The Siege of Acre, 1189-91 CE

On August 28, 1189, during the Third Crusade, the Crusaders began the Siege of Acre under Guy of Lusignan. An excerpt from the article:

"The Third Crusade
The Third Crusade (1189-1192 CE) was launched to retake Jerusalem after the Holy City was conquered in 1187 CE by the Muslim leader Saladin. Saladin had already taken control of Damascus in 1174 CE and Aleppo in 1183 CE and defeated the Latin allied states at the Battle of Hattin in 1187 CE. Thus, the Muslim leader was able to take control of such cities as Acre, Jaffa, and Jerusalem. The Latin East, as those states created by the early Crusaders were collectively known, had all but collapsed and only Tyre remained in Christian hands, under the command of Conrad of Montferrat.

Pope Gregory VIII (r. 1187 CE) responded to these disasters by calling for the Third Crusade in order to win back Jerusalem and such lost holy relics as the True Cross. Europe's three most important monarchs took up the Pope's challenge: the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick I Barbarossa, king of Germany (r. 1152-1190 CE), Philip II of France (r. 1180-1223 CE) and Richard I 'the Lionhearted' of England.

Saladin was quick to refortify Acre & make it one of his most important garrisons & arms depots.
Three armies headed for the Holy Land; Frederick's by land where it met with total disaster after the emperor fell from his horse and drowned on 10 June 1190 CE in the River Saleph in southern Cilicia. Of those soldiers who did not trudge home in despair, many were killed by an outbreak of dysentery. Meanwhile, both Philip and Richard's armies travelled to the Middle East by sea, Richard capturing both Sicily and Cyprus en route. Thus, the Crusaders arrived at Acre in early June 1191 CE and gave a much-needed boost to the ongoing siege of the city.

Guy of Lusignan Besieges Acre
Prior to 1187 CE Acre had been an important coastal city of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, one of the states created by the Crusaders who had settled in the Middle East. The port city, built on a peninsula with the west and south sides protected by the sea and the other two sides by massive walls, had fallen, like Jerusalem, to Saladin. The Muslim leader was then quick to refortify the city and make it one of his most important garrisons and arms depots.

The French nobleman Guy of Lusignan, king of what remained of the Kingdom of Jerusalem (r. 1186-1192 CE), decided to make an attack on Acre in 1189 CE. Considering the precarious position of the Latins in the region, it was a daring move, perhaps motivated by the necessity to make some sort of fightback against the Muslim incursions and mobilise while Saladin was still busy securing several other castles in the region, notably at Beaufort where a siege was ongoing. In addition, with his rival Conrad of Montferrat in control of Tyre, Guy was effectively a king without a kingdom. Acre could provide him with a base of his own from which he could stake his claim to any newly-created Latin states when the promised Crusader armies arrived in the region.

Saladin and Guy of Lusignan
Saladin and Guy of Lusignan Mark Cartwright (Public Domain)
Guy mustered some 7,000 infantry, 400 knights, and a small Pisan fleet, and left Tyre to block the land approach to Acre in August 1189 CE. Unfortunately, the Pisan ships could not create a total blockade of Acre's harbour, and even in the city itself, the entrenched garrison was punching above its weight thanks to the presence of some of Saladin's elite troops. Guy's initial direct attack on the city was rebuffed, and he set up a fortified camp on the small hill, Mount Toron, east of the city. A siege was the only way forward, but at least Guy could receive constant reinforcements from Tyre thanks to the freedom of movement enjoyed by his own fleet. In September 1189 CE, the besiegers were boosted by the arrival of some 12,000 troops from Denmark, Germany, England, France, Frisia, and Flanders. It was not the main Crusader armies but it was, anyway, a significant help.

Now that Saladin had assembled a large enough field army for the task, the besiegers had become the besieged.
Guy eventually encircled the land sides of Acre with a double line of fortified positions, but he did not achieve any great progress in threatening the city. The Frenchman was soon seriously endangered himself by a relief army sent by Saladin using troops from vassal states in Syria and Jazira. The cautious Saladin had allowed the Latins to reach Acre, putting off a direct attack on the enemy army as it mobilised from Tyre. However, now that he had assembled a large enough field army for the task, the besiegers had become the besieged. Saladin launched a direct but failed attack on Guy's fortified camp on 15 September 1189 CE. On 4 October 1189 CE the Christian army returned the favour and launched a full-on assault of Saladin's camp. With heavy casualties on both sides, neither force gained the upper hand."