The third crusade - briefly. Third Crusade Report on the 3rd Crusade

In 1187, the Egyptian sultan and prominent military leader Saladin defeated the Crusader army in Palestine. He quickly took possession of the seaside cities and eventually captured Jerusalem. This event led to the call of the Pope for the Third Crusade.

The purpose of the crusade

Reasons for the Third Crusade

• the capture of Jerusalem by Saladin;
• the desire of European monarchs to take control of the eastern (Levantine trade);
• the Pope's desire to unite Europe under his religious authority.

The religious purpose was just a pretext for a crusade. It was based on economic reasons. Ordinary soldiers dreamed of military glory and rich booty.

Three leaders were at the head of the Third Crusade. For a 6th grade history lesson, the following table gives a visual representation of them:

Table "Participants of the Third Crusade"

Participant	Years of life	Merit
German Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa ("red-bearded")		Participated in the Second Crusade. He created the most combat-ready army in those years, in which the main role was assigned to the heavy cavalry. He fought against the Pope. Leading the Third Crusade, Adrianapolis took. Drowned while crossing the river. Selif.
King of France Philip II Augustus the Conqueror		For the sake of the crusade, he made peace with his enemy - the English king Richard I. But the relationship was not easy. After the capture of Acre, he returned to France.
King of England Richard I the Lionheart		He became famous as a crusader warrior. After the coronation, he almost immediately went on the Third Crusade. He spent ten years in continuous wars in the East. Wounded during the siege of the castle, he died from blood poisoning.

Figure: 1. Monument to Richard I the Lionheart in London.

The Third Crusade

After Saladin's successes, Pope Gregory VIII issued an appeal to “Return Jerusalem!” Clement III, who replaced him, announced the beginning of the Third Crusade in 1188.

The expedition was doomed to failure from the start the following reasons :

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• the pope was unable to keep control of the campaign;
• the main military leaders pursued only their own interests and were at enmity with each other;
• Saladin significantly outnumbered his opponents in the field of military leadership.

Figure: 2. The third crusade on the map.

Briefly about the Third Crusade can be judged by considering the actions of its leaders.

The German crusaders in 1189 were the first to start the campaign and moved towards Jerusalem by land. They plundered and devastated the Bulgarian and Byzantine lands. After the accidental death of Frederick I Barbarossa, most of them returned home altogether.

The French and English kings competed with each other and did not agree on a common plan of action. Yet in 1190 they began a campaign together, sailing from southern France by sea. The voyage lasted about ten months due to long stops.

The Crusaders did not hesitate to plunder the Sicilian city of Messina. After that, they split up: the French sailed on, and the British conquered Cyprus.

In 1191, the French, English and the remnants of the German army united near Acra and, after a siege, took the city. Philip II immediately left for France and entered into an alliance with the opponents of the English king. Overall leadership passed to Richard I.

Figure: 3. Blondel painting.

Richard I the Lionheart was a brave fighter, but a poor military leader. He lost one battle after another. As a result, the English king was able to get only minor concessions from Saladin.

The main reason for the failure of the Third Crusade was the inconsistency of its leaders.

Results of the Third Crusade

The trip did not justify the hopes placed on it. It lasted for three years (1189 - 1192) and led to the following results:

• Jerusalem remained under Egyptian rule;
• the crusaders retained in the East a narrow coastal area from Tire to Jaffa;
• christian pilgrims and merchants could freely visit the holy city for three years.

What have we learned?

The third crusade was supposed to unite all Christian states and end with the capture of Jerusalem. Instead, the crusaders plundered along the way, and the kings feuded among themselves. Three of the best European generals could not find a common language. Saladin managed to keep Jerusalem in Muslim hands.

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Introduction

The Third Crusade (1189-1192) was initiated by the popes Gregory VIII and (after the death of Gregory VIII) Clement III. Four of the most powerful European monarchs took part in the Crusade - the German emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, the French king Philip II Augustus, the Austrian duke Leopold V and the English king Richard I the Lionheart. The Third Crusade was preceded by the capture of Jerusalem by Saladin in October 1187.

1. The position of Christian states in the East

The position of the Christian states in the East after the second crusade remained in the same state in which it was before 1147. Neither the French nor the German kings did anything to weaken Nuredin. Meanwhile, in the Christian states of Palestine themselves, there is an internal corruption, which is used by the neighboring Muslim rulers. The licentiousness of morals in the Antiochian and Jerusalem principalities is revealed especially sharply after the end of the Second Crusade.

In Jerusalem and Antioch, women were at the head of the government: in Jerusalem, Queen Melisende of Jerusalem, mother of Baldouin III; in Antioch since 1149 - Constance, the widow of Prince Raimund. Court intrigues began, the throne was surrounded by temporary workers, who lacked neither the desire nor the ability to rise above the interests of the party. The Muslims, seeing the failure of the attempts of European Christians to liberate the Holy Land, began to attack Jerusalem and Antioch with greater determination; Nuredin, the emir of Aleppo and Mosul, who stood much higher than the Christian rulers in character, intelligence and understanding of the historical tasks of the Muslim world, acquired special fame and fatal significance for Christians from the middle of the 12th century.

Nuredin turned all his forces against the Antiochian principality. In the war between Raymund of Antioch and Nuredin, which was fought during 1147-1149, the Antiochians were defeated more than once, in 1149 Raymund himself fell in one of the battles. Since then, the state of affairs in Antioch has become no better than in Jerusalem.

All the events of the second half of the 12th century in the East are mainly grouped around the majestic imposing figure of Nuredin, who was then replaced by the no less majestic Saladin. Possessing Aleppo and Mossul, Nuredin did not limit himself to constraining the Antiochian principality, he drew attention to the position of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Back in 1148, the king of Jerusalem, sending Conrad to Damascus, made a big mistake, which affected immediately after the Second Crusade. It entailed a very sad outcome: Damascus, pressed by the Jerusalem crusaders, enters into an agreement with Nuredin, who becomes the ruler of all the largest cities and major regions belonging to Muslims. When Nuredin seized Damascus and the Muslim world saw its largest representative in Nuredin, the position of Jerusalem and Antioch was constantly hanging in the balance. This showed how precarious the position of the Eastern Christians was, and how it constantly necessitated Western assistance.

While Palestine was gradually passing into the hands of Nuredin, in the north, claims increased from the Byzantine king Manuel Comnenus, who did not lose sight of the age-old Byzantine policy and used all measures to reward himself at the expense of the weakened Christian principalities. A knight at heart, a highly energetic person who loves glory, King Manuel was ready to carry out the policy of restoring the Roman Empire within its old limits. He repeatedly undertook campaigns to the East, which were very successful for him. His policy tended to gradually unite the principality of Antioch with Byzantium. After the death of his first wife, the sister of King Conrad III, Manuel marries one of the Antioch princesses. The resulting relationship was to eventually bring Antioch under the rule of Byzantium. Thus, both in the south, due to the successes of Nuredin, and in the north, due to the claims of the Byzantine king, the Christian principalities in the second half of the 12th century were threatened with an imminent end.

The difficult position of the Christian East did not remain unknown in the West, and the attitude of the Byzantine king towards Christians could not but arouse hatred towards him on the part of Western Europeans. More and more hostile voices were heard against Byzantium in the West.

2. War with Saladin

Saladin gave a new direction to affairs in the East; under him the union of the Egyptian caliphate with the Baghdad caliphate took place. Saladin possessed all the qualities needed to fulfill the ideal goals of the Muslim world and restore the predominance of Islam. The character of Saladin is revealed from the history of the Third Crusade, from his relationship with the English king Richard the Lionheart. Saladin resembles traits of a chivalrous character, and in his political cleverness he stood far above his European enemies. Not for the first time during the Third Crusade, Saladin was an enemy of Christians. It began its activity during the Second Crusade; he participated in the wars of Zengi and Nuredin against Christians. After the end of the Second Crusade, he went to Egypt, where he gained great importance and influence on affairs and soon seized the supreme government in the Caliphate, while maintaining ties and relations with the Baghdad Caliphate.

After the death of Nuredin, his sons started an internecine struggle. Saladin took advantage of these strife, came to Syria with troops and made his claims to Aleppo and Mosul. An enemy of Christians, glorified as a conqueror, Saladin combined energy, intelligence and a deep understanding of political circumstances with vast possessions and formidable military forces. The gaze of the entire Muslim world turned to him; the hopes of Muslims rested on him, as on a person who could restore the political dominance lost by Muslims and return the possessions taken by Christians. The lands conquered by the Christians were equally sacred to both Egyptian and Asian Muslims. The religious idea was as deep and real in the East as it was in the West. On the other hand, Saladin deeply understood that the return of these lands to Muslims and the restoration of the forces of Islam in Asia Minor would raise his authority in the eyes of the entire Muslim world and give a solid foundation for his dynasty in Egypt.

Thus, when Saladin captured Aleppo and Mosul in 1183, a very important moment came for Christians, in which they had to solve very serious problems. But Christian princes were far below their role and their tasks. At a time when they were surrounded on all sides by a hostile element, they were in the most unfavorable conditions in order to resist their enemies: not only was there no solidarity between the individual principalities, but they were in extreme demoralization; nowhere was there such scope for intrigue, ambition, murder, as in the eastern principalities. An example of immorality is the Jerusalem Patriarch Heraclius, who not only resembled the most wicked Roman popes, but in many ways surpassed them: he openly lived with his mistresses and wasted all his money and income on them; but he was no worse than the others; no better were princes, barons, knights and clergy. For example, the noble Templar Robert of St. Albans, having converted to Islam, went into the service of Saladin and took a high position in his army. Complete licentiousness prevailed among those people who were faced with very serious tasks in view of the advancing formidable enemy. The barons and knights, pursuing their own selfish interests, did not consider it at all shameful at the most important moments, during the battle, to leave the ranks of the Christian troops and go over to the side of the Muslims. This absolute lack of understanding of events played into the hands of such a far-sighted and intelligent politician like Saladin, who fully understood the state of affairs and appreciated their importance.

If treason and treachery could be expected among the knights and barons, then the main leaders, princes and kings, were no better than them. In Jerusalem, Baldwin IV ruled, a man energetic, brave and courageous, who more than once took personal part in the battles with the Saracens. Due to the impossibility of cure for leprosy and the feeling of melting strength, he was forced to decide the question of the heir to the throne in order to prevent confusion in the kingdom, which threatened to come because of disputes over applicants for the crown. Baldwin IV intended to crown his young nephew Baldwin V; at the same time, a dispute arose over custody: Guido Lusignan, son-in-law of Baldwin V, and Raimund, Count of Tripoli, argued.

The representative of complete arbitrariness was Renaud de Chatillon, who made robber raids on Muslim trade caravans from Egypt; Not only did Rainald incite Muslims against Christians with his raids, but he inflicted significant harm on the Christian principalities themselves, which lived in these caravans, and undermined at the root the trade of Tire, Sidon, Ascalon, Antioch and other coastal Christian cities.

During one of these excursions, which Reynald made from his castle, he robbed a caravan, which also contained Saladin's sister. This circumstance can be considered the closest motive that caused a clash between the Muslim ruler and the Christian princes. Saladin had previously pointed out the unworthy deeds of Renaud de Chatillon to the king of Jerusalem, but the king did not have the means to curb the baron. Now, when an insult to honor and family feelings was inflicted on Saladin, he, in spite of the truce that was concluded between him and the Christian princes, declared the Christians a war for life and death.

The war began in 1187. Saladin decided to punish the king of Jerusalem, both for the misdeeds of Renaud de Chatillon and for his only apparent independence. Saladin's troops advanced from Aleppo and Mossul and were quite significant in comparison with the Christian forces. In Jerusalem it was possible to recruit only up to 2 thousand knights and up to 15 thousand infantry, but these insignificant forces were not local, but were made up of visiting Europeans.

2.1. Hattin

Two thousand mounted knights, eighteen thousand infantry and several thousand light archers gathered in the campaign to rescue Tiberias - an army on that scale is considerable. The euphoria from the suddenly arisen unity was universal. The Master of the Templars opened the treasury to the King of Jerusalem, which had been handed over by the English king in case of the third crusade. The army was well equipped and sent to a parking lot in Galilee, to the Seforia source. The only one who did not come to the army was Patriarch Heraclius. He said he was sick and only sent the Holy Cross, accompanied by two bishops.

Heraclius' refusal to participate in the campaign did not surprise anyone. The Patriarch of Jerusalem was known for his great love of life. According to the chronicler, the patriarch kept a mistress, had children by her, and this mistress, dressed luxuriously like a princess, accompanied by her retinue, walked the streets of the city. So the absence of the patriarch was greeted with jokes about the fact that the old jealous man does not dare to leave his mistress unattended. The Templars were entrusted with carrying the cross.

On July 3, when the crusading army was already approaching Tiberias, it became known that the city had fallen. Only his citadel, where the family of Raymond of Tripoli took refuge, kept up. Countess Eshiva bravely held the line.

Before the last passage to Tiberias, the barons gathered in council in the tent of King Guy.

The first to speak was Raymond Tripoli.

I stand for not beating Tiberias, ”he said. - Please note that I am not motivated by selfishness - after all, I risk more than others: my family is besieged in the citadel and at any moment may fall into the hands of the Saracens. But if they capture my wife, my people, and my property, I will bring them back to myself when I can, and rebuild my city when I can. (The count knew what he was saying: indeed, Saladin, having captured the Countess Eshiva, let her go with expensive gifts.) For I prefer to see the destroyed Tiberias rather than the whole land perished. Until Tiberias itself, there are no sources, and the area is open. The sun will bake relentlessly. We will lose a lot of people and horses. Salah ad-Din's army should be expected here, at the springs.

The barons noisily supported Raymond. The Hospitallers also agreed with him. Only the Grand Master of the Templars was silent. King Guy, joining the opinion of the majority, ordered not to move anywhere further and to strengthen the camp in case the Saracens appeared.

But after supper, the Grand Master of the Knights Templar came to the king's tent. He explained to Guy that Raymond of Tripoli's plan was a clear betrayal. “I see a wolf's skin,” he scolded. Raymond is aiming at the throne of Jerusalem and gave such advice to dishonor the king and deprive him of possible victory and glory. Never before had the king of Jerusalem had such a huge army. We must hastily go to Tiberias, attack the Saracens and defeat them. “Come and tell the army to shout, so that all arm themselves and stand, each in their own detachments, and follow the banner of the Holy Cross.” Then all the glory will go to the king.

In the morning, to the surprise of the barons, the king came out of the tent in a white cloak with a red Templar cross, chain mail, a helmet and a sword. He ordered to saddle the horses and move forward. The barons murmured, but on the campaign the king was the commander. The firm confidence of the templars who had already mounted their horses also worked. And the army began to stretch along the parched valley. The Christians marched in three detachments: the vanguard was commanded by Count Raymond of Tripoli, King Guy headed the center in which the Holy Cross was located, under the protection of the bishops of Acre and Lida. Balian Ibelinsky commanded the rearguard, which included the Templars and Hospitallers. The number of the Christian army was about 1200 knights, 4000 mounted sergeants and turkopolis and about 18000 infantry

By noon, people were already falling from heatstrokes. Fine yellow dust hung over the valley.

Soon the rearguard of the army began to harass the flying detachments of Salah ad-Din. Baron Ibelin lost many foot soldiers and even knights in these short skirmishes.

The crusaders approached the village of Manescalcius, located five kilometers from Tiberias. The king turned to Raymond for advice. The count suggested setting up tents and setting up camp. As good as Raymond’s first advice was, the second one was just as bad. The delay only intensified the exhaustion of the soldiers, the only source that was encountered here was small, and it was not even possible to properly water the horses. Many contemporaries were of the opinion that if the crusaders attacked on the move, they would have at least a small chance of victory. However, the king followed the advice of the Count of Tripoli, and the Christians set up camp.

The position of the Latin army stretched for two kilometers. On its left flank were wooded slopes ending in a small hill on which stood the village of Nimrin. On the right flank was the village of Lubia, located on a wooded hill. Ahead of them towered the cliffs called the Horns of Hattin, on the right side of which the Lake of Galilee was visible.

The Saracen army took the following positions. Taki al Din's detachment settled on the plateau between Nimrin and the Horns of Khattin, thereby blocking the road to the source in the village of Khattin. Saladin's troops held the hills around Lubia, blocking the path to Lake Galilee. The Gokbury detachment was below on the plain, not far from the rearguard of the Christians. Supposedly, Saladin gathered 12,000 professional cavalry and 33,000 less effective troops under his banner.

Throughout the night, both armies were so close to each other that their pickets could talk to each other. Thirsty and demoralized crusaders all night heard the beat of drums, the sounds of prayers and songs that came from the camp of the enemy.

In addition, Saladin ordered dry bushes to be laid out on the leeward side along the entire supposed path of the Latin army.

When it got dark, a beggar old woman was caught near the crusader camp. Someone shouted that this is a Muslim sorceress who wants to spoil the crusaders. Immediately, they made a fire from the firewood they had taken with them and burned the old woman alive. From a nearby hill, Salah ad-Din watched the knights' camp and could not understand why the Christians needed such a large fire. The cries of the old woman did not reach Salah ad-Din.

By midday the armies met at the village of Lubia. It was even hotter than the day before. It seemed to the knights that they were being baked alive, and they fought listlessly. The infantry fell behind, the Templars drove the archers forward like a herd of rams. It was not possible to break through the Saracens.

Guy found Raymond of Tripoli. The old warrior's white cloak was ripped apart by a spear. Raymond staggered with fatigue. Guy asked what to do next. He no longer believed in the Grand Master of the Templars. Raymond replied that the only hope to be saved was to retreat in the hope that Salah ad-Din would not pursue the crusaders.

Guy ordered to blow the retreat.

The army of the crusaders, fighting off the Saracens who had taken the offensive, retreated to a large, sloping hill where the village of Hattin stood. There was no water. The well in the village was emptied to the bottom. Those who did not get water sucked on wet sand. The enemies were so close that their voices could be heard.

With the onset of darkness, the soldiers began to run across to the camp of Salah ad-Din. In the middle of the night, five Tripoli knights came to Salah ad-Din. Among them were Baldwin de Fotina, Ralfus Bruktus and Ludovic de Tabaria. It is possible that they deserted with the knowledge of Count Raymond, on whose lands this battle was fought. The knights told Salah ad-Din what he knew without them - the position of the crusaders is hopeless, and their state of mind is so low that a small push is enough for the fruit to fall from the tree. It is known that Salah ad-Din ordered to give water to the knights and to allocate a tent for them. He harbored no grudge against the Count of Tripoli.

At dawn, the first to rise in the camp were the knights of Rene of Chatillon. They decided to break through.

But they were late. Salah ad-Din woke up earlier. His men set fire to the heather, and acrid smoke crept up the hill, hiding the turmoil in the camp. The hill was surrounded by Seljuk horsemen. A wave of René's knights hit them and rolled back into the smoke and despair of doom.

Saladin immediately sent his center and possibly the left flank, under the command of Gokberi, to attack. The Templars counterattacked simultaneously with the vanguard of Count Raymond, who sent their detachment against Taqi al Din and the Muslim right wing, which blocked the advance. During this battle, Saladin lost one of his closest emirs - young Manguras, who fought on the right flank of the Muslim army. Manguras, having gone deep into the ranks of the infidels, challenged the Christian knight to a duel, but was thrown from his horse and beheaded.

Saladin's main task was still to keep Christians out of the water - neither to the spring in Hattin, nor to the Lake of Galilee. Therefore, he positioned the troops as follows. Taki al Din covered the path to the village of Khattin by holding positions from the foot of the Horns to the Nimrinsky Hill. The center of the Muslim army was located between the foot of the Horns and the Lubia Hill, blocking the main road to Tiberias. The Gokberi detachment was located between Lubiya and the Jabal Turan massifs, blocking the route of retreat west to the spring in the village of Turan. Fortification of one of the flanks on the hill was a common tactic of the Turkish-Muslim cavalry army, while the location of the center of the army on the hill was inherent in the foot army. In addition, Saladin feared that the crusaders would be able to break through to the lake, so he gave direct instructions to stop Christians in this direction at any cost.

Meanwhile, Saladin was preparing the main attack of the Muslim cavalry. In order to repel this attack, King Guy Lusignan ordered the army to stop and set up tents, but due to the ensuing confusion, only three tents were erected "next to the mountains" - not far west or southwest of the Horns. The smoke from the burning bushes now played its part, irritating the eyes of the Crusaders and increasing the already unbearable thirst. The Muslim units still located around the Horns of Hattin also suffered from this smoke until the detachments of Saladin and Taqi al-Din parted.

At this time, Count Raymond Trypilsky launched an attack in the northern direction, as a result of which he managed to avoid the defeat that befell the army of the crusaders. The old count galloped ahead of his squad. Down the hillside and further along the dusty road, the detachment left for Tripoli. Then Count Raymond was reproached for having entered into an agreement with Salah ad-Din at night. It is not excluded. The campaign was lost, and Raymond understood this better than anyone else. In any case, one circumstance is obvious - Taqi al Din did not try to stop Raymond, on the contrary, he ordered his lightly armed soldiers to let the crusaders through. If Taki al Din had moved his people to the Nimrinsky hill, letting in the cavalry of Count Raymond, then he would have completely opened the passage between his troops and Saladin's detachment, located south of the Horns of Hattin, into which the Christian infantry could rush, so his soldiers simply dispersed to the sides, and then quickly returned to their positions, thereby practically eliminating the possibility of attacking from the rear by the knights who broke through, since the latter would have to attack from a narrow and steep path.

Meanwhile, battle was raging on Hattin Hill. The center of the battle was in the area of \u200b\u200bthe royal tent and the Holy Cross, which was guarded by the Johannites and servants of the bishops. The infantry was cut off from the knights, and it was in vain that King Guy sent messengers demanding that the infantry rush to the rescue of the Holy Cross. The morale of the troops was so suppressed that the crusaders, despite the king's order and the admonitions of the bishop, replied: "We will not go down and we will not fight, because we are dying of thirst." The unprotected horses of the knights were killed by Saracen archers, and already most of the knights fought on foot.

Twice Saracen cavalry attacked the slopes before they managed to capture the saddle between the Horns. Young Al Afdal, who was next to his father, exclaimed: "We have defeated them!", But Saladin turned to him and said: "Hush! We will break them when this tent falls." At that moment, the Muslim cavalry forced their way to the southern hill, and someone cut the ropes of the royal tent. This, as Saladin had predicted, marked the end of the battle. Exhausted crusaders fell to the ground and surrendered without further resistance. Then it was the king's turn.

The day had not yet flared up when the Christian army ceased to exist. An Arab historian says the Muslims did not have enough ropes to tie all the captives. There were so many of them that slave prices plummeted; the owner exchanged one of the knights for a pair of boots. All captured Turcopols, as traitors to the faith, were executed right on the battlefield.

The bishops were killed. The holy cross was captured, and its further fate is unknown. True, a few years later a knight appeared in Akka, who claimed that he had buried the cross on that hill. An entire expedition was equipped. They dug for three days, but they did not find the cross.

Among the knights taken prisoner were King Guy de Lusignan, his brother Geoffrey de Lusignan, Constable Amory de Lusignan, Margrave of Montferrat, René Chatillon, Honfroy de Toron, Master of the Templar Order, Master of the Hospitaller Order, Bishop of Leeds and many barons. In fact, all the nobility of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, with the exception of Count Raymond, Balian of Ibelins and Josselin de Courtenay (brother of Agnes de Courtenay and uncle of Sibylla of Jerusalem), fell into the hands of Saladin.

The dusty, haggard captives were brought into the tent to Salah ad-Din. Apparently feeling generous after the magnificent victory, the Sultan offered a bowl of cold sorbet to Guy de Lusignan. The king, having drunk from the cup, gave it to Count Rene of Chatillon, whom Saladin vowed to kill. The fact is that according to Arab custom, a prisoner who receives food or water from the hands of the winner cannot be harmed in the future. Seeing that Rene was drinking sherbet, Salah ad-Din stated: "This criminal received water without my consent, and my hospitality does not extend to him." Rene shuddered, but hid his fear and handed the cup to the Templar Master.

Salah ad-Din drew his saber. Then he said:

I will give you life if you repent and convert to Islam.

Rene, knowing that his fate was close, answered the Sultan with haughty courage. Salah ad-Din struck him with his saber.

Rene fell. The guards ran up and chopped off his head. After the count was killed, Saladin dipped his finger into the blood of the enemy and ran it over his face as a sign that his revenge was over. Then Rene's head was taken to the cities of the Sultanate.

After that, Salah ad-Din ordered to take all the captives to prison. They were to stay there until the ransom was paid for them.

An exception was made only for the Templars and the Johannites. There were more than two hundred of them. All the captured Templars and Hospitallers were offered a choice: either convert to Islam or die. Conversion on pain of death is contrary to Muslim laws. But Salah ad-Din said that knight-monks are as terrible as assassins. Only these are Christian assassins - killers without honor, who should not live on Earth. Salah ad-Din had his own scores with the assassins: he was assassinated several times. And all the Templars and Johannites were executed. Only a few knights converted to Islam, one of them was the Templar from Spain, who in 1229 commanded the garrison of Damascus.

The rest of the knights were released for a ransom. Crusaders of common origin were sold into slavery.

About 3,000 people from the Christian army fled from the battlefield, they were able to take refuge in nearby castles and fortified cities.

Some time later, Saladin erected the Qubbat al Nasr monument on the southern hill. Only a small part of the foundation has survived to this day.

The Battle of Tiberias (or the Battle of Hattin) sounded the death knell for the Latin states in the Middle East. The lost bet on a general battle led to the fact that there were no garrisons in the cities of the coast, there were no knights and barons who could lead the defense. The mighty fortress walls were the shells of empty nuts. And since the population of the coastal cities (unlike Jerusalem, in which several tens of thousands of Christians lived) were mainly Muslim, the transfer of power to the governors of Salah ad-Din did not threaten the artisans and traders of Jaffa, Beirut, Jericho, Caesarea and other cities. ...

Within a few weeks, detachments of Muslims suppressed the resistance of the cities. By autumn, only Jerusalem, Tire, Ascalon and Tripoli remained in the hands of the crusaders. The ease with which the crusader world collapsed was overwhelming. Fugitives from the cities - families of knights, priests, merchants - could not get through to Jerusalem. Since August, Jerusalem has been cut off from the coast and blockaded.

Tire was to fall from day to day - negotiations were already underway to surrender it. But unexpectedly for Salah ad-Din and for the desperate defenders of the city, sails appeared in the sea: at the head of a small squadron with a hundred Byzantine archers and several knights, having broken the blockade, Konrad of Montferrat arrived in Tire. Konrad's older brother, Wilhelm, was Queen Sibylla's first husband. In terms of nobility, Montferrat was not inferior to anyone in the Latin states.

Konrad's arrival changed the state of affairs in Tire. Konrad quickly set up his defenses. The assault, which the Saracens undertook, failed. The news that Tire was holding on and that Salah ad-Din was powerless to defeat Konrad of Montferrat spread throughout the Holy Land, instilling hope in the thinning ranks of the crusaders. Tripoli refused to surrender, although Raymond Tripoli, who returned there tired and disappointed, was dying. The count's wife, who had arrived from Tiberias, was in charge of the defense. Balian of Ibelinsky also retreated to Tire with a small detachment.

Under Hattin, the Christians were defeated from which they could no longer recover, and it was this victory of Saladin that later led to the death of the crusader states in the Holy Land.

Having seized these points (Beirut, Sidon, Jaffa, Ascalon), Saladin cut off Christians from communication with Western Europe and was able to seize the internal points without obstacles. Taking away the coastal cities, Saladin destroyed Christian garrisons everywhere and replaced them with Muslim ones. In addition to Jerusalem, Antioch, Tripoli and Tire remained in the hands of Christians.

In September 1187, Saladin approached Jerusalem. The townspeople thought to resist, so they responded evasively to Saladin's proposal to surrender the city under the condition of granting freedom to the besieged. But when the close siege of the city began, the Christians, deprived of organizing forces, saw the impossibility of resistance and turned to Saladin with peace negotiations. Saladin agreed to give them freedom and life for the ransom, and men paid 10 gold coins, women - 5, children - 2. Jerusalem was taken by Saladin on October 2.

After the capture of Jerusalem, he could no longer meet obstacles to the conquest of the rest of the Christian lands. Tire survived only thanks to the fact that he was protected by Count Conrad, who had arrived from Constantinople from the house of the Montferrat dukes, who was distinguished by intelligence and energy.

3. Preparing for the hike

The news of what happened in the East was not immediately received in Europe, and the movement began in the West not earlier than 1188. The first news of the events in the Holy Land came to Italy. There was no room for the pope at that time to hesitate. All church policy in the XII century turned out to be false, all the means used by Christians to keep the Holy Land were in vain. It was necessary to support both the honor of the church and the spirit of all Western Christianity. Regardless of any difficulties and obstacles, the Pope took under his protection the idea of \u200b\u200braising the Third Crusade.

In the near future, several definitions were drawn up with the aim of spreading the idea of \u200b\u200ba crusade to all Western states. The cardinals, struck by the events in the East, gave the pope the word to take part in raising the campaign and preaching him to walk barefoot through Germany, France and England. The Pope, however, decided to use all the Church's means to facilitate participation in the campaign as far as possible for all estates. For this, an order was made to end internal wars, the sale of fiefs was facilitated to the knights, the collection of debts was postponed, it was announced that any assistance in the liberation of the Christian East would be accompanied by absolution.

It is known that the Third Campaign was carried out under more favorable circumstances than the first two. It was attended by three crowned heads - the German emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, the French king Philip II Augustus and the English one - Richard the Lionheart. There was only a general guiding idea in the campaign. The movement of the crusaders to the Holy Land was directed in different ways, and the very goals of the leaders who participated in the campaign were far from the same.

As a result, the history of the Third Campaign breaks up into separate episodes: the Anglo-French movement, the German movement and the siege of Acre.

The essential issue that long prevented the French and English kings from reaching agreement on the campaign depended on the relationship between France and England in the twelfth century. The fact is that the Plantagenets, Counts of Anjou and Maine, who received the English throne as a result of the marriage of one of them to the heiress of William the Conqueror, sat on the English throne. Every English king, while remaining at the same time the Count of Anjou and Maine, the Duke of Aquitaine and Guyenne, who was still attached here, had to give the French king an oath of allegiance to these lands. By the time of the Third Campaign, Henry II Plantagenet was king of England, and Philip II Augustus was French. Both kings found the opportunity to harm one another due to the fact that their lands in France were adjacent. The English king had two sons, John and Richard, as rulers of his French regions. Philip made an alliance with them, armed them against his father, and more than once put Henry of England in a very difficult position. The sister of the French king, Alice, who was then living in England, was married to Richard. Rumors spread that Henry II had an affair with his son's fiancée; it is clear that this kind of rumor must have influenced Richard's disposition towards Henry II. The French king took advantage of this circumstance and began fanning enmity between his son and father. He instigated Richard, and the latter betrayed his father by swearing an oath to the French king; this fact only contributed to the greater development of enmity between the French and English kings.

There was one more circumstance that prevented both kings from submitting possibly an ambulance to the Eastern Christians. The French king, wishing to stock up on significant funds for the upcoming campaign, announced a special tax in his state under the name of "Saladin's tithe". This tax extended to the possessions of the king himself, secular princes, and even the clergy; no one, in view of the importance of the enterprise, was exempt from the payment of "Saladin's tithe". The imposition of tithing on a church that had never paid any taxes, and itself still used to collect tithes, aroused discontent among the clergy, which began to obstruct this measure and make it difficult for royal officials to collect Saladin's tithes. But nevertheless, this measure was quite successfully carried out both in France and in England and gave a lot of funds for the Third Crusade.

Meanwhile, during the gatherings, disrupted by war and internal uprisings, the English king Henry II (1189) died, and the legacy of the English crown passed into the hands of Richard, a friend of the French king. Now both kings could boldly and amicably begin to implement the ideas of the Third Crusade.

4. Speech by the English and French kings

In 1190, the kings set out on a campaign. The success of the Third Crusade was greatly influenced by the participation of the English king. Richard, a man extremely energetic, lively, irritable, acting under the influence of passion, was far from the idea of \u200b\u200ba general plan, he was looking primarily for knightly exploits and glory. In the gathering itself for the campaign, his character traits were too vividly reflected. Richard surrounded himself with a brilliant retinue and knights, for his army, according to contemporaries, he spent as much in one day as other kings spent in a month. Going on a campaign, he translated everything into money; he either leased his possessions, or mortgaged and sold. Thus, he did raise enormous funds; his army was distinguished by good weapons. It would seem that good money and a large armed army should have ensured the success of the enterprise.

Part of the English army left England by ships, while Richard himself crossed the English Channel to connect with the French king and direct his way through Italy. This movement began in the summer of 1190. Both kings intended to march together, but the large number of troops and the difficulties arising in the delivery of food and fodder forced them to split up. The French king marched ahead and in September 1190 arrived in Sicily and stopped at Messina, waiting for his ally. When the English king arrived here, the movement of the allied army was delayed by the considerations that it was inconvenient to start a campaign in the autumn by sea; thus both troops spent the autumn and winter in Sicily until the spring of 1191.

The stay of the allied forces in Sicily was supposed to show both the kings themselves and those around them all the impossibility of joint actions aimed at one and the same goal. In Messina, Richard began a series of celebrations and celebrations and by his actions put himself in a difficult position in relation to the Normans. He wanted to rule as the sovereign ruler of the country, and the English knights allowed themselves violence and arbitrariness. A movement broke out in the city that threatened both kings; Philip barely had time to put out the uprising, appearing as a reconciling mediator between the two hostile parties.

There was another circumstance that put Richard in a difficult position both in relation to the French and German kings, this is his claim to the Norman crown. The heiress of the Norman crown, daughter of Roger and aunt of Wilhelm II, Constanta, married the son of Frederick Barbarossa Henry VI, the future German emperor; thus the German emperors by this marriage alliance legitimized their claims to the Norman crown.

Meanwhile, Richard, upon his arrival in Sicily, declared his claims to the Norman possessions. In fact, he substantiated his right by the fact that John, the daughter of the English king Henry II and the sister of Richard himself, was married to the deceased William II. The temporary usurper of the Norman crown, Tancred, held the widow of William in an honorary prison. Richard demanded to give him his sister and forced Tancred to give him a ransom for the fact that the English king left him the actual possession of the Norman crown. This fact, which aroused enmity between the English king and the German emperor, was of great importance for the entire subsequent fate of Richard.

All this clearly showed the French king that he would not be able to follow the same plan as the English king. Philip considered it impossible, in view of the critical state of affairs in the East, to remain further in Sicily and wait for the English king; in March 1191, he boarded ships and crossed over to Syria.

The main goal that the French king aspired to was the city of Ptolemais (French and German forms - Accon, Russian - Acre). This city during the time from 1187-1191 was the main point on which the views and hopes of all Christians were concentrated. On the one hand, all the forces of Christians were sent to this city, on the other, Muslim hordes were drawn here. The entire Third Campaign focused on the siege of this city; when the French king arrived here in the spring of 1191, it seemed that the French would give the main direction of affairs.

King Richard made no secret of the fact that he did not want to act in concert with Philip, relations with whom were especially cooled after the French king refused to marry his sister. Richard's fleet, which sailed from Sicily in April 1191, was overrun by a storm, and the ship on which Richard's new bride, Princess Berengaria of Navarre, was traveling, was thrown onto the island of Cyprus.

The island of Cyprus was at this time under the rule of Isaac Comnenus, who was rejected by the Byzantine emperor of the same name. Isaac Komnenos, the usurper of Cyprus, did not distinguish between friends and enemies of the emperor, but pursued his own selfish interests; he declared the bride of the king of England to be his prisoner. Thus, Richard had to start a war with Cyprus, which was unforeseen and unexpected for him and which required a lot of time and effort from him.

Taking possession of the island, Richard chained Isaac Comnenus in silver chains; began a series of celebrations that accompanied the triumph of the English king. This was the first time that an English nation had acquired territorial possession in the Mediterranean. But it goes without saying that Richard could not count on long-term possession of Cyprus, which was so far from Britain.

While Richard was celebrating his victory in Cyprus, when he was organizing triumph after celebration, the titular King of Jerusalem, Guy de Lusignan, arrived in Cyprus; we call him the titular king because in fact he was no longer the king of Jerusalem, he had no territorial possessions, but only bore the name of the king. Guy de Lusignan, who arrived in Cyprus to show signs of loyalty to the English king, increased the splendor and influence of Richard, who gave him the island of Cyprus.

Encouraged by Guy de Lusignan, Richard finally left Cyprus and arrived at Acre, where for two years, together with other Christian princes, took part in the useless siege of the city. The very idea of \u200b\u200ba siege of Acre was highly impractical and downright useless. In the hands of the Christians were still the coastal cities of Antioch, Tripoli and Tire, which could provide them with communication with the West. This idea of \u200b\u200ba futile siege was inspired by the selfish feeling of schemers like Guy de Lusignan. It aroused envy in him that Antioch had its own prince, Tripoli was owned by another, Conrad from the house of the dukes of Montferrat sat in Tire, and he, the king of Jerusalem, had nothing but one name. This purely selfish goal explains his visit to the English king on the island of Cyprus, where he lavishly lavished declarations of loyalty to Richard and tried to win over the English king in his favor. The siege of Acre constitutes a fatal mistake on the part of the leaders of the Third Crusade; they fought, wasting time and energy over a small piece of land, essentially useless, completely useless, with which they wanted to reward Guy de Lusignan.

5. The beginning of the movement of Frederick Barbarossa

The great misfortune for the entire crusade was that the old tactician and clever politician Friedrich Barbarossa could not take part in it along with the English and French king. Having learned about the state of affairs in the East, Frederick I began to prepare for a crusade; but he started things differently from the others. He sent embassies to the Byzantine emperor, to the Ikonian sultan and to Saladin himself. Favorable responses were received from everywhere, guaranteeing the success of the enterprise. If Frederick Barbarossa had participated in the siege of Acre, the error on the part of the Christians would have been eliminated by him. The fact is that Saladin had an excellent fleet, which brought him all supplies from Egypt, and the troops came to him from the middle of Asia - from Mesopotamia; it goes without saying that under such conditions Saladin could successfully withstand the longest siege of a seaside city. That is why all the constructions of Western engineers, towers and battering rams, all the exertion of forces, tactics and minds of Western kings - everything went to pieces, turned out to be untenable in the siege of Acre. Frederick Barbarossa would have introduced the idea of \u200b\u200bpractice into the crusade and, in all likelihood, would have directed his forces where it should be: the war had to be waged inside Asia, to weaken Saladin's forces inside the country, where the very source of replenishment of his troops was located.

The crusade of Frederick Barbarossa was undertaken with the observance of all precautions to ensure the least possible loss of strength on the way through the Byzantine possessions. Frederick preliminarily concluded an agreement with the Byzantine emperor at Nuremberg, as a result of which he was given free passage through the imperial lands and the delivery of food supplies was ensured at predetermined prices. There is no doubt that the new movement of the Latin West to the East worried the Byzantine government a lot; in view of the troubled state of the Balkan Peninsula, Isaac Angel was interested in the exact observance of the treaty.

The crusaders had not yet set out on a campaign, when a secret report from Genoa was received in Byzantium about preparations for a campaign to the East. "I have already informed about this," Isaac wrote in response, "and took my measures." Having thanked Baudouin Guerzo for this news, the emperor continues: "And for the future, have the joy of bringing to our attention what you learn and what is important for us to know."

Needless to say, despite outward friendly relations, Isaac did not trust the sincerity of the Crusaders, and this cannot be blamed on him. Serbs and Bulgarians were not only at that time on the way to liberation from the power of Byzantium, but already threatened the Byzantine provinces; Frederick's unconcealed relationship with them was in any case a violation of this fidelity, although they were not provided for by the Nuremberg conditions. For Byzantium, Frederick's intentions were very well known to seize the Dalmatian coast and connect it with the lands of the Sicilian crown. Although Frederick allegedly rejected the proposals of the Slavs to safely lead him through Bulgaria and did not enter into an offensive alliance with them against Byzantium, it was quite natural for the Byzantines to doubt the purity of his intentions; moreover, it is hardly fair that the proposals of the Slavs were later rejected.

On May 24, 1189, Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa entered Hungary. Although King Bela III personally did not dare to participate in the crusade, he showed Frederick signs of sincere affection. Not to mention the valuable gifts offered to the emperor, he equipped a detachment of 2 thousand people, which was of considerable benefit to the crusaders with knowledge of local conditions and the choice of paths.

Five weeks later, the crusaders were already on the border of the possessions of the Byzantine emperor. Arriving in Branichev on 2 July, they first entered into direct relations with the emperor's officials, which at first seemed, however, satisfactory. From Branichev the best road to Constantinople went along the Morava Valley to Niš, then to Sofia and Philippopolis. The Greeks allegedly did not want to lead the Latins this way and deliberately spoiled it; but people from the Ugric detachment, who knew the routes of communication well, persuaded the crusaders to insist on choosing this particular road, which they undertook to correct and make a carriageway against the wishes of the Greeks.

Noticing here, first of all, that the crusaders were on their way through the lands, which hardly then fully belonged to Byzantium. The Morava movement was most likely already controversial between the Greeks and Serbs, in other words, there was then no Byzantine or other administration. Bands of robbers attacked small detachments of crusaders without the instigation of the Byzantine government at their own fear. On the other hand, it should be borne in mind that the crusaders themselves did not stand on ceremony with those who fell into their hands: for fear of others, captured with weapons in their hands, they subjected them to terrible torture.

On the 25th of July, the ambassadors of Stefan Nemani appeared to Frederick, and upon arrival in Nis on the 27th, the emperor received the greatest zupan of Serbia. Here, in Nis, negotiations were held with the Bulgarians. It is clear that the Byzantine authorities no longer remained in Nis, otherwise they would not have allowed Stephen Nemanu to make personal explanations with the German emperor, which in any case did not lean in favor of Byzantium. And if the crusaders on the way from Branichev to Niš and then to Sofia were subjected to unexpected attacks and suffered damage in people and in the train, then, in all fairness, the Byzantine government should hardly be responsible for this. One need only wonder why it never made a corresponding statement to Frederick I and did not pay his attention to the state of affairs on the peninsula.

Serbs and Bulgarians offered the crusaders essentially the same thing - an alliance against the Byzantine emperor, but as a reward they demanded recognition of the new order in the Balkan Peninsula. Moreover, the Slavs were ready to recognize the protectorate of the Western emperor over themselves if he agreed to secure for the Serbs the conquests they had made at the expense of Byzantium and to annex Dalmatia and if Bulgaria was given to the Asenians for undisputed possession. In particular, the great zupan of Serbia asked the emperor's consent to the marriage of his son with the daughter of Duke Berthold, the ruler of Dalmatia. Although it was not a secret that this marriage project was associated with the idea of \u200b\u200btransferring the sovereign rights over Dalmatia to the Nemanja house, nevertheless Frederick's consent was obtained.

This circumstance, combined with the new negotiations that took place between the German emperor and the Slavic leaders, makes it possible to raise some doubts against Ansbert's testimony that Frederick's response in Nis was definitely negative. Having the real goal of the crusade, Frederick, perhaps out of caution and unwillingness to get involved in new complicated relations, avoided a direct and decisive answer to the proposals of the Slavs. But we will see later that the Slavic question more than once made him think and hesitate. If in the place of Frederick Robert Guiscard, Bohemund or Roger, events would have taken a completely different turn and the proposals of the Slavic princes would probably have been appreciated.

6. Frederick Barbarossa in Byzantine territory. Frederick's death

There is no reason not to trust the words of Nikita Acominatus, who accuses the then logofet drom (John Duca) and Andronicus Kantakuzin, who were responsible for leading the crusader militia, of shortsightedness and usual negligence. Mutual distrust and suspicion were fueled not only by the fact that the crusaders sometimes did not receive a supply of supplies, but also by rumors that the most dangerous passage (the so-called Trajan's Gate), leading through the Balkan Mountains to Sofia to Philippopolis, was occupied by an armed detachment.

Of course, one cannot fail to see the violation of the Treaty of Nuremberg in the measures that the Byzantine government took to stop the movement of the crusaders: damage to roads, blockade of passes and equipment of the observation detachment; but it tried to explain its precautions and expressed open displeasure with Frederick's relations with the indignant Serbs and Bulgarians. So, when the crusaders were still near Nis, Alexey Gid appeared to them, who expressed a severe censure to the governor of Branichev and promised to arrange everything at the request of Frederick, if only he himself forbade the troops to plunder the surrounding villages, adding that the Germans should not have any suspicions about the armed detachment guarding the passes, for this is a precautionary measure against the zupan of Serbia.

As the crusaders advanced to the main pass leading to the Philippopolis plain, the difficulties of travel increased for them more and more. Small detachments disturbed them with unexpected attacks in the most dangerous places, as a result of which the crusader militia marched slowly and in battle formation. The German embassy sent to Constantinople, according to rumors, was received in the most unworthy manner. The closer the crusaders approached Macedonia, the more their displeasure against the Greeks grew. They walked for a month and a half from Branichev to Sofia (Sredets); how strained relations were between the Greeks and the Germans can be judged from the fact that when the last August 13 reached Sofia, they found the city abandoned by the inhabitants; Needless to say, there were no Byzantine officials here, nor the promised supplies.

On August 20, the crusaders made their way through the last pass, which was occupied by a Greek detachment; the latter, however, retreated when the Crusaders were about to pave the road with weapons in hand.

The crusaders approached Philippopolis already as enemies of the empire, and from then until the end of October, individual leaders made attacks on cities and villages and behaved in Greek land just like enemies. If the government of Isaac Angel cannot be justified for distrust of the crusaders, then the actions of the latter cannot be called specious. Not trusting the Greeks, Frederick used the services of the Ugric guides and the Serbian detachment. No matter how much the crusaders wanted to prove their case, one should not lose sight of the testimony of persons for whom there was no reason to hide the real state of affairs. Frederick did not break off relations with the Slavs, who served him throughout the passage through Bulgaria, although he could not help but know that this fed Isaac Angel's suspicion.

In the fall of 1189, from the time the crusaders occupied Philippopolis, mutual irritation should have intensified even more, since the Byzantine observation detachment had repeatedly clashed with the crusaders, and the latter occupied cities and villages with an armed hand. Nevertheless, the situation was not clarified by the end of autumn, meanwhile it was dangerous for Frederick to embark on a further journey through Asia Minor, without having secured accurate and true promises from the Greek emperor.

To clarify the relationship, a new embassy was sent to Constantinople, which was instructed to say approximately the following: “It is in vain that the Greek emperor does not allow us to go forward; never, not now, not before, have we plotted evil against the empire. To the Serbian prince, the enemy of the Greek emperor, who came to us in Nis, we never gave Bulgaria or any other land subject to the Greeks to benefit, and we did not plan anything against the Greek empire with any king or prince. "

This second embassy managed to help out, not without great, however, trouble, the first, earlier sent to Constantinople. All ambassadors returned to Philippopolis on 28 October. The next day, in a solemn meeting of the leaders, the ambassadors reported on what they had experienced in Constantinople, and told about everything that they saw and heard. “The emperor not only treated us very badly, but without any hesitation received the ambassador from Saladin and entered into an alliance with him. And the patriarch, in his sermons, delivered on holidays, called the soldiers of Christ as dogs and inspired his listeners that the most evil criminal, accused of even ten murders, would receive permission from all sins if he killed a hundred crusaders. ”

The assembly heard such a report before the ambassadors of the Byzantine emperor were introduced. It is not surprising that the negotiations could not be friendly, the Greek ambassadors refused to answer the arrogant demands of the crusaders. The extent to which the Greeks and the Crusaders could have gone in a sense of mutual irritation and suspicion is shown, by the way, in the following case. A significant detachment of crusaders, having attacked Hradec, was struck by strange images found in churches and in private homes: the paintings depicted Latins with Greeks sitting on their backs. This so embittered the crusaders that they set fire to both churches and houses, massacred the population and devastated the entire area without regret. Most likely, the Latins became furious when they looked at the paintings of the doomsday, in which local painters, for well-known purposes, could use Western types. The custom, in any case, is excusable, if the hatred and intolerance of the Latins towards the Greeks had not reached extreme limits anyway.

The Byzantine government had every reason to suppose that the Serbian prince was acting in alliance with Frederick, and it would be very difficult to prove that Frederick did not reassure Stefan Nemanu in his ambitious plans. At a time when the crusaders were already threatening the very capital of the Greek empire (Adrianople and Dimotika were in the hands of the crusaders), their rear, protected by Serbian troops, was completely safe, so they found it possible to transfer the Philippopolis garrison to Adrianople.

Chroniclers many times mention the ambassadors of the great Serbian zupan and the relationship between the crusaders and the Slavs. It is known that the most difficult thing was to satisfy Stefan Nemani's claims to Dalmatia, a circumstance that could have drawn Frederick into unpleasant clashes with the Normans and Ugrians. It is not unimportant that each time Duke Berthold is nominated in negotiations with the Serbs, the same one whose daughter was promised for the son of Stefan Nemanja. In difficult times, when all hope of an agreement with the Byzantine emperor was lost, the help of the Slavs was a true boon for the crusaders, which they could not neglect in case of a final break with the Greeks. But since there were still some signs that the Greek emperor was also afraid of a rupture, the Slavic embassies listened to the custom graciously, small detachments of Serbs were recruited, while Frederick was afraid to resort to decisive measures during his entire stay on the Balkan Peninsula and the most petty facts and indications of this kind are very curious.

In early November, when the crusaders were approaching Adrianople, King Bela III demanded the return of his detachment back, and on November 19, the Hungarians decisively declared that they could no longer remain with the crusaders. There is no need to look for other explanations for this act on the part of the Hungarian king, except for dissatisfaction with negotiations with the Slavs. It is clear that Frederick, once in Bulgaria, set himself new plans and that his relations with the Slavic leaders were not at all part of the considerations of the Hungarian king, who, regarding the Slavic question, was, of course, on the side of Byzantium. The then state of affairs sheds light on the report of the cleric Eberhard, the emperor Frederick's ambassador to the Hungarian king, who, among other things, returned with a letter from the latter for Isaac. The letter, however, did not contain anything important: in it Bela exhibited to Isaac what dangers his obstinacy with the crusaders could bring to the empire. But the ambassador could illustrate the content of the letter with personal observations and give it a completely new explanation: “The king,” he said, “is very embarrassed and amazed by the victorious successes of the crusaders and the devastation they brought to the Greek land. When the news of the devastation of the Dimotika district by the crusaders was received, the king completely changed in his treatment of the ambassador. Since then, he was no longer as kind and merciful as before: the ambassador did not receive any more feed or pocket from the royal chamber. " Between other news, the same cleric Eberhard reported that, while driving through Bulgaria, he found all the graves of the crusaders who had died on the way dug up, and that the corpses had been pulled out of the coffins and were lying on the ground.

By the beginning of 1190, the crusaders continued to exchange embassies with the Greek emperor, but could not reach any agreement. Frederick, it seems, seriously thought to use the services of Peter, the leader of the Bulgarians, who proposed to put 40 thousand Bulgarians and Cumans by the spring, with which reinforcements an attempt could be made to pave the way to Asia Minor, and in addition to the consent of the Greeks. But the German emperor was obliged for this not only to recognize the freedom of Bulgaria, but also to secure the imperial title for Peter.

Realizing the importance of the position and responsibility for such a step, Frederick still did not refuse Peter's proposal and tried to preliminarily evaluate all the means that the Slavs could give him. So, on January 21, 1190, on the one hand, he negotiated with the ambassadors of the Byzantine emperor, on the other, he inquired through the Duke of Dalmatia about the intentions and location of Stephen Nemanja. It was impossible to pin much hopes on the latter, since at that time he began to wage the war on his own fear and was busy with enterprises on the border of Serbia and Bulgaria.

It is possible to explain to some extent the motives for which Frederick even in January 1190 hesitated to accept the task of resolving the Slavic question, which his circumstances prompted. There was still hope for him, having eliminated the help of the Slavs, which was associated with unpleasant and difficult obligations, to receive help from Europe by the spring. In these considerations, he wrote to his son Henry: “Since I do not hope to cross the Bosphorus, unless I receive the most elected and noble hostages from the Emperor Isaac, or I subordinate all of Romania to my power, then I ask your royal majesty to send deliberate ambassadors to Genoa, Venice , Antioch and Pisa and to other places and send auxiliary detachments on ships so that they, having arrived in time for Constantinople in March, begin a siege of the city from the sea, when we surround it from land. " By mid-February, however, relations had settled: on February 14, in Adrianople, Frederick signed conditions under which the Byzantine emperor agreed to allow the crusaders to cross into Asia Minor.

Frederick I's stay in Bulgaria was in any case not useless for the Bulgarians and Serbs. The first, encouraged by the German emperor, violated the peace previously concluded with the Greeks, and although they were deceived in the hope of pushing the Greeks along with the Germans, nevertheless, not without benefit for themselves, they took advantage of the confusion in Constantinople and in the subsequent struggle with Byzantium took decisive offensive actions. The Serbs, significantly expanding at the same time their possessions northeast of Morava and southwest to Sofia, came to realize the importance of simultaneous actions with the Bulgarians: they entered into an alliance with Peter and Asen and since then have been doing the same thing with them business.

No matter how evasive the promises of Frederick I were, he nevertheless did not interrupt the negotiations with the Slavs and fueled in them a mood hostile to Byzantium. Let him not conclude a treaty with either the Bulgarians or the Serbs that would oblige both of them to send 60 thousand troops by the spring (from the Bulgarians 40 and from the Serbs 20 thousand); but the troops were collected and, without the participation of the crusaders, they began to conquer the cities and regions from Byzantium. The passage of the crusaders was accompanied by all the consequences of the enemy invasion, causing in Bulgaria new discontent with the Byzantine government: the fugitive, hungry, deprived of homes and wealth, the villagers had to stick to the Bulgarian or Serbian leaders.

The crossing of the Crusaders across the Bosphorus began on March 25, 1190. Frederick's path went through the western regions of Asia Minor, partly devastated by the wars with the Seljuks, partly occupied by the latter. Türkic detachments disturbed the crusaders and forced them to be constantly on their guard. Christians in particular suffered from a lack of food and feed for their beasts of burden. In May they approached Iconium, won a significant victory over the Seljuks and forced them to provide provisions and hostages. But in Cilicia, the German army suffered a misfortune that ruined their entire enterprise. On June 9, when crossing the mountain river Salef, Friedrich was carried away by the stream and pulled out of the water lifeless.

The importance of Frederick was fully appreciated by Saladin and with fear awaited his arrival in Syria. Indeed, Germany seemed to be ready to correct all the mistakes of previous campaigns and restore the dignity of the German name in the East, as an unexpected blow destroyed all good hopes. Part of the German detachment refused to continue the campaign and returned by sea to Europe, part under the leadership of Duke Frederick of Swab entered the principality of Antioch and then in the fall of 1190 the pitiful remnants of the Germans united with the Christian army near Acra, where they did not have to play an important role.

7. Siege of Acre

From 1188 to 1191, Christian princes came under the walls of Acre alone; there was not a single time when all the available forces of Christians, who came from the West, were concentrated here at one time. Part of the Christians who arrived at Akru died under the blows of Muslims, from disease and hunger; it was replaced by another detachment and in turn was subjected to the same fate. In addition, Christians were presented with a host of other difficulties, which were hard on the course of the whole affair.

The Christians besieged the city from the sea - the only part of the city to which they could direct their siege weapons. The interior was occupied by the troops of Saladin, who conveniently and easily communicated with Mesopotamia, which served as a source for him to replenish his military forces. Thus, the Christians came to Acre one by one, exposing themselves to the blows of the Muslims, they never joined their forces, while Saladin constantly renewed his troops with fresh tides of Muslims from Mesopotamia. It is clear that Christians were in very unfavorable conditions, Saladin could defend Acre for a long time and energetically. In addition, timber was needed to siege the city; which the Christians could not get anywhere near - they had to get it from Italy.

In the war, the Italians, in particular the coastal cities of Venice, Genoa and Pisa, whose trade interests in the East forced them to take a large part in the Crusades, the French, the Germans, the British, depending on what kind of people in the moment was in greater numbers.

To this uncomfortable position was added the rivalry of the Eastern leaders. Guy de Lusignan was at enmity with Konrad of Montferrat. Their rivalry also divided the crusader camp into two hostile parties: the Italian peoples concentrated around the Tyrian prince, the British sided with Guy. Thus, the case under Acre, not only for its purpose, but also in relation to the peoples participating in it, could not end in a favorable way for Christians. Inconvenience in the delivery of timber slowed down the enterprise, and late delivery, and sometimes a lack of food supplies, hunger and pestilence weakened the Christian army.

In the summer of 1191, the French and English kings came near Acre, on whom the Eastern Christians had high hopes. In addition to these two kings, another crowned person came - the Duke of Austria Leopold V. Now it could be expected that things would go the proper way, according to a certain plan. But, unfortunately, such a plan was not worked out by the representatives of the Christian nations.

The personal relations of the French and English kings, the most important persons in their military forces, became clear back in Messina: they parted, if not enemies, then not friends. When Richard took possession of Cyprus, the French king made claims to part of the conquered island by virtue of a treaty concluded between them even during the campaigns - a treaty under which both kings pledged to divide equally all the lands that they would conquer in the East. Richard did not recognize the French king's rights to Cyprus: "The treaty," he said, "concerned only the lands that would be conquered from the Muslims."

Under Acra, the misunderstandings of the two kings became more acute. Richard, while still in Cyprus, spoke out in favor of Guy de Lusignan; Philip Augustus took the side of Conrad of Montferrat, who may have won the sympathy of the French king by the heroic defense of Tyr, but perhaps in this case Philip was guided by a personal dislike for Richard. Thus, neither the French nor the English king were able to combine their forces and act according to the same plan.

The personal characters of the kings also divided them. Richard's chivalrous character was quite sympathetic to Saladin; sympathy between the Muslim ruler and the English king was immediately revealed, they began to exchange embassies, to show each other signs of attention. This behavior of Richard adversely affected his authority among Christians; in the army, the idea was established that Richard was ready to change. Thus in Richard all his strength, all power and energy was paralyzed; at the same time, the French king did not possess enough personal energy to take over the main direction of the siege. Thus, all the advantages, all favorable conditions were on the side of Saladin.

In July, Acre was brought to exhaustion and the garrison began negotiating surrender. Saladin was not averse to making peace, but the Christians offered too harsh conditions: the Christians demanded the surrender of Acre, the Muslim garrison of the city would receive freedom only when Jerusalem and other areas conquered by Saladin were returned to the Christians; in addition, Saladin had to give 2 thousand hostages from noble Muslims. Saladin apparently agreed to all of these terms. The Christian princes, in view of the imminent surrender of the city, began to vigilantly monitor that food supplies were not delivered to the city.

On July 12, 1191, Acre was surrendered to Christians. The fulfillment of the preconditions for peace soon met an obstacle. Meanwhile, during the occupation of Acre, there were very serious misunderstandings among Christians. The Duke of Austria Leopold V, having captured one of the city walls, put up the Austrian banner: Richard I ordered to tear it down and replace it with his own; this was a great insult to the entire German army; from that time on, Richard acquired an implacable enemy in the person of Leopold V.

In addition, the Western princes placed themselves in a difficult relationship with the native population of the city. During the occupation of Acre, it turned out that a significant part of the urban population consisted of Christians, who, under the rule of Muslims, enjoyed various kinds of privileges. After the liberation of Acre from Muslims, both the French and the British wanted to seize more power in the city and began to oppress the population; the kings did not care that other clauses of the treaty were fulfilled by the Muslims. The French king went to the point of extreme irritation; Philip's dislike for Richard fanned rumors that the English king was plotting to sell the entire Christian army to Muslims and was even preparing to encroach on Philip's life. Annoyed Philip left Acra and went home.

It goes without saying that the premature return of the French king did a great deal of damage to the cause of the crusade. The main role remained with Richard, who, with his ardent knightly character, devoid of political flair, was a weak rival of Saladin, a clever and cunning politician.

During the siege of Acre, the Bremen and Lubeck merchants, following the example of other military-religious orders that arose during the First Crusade, set up a brotherhood at their own expense, which had the goal of helping the poor and sick Germans. Duke Frederick of Swabia took this brotherhood under his protection and petitioned in favor of his papal charter. This institution subsequently acquired a military character and is known under the name of the Teutonic Order.

8. Go to Ascalon

9. Battle of Arsuf

An army of crusaders led by Richard undertook a march south along the coast of Syria towards the city of Arsuf. Coming out of the forest that served them as a cover, the Latins had to somehow cover a distance of 10 km in one day, which is a lot, given the fact that they were under constant enemy attacks. In an effort to protect his forces as much as possible from the "fire" of Muslim horse archers, Richard built them in a "box" formation. The knights with their horses were covered by a barrier of infantrymen. Only riders of military orders were at risk. The Templars marched in the vanguard, while the Hospitallers had the role of closing the column. Under the scorching heat and the rain of arrows from the horse archers of the Muslims, the crusaders slowly moved towards the goal. At some point, the Hospitallers could not stand it - they were losing too many horses - and hit the advancing enemy. Richard was able to react in a timely manner to the change in the situation, moved the remaining forces into battle and completed the day with a victory over the enemy.

10. Attack on Jerusalem

The Crusader army continued on its way to Jerusalem. After passing through the desert, the crusaders felt exhausted. The goal was achieved, it remained to survive the Arabs from the city. The long siege exhausted the warriors and there were tiny results - part of the city was in their hands. Richard understood that they would not have enough strength and asked for a truce, but Saladin refused, he agreed to only one condition - the armies of the Europeans were leaving, and the pilgrims were allowed to visit the Holy Sepulcher.

11. End of the hike

Philip, who arrived in France, began to take revenge on the English king in his French domain. The English kingdom was then ruled by Richard's brother John (the future English king John Lackland), with whom Philip entered into a relationship. Philip's actions, aimed at the detriment of Richard, were in direct violation of the agreement they entered into during the preparations for the crusade. According to this treaty, the French king, during the entire absence of the English king, had no right to attack his possessions and could declare war on him only 40 days after Richard returned from the campaign. Needless to say, Philip's violation of the treaty and his encroachment on Richard's French holdings must have had a detrimental effect on the spirit of the English king.

Richard, staying in Acre, awaited the execution by Saladin of the remaining clauses of the peace treaty. Saladin refused to return Jerusalem, did not release the captives and did not pay military costs. Then Richard took one step that frightened all Muslims and which should be considered the most characteristic of the sad fame that Richard acquired in the East. Richard ordered to stab up to 2 thousand noble Muslims who were in his hands as hostages. Facts of this kind were unusual in the East and only provoked resentment from Saladin. Saladin was quick to respond in kind.

Richard did not take any decisive and correct action against Saladin, but limited himself to minor attacks. These raids with the purpose of robbery characterize, however, the chivalrous time, but in the appendix to the head of the crusader militia, who represents the interests of all of Christian Europe, they only denounced the inability to get down to business. Since Saladin sacrificed Acra, the Christians should not have allowed him to strengthen in another place, but had to immediately go to Jerusalem. But Guido Lusignan, this nominal king without a kingdom, whose enmity towards Konrad of Montferrat can only be explained by envy, persuaded Richard to purge Muslims primarily from the coastal strip; Guido Lusignan was also supported by the Venetians, who pursued commercial goals: it was more convenient for them that the coastal cities were owned by Christians, not Muslims. Richard, succumbing to this influence, moved from Acre to Ascalon - a completely useless enterprise, which was inspired by the commercial interests of Italian cities and Guido's ambition.

Saladin himself did not expect such a senseless step on the part of Richard; he decided on an emergency remedy; ordered to tear down the strong walls of Ascalon and turn the city itself into a heap of stones. Throughout the fall of 1191 and the spring of 1192, Richard was at the head of the crusader militia. All this time he lost in pursuit of false plans and unnecessary tasks and made it clear to his talented adversary that he was dealing with a very short-sighted person. More than once the task for Richard was quite clear - to go straight to Jerusalem; the army itself realized that it had not yet fulfilled its task and urged the king to do the same. Three times he was already on his way to Jerusalem, three times extravagant ideas made him stop the march and move back.

By the beginning of 1192, news came to Asia from France, which greatly influenced Richard. At the same time, there was one fact in the East that made Richard fearful about the outcome of the venture. Konrad of Montferrat understood that with Richard's tactlessness, Christians would hardly be able to defeat Saladin, began negotiations with the latter, reprimanded Tyr and Acre for himself and promised to unite with him and destroy Richard with one blow.

Then Richard, put in a supremely embarrassing state of affairs in the East and worried about his English possessions, which were threatened by the French king, used every means to enter into relations with Saladin. In dreamy self-deception, he drew up a completely unrealizable plan. He invited Saladin to unite with him by ties of kinship: offering to marry his sister John for Saladin's brother Malek-Adel. The idea is supremely dreamy and cannot satisfy anyone. Even if such a marriage could take place, it would not satisfy Christians; the lands sacred to them would still remain in Muslim hands.

Finally, Richard, who, staying longer in Asia, risked losing his crown, concluded a treaty with Saladin on September 1, 1192. This world, shameful for Richard's honor, left for Christians a small coastal strip from Jaffa to Tire, Jerusalem remained in the power of Muslims, the Holy Cross was not returned. Saladin gave Christians peace for three years. During this time, they could freely come to worship the holy places. After three years, Christians pledged to enter into new agreements with Saladin, which, of course, were to be worse than the previous ones. This inglorious world fell heavily on Richard. Contemporaries even suspected him of treason and betrayal; Muslims reproached him with excessive cruelty.

In October 1192, Richard I left Syria. For him, however, the return to Europe presented considerable difficulties, since he had enemies everywhere. After much hesitation, he decided to land in Italy, from where he intended to make his way to England. But in Europe he was guarded by all the enemies he made a lot of. Near Vienna in the Austrian Duchy, he was recognized, captured and imprisoned by Duke Leopold V, where he was held for about two years. Only under the influence of the Pope and the strong excitement of the English nation, he received freedom. For his freedom, England paid Leopold V up to 23 tons of silver.

12. The third crusade in culture

Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven focuses on the events leading up to the Third Crusade (with some historical distortion).

The action of the computer game Assassin's Creed takes place during the Third Crusade.

13. Sources

When writing this article, the materials of the book were used: Uspensky F.I. "History of the Crusades", St. Petersburg, 1900-1901

III crusade (1189 - 1192)

Eve furnishings

The third crusade (1189-1192) in some respects, in its general character, differed from the previous ones. And this time, as in the previous campaign, the whole thing turned out to be in the hands of the largest feudal lords, and the English and French kings could not resist the irrepressible aspirations of their nations. But the spiritual, and especially the monastic element, as well as the popular plebeian, declined to participate in the crusade. Participation in this enterprise was very reasonably limited by a certain kind of qualification, the provision of travel costs in the amount of three marks of silver (about 60 rubles), and this, of course, excluded the whole rabble, which was such a burdensome burden on the first two campaigns, and so on. contributed much to their failure. And in all other respects, preparations were made with greater discretion. The embassies were sent both to the Hungarian king, and to the Greek emperor, and to the Seljuk sultan Kilich-Arslan, who looked unfriendly at the growing power of Saladin. Ambassadors were also sent to Saladin, and when he rejected the ultimatum offered to him, war was declared on him. From this it is clear that there was no longer even a talk about the rough and disorderly military confusion of the first campaign, and that the very forms of state relations became more decent. It was not difficult to organize the administration of the empire in the absence of the emperor: he gave his power to his son Henry, who had returned from Italy. Only one circumstance seemed dangerous to Frederick: Heinrich the Lion returned from England to Germany, but evaded the proposed participation in the campaign. In view of this, it was necessary to protect oneself from any attempts on his part to seize power in the absence of the emperor, and at the Reichstag in Regensburg (in April 1189) it was decided to remove the restless prince from the fatherland "for another three years". At the end of April, from Regensburg, which was designated a gathering point for all the crusaders, a mass of armed wanderers set out on a long journey. An army of the kind never seen before, consisting of 100,000 knights, well armed, disciplined, intelligently led, moved. The path they took was the old path of Gottfried of Bouillon. They sailed down the Danube.

Heroes

Richard the Lionheart left a long memory of himself in the Arab lands. The Arabs called him Malik Reed, i.e. King Richard, and until the 19th century. Arab mothers so frightened their crying children: "Be quiet, or Malik Reed will take you."

Developments

The young Kurd Yusuf ibn Ayyub seized power in Egypt and took the title of Sultan and the throne name al-Malik an-Nasir Salah ad-Din, i.e. Victorious King, Defender of the Faith; the Europeans changed his name to Saladin. Having expanded his possessions to Syria and Palestine, this far-sighted politician and talented commander began a systematic attack on the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The army of the crusaders was defeated by him in 1187. Saladin entered Jerusalem.

Europe was shocked. The Pope declared a crusade and demanded an end to all wars between Christians. At the head of the Third Crusade (1189-1192) were the eternal enemies: the French king Philip II Augustus and the English king Richard the Lionheart. The kings quarreled incessantly among themselves. Philip accepted the cross, only obeying the requirements of the pope, and thought about his kingdom more than about the Holy Land, Richard dreamed of glory more than of the Holy Sepulcher. The crusaders failed to achieve the return of Jerusalem, and the campaign ended in vain.

Outcome

The third crusade ended in failure. Greed and lust for profit led the crusaders to a shameful defeat.

Crusades Nesterov Vadim

Third Crusade (1189-1192)

Third crusade

Meanwhile, the strength of the Muslim world continued to grow, threatening the very existence of Christian states in Palestine. Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia became part of the state of Saladin. In July 1187, he inflicted a terrible defeat on the crusaders at Tiberias, and many knights were taken prisoner. Among them were the Jerusalem king Guido de Lusignan and his brother Amalrich. Acre, Beirut, Sidon, Caesarea, Ascalon fell under the blows of the Sultan's troops.

Finally, a terrible event for the entire Christian world happened - on October 2 of the same year Saladin entered Jerusalem. Christians were allowed to leave the city on ransom terms. 16 thousand people who did not find enough funds were sold into slavery. Having received the news that the Holy Sepulcher had again been conquered by the Muslims, Pope Urban III died suddenly.

Siege of Acre. Unknown artist

Gregory VIII, who replaced him, proclaimed the Third Crusade. The call was answered by the German emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, the French king Philip II Augustus and the English king Henry II Plantagenet, who was replaced after his death by his son, Richard the Lionheart. Such a representative composition did not save the campaign from failure. Failures pursued the one hundred thousandth German army from the very beginning: while crossing the Selif (Salef, Hexu) river in June 1190, Frederick I drowned; the Duke of Swabia, Frederick VI, who succeeded him, soon died of malaria.

Acre capitulates to Philip Augustus and Richard the Lionheart. Artist Merry-Joseph Blondel

The British achieved the greatest success in this campaign - King Richard captured the island of Cyprus. Subsequently, the island was sold, and the Kingdom of Cyprus was formed there, which existed from 1192 to 1489.

Richard I the Lionheart. Unknown master of the British school of painting, formerly 1626 Dulwich Art Gallery, London

British and French forces jointly laid siege to Acre. However, due to strife between the besiegers, it was possible to take it only two years later, in July 1191. Philip, who had quarreled with Richard, left for his homeland, and soon a war began between England and France. Remaining in Palestine, Richard, however, was in no hurry to fight and three times unsuccessfully tried to storm Jerusalem. In the end, on September 2, 1192, an armistice was concluded with Saladin, according to which the city remained with the Muslims, but Christian pilgrims could visit the holy places for three years. The Crusaders retained the coast from Tire to Jaffa. Acre became the capital of the remnants of their power. The failure of the campaign is explained both by the uncoordinated (and sometimes hostile) actions of the crusaders in relation to each other, and by the position of Byzantium, which concluded an agreement with Saladin.

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The third crusade is the third campaign of the crusaders to the Holy Land in order to expel the infidels from it. Was organized by the pope Gregory VI II. The Third Crusade began in 1189 year and ended four years later.

Reasons for the hike

In response to the Crusades, Muslims declared holy war - jihadheaded by Saladin. IN 1187 year a huge army of Saladin laid siege to the most sacred city in all of Palestine - Jerusalem.The garrison of the city was not large, and Saladin's army outnumbered him dozens of times. After a short siege, the crusaders surrendered, and they were allowed to leave the city peacefully. Jerusalem was again in Muslim hands.The Catholic Church was embittered by the loss of the Holy City and announced the Third Crusade.

Participants of the hike

In total, four of the strongest monarchs of Western Europe took part in the Third Crusade against the infidels: holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, English King Richard the Lionheart, Duke Leopold of Austria V and the French king Philip II August.

There is information about the number of crusader troops. Sources say that initially army of richard the lionheartnumbered about 8 thousand xwell trained warriors. The army of the French king was small - only 2 thous.warriors. However, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa led a huge army of 100 thousand soldiers from all over the empire.

The German army was able to rectify the state of affairs in the Holy Land. This army would be enough to completely rid her of the presence of Muslims. But a terrible event happened, the emperor drowned in the river, after which some of the soldiers returned to Europe, and only a small part of it reached the Holy Land, but their small number did not affect the outcome of the campaign.

Fighting in the Holy Land

Christians for a long time tried to take over Acre, but they did not succeed, since the city's defenses were always strong, and siege weapons were needed to capture it, which so far the crusaders could not afford due to the lack of timber. In addition, the Christians previously attacked Acre with only a few forces and never united into one army.

When in 1191 European monarchs landed on the shores of Acre, the situation could radically change. But even here difficulties arose, enmity broke out between the French and English monarchs, the reason for it was both personal enmity and the situation with the capture of Cyprus. Richard seized Cyprus with his own hand and refused to share it with the French, since the treaty provided for the division of the occupied territories only by Muslims. For these reasons, the two armies could not unite.

But despite this, Acre was still besieged. The Crusaders did not allow Muslims to send provisions to the city, which severely depleted the defenders' forces. Under the threat of starvation, the Acre garrison began to think about surrendering the city to the Crusaders. And finally July, 12the same year muslims surrendered the city... Exactly during the siege of Acre, the Teutonic Order was founded, who first had to help the poor Germans.

After the capture of Acre, the disagreements between the monarchs intensified even more, everything came to the fact that the French monarch, together with the army, left Acre and went back to France. Thus, Richard the Lionheart was left alone with the huge army of Saladin.

After the capture of Acre, Richard, along with the army, moved to the Muslim city Arfus... During the campaign, he was attacked by an army of Muslims. The infidels sprinkled arrows on the crusaders. Then Richard built his troops in such a way that the cavalry was located in the center, and the infantry with large shields was built around it, it turned out a kind of "Boxes"... With the help of such a battle formation, the crusaders moved forward, ignoring the Muslim archers. But the Knights Hospitaller could not stand it and went on the attack, Richard managed to wait for the moment, and he ordered all the forces to go into a decisive attack, which ended with the victory of the crusaders.
After the victory, the army of the crusaders moved to Jerusalem. The crusaders crossed the desert, after which were severely emaciated.Having approached the city, the crusaders had no strength left to siege Jerusalem. Then Saladin invited the crusaders to leave without a fight if they left Jerusalem. Richard retreated to Acre and there he executed several thousand civilians of Arab origin, Saladin responded with the same coin.

The third crusade was drawing to a close. Richard wanted to go back to Jerusalem, but there was always a reason to return to Acre. When the French monarch planned to seize the lands of England, then ruled by Richard's brother John, Richard forges a truce with Saladin and decided to return to save his crown. IN 1192 year, Richard left the Holy Land, and the Third Crusade came to an end.

On his return home, Richard was captured Leopold V and put the monarch in a dungeon for two years. Richard was released from captivity only after England paid a ransom of 23 tons of silver.

Aftermath of the Third Crusade

The third crusade ended with the complete defeat of the crusaders, although they initially managed to win several victories. Richard's victories ultimately failed. It was not possible to return Jerusalem to the possession of the Catholics, and Acre was surrendered after Richard's departure. After the end of the crusade, only a narrow strip of coast remained for the crusaders.

The hike ended with the death of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Richard's power was undermined and all of England was threatened. Disagreements with France intensified, and Richard himself was captivated, for which England bought him out and thereby suffered losses in the economy.

The Muslims thereby strengthened their positions in the Holy Land, and the personality of Saladin became cult, after the victory over the crusaders, many Muslims joined him and were ready for a new invasion of the crusaders.

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