Dear Folk,
J. Ellsworth Weaver
Today August 20, 1191, Good King Richard I, the Lionheart, King of England and Normandy, ordered the slaughter of approximately 2700 men, women, and children hostages in front of their families and friends outside the walls of Acre. It was all done for good and religious reasons.
You might remember that Saladin had become master of all the Holy Land after the Battle of the Horns of Hattin ("A Short Stroll to Tiberias" in my July 4th Musings) in 1187. Along with the ruination of the Crusader Kingdom and loss of the Templars, the Latin East had lost the True Cross which was carried into battle. Before we get to all that killing, might we talk about the True Cross?
The True Cross is described as being part of the cross of Golgotha encased in gold and studded with priceless gems. The legend of the True Cross begins in the year 326 CE when it was allegedly discovered by Constantine I's mother, the Empress Helena.
Helena was a definite piece of work in and by herself. In 326 CE she decided to tour Israel, or what was left of it and, with the help of Bishop Macarius, designate some holy spots. One gets the feeling of an elderly lady guided by "her angels" wandering around the rocks and stone pointing to the exact spot Jesus was born, where He was baptized, where Ezekiel saw the Wheel. All the while the bishop was saying, "How wonderfully perceptive of you, Empress! If only we had the funds to build a shrine here." Jingle-jingle-clink. But perhaps I am just a jaded sinner, myself.
Anyway, the good lady found a cavern with three crosses stacked in it. That cavern was nearby where her Savior was crucified and was buried. One of these three crosses must have been the True Cross. But how to tell? A less pious woman would have grabbed all three as the real deal. A less Scientific man than Macarius would have picked one at random. Instead they conducted an experiment. The bishop put a sick woman on each cross in turn. When she was placed on the first two crosses, nothing much happened. However, when she was placed on the third cross, she was cured.
Marvel on that for awhile if you would, folk. Sure a good thing that they tried that third cross last. I mean, if the first one had cured her, how could they have tested the other two? What if they were all miraculous crosses? What kind of sickness did the lady have? Was it really bad like cancer or was it a slight queasiness after listening to an afternoon of Andrew Lloyd Webber? No one tells you such things and I think they should. Maybe she was cured on the second cross but it just took awhile. Should they have found three different ladies with the same sort of disease and put them on simultaneously? Not even the Byzantines would make three folks listen to "Cats." What do you think?
That experiment was enough to convince Empress Helena that the third cross was the one on which Jesus had been crucified. Hmmm. That cross did not help Jesus much. That sounds impious of me. Sorry.
The good bishop Macarius had the True Cross put in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem where it stayed until 614 CE. King Chrosroes II of Persia took Jerusalem and collected the True Cross for himself. In 627 CE Byzantine Emperor Heraclius grabbed it back when he whomped Chrosroes. Herc brought it back with him to Constantinople and then took it to Jerusalem. When things got nasty in the Holy Land in 1009 CE, the Christians hid the relic. We know that they brought it out in 1099 for the First Crusade.
Some say that Saladin after the Battle of Hattin and the capture of Jerusalem, would ride his horse through the streets of Damascus with the captured True Cross tied to his horse's tail and dragging in the dust." Personally, I think that was all just agi-prop (propaganda to get folks upset.) Saladin would never abuse his horses by tying things to their tails.
How does this all tie in with Richard? Well, Richard was on a holy mission to restore the Holy Land and to reclaim the True Cross. Who had the True Cross? Saladin! Back then to Acre.
As Richard was on his way to the Holy Land, he had to stop off and free his sister Joanna from a nasty guy, Tancred, in Sicily and then meet with mom, Queen Eleanor, and her pick for his bride, Berengaria of Navarre, to get himself married in Cyprus. That unpleasantness over, Richard sailed toward Acre where King Philip of France and Conrad of Montferrat (now styling himself King of Jerusalem) were laying siege to a city and its Moslem garrison since April 20th .
Richard got there on June 8th. Philip and Conrad were glad for the reinforcements. Richard took command even though it was supposed to be a joint operation. Richard was just that way.
It wasn't a nice clean siege. Saladin had his troops outside and very nearby. Whenever the Crusaders got really involved in besieging – loading up the catapults, building siege towers – Saladin would send a bunch of raiders over to attack the Christian camps. Nothing like your cot and food supplies burning to take your mind off doing battle. However, the Crusaders were a disgustingly persistent lot and by June it was pretty clear that Saladin was not going to be able to rescue the garrison. His force was just not big enough for a pitched battle against the boatloads of fresh Frankish knights. In July the walls were breached. On July 11th, the Moslems in Acre offered to surrender, to return over two thousand prisoners, to pay two hundred thousand gold pieces, and to return the True Cross. The Crusaders agreed and the Moslems sent a swimmer off to carry the news to Saladin.
Now, the Moslem folk in Acre did not have all of that to give right that minute. Saladin had the Christian prisoners. Neither Acre nor Saladin had that kind of money. The True Cross? "Ah, that is around here somewhere. Ali, where did you put that True Cross?" Saladin would not have agreed to those terms but the garrison made the agreement and Saladin tried to stick by it. Honor demanded it.
The Moslem garrison marched out of Acre on July 12th and the Crusaders moved in immediately. They occupied a city full of people who had little to do with the soldiers who just left. With the city secure, King Philip decided he was going back home to France because he had been sick almost the entire time he had been in the Holy Land. To his credit, he did leave most of his soldiers behind when he left on July 31st.
Richard grew tired of waiting at Acre. It seemed that Saladin was dragging his feet. When Saladin sent his first installment on the agreed amount, not all of Christian prisoners were released. And where the heck was the True Cross? Richard waited a week and then gave the order.
Two thousand seven hundred prisoners were killed -- men, women and children. They were executed outside the city walls; Saladin's soldiers could see the butchery, which took all day, and tried to rescue them. Even as the prisoners were being slaughtered, a battle was fought, but the Muslims were driven back and all the prisoners died.
The Christians had heard that the Moslems of Acre had swallowed their gold. You can guess what the pious folk were doing with butcher knives among the fallen Moslem citizens. Oh, we are also assured that those same butchers were careful to preserve the gall bladders to use as medicine. Comforting, isn't it? .Muslim chroniclers at the time talk about those killed as martyrs for the faith.
August 22, Richard led his army out of Acre. I guess he killed the prisoners because he could, because he wanted to leave and probably could not pack enough picnic baskets for everyone. I know, you might say he could have really shown some class by releasing the folks. Richard was just not that way. Saladin, I am afraid, was much more chivalric than his enemies
After Richard's brutality at Acre, Saracen mothers for many years would quiet and frighten children by telling them if they did not behave "Richard would come for them".
Despite all the Crusaders' efforts, especially those of Richard I's, the True Cross remained in Moslem hands. The whole beam somehow disappeared; probably packed in a crate somewhere like at the ending of the first Indiana Jones movie. Now and again, a fragment or two would make its way back to Europe. Fact is, there was so much wood labeled True Cross in Europe after a time, there could have been a second Noah's ark built from them.
So what have we learned from this? Wealthy patrons can be of great value to the Church? Moslem gall bladders are useful in medicine? Sometimes other folks agree to things for you which really are embarrassing? How about something my dad used to always say, "Son, if you can't be anything else, you can always be a horrible example." And I know that some of you believe I have followed that advice. I know Richard the Lionheart did.
Hey, if you are besieging Antioch, wrasslin' with the Saracens, or just forwarding these columns to others, keep my name and sig attached. Oh, you might want to check out my Archives. I have been finding snips I sent out in June you may not have read.
Keep away from my gall bladder, knave,
SCA – Sir Balthazar of Endor, DL
AS – Polyphemus Theognis
TRV – Sebastian Yeats