Two men whose legends still live on

On September 2, 1192, Richard and Saladin came to terms and the Third Crusade ended. The sticking point had been the stronghold of Ascalon, which Saladin had destroyed rather than let it fall into Richard’s hands. Months later, Richard took control of Ascalon and spent a large sum rebuilding it, so he was understandably loath to surrender it. But because they did not see how they could hold Ascalon without Richard there to defend it, Balian and Outremer’s lords felt they had to sacrifice it in order to make peace. Although Richard was very ill at the time with malaria, they approached him in one of his lucid moments and were greatly relieved when he finally agreed. With Ascalon no longer blocking the peace road, progress was quickly made and on Sunday, August 30th, Saladin sent an envoy to Richard with a draft of the peace treaty. But things did not go as expected.
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Lionheart, page 560-561
“No,” Richard said, shaking his head stubbornly. “I did not agree to yield Ascalon without compensation. I would never do that!’
There was a shocked silence, the other men looking at one another in dismay. “You did, Uncle.” Henri approached the bed, picking up the documents that Richard had crumpled and flung to the floor. “Andre and the bishop and I….we came to you and explained why Ascalon had to be sacrificed—“
“No! I would not do that.”
“Richard…it happened as Henri says. You do not remember….not any of it?”
Richard’s eyes searched Andre’s face, then shifted to Hubert Walter. “No….I agreed to this? You swear it is so?” When all three of them assured him it was, he sank back against the pillows. It was very disturbing, even frightening, to think he’d made such an important decision and had no memory of it. When he glanced up again, he saw that the sultan’s envoy was becoming agitated, asking Humphrey de Toron what had gone wrong. “Humphrey…tell him that if I said it, I will honor my word. And tell him to say this to Saladin—that I accept the terms and understand that if I receive any compensation for Ascalon, it will be because of his generosity and bounty.”
The envoy was ushered out, obviously greatly relieved that there was to be no eleventh hour surprise. By unspoken assent, the other men left, too; only Henri and Andre remained. “This is my fault, Uncle,” Henri said unhappily. “Andre insisted that we ought not to ask you until your fever broke. But I feared to wait—“
“It is your kingdom, Henri. It was your decision to make as much as mine.” Richard could not remember ever feeling so exhausted or so disheartened. “I need to sleep now…” He hoped it would come soon, stilling the questions he could not answer, the insidious voice asking what he’d truly accomplished here. So many deaths, and all for what?
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The Lionheart chronicles spoiled me for any other sources. This sort of detail just does not exist elsewhere….sigh. I was able to find reliable chroniclers for A King’s Ransom, but the crusader and Saracen chroniclers were in a class of their own, offering a form of time-travel. I really miss that! I missed Henri in Ransom, too, so I couldn’t resist this opportunity to bring him back, if only briefly—at least until the next book. I think Balian will have to be on the alert, though, as I suspect Henri is one of my light-fingered characters who steals scenes with ease and might take it into his head to high-jack the entire book, the way Llywelyn swiped Dragons right out from under John’s nose.
Oh, and Richard cheered up considerably soon after this, upon being told that the Duke of Burgundy had died at Acre. And his reliance upon Saladin’s generosity was not misplaced, for the sultan voluntarily compensated him for all the money he’d expended upon Ascalon by agreeing that the Christians and Muslims would share the revenues of Ramla and Lydda.