Our
men had captured the walls and towers of the city and wonderful sights could be
seen. Some of the merciful crusaders cut off the heads of their enemies; others
shot them with arrows so that they fell from the towers of the city; other
crusaders tortured the Moslems longer by throwing
them into fires. Piles of heads, hands, and feet were littering
the streets of the city. We had to step over bodies of men and horses in the
streets. These were small matters compared to what happened in the Temple of
Solomon, a place where religious services were normally held. . . . Here men
rode in blood up to their knees and bridle reins. It was a just and splendid
judgment of God that this place should be filled with the blood of unbelievers.
. . This day will be famous in all future ages . . . it marks the justification
of all Christianity and the humiliation
of paganism.
Translation modified on the base of The First Crusade: The Chronicle of Fulcher of Chartres and Other Sourse Materials, edited by Edward Peters (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1971) 214