem in October 1187, three months after Hattin.

See the 1190 map Read chapter 3

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