Third Crusade 1189-1192: From Hattin to Jaffa DOCUMENTARY

[Music] the Third Crusade had it all brilliant commanders courtly intrigue religious struggle desperate sieges unexpected maneuvers bold tactics and iconic battles that changed the course of history in this video we will cover the battles of patty naka econia Jaffa and Asif welcome to our documentary on the Third Crusade shoutout to rise of kingdoms for sponsoring this video sponsorships like this are essential for our work and you can support kings and Generals and players sell it in by downloading the game via the link in the description ROK is a historical strategy game and this epic mobile game offers players unrivaled degrees of freedom start a battle anywhere and anytime the best part is it's totally free choose from eleven historical civilizations with unique units and train dozens of legendary historical commanders to lead your armies in real-time battles on a seamless world map which makes it a great strategic experience exquisite city designs a refreshing cartoon art style and night and day and weather cycles make the game great to look at in Rise of kingdoms you make frenemies every day it is ruled by the law of the jungle and only the strong survive you can experience this Middle Ages world as Saladin and change the world of rise of kingdoms support our channel by downloading rise of kingdoms from patronage Emmy slash ROK and generals or the link in the description use the code and gets 200 gems two silver Keys two sets of fifty thousand food and two of fifty thousand wood in late June 1187 under the scorching Sun of Galilee two armies were mustering their strength for the decisive campaign of the age the first stationed Atlas fre was a united force of the Christian Crusader kingdoms under the overall leadership of guerrillas in yon recently elected king of Jerusalem the shimmering jewel of christened domes Levantine army were twelve hundred mounted knights drawn from all of the Crusader kingdoms and military orders such as the hospital is and Templars who operated in the utrom air despite their undeniable talent in combat an army of knights had been humbled by the Muslims at Chris aw almost two months earlier revealing their potential weakness around 4,000 other mounted troops supplemented the flower of Christian chivalry many of whom were men at arms converted Muslim prisoners of war locally recruited auxiliaries or mercenaries known as Turco poles they served as the crusading Army's lighter cavalry in the absence of European light cavalry wielding bows and light lances among other weapons the Army's infantry contingent was made up of 15,000 men of varying quality ranging from professional crossbowmen hired in Italy all the way to the inexperienced local troops its composition was also quite haphazard displaying an array of weapons including Danish bearded axes maces falchions pikes and many others about 20 kilometers to the east Keys opponent Salah as Dean Yusuf even am better known as the legendary Saladin moved up from Tao astara with thirty five thousand men to in camp at the small village of Cosette from its Heights the a a bit leader could threaten any Crusader march to the Sea of Galilee or the cities of Tiberias and seffarine Saladin's army made up of about 23,000 infantry and 12,000 cavalry was better organized than its Christian counterpart in addition to its subdivision into relatively standard units regular troops were also paid most of the army was made up of tur commands Kurds and Arabs while a unit of Mamluks served as the Sultan's personal guard the Muslim commander made the first move on July 1st aiming to recognize the Christian army himself and perhaps draw the enemy out in the process Saladin personally wrote close to Safari with the unit of cavalry although any attempted lure failed the Muslims managed to Scout both the Christian position and a potential northern road to the Inland Sea realizing he would have to force King G's hand in a different way Saladin sent a substantial part of his infantry and the Army's siege engines to attack Tiberias a fortified town where count Raymond of Tripoli's wife achieve out of Burrell was staying at the time unfortunately for its people the strength of Tiberius garrison had been denuded and left at an absolute minimum after a brief attempt at resistance a tower in the defensive wall was destroyed with a mine and Tiberius fell as she fell retreated with the remaining soldiers into the Citadel while a messenger probably permitted to leave by Saladin went to inform the main Christian army [Music] back over to the West the arrival of grave news from Tiberius led all prominent Christian leaders to assemble for a council of war but surprisingly counter Amal looked past the potential fate of his wife and fervently argued against any attempts at relieving the city Saladin's attack on Tiberius was as he saw it intended to draw them into an unfavorable situation and a battle on his terms despite accusations of cowardice and treachery driven by Ramos prior friendly relations with Saladin King he was convinced the army remained where it was and the council dissolved for the night however one of Raymond's accusers the Grand Master of the Templars Sharada Rida for whose army had been recently smashed at croissant continued to pressure the King throughout the night we don't know what argument eventually convinced him to change his mind but just before dawn on July 3rd 1187 the Crusaders were alerted that they were about to march breaking camp at sunrise G's army began its ponderous Eastwood march over Galilee's dusty plains in the blistering summer heat it was formed up in three divisions one behind the other with cavalry protected in the middle by masses of infantry on the outside the Vanguard was led by Raymond the center where the true cross was stationed by Kinki and the rear by Bally Antebellum shortly after their departure word reached Saladin that the enemy was on the move he immediately recalls most of his troops from Tiberias leaving only a token force to continue the siege while thei returning infantry began organizing themselves Saladin sends detachments of mobile mounted archers in B's direction at roughly 10 a.m. the heavily armored Christian forces approached an abandoned village called Turan the settlement had a small spring which a small portion of the army drank from but most of the troops were denied the opportunity and pushed on towards Tiberias as the parched Crusader army started trickling out of Turan Saladin's light cavalry units needled its sluggish divisions with arrows and javelins slowly at first but increasing to a withering hail as their enemy crossed in front of the main Muslim position at CAF a set at midday the a a bit left and a burry swept around the Crusader rear cutting their path of retreat back to Tehran the Christians were now in a terrible situation slowed to a crawl by continual harassment and sweltering in the midsummer heat with no water Raymore leading the Vanguard became convinced that the army was too weak to fight its way along the libya road which was close to Saladin's position instead he convinced key to take a northern road towards the springs at 86 kilometers away where his men could rest hydrate and recuperate observing the change of direction from his elevated position the Sultan sent his lieutenant taqi al-din to block off the road to head in with the aobut right division Rahman urged a faster pace knowing that this was a possibility but harassment of balliol's regard by good berries horsemen brought the army almost to a complete stop when nightfall came the strung out and demoralized Christians set up camp for what was to be a restless night the dehydrated exhausted troops were again harried throughout the hours of darkness by the lightning-fast squadrons of horse archers from all sides attacks which caused dialysis in men and more severely the unarmored horses in comparison to the dire supply situation which key and the other Crusaders faced Saladin and his army were more than adequately supplied camels were a key factor in his logistical preparations to keep up the arrow bombardment 70 of the beasts loaded with bundles of ammunition were brought in as a reserve at the same time a continual train of camels ferried goatskins filled with water from Lake Tiberias to the Muslim camp King G's army formed up in its three marching divisions before dawn and began the final march towards Hatton's vibrant springs they would never make it having been ordered not to disrupt the enemy in their preparations during the pre-dawn hours Saladin now ordered prepared piles of parched brushwood to be set alight blowing arid smoke from the northwestern Hills straight into the Christian ranks the dire situation provokes the defection of some Knights to Saladin informing the Sultan that their comrades were finished at this moment of maximum opportunity Saladin ordered the bulk of his men in the center to charge down the hill and into the phone as they did Templar units at the Christian rear and Raymond's division up front responded with a mounted counter charge that crashed into the unit's led by Kirk burry and taqi al-din this repelled the initial Muslim assault on the flanks and even drove a small wedge between Saladin and his right wing at the cost of many Crusader mounts jeez exhausted infantry however thoroughly sleep-deprived intensely thirsty and choked by the smoke had reached the end of their tether upon seeing the small gap which had materialized between the divisions of Saladin and techie Odin they took advantage of the opportunity and broke ranks streaming in the direction of Lake Tiberias however the presence of the Sultan's army instead shepherded them on to an extinct Twin Peaks volcano known as the horns of Hattin Kinky's division under constant attack by Saladin's mounted troops was called to a halt slightly southwest of the horns in a useless attempt to fortify the area with tents slightly to the east raymond took the remainder of his Vanguard division and threw them as tacky Aldean's troops opposite him in a headlong charge to the counts surprise his enemies agile units swung aside like an opening door and let the Christians march deeper into the gorge behind them before closing ranks with his Vanguard effectively shut out of the battlefield by tackies clever maneuver ramon continued north and withdrew from Hatton entirely first to Lake Tiberias and then all the way back to tyre it was an act of perceived treachery and cowardice which despite his previously prudent advice many contemporaries would never let him forget as more and more Christian soldiers flocked onto the horns in hope of safety morale completely collapsed when King ji who was still trying to fortify his camp sent orders for the infantry to come back down they refused stating we are not coming down because we're dying of thirst and we will not fight with no alternative the king also joined his men atop the southern horn and directed his royal tent at this point Saladin's troops assaulted the extinct Twin Peaks volcano from all sides and despite ferocious resistance eventually managed to split the Christian forces on each Horn from each other when the Sultan's young-sun a laugh Tao saw the success he cries to his father that we have conquered them and was immediately chastised harshly by Saladin who replied be quiet we shall not have beaten them until that tent falls it is said that the moment after he spoke a Muslim cavalry man cut the tents ropes and it's fabric collapsed the battle was won only a few of the Knightly flower of Giza army had even been wounded but vast numbers of infantry and horses lay dead on the field putting aside the escape of Balio and Ebola and a few Christian rear units Saladin's victory was total almost every warrior of the Christian army was either killed or became a prisoner while kingi were simply taken prisoner and was treated relatively well after this crushing victory Saladin started marching towards Jerusalem and besieged it on the 20th of September while the city's defenses had been strengthened Jerusalem was a city in crisis it was swollen by refugees from the countryside fleeing the war and was deprived of fighting met by the annihilation at Hattin although the defenders commanded by Belgium or viva la resisted with valor the city was bombarded by catapults and manga nails and after days of siege the sides started to discuss peace as was typical of Saladin lakhs and even generous terms were finally reached on the 2nd of October the surrender was agreed days later and on the 9th of October 1187 Saladin peacefully marched into the holy city after that siege Saladin had captured most of the Crusader cities on the Levant een coast including the economic center of akka meanwhile the ancient city of Tyre resisted the Muslims when an Italian noble Conrad of Montferrat arrived from Constantinople and seized command [Music] Conrad of Montferrat now in total control of tire sent the Archbishop of Tyre Jos kiyose to the West he bought tales of christened domes catastrophic defeats to the Pope Urban the third who died on the 20th of October 1187 supposedly from the shock of the revelation that Jerusalem had been lost shortly after his death Gregory the eighth succeeded him and by the end of the month the proclamation for the Third Crusade was made it is at this point we must take a moment to look at the situation in Western Europe and the reaction to the fall of Jerusalem deepening rivalries between and within the Western powers exacerbated the problem that the previous Second Crusade which had been utterly defeated had discredited the notion of holy war in 1152 Frederick the first Barbarossa had assumed power in the Holy Roman Empire and in 1155 he formally ascended to the imperial throne his realm was powerful on paper but its regions were also notoriously reluctant to conform to central authority and he had to spend decades subduing warring factions in the Empire to the west the counts of Anjou who were formerly vassals of the French Capetian Kings began to grow in power Henry of aren't you the current ruler then proceeded to add the Duchy of Normandy to his holdings after marrying Eleanor of akita who was previously married to the French King Louie the seventh in 1152 he ascended to the throne of England in 1154 ruling over a realm encompassing parts of the modern British Isles and France and known to historians as the Angevin Empire the Angevins worthy vassals of the French Kings from the Capetian dynasty via their holdings on the continent but they were often more powerful than the capetians and this friction would leave a mark on the upcoming crusade however the stunning victories of Saladin in 1187 were enough to break the deadlock as the Pope's declaration of crusade was spread through Europe's Royal Courts tens of thousands of Latin Christian has pledged themselves to the cause which created a massive upheaval in European society especially in France where many aristocrats began to rally their own contingents however the participation of Kings was crucial to Crusader success this is where we must introduce one of our main Christian protagonists richard the prince who would later become known as the Lionheart this young prince who was warring against his father supported by the new French King Philippe the second or Gustus was the first to take up the cross in November of 1187 it should be noted that the prince was rash and eager to enhance his own glory and prestige Richard's decision sent shockwaves throughout Western Europe forcing the Angevins and capetians to act Phillipe Augustus and Henry ii met a chizel during January of 1188 in order to discuss a settlement in the presence of leading Nobles among the attendees of this assembly was Archbishop Justice who preached a sermon on the dire state of Christianity in the Holy Land this address prompted many French Lords to pledge their support amid the zealous fervor of the meeting the two monarchs made public declarations of their determination to fight in the Third Crusade in order to raise funds for the venture the so called Saladin tithe was imposed but was more successful in the more centralized English territories than the decentralized French holdings though they were among the first to commit both England and France were still embroiled in conflict and neither would displace their military forces unless the other did the same which caused delays in the crusade Richard worried that his father was about to disinherit him as heir to the throne allied with the French King in autumn of 1188 the two launched a swift assault into Normandy during June of 1189 unable to resist this invasion the English King sought a peace settlement at a conference on July 4th Henry accepted all terms Richard was confirmed as the successor 20,000 marks were paid in tribute to Philip and the three would crusade together during the following year however by this point Henry was physically shattered and ill and died three days later his son ascended to the English throne as Richard the first upon taking the throne Richard immediately began intensifying the realms efforts to raise funds and organized his professional army after he and the French King had done this they met in late 1189 and early 1194 final preparations then in two identical ceremonies one after the other the Kings took up their symbolic pilgrim satchels and staffs before setting off for the levant on the fourth of July 1190 they would march to the coast and then make their way across the Mediterranean by ship at this point Richard had around 17,000 troops while Philips contingent was smaller further east emperor frederick barbarossa through decades of tireless campaigning and shrewd politicking had imposed a never-before-seen amount of central authority onto the feudal realms of the empire and also reached advantageous agreements with northern italian states and the papacy in terms of wealth marshal resources and international prestige Barbarossa's power easily outstripped both the engines and the capetians after biding his time for a few months after the Crusades Proclamation in order to see which way the popular wind was blowing the Holy Roman Emperor took the cross on March 27th 1188 he made Swift preparations exiling his political enemy Henry the lion and leaving his eldest son henry in germany as heir most of the crusaders under Barbarossa marched along the route used by earlier Crusades in order to ease his passage diplomatic contacts were made with Hungary the Byzantine Empire and even the Seljuk ruler of Anatolia kilij arslan the second all went well until the Germans reached Byzantium zbor ders as Emperor Isaac the second Angelo's had already formed a pact with Saladin to deny any Crusader access Barbarossa progressed with force anyway capturing Philip humblest before advancing on Adrianople with Frederick quickly bearing down on the capital a compromise was reached in February 1190 the Byzantines allowed the Crusader army to move to Gallipoli and cross into Anatolia with the aid of PSN and Greek ships back in the levant events were progressing rapidly all attempts by Saladin to take the principal Christian enclave of tyre had failed including a lengthy blockade and an assault with manga nails instead Saladin turns to politics to help foster into Christian conflict believing he was a spent force Saladin released the monarch of the Kingdom of Jerusalem Kiev loosen your who had been a Muslim prisoner since the destruction of his army at Hattin in exchange for a promise that he would never take up arms against Muslims again upon his release he rejoined his Queen in Tripoli and then marched upon tyre which was a city in his own realm when he arrived he demanded to be admitted to the city as its king but Conrad refused stating that he would keep the city until the Crusaders came and Sookie returned to Tripoli when the first piece in an Sicilian ships arrived to assist in early 1189 he took a high-risk decision to besiege the coastal trading center of akka on August 22nd he set off down the coastal scandal Ian pass but was discovered by the Muslims a few days later messengers relayed keys position to the Sultan but he hesitated and did not meet them in the pass the relatively small Christian army arrived outside akka on August 28 1189 not thinking this Mika force a threat the defending Muslim garrison jeered at it mockingly however since his defeat at Hatton he had apparently developed a sense of strategy he encamped in a strong position on the nearby 120 foot high Mount Turin where he had a natural defense and a commanding view over akka the first proper action took place on August 31st when the Christian forces unexpectedly attacked with ladders almost succeeding in taking the battlements by shock and awe before Saladin's advance scouts arrived afraid of being caught out in the open he's attacking forces retreated back to the camp over the next few days Saladin himself arrived with the main army destroying any hopes the Latins had of a quick victory and forcing them to fight on two fronts it is likely that if at this point Saladin had coordinated with a KERS garrison he could have crushed the Christians but again he wavered instead holding a cautious position on the hillside of L para ba about six miles to the southeast under the veil of darkness the Sultan managed to sneak a detachment of reinforcements into the city while during the day mounted Muslim skirmishes would be dispatched to constantly Harry keys camp in any other situation this would have been a good strategy but Saladin's caution attacker was a fatal misreading of the situation one crucial factor made this way of warfare failed the sea slowly at first but growing as the weeks wore on a constant stream of Frankish ships began to arrive in the region on September 10th a massive group of 50 ships arrived carrying 12,000 frisian and danish crusaders in addition to the ground reinforcements these ships also helped to tighten the christian blockade of the city by sea by the end of the month even Conrad of Montferrat had come south from tyre to assist key supposedly bringing 1,000 Knights and many thousands of infantry with him with their increased numerical strength the Christian leaders decided to attack the Sultan's main force which was behind them head-on unless they did this full attention could not be focused on the siege of the city so on October 4th Kia raid his forces on the a curb played into three ranks archers and crossbowmen were in the front melee infantry warmed up behind them with heavy cavalry in the rear the army was also split into three divisions on the left right and in the center notably Templar cavalry was in the center and hospitality Valerie was on the far right rather than charging the Crusaders advanced at a walking pace towards Saladin's Muslim army aiming to cohesively engaged the enemy all at once at mid-morning the Christian left finally made contact with the enemy where techie al Dean was the commander hoping to lure the Franks into a trap he sent in mounted skirmishes and then feigned a retreat this maneuver was so convincing that Saladin really believed his nephew had been defeated and dispatched troops from the center to aid him weakening that part of his life observing the shift the Crusaders sent in reserves and routed the weakened Muslim center opening the way to the Muslim camp for a moment it seemed Saladin would be defeated flooding through the gap in his line some Crusaders even reached the Sultan's personal tent where one of Saladin's attendants was killed however the lure of victory and its spoils were too much to resist the Latin formation coherent until this point disintegrated when the undisciplined footman turns to looting and plunder halting their momentum completely greed was certainly a motivation but intense hunger also they depart meanwhile the veteran Templar knights doggedly pursued the fleeing Muslims but were now unsupported by the infantry they had charged too far Saladin turned and expertly managed to rally his fleeing army speeding across the line on his horse to motivate his soldiers and leading an attack on the isolated Templar contingent which attempted to retreat in the ensuing conflict many brothers of the proud Order were killed along with its veteran commander Gerald Ritter for at this point the situation for the Christians became even more dire when the 5,000 strong ACOG Arison sallied forth from the city threatening the camp and the rear of the army sensing they were about to be surrounded and witnessing the defeat of the Templars the Crusader force fled back to their camp those in the Christian center who were still looting the Muslim tents were caught and killed while others were cut down while attempting to run though he attempted to do so Saladin was unable to press this advantage as Latin reinforcements sent to the Crusader camp under the command of Joffrey of losing your fiercely resisted Muslim attempts to overrun their positions the Christians had come seeking battle that day and had been defeated with some three thousand to four thousand dead or dying which the Muslims threw into the river Bellis however Saladin had also suffered during the battle in terms of dead and injured losses had been relatively small but those who had fled during the route to the camp did not return and proved hard to replace after the large battle on October 4th Saladin who had been taken ill and was bound to his tent discussed what action to take next with his counsel some of the Sultan's advisers advocated an aggressive approach arguing that they should strike while the Crusaders were depleted and before fresh latin reinforcements arrived the Muslim army was also becoming more and more exhausted as time went on other members of Saladin's council professed that a cautious and patient strategy was best because the Crusaders were essentially pinned in place between the field army and the garrison in akka the sickly Sultan chose the latter option and the army remained in its defensive position prolonging the siege by not seeking a decisive victory though the ibid army had the luxury of choice in action dire news was beginning to reach Saladin from the north the powerful Emperor Frederick Barbarossa had begun his great march toward Syria supposedly accompanied by over 200,000 troops of course these were greatly inflated numbers but the overestimation shows the fear that the Muslims had of this edition of Western Army taking action in response to this news the sultan sent one of his subordinates even shattered on a recruiting mission across his route to raise more soldiers the last we saw of Barbarossa and his German Crusaders they had crossed from Hellespont at Gallipoli having reached an accommodation with the Byzantine Emperor moving quickly east the German army then forged a route southeast through Greek territories before crossing into Turkish lands in late April where they encountered the first sparks of Muslim resistance as supplying an army was incredibly difficult in this hostile land Barbarossa had to divide his forces and marched them in various columns on April 30th the Seljuks attacked the emperor's camp employing hit-and-run tactics with their light cavalry but a counter-attack managed to drive them back killing a few hundred two days later the Turks tried their luck with an attack on the Crusader Vanguard led by Barbarossa's son Frederick of Swabia initially this attack stopped the Germans in their tracks but their heavier armor allowed them to withstand the arrows of the soldier course archers Frederick soldiers had to dig in and had almost no way to respond luckily for them Barbarossa was keeping iron discipline in his army and messengers were riding back and forth between the divisions when he heard his son was in trouble he sent the force of Hungarian light cavalry he had the Seljuks were attacked from the flank suffering casualties and retreating it seems that the Seljuks just didn't have enough troops to stop Barbarossa's march and their attacks only provokes him into changing his course and to go for econia or as the Celtics calls their capital kanya hoping that this would end subject resistance a few undefended seljuq villages were massacred along the way the Seljuks continued using hit-and-run tactics slowing down the Crusader March and killing many the main Turkish attack came on May 7th the forces of the Sultanate led by Prince cacus Roth attacks the enemy at multiple locations and times which forced Barbarossa's divisions to defend themselves the Vanguard wasn't attacked at first and the distance between 8 and 2 the rest of the divisions was ever-increasing as soon as ke Castro decided that there was enough distance between the Christian columns his entire army moved to the east in order to attack the Crusader Vanguard at filum Elliot frederik of Swabia was not only overwhelmed and surrounded but his troops were also tired from their march and that attack surprised them but they created a circle to defend themselves the Seljuk horse archers were shooting arrows from all sides and although their armor protected the defenders many horses were killed and the arrows managed to inflict wounds despite the thanks which Barbarossa's troops elsewhere were equally tired the discipline he instilled helped him to gather the fastest warriors and move towards filum Elian this new group outnumbered the Seljuks and attacked them from both sides German sources claimed that kcassaro had a ten thousand strong army in this battle and that he lost half of it apparently some of the seljuqs supplies were captured by Barbarossa improving his logistical situation after resting for a few days the Crusaders restarted their march towards eternium where Barbarossa hopes to replenish his rations and replace the horses lost in the Seljuk attacks on the 17th the German army was in the vicinity of the city and the plan was to attack the next day the Seljuks led by their Sultan kilij arslan and his son the two about did were all showing signs that they were planning to defend the city as they now had a comparable number of troops [Music] however when Barbarossa sent his son to assault the city Frederick of Swabia discovered that it was actually defended by a small garrison which promptly initiated a retreat towards the Citadel after first contact the attackers either chased the garrison to the Citadel to besiege it or began looting the city massacring its denizens at that point the rest of the Seljuk army was finishing its flanking maneuver ending it behind the troops held back by Barbarossa kilij arslan was able to gain a numerical advantage here and his troops surrounded the enemy pushing the Germans to the walls Barbarossa s situation was extremely dangerous and his troops were taking heavy casualties on the wings unfortunately we lack the details of what happened next apparently Barbarossa moved forward with his own contingent and led his center in a charge which broke the Seljuk center with that the wings of the Sultanate army started to retreat and the battle was over afterwards Barbarossa entered the city afterwards the German force marched south towards the coast advancing into the Christian lands of solution Armenia casualties had been significant but it appeared as though the worst tribulations were over however an unforeseen catastrophe would occur on the 10th of June 1190 becoming impatient as the armies slow marching progress Barbarossa attempted to Ford the river Salif ahead of his large force this proves to be a bad idea as his horse lost its footing midstream and through Frederick into the river the shock of the freezing water and the fact that the armored emperor was unable to swim contributed to the Emperor's famous drowning the mightiest ruler to ever take the cross was dead his son Frederick of Swabia attempted to hold the German Crusade together but desertions illness and constant ibid harassment reduced the Imperial Army dramatically as it carried on towards a cur [Music] back at the city itself the double seats continued with 100 of the inhabitants of Muslim control Dhaka dying everyday their tormentors the besieging Crusader army used the pause in major action caused by the bad weather making nearby terrain unusable to properly fortify their position protective ditches were dug on each side of the camp and filled with sharp pieces of wood and metal in front of these trenches were placed earthen ramparts and even wooden palisade the former of which slowed down and hindered Muslim cavalry while the latter allowed Latin missile units to retaliate the ditch between the crusader camp and akka also had the effect of encircling the coastal city meaning that the garrison had no way of supplying the city when the naval blockade was also tight in a further effort to impact the siege the Crusaders diverted the river Bellis course away from Acker depriving the city of a reliable water source as the camp's defenses were now strengthened the procedures of Acker could safely bring artillery to bear behind the perimeter where it could lob projectiles towards Acker whenever the Crusaders wanted Saladin had divot too long and now there was no easy way of dislodging the Christians from their position the onset of winter in akka and the consequent adverse conditions at sea meant that the Crusader ships blockading the city could not remain in position leading them and Conrad of Montferrat to disperse the latter winter to the north in Tyre however the problems with winter travel across the Mediterranean also harmed Muslim prospects as well since resupply vessels could not reliably arrive the facts that the echo garrison was now critically short of food gave the Crusaders an opportunity starving to death and desperate the defenders actually began negotiation with the Crusaders to surrender the city in exchange for their own lives remarkably this was rejected by the Crusader leaders who wished to gloriously take the city the Christians would not get another chance like this because I bid reinforcements arrived by the end of 1189 an Egyptian land army commanded by Saladin's brother came bringing supplies weapons and food soon after a 50 galley strong fleet from alexandria approached the harbor and swept away the remaining christian ships for the first time in months the city was supplied as 1190 dawned fighting on land continued only as light skirmishes however the naval front was about to present a massive problem for Saladin's garrison in the city on the 25th of march 1190 when the weather had improved Conrad of Montferrat once again sailed south with a crack fleet of 50 vessels from tyre where he had wintered kiev lasagna and conrad had previously been rivals but in exchange for sovereignty over tyre Beirut and Sidon he became Keyes right-hand man and came to the aid of the Crusaders that Easter as Conrad's fleet approached the akka Harbor the roughly equally sized Muslim fleet sorted out to meet it in open battle both sides at first maneuvered into horizontal lines but the Crusader Navy then bent its own formation into a v-shaped wedge with the flanks in front the battle began with the sounding of trumpets from the decks of the ships and as the navies closed into missile range the Muslim forces shot arrows and bolts at their enemy the Christian forces responded in kind and both sides suffered losses as the opposing force has sailed into close quarters the Crusader galleys turned inwards exploiting their V formation and the iron Spurs of their ships they charged against the sides of the Muslim vessels and a fierce conflict began men from both sides through grappling hooks and boarded their enemy while the Muslim vessels catapulted jars of Greek fire at the Christians incinerating many the sea battle was a tight affair which lasted for almost a day but at its conclusion more Muslims had perished and the iobit fleet was blockaded in the port akka was once again cut off from supply and by late spring the strangled city's supplies were exhausted and they had to resort to eating their own beasts on land the campaigning season began in late April when the weather improved enough for the terrain to be usable despite the continuous stream of Crusader reinforcements arriving by sea Saladin still at this point had the manpower to overwhelm his enemy however his anxiety about the approach of the German army under Barbarossa prevented him from concentrating his full force onto the siege attacker he was unaware that the Emperor and the majority of his crusading efforts with him had perished in Asia Minor nevertheless even in its non presence the looming threat of the Holy Roman Empire's large army contributed to the Christian cause when Saladin's reinforcements began to arrive early in the campaigning season he immediately sent them north to both the defenses in Syria in an ultimately useless venture restarting the regular engagements on land the Crusader army slowly and arduously attempted to fill in the dry moat which surrounded aquas land walls with rubble whilst under the cover of artillery fire the garrison did its best to hamper these efforts with missile and artillery fire of its own but the Crusaders were determined it is said that one Frankish woman was mortally wounded whilst carrying stones to the moat and requested that her body be thrown into the moat to fill it even more gradually the moat filled and allowed the Christian attackers a route to the walls a path which siege weapons could use in the final days of the winter induced halting operations the crusaders manufactured vast amounts of siege weapons in addition to catapults Manga nails covered huts and battering rams the largest engines of war were three massive siege towers they were 30 metres and five stories tall mounted on wheels and covered in fire proofing material while a rope net designed to protect the structure from ackers artillery and stretched in front of each tower seeing these formidable engines of destruction the garrison was disheartened and again entered into negotiations to surrender the city however the Crusaders once again refused believing their new weapons would allow them to win a complete victory on May 3rd G and the other Crusader leaders packed four towers with soldiers crossbowmen and archers took positions on the tops while spearmen and pikemen piled in below the towers slowly began inching towards the city terrifying the Muslim defenders and breaking their spirit to resist from the city a messenger snuck through the Crusader blockade and informed the Sultan that collapse was imminent responding swiftly to this revelation Saladin formed up his army into left scenter hands right contingents before attacking the enemy defenses from the outside trying to draw their attention from their siege the towers slowly moved towards the walls but as they entered artillery range they were pelted by jars of Greek fire this proved ineffective and did not halt their advance on account of the fireproof material with which they were made it seemed as though the city was lost but a young metal worker and specialists in combustibles from Damascus named Ali approached Saladin claiming that he had concocted a variant of Greek fire which would succeed he was smuggled into the city and his recipe proved successful after the naphtha was repeatedly pelted at for three towers they all burned to the ground only a few Souls escaped the inferno shortly after the destruction of the Crusader siege towers likely around the 13th of May Saladin attacks to put more pressure on the Crusaders the garrison also occasionally sallied forth but lack of coordination between the forces inside and outside akka made any successful assault impossible despite these Muslim failures the Christians had suffered a devastating defeat and due to the blockade of their own forces by Saladin were increasingly frustrated and desperate themselves fortunately for the acog garrison an ibid fleet managed to run the christian bach aid and resupply the garrison simmering resentment and anger in the Crusader camp eventually prompted a 10,000 strong contingent of footmen to attack Saladin on the 25th of July initially the Crusader assault took the Muslims by surprise but the lack of cavalry support was to prove crucial the ibid cavalry on their right wing feigned a retreat after being pushed back which led to the Crusaders again looting the Muslim camp once again they were counter-attacked and routed the Christian infantry fled thousands were cut down and their corpses were thrown into the river in November 1197 disbanded his army for the winter remaining with a small force to watch over akka as the sea once again became rough and the rains became heavy as winter progressed the garrison in akka their christian procedures and Saladin's army were all short of supplies food and weapons they resorted to eating anything they could and cannibalism was even reported in addition to outbreaks of diseases such as scurvy and trench mouth thousands died during this famine which the Crusaders doggedly and tenaciously held on the Muslims situation also deteriorated further when ships sent from Egypt to resupply akka were dashed upon the rocks and sunk by the treacherous winter scenes food weapons and money that could have sustained the city for months who were lost by April of 1191 Saladin's prospects and those of the city he wished who relieved seemed almost hopeless with the Gateway to the Holy Land still open Islam would soon have to face the full strength of Latin Christendom crusading wrath this was first shown when French King Philippe Augustus arrived on April 20th with six ships filled with his Nobles he began the construction of seven immense stone throwers which on the 30th of May were ready and began a blistering bombardment campaign against the city which devastated its walls meanwhile Richard the Lionheart had captured Byzantine Cyprus by the first of June thus securing money and resources here he received an emissary from Kiev losing yar who was his vassal by his French Holdings he was asking for his Liege Lords assistance against Conrad of Montferrat and the Muslims attack Oh Richard quickly sales to the Levant first going to tyre where the garrison refused him entry then South to akka with his 25 ships strong avant-garde upon reaching the city he was greeted by philippe augustus and then set up his camp to the north of the city but was almost immediately struck by illness and was confined to his tent nevertheless he quickly left into action and secretly initiated negotiations with Saladin having learned the benefits of marrying warfare and diplomacy in Europe after having been refused a personal meeting Richard sent a North African prisoner to the Sultan as a sign of goodwill then requested fruit and ice in return testing the hospitality of his Muslim adversary however philippe augustus also engaged in separate negotiations with the akka garrison showing the division which existed within the Latin Crusader ranks he of Luzon Yan was a vassal of Richard the Lionheart and supported him while philip augustus aided his relative Conrad of Montferrat this culminated in the accusation of treason leveled against Conrad by Joffrey of Luzon yan after which Conrad fled back to tyre which sidelined the tensions for now 25,000 Crusaders were now deployed around akka implementing a unified strategy of assault based siege teams of sappers and increasingly massive use of advanced and new stone throwing catapults brought by the French and English Kings were used to hammer ackers walls continuously with giant accurately loosed stones by late June this assault was beginning to critically undermine the walls which were apparently torturing meanwhile in the city troop shortages meant that the defenders could not rotate their tired soldiers away from the frontline throughout spring and early summer Saladin did what he could by attacking the Latin trenches but they were now far too heavily fortified to be displaced by the beginning of July it was clear to all that akka was finished and on the verge of collapse at this site Saladin apparently burst into tears in dejection and grief on July 2nd the Crusaders changed their strategy from battering the active fortifications to exploiting the breaches after only the first day of these all-out attacks to seize the city by assault Saladin's governor sent a message stating he would surrender unless he was relieved both French sappers and English catapults managed to make significant breaches in the walls while the Crusaders increasingly swarmed through first in the breach in the French section was or break l'amour marshal of France and a prominent knight who proclaimed that he would either die or enter a code triumphantly that day after the attack was repelled he was killed to the north Richard still unable to walk due to illness who was carried on a regal stretcher near the front lines from where he picked off Muslim troops on the walls using his crossbow finally on July 12th 1191 after an almost two-year long siege a deal was reached to secure the surrender of akka the city and all its contents would be surrendered but the lives of Muslims who emerged would be spared the true cross would be returned payment of two hundred thousand gold dinars would be made and 1,500 prisoners would be returned after such a long siege a sudden peace ended the violence rather than a feral blood-soaked sacking eventually a calm descended and the city gates were thrown open as the garrison marched out to submit at this the Crusaders were stunned at the admirable and courageous manner of their surrendering opponents unaltered by adversity as the siege ended the Crusaders too had shown enormous resilience and tenacity facing bitter cold blistering heat hunger disease and constant battle tens of thousands had perished including six Archbishop's 12 bishops 40 counts and 500 nobles it had all been worth it the Crusaders now had a beachhead in the Holy Land and more importantly had seized Saladin's prized 70 strong Egyptian fleet which had been moored in ackers Inner Harbor as the crusade continued into mid 1191 the christians would enjoy unquestioned superiority at sea [Music] his crushing defeat in July of 1191 immeasurably damaged Saladin's martial reputation his image as the triumphant and undefeatable champion of Islam had been utterly destroyed and he retreated with his army to sovereign back in capture Dhaka churches were reconsecrated and the entirety of the city was swiftly re Christianized but there was no time for laxity after this success on July 22nd within days of the victory Richard the Lionheart sought to issue a joint statement with his French counterpart philip augustus proclaiming that the two sovereigns would remain in the east until Jerusalem was conquered however Philip instead revealed that he intended to sail back to Europe considering his crusading duties complete some sources states that Philip was very ill while others merely profess his cowardice as the reason he abandoned his latin brothers however it is probable that he wished to return to france in order to press his claim to the prosperous county of flanders whose ruler had perished in the siege that summer whatever the case his departure was humiliating and he would be condemned for it for the rest of his life this shock turnaround made Richard the uncontested leader of the Third Crusade and he had the financial resources to fund such an endeavor with ultimate authority now his the Lionheart would waste no time in seizing the initiative acting swiftly to secure his control the Angevin monarch for stay now politically isolated Conrad of Montferrat to submit to him on July 26th the succession of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem was also settled Kiev Luzon Yan would remain king for life and the revenues of his realm were to be shared with Conrad in addition Conrad would become the heir to the throne of Jerusalem after Gea's death to solidify this promised he would formally be awarded the city of Tyre immediately although in reality he had possessed it for years to guarantee his Angevin realms security in Europe Richard coerced philip augustus into swearing an oath on christian icons that he would not attack Richards realm while the crusade continued eager to continue the war with haste the English King also sought to swiftly resolve the terms of hacker's surrender with Saladin however the Sultan played a dangerous game of delay with Richard knowing that if his force could be immobilized until winter due to the prisoners he had taken a tacher the winter weather would give him more time to prepare this diplomatic maneuvering was to have grim consequences after Saladin began to deliberately equivocate seeking to insert more conditions into the deal Richard was disgusted and decided to take a drastic step on the 20th of August 11 91 Richard and his army marched out of the city and set up a temporary camp beyond the old trenches the King then showed his hand marching some 2700 prisoners out of the city and herding them onto the open ground beyond the Frankish tents their hands bound by ropes as the Muslim advanced guard watched in horror the Christian forces slashed and stabbed their helpless prisoners to death a small troop of Muslims tried to counter-attack in order to stop the massacre but they were repelled [Music] it was a stark political message to the Sultan this was how the Lionheart would play Saladin's game in response the Sultan executed all of the Latin prisoners he himself had taken despite it's apparently barbaric nature many recent scholars argue that Richard was motivated by the military necessity of swiftly moving on to further campaigns and saving resources which would have been needed to maintain the prisoners [Music] whatever the case the crusade was now able to move on after much deliberation with his fellow commanders the Lionheart decided on a combined approach a fighting march to the south during which the 15,000 strong army would hug the coast being closely supported and shadowed by the Latin navy carrying most of the supplies Richard's strategic objectives during this time were obscured to Saladin just as they are unclear to us now this misdirection appears to have worked as the Sultan felt the need to garrison both Jerusalem and ask along with 20,000 men each rather than being able to focus on just one of these potential targets it is likely that Richard himself had not decided on his objective yet as he could easily carry on to Ascalon once he reached Jaffa giving him the ability to cut off Saladin's lines of communication and supply from the wealthy I appeared Egyptian core however he could just as easily pivot east to threaten Jerusalem itself here's ultimate objective setting off on August 22nd 1191 in the direction of Jaffa the Lionhearts crusading army advanced at an unexpectedly slow pace around six kilometers per day he did this both to prevent his army from becoming strung out due to exhaustion and to protect his armored warriors from the intense heat of summer on August 25th Saladin broke camp and began marching parallel to the Crusader army to the left of the Christian force Muslim troops began to assault the strung out Crusader rearguard manned by the French contingent hearing of their peril the Lionheart wrote to his rear lines and drove the Muslims away after which they reached Haifa on August 26th during their stay at Haifa Richard reorganized his marching column elites Templar and Hospital a Knights held the van and rearguard while the king and a central mass of Knights were screened on their land would left side by dense ranks of well armored infantry whose panoply made them almost immune to missile fire another consequence of Richard's irregularly slow march was that Saladin did not have the supplies to keep his men in the field presuming that Richard would march as fast as possible now in increasing need of a decisive clash the I you bit leader began seeking a suitable battlefield by performing reconnaissance on the coastal route in front of the Crusader column on September 3rd the coastal route became impassable and forced the Crusaders to turn inland for a time where they would be separated from their supply ships Saladin chose this moment to seek battle he personally led three divisions of troops against the masked Christian infantry bombarding them with arrows before charging their line with cavalry this brief but indecisive engagement Sothis Alton escaped unscathed but Richard had been struck in the side by a crossbow bolt though his armor absorbed much of the blow by the end of September 3rd the Lionheart army reached the river of reeds and pitched its temps unaware that a mile upstream the Muslims had done the same now only 25 miles from Jaffa the English King allowed his men a day of rest on the 4th ahead of them at this point was the forest of Asif one of Palestines rare woodlands and a site which the Crusaders feared to pass through due to fear of Muslim ambush beyond the forest was ground primed for a camp called the rushed eye followed by a large open plain seeking safe passage through the dangerous woods the Lionhearts dispatched envoys to request folk peace talks with Saladin's brother Safford in instructing his brother to prolong the talks for as long as possible Saladin allowed his men to forage in the woods and rest however this was a ruse and Richard was in no mood for actual negotiation the talks were neither prolonged nor cordial and they quickly broke off no sooner had this happened than the king ordered his army to march through the woods thanks to the Kings cunning strategy of misdirection the Crusaders managed to reach the limits of the forest unhindered and unharmed as they reached the rushed eye the Crusaders pitched their tents and rested for the night the next morning preparations were different as the king seemed to be readying his men for a potential battle as they crossed the plains instead of a marching column the Crusader army formed up as if it's marching flank facing inland would be its front in an upcoming battle so it could turn and fight in formation with ease shortly before dawn on the 7th of September 11 91 the Crusader army set off in its battle ready formation seeing enemy scouts in all directions the main Christian infantry contingent melee infantry archers and crossbowmen protected the front and flanks of the battle formation screaming all of the marching column not shielded by the sea this contingent as well as the baggage train to the rear of the formation was commanded by honoré of Sean bond in the column span guard the right wing of the battle formation four squadrons of elites Templar knights followed by Breton's and Angevin cavalry were led by the orders grand commander repaired a sub lay on the left wing Flemish french and jerusalem knights led by veteran hospital ia's formed up under the leadership of their own grandmaster garnier de naples finally in the center another four squadrons of quite a von Norman and anglo-norman Horseman marched under give loosen your and were under the ultimate authority of Richard the Lionheart himself over all the crusading army probably numbered around fifteen thousand soldiers of which 2,000 troops were the lethal heavily armoured Latin Knights as this force past a forested area to their left Saladin's army emerged and arrayed in battle formation the Sultan himself lined up immediately in front of the tree line to the left side of the crusader marching column accompanied by his elite personal guard drawn up in front of him worthy mixed infantry and cavalry contingents of Syria Damascus and Saladin's Elite Guard led by his son Aleph del on the I Ovid right flank Egyptian cavalry and Nubian infantry under the Sultan's brother sayfudine opposed the hospital 'as manning the opposite side of the battlefield to the left cavalry and infantry units from the jazeera region and Mesopotamia opposed the infamous Templars overall Saladin's force probably numbered around 25 to 30,000 troops outnumbering their enemy two to one and possessing significantly more mounted troops the Crusader right-wing led by the Templar knights reached the outskirts and plantations of Arsuf at around 9:00 a.m. at this point Saladin saw that his enemy was tired and searching for a good place to win camp and made his decisive move lightly armored Muslim infantry wildung bows and javelins charged while horse archers galloped forward at this point a shattering cacophony of cymbals gongs and war cries broke out as the Muslims tried to intimidate their enemy as they came into range a devastating missile bombardment hit the left wing of the Crusader ranks with the ibid infantry shooting arrows and throwing javelins while their cavalry mounted lightning hit and-run horse archery attacks the grizzled hospitalist other Crusader units on this wing were heavily armed and so not many of them were killed their horses were not so lucky however the fact that the Muslims vastly outnumbered them was causing a loss of cohesion and speed in their ranks making them slow down and split from the rest of the army if this continued they would be in danger of encirclement and utter destruction as the column continued to slowly march towards our sir richard the lionheart still did not wish for a full-scale battle and instead wanted to regroup as a sub itself on the Crusader left Saladin's liked cavalry and skirmishes began to get around the seaward side of the Crusaders threatening them with attack from the rear still the crusaders did not retaliate as Richard was initially hesitant to get involved in a mass battle on Saladin's terms however the hospitalist were eager for a fight and their Grand Master sent a messenger requesting permission to attack which was refused with his entire army almost bursting with enthusiasm for the charge and infuriated by the ibid missile attacks it took the lion hearts immense will and charisma to keep them from charging without orders any break in troop discipline and any gap in the orderly marching formation would be fatal as the pressure on the left mounted the Grand Master of the Hospitaller order himself came to Richard and pleaded for permission to attack and was again refused the King was now close to his goal of safety at Arsuf however now his hand was forced on the heavily pressured left wing the marshal of the Hospitaller order had been held back enough and charged without orders driven by a mixture of rage humiliation and sheer bloodlust thousands of Crusaders had followed his lead in a mere moment seeing this Richard acted decisively the unordered charge was against his plans but he instead commanded that's the entirety of his army now charged and reinforced the left-wing the Lionheart himself and his personal contingent swept around his army and charged along with the embattled Hospitaller cavalry the Muslim line on this part of the battlefield incredibly close to that of the Christians were smashed by the brunt of the lethal nightly charge and began to rout to the forest behind them the king himself supposedly fought with ferocity and valor killing many Muslims and acting like the proper medieval warrior Manik much the same slaughter occurred in other areas of the battlefield with the Muslims routing to the prayer however they were not done and as the Christian inventory slowly caught up and again screamed their cavalry Saladin rallied his Elite Guard and many units who had retreated into a usable battle formation Richard the Lionheart using the momentum of his victory now charged a second time with his entire army and destroyed Saladin's attempt as turning the battle around many Muslims were killed as they fled however Richard stopped his army before it reached the treeline fearing a potential ambush with this victory one the Crusaders celebrated and encamped at his water bridge area near Asif it is not known exactly how many died in this battle but it is widely believed that the Crusaders lost only 700 soldiers dead while Saladin lost 7,000 while the psychological impact of the Crusader victory was once again shattering to Saladin his numerical losses were recoverable within days he was sending messengers to his far-flung territories requesting reinforcements the Crusaders were jubilant at their victory as it was clear that Saladin had once again tried and failed to stop the crusade in its tracks on the 9th of September 11 91 the bruised Franks resumed their march south and the next day reached the ruined city of Jaffa which Saladin had destroyed in a scorched earth strategy this was not an immediate problem as the Crusader Navy continued to ferry them supplies now as they turned inland Jerusalem waited for their arrival [Music] after the I bid Sultan's second crushing defeat against the Third Crusade at Asif he had to make a difficult decision retreating to the south much depleted he could not afford to defend both Ascalon and Jerusalem itself showing his willingness to quickly change tactics and not having much choice he decided to utterly demolish Ascalon southern Palestine's main port and the Gateway to Egypt so the Crusaders could not use it instead he would focus on Jerusalem with his entire force [Music] rumors of the destruction reached the Crusaders in Jaffa by September 12th and Richard quickly sent representatives by sea to confirm the act it was true columns of inhabitants were forcefully moved from the city and its fortifications were entirely destroyed having tried and failed to Beach the Crusaders in open battle Saladin would now adopt defensive scorched earth tactics this prompted action in the crusade account Richard himself wanted to seize and then refortified cologne for use as a supply communication and staging hub to take Jerusalem and to further destabilize Saladin's hold over Palestine however when his council met in mid-september a large number of Latin nobles resisted such as hue of burgundy they argued instead for the further report efficacious of Jaffa followed by a direct strike in land on Jerusalem itself finally pressured by his Crusader Ken the Lionheart was essentially forced to accede at this point the Crusader army tired by the horrors of the march from Acker now basked in the sudden break in hostility and as many Christian eyewitnesses observed was polluted by sin and filth the Third Crusade therefore remained stalled in and around Jaffa for seven weeks giving Saladin time to demolish the key forts between that city at Jerusalem further expanding his scorched earth strategy Richard spent all of October 1191 reorganizing his spent army only in the last days of the normal fighting season did they advance inland on the holy city leaving the plentiful coastal supply line which had done so well keeping the army alive the recent shift in I bid strategy left the path inland to Jerusalem from the coast utterly desolate every major fortified site was dismantled and all resources of potential use by Crusader forces were burned nevertheless on October 29th Richard marched out onto the plains east of Jaffa and began the slow steady work of rebuilding a string of sites through which to advance on Jerusalem itself during this period the war degenerated into a series of skirmishes during which the Saracen lights troops and cavalry would harass the Franks and their construction efforts while avoiding a full-scale confrontation the Lionheart would often throw himself into the thick of these battles apparently to the irritation of his fellow commanders who worried for the fate of the crusade if he were to die his martial endeavors and construction were however just two factors in a combined strategy he also used diplomacy alongside military threat probably hoping to bring Saladin to the point of submission before he had to make the siege of Jerusalem itself a ceding to these requests the soultion granted permission to his brother Safford in to hold talks on his own initiative believing his army to be mutinous and war weary whilst also playing for time what followed was a series of spying episodes and sabotage between the two sides for example Saladin employed 300 Bedouin thieves to perform prisoner snatches at night while Richard employed religious pilgrims to covertly steal crucial information the King even offered Safford in the hand of his own sister in marriage professing that the new couple could rule over a neutral kingdom centered on Jerusalem despite his efforts Safford in professed that Islam would not relinquish the holy city so Richard had to advance further in land by early November 1191 crusade engineers had successfully refortified and reconstructed the region of yaso for use as a base and they subsequently moved on to the area around leader and Rambler both of which had been desolated by Saladin before he had retreated as the process of rebuilding Rambler commenced the ravaging winter began and conditions became appalling the Crusaders suffered from malnourishment and starvation and many horses perished despite these dire circumstances the morale of the Christians was high as they were buoyed by a desire to see and regain the holy city for their faith six miserable winter weeks were spent reconstructing Ramla before the Lionheart forces began to inch forward again first to return and then to a small destroyed fortress near Bates New Bern at this point the Crusaders were now just 12 miles from Jerusalem the ultimate goal they were so close however things now take an unexpected turn though they had come so far a council convened on the 10th of January 1192 came to the conclusion that instead of advancing and proceeding the holy city the Crusaders should retreat from beta nuba back to the coast it is said that the Templars and some Latin nobles coerced Richard into this but he himself probably was not willing to stake the fate of the entire Third Crusade on such a potentially hazardous campaign conducting a siege on Jerusalem with shaky supply lines while a large Saracen field army could be waiting to strike was incredibly risky many scholars have commended this decision however some also believed that he missed out on a golden opportunity to take the city if he had only pressured Saladin further while the Kings cautious strategy was wise in hindsight its effect on Christian morale and the crusade in general was a catastrophe they had been so close and they had fled in disgrace so they thought predictably as the demoralized crusading army withdrew back to the coast it began to fray and split some units returns to Jaffa while others went to a COS pleasure houses Richard himself led a severely weakened contingent to the ruined city of Ashkelon arriving on January 20th he would spend five months repairing the devastated coastal city to the north enduring divisions among the Franks would erupt in late February when the Latins openly began fighting over the recently conquered Agra Jenny we sailors under direction from Conrad of Montferrat attempted to take control of the city but were stopped by Richards peace and allies enraged by this attempted betrayal Richard travelled north to a place halfway between akka and tyre in order to meet with Conrad but no agreement was reached Richard subsequently formally deprived Conrad of his share of Jerusalem's revenues however he was now thoroughly entrenched in the Levant with possession of an unassailable center of power at tyre and a growing body of support among the utrom heirs remaining barons his marriage to Isabella of Jerusalem also gave him a strong claim to the throne it seemed that Richard would have to accept the status quo that Conrad would have to be accommodated in any lasting settlement Crusader politics would continue to be affected in paradigm-shifting ways as in mid-april of 1192 envoys from Europe had sailed to Ascalon bearing news which would overturn all of the Lionhearts plans a developing political crisis was occurring in the Angevin realm the King's aide and representative had been exiled by Richard's brother the future King John Lackland who sought to increase his own authority realizing he was running out of time Richard judged he could embark on one last fighting season before returning home now suddenly in the mood to compromise the king approved a decision to offer the Kingdom of Jerusalem to Conrad of Montferrat in a stunning turnaround the previous king Kiev losing yon would be compensated with the island of Cyprus sold to him at a bargain price by the Templar order which itself had purchased it from Richard this settlement would lead to over a century of losing yon rule on Cyprus ecstatic at the sudden promotion Conrad immediately began to make military preparations to assist Richard in his future crusading endeavors breaking off his previous negotiations with Saladin [Music] in the evening of April 28th the new king of jerusalem travels to the residence of a fellow crusader entire to have supper where the two struck up a friendship however while he was travelling home with two guards a man approached conrad with a letter and offered it to him as he reached out to take it the man stabbed him and he perished soon after his assassins were shortly revealed to have been sent by Sinan the master of the nasara' is Mihaly otherwise known as the order of assassins from massive castle some of the French Crusaders entire spread rumors that Richard the Lionheart himself had ordered the murder while others speculated that Saladin had contracted the assassins it is not out of the question that Sinan simply acted independently either in response to Tyrion piracy or fearing that Conrad would destroy the crucial power balance in Palestine his death sent the political situation amongst the Latins into disarray and several attempts were made to seize power entire the widowed Isabella of Jerusalem fended off several of these attempts and eventually a settlement was reached in which count honoré of champagne would marry Isabella and was elected to the titular monarch of Frankish Palestine to the south the Lionheart set about bolstering his foothold in southern Palestine by completing the report of a keishon of Ascalon and sought to expand it further by conquering the Muslim held Fortress of Daraa [Music] on May 29th bad news was to come another messenger arrived from Europe confirming his worst fears that philip augustus king of france was plotting with the ambitious prince john the envoy warned Richard that if nothing was done to stop the treacherous duo the kingdom might be lost to him a decision now loomed over the Lionheart to remain in the crusade or go home immediately he chose to remain for now On June 6th Saladin received an urgent warning that a crusader army was marching northeast from Ascalon in strength which heralded another advance on Jerusalem the prospect of attacking the holy city was still almost insurmountable however the stable summer weather in addition to the network of previously reconstructed fortifications would make things much easier nevertheless Richard was not happy and was more eager to attack Egypt which was an easier target and the wealthy core of ibid territory though this likely would have been strategically wiser it ignored the prime motivating and unifying factor of the crusade religious zeal for Jerusalem Crusader opinion was beginning to turn against Richard and the Latin Baron's decided to march on Jerusalem with or without the Angevin King without much choice the King eventually acquiesced to these demands and decided to once again advance into Judea though the Crusaders advanced as one previous fishers were beginning to appear in the Christian command structure which was to have fatal consequences the second advance was initially rapid they reached base nuba in a blistering six days whereas before it had taken months initial success gave way to a stall in March as Saladin consistently launched cavalry raids to destroy Christian supply caravans On June 24th the Christian scored a crucial victory after stalking a crucial and massive Muslim supply caravan bound for Jerusalem for three days Richard seized it and its cargo of food supplies gold silver silks and its pack animals after this disaster the Sultan began preparing Jerusalem for a siege reinforcing its walls assigning battle positions and poisoning the wells five years to the day after Saladin's glorious victory at Hattin however a miracle came upon Islam the Crusaders once again struck camp turned their backs on the holy city and retreated division in the Latin army and the fact that Richard never wanted to attack Jerusalem considering it unwise had prompted this withdrawal by summer of 1192 both the I bits and the Crusaders had fought one another to a stalemate with the forces of neither Christendom nor Islam able to decisively win the Levant a war all that remained was to settle peace aiming to seize a stronger negotiating position Saladin launched a surprise attack on Jaffa during July of 1192 while Richard was away in akka preparing to attack Beirut seven to ten thousand Saracens most of whom were cavalry besieged the coastal city and took its garrison by surprise they resisted heroically for three days throwing back assault after assault but then they retreated back to the Citadel and left the town itself to Saladin crucially the Crusader defenders managed to send word of their situation to Richard in akka Richard quickly assembled a ragtag army of 54 mounted Knights several hundred infantry and over two thousand Genoese and peace and crossbowmen and set sail to Jaffa upon seeing the Muslim banners waving from the walls the King initially believes Jaffa to be lost however a defender managed to swim to the flagship and informed Richard of the Citadel's resistance again showing his military prowess Richard the Lionheart lept into the sea and waded through the shallows in order to reach the shore at the head of his army shocked by the brazen assault and afraid that this was just the spearhead of a far larger force the Muslims panicked and routed spilling out of Jaffa in a disorderly manner where many were killed in the retreat Saladin struggled to maintain control of his army at this point and could not bring them to order until they were fired miles inland when he did he also received reports that more Frankish Crusaders were marching from Caesarea to reinforce it this prompted him to counter-attack once again aiming to recapture the city before reinforcements arrived in the early morning of August 4th the Muslim army concealed itself in the crop field fields outside the city planning to launch a surprise attack the next day this was not to be as a genuine soldier out for a morning stroll found the Muslim army and alerted his comrades at this richard quickly assembled his infantry and crossbowmen for battle outside the city the spearmen were ordered to drive their shields and spears into the ground forming a makeshift bristling wall meanwhile the large tent spikes were driven into the ground to act as anti cavalry stakes the small handful of cavalry Richard possessed were kept in the rear as a reserve [Music] Saladin's lightly armored Turkish Egyptian and Bedouin cavalry charged at the makeshift defenses of the Lionhearts line it was then that the Crusaders implemented their intuitive tactic the armored crossbow fired them missiles in volleys one ranked shooting while the other reloaded resulting in a constant barrage of bolts with the lightly armored I abide horsemen being utterly savaged by crossbow bolts in their repeated charges and unable to break through the Lionhearts innovative defenses they suffered immense losses meanwhile the Crusaders heavier Armour was all but immune to Muslim errors after many attempted charges the Muslim horsemen were tired and disorganized the Lionheart used this moment to charge with his cavalry Reserve crushing be weakened Saracens who proceeded to retreat from Jaffa this was the last major action of the crusade and negotiations continued afterwards finally on September 2nd 1192 a deal was reached three years of truce was agreed Saladin retained control of Jerusalem but agreed to allow Christian pilgrims to access the Holy Sepulchre the Frankish Crusaders were to hold the narrow coastal strip between Jaffa and tyre but as Collins fortifications would once again be destroyed key Crusaders such as the sickly Richard the Lionheart Omri of champagne and Balian of Ibelin swore their oaths followed by Saladin and key members of his family with these rituals completed peace was finally achieved [Music] in the month that followed three delegations of Crusaders made the journey to Jerusalem unopposed they had achieved in peace what they could not achieve through war after 16 months of fighting in the Holy Land the Lionheart finally departed back to Europe on October 9th 1192 his opponent Saladin ruled his empire for around another half year before dying on March 3rd 1193 this defender of Islam was buried in the Grand Mosque at Damascus where he remains to this day Saladin is one of the most interesting historical characters and you can recreate his deeds and adventures in the world of rise of kingdoms thanks again to ROK for sponsoring this video they have a new update now the arc of a cyrus which comes with a massive amount of content you and your alliance can fight in the new egypt themed battleground or spectate and guess the league champion players can join together using their favorite heroes skills and troops to survive and defeat the raid boss join us today create your own history in Rise of kingdoms support our channel by downloading rise of kingdoms from patronage emmy / ROK & generals all the link in the description use the code SC YF p w6 fxu and get 200 gems two silver keys two sets of 50,000 food and two of 50,000 would thus ends our series on the history of the Third Crusade but as always we have more stories to tell so make sure you are subscribed to our Channel and have pressed the bell button we would like to express our gratitude to our patreon supporters and channel members who make the creation of our videos possible now you can also support us by buying our merchandise via the link in the description this is the kings and Generals channel and we will catch you on the next one

Channel: Kings and Generals

Views: 2,311,738

Rating: 4.8016481 out of 5

Keywords: third crusade, richard the lionheart, middle ages, documentary film, kings and generals, full documentary, animated documentary, history lesson, military history, decisive battles, frederick barbarossa, crusader kingdoms, world history, history channel, history documentary, saladin, iconium, hattin, templar, hospitaller, acre, seljuks, king and generals, arsuf, jaffa, animated historical documentary, montferrat, battle of jaffa, battle of arsuf, balian of ibelin, kingdom of heaven

Id: jCyCSgsFXKQ

Length: 92min 51sec (5571 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 15 2020