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Summary Notes for the Third Crusade for AQA and OCR
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Notes for the Third Crusade for AQA and OCR
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Taylor’s Notes The Third CrusadeThe Battle of Hattin (1187)
It was not long before relations between the erratic Reynald of Châtillon and the new King broke down In a rage,
Reynald returned to Transjordan and declared that his lands were independent of royal control
For income and enjoyment, Reynald and his men preyed on tradesmen and other travellers making their way from
Syria to Egypt For Saladin, this was more than an annoyance: Those trade routes were the principal means of
communication between his two kingdoms
Because Saladin was already looking for an excuse to break his truce with the Christians, the raids of Reynald were a
serious threat to the Kingdom of Jerusalem as well Despite warnings, Reynald attacked a large and wealthy
caravan bound for Egypt in early 1187
To avoid a war, Guy ordered Reynald to make restitution to Saladin, but Reynald ignored the order Reynald
insisted that he was independent and therefore not bound by Jerusalem's truces His foolhardy recklessness had
already visited violence and destruction on Cyprus and Antioch With Islam united, Saladin declared war on the
Christians
The Crusader states had prospered because of their relative unity in the face of Muslim chaos but now the situation
was reversed Syria and Egypt were under one ruler, a man who filled the Muslims with the same kind of religious
zeal that had animated crusader conquests for almost a century
Saladin's war was a counter crusade, aimed at removing the Christians from Jerusalem and all the Holy Lands
Seeing the grave danger, Raymond III of Tripoli finally ended his alliance with Saladin and offered his services to the
king of Jerusalem
Both sides quickly brought their forces together The crusader's army was the largest they had every assembled,
totalling roughly 20,000 men, including 1200 heavily armoured knights However, Saladin's forces were greater,
numbering around 39,000 men, almost half of whom were light cavalry
Near Nazareth, the two armies made camp King Guy's strategy was simple and proven effective: He would deploy
the army defensively, letting the flock tick away as he knew from experience that Saladin's militia could not remain in
the field indefinitely
Saladin knew that he needed to provoke the Christians into attacking before the season was over In a desperate
move, he marched against Raymond's city of Tiberias The city fell, but the citadel, commanded by Raymond's wife,
Eschiva, held out This was a powerful inducement to attack the infidels as Muslims had captured a Christian town
but also were besieging a noble woman
Raymond insisted that the King must not allow his chivalric zeal to dictate military strategy Between the Crusaders
camp and Tiberias was barren, waterless expanse In the summer sun, the army would need a great deal of water
to make the crossing and delay would be perilous and so Raymond argued that Guy should let Saladin send his
armies across if he wished to fight At this stage, King Guy agreed to Raymond's wise but painful advice
, Taylor’s Notes The Third Crusade
The Battle of Hattin (continued)
Later that same night, the King was visited by Gerard of Ridfort From Gerard's point of view, Raymond was a
traitor and an agent of Saladin so of course Raymond urged the king to refrain from attacking the Muslim army, for
he knew that the Crusaders could destroy it and also it is likely that Gerard reminded Guy of the bitter scorn he had
received after failing to attack Saladin Guy was convinced by Gerard's words and so in the morning, he ordered the
army to prepare for the march
Saladin was surprised and delighted and prepared to spring his trap In the baking sun, the Crusaders made slow
progress along the desert On 3rd July 1187, at Hattin, the Crusaders met the first parts of Saladin's army and Guy
gave his exhausted and thirsty troops the order to make camp with the soldiers still parched with no water In the
darkness, the Muslims surrounded the campsite, tormenting the Christians with taunts and threats and lit large
bushfires, filling the Crusader camp with horrible heat and choking smoke
In the morning, the weakened army prepared for a hopeless battle The Crusaders rushed to an extinct volcano,
known as the Horns of Hattin, where they fought off the onslaught as long as they could with only Raymond of
Tripoli and a few friends being able to break through Saladin's forces and escape - it was a massive defeat - with the
rest of the massive army being either captured or killed with Guy being one of those captured, as were the Master of
the Temple All were given a comfortable confinement, except Reynald of Châtillon who Saladin had sworn to
behead with his own hands and so he did with satisfaction He also ordered the mass execution of all captured
Hospitallers and Templars, with the exception of the Master himself
Thousands of common foot soldiers who could not purchase their freedom were sold on the slave markets as well as
Saladin winning the True Cross, which was carried into battle by the King of Jerusalem, which was then paraded
through the street of Damascus upside down
The Fall of Jerusalem and the Crusader States (1187)
This marked the greatest defeat in Crusading history with almost all the fighting men in the kingdom lost, leaving
Christian lands defended only by small garrisons in towns and forts In one disastrous battle, the kingdom of
Jerusalem had lost not only its ability to wage war but also its power to defend itself
The storm of Saladin's armies was poised to wipe away the Christian presence in the Levant This was not lost on
the garrison commanders and citizens of the kingdom's cities, and they knew well that Saladin was an honourable
man who would keep a promise They therefore sought to make favourable terms on which they could surrender
Like a row of dominos, the great cities were captured one by one:
Acre on 10th July
Ascalon on 4th September
Jerusalem on 2nd October
Saladin had planned to massacre the Christian inhabitants but he abandoned this idea when the commander of the
Jerusalem garrison threatened to destroy the Holy City and kill it's Muslim inhabitants before Saladin could capture
it Instead, the Sultan agreed to leave all Christians of Jerusalem unmolested, giving them safe passage to the
coast after they had purchased their freedom but many could not afford the cost Some of these Saladin granted
release; others eventually were sold into slavery
The only surviving Crusader cities were Tripoli, Antioch and Tyre just about
Reasons For and Aims of the Third Crusade
When Pope Urban III hears of the fall of Jerusalem, he supposedly dies of shock on the 20th October 1187 and just 9
days later, Pope Gregory VIII is issuing the next Papal Bull which was called Audita Tremendi
The primary reason for the Third Crusade is the loss of Jerusalem and therefore the aim was to capture Jerusalem
and take back control of the Crusader states
The Papal Bull offered the removal of sins but only to people who were going for the correct reasons
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