The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt led by King Philip II of France, King Richard I of England, and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa 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.
The Crusade was partially successful. It recaptured the important cities of Acre and Jaffa, as well as successfully reversing most of Saladin's conquests (primarily in the Kingdom of Jerusalem), but failed in the ultimate goal to conquer Jerusalem (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 recognized Muslim control over Jerusalem but allowed unarmed Christian pilgrims and merchants to visit the city. Richard departed the Holy Land on 9 October 1192 due to mounting threats to his rule back in Europe. 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.
The fall of Edessa, an important city held by the crusaders from 1098 to 1144, deeply shook Europe, which until then had observed the events unfolding in the Near East during the first half of the 12th century with relative passivity. The aggressive and astute policy adopted by the atābeg Zengi, the founder of the Zengid dynasty, had enabled the unification of the regions of Aleppo and Mosul under a single domain. Zengi’s immediate successor was his son Nur al-Din (Nūr ad-Din), who established himself in Aleppo and immediately focused on continuing the holy war against the Christians of Outremer.
It was on these premises and the intense preaching activity of several church figures, most notably Bernard of Clairvaux, that Pope Eugene III proclaimed the Second Crusade. Despite the involvement of the two most powerful European sovereigns of the first half of the 12th century, namely Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany, a series of issues compromised the expedition's outcome. These included the lack of cohesion between Germans and French, the journey to the destination, during which a large number of soldiers died, and the decision to attack Damascus, the only city that intended to maintain peaceful relations with the crusaders due to its fear of Nur al-Din’s expansionist tendencies in Syria.At the end of a brief five-day siege, the largest Frankish army ever to arrive in the Near East withdrew from Damascus without achieving any concrete results.
The defeat of the crusaders and disputes in the Christian world allowed Nur al-Din to unify Syria and reduce the Crusader states' size. With Turkoman and Kurdish troops, he achieved victories like Inab in 1149, conquering the Orontes Valley, dissolving the County of Edessa (1151), securing Damascus (1154), and nearly destroying the Principality of Antioch.The crusaders, led by Baldwin III, captured Ascalon in 1153. Raids in 1156 were halted by an earthquake, and Nur al-Din's attacks on Baniyas in 1157 failed.
The 1160s were marked by the increasing diplomatic isolation of the Crusader states. While Byzantium sought reconciliation with Nur ad-Din at times, he consolidated his power in the Muslim hinterland. Significant personnel changes took place with the capture of Reynald of Châtillon and the death of Baldwin III
Both the rulers of the Crusader states and the leaders of Muslim polities sought to expand their power and influence, particularly over Egypt. The Fatimid dynasty, weakened by internal conflict, became the target of both Nur al-Din, and Amalric I of Jerusalem. Efforts to gain control over Egypt led to a series of military campaigns and shifting alliances. Amalric’s attempt to invade Egypt in 1163 was unsuccessful, largely due to seasonal flooding. Meanwhile, political instability in Egypt continued as the vizier Shawar, after being deposed, sought military assistance from Nur al-Din.
At the same time, Nur al-Din attempted to attack Crusader positions in Syria but faced resistance from Western European nobles returning from pilgrimage. Nur al-Din sent his general Shirkuh, accompanied by Saladin, to Egypt, where they briefly restored Shawar to power. However, Shawar soon allied with Amalric against Shirkuh. This led to further intervention by Nur al-Din, who sought to exert more influence over the region. In Antioch, Nur al-Din captured several prominent leaders, but refrained from a full assault to avoid confrontation with the Byzantine Empire. Temporary agreements saw both Shirkuh and Amalric withdraw from Egypt, but the contest for control continued. Shirkuh returned to Egypt in 1167, but was blocked by the combined forces of Amalric and Shawar. Negotiations led to another withdrawal. In 1168, Amalric launched another attack on Egypt, but was repulsed again.
Rise of Saladin and the crisis
Shawar was sentenced to death for his alliance with the crusaders, and Shirkuh succeeded him as vizier of Egypt but died in 1169 after a few weeks due to indigestion. Saladin, his nephew, became vizier at thirty-one, a compromise candidate. Nur al-Din later regretted this, fearing Saladin’s ambitions after successes in egypt and Yemen. When Nur al-Din died in 1174, he left his empire to his eleven-year-old son As-Salih Ismail al-Malik. Saladin, invited by Ibn al-Muqaddam, entered Damascus as the young emir’s guardian, defeating the Zengids at the Battle of the Horns of Hama in 1175, securing supremacy over Syria except Aleppo.
Amalric I had died, like Nur al-Din, in 1174, leaving the throne of Jerusalem to his nearly thirteen-year-old son Baldwin IV, who was afflicted with leprosy. The Franks, divided between peace and war factions, launched expeditions against Egypt from 1175 to 1178. Reynald of Châtillon, freed in 1181, attacked caravans, giving Saladin his casus belli for his offensive against the Franks.
Saladin invaded the region, prompting both sides to gather all available troops. On 3 and 4 July 1187, the Crusader army suffered a major defeat on the hills of Hattin near Lake Galilee. The relic of the True Cross was lost, the king was captured, and many soldiers were either killed or taken prisoner. Most Templars who survived the battle were executed, and Saladin personally killed Reynald of Chatillon. In the months that followed, Saladin gained control over most of the region. Acre was quickly taken, and Jerusalem surrendered in October. By the end of 1187, the Crusader presence had been reduced to the city of Tyre.