Patriarch Heraclius of Jerusalem
Encyclopedia
Heraclius or Eraclius was archbishop of Caesarea
and Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
.
Heraclius was from the Gévaudan
in Auvergne
, France. Like his later rival William of Tyre
he studied law
at the University of Bologna
: his contemporaries and friends included Stephen of Tournai
and Gratian
. He arrived in the Kingdom of Jerusalem
before 1168, where he first appears as magister Heraclius, witnessing patriarchal deeds. He was appointed archdeacon of Jerusalem in 1169. In this capacity he tried unsuccessfully to persuade Pope Alexander III
to reinstate Gilbert d'Aissailly as Grand Master
of the Knights Hospitaller
, although the Pope praised him for his presentation of the case. By 1175 he was archbishop of Caesarea
(while William served as archbishop of Tyre
). As archbishops, Heraclius and William attended the Third Lateran Council
in 1179. In 1180, William considered himself the most likely candidate for the patriarchate of Jerusalem, but the king, Baldwin IV
, delegated the choice to his mother Agnes of Courtenay
, Lady of Sidon, and her ladies, according to the precedent of the previous election in 1157. Agnes and her committee chose Heraclius.
Because most of information about Heraclius comes from his rival William and the 13th-century Old French Continuation of his chronicle, sometimes attributed to Ernoul
, Heraclius is often seen as a particularly corrupt and worldly choice for patriarch. He was accused of getting the appointment through being Agnes's lover, which may reflect nothing more than the ill-will of his defeated opponent's party. He lived openly with a draper's widow from Nablus
, Pasque de Riveri, who was referred to as "Madame la Patriarchesse", by whom he had at least one daughter. However, clerical concubinage
was hardly rare in the 12th century. The claim in the Old French Continuation that he excommunicated William in 1183, forcing him to leave the kingdom to seek the Pope
's help in Rome, and arranged for him to be poisoned there, is demonstrably false. No Western chroniclers noted what would (if true) have been a major ecclesiastical scandal. William did not die until 1185 or 1186, and was carrying out his duties as Archbishop to the end.
In 1184, Heraclius, along with Roger de Moulins
, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller
, and Arnold of Torroja, Grand Master of the Knights Templar
, travelled to Europe to seek help in solving the looming succession crisis in the kingdom. They carried with them the keys of the city of Jerusalem, the Holy Sepulchre and the Tower of David
, along with other memorabilia. The mission visited Italy (Arnold of Torroja died at Verona), then France and England. Here they had several meetings with Henry II
initially at Reading
, afterwards at London (consecrating the church at the new Hospitallers' priory and headquarters at Clerkenwell
). The king then accompanied the mission to France, where a further meeting was held in early May 1185 with Philip II
and it was agreed to send both men and money to the Holy Land. This did not satisfy Heraclius, who had hoped to take back with him either Henry himself or one of his sons. Henry had promised to go on crusade years before after the murder of Thomas Becket
; Heraclius reminded him of the vow and declared him and his children to be of the devil
when Henry chose to stay at home.
While in England, Heraclius consecrated the Temple Church
in London, the English headquarters of the Knights Templar; for which act he is perhaps best remembered in England today. The chronicler Ralph Niger
reports that on this mission Eraclius offered the kingship of Jerusalem to Philip II of France
and Henry II of England
(but both turned him down) and to any other prince he came across. Ralph claimed that Heraclius's enormous retinue and opulent dress offended the sensibilities of many westerners, who felt they were not befitting a patriarch; surely if the east was so wealthy, no help was needed from the west. It may be, however, that he was unprepared for the Byzantine style of dress favoured by the court of Jerusalem since Amalric I
's marriage to Maria Comnena. Other chroniclers, Peter of Blois
, Gerald of Wales, Herbert of Bosham
and Rigord
, were more impressed by the Patriarch's spiritual qualities, describing him in phrases such as "vir sanctus et prudens", "vir sanctus" and "vitae sanctitatae non inferior".
Heraclius returned to Jerusalem late in 1185. Baldwin IV had meanwhile died and had been succeeded as King by his young nephew, Baldwin V
. The boy king died in summer 1186. The heir was his mother Sibylla, but her husband, Guy of Lusignan
, a relative newcomer to the kingdom, was widely disliked by the nobility. It was agreed that Sibylla would be crowned only after she had divorced Guy; in return she insisted on choosing her new husband for herself, with the understanding that the husband she chose would become king. Heraclius crowned her. To the astonishment of the assembled nobility she took the crown and placed it on Guy's head, with the words (as given by Roger of Howden), "I choose you as king, and my lord, and lord of the land of Jerusalem, because those whom God has joined no man must separate." No one dared to object, and Heraclius anointed Guy King of Jerusalem.
In 1187, Saladin
invaded the kingdom, and when Guy marched out to meet him, he asked Heraclius to march along with him at the head of the army with the relic
of the True Cross
. As Heraclius was ill, the bishop of Acre
took his place. Despite the relic, Saladin inflicted a crippling defeat on them at the Battle of Hattin
on July 4, capturing the king. Heraclius' report of the battle and its immediate aftermath, addressed to Pope Urban III
, survives; according to the Chronicle of Ernoul
"Pope Urban, who was at Ferrara, died of grief when he heard the news". In the letter, he said that, without external aid, both Jerusalem and Tyre would fall within six months.
In Jerusalem Heraclius urged Balian of Ibelin
to lead the defence of the city against Saladin. He ordered the stripping of the silver from the edicule in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
to strike coins with which to pay the city's defenders. But Jerusalem was finally forced to capitulate
on October 2. It was Heraclius who advised Balian to come to terms rather than fight to the death, which, he argued, would condemn the city's women and children to slavery and forced conversion. Heraclius helped Balian negotiate the surrender with Saladin, who allowed him and most of the other Christians leave the city unharmed.
He and Balian had organised, and contributed to, a collection of 30,000 bezants to ransom the poorer citizens. This paid the ransoms for about 18,000 people, but another 15,000 people still needed to be paid for. Heraclius and Balian offered themselves as hostages in exchange for them, but Saladin refused, and so these remaining citizens were enslaved. The two men led the last party of refugees from the city at the end of the 40-day ransom period (mid-late November).
Saladin's secretary Imad al-Din al-Isfahani claimed that Heraclius stripped the gold reliquaries from the churches on the Temple Mount, and carried away cartloads of treasure with him. However, no Christian writers made such allegations against him. By this time, the churches in question had been converted back into mosques: it is likely that he had been permitted to remove their Christian fittings, which otherwise would have been destroyed.
After the capture of Jerusalem, Heraclius sought refuge in Antioch
, together with the queen. He then took part in the Siege of Acre, where his arrival heartened the army. Like so many others, he died of disease during the Third Crusade
in the winter of 1190–1191.
's Nathan der Weise
, Zofia Kossak-Szczucka
's Król trędowaty (The Leper King), Manuel Mujica Láinez
's El unicornio (The Wandering Unicorn), and Graham Shelby
's Knights of Dark Renown. As played by Jon Finch
in the 2005 movie Kingdom of Heaven
, he is an entirely cowardly and bigoted figure. In the Director's Cut, Baldwin IV is even depicted as refusing the viaticum from him.
Archbishop of Caesarea
The Archbishop of Caesarea was one of the major suffragans of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem during the Crusades. The Bishop of Caesarea became metropolitan of Palestine in the early 3rd century but after the Council of Chalcedon in 451 he was subordinate to the Patriarch of Jerusalem...
and Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem is the title possessed by the Latin Rite Catholic Archbishop of Jerusalem. The Archdiocese of Jerusalem has jurisdiction for all Latin Rite Catholics in Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Jordan and Cyprus...
.
Heraclius was from the Gévaudan
Gévaudan
Gévaudan is a historical area of France, nowadays situated in Lozère département. It took its name from the Gabali, a Gallic tribe subordinate to the Arverni.- History :...
in Auvergne
Auvergne (province)
Auvergne was a historic province in south central France. It was originally the feudal domain of the Counts of Auvergne. It is now the geographical and cultural area that corresponds to the former province....
, France. Like his later rival William of Tyre
William of Tyre
William of Tyre was a medieval prelate and chronicler. As archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from a predecessor, William of Malines...
he studied law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
at the University of Bologna
University of Bologna
The Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna is the oldest continually operating university in the world, the word 'universitas' being first used by this institution at its foundation. The true date of its founding is uncertain, but believed by most accounts to have been 1088...
: his contemporaries and friends included Stephen of Tournai
Stephen of Tournai
Stephen of Tournai, born in 1128 and died in 1203, was a Canon regular of Sainte-Geneviève , and Roman Catholic canonist who became bishop of Tournai in 1192.-Biography:He was born at Orléans in 1128; died at Tournai in September 1203...
and Gratian
Gratian (jurist)
Gratian, was a 12th century canon lawyer from Bologna. He is sometimes incorrectly referred to as Franciscus Gratianus, Johannes Gratianus, or Giovanni Graziano. The dates of his birth and death are unknown....
. He arrived in the Kingdom of Jerusalem
Kingdom of Jerusalem
The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Catholic kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. The kingdom lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks, but its history is divided into two distinct periods....
before 1168, where he first appears as magister Heraclius, witnessing patriarchal deeds. He was appointed archdeacon of Jerusalem in 1169. In this capacity he tried unsuccessfully to persuade Pope Alexander III
Pope Alexander III
Pope Alexander III , born Rolando of Siena, was Pope from 1159 to 1181. He is noted in history for laying the foundation stone for the Notre Dame de Paris.-Church career:...
to reinstate Gilbert d'Aissailly as Grand Master
Grand Master (order)
Grand Master is the typical title of the supreme head of various orders of knighthood, including various military orders, religious orders and civil orders such as the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Orange Order...
of the Knights Hospitaller
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
, although the Pope praised him for his presentation of the case. By 1175 he was archbishop of Caesarea
Caesarea Palaestina
Caesarea Maritima , Caesarea Palaestina from 133 CE onwards, was a city and harbor built by Herod the Great about 25–13 BC. Today, its ruins lie on the Mediterranean coast of Israel about halfway between the cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa, on the site of Pyrgos Stratonos . Caesarea Maritima was...
(while William served as archbishop of Tyre
Archbishop of Tyre
The Archbishop of Tyre was one of the major suffragans of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem during the Crusades and was established to serve the Roman Catholic members of the diocese....
). As archbishops, Heraclius and William attended the Third Lateran Council
Third Council of the Lateran
The Third Council of the Lateran met in March 1179 as the eleventh ecumenical council. Pope Alexander III presided and 302 bishops attended.By agreement reached at the Peace of Venice in 1177 the bitter conflict between Alexander III and Emperor Frederick I was brought to an end...
in 1179. In 1180, William considered himself the most likely candidate for the patriarchate of Jerusalem, but the king, Baldwin IV
Baldwin IV of Jerusalem
Baldwin IV of Jerusalem , called the Leper or the Leprous, the son of Amalric I of Jerusalem and his first wife, Agnes of Courtenay, was king of Jerusalem from 1174 to 1185. His full sister was Queen Sibylla of Jerusalem and his nephew through this sister was the child-king Baldwin V...
, delegated the choice to his mother Agnes of Courtenay
Agnes of Courtenay
Agnes of Courtenay was the daughter of Joscelin II of Courtenay by his wife Beatrice , and the mother of king Baldwin IV of Jerusalem and queen Sibylla of Jerusalem.-Dynasty:...
, Lady of Sidon, and her ladies, according to the precedent of the previous election in 1157. Agnes and her committee chose Heraclius.
Because most of information about Heraclius comes from his rival William and the 13th-century Old French Continuation of his chronicle, sometimes attributed to Ernoul
Ernoul
Ernoul is the name generally given to the author of a chronicle of the late 12th century dealing with the fall of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.-Biography:Ernoul himself is mentioned only once in history, and only in his own chronicle...
, Heraclius is often seen as a particularly corrupt and worldly choice for patriarch. He was accused of getting the appointment through being Agnes's lover, which may reflect nothing more than the ill-will of his defeated opponent's party. He lived openly with a draper's widow from Nablus
Nablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...
, Pasque de Riveri, who was referred to as "Madame la Patriarchesse", by whom he had at least one daughter. However, clerical concubinage
Concubinage
Concubinage is the state of a woman or man in an ongoing, usually matrimonially oriented, relationship with somebody to whom they cannot be married, often because of a difference in social status or economic condition.-Concubinage:...
was hardly rare in the 12th century. The claim in the Old French Continuation that he excommunicated William in 1183, forcing him to leave the kingdom to seek the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
's help in Rome, and arranged for him to be poisoned there, is demonstrably false. No Western chroniclers noted what would (if true) have been a major ecclesiastical scandal. William did not die until 1185 or 1186, and was carrying out his duties as Archbishop to the end.
In 1184, Heraclius, along with Roger de Moulins
Roger de Moulins
Roger de Moulins was Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller from 1177 to his death in 1187, succeeding Jobert of Syria.The Hospitallers were rivals of the Knights Templar, but Pope Alexander III persuaded Roger to make a truce with them in 1179...
, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
, and Arnold of Torroja, Grand Master of the Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
, travelled to Europe to seek help in solving the looming succession crisis in the kingdom. They carried with them the keys of the city of Jerusalem, the Holy Sepulchre and the Tower of David
Tower of David
The Tower of David is an ancient citadel located near the Jaffa Gate entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem.Built to strengthen a strategically weak point in the Old City's defenses, the citadel that stands today was constructed during the 2nd century BC and subsequently destroyed and rebuilt by,...
, along with other memorabilia. The mission visited Italy (Arnold of Torroja died at Verona), then France and England. Here they had several meetings with Henry II
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
initially at Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
, afterwards at London (consecrating the church at the new Hospitallers' priory and headquarters at Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell Priory
Clerkenwell Priory was a priory of the Monastic Order of the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem, located in Clerkenwell, London. Run according to the Augustinian rule, it was the residence of the Hospitallers' Grand Prior in England, and was thus their English...
). The king then accompanied the mission to France, where a further meeting was held in early May 1185 with Philip II
Philip II of France
Philip II Augustus was the King of France from 1180 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip Augustus was born at Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, the son of Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne...
and it was agreed to send both men and money to the Holy Land. This did not satisfy Heraclius, who had hoped to take back with him either Henry himself or one of his sons. Henry had promised to go on crusade years before after the murder of Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion...
; Heraclius reminded him of the vow and declared him and his children to be of the devil
Devil
The Devil is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The nature of the role varies greatly...
when Henry chose to stay at home.
While in England, Heraclius consecrated the Temple Church
Temple Church
The Temple Church is a late-12th-century church in London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built for and by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters. In modern times, two Inns of Court both use the church. It is famous for its effigy tombs and for being a round church...
in London, the English headquarters of the Knights Templar; for which act he is perhaps best remembered in England today. The chronicler Ralph Niger
Ralph Niger
Ralph Niger, Latin Radulphus Niger or Radulfus Niger, anglicized Ralph the Black , was an Anglo-French theologian and one of the English chroniclers. He was from Bury St...
reports that on this mission Eraclius offered the kingship of Jerusalem to Philip II of France
Philip II of France
Philip II Augustus was the King of France from 1180 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip Augustus was born at Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, the son of Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne...
and Henry II of England
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
(but both turned him down) and to any other prince he came across. Ralph claimed that Heraclius's enormous retinue and opulent dress offended the sensibilities of many westerners, who felt they were not befitting a patriarch; surely if the east was so wealthy, no help was needed from the west. It may be, however, that he was unprepared for the Byzantine style of dress favoured by the court of Jerusalem since Amalric I
Amalric I of Jerusalem
Amalric I of Jerusalem was King of Jerusalem 1163–1174, and Count of Jaffa and Ascalon before his accession. Amalric was the second son of Melisende of Jerusalem and Fulk of Jerusalem...
's marriage to Maria Comnena. Other chroniclers, Peter of Blois
Peter of Blois
Peter of Blois or Petrus Blesensis was a French poet and diplomat who wrote in Latin. Peter studied law in Bologna and theology in Paris...
, Gerald of Wales, Herbert of Bosham
Herbert of Bosham
Herbert of Bosham was a twelfth century English biographer of Thomas Becket, dates of birth and death unknown.-Early life:He was probably born in Bosham, Sussex, from which he took his name.He studied theology in Paris as a pupil of Peter Lombard...
and Rigord
Rigord
Rigord was a French chronicler, was probably born near Alais in Languedoc, and became a physician.After becoming a monk he entered the monastery of Argenteuil, and then that of Saint-Denis, and described himself as "regis Francorum chronographus".Rigord wrote the Gesta Philippi Augusti, dealing...
, were more impressed by the Patriarch's spiritual qualities, describing him in phrases such as "vir sanctus et prudens", "vir sanctus" and "vitae sanctitatae non inferior".
Heraclius returned to Jerusalem late in 1185. Baldwin IV had meanwhile died and had been succeeded as King by his young nephew, Baldwin V
Baldwin V of Jerusalem
Baldwin V of Jerusalem was the son of Sibylla of Jerusalem and her first husband, William of Montferrat...
. The boy king died in summer 1186. The heir was his mother Sibylla, but her husband, Guy of Lusignan
Guy of Lusignan
Guy of Lusignan was a Poitevin knight, son of Hugh VIII of the prominent Lusignan dynasty. He was king of the crusader state of Jerusalem from 1186 to 1192 by right of marriage to Sibylla of Jerusalem, and of Cyprus from 1192 to 1194...
, a relative newcomer to the kingdom, was widely disliked by the nobility. It was agreed that Sibylla would be crowned only after she had divorced Guy; in return she insisted on choosing her new husband for herself, with the understanding that the husband she chose would become king. Heraclius crowned her. To the astonishment of the assembled nobility she took the crown and placed it on Guy's head, with the words (as given by Roger of Howden), "I choose you as king, and my lord, and lord of the land of Jerusalem, because those whom God has joined no man must separate." No one dared to object, and Heraclius anointed Guy King of Jerusalem.
In 1187, Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
invaded the kingdom, and when Guy marched out to meet him, he asked Heraclius to march along with him at the head of the army with the relic
Relic
In religion, a relic is a part of the body of a saint or a venerated person, or else another type of ancient religious object, carefully preserved for purposes of veneration or as a tangible memorial...
of the True Cross
True Cross
The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a Christian tradition, are believed to be from the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.According to post-Nicene historians, Socrates Scholasticus and others, the Empress Helena The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a...
. As Heraclius was ill, the bishop of Acre
Bishop of Acre
The Bishop of Acre was a suffragan bishop of the Crusader Archbishop of Tyre. Acre is present-day Akko.-List of bishops of Acre:*Hugh of le Mans?*c.1150 Frederick, Archbishop of Tyre*William*1172 Joscius, Archbishop of Tyre...
took his place. Despite the relic, Saladin inflicted a crippling defeat on them at the Battle of Hattin
Battle of Hattin
The Battle of Hattin took place on Saturday, July 4, 1187, between the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and the forces of the Ayyubid dynasty....
on July 4, capturing the king. Heraclius' report of the battle and its immediate aftermath, addressed to Pope Urban III
Pope Urban III
Pope Urban III , born Uberto Crivelli, was Pope from 1185 to 1187. He was made cardinal and archbishop of Milan by Pope Lucius III, whom he succeeded on November 25, 1185...
, survives; according to the Chronicle of Ernoul
Ernoul
Ernoul is the name generally given to the author of a chronicle of the late 12th century dealing with the fall of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.-Biography:Ernoul himself is mentioned only once in history, and only in his own chronicle...
"Pope Urban, who was at Ferrara, died of grief when he heard the news". In the letter, he said that, without external aid, both Jerusalem and Tyre would fall within six months.
In Jerusalem Heraclius urged Balian of Ibelin
Balian of Ibelin
Balian of Ibelin was an important noble in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century.-Early life:Balian was the youngest son of Barisan of Ibelin, and brother of Hugh and Baldwin. His father, a knight in the County of Jaffa, had been rewarded with the lordship of Ibelin after the...
to lead the defence of the city against Saladin. He ordered the stripping of the silver from the edicule in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also called the Church of the Resurrection by Eastern Christians, is a church within the walled Old City of Jerusalem. It is a few steps away from the Muristan....
to strike coins with which to pay the city's defenders. But Jerusalem was finally forced to capitulate
Siege of Jerusalem (1187)
On July 4, 1187 the Kingdom's army was defeated at the Battle of Hattin by Saladin and only Balian of Ibelin commanding a small number of soldiers remained in Jerusalem. The Siege of Jerusalem lasted from September 20 to October 2, 1187. On October 2, 1187 Balian of Ibelin surrendered Jerusalem to...
on October 2. It was Heraclius who advised Balian to come to terms rather than fight to the death, which, he argued, would condemn the city's women and children to slavery and forced conversion. Heraclius helped Balian negotiate the surrender with Saladin, who allowed him and most of the other Christians leave the city unharmed.
He and Balian had organised, and contributed to, a collection of 30,000 bezants to ransom the poorer citizens. This paid the ransoms for about 18,000 people, but another 15,000 people still needed to be paid for. Heraclius and Balian offered themselves as hostages in exchange for them, but Saladin refused, and so these remaining citizens were enslaved. The two men led the last party of refugees from the city at the end of the 40-day ransom period (mid-late November).
Saladin's secretary Imad al-Din al-Isfahani claimed that Heraclius stripped the gold reliquaries from the churches on the Temple Mount, and carried away cartloads of treasure with him. However, no Christian writers made such allegations against him. By this time, the churches in question had been converted back into mosques: it is likely that he had been permitted to remove their Christian fittings, which otherwise would have been destroyed.
After the capture of Jerusalem, Heraclius sought refuge in Antioch
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...
, together with the queen. He then took part in the Siege of Acre, where his arrival heartened the army. Like so many others, he died of disease during the Third Crusade
Third Crusade
The Third Crusade , also known as the Kings' Crusade, was an attempt by European leaders to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin...
in the winter of 1190–1191.
Fiction
To date, the fictional representations of Heraclius are all derived from the negative portrayal in the Old French Continuation of William of Tyre: see Gotthold Ephraim LessingGotthold Ephraim Lessing
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing was a German writer, philosopher, dramatist, publicist, and art critic, and one of the most outstanding representatives of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the development of German literature...
's Nathan der Weise
Nathan der Weise
Nathan the Wise is a play by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, published in 1779. It is a fervent plea for religious tolerance...
, Zofia Kossak-Szczucka
Zofia Kossak-Szczucka
Zofia Kossak-Szczucka was a Polish writer and World War II resistance fighter. She co-founded the wartime Polish organization Żegota, set up to assist Poland's Jews in escaping the Holocaust...
's Król trędowaty (The Leper King), Manuel Mujica Láinez
Manuel Mujica Laínez
Manuel Mujica Láinez was an Argentine novelist, essayist and art critic.-Biography:...
's El unicornio (The Wandering Unicorn), and Graham Shelby
Graham Shelby
Graham Shelby is a British historical novelist. He worked as a copywriter and book-reviewer before embarking on a series of historical novels, mainly set in the twelfth century.-List of works:...
's Knights of Dark Renown. As played by Jon Finch
Jon Finch
Jon Finch is an English actor noted for many Shakespearean roles. Perhaps his most notable role was the title role in Roman Polanski's 1971 film adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth. His other famous role was as a down-and-out ex-RAF pilot wrongly accused of murder in Alfred Hitchcock's...
in the 2005 movie Kingdom of Heaven
Kingdom of Heaven (film)
Kingdom of Heaven is a 2005 epic action film directed by Ridley Scott and written by William Monahan. It stars Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Jeremy Irons, David Thewlis, Marton Csokas, Brendan Gleeson, Kevin McKidd, Alexander Siddig, Ghassan Massoud, Edward Norton, Jon Finch, Michael Sheen and Liam...
, he is an entirely cowardly and bigoted figure. In the Director's Cut, Baldwin IV is even depicted as refusing the viaticum from him.
Sources
- Peter W. Edbury, "Propaganda and Faction in the Kingdom of Jerusalem: The Background to Hattin", in Crusaders and Muslims in Twelfth-Century Syria, ed. Maya Shatzmiller, 1993.
- Peter W. Edbury, The Conquest of Jerusalem and the Third Crusade: Sources in Translation. Ashgate, 1996. [Includes Eraclius's letter to Urban III after the battle of Hattin (pp. 162–3: see also p. 47).]
- Bernard Hamilton, The Leper King & His Heirs, 2000
- Benjamin Z. Kedar, "The Patriarch Eraclius", in Outremer: Studies in the History of the Crusading Kingdom of Jerusalem presented to Joshua PrawerJoshua PrawerJoshua Prawer was a notable Israeli historian and a scholar of the Crusades and Kingdom of Jerusalem.His work often attempted to portray Crusader society as a forerunner to later European colonialist expansion...
, ed. B. Z. Kedar, H. E. Mayer, and R. C. Smail, 1982.