A Biography of Richard the Lionheart

On July 12,1191, English King Richard I (the Lionheart) and Crusaders defeat Saracens in Palestine. From the article:

"Richard's first success in the Holy Land, after having sunk an enormous supply ship encountered on the way, was the capture of Acre. The city had been under siege by Crusaders for two years, and the work Philip had done upon his arrival to mine and sap the walls contributed to its fall. However, Richard not only brought an overwhelming force, he spent considerable time examining the situation and planning his attack before he even got there. It was almost inevitable that Acre should fall to Richard the Lionheart, and indeed, the city surrendered mere weeks after the king arrived. Shortly afterward, Philip returned to France. His departure was not without rancor, and Richard was probably glad to see him go.

Although Richard the Lionheart scored a surprising and masterful victory at Arsuf, he was unable to press his advantage. Saladin had decided to destroy Ascalon, a logical fortification for Richard to capture. Taking and rebuilding Ascalon in order to more securely establish a supply line made good strategic sense, but few of his followers were interested in anything but moving on to Jerusalem. And fewer still were willing to stay on once, theroretically, Jerusalem was captured.

Matters were complicated by quarrels among the various contingents and Richard's own high-handed style of diplomacy. After considerable political wrangling, Richard came to the unavoidable conclusion that the conquest of Jerusalem would be far too difficult with the lack of military strategy he'd encountered from his allies; furthermore, it would be virtually impossible to keep the Holy City should by some miracle he manage to take it. He negotiated a truce with Saladin that allowed the Crusaders to keep Acre and a strip of coast that gave Christian pilgrims access to sites of sacred significance, then headed back to Europe."