Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem team
[Nottingham history]
- Brewhouse Yard
- caves
- Mortimer
- lace
- Nottingham castle
- Robin Hood
- [Third Crusade]
the Third Crusade
Following the First Crusade (1096-99), four states were established in the now-conquered Holy Land: the Counties of Edessa and Tripoli, the Principality of Antioch and the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Increasing Muslim pressure resulted in the fall of Edessa in 1144. A Second Crusade, incompetently led by Emperor Conrad III and Louis VII of France, set out to reclaim Edessa, but the armies were simply marched to starvation and disaster in Anatolia in 1149.
More than three decades later, a further revival of Islam placed the Crusader states once more in danger. When Baldwin V of Jerusalem died in August 1186, he was succeeded by his mother Sibylla, the wife of Guy de Lusignan, whom she crowned King of Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Saladin (Salah ad-Din), the brilliant Kurdish vizier of Egypt, had united Muslims from the Nile to the Tigris. In July 1187, Guy's army, advancing to raise the siege of Tiberias, were trapped and destroyed by Saladin at the Horns of Hattin. Guy was captured, and Saladin rapidly swooped up Palestine, taking Jerusalem in October.
Pope Gregory VIII, elected pontiff on 21 October 1187, called for a Third Crusade. When he died only two months later, his successor Clement III took up the cry (as did his successor, Celestine III, four years later). For once, the European heads of state had ceased warring against each other. Henry II of England and Philip II Augustus of France were persuaded to make peace and go on Crusade; they both imposed 'Saladin tithes' on their citizens to finance their expeditions. Soon after, Frederick I (Barbarossa), the Holy Roman Emperor, took the Cross, and in May 1189, he left Germany for the Holy Land.
The Frankish troops of Guy of Jerusalem, freed by Saladin the previous year, began the siege of Acre in August. The new king of England, Richard I -- Henry having died in July -- left for Palestine in December, having raised money from the tithes and from the sale of offices and privileges. At Acre, Saladin failed to dislodge the Franks, who were now being reinforced as Crusaders arrived from Europe.
Frederick was drowned on the overland route to Palestine, and it wasn't until June 1190 that the survivors of the German contingent arrived at Antioch. Richard, on the other hand, chose to travel by sea, arriving at Acre in May 1191, a few weeks behind Philip of France. On 12 July, the Crusaders managed to take Acre, which became the capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
The following month, Philip sailed home, while Richard went on the offensive. In September, he was victorious over Saladin at Arsuf, and by January 1192, he was camping at Beit-Nuba, 12 miles from Jerusalem. However, he then retired to refortify Ascalon. In April, Guy of Lusignan was deposed as King of Jerusalem, receiving Cyprus (captured by Richard on his way to Palestine) in compensation. Conrad, Marquess of Montferrat was elected king in his place, only to be murdered by Assassins, members of a heretical Muslim sect, less than a month later. He was succeeded by Henry of Champagne.
By May, Richard had taken Daron, thus completing his conquest of the entire Palestinian coast. Again, he camped within sight of Jerusalem, but then -- again -- withdrew. On 30 July, Saladin took Jaffa, Jerusalem's port, but was ousted by Richard the following day. He was thoroughly defeated by the English king outside the port a short time later. On 2 September, the two foes concluded a treaty that instituted a three-year truce -- and ended the Third Crusade.
Richard left Palestine for good the following month, only to be captured near Vienna in December by Leopold, Duke of Austria, and held for 14 months. Saladin died in March 1193. The Fourth Crusade (1202-4), intended to restore the Kingdom of Jerusalem, resulted in the debasement of the ideal -- war was now fought against fellow-Christians for gain.
