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