The letters of Richard and Saladin
A war in letters
A Crusade song by Hugues de Berge, a trouvère from the Burgundy region
I recently attended a session at the Boston Early Music Festival featuring songs from Richard’s era; the performance also contained a brief spoken recitation of excerpts of two letters between Richard and Saladin. It was fun to hear them spoken aloud, and the extant letters are sufficiently interesting and brief to recount them all there. They are also topical, given recent events in the Middle East; war and diplomacy go hand and glove, then and now.
It is little appreciated that during the Third Crusade, negotiations between Richard and Saladin began from almost the day Richard arrived at Acre (in modern day Israel) to assist the siege. Baha al-Din, Saladin’s personal confident and historian, records the following, shortly after Richard arrived.
A messenger came to us with the following message: ‘It is the custom of kings when they happen to be near one another to send each other mutual presents and gifts. Now I have in my possession a gift worthy the sultan's acceptance, and I ask permission to send it to him.’
—A letter from Richard to Saladin, June 1191, as recounted by Baha al-Din
If you want to read more about the negotiations, I covered them in detail at the link below. But today we focus on the letters themselves.
It is not customary for kings to meet, unless they have previously laid the foundations of a treaty; for after they have spoken together and given one another the tokens of mutual confidence that are natural in such circumstances, it is not seemly for them to make war upon one another. It is therefore absolutely essential that the preliminaries should be arranged first of all.
—Saladin’s response, as recorded by Baha al-Din
When Richard landed at Acre, the siege had been underway for close to two years; he rapidly brought the siege to a successful end. His former friend and now mortal enemy Philip, the King of France, left afterward in a bit of a huff, ostensibly for health reasons but in reality because he wanted to try to take some of Richard’s lands in France. Richard records the victory and Philip’s departure in a letter home, as recorded by the contemporary historian Roger of Hoveden.
Richard, by the grace of God, king of England, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and earl of Anjou, to N., his dearly beloved and faithful subject, greeting. Know, that after the capture of Acre, and after the departure of my lord the king of France from us at Acre, who there basely abandoned the purpose of his pilgrimage, and broke his vow, against the will of God, to the eternal disgrace of himself and of his realm, we took the road to Jaffa; and when we approached near Arsuf, Saladin met us with a mighty host of his Saracens, and made an attack upon us. However, by the mercy of God, we lost not a man on this day, with the exception of one of extreme valour, and much endeared to the whole army by his merits, namely, James of Avesnes, who was ever ready and devoted, like a stay and support to the army, in all holiness and in the sincerity of the faith, for many years past, to serve God in the army of the Christians. After this, by the will of God, we arrived at Jaffa. We fortified that city with trenches and a wall, making it our purpose everywhere, to the very best of our power, to promote the interests of Christianity. Also, on a second day, being the vigil of the Nativity of Saint Mary, Saladin lost an infinite number of his great men, and taking to flight, as though bereft of the benefit of all aid and counsel, laid waste the whole of the land of Sulia. Further, on the third day before the rout of Saladin, we were wounded in the left side with a javelin, but by the grace of God have now recovered from the effects thereof. Know, also, that by the grace of God, we hope within twenty days after the Nativity of our Lord, to recover the Holy City of Jerusalem, and the Sepulchre of our Lord, after effecting which we shall return home. Witness ourselves at Jaffa, on the first day of October.
—A letter from Richard to England, written at Jaffa on October 1, 1191, as recorded by Roger of Hoveden
The Third Crusade continued thereafter, a bloody struggle with neither side gaining the upper hand. In October, Richard tried negotiation again:
I am to salute you and tell you that the Muslims and the Franks are bleeding to death, the country is utterly ruined and goods and lives have been sacrificed on both sides. The time has come to stop this. The points at issue are Jerusalem, the Cross, and the land. Jerusalem is for us an object of worship that we could not give up even if there were only one of us left. The land from here to the other side of the Jordan must be consigned to us. The Cross, which for you is simply a piece of wood with no value, is for us of enormous importance. If you will return it to us, we shall be able to make peace and rest from this endless labor.
—From the hand of Richard, a letter to Saladin, October 17, 1191
Saladin’s response:
Jerusalem is as much ours as yours. Indeed it is even more sacred to us than it is to you, for it is the place from which our Prophet made his ascent into heaven and the place where our community will gather on the day of judgment. Do not imagine that we can renounce it. The land also was originally ours whereas you are recent arrivals and were able to take it over only as a result of the weakness of the Muslims living there at the time. As for the Cross, its possession is a good card in our hand and could not be surrendered except in exchange for something of outstanding benefit to Islam.
—From the hand of Saladin, a letter in response to Richard, late October, 1191.
Richard and Saladin never met in person, but negotiated with the other’s subordinates. Richard with Saladin’s brother, and Saladin with various of Richard’s leadership. Still, a grudging form of respect grew between the two leaders. Which Richard was ill, Saladin sent him fruit and ice for his recovery. The tone of the letters is surprisingly friendly. It is as if each of them did not want the conflict, but were forced to fight it by some external imperative. Which given the ethos of the era, caught between religion and chivalry, might not be far from the truth.
Your friendship and affection are dear to me. I told you that I would give these parts of Palestine to your brother, and I want you to be the judge between us in the division of land. But we must have a foothold in Jerusalem. I want you to make a division that will not bring down on your brother the wrath of the Muslims or on me the wrath of the Franks.
—A message from Richard to Saladin, delivered by Humphrey of Toron, November 9, 1191
Still, they were both focused on winning their objectives, and Saladin appeared to be wary of Richard’s faithfulness.
If we make peace with these people, there is nothing to protect us against their treachery. We should make a treaty with Conrad [ed: Conrad of Montferrat, de facto Christian King of Jerusalem, and enemy of Richard] calculated to create disunion amongst the Franks.
—Saladin, to Baha al-Din, November 9, 1191
At one point in the negotiations, Richard offered to marry his sister Joan, the former Queen of Sicily, to Saladin’s brother, as part of making peace. Opinions vary as to his sincerity; in any case he found a way to wiggle out of it.
The Christian people disapprove of my giving my sister in marriage without consulting the pope, the head and leader of Christianity. I have therefore sent a messenger who will be back in three months. If he authorizes this wedding so much the better. If not, I will give you the hand of one of my nieces, for whom I shall not need papal consent.
—A letter from Richard to Saladin, November 12, 1191
Negotiations continued, as did the war.
Tell your lord, he and I can go on no longer, and the best thing for us to do is to put an end to the shedding of blood. But do not think it is because I am weak; it is for our common good. Do not be deceived by my withdrawal. The ram backs away in order to butt.
—A message from Richard to Saladin, July 1192, via Bahāʾ al-Dīn
The winter that year was treacherous, the Crusaders cold and miserable, the Muslims running out of troops and supplies.
I am anxious to deserve your friendship and goodwill; I have no desire to be a Pharaoh to rule over this land, and I do not suppose you wish to be so either. It is not right for you to allow all the Muslims to perish, nor for me to suffer all our Franks to be killed. Now, there is Count Henri, my sister's son, whom I have put in possession of all these districts; I commend him and all his troops to you. If you invite him to accompany you on an expedition to the East, he will be willing. On many occasions monks who have been turned out have petitioned you for churches, and you have never shown yourself niggardly, and now I beg you to give me a church. I promise to renounce all that was unpleasing to you in my former negotiations with al-Adil [ed: Saladin’s brother], and to relinquish all idea of it. Will you not, then, give me a barren spot, and the ruin of its shrine?
—Richard asks Saladin to give him the Holy Sepulchre, July 1192, via Bahāʾal-Dīn
Since you trust us with such trust, and as one good turn deserves another, the Sultan will treat your sister's son like one of his own sons, of which you shall shortly receive proof. He grants you the largest of all the churches—the Church of the Resurrection—and he will share the rest of the country with you; the cities of the coast-districts, which you now hold, shall remain in your possession; the strongholds we occupy in the hill country shall continue in our hands, and the country lying between the mountains and the coast-districts1 shall be shared equally between us; Ascalon and the places beyond that city shall be demolished, and belong neither to you nor to us. If you are desirous of a grant of some of its villages you shall have them.
—Saladin’s response to Richard’s letter, July 27th, 1192, Bahāʾ al-Dīn
Though the outlines of a peace were thus drawn, the war was not over. Richard retreated to Acre to rest; he was sick again, as he had been a number of times during his campaign. The word came that Saladin had attacked the city of Jaffa, down the coast. Richard quickly sailed to Jaffa, and accomplished one of his most impressive military victories, worthy of a separate account. But though Richard was victorious, the battle was not decisive. Another truce was negotiated, this one lasting three years.
I have only asked for a truce of three years for the purpose of revisiting my country, and collecting more men and money, wherewith to return and rescue all the land of Jerusalem from your domination—if, indeed, you should have the courage to face me in the field.
—A message from Richard to Saladin, after the truce was concluded.
I entertain such an exalted opinion of your honour, magnanimity, and general excellence, that I would rather lose my dominions to you than to any other king that I have ever seen—always supposing that I am obliged to lose my dominions at all.
—Saladin’s response
Richard planned to return home; the truce would allow him to deal with his rebellious brother John, or so he thought.
Fate had other ideas.
…we have thought proper to inform your nobleness by means of these presents, that while the enemy of our empire and the disturber of your kingdom, Richard, king of England, was crossing the sea for the purpose of returning to his dominions, it so happened that the winds brought him, the ship being wrecked onboard of which he was, to the region of Istria, at a place which lies between Aquileia and Venice, where, by the sanction of God, the king, having suffered shipwreck, escaped, together with a few others. A faithful subject of ours, …hearing that he was in their territory, and calling to mind the treason and treachery and accumulated mischief he had been guilty of in the Land of Promise, pursued him with the intention of making him prisoner.
—A letter from Emperor Henry VI to King Philip of France, December 28, 1192 via Roger of Hoveden
Sources
None of the letters survive as independent writings, they are all documented in contemporary histories, by parties well known to Richard and Saladin, so there is little reason to doubt the basics of the letters. Bahāʾ al-Dīn was a confidant and personal historian of Saladin and with him during the Third Crusade. His The Rare and Excellent History of Saladin contains a wealth of fascinating deals and documents the crusade from the Muslim perspective, amongst which are some of the letters above. Roger of Hoveden was one of Richard’s advisors as well as a historian, and was with Richard on crusade. The Annals of Roger of Hoveden contains some of letters mentioned above. You can purchase our edition of his Annals here.
This phrase is sometimes translated in even old documents as “from the river to the sea,” that seemingly modern phrase that carries so much conflict today.
This was really a great post!