Siege of Jerusalem (1187)

After destroying the main army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem at Hattin, Saladin captured a succession of towns and approached Jerusalem. Balian of Ibelin organised the defence of a city crowded with refugees and short of trained soldiers.

Assaults and negotiations continued until Balian arranged a surrender that allowed many inhabitants to ransom themselves. Saladin entered the city on 2 October 1187 and restored Muslim rule after eighty-eight years of Crusader occupation.

This context supports fiction about the collapse of the first Kingdom of Jerusalem, civilian survival and the political consequences that led to the Third Crusade.