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3rd Crusades Research Paper

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The Third Crusade was one of many medieval crusades to besiege the Holy Land in the 12th century. The purpose of the Third Crusade, like all the previous crusades, was to reconquer the Holy Land, an area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea that included Jerusalem, which was considered holy by both Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Jerusalem was considered holy and important to Christians because it was the home of Jesus’ ministry. The Third Crusade, led by King Philip II, Richard I, and German Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, sought to recapture the Holy Land and Jerusalem from Saladin’s Muslim forces and make up for the losses suffered in the Second Crusade. But, while all these rulers had an impact on the Third Crusades somewhat success, Richard I (Richard the Lionheart) contributed and impacted the Crusade the most with his exceptional military skill and …show more content…

Before he arrived, Christian forces were in trouble with very little supplies and reinforcements, but when Richard I and King Phillip arrived, they brought relief to the Christian forces. As soon as Richard arrived, “he assumed command of the siege works and within days, the Accursed Tower and the nearby walls were severely damaged,” giving the Crusaders an opening into the city but the gap was still small enough that it would be a blood bath for Crusaders if they stormed through (). Anticipating this, Richard “offered anyone two gold coins who would carry off a stone from the damaged wall,” then on July 11, Richard’s plan succeeded and a massive gap had been opened (Asbridge 40). Furthermore, the “definitive breach came at the section of the northern defenses targeted by Richard I,” which Richard had focused on with the bribery and siege equipment. Due to Richard’s military skill and leadership he was able to quickly bring the downfall of Acre and win against Saladin at the Battle of Arsuf and

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