History of the Third Crusade - Saladin and Richard the Lionheart

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was then succeeded by his second son nura din who came to power in aleppo while his brother took mosul nuradin inherited the momentum that his father had started and would carry it to an all-new level hostilities with the crusader states at this time was becoming intense but nura didn't prove that he was truly his father's son a warrior incarnate and some would argue that he was even more ruthless in the same year that he came to power he defeated a crusader attempt to retake odessa in reprisal to those who supported the crusaders in this attempt he destroyed the city's fortifications slaughtered the local armenian christians and sold much of the population into slavery rendering odessa a mere shadow of its former status when the second crusade failed at the walls of damascus it was truly nuradin's chance to prove his dedication to the jihad on june 29th 1149 he destroyed the army of antioch at the battle of vinab his forces managed to kill their prince raymond of antioch and nura din sent his head as a trophy back to the caliph in baghdad this victory over the infidel made noradine the embodiment of holy war to his people many flocked to his banner his army and his prestige grew and thus he rapidly was able to expand his domain mosul would soon come under his control and in 1154 damascus was taken when its weak leader was overthrown when the byzantine emperor manuel the first koninos asserted his control over antioch in 1159 naradin masterfully made an alliance with the eastern romans against the seljuk this effectively secured the sultan's northern border with the byzantine and gave him the initiative to expand his lands further nuridin went to work his primary focus was to secure his hold over syria but far to the south the fatimid caliphate of egypt was falling apart under extremely unstable leadership this of course would come to the attention of king amalerik of jerusalem who sensed in opportunity and so in 1163 the king sent in his army to secure the nile delta as a result the fatimids would become even more divided into rival factions of which one faction invited nuridin to come in and help them against their rivals in exchange for about a third of the annual revenue so in the very same year that the crusaders had invaded egypt 1163 naradan sent in one of his best kurdish generals the man's name was asada din shirka bin shadi but better known as sharka for the next six years in a series of campaigns shirkah fought relentlessly to advance his master nura din's interests in egypt in a tumultuous maelstrom of battle skirmishes backstabbing and rapidly shifting fatimid political alliances circa emerged the victor in january of 1169 he marched into cairo became the vizier and executed all of his opposition though technically still under noradin sharka was now the sole ruler of egypt one of the wealthiest of lands in the medieval age he now had immense wealth had ascended to a position of great power and had an impressive army under his control but then two months later he well died as fate would have it it would be his humble nephew who had followed him through the rigors of the egyptian campaign that would succeed him as vizier this man's name was al-nasir salah al-din yusuf ibn ayub but he would be known to history by another name this man would be known as saladin [Music] saladin was born in 1137 in the city of tikrit on the tigris river but a dispute with the local lord forced his family to move he grew up in the shadow of the crusader states and was still a young boy when odessa fell the struggle for him between islam and christianity was always palpable eventually he and his family settled in damascus where the cosmopolitan nature of the city afforded him an excellent education he was an avid reader extremely intelligent and hungry for knowledge he became well acquainted in many fields astronomy philosophy law theology to name a few james reston in his book warriors of god describes the young man well quote though he was light of build his intelligence his mannerliness his generosity and his piety were noticed in the palace's damascus he was drawn to wine and women in his adolescence but the seriousness of the historical situation eventually impressed him and he renounced these temptations later it would be said that from the education of his sovereign yusuf later known as saladin learned to walk the path of righteousness to act virtuously and to be zealous in waging war against the infidels in the court of damascus the principle of striving in allah's cause was emphasized and the youth took to heart his invocation in the quran those who strive in our cause will surely guide in our way for allah is with those who do right end quote saladin's education would continue now in the field of warfare when he joined the army at the age of 14. two years later in 1163 he would follow his uncle sharka into egypt as ordered by noradin as mentioned before egypt was secured after six years of intense fighting in january of 1169 and shirkah died two months later and by the way by some chroniclers it has been said that poison was involved james reston explains what happened next quote nuridin settled on saladin as his uncle's successor the young soldier was chosen not because of his strengths but because of his perceived weaknesses of his youth and inexperience in truth nuradin didn't want a powerful competitor in cairo and he was certain that he could control his malleable and polite ward in this he would be disappointed end quote the 32 year old new vizier declared his undying loyalty to noradin and set to work supplanting shiite with sunni islam in egypt but under this veneer saladin was already busy implementing his own agenda he systematically raised military forces that were loyal only to him while placing members of his own family in key positions in government he revitalized trade networks and established a substantial fleet in order to better protect the sea lanes of the mediterranean and the red seas by making this move the money began to just pour in making the new vizier immensely rich now with that money saladin became a patron to his people earning their adoration a vast building project was established with a strong emphasis on education schools libraries and even a college were built money was then sent to mecca and medina and so saladin gained even more esteem as being a patron of the holy places of islam but this rising wealth and popularity didn't sit well with naradin who ordered his subordinate to return to damascus immediately saladin however came up with numerous excuses why he couldn't return and reasserted that he was doing nothing but being loyal noredin didn't buy it in 1174 the sultan raised an enormous army with the intent to take back egypt and most likely execute his vizier in the process for saladin it would seem that the game was up i mean after all his rightful lord was marching in at the head of a huge force and he would either have to prove his loyalty or his battlefield prowess but just as nuradin was about to lead his men he became very ill and a few days later on may 15 1174 he died in damascus and his heir by the way was only 11 years old ah opportunity saladin rushed to damascus under the premise of paying respects to a sovereign he arrived in the city in november of 1174 and was welcomed in by the common people as his virtuous reputation preceded him once he got his foot through the gate he went right to work he married nuridin's widow and declared himself the regent to nura den's young heir the youth by the way would die of disease a few years later but not all in the zanget family were happy with this takeover thus saladin mobilized his army and over the next several months conducted a lightning campaign to bring syria or at least most of it under his control this would culminate at the battle of the horns of hama on april 13 1175 where saladin absolutely crushed a zengit army it would not be long after this that he would be recognized by the caliph as being the sultan of both egypt and syria james reston again summarizes the situation really well quote at the age of 38 saladin took power in both damascus and cairo centuries-old divisions evaporated the fatimid caliphate of egypt was finished and with its demise sunnism of the north supplemented shiaism along the nile saladin was declared king of syria and was recognized by the caliph in baghdad saladin would later proclaim when god gave me the land of egypt i was sure that he meant palestine for me as well the dream of a united front against the christians was a reality at last that dream was the christian nightmare for 90 years through skillful alliances and offensives destabilizing raids and strategic castles the latin kingdom had kept its enemies off balance the survival of the latin kingdom would now depend on its internal discipline and its military skill end quote in the very same year that saladin had seized the throne as syria 1174 the rather belligerent king amalerika jerusalem died a dysentery he was succeeded by king baldwin iv who at the time was in his early teens and afflicted with leprosy when the sultan had better secured his hold over syria by beating back the zengud dynasty he sensed a ripe opportunity to attack and to pay back the crusaders for staging multiple raids into his territory saladin marshaled his forces and invaded the kingdom of jerusalem in 1177 but baldwin iv proved he was both an intelligent and effective leader saladin may have had a larger force but he made a rare mistake of underestimating his enemy and dispersed his troops the young king despite being outnumbered managed to catch saladin by surprise through deft maneuvering on november 25th 1177 baldwin iv won a spectacular victory and crushed the muslim army at the battle of montesgard saladin was nearly killed in the fray and only through sheer luck did he make it back to cairo but he left his army devastated behind him however the sultan was not done he would rally his men and over the next three years would continue to fight and would win several victories over the latins eventually in 1180 both sides were exhausted with war and in the setting of a severe drought agreed to a two-year truce but this piece would be precarious at best and when it ended hostilities began almost immediately in 1183 saladin managed to take aleppo this victory made him arguably the most powerful man in the levant and gave him the initiative to attack the crusader states from along the entire front with syria and also from egypt it was only the resolve of the crusader high command that kept the sultan's attacks in check but this too would not last in 1185 baldwin iv died before he passed he was able to secure a four-year truce with the sultan saladin who was dealing with the last zengud stronghold in mosul readily agreed but baldwin iv didn't have a direct heir he was succeeded by his nephew baldwin v who was only a child and died the next year therefore the throne of jerusalem would go to baldwin's sister sebilla who shortly thereafter crowned her husband ghee of lucino gee was the son of a minor lord in western france he was banished from his land at an early age and took to crusading more to escape than for religious obligation but the man had an eye for opportunity in an 1180 he married sebilla which turned out to be a good move a mere six years later he found himself king of jerusalem and this just in time to face the gathering storm of an all-out war that would soon be upon him when we last left renault de chateaune he was groveling at the feet of emperor emmanuel the first comninos if you recall this was antioch in 1159 after his barbarous raid of byzantine cyprus some people would perhaps at this point rethought their actions but this man didn't the very next year while raiding again this time in the anti-taurus mountains he was captured by neurodense men and thrown into prison in aleppo where he'd reside for the next 16 years now little is known of his time and imprisonment but it's probably safe to say that he nursed his hatred of all things muslim after being released he made his way to jerusalem where he began to make allies quickly he was king baldwin's second in command at the battle of montesgard where saladin's impressive army was annihilated renault gained the reputation of being a fierce warrior and would bring the fight to his enemies in 1183 he even built a fleet of ships to raid muslim ports in the red sea with the intent to attack mecca and burn the kaaba to the ground however he really wouldn't come close his fleet was eventually destroyed by saladin's navy later from a political standpoint reynald would become one of the biggest supporters of gee of lucion's ascension he obviously backed the right horse he would become king and renald found himself lord of one of the most formidable castles in the crusader kingdom the fortress of carrack the fortress was nearly impregnable it had been besieged numerous times but to little avail and as it turned out it was the perfect spot to retire to after a hard day of well raiding and pillaging strategically it lay on the pilgrimage route between damascus and mecca so when baldwin iv and saladin agreed to a truce caravans began to make their way past the imposing carrack on a regular basis which was simply too tempting for renal to pass up he broke the peace attacked the convoys which in turn incited the anger of the sultan meanwhile the king of jerusalem knew that the crusader states were in a precarious position being nearly surrounded by the sultan's empire baldwin iv knew that the truce was critical to survival he severely admonished renald for his raids but this really didn't do much and when baldwin iv died renald only intensified his attacks it was in early 1187 that an especially rich caravan was making its way from cairo to damascus the leader of this convoy had faith in the truce so the caravan itself was only lightly armed thus when renault attacked it he had no difficulty capturing it its riches were confiscated and its people were imprisoned however as it would turn out one of the prisoners that renault took that day just happened to be the sister of saladin restin and warriors of god relates saladin's response quote when word of this outrage reached saladin his fury settled into a smoldering resolve he sent a message to shation where are the covenants return what you have taken shout to you on cast aside the message in contempt the sultan in response renewed his promise that when god put this villain into his hands he would kill him with those same hands to the newly crowned king of jerusalem meaning gui of lusignon the sultan protested the outrage the king was reminded of the truce that had been solemnly struck with his predecessor he demanded a return of the caravan and all of its wealth and the release of its prisoners the sultan found a receptive audience chateaune's actions profoundly shocked the new king and he insisted that the prince of kerak make restitution bashatiyan refused to surrender his spoils he responded by saying just as he is the lord of his land i am the lord of my land i have no truth with the arabs and thus with that one action the fragile latin kingdom of jerusalem was divided and the powerful sultan was provoked chateaune's treachery had elevated saladin's prestige throughout his empire and had made his cause righteous a chain reaction had begun end quote from across his vast empire now known as the ayubid saladin assembled his army in may of 1187 he attacked and destroyed a crusader force at the battle of cressen the latin knights fell for a classic feigned retreat and nearly the entire force was wiped out this would be a decisive ayubid victory but it would pale in comparison to what would happen next in the heat of the summer of 1187 saladin attacked again bringing in an estimated 30 000 men his plan was to lure the crusaders into a fight on ground of his choosing the latin knights on the other hand had a score to settle after their defeat at cressen saltadon deployed his scouts and determined the location of his enemy once he found them he set up a means to lure them in he laid siege to the city of tiberias which he would later take when the king of jerusalem guillotinone heard about the fall of tiberius he marched his best troops right in and it should be mentioned that these troops marked the bulk of what the crusader states actually had however ghee of lusinhon going against some of his own council's advice rashly moved his men through arid lands that simply didn't have enough water in his haste to attack the muslims he didn't even give his men enough time to replenish with the little water that they found dehydration would setting quickly slowing his advance the sultan meanwhile kept his men back and well supplied saladin would later send in his horse archers to harass the crusader column and at night raids were deployed to deprive gee and his men asleep to make the situation even worse the sultan would set dry grass ablaze to produce smoke in order to choke the latin host on july 4th 1187 saladin sensed it was the right time to attack on the slopes of an extinct volcano with twin peaks known as the horns of hattin saladin managed to achieve complete encirclement of the exhausted and dehydrated crusaders that day he won his masterpiece victory known as the battle of hatin he demolished the flower of the crusader states and captured its king when the battle was over he brought ghee of lusinyon and renault de chateaune before him to the king in jerusalem he offered amnesty giving him a cup of iced rose water but for renault de chateaune this would be his last day it was later recorded that solidan offered renald the chance to convert and when this was refused the sultan true to his word drew his sword and beheaded renald on the spot the army of the kingdom of jerusalem was now eliminated the crusader states were now essentially helpless though they still possessed a bunch of cities fortresses and castles there simply was not enough manpower left to defend them saladin's next move was clear he captured a bunch of crusader territory in order to complete an encirclement of what was to be his greatest prize it was now time for the city of jerusalem itself to come under a powerful siege by the sultan and his ayubit army [Music] the siege began on september 20th 1187 just a few months after the battle of hattin in what would be a last-ditch effort the meager defenses of the city were strengthened by balian avilin balian had been in charge of the rear guard at the battle of hattin but had managed to escape the carnage however once in charge of the city he put up an intense defense that dragged down for two weeks his resolve exhausted the sultan's army and brought both sides to the negotiating table james reston explains how this all went down quote balian was advised to sue for peace he sent an emissary to saladin stating his readiness to talk at first saladin was uninterested my wise men say that jerusalem can only be cleansed with christian blood he said bitterly then he reminded the ambassadors of what had happened 88 years before my counsel tells me to take revenge for the muslims whom godfrey slew in the streets and even in the temple thus a second embassy was sent and turned away and finally a third came led by balian himself to plead with saladin to name his own conditions for the surrender in return for the city balian asked amnesty for the people of jerusalem to which solid and growled neither amnesty nor mercy for you tomorrow will make us your masters we shall kill and capture you and reduce the poor and the women to slavery at this terrifying threat balian kept his wits and delivered his counter threat if we must despair of your mercy if we are sure there is no escape we shall seek death like men we shall hurl ourselves at you we shall cast ourselves into the fire above all we shall not dishonor ourselves no one will be wounded until he has wounded ten men himself we will kill every muslim prisoner in our hands and we have thousands we shall tear up the rock and leave you to enjoy the grief of losing it we will burn the houses and pull down the dome and leave you the shame of reducing us the slavery balian then paused for effect what advantage do you gain from this ungenerous spirit you sultan stand to lose everything end quote balian was right and the sultan knew it in the end saladin offered terms that were generous these were agreed to and thus on october 2nd 1187 the city of jerusalem once the capital of the crusader states was formally surrendered with the capture of jerusalem saladin's jihad was complete his army however would not stop there the rest of the levant was slowly taken as one crusader city and stronghold was taken it was only the city of tyre which managed to hold out it became the rally point for what was left of the kingdom of jerusalem saladin would lay siege to the city but was unable to take it eventually he had more pressing matters in the east to deal with but leaving tyre behind would come back to haunt the sultan regardless saladin had assured his place in history james reston again eloquently brings all of this into perspective quote saladin remains a preeminent hero of the islamic world it was he who united the arabs who defeated the crusaders who recaptured jerusalem and who threw the european invaders out of arab lands on the bars of a small dimly lit cell in the old city of jerusalem where saladin lived humbly after his grand conquest is the inscription god prophet liberator such is saladin's relation to the muslim god end quote if the fall of odessa had taken europe as a shock the fall of jerusalem would rocket to its very core when the byzantine empire heard of the defeat of their co-religionists there was unfortunately very little that they could do as mentioned before with the death of manuel the first coninos in 1180 the comedian restoration would effectively come to an end in 1183 the government would be taken by andronicus the first komninos in a coup the man had absolutely no love for western europe and its culture a far cry from his predecessor his reign began with a massacre of the latins that were living in constantinople again many of those that were slaughtered were venetians something by the way that venice would not easily forget andronicus employed harsh measures and to his credit he was able to severely curb corruption but his hard-line approach spilled over into tyranny the man gained the reputation of using extreme and bizarre cruelty to keep his people in line as the years progressed it was whispered that his mind was eroding he was becoming mad and the latter part of his rule became a reign of terror finally in 1185 his people had had enough and rose up in rebellion the emperor was captured as he attempted to flee the city in the end he reaped what he sowed he was publicly tortured for three days before being hung upside down in the hippodrome and two latin soldiers bayoneted him with their swords till he died [Music] from that moment onwards the eastern empire began to fragment and descend into a new dark age byzantium would now have to sit on the sidelines but in western europe the response to the fall of jerusalem would be met very differently on october 29 1187 pope gregory viii would issue a papal bull calling for a new crusade to fight the ayubid sultan the response was once again very impressive frederick barbarossa the emperor the holy roman empire mobilized a vast army and began to march philip ii the king of france also heeded the call but there was another that took up the cross as well the king of england had also committed to the cause he was known as richard the first he would prove to be a master of warfare a true contender for the great sultan of the east his battlefield exploits would gain him the name the lionheart the stage was now set for two of the greatest generals in history to go head to head the third crusade had begun [Music] near the western coast of france about 80 miles north of bordeaux lies the fortress of talaburg it was built from the ground up to be unconquerable its position high on a cliff was unapproachable from three sides the fourth side had a triple wall with a triple trench and it bristled with redundant strong points and fortifications this was a kobayashi maru a no win scenario for anyone who was foolish enough to attempt to take it by force many had tried only to walk away with a new lesson in humility but then in 1179 a new challenger arrived his name by the way was richard in his life he would gain many names among them was richard the first also known as well the king of england [Music] he was born in 1157 son to king henry ii of england and the favorite to the crusader queen eleanor of aquitaine from whom he would receive the dna of crusading fervor from an early age he showed great skill in politics and all things military he was renowned for his courage and his sense of chivalry he was going to really need this growing up in the tumultuous environment of western europe his life would be dedicated to war he learned quickly that to accomplish an objective would sometimes require absolute brutality yet his mind possessed a rare gift of military brilliance his ability in both grand strategy and battlefield tactics was far beyond his time as richard gazed upon the great fortress that now lay before him he knew that an extended siege would only deplete his men and resources however his keen mind like many outstanding generals in history had already learned that brute force paled in comparison to the power of subterfuge movement and audacity which served as a force multiplier furthermore if he was going to fight he would be the one to choose the method in which it would be executed thus he sent his men out to scavenge the surrounding countryside for spoils but he made them use a scorched earth tactic every day the defenders of taylor borg would watch their countryside being ravaged in flame [Music] richard could have cared less for the spoils that he procured this was not really his goal rather he guessed correctly i might add that the defenders were getting complacent in their strong defensive positions and would be quick to anger at the carnage they were now forced to watch richard meanwhile put on a show of deception only lighting a few campfires at night concealing his men and always made them ride single file to hide their numbers it worked the defenders opened their gates and launched a counter-attack into what they thought was a desperate opponent but this was exactly what richard was hoping for he had set up an ambush routed the incoming attack and then chased the retreating men back through the open gates of their own fortress within two days richard was the master the fortress of talaburg he had won the no win scenario as james rests in in his book warriors of god would say his reputation grew to continental proportions now with this victory the nobles of aquitaine fell into line as nobody wanted to mess with such a powerful and cunning warrior indeed his french campaigns would even cause some to claim that the man had the heart of a lion go figure his exploits were gaining him a fierce reputation but for richard this would be nothing more than a warm-up [Music] western europe at this time was heavily divided france was ruled by the capacian dynasty and england was under the angevins henry ii had taken normandy and then acquired aquitaine after marrying eleanor who was previously married to the french king louis vii though the angevins were technically vassals to the french capetians they were now more powerful which was both awkward and would lead to years of warfare however there was considerable discord within the angevins themselves as henry ii richard and almost all of his brothers would almost consistently be fighting one another in a dizzying array of shifting alliances richard at one point would be at his father's feet begging for forgiveness and a few years later be trying to overthrow him henry ii on several different occasions came very close to disowning richard altogether and as henry's animosity grew he even put his eldest son in heir also named henry to the task of bringing richard down but in 1183 that would all change james reston explains quote richard's older brother henry took ill in june of 1183 and died in one swoop henry ii's plans were dashed his air was gone the insurgents of aquitaine had lost their champion and the villain himself the independent indomitable ruthless richard now stood as henry's eldest son an heir to the english throne end quote but make no mistake this by no means would cease hostilities between father and son in fact it would take something really big to even have a chance to disrupt their ongoing struggle and this is where fate would intervene far to the east in the embattled holy land of the levant syria and egypt had been unified into a powerful empire known as the ayubid by the sultan al-nasir salah al-din yusuf ibn ayub but he was also known as saladin in early july of 1187 the sultan had crushed the army of jerusalem at the battle of hatin and a few months later in october had captured jerusalem itself after this he would go on to essentially destroy most of the crusader kingdom news of this disaster shocked western europe and in november of 1187 pope gregory viii announced a new crusade to recapture the holy city and drive the great sultan from what had once been the kingdom of jerusalem the call to crusade was in richard's blood that and of course an insatiable appetite for glory he was among the very first to take up the cross which he did in december of 1187 and this in turn would put considerable peer pressure on the kings of england and france to do likewise indeed on january 21 1188 the kings of england and france met at the city of jizor and announced their commitment to the crusade by the way was here that the idea of a salad in tax or tithe to pay for the campaign was created with the added caveat that if you went on crusade you didn't have to pay the tax which would turn out to be an excellent tool for recruitment however negotiations during this conference would break down and the details of logistics would never be worked out this did not deter richard for a bit his yearning to go east was as vibrant as ever but before he could go on crusade he would still have to deal with the ongoing war with his own father and to do this he would require an ally philip ii would be known as philip augustus was the son of the french crusader king louis vii in 1179 louis had an attack of paralysis and feared for his own death which prompted him to crown his son who was only 15. on november 1st 1179 philip that is philip augustus if you please became the next king of the capitian dynasty 11 months later louis died in 1180 making philip the sole ruler of france the man would have his hands full from the get-go as the ongoing conflict between england and france would persist thus after the conference of jizor in 1188 had broken down philip saw an opportunity with richard to strike at the english king and to possibly destabilize the angevin dynasty in the process richard and philip made an alliance combine their forces and fought henry ii across normandy and deep into france [Music] the aging and vulnerable henry ii was no match his son's onslaught backed up by the french king was simply too much in early july of 1189 after being repeatedly defeated henry ii had to come to terms he announced richard as his heir before his health completely failed him on july 6th james reston describes his final scene quote richard knelt by his father's deathbed and wept for he was not proud of his hostile actions against his own father and they would haunt him for the rest of his life [Music] henry was unmoved he turned his head to his son and spewed out his last venom god grant that i may not die until i've had a fitting revenge on you this was the last gasp of a dying man he was carried off where he passed away a few days later later richard appeared at the funeral and was overcome with grief and guilt it was said by a chronicler that when the sun approached his father blood burst from the nostrils of the corpse this was a sinister and terrifying miracle which suggested that richard had somehow killed his own father end quote after the death of his father richard briefly traveled to england in westminster on september 3rd 1189 he was crowned richard the first king of england from that moment onwards he dedicated himself heart and soul into the monstrous task of organizing the crusade the saladin tithe was imposed horses from all over the realm were procured ships built and an army raised being the astute general that he was richard painstakingly prepared and then prepared again after all he knew that all war was governed by the ironclad rule of logistics and he planned accordingly to support his cause vast sums of money were raised it was even remarked that the english king would have sold london if only you could find a buyer philip ii did likewise and mobilized an impressive army as well in early july of 1190 nearly a year to the day of henry ii's death the two kings and their impressive armies set out from the city of vezele but just as resplendent as they were discord was noted a contemporary chronicler would lament quote that immense army glowed with ardor and combined military discipline and good will it could have been invincible to all the world but it was riven with disputes and undermined by internal discord ties a fellowship were violated and a house divided against itself is made desolate end quote the english fleet sailed from dartmouth while richard and his army made their way south to where the men spoke italian eventually after some delay they all arrived at messina in sicily where he met up with philip but these two crusader kings would not be alone another powerful ruler had also taken up the cross [Music] frederick barbarossa was a veteran of the second crusade as he had accompanied his uncle the german king conrad iii in asia minor he witnessed how powerful a seljuk attack could be and at the walls of damascus he watched as the second crusade failed he had absolutely no intention of repeating those mistakes to his credit barbarossa was both an impressive military commander and a clever ruler this man had the diplomatic finesse of an otto von bismarck the tactical skill of a frederick the great and the strategic insight of an eric von manstein when he became emperor of the holy roman empire in 1155 he had to aggressively exploit these abilities the holy roman empire was a massive domain but heavily fractured and prone to repeated rebellion however barbarossa campaigned for decades and managed to unite the empire as never before thus when the third crusade was preached in 1187 he was in a position that he could go east he waited at first to see what his colleagues in the west would do and then on may 27 1188 he declared his intentions to go on crusade and then set out at the head of a grand army that was well provisioned and guided with german efficiency now it should be noted that more than a decade before this happened he had made a treaty of friendship with saladin his honor as a warrior however mandated that he gave the salt and fair warning of his approach it was even recorded what he said quote now that you have profaned the holy land we will proceed with due vigor against such presumptuous and criminal audacity restore the land which you have seized we shall give you a period of 12 months after which you shall experience the fortune of war the youth of the danube who know not how to flee the towering bavarian the cunning swabian the fiery burgundian you god willing shall learn the might of our victorious eagles and shall experience the anger of germany end quote barbarossa's army according to some sources which could be exaggerated was estimated to be a hundred thousand strong this absolutely sent chills into saladin who began to pull men from other fronts including the siege of acker more on that in a bit to confront this striking new threat the germans made their way across romania and hungary with that incident it was only when they reached the byzantine empire that they met resistance the eastern roman emperor had made an alliance with saladin to block frederick's passage but this didn't even begin to deter barbarossa who blitzed his way across the balkans taking out byzantine strong points in cities along the way by october of 1189 the german emperor stood before constantinople itself he then used gunboat diplomacy to achieve an agreement with the byzantine and crossed into asia minor at the hellespont in february of 1190. over the next few months barbarossa drove his army east his forces clashing with the seljuk repeatedly the celtric were able at times to inflict serious casualties the germans were able to give as well as receive in may of 1190 they routed a major celtic army and later in that same month they were able to take the seljuk capital of iconium stripping it of its treasury the seljuk would pull back as the german host made its way into armenian cilicia but here disaster would strike the tale of what happened next is described in the book warriors of god quote on june 10 1190 under the terrible heat of the dusty plain the german crusaders began to forge a small silicean river called the salif also known as the iron river on their final push into syria broiling in his iron suit of armor the emperor was barking orders in the shallow river amid a team of horses when suddenly the great beasts and then his own horse spooked the emperor was thrown into the water even though the river was no more than hip deep the weight of his armor pulled the emperor down in the shock of the cold water gushing through the crevices of his armor plate across his overheated skin he had a heart attack and drowned the consequence of the emperor's death was catastrophic his army was thrown into chaos and disintegrated almost immediately seeing their opportunity the turks attacked from all sides and the leaderless german soldiers melted into the countryside out of the nearly one hundred thousand men who had made their way through byzantium only about five thousand eventually limped into acker weeks later end quote for the german emperor his army and perhaps even for the entire third crusade june 10th was perhaps not a good day to die the german contingent was essentially no more but far to the west richard and philip were still on their way the king of england and the king of france arrived in the city of messina in sicily in september of 1190 there they would remain for several months as the new king of sicily a man named tankrid proved to be quite hostile he had come to power the year before and had imprisoned the former king of sicily's wife a woman named joan of england she just happened to be richard's sister and if there is ever a lesson to be learned in crusading history you don't mess with somebody's family especially if they are the king or the sultan it didn't take long for richard to subdue the island and put down any rebellion but by then the sailing season had passed the next several months on the island were difficult for both richard and philip animosity between them grew considerably eventually it led to direct confrontation between the two kings but in time they were able to come to some sort of agreement it was decided that they would both continue on crusade but richard would no longer be marrying philip's sister instead richard would now be betrothed to berengaria of navarre but make no mistake the compromise left both men with resentment james rustin explains what happened next quote on march 30th 1191 king philip of france left sicily for the holy land in a pout he left precipitously and unceremoniously since he did not want to suffer the embarrassment of encountering princess berengaria who was replacing his half-sister as richard's betrothed [Music] regardless of his emotional state phillips voyage was smooth and unmarred by mishap and he arrived at accur three weeks later on april 20th in good spirits richard's departure had more fanfare and his voyage more drama with him would go the bulk of the crusader fleet which had swollen to an enormous size over the winter on april 10th the immense flotilla moved out to sea 219 ships in all setting a course due east end quote richard's fleet sailed directly into a storm this dispersed his ships some were destroyed others were able to find safe harbor one portion of the fleet which carried richard's sister joan his fiancee barangaria and most of his treasury arrived at the city of limassol in southern cyprus joan and barangaria were treated exceptionally rude denied entry into the port and were not even given fresh water richard's treasury by the way was also taken the man responsible was a byzantine emperor named isaac komninos he would soon regret these actions the byzantine empire at this time was in a really sad state its last golden age known as the comedian restoration was over a dark age had begun and was only getting worse in 1180 manuel the first combinos the last of the good emperors of the comedian restoration died the despotic xenophobic some would say mad andronicus the first conninos would cease power a few years later andronicus reign began with a massacre of the latins that were living in constantinople men women and children from the west numbering in the thousands were slaughtered in the streets the rest of andronicus's time and power would descend into a reign of terror which culminated with the emperor being executed in the hippodrome a new dynasty would come to power in 1185 they were known as the angelos john julius norwich in a short history of byzantium lovingly describes them quote of all the families that reigned over byzantium the angelai were the worst their supremacy was mercifully short the three angelus emperors isaac the second alexis iii and alexis iv altogether reigned only 19 years but each was disastrous and together they were responsible for constantinople's greatest catastrophe end quote isaac comninos was manual the first brother though he was the eldest he had been passed over for the lead spot instead he served his brother well in administration but in 1180 he was captured by the armenians he was then imprisoned in chains for many years where he grew hateful and developed a phobia for chains he was released in 1185 but he knew that he would be a target for the new regime in constantinople however as the byzantine empire continued to weaken under the angelus dynasty isaac found an opportunity in cyprus he took the island broke off from the eastern empire declared himself his own emperor and fended off a seabourn attack from constantinople from that time onwards he ruled the island like a vicious tyrant his people suffered immensely under his rule on may 6th of 1191 richard and a good portion of his fleet arrived at the harbor at limassol isaac come ninos watched the arrival but he figured he was in a commanding position as he had numerical superiority in terms of troops richard was angry at the foul treatment that isaac had dished out he demanded the release of any prisoners the return of his money and he promised that with that they would simply be on their way however isaac dismissed him stating to the effect that he was an emperor and would have nothing to do with just a mere king in retrospect he might have chosen his words just a bit more carefully with this response richard donned his armor grabbed his weapon and on cue is mended likewise looking back at his men the king gave one simple command follow me and with that the crusaders made their way ashore the emperor sent in his more numerous troops who at first were able to mount the decent defense but overall they were poorly trained richard on the other hand with his well-disciplined more experienced knights brought their crossbows to bear and began to mow down their opponents without remorse the byzantine army broke and then were routed in fact richard attempted to hunt down the emperor on horse but isaac komninos managed to escape james rustin explains the pursuit that followed quote very early on the following morning the king and 50 knights trotted out gingerly five miles to the east near a castle called colosse where isaac had regrouped and was ready for a fight even in the glow of dawn with the camp asleep the local force looked daunting one company clerk was bold enough to whisper to the king sire it appears to be a wise plan to decline a battle with so large and so powerful a multitude young man you best confine yourself to your writing the king snapped and leave the war to us end quote richard was vastly outnumbered but what he lacked in manpower he compensated for with the element of surprise james wreston continues with the king's version of a wake-up call quote the engagement at colossae was swift violent and short the charge of the smaller force into the slumbering encampment dispatched the multitude it was later reported that richard chased the emperor in all of his imperial nakedness through the war in the tents however in whatever undignified state the emperor managed to hightail it on his magnificent yellow arabian stallion and fled through the trodos mountains towards necosia end quote with isaac driven off richard returned to limassol there he took the castle and converted it into his base of operations while he waited for his fleet to arrive with more reinforcements on may 11th of 1191 gee of lucino arrived with a hundred and sixty nights gee was now the deposed king of jerusalem he was the man who led his army to destruction at the battle of hot teen in 1187 saladin had released them in 1189 not so much out of goodwill but rather to sow political disunity within the crusader ranks ghee had come directly from the trenches of the siege of akker which at that time was well into its second year he explained that philip augustus had already arrived and was even then making an alliance with conrad of mont ferrat against him conrad by the way was the lord and defender of the last christian stronghold the city attire and he was in no mood to share any power with gee thus ghee of lusegnan needed to counterbalance this threat so he pledged his loyalty to richard and urged that he come to the levant as soon as possible but richard still had unfinished business to contend with the very next day on may 12 1191 with his beachhead secured the english king married berengaria of navarre it was more so a political move to secure his allies back in western europe the emperor isaac conninos made a surprise appearance at the wedding and begged the king for forgiveness which was given but that very night isaac had a change of heart he fled the royal ceremony to necosia where he declared war against the latins richard at this point had had enough he didn't have time to placate any fool he needed a decisive move and his answer was well to take the entire island richard first and foremost divided his navy into two groups the first group was to sweep around the western part of the island destroying the emperor's navy and seizing ports along the way the second part of his navy did exactly the same thing except around the eastern part of cyprus cutting off any path that isaac may have had to flee richard then placed ghee of lusinhon in charge of the army for the next several days richard's army chased the emperor from one of his strong points to the next the two armies actually met at a pitched battle known as premathusa but this wasn't even a contest isaac was defeated and had to run for his life once again this time it was to his last stronghold the fortress of kantara but even here he wasn't able to hold his ground at the tip of the carpus peninsula surrounded by richard's army and navy isaac was finally captured he fell to the king's feet and graveled with everything that he had begging that no matter what happens he should never be placed in iron chains again as his phobia to them was now pathological richard agreed no more iron chains instead he had silver chains created as probably befitting an emperor and then sent isaac back into imprisonment isaac komninos would be the last byzantine emperor of cyprus in time gee of lusinhon would be given the island by richard and gee and his descendants would rule the island for centuries cyprus was now a perfect base of operations it had fertile fields good cities and exceptional ports indeed the port city of famagusta had an excellent harbor and received goods from three continents the island now secured would be a constant source of provisions logistically richard was in a better position than ever before it was now time for richard to complete his crusader oath on june 5th 1191 his navy and his men embarked from famagusta their destination was the embattled city of acker a chronicler of the third crusade would describe it as quote if a ten-year war made troy celebrated if the triumph of the christian made antioch more illustrious acker will certainly obtain eternal fame as a city for which the whole world contended end quote acker was in stalemate for nearly two years the christian besiegers were unable to take the city and yet saladin and his army were unable to dislodge the crusaders on june 8 1191 richard arrived at the city and was eager to tip the scales of war in his favor as he came upon the battlefield and assumed command of all forces the king must have felt some sense of destiny and perhaps he wasn't alone the great contest between king and sultan richard and saladin two indomitable men both masters of war had now begun [Music] [Music] in july of 1187 an italian ship made its way across the mediterranean towards the kingdom of jerusalem on the foredeck stood a tall formidable man gazing at the horizon he was a nobleman born in northwest italy to a family renowned for their fortitude on the battlefield he himself was no stranger to war since a youth he was trained in combat and he had fought alongside his siblings on several campaigns eventually he came into the employment of the byzantine emperor isaac ii angelos though he had distinguished himself in imperial service he felt that his compensation was lacking what's more his brother had died under somewhat dubious circumstances in constantinople just a few years prior his relations with the byzantine dramatically soured he became a wanted man he was embroiled in conspiracy and dubbed by some to be a murderer as he was recently widowed he decided to leave the eastern roman empire behind and join his father in the holy land to seek a new fortune this man's name was conrad of montforat he was known for his intelligence his skill as a warrior and in time for his absolute ruthlessness [Music] in mid-july of 1187 his ship came into sight to the city of aker but he could tell right away that something was wrong the church bells were not ringing so instead of sailing into the great harbor of the city a scout was deployed to find out what had happened from the scout conrad learned of the disaster of the battle of hattin he learned that the army of jerusalem was destroyed king ghee captured and the sultan salahuddin had moved quickly to take many cities sidon beirut and even acker which had fallen only a few days prior to his arrival however despite this devastating news he also ascertained that the city of tyre remained in crusader hands and that would be his next destination he traveled north and arrived at tyre just in the nick of time the shattered forces the kingdom of jerusalem had rallied to the city but were in a state of panic conrad assumed command he went to work fortifying the city and organizing the scattered and broken crusaders into nothing less than a viciously effective defense when saladin arrived he expected yet another easy victory instead he met stout resistance led by the marquis de montfort realizing this the sultan brought forth conrad's father and offered him as a bargaining chip if the city was to capitulate from his ramparts conrad bellowed his response tie him to a stake what do i care i shall be the first to shoot him for he is old and worthless at which point the marquis pulled out a crossbow and took a shot at his own father this both horrified and impressed saladin who realized that negotiation was not going to work with this man a full-blown siege with multiple assaults on the city followed but failed this would inspire a muslim chronicler ibn alathir to comment that conrad was a devil incarnate in his ability to defend a town and a man of extraordinary courage the sultan decided that he had more pressing issues after all the city of jerusalem was now surrounded and was ripe for conquest leaving tyre behind however would be a mistake that saladin would soon regret after jerusalem fell in early october of 1187 saladin returned a tire restin in warriors of god covers it well quote in november of 1187 the sultan moved on tire for the second time if he was able to capture this last vestige now he would literally succeed in throwing the christians into the sea since saladin's first assault earlier in that year the able renegade conrad of montforat had been able to strengthen tyre's defenses considerably christian refugees continued to stream into the enclave from jerusalem and other captured places the city was veritably bursting at the seams with the beneficiaries of saladin's tender and ill-advised charity end quote saladin knew that only a combined ground and naval assault could take tyre his men surrounded the city dug entrenchments and began to build siege towers an egyptian fleet was deployed to blockade the harbor however conrad reversed the situation completely during a daring night raid on december 30th he sent in some of his elite soldiers basically medieval navy seals they left the guarded harbor of tyre found and then boarded some of the egyptian ships taking the muslim sailors by surprise the inexperienced crews panicked they ran overboard and then swam for their lives these ships were towed into the harbor quickly manned and then the combined force launched an all-out attack on the sultan's remaining ships for saladin it was a complete fiasco his navy was neutralized the sultan decided to cut his losses in early 1188 he moved on his vast empire after all had enemies on other fronts the defenders attire meanwhile were jubilant conrad was a hero the sultan now needed a new strategy gee of lusinyon had been saladin's prisoner since the battle of hatin his kingdom of jerusalem now only existed in his mind the sultan figured he was harmless he should have thought harder gee after all being of the race of men above all else desired power soliden figured he could use this motivation to his benefit and release them figuring his presence would undermine conrad's authority the sultan however did make ghee promise never to raise arms again and eventually leave the holy land ghee was set loose and immediately broke his promise he appeared before tyre demanding the city he was after all king conrad would have nothing to do with the man and barred him entry gee however was not done yet as reinforcements came into the city from the west he lured them to his side by summer of 1189 he had the loyalty of 700 nights the backing and the templars and an army of nine thousand men it would seem that the sultan had made another mistake and this was quickly realized as ghee marched his new army south [Music] in august of 1189 he arrived at acker acker was one of the most important cities in the levant a bustling cosmopolitan town with a thriving market and an impressive port that made it one of the most vital gateways to the holy land gee moved his army right in and settled down for a siege saladin was fighting on multiple fronts but he deployed a portion of his army to relieve the city but by the time they got there it was too late the crusaders had created a double entrenchment one facing the city and the other protecting their rear they had become besiegers and besieged alike both sides then brought in reinforcements fresh crusaders arriving by sea and the sultan's men from the lands of his empire over the next several months well into october a massive tug of war ensued one attack followed by counter-attack christian and muslim casualties were extensive but the battle lines were set and each month the fortifications only got stronger it had become stalemates in a prolonged one at that indeed the siege of hacker would be one of the longest in crusading history james rustin summarizes it really well quote in 1191 as richard the lionheart of england and philip augustus of france arrived in sicily for the trip to the holy land they knew this tyre remained in christian hands as a toehold but its arrogant lord the marquee of mon farat could not be counted upon for his support frederick barbarossa was dead and his army had dissolved in asia minor for nearly a year and a half acker had been under siege but the siege's commander was the weak king ghee whose legitimacy was undermined by his poor judgment and incompetence end quote the crusader high command at this point was heavily divided when philip augustus the king of france arrived at acker on april 20th 1191 he sensed the political discord immediately gee of lucinyan's wife sabila who was the queen regent of the kingdom of jerusalem had died the year before she just happened to be ghee's only legitimate claim to the throne sensing an opportunity conrad of montferrat quickly married sabila's sister putting him in line as the next king of jerusalem philip augustus thought this over for a bit and in the end decided to back up conrad ghee meanwhile looking for new allies traveled to cyprus to meet up with richard when he arrived he pledged his loyalty to the english king the division lines were thus set philip and conrad and gee and richard but despite this divisiveness philip was still able to advance the siege by may of 1191 the crusaders had sealed off the city the land entrenchments now spanned over two miles and the latin navy provided a very effective blockade of the harbor richard meanwhile had been delayed on cyprus but not wanting to miss out on any potential for glory in the holy land he decided to well quickly capture the whole island and on june 5th 1191 his contingent departed from famagusta his first order of business was to alleviate the siege of acker richard first stopped entire and was banned by conrad from entering the city so be it he decided to move south on june 7th his fleet came upon a behemoth of a ship the thing was huge three mass multiple levels and hiding in the fog the english king quickly figured out that this was a relief ship sent by saladin it was loaded with provisions and elite troops enough to keep the garrison and actor going for months when discovered the leviathan attempted to escape at which point richard scolded his men saying will you allow this ship to get away untouched and uninjured shame you have become cowards from too much sloth too many victories over weak foes the whole world knows you are in the service of the cross at this admonishment his troops surged forward and launched a frenzied attack when the sun set that day saladin's ship and his hope to resupply his garrison sunk into the waves when the sultan learned that the loss of this immense vessel he lamented oh god i have now lost acker richard arrived the next day on june 8 1191 and assumed command of all crusader forces from that moment onwards he never let up in fact at one point the english king came down with a terrible fever but demanded his men put him on a royal stretcher he was then paraded around while using a crossbow to pick off acker's defenders over the next month the siege continued richard brought in more reinforcements from the sea massive catapults and siege towers were constructed bombardment of the walls intensified and then breaches began to open up saladin also brought in more of his army and would respond by launching attacks against the crusaders from their other front distracting them long enough to allow the garrison of acker to rebuild some of their fortifications but richard knew it was only a matter of time before they would simply be starved out indeed on july 7th the muslim garrison sent a desperate appeal to saladin for help which the sultan was simply unable to answer but to their credit after nearly two years of siege and after loss of their supply and reinforcement the muslim defenders of acker fought one last rave battle to break out on july 11th but it would fail the crusader position was now too strong and thus the very next day on july 12 1191 acker fell richard had won the first round conrad of montferrat had left the siege of akker kind of in a pouty way when he realized that richard had backed up ghee of lusegnon as the next king of jerusalem he was asked by both sides to come back to head negotiations for the release of the muslim garrison which happened to be approximately 2 700 men saladin now knew he was not dealing with an inept leader like gee of lusinhon he needed time to bring in more of his army the sultan purposely stalled negotiations in an attempt to buy this time richard on the other hand had already packed up his siege engines and was preparing the next portion of his campaign the problem were his prisoners of war they were an encumbrance to movement both the sultan and the king knew this so as the talks dragged on into early august richard had had enough he threatened to execute all of his prisoners saladin didn't budge and in my mind i like to think he was trying to call richard's bluff i mean after all no man can be that barbaric right on august 22nd 1191 saladin got his answer the crusader king ordered his prisoners to be tied together paraded to the middle ground within sight of both armies and then one by one along the road to nazareth all 2700 men were beheaded saladin did likewise with his prisoners that he held in damascus and all across the iubit empire other christian prisoners faced torture and persecution the third crusade had now leveled up to a new era of atrocity the time had arrived for richard to move on but even before the massacre at acker he had to contend with problems within his own ranks philip augustus was losing his nerve for war in the holy land richard was being cast as the hero and philip felt as if he was playing second string the rivalry between the two kings had not abated sincerely when richard decided not to marry philip's sister not to mention the quarrel on who should be the next king in jerusalem only intensified their animosity what's more king philip became ill several times by the records it would seem that dysentery was the main cause which to be fair would make anybody lose their enthusiasm on july 22nd just 10 days after the fall of acker philip announced his intention to return to france a delegation was sent to the english king asking for pardon to leave richard advised against this but philip was not deterred reston explains quote on july 29th 1191 a week after his shocking notice of betrayal philip again sought richard's official blessing to leave having no choice and perhaps glad to be shed of his faint-hearted companion richard could only extract a promise under no circumstance was the french king to do harm to any of richard's land in europe thus disgraced reviled and considerably poorer than he had been just a few days before the king of france skulked out of the holy land with five ships two of which had to be borrowed from richard end quote of the three kings who had ventured out from their homeland to bring war to saladin only richard now remained the english king's mind went to work taking in the grand strategic situation saladin on one end had plentiful resources at his disposal in terms of manpower and material but he didn't have command to the sea the sultan had also adopted a scorched earth policy in order to deprive richard of any potential resources he'd even gone so far as to level several coastal cities including haifa and caesarea meanwhile richard needed to expand his beachhead his first order of duty was to rebuild acker the city's fortifications were restored and the port once again bristled with activity as more supplies were brought in richard then took the time to train and reorganize his men in line with his character he even held a jousting tournament when he felt ready he and his army moved out under the close scrutiny of saladin scouts they reported to the sultan that the crusader army moved cautiously taking their time keeping formation stopping at rivers to replenish their water and making it a point to rest all the while the king's great armada provided naval support which negated saladin's policy of destroying all the crops within 15 days the army had moved just 60 miles to the south within range of the old crusader fortress of arsenal this was going to be a serious problem for saladin if richard could not be stopped here he could take jaffa just six miles to the south jaffa was a major port which brought in supplies directly to jerusalem thus with the city under crusader control richard would finally have the ability to move inland on jerusalem itself saladin decided to act just north of arsafe was a wooded region one of the few in palestine it was bordered by a small river known as the river of reeds this was a perfect place for an ambush on september 3rd richard's army arrived at the forest the sultan maneuvered his men in for the kill but just before hostilities broke out a delegation arrived at the sultan's camp wanting to talk saladin took this seriously he deployed his brother to handle the negotiations but the talks faltered and it soon became clear to the sultan that this was all a ruse in order to give richard time to move while the negotiations were going on the english king had moved his army beyond the river of reeds through the forest and was even then on the march south richard was making his way towards the relative safety of arsev but his army was at that point traversing a large open field flanked by hills and woods to the east as expected saladin was beyond ticked off he didn't want to waste any more time on september 7th 1191 he sent his army in the crusader army was estimated to be about 11 000 strong the muslim force outnumbered them and was estimated to be about 25 000. richard maneuvered his men nearly on the coastline on his march south in order to protect his right flank he then deployed his men into three lines the baggage crane was closest to the coast along with his archers and crossbowmen the next line was his heavy cavalry with the templars and his own native warriors taking up the vanguard and the hospitalers defending the rear the final line which was furthest from the coast consisted of his heavy infantry they were deployed in such a way that they would be essentially facing perpendicular to the line of march this way they would create a solid wall against an attack coming from the land basically a long shield of men saladin took a position in the center of his men on the wooded hills overlooking the coast he allowed richard and his men to march a few miles down the road hoping that the heat of the day would fatigue the crusaders then with a single command he unleashed a portion of his cavalry which poured out of the high ground estimated to be over ten thousand horsemen strong it was a well-coordinated charge that came down to richard's army and slammed into his infantry the main point of impact came on the rear of richard's line this forced the infantry and the mounted hospitalers to be compressed into a smaller and smaller space an eyewitness at the time with lament our people so few in numbers were hemmed in by the multitudes of the arabs they had no means of escape even if they had wanted one they were shut in like a flock of sheep in the jaws of wolves with nothing but the sky above and the enemy all around the muslims continued to press the attack but the well-armored crusader infantry made progress difficult instead saladin's men would target the crusaders horses hoping to decrease any potential for counter-attack saladin's forces pressed the offensive further they even got around to the rear of richard the line threatening another flank the situation for the crusaders at this point was looking really bad the master of the hospital's sensing desperation sent word to the king we are violently pressed in by the enemy my lord we're in danger of eternal infamy if we do not dare to return their blows each of us is losing our horses why should we bear the shame any further we must attack to which the king responded something akin to i find your lack of faith disturbing though he was actually recorded by history as saying patience good master it is you who must resist their attack no one can be everywhere at once the line must hold in richard's mind he was hoping to make it to the relative safety of ourselves but his greatest fear was for a portion of his line to break off on its own charge maintaining formation was everything but then everything took on a life of its own james rustin explains quote the spark came from two knights a marshal of the hospital and a flemish knight and boone companion of richard without authorization they burst through the protecting line of infantry shouting an invocation to saint george and began to attack the attackers instantly as if a stretched rubber band had snapped the infantry line parted and the rest of the hospitals charged the commander had no choice but to follow the charge of the rear guard spread quickly to the center and then to the vanguard of the templars it was as if this brilliant dynamic strategy had been planned all along in the center and as if on cue without the king lifting his hand or a trumpet sounding a single order the cavalry charge became general the effect of this rolling wave was devastating the muslim ranks broke in terror and general confusion the front line of the muslim attackers who were pressed in close and who had dismounted from their horses were totally cut down an eyewitness would say their bearded heads like thick as swathes at harvest time and the soldiers behind them fled in disarray end quote richard used the charge to his advantage he was seen by the sultan leading his men directly into saladin's right flank which broke and then into his center which also broke a muslim scribe would later write the route was complete though being outnumbered richard had won the battle of arsenal his casualties were about 700 the muslims suffered an order of magnitude higher saladin up on the hill looking down at the battlefield was in total disbelief he had lost an acker he had now lost at arsev and as a result he had lost considerable standing amongst his emirs however despite these casualties his army was otherwise intact what's more from a strategic level he could easily guess what the crusaders would do next however saladin would never again risk another pitched battle with the english king the sultan would go back to adopt his prior policy of hit-and-run tactics and depriving richard of resources this also meant the destruction of cities and fortresses that may assist in the crusader cause thus when the crusader army arrived at jaffa on september 9th they found it destroyed to the south the even more vibrant port of ascalon was also raised to the ground the destruction of ascalon by the way was an especially difficult decision for saladin it was the hinge of his empire the city that united egypt and syria but without ascalon and jaffa the sultan knew that richard would not be able to move inland rapidly saladin would use this time to reorganize his forces and to destroy all forts and resources on the path to jerusalem the effect of this destruction was evident richard was now stuck at jaffa and needed to secure his logistics for nearly the next two months the crusaders went to work rebuilding the city it wasn't until late october of 1191 that richard began to slowly move towards the holy city he moved cautiously retaking strong points that were destroyed by saladin and painstakingly restoring them all the while the two commanders would send their men into skirmishing actions against one another diplomacy was also employed at one point richard offered his sister's hand in marriage to saladin's brother this was under the premise of a combined kingdom which as can be imagined really didn't work out richard and his army inched forward from one ruined fortress to the next then winter came bringing miserable conditions of rain hail harsh winds the roads turned into mud progress was hampered and some of the latin knights even began to starve in january of 1192 the crusader army reached the old fortress of bait nuba just 12 miles from jerusalem but here richard and his council determined that it would be folly to go further logistics were poor and saladin's army lay somewhere waiting for the opportunity to strike the decision was made to retreat strategically of course with the intention to take ascalon and rebuild it when solomon got news of this he was elated that he would hold jerusalem he disbanded his army with the orders for them to return in the spring ready to fight again for the next several months the crusader army meticulously restored ascalon the port could once again be used to bring in goods and the city sat at a perfect location to block incoming supplies from egypt which richard was quickly realizing was the true source of the sultan's power he even tried at one point to convince his men to advance and take cairo but alas their obligations would only be with jerusalem however richard's keen strategic insight would not go unnoticed almost every subsequent crusade would now target egypt first [Music] well into april of 1192 ascalon would grow but because of their retreat crusader morale had collapsed the english king wanting to raise more money improve morale and soothe divisions in his ranks began skillful negotiations he sold the island as cyprus to the templars and reversing his previous stance he grudgingly backed up conrad of monfarat's claim to be the next king in jerusalem conrad by the way up until this point had provided nothing to support richard in the war effort indeed he was even in negotiations with solid in himself but now the marquis would be accommodating and began to mobilize his army to assist the lionheart gee of lusinhon was considerably upset by this but richard kept him in line by giving him lordship over cyprus this delicate situation however was not to last on april 28 1192 entire as conrad of montferrat was walking through the marketplace he was approached by two hooded men one offered the marquis a letter and when conrad reached for it the man pulled out a dagger and stabbed him repeatedly his accomplice did likewise from behind conrad was fatally wounded and died that day it was later discovered that rasheed al-din sanan had arranged the hit the old man of the mountain as he was known to the crusaders was leader of the order of assassins conrad's death threw the delicate political situation into total disarray richard did manage to maintain some semblance of order in southern palestine but it would take him a few months to solidify his hold however during this time in early 1192 the king began to receive dire warnings from his homeland philip augustus was on the march attacking his lands richard's brother john was usurping his power and then word arrived that the two were allying themselves against richard the lionheart knew he might lose his kingdom entirely if he didn't return quickly but his commitment to the crusade came first however he knew he had one chance now to take the holy city the book warriors of god brings us beautifully into perspective quote on june 7th 1192 the crusade was coming to its climax full of joy and expectation the siege force set out from the land of the philistines on the ancient road to jerusalem a sense of purpose filled the air as they moved out of ascalon and across a river of sweetwater into the land of samson the spectacle was magnificent richard led the way on his stallion the king was resplendent confident a giant among ordinary men he reveled in the harmony that at last his righteous cause enjoyed and for a time the attractions of his homeland were laid aside behind him the column was a riot of color a welter of beat dust cloud polished steel and song the banners of eminent european houses of holy orders of nations grand and small fluttered in the wind and blistering heat the trump of a thousand horses was punctuated by the syncopated beat of drum and tambourine the whale of bagpipes sean and crumhorn the sultan took a last desperate measure to deny jerusalem to the enemy he declared that every well was to be poisoned every spring polluted every cistern smashed in a two-mile cordon around the city water had been the key to his great victory at hattine five years before let it be so again on june 24th the great crusader army returned to its forward position at bait nuba again a mere 12 miles from jerusalem the camp was a buzz about the next order when would they move who would have the privilege to be in the vanguard what section of the wall would they attack first and whose flag would be the first to be planted on the parapets however within a few days the mood of the crusader force would sour dramatically what happened to richard the lionheart upon his arrival back at bait nuba no historian has ever adequately explained his command was united the french were finally eager to attack his siege engines were assembled jerusalem was nearly in sight saladin was evacuating the city the franks were confident and primed even the camels seemed to bray their readiness suddenly inexplicably disgracefully the lionheart became faint-hearted glum-faced and disconsolate he went before his barons with a dire assessment of their situation within a day it seems he had concluded that the quest for jerusalem was now hopeless end quote richard's mind had shifted from tactics to grand strategy he knew that he could take jerusalem but he also knew that he could never hold it his conquest would become a salient into enemy territory one that could be cut off from supplies one that would require a tremendous garrison to secure and even then if it was surrounded it would become nothing more than a tomb to his soldiers from bates nuba richard the lionheart retreated once again the situation had devolved into a stalemate the king was unable to conquer inland cities and the sultan was unable to drive the crusaders into the sea but there was still potential for offensive actions however the initiative was now firmly in saladin's hands the sultan watched the crusader army retreat from jerusalem and tracked their movements as richard and his men moved back to acker word eventually came in mid-july that richard was off fighting near beirut this was precisely what saladin had been waiting for he knew the time they'd come to act on july 26 1192 his forces arrived at jaffa a siege commenced the very next day and the fighting became intense while the garrison of the city was able to put up a fierce defense and eventually had to retreat to the citadel however they did manage to get word out to richard for help the king in response quickly gathered 54 nights 500 infantry and 2000 cross bowman and set sail for jaffa six days into the siege richard arrived at jaffa with 35 ships eager to get into the fight and wearing armor that only covered the upper half of his body he jumped into the water and came ashore with his men their assault came directly into the muslim flank the attack came so suddenly and so unexpectedly that saladin's men broke and ran the sultan looked on again with disbelief he outnumbered the king by four to one and yet it was the ayubid soldiers that were running for their lives in the subsequent days saladin regrouped his men east of jaffa and attempted to conceal them in a field for a surprise attack at dawn but as fate would have it a genuine soldier who was out for a morning walk discovered them when alerted of this incoming attack richard took his badly outnumbered troops and created a wall of long spikes that he drove into the ground which was a great deterrent to a cavalry charge behind this he positioned his heavily armored crossbowman with his knights held back in reserve when the iuvit attack came it wasn't able to penetrate this line instead saladin's lightly armored horsemen took horrendous casualties as they were simply mowed down by a shower of unrelenting crossbow bolts and then when they were staggered richard launched his knights into a fierce counterattack into the center of saladin's line the shock in awe of this attack crushed the muslim center the battle then devolved into a brawl and in the middle of all this richard fought on brilliantly however at one point his horse was shot out from beneath him when saladin saw his great opponent on foot fighting alongside his men his sense of chivalry overtook him he was recorded as saying how can this be that a king should be on foot with his men it cannot be and then turning to his brother he said go take these two arabian horses and lead them to him tell him that i send them to him that a man so great as he should not be on foot with his men richard graciously accepted the gift and then proceeded to exceed his own reputation as a warrior reston gives us justice quote the battle continued and spread into the town itself before long so many arrows had struck into richard's armor that he looked like a porcupine he was completely surrounded by the enemy one against the multitude and yet he emerged from a pile of dead unscathed in a mirror on a richly comparisoned horse and frustrated at richard's flare genius and almost supernatural skill in battle charged the king only to have not only his head but half his shoulder and right arm sliced off with it the muslim fighters recoiled at this ghoulish site as the day wore on they gave richard a wide berth for the king had become a one-man killing machine he had personified his name he was the lionheart end quote the battle of jaffa was won by richard it would be the last confrontation of the third crusade a treaty was struck in early september of 1192 the crusaders would hold on to a coastal strip of cities from tyre to jaffa ascalon would be returned to saladin after its fortifications were dismantled and christians would be allowed to peacefully pilgrimage to jerusalem [Music] it was not either to king or sultan's liking but what choice did they have they had battled one another to a draw the sultan was exhausted and the king had to return to his homeland where the situation had turned desperate richard departed on october 9th 1192 by ship he looked back from the stern of his vessel the holy land diminished and then faded into the horizon the third crusade had ended and was soon to enter into the realm of history and eventually legend but as the 12th century came to a close the tale of both king and sultan would be a sad one saladin would fight on to maintain control of his empire but shortly after richard's departure he died on march 4th 1193 he had given away most of his possessions to the poor and it was said there was not even enough money to pay for his funeral the ayubid empire in his wake would disintegrate and fracture fought over by rival factions and by his own children richard on the other hand would journey homeward but before christmas of 1192 he was captured near vienna by leopold the duke of austria he would remain in captivity until a large ransom was paid and it wasn't until february 4th of 1194 that he was finally released once back in his native land he continued in a near state of warfare to secure his home however in march of 1199 during a siege he was struck by a crossbow bolt gangrene would set in but before his death richard pardoned the man who shot him [Music] for the christians the first crusade was a spectacular success the second crusade was a spectacular failure the third crusade would be known for well its spectacular combatants but in the end it was a draw inevitably another crusade would be called in 1198 the rather ironically named pope innocent iii called for a new pilgrimage to retake jerusalem however many of the warriors of this crusade would never set foot in the holy land instead of taking jerusalem they would instead conquer a magnificent city that was at the very heart of christendom the fourth crusade would not be remembered for its chivalry or any type of valor but rather for its corruption and greed it would be remembered for its infamy [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Flash Point History

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Keywords: History, third, crusade, richard, lionheart, Saladin, holy land, crusades, crusader, documentary, crusade documentary, third crusade, third crusade documentary, Richard biograpghy, Saladin biography, flash point history, jerusalem, battle, hattin, arsuf, siege, tyre, acre, holy war, Richard lionheart documentary, Saladin documentary, medieval history, medieval, history documentary, middleast, conflict, barbarossa, operation barbarossa, history of the crusades, crusader king, kingdom of heaven

Id: POdW79r94XU

Length: 107min 55sec (6475 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 17 2021