Third Crusade

Long ago, a leader named Saladin took a city.

This city was called Jerusalem. It was very important to many people.

Three kings wanted to win it back.

They led big armies from far away. One king was named Richard.

Some kings fought and won new lands. They took back some cities by the sea. But they did not get Jerusalem back.

Saladin kept control of the holy city. He made a deal with King Richard. This deal let people visit the city.

Many people traveled a long way to help. It was a very big trip for everyone.

In 1187, a leader named Saladin took the city of Jerusalem.

This was a big loss for many people in Europe. They wanted to win the city back. This new effort was called the Third Crusade. It is also known as the Kings' Crusade.

Three powerful leaders joined the fight. King Philip II of France came to help. King Richard I of England also came. The German Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa, led a huge army.

Frederick was sixty-six years old when he started. He died while crossing a river. This made his troops very sad. Most of them went home.

King Richard and King Philip fought to win cities. They took back the cities of Acre and Jaffa. They even won a battle at Arsuf. But they could not take Jerusalem. In 1192, Richard and Saladin made a deal. This was the Treaty of Jaffa. Saladin kept the city. However, the deal let Christian travelers visit the city safely.

The Third Crusade was a major military effort from 1189 to 1192. It began after a leader named Saladin captured the city of Jerusalem in 1187.

This loss was a huge event for people in Europe. Because of the leaders involved, many people call it the Kings' Crusade. The main goal was to take back the Holy Land. This period was a time of great religious focus and conflict.

To prepare for the fight, leaders had to gather many resources. King Henry II of England and King Philip II of France stopped fighting each other. They wanted to work together instead. They even started a new tax called the Saladin tithe. This was a ten percent tax on income and goods. This money helped pay for the long journey. Many different groups of fighters joined from many places.

Three very powerful leaders led the different armies. Emperor Frederick Barbarossa of Germany led a very large and organized group. He was sixty-six years old when he started his journey. He moved his army across the Balkans and Anatolia. However, he died while crossing a river on 10 June 1190.

His death made his soldiers very sad. Most of them decided to go back home.

Other leaders continued the work in the Holy Land. King Richard I of England took command after Henry II died. King Philip II of France also led his troops. They fought hard to win back important places. The Crusaders successfully took the cities of Acre and Jaffa. They also won a big victory at the Battle of Arsuf. This helped them control much of the coast.

Even with these wins, the Crusaders did not take Jerusalem. On 2 September 1192, Richard and Saladin signed the Treaty of Jaffa. This treaty was a way to end the fighting. It allowed Saladin to keep control of Jerusalem. However, it let Christian travelers and merchants visit the city safely.

This deal helped keep some Christian lands on the coast. The fighting would continue in other crusades later on.

The Third Crusade was a major military campaign from 1189 to 1192. Its primary objective was to reconquer the Holy Land from Muslim control. This movement followed the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan, Saladin, in 1187.

Because it was led by several European monarchs, historians often call it the Kings' Crusade. While the Crusaders achieved some military victories, they failed to reach their main goal of retaking Jerusalem. This failure would eventually lead to further religious conflicts in the following decades.

The conflict grew out of years of shifting power in the Near East. Before the Third Crusade, the Zengid dynasty had unified much of Syria. This unification allowed leaders like Nur al-Din to challenge the existing Crusader states. Later, Saladin brought both Egyptian and Syrian forces under his single command. He used these combined resources to reduce the size of the Crusader states. In 1187, Saladin's forces defeated the Crusaders at the Battle of Hattin. This victory allowed him to take Jerusalem and most of the surrounding region.

To prepare for the new crusade, European leaders had to reorganize. King Henry II of England and King Philip II of France ended their own wars to cooperate. They implemented a specific tax known as the Saladin tithe. This was a ten percent tax on income and movable goods used to fund the expedition.

Many different groups joined the effort. These included fighters from Pisa, Genoa, and Venice, as well as various French and Danish contingents.

Three powerful leaders directed the different armies of the crusade. Emperor Frederick Barbarossa of the Holy Roman Empire led a very large and organized German army. He was sixty-six years old when he began the journey across the Balkans and Anatolia.

However, Barbarossa died while crossing a river on 10 June 1190. His death caused great grief among the German troops. As a result, most of his soldiers decided to return home instead of continuing.

The remaining crusade was led by King Richard I of England and King Philip II of France. Richard took command of the English forces after the death of his father, Henry II. The Crusaders fought to reclaim territory along the coast of the Levant. They successfully drove the Ayyubid army away from the city of Acre. They also won a significant victory at the Battle of Arsuf. These successes allowed the Christians to regain control over much of the coastline.

Despite these victories, the crusaders could not capture the city of Jerusalem. The campaign ended when Richard I and Saladin signed the Treaty of Jaffa on 2 September 1192. This treaty recognized that Saladin would maintain control over Jerusalem. However, the agreement allowed unarmed Christian merchants and pilgrims to visit the city safely.

This treaty provided a way to stop the fighting while acknowledging the reality of the situation on the ground.

The Third Crusade had lasting effects on the region and European politics. The military successes helped the Christians maintain several states on the Syrian coast. They also established a presence in Cyprus and a narrow strip of land from Tyre to Jaffa. Even though they did not take Jerusalem, the crusade changed the balance of power. The failure to capture the holy city inspired the Fourth Crusade, which began in 1202. It would take many more years before Europeans regained Jerusalem, and even then, it was only briefly during the Sixth Crusade.