was obliged to
yield, and to allow his imperious and overbearing ally to have his own
way. The Saracens wished to stipulate for the lives of the garrison,
but Richard refused. He told them they must submit unconditionally;
and, for his part, he did not care, he said, whether they yielded now
or continued the contest. He should soon be in possession of the city,
at any rate, and if they held out until he took it by storm, then, of
course, it would be given up to the unbridled fury of the soldiers,
who would mercilessly massacre every living thing they should find in
it, and seize every species of property as plunder. This, he declared,
was sure to be the end of the siege, and that very soon, unless they
chose to submit. The Saracens then asked what terms he required of
them. Richard stated his terms, and they asked for a little time to
consider them and to confer with Saladin, who, being the sultan, was
their sovereign, and without his approval they could not act.
So the negotiation was opened, and, after various difficulties and
delays, a convention was finally agreed upon. The terms were these:
I. The city was to be surrendered to the allied armies, and
all the arms, ammunition, military stores, and property of
all kinds which it contained were to be forfeited to the
conquerors.
II. The troops and the people of the town were to be allowed
to go free on the payment of a ransom.
III. The ransom by which the besieged purchased their lives
and liberty was to be made up as follows:
1. The wood of the cross on which Christ was crucified,
which was alleged to be in Saladin's possession, was to
be restored.
2. Saladin was to set at liberty the Christian captives
which he had taken in the course of the war from various
armies of Crusaders, and which he now held as prisoners.
The number of these prisoners was about fifteen hundred.
3. He was to pay two hundred thousand pieces of gold.
IV. Richard was to retain a large body of men--it was said
that there were about five thousand in all--consisting of
soldiers of the garrison or inhabitants of the town, as
hostages for the fulfillment of these conditions. These men
were to be kept forty days, or, if at the end of that time
Saladin had not fulfilled the conditions of the surrender,
they were all to be put to de
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