Third Crusade

The Third Crusade
Part of the Crusades
Map showing the routes of the crusader armies
Date 11 May 1189 – 2 September 1192 Location Levant, Sicily, Iberia, Balkans and Anatolia Result Muslim Victory[1] Crusaders Failed to Capture Jerusalem Treaty of Jaffa
Belligerents
Crusade: Angevin Empire Kingdom of England Duchy of Normandy Duchy of Aquitaine County of Anjou County of Poitou Duchy of Brittany Kingdom of France Duchy of Burgundy County of Blois County of Champagne County of Flanders Holy Roman Empire Duchy of Swabia Duchy of Austria Duchy of Bohemia Landgraviate of Thuringia Margraviate of Brandenburg Margraviate of Montferrat Margraviate of Baden County of Holland County of Holstein Kingdom of Hungary Republic of Genoa Kingdom of Navarre Kingdom of Leon Republic of Pisa Kingdom of Denmark Levantine Crusader states: Kingdom of Jerusalem County of Tripoli Principality of Antioch Military orders Knights Templar Knights Hospitaller Teutonic Order Order of the Holy Sepulchre Order of Mountjoy Order of St Lazarus Eastern Christian allies: Armenian Principality of Cilicia	Sunni Muslim states: Ayyubid Sultanate Sultanate of Egypt Emirate of Damascus Emirate of Hamah Emirate of Mesopotamia Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm Shia Muslim states: Nizari Ismaili state (the Assassins) Eastern Christian opponents: Byzantine Empire Cyprus
Commanders and leaders
Crusaders: Richard the Lionheart Philip Augustus Hugh III of Burgundy † Theobald V of Blois † Henry II of Champagne Philip of Flanders  # Frederick Barbarossa Frederick VI of Swabia † Leopold V of Austria Děpolt of Bohemia † Louis III of Thuringia  # Floris III of Holland  # Herman IV of Baden  # Adolf III of Holstein Markward von Annweiler Prince Géza of Hungary Rodrigo Alvarez Margaritus of Brindisi Levantine Crusader states: Guy of Lusignan Sibylla of Jerusalem  # Conrad of Montferrat X Humphrey IV of Toron Balian of Ibelin Bohemond IV of Antioch Joscelin III of Edessa † Military orders: Robert de Sablé Armengol de Aspa Garnier de Nablus Master Sibrand Eastern Christian allies: Leo of Armenia	Sunni Muslim forces: Saladin Al-Muzaffar Umar Al-Adil I Al-Afdal Gökböri Kilij Arslan II Kaykhusraw I Eastern Christian opponents: Isaac II Angelos Isaac Komnenos
Strength
36,000–74,000 troops in total (estimate) 8,000–9,000 Angevin (English, Normans, Aquitanians, Welsh, Navarrese, etc.) troops with Richard I,[2] up to 17,000 or 50,000 according to some sources including non-combatants and sailors[3] 7,000+ French with Phillip II (inc. 650 knights and 1,300 squires)[2] 12,000–20,000 Germans with Frederick I (inc. 3–4,000 knights)[4][5] 2,000 Hungarians with Géza[6] Two additional contingents also joined Frederick's army while travelling through Byzantine Empire. Numbered about 1000 men. From 7,000[7] to 40,000[8] from the rest of Europe and Outremer, plus some Turcopoles	Ayyubids: 40,000 (Saladin's field army, 1189 – estimate)[9] 5,000–20,000 (Acre's garrison, 1189)[10][11] Seljuks: 22,000+ (Qutb al-Din's field army only, 1190)[12][13]

The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt led by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187. For this reason, the Third Crusade is also known as the Kings' Crusade.^[14]

It was partially successful, recapturing the important cities of Acre and Jaffa, and reversing most of Saladin's conquests, but it failed to recapture Jerusalem, which was the major aim of the Crusade and its religious focus.

After the failure of the Second Crusade of 1147–1149, the Zengid dynasty controlled a unified Syria and engaged in a conflict with the Fatimid rulers of Egypt. Saladin ultimately brought both the Egyptian and Syrian forces under his own control, and employed them to reduce the Crusader states and to recapture Jerusalem in 1187. Spurred by religious zeal, King Henry II of England and King Philip II of France (later known as "Philip Augustus") ended their conflict with each other to lead a new crusade. The death of Henry (6 July 1189), however, meant the English contingent came under the command of his successor, King Richard I of England. The elderly German Emperor Frederick Barbarossa also responded to the call to arms, leading a massive army across the Balkans and Anatolia. He achieved some victories against the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm, but he died whilst crossing a river on 10 June 1190 before reaching the Holy Land. His death caused tremendous grief among the German Crusaders, and most of his troops returned home.

After the Crusaders had driven the Ayyubid army from Acre, Philip—in company with Frederick's successor in command of the German crusaders, Leopold V, Duke of Austria—left the Holy Land in August 1191. Following a major victory by the Crusaders at the Battle of Arsuf, most of the coastline of the Levant was returned to Christian control. On 2 September 1192 Richard and Saladin finalized the Treaty of Jaffa, which recognised Muslim control over Jerusalem but allowed unarmed Christian pilgrims and merchants to visit the city. Richard departed the Holy Land on 9 October 1192. The military successes of the Third Crusade allowed the Christians to maintain considerable states in Cyprus and on the Syrian coast, restoring the Kingdom of Jerusalem on a narrow strip from Tyre to Jaffa.

The failure to re-capture Jerusalem inspired the subsequent Fourth Crusade of 1202–1204, but Europeans would only regain the city—and only briefly—in the Sixth Crusade in 1229.