In the spring of 1185 AD, King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem died of an illness, a twenty-four-year-old king who had been plagued by leprosy and whose cause of death was also related to this disease. After Baldwin IV's death, his sister Sibylla became queen of Jerusalem, and Sibylla was only the titular queen, and the real ruler of Jerusalem was a Crusader leader named Guy, who married Sibylla in 1180 AD.
Guy's wife, Sibylla
Born in 1150 AD in the family of Lusignan in western France, Guy was the son of the head of the family, Hugues VIII, many members of the Lusignan family participated in the Crusades, and Guy also went to Jerusalem when he grew up and became a crusader. Due to the prominence of his family, Guy's position in Jerusalem was very high, and before the death of King Baldwin IV, he had appointed his nephew Baldwin V as his heir, but the young Baldwin V died shortly after, and it was rumored that Guy poisoned Baldwin V.
After the death of Baldwin V, Guy became the ruler of Jerusalem, and the Jerusalem Crusades were overthrown under Guy's leadership. Soon after Guit ascended the throne, he made a very stupid decision, and he led the Crusaders to meet Saladin's army.
Battle of Harding
Guy, who had no command skills, not only did not scout the terrain, but did not even carry sufficient water sources before the expedition, while Saladin's army gathered on the shores of Lake Tiberias, enjoying the abundant water supply. When Guy's Crusaders arrived in the Harding region near Lake Tiberias, the Crusaders, who had been marching for a long time, were attacked by Saladin's army, and the poorly armed Crusaders were turned upside down by Saladin's army, and the Battle of Harding soon turned into a massacre.
The battle ended in a crushing defeat for the Crusaders, with guy and most of the other nobles captured by Saladin, and after the war, Saladin personally received the captured nobles, who pardoned most of the captured nobles and then killed the evil Reynald with his own hands. Raynald's death terrified Guy and even fell to his knees in front of Saladin, who spared Guy's life in the name of "the king does not kill the king".
Captured crusaders
Saladin's behavior soon caused resentment among some of his subordinates, and many Arab soldiers went to Saladin's tent and pleaded with Saladin to let him kill a Crusader prisoner of war with his own hands and then execute the Crusader king Guy. Saladin, known for his benevolence, decisively refused his men's requests and sent the Janissaries to watch over the Crusaders and prevent some Crusader-hating Arab soldiers from retaliating against them.
By the time Saladin marched into Jerusalem, there were still men who came to ask what to do with Guy, and they all believed that Guy should be punished. In order to stabilize the morale of the soldiers, Saladin decided to give Guy a little punishment in order to calm the displeasure of the Arabs, and after Saladin's army arrived under the walls of Jerusalem, Saladin sneered and ordered to his subordinates: "Go and bring Guy here, and then lead a donkey." ”
Portrait of Guy
After Saladin's order was given, his men understood the lord's meaning, and they brought a donkey covered in feces, and then ripped off Guy's shirt and tied Guy to the donkey with a rope. After Guy was tied to the back of a dirty donkey, the soldiers laughed and drove the donkey forward, and then kept whipping Guy on the back with a whip to humiliate the former crusader king.
Guy was luckier than Raynald, who was killed by Saladin himself, and after Saladin recaptured Jerusalem, he imprisoned Guy in Damascus, and when Guy's family paid the ransom, Saladin released Guy. Upon his return home, guy immediately broke his promise to Saladin by following Richard the Lionheart in the Third Crusade and giving Richard the empty title of King of Jerusalem.