The Siege of Acre, Part 5

So Conrad of Montferrat married Isabella of Jerusalem, the rightful queen, and took her back to Tyre while the former king by marriage to Isabella's older sister Sibylla, Guy of Lusignan, refused to surrender the kingship and stayed at the Siege of Acre. This was in the fall of 1190.

Attacks on the walls on 31 December and 6 January led to a partial collapse and an attempt by the Crusaders to enter the city, but they failed. On 13 February Saladin breached the Crusader defenses to get to the city and reinforce the soldiers there. Conrad, back at Acre, tried to breach the city from the sea, but a contrary wind prevented him from getting close enough.

The Siege itself was showing no signs of resolution, either. Acre now had a garrison of some 20,000. Saladin had the Crusader camp surrounded so that more men and supplies could not arrive. Poor sanitation led to illness. Frederick of Swabia, the son of Barbarossa (who died trying to get to Acre), died of illness. Leopold V of Austria took command of the German forces. The Patriarch Heraclius also died during this time.

Then news came that other leaders from Europe were coming, and Saladin's chances of success were slimming.

On 20 April 1191, King Philip II of France arrived with a Genoese fleet and started building siege engines. King Richard I "Lionheart" of England arrived on 8 June (illustration), accompanied by 100 ships and a total of 8000 men. He requested a cease-fire for three days to allow him to meet with Saladin, but both Richard and Philip became ill and there was no meeting.

On the question of the rightful King of Jerusalem, France and England disagreed. Philip, the Genoese, and the Knights Templar supported Conrad (Philip's cousin) as King of Jerusalem. Richard, along with the Pisans and the Knights Hospitaller, felt Guy should remain king. (Guy was lord of Poitou and therefore Richard was his liege lord.) This debate would not be settled right away.

Not all of the English had arrived yet, so Richard wanted to wait before attacking Acre (no sense starting without all your forces in place). Philip was ready to start battering the walls and did not wait: on 17 June he started using his siege engines. The Acre garrison signaled Saladin that they needed support by sending up smoke. A pattern formed: a breach in the walls would bring the Crusaders attacking, which would be the sign for Saladin's forces to attack the Crusader camp. This would cause the Crusaders to turn around to defend themselves. This gave Acre time to try to repair the breach.

Tomorrow we'll discuss the final battle and the end result for Acre.

Isabella I of Jerusalem

With the death of Queen Sibylla of Jerusalem during the Siege of Acre, her husband, Guy of Lusignan, lost his claim to the throne and the succession fell to Sibylla's younger sister, Isabella, currently in her late teens. Just as the leaders of Jerusalem objected to Guy's marriage to Sibylla, Isabella's husband was not considered the proper person to become King of Jerusalem simply by his marriage to the rightful queen.

Humphrey IV of Toron was a leading baron of Jerusalem. He and Isabella married in 1183 (the illustration shows the two being betrothed by Baldwin IV), and Humphrey gave Toron to King Baldwin IV (Isabella's half-brother) at the time. The other barons of Jerusalem were willing to give Humphrey and Isabella the opportunity to become king and queen after the death of Baldwin V because they did not want Guy on the throne, but the young married couple chose instead to pay homage to Sibylla and Guy.

Now in the midst of an ongoing conflict with Saladin, an experienced military leader would be ideal as the new King of Jerusalem, and Humphrey did not fit the bill. There was someone who already wanted the throne, and was a tried and true military leader: Conrad of Montferrat. Isabella's step-mother, Maria Comnena—also the result of the nobles forcing someone to annul their marriage if they wanted to rule—supported the idea of Conrad marrying Isabella. Humphrey, she felt, had prevented Isabella from becoming queen once, and Maria was happy to see him out of the family.

Maria swore before a papal legate, Archbishop Ubaldo of Pisa, that Isabella's betrothal at the age of eight was against her consent and the marriage should be annulled. Patriarch Heraclius of Jerusalem deferred the matter to Archbishop Baldwin of Canterbury. Baldwin would not support the annulment, saying that Conrad and Isabella would be guilty of adultery. On the other hand, Archbishop Ubaldo supported the annulment after some concessions to Pisa were made.

Isabella made it clear that Humphrey (of whom she seemed fond) should not lose everything, and the lordship of Toron was restored to him. Isabella and Conrad were married on 24 November 1190. Conrad took her back to Tyre. Guy stayed at Acre. Guy refused to concede the kingship. What they needed was to gather more of the nobles of Europe and have the matter adjudicated by a gathering of peers.

Fortunately, more of the heads of Europe were on their way. We'll see how things went next time.

The Siege of Acre, Part 4

The first big clash between the army of Saladin and the Christians besieging the city of Acre led to thousands of losses for the Christians under Guy of Lusignan in September 1189. Fortunately, what became known as the Third Crusade had been called in Europe, and reinforcements started to arrive.

One of the imminent arrivals was Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, known as Barbarossa. His reputation boosted the morale of those at Acre, but also motivated Saladin to call for many more soldiers to join him. Unfortunately for all concerned, Frederick drowned while taking a shortcut across the Saleph River in southern Turkey (see illustration), never making it to Acre. Two-thirds of his army returned home. The rest followed Frederick's son, Frederick IV of Swabia, to Acre. (They carried the body with them, intending for Barbarossa to be interred in Jerusalem. Preservation attempts with vinegar failed, and he was buried in Antioch.)

In the last days of October, a fleet of Muslim ships broke the Christian ships blockading the harbor to prevent Muslim reinforcements reaching Acre. Weapons, food, and 10,000 Muslims entered Acre from the sea. An Egyptian fleet arrived in mid-December, reinforcing the new blockade to prevent Christian ships from attacking from the sea.

Conrad of Montferrat sailed back to Tyre to bring back food and supplies for the Crusade army. He also brought materials to build siege machines.

Saladin added to his army over the months of winter, and attacked the Crusaders on 20 May 1190. The Crusaders resisted for eight days until finally Saladin's forces retreated.

During the summer, numerous nobles from Europe arrived with more men and supplies. Unfortunately, Saladin's forces had them almost completely surrounded, making further supplies and food scarce. An attack by some restless Christian soldiers against the orders of the leaders failed. Louis III of Thuringia contracted malaria, and headed home only to die in Cyprus. Between July and October Queen Sibylla died a few days after her daughters died. Guy, only King of Jerusalem through marriage to the rightful heir Sibylla, lost his claim to the throne, but refused to step aside for the next in line, Sibylla's younger sister, Isabella of Jerusalem.

Isabella's marriage was an issue, since she was now Queen of Jerusalem and her husband would be its king. She was already married, but her current husband was considered not the ideal person to be king, and so in the midst of the Siege of Acre there was some political meddling. We'll look at that tomorrow.

The Siege of Acre, Part 3

So King of Jerusalem Guy of Lusignan was camped at Acre, ready to besiege the city and take control of it as a base for future conflict against Saladin, who was trying to consolidate the Middle East under his caliphate and re-take lands held by Christians after the First and Second Crusades.

With Guy were others: French and Flemish soldiers, Germans under the Landgrave of Thuringia Louis III, Italians under the Archbishop of Ravenna, and Armenian troops under Leo II of Cilicia. Although Conrad of Montferrat was against the attack and stayed in Tyre, he was convinced by Louis III (his mother's cousin) to attend and bring troops. (William II of Sicily died around this time, and his ships left.)

Saladin learned about the army massing at Acre and marched to counter them, with an initial unsuccessful attack on 15 September 1189.

Saladin attacked again on 4 October, from east of the city. He was dealing with a Crusader army of 30,000 infantry and 2,000 knights. The Christians also had 100 ships blockading Acre from the sea to prevent reinforcements. In the first fighting, Crusader crossbowmen "softened" the enemy up. Templars attacking Saladin's east flank (see illustration) were so effective that the Muslims drew men from other parts of the field. Crusaders followed the Muslims, attacking relentlessly. Much of Saladin's army started to retreat.

The Crusaders, however, decided that plunder was more important than pursuit. They started collecting weapons and items from the bodies on the field. When Saladin saw this, he brought his men together and had his cavalry pursue the Crusaders who were retreating to camp, laden with booty. Crusaders were being killed until the soldiers still in camp in front of Acre, guarding against troops coming from Acre to help Saladin, left camp and countered Saladin's cavalry.

The garrison at Acre saw that they were no longer contained, and surged out the gates to attack the Crusaders from behind. Many Templars were killed, including Grandmaster Gerard de Ridefort. Conrad became surrounded and was rescued by the efforts of Guy. The Crusaders lost up to half their men, but Saladin was stopped.

That autumn, more Crusaders arrived, with men and supplies. We'll continue tomorrow.

The Siege of Acre, Part 2

A couple weeks ago I mentioned the events that led to Saladin coming to power in Egypt. From there he had two choices: stay in Egypt and try to bring the entire country under his control, or try to surpass all the other Muslim rulers in the Eastern Mediterranean. Ten years later he was making good on the second goal, one milestone being the Battle of Hattin, in which he defeated the largest army the Kingdom of Jerusalem had ever put together under the command of King of Jerusalem Guy of Lusignan. Guy was captured during Hattin.

Jerusalem after a five-day siege fell to Saladin. Pope Urban III died on 19 October 1187, supposedly of sadness that Jerusalem was lost. Pope Gregory VIII proposed a new venture that would become the Third Crusade.

Saladin was unable to conquer Tyre, which was held by Conrad of Montferrat. Saladin tried to negotiate rather than fight when he saw that reinforcements from Europe were arriving to aid Conrad. As part of negotiation, Saladin released Guy, but Conrad would not allow Guy to enter Tyre;:everyone blamed Guy for mismanaging the defeat at Hattin. (Also, Conrad was the closest male relative to Baldwin V of Jerusalem and saw himself as the man who should be King of Jerusalem instead.)

Saladin left Tyre and turned his attention to Acre.

Acre was an important port city, and would be a natural target for Christians. Muslim records tell that they debated destroying the city to make it unusable versus reinforcing the defenses.

News of the loss of Jerusalem galvanized Christian leaders. In early 1188, reinforcements from Europe started arriving. William II of Sicily sent ships with 200 knights. The Archbishop of Pisa arrived with 52 ships. They contacted the King of Jerusalem, still camped outside of Tyre, and pledged to support him. Conrad still would not let Guy into Tyre.

Guy needed a city for a base, and Hattin had destroyed most of the fighting men from Jerusalem, but now Guy had allies from the Mediterranean—between 7000 and 9000 infantry and between 400 and 700 knights—so he decided to go to Acre (30 miles away in the south) to use it as his base against Saladin.

Saladin had left thousands of men in Acre, so this attack would not be easy. West and south of Acre was a sea wall; east was the only approach. Guy tried an attack on the walls that failed thanks to Saladin reinforcing it. Guy set up camp east of the city and waited for reinforcements from Europe.

A few days after setting up camp, reinforcements started to arrive. Things were looking up for Guy...or were they? We'll continue tomorrow.

The Siege of Acre, Part 1

The Siege of Acre was two years long and a major event in the history of the Crusades. Although started independently by Guy of Lusignan in his role as King of Jerusalem against Saladin, it became a part of the Third Crusade (once that venture overcame some difficulties in getting started).

Let's start with a discussion about Acre itself. Sitting at a natural harbor on the coast in the Northern District of Israel, the first settlement there was established in the Early Bronze Age (c.3000BCE). Although that settlement was abandoned and another started in the Middle Bronze Age, it is considered one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements on Earth.

It has been called many things over the centuries. The earliest mention of it in writing is in Egyptian hieroglyphs with the name 'ky around 1800 BCE. Mid-14th century BCE sees it being called Akka. The Hebrew Bible calls it 'Akkō. It has also been called Ptolemaïs and Antioch, but those names were also used for other cities and caused some confusion.

The Crusades called it Saint Jean d'Acre. The Apostle Paul stayed there with a local Christian community on his way back from Macedonia. A bishop from Acre attended the First Council of Nicaea in 325.

Over time, Acre was held by Phoenicians, Persians, Greeks, Alexander the Great, the Romans, the Byzantines, and came under the Rashidun Caliphate in 638CE. It was the main port of Palestine during the following Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates.

During the Fist Crusade, Acre was captured by the Christians led by King Baldwin I of Jerusalem (father of Baldwin II and grandfather of Melisende, the first Queen of Jerusalem). By the time of the Siege of Acre, the population was about 25,000 Christians, Jews, and Muslims. It was roughly the same size as Jerusalem.

Then Saladin decided it was a prize he had to have, and his reputation for war was so impressive that in 1187 the city gave in to him without a fight.

This is where Guy comes in. He brought a force to Acre that was too small, and wound up starting a long siege in front of Acre that was itself besieged by Saladin's forces behind Guy's. See you next time with the details.

The Double Marriage

So Sibylla of Jerusalem married Guy of Lusignan and spoiled the plot of others to marry her to someone else. Her brother, King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, was content that now there was someone to inherit the throne in the event of his inevitable death through complications from leprosy.

Many in the High Court were opposed to Guy. When King Baldwin was becoming increasingly unable to function, the court decided to make Baldwin, Sibylla's son from her marriage to William of Montferrat, co-king although he was only five years old. At his coronation, his step-father Guy was not invited. 

The question of regent for young Baldwin was raised. The obvious choice was his mother Sibylla and step-father Guy. Guy was considered unsuitable by many, however, so Raymond of Tripoli was named.

Consulting with the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem about the future of the kingdom, Heraclius, one obvious path was to have Sibylla's marriage annulled and have her marry a more suitable candidate to run the kingdom. Heraclius traveled to Europe to find someone able to secure the Kingdom of Jerusalem for the future.

Baldwin IV died in March 1185, making Baldwin V sole king. Unfortunately, Baldwin V died in mid-1186. (The illustration depicts the death of Baldwin IV and coronation of Baldwin V.) The succession fell to Sibylla.

The High Court told Sibylla her marriage to Guy had to be annulled if she intended to be Queen of Jerusalem. The same thing had happened to her father, Amalric, who was forced into an annulment from Agnes of Courtenay. She was a little more clever than her father, however, and said she would agree to the annulment if she were allowed to choose her next husband. The court agreed, the annulment took place, and Sibylla made her choice:

Guy of Lusignan.

He turned out to be a pretty bad King of Jerusalem, fighting with his allies like Raymond, and losing at the Battle of Hattin then becoming prisoner to Saladin. He was eventually freed, made more mistakes, and was removed from Jerusalem. King Richard I of England gave him the governorship of Cyprus in 1192. By the time of Guy's death in 1194, Cyprus was bankrupt, Guy having given away the landed property to anyone loyal to him.

So what happened to Heraclius, traveling Europe and looking for support for the Kingdom of Jerusalem? He was busy, let me tell you. Let me tell you tomorrow, that is.

A Guy for Sibylla

After the death of William of Montferrat, Sibylla of Jerusalem needed a new husband. The kingdom of Jerusalem was in a difficult position. Her brother, King Baldwin IV, was suffering from leprosy and wanted to be able to turn the kingdom over to a man who could lead the armies, so he wanted to get his sister married.

The High Court wanted Duke Hugh III of Burgundy, but he turned down the offer. Baldwin gave the King of France the authority to choose an alternate to Hugh, but since Sibylla already had a son who was in the line of succession through her, who would want to be king and see someone else's son inherit the throne?

According to contemporary chronicler William of Tyre, during the Holy Week of 1180, both Count Raymond III of Tripoli and Prince Bohemond III of Antioch marched to Jerusalem to force Baldwin to have Sibylla marry Baldwin of Ibelin and then give up his power immediately to his sister and new brother-in-law.

The Ibelin family had recently risen to prominence. Hugh of Ibelin (Baldwin's eldest brother), had become the third husband of Agnes of Courtenay, and Sibylla's mother. Sibylla's father, Amalric, after being annulled from Agnes of Courtenay, had married Maria Comnena. After Amalric's death, Maria Comnena had married Balian, the Lord of Ibelin and Baldwin's younger brother. The Ibelin family had become intertwined with the royal family of Jerusalem, then why not have a trifecta and have Sibylla marry an Ibelin?

Well, Bohemond and Raymond were foiled. Baldwin either knew of their plan and did not approve, or out of desperation he hatched his own plan.

A Poitevin knight, Guy of Lusignan, had recently come to Jerusalem. Guy was not the noblest of knights, having been exiled from Poitou because he and his brothers tried to kidnap Eleanor of Aquitaine for ransom. (This was a dumb idea.)

Another contemporary chronicler, Ernoul, records that Sibylla wrote to Baldwin of Ibelin to tell him that she would persuade her brother to let them be married on one condition. The condition was that Baldwin of Ibelin had to get himself out of captivity: he was currently held for ransom by Saladin, by whom he and Templar master Odo of Saint Amand had been captured in 1179. Ernoul, a squire of Balian of Ibelin, was probably saying this to make the Ibelins look better. Modern historians doubt Ernoul's account.

On the other hand, it is said that Saladin learned of the plan to force Sibylla to marry Baldwin and make him king, and Saladin raised the ransom from a knight's to a king's ransom, making it prohibitively expensive to get him released. (He was ransomed later by Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenos.)

So Sibylla married Guy of Lusignan. Tomorrow we'll see how they handled the kingdom.

Guy and Saladin

After the disastrous Battle of Hattin, when Guy of Lusignan overestimated his ability to counter Saladin's encroachment on territory controlled by Crusaders, Guy and a few of his noble companions were brought to Saladin's tent.

Mindful that Guy—however Saladin may have disagreed with his politics or presence in the Near East—was a king, Saladin treated him with respect. Saladin offered Guy a goblet of water, a sign that he was to be treated with hospitality as a guest. Guy tried to pass the goblet to his companion, Raynald of Châtillon, but Saladin stopped him, stating that Raynald was not being offered the same respect as a guest.

In the past, Raynald had provoked Saladin with military skirmishes against the Saracens at a time when the previous king of Jerusalem, Baldwin IV, had made a truce with Saladin. Saladin now declared Raynald an oath-breaker, and would not treat him with respect. (Raynald had acted with Guy as well, at a time when Guy had been made regent on Baldwin's behalf, but Guy was now a king.)

Raynald haughtily replied to Saladin's accusation by saying "kings have always acted thus." Saladin offered him a chance to convert to Islam, but Raynald refused. Saladin took his sword and beheaded Raynald then and there. At the sight of the corpse, Guy went to his knees, but Saladin raised him up, assuring him that "A king does not kill a king." The illustration is by a 17th-century Dutch painter, Jan Lievens, showing the two men, a smiling Saladin and a downcast Guy in golden chains.)

This took place in 1187. Guy was taken prisoner, and his wife, Sibylla, was left to defend Jerusalem. Unfortunately, Jerusalem fell into Saladin's hands on 2 October. Sibylla begged Saladin to release her husband from prison, which he did. The two were rejoined and went to Tyre, the only city still controlled by Christians, thanks to the efforts of Conrad of Montferrat (Sibylla had been married to William of Montferrat, Conrad's older brother, who died years earlier from malaria).

Conrad refused the pair entry, so Guy camped outside the city awhile and later began the Siege of Acre, anticipating Richard the Lionheart's arrival with the Third Crusade. Unfortunately, Queen Sibylla and their two daughters died during an 1190 epidemic; with the queen's passing, Guy's claim to the kingship passed as well. There was another popular claimant for the throne, and Richard Lionheart weighed in as well, but before we get to that, I'd like to give Saladin some proper recognition. He has been a part of the blog for many posts, but we haven't looked at the man himself.

Next time...

Guy of Lusignan

Guy of Lusignan (c. 1150 – 18 July 1194), who married Sibylla of Jerusalem (twice!) in yesterday's post,  has been mentioned before in his role as King of Jerusalem. To be put in the position to become king, he must have had some significance prior to that point, so let's look at his earlier life.

He was originally from a noble family in Poitou. Poitou was part of Henry II's possessions on the continent, overseen by his son, Richard I "Lionheart." Guy and his brothers in 1168 attempted to capture Eleanor of Aquitaine for ransom. They failed, but managed to capture William Marshal (then only in his 20s and not yet risen to prominence). Eleanor ransomed William, but Richard banished the brothers.

The brothers wound up in the Holy Land. Aimery went there first, settling in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and marrying Eschiva of Ibelin, whose father attempted to become King of Jerusalem as Baldwin IV was failing (seen in yesterday's post). Guy came to Jerusalem sometime between 1173 and 1180, joining his brother in Jerusalem.

King Baldwin IV and his mother, Agnes of Courtenay, welcomed and supported Guy. He was made Agnes's constable in Jaffa, and then appointed by Baldwin to be constable of the kingdom. There were rumors that he was having an affair with Agnes, who was 14 years older than Guy, but they were likely designed by others to discredit him because of his growing influence.

His hasty marriage to Baldwin's sister, Sibylla, was designed to stave off the attempt of Raymond III of Tripoli to take over the Kingdom of Jerusalem and marry her off to Raymond's chosen candidate, Baldwin of Ibelin, Guy's brother's father-in-law. The marriage was likely a happy one (see below), and produced two daughters, Alix and Maria. Sibylla's son by her earlier marriage to William of Montferrat died young, so Sibylla and Guy ruled as Queen and King of Jerusalem.

Before they were crowned, however, there were members of the court that disapproved of Guy. They convinced Sibylla to annul the marriage if she wished to be crowned. She agreed, on the condition that she be allowed to choose her next husband. The court agreed, the annulment took place, the coronation took place, and then Sibylla chose her next husband: Guy of Lusignan. She had outfoxed the court for an arrangement that obviously pleased her.

As a war leader, Guy was a failure. In an attempt to prevent the growing encroachment of Saladin on the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Guy marched with the army to the disastrous Battle of Hattin, in which the army was destroyed completely. Saladin's men killed almost everyone, sparing Guy and a few others. The few were taken to Saladin's tent where, well, good and bad things happened. I'll share the gory details tomorrow.

Replacing Baldwin

I've written many times before about the importance of marriages in noble families, forging alliances with other powerful families through marriage. In the case of Baldwin IV, King of Jerusalem, finding a husband for his sister was even more crucial, because he needed to secure the succession, and he wasn't going to get an heir himself.

Baldwin had leprosy, which did not stop him from trying to be an effective king, but it meant marriage and procreation was out of the question. The best route was his sister, Sibylla. She had already been married, to William of Montferrat, and had a son named Baldwin, but William died from malaria. Sibylla herself was in the line of succession, but they wanted to make sure it would last beyond her.

Baldwin himself had become ill when visiting William, and although he survived for several more years, it became important to make sure Sibylla had a husband who could help raise her son to be the next king, and who could be trusted to perform as regent for that son so that Baldwin could safely abdicate, since he was becoming increasingly unable to perform his duties.

The High Court wanted her to marry Duke Hugh III of Burgundy, who was now a vassal of King Philip II of France after Philip invaded Burgundy. Baldwin was so desperate to get Sibylla married that he sent a message to Philip, empowering him to choose another suitor if Hugh refused. Hugh accepted, and intended to sail to Jerusalem in early 1180 for an Easter wedding. Unfortunately, internal strife in France prevented Hugh from leaving.

William of Tyre, who had helped raise Baldwin IV and wrote a history of the lands controlled by the Crusades, recorded that Count Raymond III of Tripoli and Prince Bohemond III of Antioch set out for Jerusalem, sensing Baldwin's weakness and looking to usurp his throne. There is a belief that Raymond's intent was to force Baldwin to marry Sibylla to Baldwin of Ibelin, an important noble and close friend of Raymond, then force Baldwin to abdicate.

Their plan was foiled when Sibylla hastily married Guy of Lusignan, a French knight from Poitou, in 1180. (The illustration is of their marriage.) (His older brother, Aimery of Lusignan, had married the daughter of Baldwin of Ibelin, which would have made family gatherings awkward.) Guy became, by marriage, Count of Jaffa and Ascalon and bailiff of Jerusalem.

In 1182, with his health declining, King Baldwin declared Guy regent, but doubts about how Guy and Raynald of Châtillon provoked Saladin with whom Baldwin had a truce disillusioned Baldwin, and he tried to have the marriage annulled. Baldwin died in 1185, having become blind and lame in his final years. Sibylla's son became Baldwin V, but died within the year.

The High Court agreed that she should be queen, but only on the condition that she would annul the marriage to Guy. Sibylla agreed, on the condition that she be allowed to choose her next husband. The marriage was annulled, Sibylla was crowned Queen of Jerusalem in Summer 1186, and she chose as her husband ... Guy of Lusignan, who was crowned King of Jerusalem in September 1186.

Guy has been mentioned a few times before, and I'd like to tell you a little more about his life before and after becoming King of Jerusalem.

The Battle of Hattin

 The Horns of Hattin is an extinct volcano whose twin peaks overlook Hattin in the Lower Galilee. In 1187, a battle took place between the forces of Saladin and Crusaders that was devastating for the Crusaders.

At the time, there were many Western European forces in the Middle East, due to the Second Crusade, and Jerusalem was in Christian hands, with Guy of Lusignan currently the King of Jerusalem. Still, the desire was to have the entirety of the Holy land under Christian control, which meant further conflict. Likewise, Muslim forces wanted the Christians to withdraw.

Saladin controlled much of the territory surrounding the Crusader forces and promised his people that he would drive the Christians from Jerusalem. Saladin had made a private treaty with the Franks in 1185 to give them Jerusalem if the Crusaders would stop waging further battles. There was peace until 1187 when a Muslim caravan was raided by Raynald of Châtillon. Saladin swore he would kill Raynald and sent a force to raid an area held by the Franks. The Templars lost about 150 knights and 300 foot soldiers in this battle (the Battle of Cresson), which was a severe blow to Frankish morale.

Guy was advised to move against Saladin, and on 3 July 1187, his forces started marching towards the Sea of Galilee (known at the time as Lake Tiberias). They were harried constantly nay Muslim archers, and along the way found little fresh water to replenish their supplies. The Muslim forces prevented them from reaching Lake Tiberias and fresh water, and set fires to the dry grass to annoy the Franks further with smoke and heat.

Three times the Frankish forces charged Saladin's, and three times they were beaten back, the third time being definitive. Many European nobles were taken captive that day. Guy of Lusignan and Raynauld of Châtillon were taken to Saladin. Saladin offered water to Guy, a sign that Guy would be treated well; Guy offered the water to Raynauld, but Saladin slapped it from his hand, charging Raynauld with breaking the truce. Raynauld was executed.

Guy of Lusignan was taken to Damascus as a prisoner (released in 1188). Two-hundred Templars and Hospitallers were beheaded, as were many others. A piece of the True Cross was taken from the Crusaders and sent to Damascus, about which I will have more to say next time.

Conrad of Montferrat

[source]

On 28 April in 1192, Conrad of Montferrat was assassinated.

Conrad was an interesting character, a well-born European caught up in the fervor of one of his era's greatest pastimes: to occupy the Holy Land. At one point in his career, while he held the city of Tyre, Saladin appeared outside the walls with Conrad's father, the captured William V of Montferrat.* Saladin made an offer: surrender Tyre and Saladin would give up William and be very generous to Conrad. Supposedly, Conrad aimed his crossbow at his father, claiming that William had already lived a long life. Saladin was not that harsh a man: shocked, he commented "This man is an unbeliever and very cruel." and moved William out of harm's way. (William was released a year later.)

Conrad's leadership was not admired by all Europeans. Conrad's later position as King of Jerusalem was contested by the supporters of Guy of Lusignan, who included King Richard of England. Conrad was supported by Philip II of France (a childhood rival of Richard's), and Leopold V of Austria—a name well-known to those familiar with Richard's story: Leopold is the one who imprisoned Richard later, when Richard tried to return to England.

All the details of the political debate are not important here; suffice it to say that Conrad's disputed kingship was finally put to a vote, and the barons chose him over Guy. Two days later, however, he was attacked by two assassins. Guards killed one and captured the other, who claimed under torture that he was hired by Richard. Historians have other suspects for the hiring as well. Whomever hired them, however, the fact remains: this is one of the earliest references to a European dying at the hands of the Hashshashin, the group from which we derive the modern English "assassin". But you might not know what you think you know about them, and we will look into that tomorrow.

*William of Montferrat is well-known to 21st century computer gamers as one of the nine Templars in the game Assassin's Creed.