Last article continued tackling Sultan Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, his fighting against the Franks in the battle of Hittin, achieving victories over them, so he managed to conquer the coastal cities, until he took over the city of Bayt al-Maqdis in 583 AH (1187 AD).
Salah al-Din directed his targets towards restoring the city of Tyre, so he first went to the fortress of Safadand besieged it for a period reached seven months, such a long period that the military garrison of the Franks ran out of food, so, they were coerced to hand the city over. It is reported that when the Franks soldiers departed from the fortress of Safad, they headed to the city of Tyre, and it was fortified and strengthened by a large number of their knights stationing there. Salah al-Din managed to conquer Latakia and a number of cities and villages in the Levant: Gabala, the forts of Zion, Bakas, al-Shugar, Sarminia, Barzieh, DarbSak, Karak, and Kawkab. As for Tyre, it managed to resist the siege of Salah al-Din for an entire year, compelling him to break its siege; IbnTaghri mentions: “And when he conquered Al-Quds (Jerusalem), Salah Al-Din thought it would be good conquering Tyre, and he knew that any delay would make the mission harder, so he walked towards it until he came to Acre and settled there looking into its affairs, then he left it heading to Tyre… He settled near it, and sent to fetch the fighting machines until he fetched them all… He fought its people fiercely and harassed them, and summoned the fleet of Egypt, and the Sultan was harassing the city of Tyrethrough land and sea. The fleet of Tyre went out at night and attacked the Muslim fleet at sea … The Sultan was distressed with that, the winter then had come and diseases spread, and people refrained from fighting due to heavy rains. The Sultan gathered the princes and consulted them what to do, they advised him to depart in order for his men to have rest. He departed from the city of Tyre…”
However, Acre, previously conquered by Salah Al-din, was besieged by Frank soldiers in 585 AH (1189 AD); So Salah al-Din headed there to strengthen the determination of her soldiers and people, and it is mentioned that: “He summoned the soldiers from every side…the Franks multiplied and their affairs got more intense, they surrounded Acre and prevented anyone entering and leaving it…The Sultan was distressed at knowingthat… He consulted the princes and agreed to harass the enemy (the Franks) to open the way, so they did that… The Sultan entered Acre and supervised its affairs, then skirmishes occurred between the two teams for several days…” Then, supplies from the sea arrived at the hands of the Franks, and they harassed the soldiers of Salah al-Din until they were “overpowered to preserve the country.” This was in 587 AH (1191 AD) during the third campaign of the Franks, whose armies were led by King of France Philip II Augustus, King of England Richard the Lionheart, and King of Germany Frederic Barbarossa, who had drowned in the Lemos River in 1190 AD. The Franks then headed to Arsuf, destined for Ashkelon. The news reached Salah al-Din, so he met with his advisors and decided to destroy Ashkelon, it was mentioned: “The Sultan and his sons worked hard to destroy the country so that the enemy would not hear and rush to it, and so they would not destroy it themselves. The people suffered greatly of its destruction”. The people of the country left their homeland and were scattered; some of them came to Egypt, and some went to the Levant. Ramle Castle and the Matroun Castle (also called: Batrun or Natrun) were also destroyed. At that time, the Franks sought reconciliation and asked to take the coastal countries, so Salah al-Din agreed to that matter, as he knew how bored of fighting people and soldiers were, in addition to the large number of debts due to wars. A peace treaty was concluded in 588 AH (1192 AD), and IbnTaghri states: “The herald called for regular peace, and that the Islamic and Christian countries are united in security and peace, so whoever wants to visit the countries of the other sect can do without fear or warning. It was a special day on which joy pervaded both sects so greatly, to an extent that only God Almighty knows…” And… Stories about beautiful Egypt never end!
The General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
