Direction 3 of the crusade. Third crusade

In the East, the power of Salah ad-din Yusuf ibn Ayyub (in Europe he was called Saladin) increased. He subdued first Damascus, then Syria and Mesopotamia. Saladin became sultan. The main rival was the king of the Jerusalem state Baldwin IV. Both rulers avoided a general battle with each other.

In 1185, after the death of Baldwin, the radical Guy de Lusignan became king, having married his sister. Together with Renaud de Chatillon, he sought to put an end to Saladin. Renault provokes the Sultan of Damascus and attacks the convoy with his sister. In 1187 he starts a war. He captures Tiberias, Acre, Beirut and other Christian cities. On October 2, 1187, Jerusalem falls under the onslaught of his army. Only three cities (Antioch, Tire and Tripoli) remain under the rule of the crusaders.

Remark 1

The news of the fall of Jerusalem shook the Europeans. Pope Gregory VII called for war with the infidels.

The composition and goals of the participants in the third crusade

The general proclaimed goal of the new campaign was the return of the Holy Land of Jerusalem into the hands of Christians. In reality, each monarch participating in the campaign sought to achieve his political aspirations.

The English king Richard I tried to achieve the realization of the plans of his father Henry II Plantagenet. His plans included the subjugation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the consolidation of power in the Mediterranean and the formation of the Angevin world power.

The German Emperor Frederick I set a goal to strengthen the Barbarossa dynasty. To do this, he wanted to restore the boundaries of the great Roman Empire. Therefore, Frederick II sought to increase his influence in Italy and Sicily, to defeat Byzantium.

The French king Philip II saw the weakening of royal power in the state and tried to correct the situation with a victorious war. Simultaneously with the increase in prestige, he hoped to gather forces to suppress the Plantagenets.

The Sicilian Admiral Margariton did not lag behind his powerful allies in plans of conquest.

The commanders chose the following ways to advance to Jerusalem:

• the British crossed the English Channel, joined with the French, then moved together through Marseille and Genoa to Messina and Tyre;
• the Germans planned to reach the Gallipoli peninsula along the Danube and cross into Asia Minor.

Major Events of the Third Crusade

Remark 2

The Italians started a new crusade. In 1188 Admiral Margariton sailed with his squadron from Pisa and Genoa. In May 1189, the Germans set out from the city of Regensburg.

First came the Italians under the command of Admiral Margariton, whose fleet was joined by ships from Pisa and Genoa (1188). In May 1189, the Germans set off from Regensburg. In the spring of the following year (March 1190), the crusaders arrived in Iconium. On June 10, 1190, while crossing the Salef River, King Frederick I drowned. The Germans were broken and returned home. Only a small group reached Acre.

In the summer of the same year, the French and the British finally set off on a campaign. Richard ferried his troops from Marseille to Sicily. The local ruler Tancred Li Lecce was supported by the French king. The British were defeated, and Richard, capturing the island of Cyprus along the way, set off for Tire. Philip II was already here.

The combined forces of Europeans and Eastern Christians laid siege to Acre. In July 1191 the city was captured. Philip II went to France and began preparations for war with Richard I. At this time, the English king was trying to liberate Jerusalem. On September 2, 1192, Saladin and Richard signed a peace treaty. He made the following provisions:

1. the war between Christians and Muslims ceased;
2. Jerusalem remained Muslim, Saladin was recognized as its ruler;
3. the crusaders were given the coastal strip between the cities of Tire and Jaffa for the development of trade.

Results of the Third Crusade

The officially proclaimed goal of the crusaders was not achieved. They managed to capture only the island of Cyprus. Negative consequence of the campaign: aggravation of relations between European states. A positive consequence is the revival of trade between West and East.

The history of mankind is, unfortunately, not always a world of discoveries and achievements, but often a chain of a myriad of wars. These include those committed from the 11th to the 13th centuries. This article will help you understand the reasons and reasons, as well as trace the chronology. It is accompanied by a table drawn up on the topic "Crusades" containing important dates, names and events.

Definition of the concepts of "crusade" and "crusader"

The crusade is an armed offensive of the army of Christians to the Muslim East, which lasted a total of more than 200 years (1096-1270) and was expressed in at least eight organized performances of troops from Western European countries. In a later period, this was the name of any military campaign with the aim of converting to Christianity and expanding the influence of the medieval Catholic Church.

The crusader is a participant in such a campaign. On the right shoulder he had a stripe in the form of the same image was applied to the helmet and flags.

Reasons, reasons, goals of campaigns

Military demonstrations were organized. The formal reason was the fight against the Muslims in order to liberate the Holy Sepulcher, located in the Holy Land (Palestine). In the modern sense, this territory includes such states as Syria, Lebanon, Israel, the Gaza Strip, Jordan and a number of others.

Nobody doubted the success. At that time, it was believed that anyone who became a crusader would receive the forgiveness of all sins. Therefore, joining these ranks was popular with both knights and urban residents, peasants. The latter, in exchange for participation in the crusade, received liberation from serfdom. In addition, for European kings, the crusade was an opportunity to get rid of powerful feudal lords, whose power grew as their holdings increased. Wealthy merchants and townspeople saw economic opportunity in military conquest. And the very highest clergy, led by the popes, considered the crusades as a way to strengthen the power of the church.

Beginning and end of the Crusader era

The 1st Crusade began on August 15, 1096, when an unorganized crowd of 50,000 peasants and urban poor set out on a campaign without supplies or training. Basically, they were engaged in looting (because they considered themselves the soldiers of God, who own everything in this world) and attacked the Jews (who were considered the descendants of the murderers of Christ). But within a year this army was destroyed by the Hungarians who met along the way, and then by the Turks. Following the crowd of the poor, well-trained knights went on a crusade. Already by 1099 they reached Jerusalem, capturing the city and killing a large number of inhabitants. These events and the formation of a territory called the Kingdom of Jerusalem ended the active period of the first campaign. Further conquests (until 1101) were aimed at strengthening the conquered borders.

The last crusade (eighth) began on June 18, 1270 with the landing of the army of the French ruler Louis IX in Tunis. However, this performance ended unsuccessfully: even before the start of the battles, the king died of pestilence, which forced the crusaders to return home. During this period, the influence of Christianity in Palestine was minimal, and Muslims, on the contrary, strengthened their positions. As a result, they captured the city of Acre, which put an end to the era of the Crusades.

1st-4th crusades (table)

5th-8th Crusades (table)

Results

How successful the numerous crusades were, the table clearly demonstrates. Among historians, there is no unequivocal opinion on how these events influenced the life of Western European peoples.

Some experts believe that the Crusades opened the way to the East, establishing new economic and cultural ties. Others point out that it could have been done more successfully peacefully. Moreover, the last crusade ended in an outright defeat.

One way or another, significant changes took place in Western Europe itself: the strengthening of the influence of the popes, as well as the power of kings; the impoverishment of the nobility and the rise of urban communities; the emergence of a class of free farmers from former serfs who gained freedom through participation in the crusades.

(1187) plunged Christendom into sorrow. Pope Urban III wrote to all the princes, inviting them to unite against the infidels and launch a third crusade. He instituted fasts and solemn services, promised complete remission of sins to anyone who would take up the cross, and proclaimed universal peace for seven years.

Crusader states (the Principality of Antioch and the County of Tripoli - highlighted in green) at the beginning of the Third Crusade

This time the cross was accepted by three sovereigns. The German emperor summoned all the German princes to a diet in Mainz; the third crusade was preached here: "Frederick could not resist the breath of the Holy Spirit and accepted the cross." To avoid overflowing the army with useless elements, which proved so disastrous for the second crusade of Emperor Conrad, it was forbidden to accept into the army people who did not own at least three marks of silver (150 francs). The German army (about 100 thousand people) went the way of the first crusade - along the Danube and through Bulgaria. She moved almost in perfect order; Frederick Barbarossa divided it into battalions of 500 men, each with a special chief at the head; in addition, he formed a military council of 60 dignitaries.

Frederick Barbarossa - crusader

The Germans in the third crusade first of all had to endure the struggle with the Byzantines. Finally, the Germans received ships, crossed the Hellespont and, having entered the mountains of Asia Minor, began to deepen into a country devastated by wars. Soon they had neither fodder nor supplies; the horses began to fall. Finally, exhausted and exhausted by the incessant attacks of the Turkish horsemen, the crusaders arrived at Iconium. They divided into two detachments: one broke into the city through the gates, the other, led by the emperor himself, defeated the Turks with shouts of “Christ reigns! Christ wins! For several days, the German crusaders of the third campaign rested in the city. Then the army crossed the Taurus along the mountain paths. Finally, she arrived in Syria, in the valley of Seleph, and settled down here to rest; In the evening, Friedrich, having dined on the banks of the river, wanted to bathe in it and was carried away by the current. The Germans were seized with despair and dispersed; most returned to their homeland, the rest went to Antioch, where they were destroyed by an epidemic (June 1190). Thus ended the third crusade for the German army.

The kings of France and England, who fought each other during the crusade, in January 1188 gathered under the Gisors elm, embraced and accepted the cross. They ordered a crusade to be preached in their states and, in order to cover the costs of the war, decided to impose a tax on everyone who remained at home, equal to one tenth of his income (this tax was called Saladin's tithe). However, the war resumed. Both kings launched a third crusade only in 1190.

They decided to make a trip by sea. french king Philip August went to Genoa to board ships there. The monarch of England, Richard the Lionheart, went through France and Italy. Both armies joined in Messina. Discord immediately began. The Sicilians looked at these strangers with hatred. Once an English soldier started a quarrel with a merchant over the cost of bread; the people of Messina beat him, rebelled, and locked the gates of the city. Richard took Messina and gave it to the army for robbery (according to legend, it was then that the frightened Sicilians called him the Lionheart). Philip demanded his share of the booty and secretly wrote to the Sicilian king offering him help against the English.

All winter the French and English armies of the third crusade quarreled among themselves, and the knights spent their money. In the spring of 1191 the French crossed into Syria. Part of the English army that followed them was blown to the coast of Cyprus, which was then ruled by the usurper Isaac Komnenos. He robbed several ships; Richard landed on the island, defeated the Greek army located on the coast, and in 25 days conquered the entire island. He took away half of the lands from the population, distributed them to the knights as fief, and placed garrisons in all the fortresses.

When Philip and Richard arrived in Syria, participants in the third crusade from all over Europe had been besieging Saint-Jean d'Acre there for two years. They undertook this siege on the advice of the Jerusalem king Hugo Lusignan, who considered it most necessary to acquire a harbor. Saint-Jean d'Acre, built on a rock, was surrounded by a strong wall; the crusaders, having settled down on the plain, surrounded their camp with a moat; their ships blockaded the port. Saladin, who had arrived with his army, camped on a hill on the other side of the city; he communicated with the besieged with carrier pigeons and divers. From time to time, Muslim ships managed to bring provisions to the city.

Siege of Acre - the main military enterprise of the Third Crusade

The siege progressed slowly. The participants of the third crusade, having brought wood from Italy, with difficulty built three siege engines, each five stories high, but the besieged set them on fire. Then the winter rains began, and an epidemic appeared in the camp. In the end, the French arrived with Philip Augustus and the Germans with the Austrian Duke Leopold. Skirmishes continued for several more months. Finally, after a siege of two years, the garrison surrendered; he was allowed to leave on the condition that Saladin pay 200 thousand gold coins, return life-giving cross and free the Christian captives within 40 days; to secure the treaty, the besieged gave 2,000 hostages (July 1191).

French king Philip Augustus enters Acre, taken by the crusaders (1191)

Skirmishes near Saint-Jean d "Acre brought Richard the glory of the bravest of the leaders of the third crusade. When he returned to the camp, his shield, according to legend, was stung with arrows, like a pillow with needles. He was a monster for Muslims; mothers frightened their children: "Be quiet, otherwise I will call King Richard!" When the horse was frightened, the rider asked: "Did you see King Richard?" This ideal knight was rude and cruel. Having entered Saint-Jean d "Acre, he ordered the Austrian banner to be torn off the wall and thrown into the mud. When Saladin was unable to collect the agreed amount within 40 days after the surrender, Richard ordered that 2,000 hostages be taken outside the city walls and executed. Saladin did not give up any money, or captives, or the Life-Giving Cross.

Philip Augustus was in a hurry to return from the third crusade to France and left immediately after the end of the siege, swearing to Richard that he would not attack his possessions. Richard spent his time on small expeditions along the coast. When he finally decided to march on Jerusalem, winter was already approaching; he was overtaken by cold rains and returned to the coast (1192). He rebuilt the fortress of Ascalon; then he went to rescue Saint-Jean d "Acre, which both applicants for the Jerusalem crown disputed with each other (on the one hand, Conrad of Montferrat, supported by the French and Genoese, on the other, Hugo Lusignan with the British and Pisans). Here he learned that his brother John entered into an agreement with the French king in order to take away his possessions from him; these news prompted him to stop the third crusade and return to Europe Conrad made an alliance with Saladin, but was suddenly killed by two assassins sent by the Mountain Elder (1192). Saladin died in 1193.

Results of the Third Crusade. Crusader states by 1200. Map

The new German crusading army, which arrived from Italy by sea (1197), helped the Syrian Christians again to seize all the seaside cities; but when the news of the emperor's death was received HenryVI, the Germans scattered, and Jerusalem remained in the power of the Muslims.

At the end of the XII century. Christian possessions in the Levant are being moved. Christians before the third crusade lost their conquests inland and were driven back to the coast. The Kingdom of Jerusalem is limited to Phoenicia alone. Its capital becomes Saint-Jean d "Acre, where the Templars and hospitallers transfer their main abode. The county of Tripoli and the Principality of Antioch are united under the rule of one prince. Edessa is irretrievably lost. Four crusading states of the 12th century. reduced to two.

But in the West, Christians acquired two new states. The island of Cyprus, which Richard conquered during the third crusade and gave to Hugh Lusignan, becomes the Kingdom of Cyprus. On the mainland, the Armenian prince Leo II, who received the title of king from Emperor Henry VI, subjugated all the small Armenian regions of Cilicia; he extended his power beyond the Taurus Mountains: to the west - to the entire coast to the Pamphylian Gulf, to the east - to the plain of the Euphrates. He called European knights and merchants and gave them castles and quarters in cities to live. He turned the Armenian leaders into vassals, their possessions into fiefs. Despite the resistance of the clergy and the lower classes, he adopted the customs and laws of the Frankish crusaders (Assizes of Antioch); he forced his people to recognize the supremacy of the pope. The papal legate arrived in Tarsus to crown Leo king of Armenia. Thus, a new kingdom of Lesser Armenia arose, where a French aristocracy is formed above the lower stratum of the population, retaining its Armenian nationality, and which can be considered as a Frankish state.

In the XII century. the rallying of Muslim principalities began, as a result of which the crusaders began to lose their possessions. In 1144 The ruler of Mosul took possession of Edessa. In response to this, the Second Crusade (1147-1149) was undertaken. Its main inspiration was one of the most reactionary figures of Catholicism of that time, Abbé Bernard of Clairvaux. The campaign, led by the French king Louis VII and the German king Conrad III, suffered a complete failure. The German crusaders were utterly defeated by the Seljuks in Asia Minor; French crusaders unsuccessfully tried to take Damascus, but, having achieved nothing, ingloriously returned to Europe.
In the middle of the XII century. between the Western European states, striving to assert their dominance in the Mediterranean, as well as between them and Byzantium, serious contradictions began to grow. This doomed crusading enterprises to failure.

Third crusade.

In the second half of the XII century. unification of Egypt, part of Syria and Mesopotamia. Sultan Salah ad-Din (Saladin) became the head of the new state (centered in Egypt). In 1187 he took possession of Jerusalem.
This gave rise to the Third Crusade (1189-1192), in which the feudal lords of Germany, France and England participated. The crusaders were led by the German emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, the French king Philip II Augustus and the English Richard I the Lionheart. Frederick I, who had aggressive intentions towards Byzantium, enlisted the support of its main enemy in the East - the Iconian Sultan, who was at enmity with Salah ad-Din, in response to which the Byzantine Empire entered into an alliance with the latter. The campaign began with a series of setbacks. The German crusaders did not even reach Palestine; they turned back after Frederick I drowned while crossing a small mountain river in Cilicia (Asia Minor). The French and English crusaders were at enmity with each other throughout the campaign. Richard I, seeking to secure England's influence in the Mediterranean, tried to capture Sicily on his way to Palestine. This caused the opposition of Philip II and the dissatisfaction of the new German emperor Henry VI, who claimed the Sicilian crown. The English king had to be content with the capture of the island of Cyprus.
Upon arrival in Palestine, the crusaders besieged Acre, which they captured only in 1191. In the midst of hostilities, Philip II left for Europe, where he entered into an alliance with Henry VI against Richard I. The English king, unsuccessfully trying to return Jerusalem, eventually achieved only some concessions from Salah ad-Din: the crusaders retained the coastal strip from Tyre to Jaffa. Pilgrims and merchants were allowed to visit Jerusalem, which remained under Egyptian rule, for three years. Acre became the capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Fourth Crusade (1202-1204)

Especially clearly revealed the true goals of the Crusaders and revealed a sharp aggravation of contradictions between Western European countries and Byzantium. It was started at the call of Pope Innocent III (1198-1216). Initially, it was planned to go to Egypt, but the campaign ended with the capture of Constantinople and the defeat of the Byzantine Empire.
The decisive role in changing the direction of the campaign was played by Venice, to which, not having its own fleet, the crusaders turned. The merchant oligarchy, which was at the head of the Venetian Republic, decided to take advantage of this to assert their own positions in Byzantium. The Venetian Doge Enrico Dan-Dolo (1192-1205) demanded a huge sum for his services - 85,000 marks in silver. The crusaders agreed to these terms. However, it soon turned out that they were unable to pay the full amount. Then Dandolo, wanting to prevent a campaign against Egypt, with which the Venetians were trading regularly, offered the Crusaders, as compensation for underpaid money, to help Venice conquer the Dalmatian city of Zadar, a major trading center on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, which competed with Venetian merchants. In 1202 the city was captured. Then Dandolo, in collusion with the leader of the Crusaders - the Italian Marquis Boniface of Montferrat - sent troops and a fleet to Constantinople. The pretext was the appeal for help to the pope and the German king of Tsarevich Alexei, the son of the Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angel, who was deposed back in 1195.
Boniface of Montferrat was secretly supported by Philip II Augustus and some magnates of France and the German Empire, who hoped to benefit from the war in Byzantium. Pope Innocent III, having received a promise from Tsarevich Alexei that if the enterprise was successful, the Greek Church would be subordinated to the "apostolic throne", actually assisted the leaders of the crusaders in the implementation of their plans, although he officially forbade them to cause damage to Christian lands. Thus, all the most influential political forces of Europe at that time pushed the crusaders to seize Byzantium.
Having laid siege to Constantinople in the summer of 1203, the crusaders achieved the restoration of Emperor Isaac II to the throne. However, when he could not pay them the full amount promised for help, the crusaders in April 1204 stormed the city and subjected it to a brutal defeat. Entire neighborhoods were set on fire, the church of St. Sophia was mercilessly plundered.
The fall of Constantinople was followed by the capture of half of the Byzantine Empire.

The Last Crusades.

In the XIII century. more were undertaken, but they actually did not change anything in the state of affairs in the East. During the Fifth Crusade (1217-1221), the German, English, Dutch and Hungarian crusaders succeeded after a long siege in taking an important fortress, which was the key to Egypt - Damiet-tu. Internal strife and inept command then led to military setbacks that forced the knights to leave the country.
The Sixth Crusade (1228-1229) was led by Emperor Frederick II, in whose army were German, French, English and Italian knights. Heading to Syria, Frederick II took advantage of the war between Egypt and Damascus and concluded an agreement with the Sultan, according to which he received Jerusalem and some other cities in Palestine. For this, he undertook to support the Sultan against his enemies in the East. However, in 1244, the Muslims again captured Jerusalem.
Shortly thereafter, Pope Innocent IV organized the Seventh Crusade (1248-1254) against Egypt. Its participants were mainly French knights under the leadership of King Louis IX, who sought to secure a firmer position for France in North Africa, with which the cities of southern France were connected by trade relations. The campaign ended in complete failure. Such was the result of the Eighth Crusade (1270) under the leadership of the same Louis IX. The fleet moved this time to Tunisia. Shortly after landing, an epidemic broke out among the crusaders, from which the king himself died.
After this failure, the papacy's calls for new crusades met with little success. One by one, the possessions of the crusaders in the East passed to the Muslims: in 1268 Egypt captured Antioch, in 1289 - Tripoli, in 1291 the last support of the crusaders in the East - Acre fell. The Kingdom of Jerusalem ceased to exist. In the XIV-XV centuries. European countries undertook crusades against the Ottomans, which did not bring success.

(1096-1099) knights from Western Europe settled in Muslim Palestine and created several Christian states on its lands. Chief among them was the Kingdom of Jerusalem, centered on Jerusalem. However, the Muslim world did not accept the loss. He began to violently resist, trying to return the occupied territories back. In the second half of the 12th century, Salah ad-Din Yusuf (1137-1193), whom the Europeans called Saladin, entered the political arena. This man united Egypt and Syria under his command, became a sultan and founded the Ayyubid dynasty.

Saladin led the fight against the crusaders and on July 4, 1187, he utterly defeated the soldiers of Christ at the Battle of Hattin. At the same time, the king of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Guy de Lusignan, and many noble knights were captured. Then such fortresses as Acre, Sidon, Caesarea, Beirut fell, and on October 2, 1187, after a short siege, Jerusalem fell.

Three European monarchs who led the Third Crusade

When the Catholic world learned of this, it fell into a state of deep sorrow. It was said that having received the news of the loss of Jerusalem, Pope Urban III collapsed to the ground dead. After that, the new pope Gregory VIII called on the noble knights to launch the Third Crusade (1189-1192). But the servant of God died on December 17, 1187, so the new pontiff Clement III took the whole initiative (he was pope until March 20, 1191).

The most powerful rulers of Europe responded to the call of the Catholic Church: the King of England Richard I the Lionheart, the French King Philip II and the German Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa (Redbeard). These rulers were supported by the Austrian Duke Leopold V, and the first king of Cilician Armenia, Levon I, acted as an ally. Apparently, powerful military forces were implied. But there was no unity among them. Each monarch was guided by his own political interests and he was little interested in the interests of other crowned persons.

The path of European monarchs to Palestine on the map. The red line shows the path of the British, the blue line shows the path of the French and the green line overland the path of the German crusaders

Campaign of the German crusaders

The first to enter the Holy Land was the German Emperor Barbarossa. This was a man of advanced age. He was born in 1122, and went on the Third Crusade at the age of 66. But first, on March 27, 1188, he took the vow of a crusader in the Mainz Cathedral. After that, the emperor gathered an army, which, according to the chroniclers, numbered 100 thousand people. Of this mass of people, 20 thousand accounted for the knightly cavalry.

The German army moved to Palestine in May 1189. But such a powerful force frightened the Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angel. He even entered into a secret alliance with Saladin, but the Sultanate of Rum, on the contrary, promised Frederick I all kinds of support. That is, each ruler tried to protect himself, seeing the strength and large number of the German army.

In March 1190, Barbarossa with his army crossed into Asia Minor, moved in a southeasterly direction and by the beginning of June reached the coastal Taurus Mountains, from which it was already a stone's throw to Palestine. But apparently God turned away from the Germans, since on June 10, 1190, while crossing the Salef River, the emperor's horse slipped on the stones and threw the rider into the water. Dressed in armor, Friedrich immediately drowned.

After that tragic event part of the decapitated German army turned back, and the other part reached Antioch. This army was led by the emperor's son Duke Friedrich of Swabia. In Antioch, the body of the deceased emperor was buried in the church of St. Peter. As for the crusaders, their number has decreased even more. Many boarded ships and sailed to their native lands, and the remaining 5 thousand knights reached Tripoli, where most of them fell ill with malaria.

Only with a small detachment, Duke Frederick of Swabia in October 1190 arrived at Acre, besieged by the crusaders. Here he founded the Teutonic Order and died of malaria on January 20, 1191. After his death, all the German crusaders went home. This is how the German army ended the Third Crusade ingloriously. As for the British and French, events developed quite differently here.

There was no unity of views between the English and French kings

French and English crusaders

The French and British went to Palestine not by land, but by sea. Richard I the Lionheart sent his crusaders on ships in April 1190, and he himself went to France to see the French king Philip II. The two monarchs met at Lyon in the month of July. After this, Richard I went to Marseille to meet his ships, while Philip II departed for Genoa to hire a fleet to transport his army.

But when Richard arrived in Marseille, he saw that his ships were not yet there. Then he hired a ship and departed for Sicily in Messina. His ships soon arrived there, and a little later the ships of Philip II. Thus, in September 1190, both kings and their troops ended up in Sicily. Winter was approaching, and the crusaders decided to wait it out on a fertile island, and in the spring of 1191 set sail for the shores of Palestine.

In Messina, political differences between the French and the British were clearly manifested. During the period described, Sicily was conquered by the Normans, and Richard I declared his claims to the Norman crown. This statement cooled the relations of the kings, and Philip II departed in March 1191 to the shores of Palestine. And Richard I was mired in dynastic strife and left Sicily only in April of that year.

The British fleet got into a storm, and the ship on which the bride of the king, Princess Berengaria of Navarre, was sailing, was thrown onto the reefs near the island of Cyprus. On this ship were the money collected for the Third Crusade. They were taken over by the local ruler Isaac Komnenos. He also announced that the bride of the English king was now his prisoner.

It is not known what place this ruler thought when he challenged Richard the Lionheart, but it all ended in his complete defeat. The English king took possession of the island within a few days, put Isaac Komnenos in chains and held celebrations in honor of the English crown. At this time, the former king of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Guy de Lusignan, arrived in Cyprus. Richard I immediately sold him the conquered island and sailed to Palestine.

There, at that time, the crusaders tried to regain the fortress of Acre, captured by the Muslims. Philip II, the Austrian Duke Leopold V and Richard I, who joined them after Cyprus, took part in the siege. In general, the siege lasted 2 years from 1188 to 1191, and Saladin's troops constantly attacked the besiegers. The European rulers, having joined the crusaders of Palestine, got bogged down in this siege and nullified the entire Third Crusade.

Acre surrendered to the Christians on July 12, 1191. After that, the French king sailed with part of his knights to his homeland, and the English king remained, since the main task was the liberation of Jerusalem. But all the military attempts of the crusaders were extremely unsuccessful. In skirmishes with the Muslims, Richard the Lionheart began to use spearmen and crossbowmen against the Mohammedan riders. Thus, the knights who were waiting for the attack were covered. However, this tactical innovation did not correct the situation.

The crusaders returned Acre, but Jerusalem remained with the Muslims

Jerusalem was never taken, and in September 1192 the crusaders made peace with Saladin. The holy city remained in the power of the Muslims, but Christians were allowed to visit it. In October of the same year, the English king departed for his homeland, and this was the end of the Third Crusade.

In March 1193, the formidable Sultan Saladin died. This greatly facilitated the position of the soldiers of Christ, as a struggle for power began between the heirs of the Muslim ruler. However, there were no cardinal territorial changes in the Latin East, since the knights always acted separately and they did not have a single command. And here Catholic Church took up the organization of the next crusade, since the pontiffs could not allow the Holy Sepulcher to be in the hands of representatives of another faith.

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