The siege of Safed (November–December 1188) was part of

Saladin Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سه‌لاحه‌دین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...

's invasion of the

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem ( la, Regnum Hierosolymitanum; fro, Roiaume de Jherusalem), officially known as the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem or the Frankish Kingdom of Palestine,Example (title of works): was a Crusader state that was establishe ...

. The siege of the Templar-held castle began in early November 1188. Saladin was joined by his brother,

Saphadin Al-Adil I ( ar, العادل, in full al-Malik al-Adil Sayf ad-Din Abu-Bakr Ahmed ibn Najm ad-Din Ayyub, ar, الملك العادل سيف الدين أبو بكر بن أيوب,‎ "Ahmed, son of Najm ad-Din Ayyub, father of Bakr, the Just K ...

. Saladin employed a large number of trebuchets and extensive mines. He also maintained a very tight blockade. According to Bahāʾ al-Dīn, the conditions were rainy and muddy. At one point, Saladin specified the placement of five trebuchets, mandating that they be assembled and in place by the morning. A letter written while the siege was ongoing by the

Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...

provisor Hermengar to Duke Leopold V of Austria records the Hospitaller's "fear for the Templars' castle of Safad

ince Ince may refer to: *Ince, Cheshire, a village in Cheshire, UK *Ince-in-Makerfield in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, UK *Ince (UK Parliament constituency), a former constituency covering Ince-in-Makerfield *Ince (ward), an electoral ward covering ...

we do not know how long they can endure continual sieges and life-threatening hardships." A relief force of Hospitallers was intercepted and routed. In an incident recorded by

Ibn al-Athīr Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ash-Shaybānī, better known as ʿAlī ʿIzz ad-Dīn Ibn al-Athīr al-Jazarī ( ar, علي عز الدین بن الاثیر الجزري) lived 1160–1233) was an Arab or Kurdish historian a ...

, two Hospitallers were captured and sentenced to be executed by Saladin. One of them expressed shock at the sentence in terms flattering to the sultan, who then spared their lives and imprisoned them instead. The failure of the relief force had consequences. It was the exhaustion of their supplies and not the attacks on the walls that induced the Templar garrison to sue for peace on 30 November. On 6 December, the garrison walked out on terms. They went to Tyre, which Saladin had failed to capture in an earlier siege. Other historians who mention the siege include

Abū Shāma Abū Shāma Shihāb al-Dīn al-Maḳdisī (10 January 1203 – 13 June 1267) was an Arab historian. Abū Shāma was born in Damascus, where he passed his whole life save for one year in Egypt, a fortnight in Jerusalem and two pilgrimages to the � ...

and ʿImād al-Dīn.

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * {{coord missing, Israel Conflicts in 1188 1188 in Asia 1180s in the Kingdom of Jerusalem Safed 1188 Safed 1188

Safed Safed (known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardi Hebrew, Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation, Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), i ...