Timeline Friday 2 October 1187

Events on Friday 2 October 1187 1

• 1187 Saladin retakes Jerusalem On 2 October 1187, Saladin (Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub), Sultan of Egypt and Syria, accepts the surrender of Jerusalem from Balian of Ibelin after the catastrophic Crusader defeat at the Battle of Hattin (4 July 1187). Saladin's reconquest is conducted with deliberate restraint -- no massacre, no desecration of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, ransoms accepted for Christian captives who can pay. The contrast with the Crusader conquest of 1099 is pointed. Saladin's chivalry impresses even his enemies. The loss of Jerusalem triggers the Third Crusade (1189-1192).