After the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem fell to the Muslim forces of Saladin, news began to arrive in Europe of how the Crusaders were defeated at the Horns of Hattin, as well as how the Christians suffered with the fall of Jerusalem to Saladin, and that the relic of the True Cross was now in the hands of a non-Christian people. Interestingly, Saladin was on good terms with a certain Christian people, as well as their Christian queen - namely Queen Tamar of the Orthodox Christian land of Georgia. The Georgians were, in contrast to other Christian pilgrims, allowed free passage into the city. Queen Tamar outbid the Byzantine emperor in the efforts to acquire the holy relic of the True Cross, offering 200,000 gold pieces to Saladin who had taken the relic as a prize at the battle of Hattin, but Saladin rejected her offer. Thus as each piece of depressing news found its way into Europe it would eventually inspire Pope Gregory VIII to call for the Third Crusade.
Pope Gregory VIII only reigned for a few months in 1187 AD, but he reigned long enough to call for yet another Crusade to win back Jerusalem and the lost holy relic of the True Cross. Three European monarchs took up the pope's declaration: one - the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa King of Germany, another - Philip II of France, and thirdly – Richard I The Lionhearted of England. With these monarchs being the three most powerful men in Western Europe, the campaign looked promising. Barbarossa was the first king to set forth, traveling with his army through Thrace in the spring of 1190. The Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angelos was not happy about the Western Christians traveling through his territory, but was relieved once the Germans had passed on into Anatolia. Soon afterwards a calamity occurred for in June of 1190 the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa drowned by falling from his horse into the River Saleph in southern Cilicia. Frederick's death on top of the dysentery which was spreading through his army, would result in the majority of the European forces to actually make it to the Holy Land, be the French and the English.
To recover that which had been lost became the utmost desire of every Christian knight. For the Pope's call for a new Crusade, would wash away every sin. The kings of England and France received the sacred badge from the Archbishop of Tyre, and were now ready for a Holy War. The first major battle of the Third Crusade was at Acre. The city had already been under siege for some time by an army led by the former king of Jerusalem: Guy of Lusignan. Fortunately for Guy, many other Crusader armies quickly arrived in support. Some of the troops left over from Frederick Barbarossa's army, as well as a French force led by Henry of Champagne, along with the armies of Richard I and Philip II, made all forces united and ready to take the city in early June of 1191 AD. With a constant flaying of the walls of the city of Acre using catapults, the siege engines of king Richard, as well as divisions in Saladin's army, would all add up to factors in the Crusader victory at Acre which was officially captured on the 12th of July in 1191. However, in just the next month after the Crusader victory king Philip needed to return to France due to political problems in Flanders which threatened his throne. So, from the original three kings, the Crusader army was now left with one: King Richard the Lionhearted.
After the fall of Acre the Crusaders set their eyes on Jaffa, a vital port which supplied Jerusalem. However, Saladin felt the best way to deal with the Christian invaders was to fight them in hand to hand combat out in an open field. Thus on the 7th of September in 1191, on the plain of Arsuf, the two armies clashed head long with one another. The Crusaders ended up winning the battle but the Muslim losses were not that heavy. The Crusaders then marched on to Jaffa, but were also intent on heading straight for Jerusalem. King Richard agreed with the armies popular demand and they then moved towards the Holy City. Unfortunately for the Christian armies, they would not reach their goal of Jerusalem until after January of 1192. For rainy weather was slowing them down, as was a dwindling supply of food. Due to these conditions, a fateful decision was made.
Richard had marched within sight of Jerusalem, but he knew that even if he could storm the city's walls, his army which had been so reduced by the various battles over the past two years would not be able to hold it against an inevitable counterattack. It was a decision supported by the commanders of both of the army's two most experienced fighting units: the Knights Templar and the Knights Hospitaller. Now more than ever the loss of Fredrick's army was most deeply felt. Another march was made on Jerusalem the following year, but as times before, it stopped short and the leaders once again decided they might take the city after a prolonged siege, but they would almost certainly be unable to keep in check a counterattack from Saladin.
During this time, Saladin went on to attack Jaffa, which would fall in July of 1192. Richard sailed to and arrived in Jaffa in August after the city fell to Saladin. Richard was determined to reclaim Jaffa. Taking the lead the “Lionhearted” achieved his goal against all odds, though in the terms of the bigger picture not much had changed. The Muslims still controlled Jerusalem and Saladin's army was still intact. It was pretty much a stalemate, and just as with Philip of France, domestic affairs in England demanded Richard's immediate return home in order to safeguard his throne in October of 1192. The entire Third Crusade campaign was officially abandoned, and no Crusader army would ever get this close to Jerusalem ever again.
Richard and Saladin did manage to negotiate a peace deal at Jaffa. The Crusader held fortresses of Ascalon had to be given up and dismantled while a small strip of land around Acre was to be kept by the Crusaders. The future of the safety and humane treatment of Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land was also bargained for. It was not quite what was hoped for at the outset, but there was always the possibility of another Crusade at some time in the future. King Richard did indeed note that in any future campaign against the Arabs it would be to the Crusaders advantage to attack from Egypt, the weak underbelly of their empire. And it was precisely this plan which the Fourth Crusaders adopted, even though they would again become distracted from their original objective. For the prize of the Fourth Crusade would not be Damascus, The Queen of Syria, nor Jerusalem the Holy City, but the soldiers of the Fourth Crusade would covet and set their eyes upon the jewel of the Byzantine Empire, namely Constantinople.
References:
Adduson, C.G. The Knights Templars. (Forgotten Books, 2012).
Haag, M. The Templars: History & Myth. (London, England: Profile Books, 2008).
Lane-Poole, S. Saladin and the Fall of Jerusalem. (London, England: Greenhill Books, 2002).
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Robinson, J.J. Dungeon, Fire & Sword. (Lanham, Maryland: The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group Inc., 2009).
Wasserman, J. The Templars and the Assassins. (Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions, 2001).
