The Siege of Acre occurred from 1189 to 1191 at the start of the Third Crusade, when an armada of Crusader ships and soldiers laid siege to the key Levantine port city of Acre. Kings Richard I of England and Philip Augustus of France, among many other Western European Christian lords, answered the call to arms from the Kingdom of Jerusalem following Jerusalem's fall to the Saracens in 1191, and, in the "Crusade of Kings", a large alliance of European rulers assembled 59,000 Crusaders and 102 ships for the reconquest of the Holy Land. This fleet made landfall at the Saracen stronghold of Acre, with the first 10,000 Crusaders besieging the city's 5,000-10,000-strong garrison. The Crusaders were unable to fully surround the city due to its location along the Mediterranean coast, while the Saracens were also unable to fully relieve the city. Both sides received supplies from the sea, and the besiegers were themselves besieged by large Muslim relief forces which soon augmented their numbers to 50,000. A small crusader force led by the King of Jerusalem, Guy de Lusignan, went on to beat off Egyptian relief attempts and breach the city's walls, after which the garrison surrendered. The flags of Jerusalem, France, England, and the Duchy of Austria were soon raised over the city, and Richard attempted to negotiate a prisoner exchange with Saladin. Believing that Saladin had stalled for too long, Richard had 2,700 Muslim prisoners executed, leading to Saladin ordering the executions of all of his Christian captives. Soon, Leopold of Austria - jealous of Richard and Philip's leading positions in the alliance - decided to return to Austria, leaving Richard in command of his Imperial contingent. Philip then returned home to settle a succession crisis and to deal with rebellious nobles, leaving Richard as the sole commander of the Christian expeditionary force, which would use Acre as its main base for the rest of the Third Crusade.
Advertisement
