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The Third Crusade
It was almost 100 years since Pope Urban II's rallying cry in 1096 brought about the First Crusade. The glory of the initial conquest of Jerusalem and the holy land was but a distant memory. During the late 1100s, large swathes of the Levant and the Kingdom of Jerusalem were under the control of the Muslim Sultan, Saladin. He created the Abbuyid Dynasty to replace the Fatimids in Egypt in 1171. This empire became a growing concern for Latin and Western leaders.
The concern boiled over to outrage and action after the events of 1187. After the annihilation of Guy de Lusignan's men at the Battle of Hattin, the Sultan erased the gains made by the original crusades. Almost all of the Crusader states of Tripoli, Antioch, and Jerusalem were now lost, and crucially the Holy City itself was no longer in the hands of Christendom. This sent alarm bells across the Christian world, and shortly after, Pope Gregory VIII issued a papal bull. The Third Crusade had begun.
Papal bull
An official decree sent out by the Pope to the Latin Catholic Church.
Sultan
A Muslim king or leader.
Third Crusade Timeline
Now that we have an idea of the task that the Crusaders set themselves let's look at some important events of the Third Crusade.
| Date | Event |
| September 1189 | Richard I, or Richard the Lionheart, became the new King of England after the death of Henry II. Along with King Philip II of France, he took the oath and decided to go on the Crusade. |
| September 1189 - March 1190 | Richard I and Philip II arrived in Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea. They occupied and controlled the island, but the first signs of division and quarrel occurred between the two men, who had taken different routes before spending winter together. |
| June 1190 | While attempting to join the French and English forces, the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa, drowned in Asia Minor. As a result, Leopold V, the Duke of Austria, commanded the Holy Roman Empire's forces. |
| March 1191 | Philip II set sail for Acre, where the forces of Guy of Lusignan were already fighting against Saladin to regain the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Acre was under siege by the Crusaders when Philip arrived in April. There had been a stalemate since Guy's offensive began in 1189. |
| May 1191 | Richard decided to take the strategic island of Cyprus. It proved a valuable base for supplies and troops. Here, he met Guy of Lusignan and pledged his allegiance. This was significant because Guy's rival, Conrad of Montferrat, had retained control of Tyre and was thus a political threat. |
| June 1191 | Finally, leaving for Acre, Richard arrived in the city on 8 June. He found a fragmented Crusader army; Guy against Conrad and Philip of France against him. Despite this, the Crusaders took Acre in July, with the military prowess of Richard the Lionheart proving key. Philip II fell ill and returned home to address a succession issue in his native France. |
| September 1191 | With their tails up, the Crusaders continued to another coastal town and engaged in the Battle of Arsuf. They were victorious once more, but Saladin had managed to at least stall the progress of the Crusaders towards Jaffa, which they now occupied. |
| January 1192 | Jerusalem was now on the agenda but Richard decided against an invasion for fear that his forces may get isolated inland. Instead, he headed towards Ascalon. |
| July 1192 | Saladin mounted a surprise attack on Jaffa, but the Crusaders rallied. They crushed Saladin's forces, and the Sultan had no option but to negotiate the Treaty of Jaffa. Both sides were bruised and exhausted, but the Crusader cities on the coast were now secured. |
So, the Third Crusade marked a series of victories for the Crusaders. Still, their ultimate aim had failed: recapturing the Holy City. However, revenge of sorts did occur during their finest hour of the Third Crusade, the Siege of Acre.
Siege of Acre (1189 - 1191)
Acre had been under siege from the forces of Guy of Lusignan since 1189. Having lost Jerusalem and many other vital strongholds within his kingdom, Guy, the King of Jerusalem, was metaphorically homeless. Compounding this situation was the fact that his rival Conrad of Montferrat maintained his ownership of Tyre. However, he could not gain the upper hand against Saladin without aid.
The Crusader forces of the Holy Roman Empire bolstered the siege in 1190. Still, when 1191 rolled around, neither side was in the ascendancy. Richard the Lionheart and Philip II's men allowed the Crusaders to blockade the harbour and trap Saladin's Muslims. The English and French also brought more sophisticated weaponry for siege warfare. By July 1191, the resistance of the garrison at Acre subsided. The Holy Roman Empire's flag billowed above the city, only to be torn down by Richard in favour of an English one. This disagreement resulted in Richard's kidnapping and extortion by the new Holy Roman Emperor, Henry VI, on his journey back to England.
Following the Siege of Acre, Richard I attempted to barter with Saladin, as he now held numerous prisoners of war. He asked for a fragment of the coveted True Cross, Christian prisoners, and a financial reward.
The True Cross
The cross used during the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Fig. 2 Slovenian cathedral depicting the Finding of the True Cross.
Saladin did not blink, and when the deadline for the exchange came and went, Richard's men executed around 2,700 Muslims. This event is known as the Massacre at Ayyadieh in 1191. Historians have regularly condemned him for this, but historian Sean McGlynn suggests we reconsider with a more balanced perspective.
One could easily argue that Richard's decision made a vicious virtue out of a harsh necessity - even if it does not justify his actions from a modern point of view.1
We must also remember that the defeat at the Battle of Hattin in 1187 was recent for the Crusaders, and vengeance was in their minds.
Third Crusade Leaders
We now have a working knowledge of the chronology of the Third Crusade. Let's profile some of the key leaders of the conflict and understand how their personalities shaped the events.
| Leader | Strengths | Flaws | Impact |
| Richard the Lionheart | Richard had a military background and fought from a young age, being a commander at 16. His sheer presence at Acre and subsequent battles put the Muslims on the back foot and struck fear into them. | An impulsive king, Richard abandoned his duties for military plaudits. This left his kingdom a mess when he returned. He also upset his allies and was held under ransom by the new Holy Roman Emperor on his way back to England. | Richard's impact on the Third Crusade is undeniable. It was he who helped break Acre and show the seriousness of the Crusaders with the massacre. He also negotiated the Treaty of Jaffa, but his indecisiveness meant the Crusaders failed to attack the holy city. |
| Philip II | Philip was more pragmatic than his English counterpart. He put his country over glory and left the Crusade when there were domestic doubts, having played a key role at Acre. | Amidst concern about succession in Flanders, Philip II failed to commit to the Crusade. He had also fallen ill and was aware that English possessions in France could be attacked in Richard's absence. | Although he had quarrels with Richard the Lionheart, Philip II played a vital role in the Third Crusade. He arrived at Acre to help the weary troops of Guy and the Holy Roman Empire. He also left his 10,000 men in the Levant when he returned home. |
| Saladin | The Muslim Sultan was formidable at the time of the Third Crusade. He had ended almost a century of Christian occupation of the Holy City (Jerusalem) in 1187. His Abbuyid Dynasty ruled areas including Egypt, Syria, and Mesopotamia. | Before the western reinforcements arrived, Saladin had an opportunity to dominate the Kingdom of Jerusalem completely. His failure to capture Tyre and his mercy in refusing to kill Guy of Lusignan or massacre the Christians left embers of dissent that would reassemble against him. | Saladin had a distinct impact on the Third Crusade as commander of the Muslim forces. He displayed callous indifference to life when he did not pay the ransom asked by Richard the Lionheart in exchange for his men. However, he kept the Holy City and showed diplomacy by allowing Crusaders to visit Jerusalem after the Treaty of Jaffa. |
The complicated make-up of each leader seemed to cancel each other out. It ultimately led to a Third Crusade without a clear winner.
Fig. 3 Bronze sculpture of Richard the Lionheart outside the Houses of Parliament, London, England.
Third Crusade Primary Sources
Given the length of time since the Crusades, much of our knowledge concerning them comes from primary sources. Let's examine a few of these and comment on their significance.
Our people held the city of Jerusalem for some eighty-nine years [...] Within a short time, Saladin had conquered almost the whole Kingdom of Jerusalem. He exalted the grandeur of Mohammed's law and showed that, in the event, its might exceeded that of the Christian religion.2
- Anonymous account, 'De Expugatione Terrae Sanctae per Saladinum: Capture of Jerusalem by Saladin', 1187
Each person will give in charity one-tenth of his rents and movable goods for the taking of the land of Jerusalem.3
- Henry II, 'The Saladin Tithe', 1188
They gave heartfelt thanks, since with the approval of divine grace, they were taking vengeance in kind for the death of the Christians.4
- Anonymous account, 'Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis Ricardi: Muslim Hostages Slain at Acre', 1191
These primary sources clearly show how religion intertwined with identity and pride. Muslim dominance in the twelfth century and the Fall of Jerusalem in 1187 was a sleight on the legitimacy of Christianity. Henry II's pledge of taxation for an expensive campaign underlines this. As such, the moment of bloody revenge in the Acre massacre is depicted as one of salvation, with the grisly details spared.
Fig. 4 Manuscript recording the events of the Third Crusade.
We must remember that these are all Christian sources. A shortage of Muslim narratives may have led our understanding of the Crusades to suffer from bias.
Third Crusade Results
Finally, we need to look at the results of the Third Crusade and its immediate aftermath. First, we should examine the salient points of the Treaty of Jaffa, the agreement between Richard the Lionheart and Saladin after the Battle of Jaffa in 1192.
- The Crusaders gained the coastal cities of Acre, Asluf, and Jaffa. They also kept their stronghold at Tyre.
- The Muslims kept hold of Jerusalem but allowed Christian pilgrimages to the Holy City, demonstrating an ability to co-exist.
- With Richard falling ill, there was an agreement for a three-year ceasefire.
The Treaty left many wounds of the Third Crusade unhealed, as historian Andrew Lawler suggests.
This agreement infuriated many Christians and Muslims alike. For the next century, the outnumbered Europeans resorted as much to diplomacy as to fighting to regain control of a shrinking piece of land along the coast.5
Thus, the Third Crusade would prove just another chapter in the catalogue of conflicts between the two religions.
Third Crusade - Key takeaways
- When Saladin's Muslim forces recaptured Jerusalem in 1187, Pope Gregory VIII issued a call to arms across the Latin kingdom, asking Christian warriors to engage in the Third Crusade.
- Forces from France, England, and the Holy Roman Empire joined the King of Jerusalem, Guy of Lusignan, in the 1191 Siege of Acre.
- The Crusaders won at Acre and attempted to negotiate with Saladin. Still, the Muslim leader's stubbornness resulted in the ruthless killing of 2,700 Muslim prisoners at the Massacre of Ayyadieh in 1191.
- Richard the Lionheart led the troops to victory at Asluf and Jaffa before negotiating a peace treaty in 1192. This gave the Crusaders the coastal cities in the Kingdom, but Saladin retained control of Jerusalem.
- Neither side was happy with the treaty, though Christians could now worship in Jerusalem. This meant that future conflicts were inevitable.
References
- Sean McGlynn, 'Lionheart's massacre', Medieval Warfare, Vol. 4, No. 5, Theme - Richard I in the Mediterranean (2014), pp. 20-24.
- De Expugatione Terrae Sanctae per Saladinum, [The Capture of the Holy Land by Saladin], ed. Joseph Stevenson, Rolls Series, (London: Longmans, 1875), translated by James Brundage, The Crusades: A Documentary History, (Milwaukee, WI: Marquette University Press, 1962), 159-63.
- William Stubbs, ed., Select Charters of English Constitutional History, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913), p. 189; reprinted in Roy C. Cave & Herbert H. Coulson, A Source Book for Medieval Economic History, (Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Co., 1936; reprint ed., New York: Biblo & Tannen, 1965), pp. 387-388.
- Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis Ricardi, ed. William Stubbs, Rolls Series, (London: Longmans, 1864) IV, 2, 4 (pp. 240-41, 243), translated by James Brundage, The Crusades: A Documentary History, (Milwaukee, WI: Marquette University Press, 1962), 183-84.
- Andrew Lawler, 'Reimagining the Crusades', Archaeology, Vol. 71, No. 6 (November/December 2018), pp. 26-35.
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Frequently Asked Questions about Third Crusade
When was the Third Crusade?
1189-1192.
Why did the Third Crusade fail?
The Third Crusade failed because the Crusader's aim of regaining the Holy City of Jerusalem was not acheived.
Who won the Third Crusade?
Neither side won the Third Crusade, there was a truce between Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in 1192. This left the Christians with coastal areas from Tyre to Jaffa, but the Muslims retained Jerusalem.
What happened in the Third Crusade?
The Latin and European Christians attempted to reclaim the Holy City from Muslims. In the end, they only managed to regain coastal cities such as Acre, Arsluf and Jaffa.
Where was the Third Crusade?
The Third Crusade primarily took place in the Levant, the area of the land on the east of the Mediterranean Sea.
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