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The Third Crusade was a monumental clash with fascinating battles, legendary warriors and
fantastic military commanders. Triggered by the Ayyubid seizure of Jerusalem in 1187,
it turned into a massive military venture by all the major European powers which finally
checked the seemingly invincible generalship of Saladin. Welcome to the first episode in
our series on the Third Crusade - starting with the Siege of Acre.
In July of 1187 at Hattin, the Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt and Syria picked apart and crushed
the army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem led by Guy of Lusignan [LOO’zin’yon]. On 20th
of September 1187, Sultan of the Ayyubid realm, Saladin, arrived with his victorious army
outside Jerusalem. While the city’s defences had been strengthened, Jerusalem was a city
in crisis. It was swollen by refugees from the countryside, fleeing the war, and was
deprived of fighting men by the annihilation at Hattin.
Although the defenders commanded by Balian of Ibelin resisted with valor, the city was
bombarded by catapults and mangonels, and after days of siege the sides started to discuss
peace. As was typical of Saladin, lax and even generous terms were finally reached on
the 2nd of October. The surrender was agreed days later and, on the 9th of October 1187,
Saladin peacefully marched into the Holy City. After that siege, Saladin had captured most
of the Crusader cities on the Levantine coast, including the economic centre of Acre. Meanwhile,
the ancient city of Tyre resisted the Muslims when an Italian noble, Conrad of Montferrat
[english], arrived from Constantinople and seized command.
Conrad of Montferrat, now in total control of Tyre, sent the Archbishop of Tyre - Joscius
- to the west. He bore tales of Christendom’s catastrophic defeats to the Pope, Urban III,
who died on the 20th of October 1187, supposedly from the shock of the revelation that Jerusalem
had been lost. Shortly after his death, Gregory VIII succeeded him and, by the end of the
month, the proclamation for the Third Crusade was made.
It is at this point we must take a moment to look at the situation in western Europe
and the reaction to the fall of Jerusalem. Deepening rivalries between and within the
western powers exacerbated the problem that the previous Second Crusade, which had been
utterly defeated, had discredited the notion of holy war. In 1152, Frederick I Barbarossa
had assumed power in the Holy Roman Empire, and in 1155 he formally ascended to the Imperial
throne. His realm was powerful on paper, but its regions were also notoriously reluctant
to conform to central authority, and he had to spend decades subduing warring factions
in the Empire. To the west, the Counts of Anjou [onzhoo]
- who were formally vassals of the French Capetian kings - began to grow in power. Henry
of Anjou, the current ruler, then proceeded to add the Duchy of Normandy to his holdings.
After marrying Eleanor of Aquitaine [akiten], who was previously married to the French king
Louis VII, in 1152, he ascended to the throne of England in 1154, ruling over a realm encompassing
parts of the modern British Isles and France, and known to historians as the Angevin Empire.
The Angevins were the vassals of the French kings from the Capetian dynasty via their
holdings on the continent, but they were often more powerful than the Capetians, and this
friction would leave a mark on the upcoming Crusade.
However, the stunning victories of Saladin in 1187 were enough to break the deadlock.
As the Pope’s declaration of Crusade was spread through Europe’s royal courts, tens
of thousands of Latin Christians pledged themselves to the cause, which created a massive upheaval
in European society, especially in France, where many aristocrats began to rally their
own contingents. However the participation of kings was crucial to Crusader success.
This is where we must introduce one of our main Christian protagonists - Richard, the
prince who would become known as the Lionheart. This young prince, who was warring against
his father supported by the new French king Philip II Augustus, was the first to take
up the cross in November of 1187. It should be noted that the prince was rash and eager
to enhance his own glory and prestige. Richard’s decision sent shockwaves throughout western
Europe, forcing the Angevins and Capetians to act.
Philip Augustus and Henry II met at Gisors [zhisor] during January of 1188 in order to
discuss a settlement in the presence of leading nobles. Among the attendees of this assembly
was Archbishop Joscius, who preached a sermon on the dire state of Christianity in the Holy
Land. This address prompted many French lords to pledge their support.
Amid the zealous fervor of the meeting, the two monarchs made public declarations of their
determination to fight in the Third Crusade. In order to raise funds for the venture, the
so-called ‘Saladin Tithe’ was imposed, but was more successful in the more centralised
English territories than the decentralised French holdings.
Though they were among the first to commit, both England and France were still embroiled
in conflict, and neither would displace their military forces unless the other did the same,
which caused delays in the crusade. Richard, worried that his father was about to disinherit
him as heir to the throne, allied with the French king in autumn of 1188. The two launched
a swift assault into Normandy during June of 1189. Unable to resist this invasion, the
English king sought a peace settlement. At a conference on July 4th, Henry accepted all
terms: Richard was confirmed as the successor, 20,000 marks were paid in tribute to Philip
and the three would crusade together the following year. However, by this point Henry was physically
shattered and ill, and died three days later. His son ascended to the English throne as
Richard I.
Upon taking the throne, Richard immediately began intensifying the realm’s efforts to
raise funds and organised his professional army. After he and the French king had done
this, they met in late 1189 and early 1190 for final preparations. Then, in two identical
ceremonies one after the other, the kings took up their symbolic pilgrim satchels and
staffs, before setting off for the Levant on the 4th of July 1190. They would march
to the coast and then make their way across the mediterranean by ship. At this point,
Richard had around 17,000 troops, while Philip’s contingent was smaller.
Further east Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, through decades of tireless campaigning and
shrewd politicking, had imposed a never before seen amount of central authority onto the
feudal realms of the empire, and also reached advantageous agreements with Northern Italian
states and the Papacy. In terms of wealth, martial resources and international prestige,
Barbarossa’s power easily outstripped both the Angevins and the Capetians. After biding
his time for a few months after the crusade’s proclamation in order to see which way the
popular wind was blowing, the Holy Roman Emperor took the cross on March 27th 1188.
He made swift preparations, exiling his political enemy, Henry the Lion, and leaving his eldest
son Henry in Germany as heir. Most of the crusaders under Barbarossa marched along the
route used by earlier crusades. In order to ease his passage, diplomatic contacts were
made with Hungary, the Byzantine Empire and even the Seljuk ruler of Anatolia, Kilij Arslan
II. All went well until the Germans reached Byzantium’s
borders, as Emperor Isaac II Angelos had already formed a pact with Saladin to deny any crusader
access. Barbarossa progressed with force anyway, capturing Philippopolis before advancing on
Adrianople. With Frederick quickly bearing down on the capital, a compromise was reached
in February 1190. The Byzantines allowed the crusader army to move to Gallipoli and cross
into Anatolia with the aid of Pisan and Greek ships.
Back in the Levant, events were progressing rapidly. All attempts by Saladin to take the
principal Christian enclave of Tyre had failed, including a lengthy blockade and an assault
with Mangonels. Instead, Saladin turned to politics to help foster inter-Christian conflict.
Believing he was a spent force, Saladin released the monarch of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Guy
of Lusignan, who had been a Muslim prisoner since the destruction of his army at Hattin,
in an exchange for a promise that he would never take up arms against Muslims again.
Upon his release, Guy rejoined his queen in Tripoli and then marched upon Tyre, which
was a city in his own realm. When he arrived, Guy demanded to be admitted to the city as
its king, but Conrad refused, stating that he would keep the city until the crusaders
came, and so Guy returned to Tripoli. When the first Pisan and Sicilian ships arrived
to assist in early 1189, Guy took a high risk decision to besiege the coastal trading centre
of Acre. On August 22nd he set off down the coastal Scandelion Pass, but was discovered
by the Muslims a few days later. Messengers relayed Guy’s position to the Sultan, but
he hesitated and did not meet them in the pass. The relatively small Christian army
arrived outside Acre on August 28th 1189.
Not thinking this meagre force a threat, the defending Muslim garrison jeered at it mockingly.
However, since his defeat at Hattin, Guy had apparently developed a sense of strategy;
he encamped in a strong position on the nearby 120 foot high Mount Toron, where he had a
natural defence and a commanding view over Acre.
The first proper action took place on August 31st, when the Christian forces unexpectedly
attacked with ladders, almost succeeding in taking the battlements by shock and awe before
Saladin’s advance scouts arrived. Afraid of being caught out in the open, Guy’s attacking
forces retreated back to the camp. Over the next few days Saladin himself arrived
with the main army, destroying any hopes the Latins had of a quick victory, and forcing
them to fight on two fronts. It is likely that if at this point Saladin had coordinated
with Acre’s garrison, he could have crushed the Christians. But again he wavered, instead
holding a cautious position on the hillside of el-Kharruba, about six miles to the southeast.
Under the veil of darkness, the Sultan managed to sneak a detachment of reinforcements into
the city, while during the day, mounted Muslim skirmishers would be dispatched to constantly
harry Guy’s camp. In any other situation, this would have been a good strategy, but
Saladin’s caution at Acre was a fatal misreading of the situation. One crucial factor made
this way of warfare fail - the sea. Slowly at first, but growing as the weeks wore on,
a constant stream of Frankish ships began to arrive in the region. On September 10th,
a massive group of 50 ships arrived carrying 12,000 Frisian and Danish crusaders. In addition
to the ground reinforcements, the ships also helped to tighten the Christian blockade of
the city by sea. By the end of the month, even Conrad of Montferrat had come south from
Tyre to assist Guy, supposedly bringing 1,000 knights and many thousands of infantry with
him.
With their increased numerical strength, the Christian leaders decided to attack the Sultan’s
main force, which was behind them, head on. Unless they did this, full attention could
not be focused on the siege of the city. So on October 4th, Guy arrayed his forces on
the Acre Plain into three ranks. Archers and crossbowmen were in the first, melee infantry
formed up behind them with heavy cavalry in the rear. The army was also split into three
divisions on the left, right and in the centre. Notably, Templar cavalry was in the centre
and Hospitaler cavalry was on the far right. Rather than charging, the crusaders advanced
at a walking pace towards Saladin’s Muslim army, aiming to cohesively engage the enemy
all at once. At mid-morning, the Christian left finally made contact with the enemy,
where Taqi al-Din was the commander. Hoping to lure the Franks into a trap, he sent in
mounted skirmishers and then feigned a retreat. Unfortunately, this maneuver was so convincing
that Saladin really believed his nephew had been defeated and dispatched troops from the
centre to aid him, weakening that part of his line.
Observing the shift, the crusaders sent in reserves and routed the weakened Muslim centre,
opening the way to the Muslim camp. For a moment, it appeared Saladin would be defeated.
Flooding through the gap in his line, some crusaders even reached the Sultan’s personal
tent, where one of Saladin’s attendants was killed.
However, the lure of victory and its spoils were too much to resist. The Latin formation,
coherent until this point, disintegrated when the undisciplined footmen turned to looting
and plunder, halting their momentum completely. Greed was certainly a motivation, but intense
hunger also played a part. Meanwhile, the veteran Templar knights doggedly pursued the
fleeing muslims, but were now unsupported by their infantry. They had charged too far.
Saladin turned and expertly managed to rally his fleeing army, speeding across the line
on his horse to motivate his soldiers and leading an attack on the isolated Templar
contingent, which attempted to retreat. In the ensuing conflict, many brothers of the
proud order were killed, along with its veteran commander - Gerard of Ridefort.
At this point, the situation for the Christians became even more dire when the 5,000 strong
Acre garrison sallied forth from the city, threatening the camp and the rear of the army.
Sensing they were about to be surrounded, and witnessing the defeat of the templars,
the crusader force fled back to their camp. Those in the Christian centre who were still
looting the Muslim tents were caught and killed, while others were cut down while attempting
to run. Though he attempted to do so, Saladin was unable to press this advantage, as Latin
reinforcements sent to the crusader camp, under command of Geoffrey of Lusignan, fiercely
resisted Muslim attempts to overrun their positions.
The Christians had come seeking battle that day, and had been defeated with some 3,000-4,000
dead or dying, which the Muslims threw into the River Belus. However, Saladin had also
suffered during the battle. In terms of dead and injured losses had been relatively small,
but those who had fled during the rout to the camp did not return and proved hard to
replace. Worse still, the attack on the camp had crushed morale, as the crusaders had plundered
vast amounts of money. The Siege of Acre and the Third Crusade would continue into the
next year.
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