5/5 ɪᴏᴀɴ 8 months ago on Google
Richard
the
Lionheart
had
three
battles
against
Saladin
and
the
Muslim
army:
the
battle
at
Acre;
the
battle
at
Arsuf;
and
the
battle
at
Jaffa.
Despite
being
vastly
outnumbered
by
Saladin
and
his
troops,
King
Richard
and
the
Christian
army
were
victorious
in
each
of
these
conflicts.
It
was
at
the
battle
at
Acre
that
Richard
earned
the
title
of
Lionheart.
King
Richard
was
unlike
many
of
the
kings
throughout
history,
in
that
he
himself
would
lead
his
army
into
battle
and
fight
alongside
his
troops
at
the
frontline,
risking
his
life
each
time.
His
courage
was
unparalleled,
and
even
his
own
enemies
-
such
as
Saladin’s
high
ranking
officials
(Baha
al-Din)
-
were
in
awe
and
fear
of
this
great
king.
Richard
had
been
a
soldier
most
of
his
life
and,
at
only
sixteen
years
of
age,
had
led
armies
into
battle
and
had
victories
fighting
his
enemies
in
England
and
France.
Before
the
end
of
his
third
year
as
king,
Richard
had
scattered
far
and
wide
the
rays
of
his
valour.
In
one
day
he
took
Messina,
a
city
of
Sicily,
by
force,
and
he
subdued
the
land
of
Cyprus
in
a
fortnight.
Then
came
his
victories
against
the
Muslim
armies
at
Acre,
Arsuf
and
Jaffa.
Some
people
criticise
King
Richard
for
his
treatment
of
the
three
thousand
captive
Muslims
at
Acre,
whom
he
ordered
to
be
executed,
however,
he
was
left
with
little
to
no
choice,
due
to
the
actions
of
Saladin,
who
had
kept
delaying
the
exchange
that
had
been
agreed
with
Richard.
King
Richard
had
asked
Saladin
to
give
back
the
Christian
relic
that
had
been
taken
in
battle
when
Saladin
had
defeated
the
Franks
at
the
battle
of
Hattin,
a
few
years
prior
to
Richard’s
arrival,
and
which
was
believed
to
be
part
of
the
Cross
that
Christ
had
been
crucified
on.
Saladin
knew
how
much
the
Christians
valued
this
item
and
believed
that
Richard
and
his
army
would
not
march
onto
Jerusalem
without
this
holy
relic
in
their
possession,
and
so
ultimately
he
made
the
decision
to
sacrifice
the
lives
of
three
thousand
of
his
own
Muslim
brothers,
rather
than
return
the
Christian
relic.
King
Richard
had
come
to
the
Holy
Land
to
capture
Jerusalem
back
from
the
Muslims,
and
so
he
couldn’t
just
stay
at
Acre
as
month
succeeded
month,
waiting
perhaps
endlessly.
To
leave
so
many
fighting
men
in
captivity
at
Acre
would
have
entailed
money,
and
a
great
many
men
would
have
had
to
guard
them,
and
this
he
calculated
was
a
cost
that
he
could
not
bear.
It’s
true
that
Richard
did
not
accomplish
his
mission
of
taking
back
the
city
of
Jerusalem
from
the
Muslims,
however,
this
was
due
to
taking
council
with
the
Franks
-
the
Christians
who
had
previously
settled
in
Jerusalem
and
made
it
their
home
-
who
advised
King
Richard
not
to
lay
siege
to
the
city.
The
problem
was
that
most
of
the
army
would
not
be
remaining
in
the
land
after
the
conquest.
After
taking
back
Jerusalem
and
fulfilling
their
pilgrim,
they
would
have
then
returned
to
their
homes
in
England
and
France,
leaving
the
city
to
only
a
remnant
of
people.
They
simply
would
not
have
enough
military
power
to
hold
on
to
the
city
after
Richard
and
his
troops
had
departed,
and
so
it
would
have
been
quite
pointless
in
the
end
to
try
to
take
Jerusalem
back
and
not
worth
the
risk.
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