“I can only tell you what I was told by Balian d’Ibelin, Queen Isabella’s stepfather, and the other Poulain lords. Your brother was a man of great courage and great abilities. But he was also reckless, strong-willed, and stubborn. I do not say that as a criticism,” Richard said, flashing a sudden smile, “for those very words have been bandied about when my name has been mentioned. But I fear those qualities may have cost Conrad his life. He’d seized a merchant ship belonging to Rashid al-Din Sinan, and refused their demands to return the ship, its crew, and its cargo. Balian said that they’d warned Conrad it was dangerous to run afoul of the Assassins, that even Saladin had backed down after Rashid al-Din Sinan threatened to murder his family. Conrad just laughed. . . .”
Boniface said nothing, but Richard dared to hope that he may have convinced Conrad’s brother of his innocence. At the least, he was sowing seeds of doubt where there had been only conviction. His voice was growing hoarse; never had he spoken at such length before, or with such passion. He was both surprised and grateful, therefore, when a servant appeared without warning, offering a cup of wine. “Danke sch?n,” he said, showing off his meager store of German, and drank deeply, wondering whom he had to thank for the wine. When the servant retreated, he nodded to a man in a front row, one who was a stranger to Richard.
“Of all the despicable lies told about me, none is more outrageous or shameless than that I would betray the Holy Land. I was one of the first princes to take the cross. I bear the scar upon my body from a Saracen crossbow bolt. I nearly died at Acre and again at Jaffa from the pestilent fevers that stalk Outremer. Even after learning that my own kingdom was in peril, I honored my holy vow and stayed. And now I find myself accused by the man who did not stay, for this campaign waged against me can be tracked back to Paris.”
Richard had begun to pace, for he could feel the fury flaring up again. “I did seek to meet Saladin upon my arrival at the Acre siege camp, for I knew our only hope of regaining Jerusalem would be through a settlement of some sort. The Kingdom of Jerusalem is like a small island in a Saracen sea. The Christians are vastly outnumbered by the Muslims; at the battle of H.at.t.in, Guy de Lusignan could muster no more than twelve hundred knights. And, of course, I exchanged gifts and courtesies with Saladin, for these are the civilities which brave men share during war with worthy foes. Emperor Heinrich’s own father, Friedrich of blessed memory, and Saladin sent gifts to each other, and none would dare to cast aspersions upon that great man for doing so.”
He paused again for Hadmar to translate, taking deep breaths to get his anger under control. “Did I respect the Saracens? Yes, I did, for brave men are deserving of respect. I established friendly relations with al-Malik al-Adil, Saladin’s brother, and with several of his emirs, hoping that they might influence the sultan to make peace. But I never forgot they were our enemies and infidels, even though many of them were men of honor.
“It is true that I refused to lay siege to Jerusalem. That was because I knew it could not be taken. When we made our march along the coast from Acre to Jaffa, my fleet kept our army supplied. But the Holy City is twenty-five miles inland. Saladin would have cut our supply lines to pieces; we would not even have been able to replace the horses lost. And the walls of Jerusalem are more than two miles in circumference, enclosing an area of over two hundred acres. We did not have enough men to surround the city, so we had no hopes of starving it into submission. The Poulain lords, the Templars, and the Hospitallers saw that we could not capture the city. Everyone saw that—save only the French. Even after we learned that Saladin had poisoned all the wells and cisterns within two leagues of Jerusalem, the Bishop of Beauvais and the Duke of Burgundy insisted that we could not lose because this was a holy war, sanctioned by God. But God was on the side of the Christians at H.at.t.in, and they still lost. The Almighty expects us to do our part.
“Nor did I surrender to Saladin. We reached a negotiated settlement, making a truce for three years. We did not achieve all that we hoped for; I do not deny that. But upon my arrival in the Holy Land, the Kingdom of Jerusalem consisted of the city of Tyre and the siege camp at Acre; all else had been lost to Saladin. When I departed, it stretched along the coast from Tyre to Jaffa, Saladin no longer held Ascalon, and Christian pilgrims were once again free to visit Jerusalem and worship at the Holy Sepulchre.”
Richard moved toward the dais again. “My lord emperor, you have been misled. You believed what you were told by your French allies, but they have lied to you again and again. Let me tell you about these men you thought you could trust. I was not the one who violated his holy oath and abandoned the war with the Saracens. That was the French king. I am loath to say this, as he is my liege lord for Normandy and my lands on the other side of the Narrow Sea. But I knew I could not trust him and so I insisted that he swear upon holy relics that he would honor the protection the Church gives men who’ve taken the cross and wage no war against my domains whilst I was in the Holy Land. He very reluctantly agreed to do so and then tried to get Pope Celestine to release him from that oath, which the Holy Father, of course, refused to do.”