Ck3 Third Crusade

[Mariela Laflam]

Itwas partially successful, recapturing the important cities of Acre and Jaffa, and reversing most of Saladin's conquests, but it failed to recapture Jerusalem, which was the major aim of the Crusade and its religious focus.

King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem died in 1185, leaving the Kingdom of Jerusalem to his nephew Baldwin V, whom he had crowned as co-king in 1183. Count Raymond III of Tripoli again served as regent. The following year, Baldwin V died before his ninth birthday, and his mother, Sybilla, sister of Baldwin IV, crowned herself queen and her husband, Guy of Lusignan, king. Raynald of Chtillon, who had supported Sybilla's claim to the throne, raided a rich caravan travelling from Egypt to Syria, and had its travelers thrown in prison, thereby breaking a truce between the Kingdom of Jerusalem and Saladin.[14][15] Saladin demanded the release of the prisoners and their cargo. The newly crowned King Guy appealed to Raynald to give in to Saladin's demands, but Raynald refused to follow the king's orders.

This final act of outrage by Raynald gave Saladin the opportunity he needed to take the offensive against the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and in 1187 he laid siege to the city of Tiberias. Raymond advised patience, but Guy, acting on advice from Raynald, marched his army to the Horns of Hattin outside of Tiberias. Saladin's forces fought the Frankish army, thirsty and demoralized, and destroyed it in the ensuing Battle of Hattin (July 1187).

Guy and Raynald were brought to Saladin's tent, where Guy was offered a goblet of water because of his great thirst. Guy took a drink and then passed the goblet to Raynald. Raynald's having received the goblet from Guy rather than from Saladin meant that Saladin would not be forced to offer protection to the treacherous Raynald (custom prescribed that if one were personally offered a drink by the host, one's life was safe). When Raynald accepted the drink from Guy's hands, Saladin told his interpreter, "say to the King: 'it is you who have given him to drink'".[16] Afterwards, Saladin beheaded Raynald for past betrayals. Saladin honored tradition with Guy, sending him to Damascus and eventually allowing him to be ransomed by his people.

By the end of 1187 Saladin had taken Acre and Jerusalem. Christians would not hold the city of Jerusalem again until 1229.[17] Pope Urban III is said to have collapsed and died (October 1187) upon hearing the news of the Battle of Hattin.[18]

The new pope, Gregory VIII, in the bull Audita tremendi dated 29 October 1187, interpreted the capture of Jerusalem as punishment for the sins of Christians across Europe. In the bull, he called for a new crusade to the Holy Land.[19]

The crusade of Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, was "the most meticulously planned and organized" yet.[20] Frederick was sixty-six years old when he set out.[21] Two accounts dedicated to his expedition survive: the History of the Expedition of the Emperor Frederick and the History of the Pilgrims. There is also a short tract, the Letter on the Death of the Emperor Frederick.[22]

On 27 October 1187, just over three weeks after Saladin's capture of Jerusalem, Pope Gregory VIII sent letters to the German episcopate announcing his election and ordering them to win the German nobility over to a new crusade. Around 23 November, Frederick received letters that had been sent to him from the rulers of the Crusader states in the East urging him to come to their aid.[23]

By 11 November, Cardinal Henry of Marcy had been appointed to preach the crusade in Germany. He preached before Frederick and a public assembly in Strasbourg around 1 December, as did Bishop Henry of Strasbourg. About 500 knights took the cross at Strasbourg, but Frederick demurred on the grounds of his ongoing conflict with Archbishop Philip of Cologne. He did, however, send envoys to Philip of France (at the time his ally) to urge him to take the cross. On 25 December, Frederick and Philip met in person on the border between Ivois and Mouzon in the presence of Henry of Marcy and Joscius, Archbishop of Tyre, but he could not convince Philip to go on a crusade because he was at war with England.[23]

Frederick held a diet in Mainz on 27 March 1188. Because of its purpose, he named the diet the "Court of Christ". The archbishop of Cologne submitted to Frederick and peace was restored to the empire. Bishop Godfrey of Wrzburg preached a crusade sermon and Frederick, at the urging of the assembly, took the cross. He was followed by his son, Duke Frederick VI of Swabia,[a] and by Duke Frederick of Bohemia,[b] Duke Leopold V of Austria, Landgrave Louis III of Thuringia[c] and a host of lesser nobles.[27]

After taking the cross, Frederick proclaimed a "general expedition against the pagans" in accordance with the pope's instructions. He set the period of preparation as 17 April 1188 to 8 April 1189 and scheduled the army to assemble at Regensburg on Saint George's Day (23 April 1189). To prevent the crusade from degenerating into an undisciplined mob, participants were required to have at least three marks, which was enough to be able support oneself for two years.[27]

At Strasbourg, Frederick imposed a small tax on the Jews of Germany to fund the crusade. He also put the Jews under his protection and forbade anyone to preach against the Jews.[23] The First and Second Crusades in Germany had been marred by violence against the Jews. The Third Crusade itself occasioned an outbreak of violence against the Jews in England. Frederick successfully prevented a repetition of those events inside Germany.[28]

On 29 January 1188, a mob invaded the Jewish quarter in Mainz and many Jews fled to the imperial castle of Mnzenberg. There were further incidents connected with the "Court of Christ" in March. According to Rabbi Moses ha-Cohen of Mainz,[d] there were minor incidents from the moment people began arriving for the Court of Christ on 9 March. This culminated in a mob gathering to invade the Jewish quarter on 26 March. It was dispersed by the imperial marshal Henry of Kalden. The rabbi then met with the emperor, which resulted in an imperial edict threatening maiming or death for anyone who maimed or killed a Jew. On 29 March, Frederick and the rabbi then rode through the streets together to emphasise that the Jews had imperial protection. Those Jews who had fled in January returned at the end of April.[28]

Shortly after the Strasbourg assembly, Frederick dispatched legates to negotiate the passage of his army through their lands: Archbishop Conrad of Mainz to Hungary, Godfrey of Wiesenbach to the Seljuk sultanate of Rm and an unnamed ambassador to the Byzantine Empire. He may also have sent representatives to Prince Leo II of Armenia.[29]

Because Frederick had signed a treaty of friendship with Saladin in 1175,[30] he felt it necessary to give Saladin notice of the termination of their alliance.[e] On 26 May 1188, he sent Count Henry II of Dietz to present an ultimatum to Saladin. The sultan was ordered to withdraw from the lands he had conquered, to return the True Cross to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and to make satisfaction for those Christians who had been killed in his conquests, otherwise Frederick would abrogate their treaty.[32]

A few days after Christmas 1188, Frederick received Hungarian, Byzantine, Serbian, Seljuk and possibly Ayyubid envoys in Nuremberg. The Hungarians and Seljuks promised provisions and safe-conduct to the crusaders. The envoys of Stefan Nemanja, grand prince of Serbia, announced that their prince would receive Frederick in Niš. An agreement was reached with the Byzantine envoy, John Kamateros, but it required Godfrey of Wrzburg, Frederick of Swabia and Leopold of Austria to swear oaths for the crusaders' good behaviour. Bishop Hermann of Mnster, Count Rupert III of Nassau, the future Henry III of Dietz and the imperial chamberlain Markward von Neuenburg with a large entourage[f] were sent ahead to make preparations in Byzantium.[32]

At the Strasbourg assembly in December 1187, Bishop Godfrey of Wrzburg urged Frederick to sail his army to the Holy Land rather than proceed overland. Frederick declined[g] and Pope Clement III even ordered Godfrey not to discuss it further. Ultimately, many Germans ignored the rendezvous at Regensburg and went to the Kingdom of Sicily, hoping to sail to the Holy Land on their own. Frederick wrote to King William II of Sicily asking him to bar such sailings. The emperor and the pope may have feared that Saladin would soon seize all the crusader ports.[29]

Frederick was the first of the three kings to set out for the Holy Land. On 15 April 1189 in Haguenau,[h] Frederick formally and symbolically accepted the staff and scrip of a pilgrim.[20] He arrived in Regensburg for the muster between 7 and 11 May.[36] The army had begun to gather on 1 May. Frederick was disappointed by the small force awaiting him, but he was dissuaded from calling off the enterprise when he learned that an international force had already advanced to the Hungarian border and was waiting for the imperial army.[25]

Frederick sailed from Regensburg on 11 May 1189, but most of the army had left earlier by land for the Hungarian border. On 16 May, Frederick ordered the village of Mauthausen burned because it had levied a toll on the army. In Vienna, Frederick expelled 500 men from the army for various infractions. He celebrated Pentecost on 28 May encamped across from Hungarian Pressburg. During his four days encamped before Pressburg, Frederick issued an ordinance for the good behaviour of the army, a "law against malefactors" in words of one chronicle. It apparently had a good effect.[43]

From Pressburg, the Hungarian envoys escorted the crusaders to Esztergom, where King Bla III of Hungary greeted them on 4 June. He provided boats, wine, bread and barley to the army. Frederick stayed in Esztergom for four days. The king of Hungary accompanied the army to the Byzantine border at Belgrade. There were incidents during the crossing of the Drava and Tisza rivers, but the Sava was crossed on 28 June without incident. In Belgrade, Frederick staged a tournament, held a court, conducted a census of the army and wrote to the Byzantine emperor Isaac II to inform him that he had entered Byzantine territory.[44]

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