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In July 1192, Richard the Lionheart... 

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King of England, valiant crusader knight... 

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stood with his holy warriors, preparing for a strike on Jerusalem. 

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Inside the Holy City, the mighty Saladin, 

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Jihadi warrior, unifier of Islam, 

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readied his troops for the infidels' inevitable attack. 

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These two legendary leaders had fought each other to a standstill 

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during a year-long campaign across Palestine. 

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Thousands had perished. 

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Appalling atrocities had been perpetrated by both sides.

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Now they faced each other in a battle for their final objective, 

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the sacred city of Jerusalem. 

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This promised to be the ultimate clash between two of history's 

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greatest leaders, 

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men who, even today, are regarded as the figureheads of the Crusades. 

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We think we know these medieval titans. Saladin, the pious 

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and just champion of Islam, Richard, 

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the brutish hothead with a gift for battle. 

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But we shouldn't settle for legend... 

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because if we look at what Richard and Saladin actually did,

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what they said about themselves, and how 

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they were described by the very people who lived alongside them, 

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then we can go further. 

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We can begin to glimpse them both as men each capable of dark deeds 

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and stunning acts of genius. 

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To understand these men and their epic struggle, 

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we need first to understand the world that became their battlefield. 

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At its heart was Jerusalem... 

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the holy city prized 

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by both Christianity and Islam. 

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In 1099, a crusading army had seized it from Muslim hands,

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wresting it from Islam's control for the first time in four centuries. 

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This bloody conquest eventually ignited two hundred years 

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of violent Holy War between Christian West and the Muslim East. 

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But, surprisingly, 

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it did not provoke an immediate response from Islam. 

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The Muslim world was fractured, riven by an ancient 

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feud between Sunni and Shia Muslims, over the rightful line of succession 

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to Mohammed, and paralyzed by the power struggles of rival warlords.

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Against this backdrop, the capture of Jerusalem barely registered. 

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Near and Middle Eastern Muslims seem to have had little idea 

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of who the Crusaders were and why they'd come to Syria and Palestine. 

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Most probably thought that they were Byzantine mercenaries, 

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engaged in a short-term military incursion, 

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not driven warriors bent upon the conquest 

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and settlement of the Holy Land. 

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This dire misconception helps to blunt Islam's response to 

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the First Crusade, a costly mistake.

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Had the Muslims recognized the true nature and scale of the Crusades, 

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they might have put aside their differences to repel a common enemy. 

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Instead, Islam's uncoordinated response allowed 

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the Christians to strengthen their foothold here in the East. 

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With Islam divided, the Christian invaders, or Franks, 

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were left to expand and prosper in their new kingdom in the East. 

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This realm was known in the Middle Ages as Outremer, 

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the Land across the Sea. 

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It was divided into

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four major territories 

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known collectively 

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as the Crusader States... 

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Antioch, Edessa, Tripoli 

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and the Kingdom 

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of Jerusalem. 

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As East collided with West, 

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cities like Jerusalem became cultural melting pots, 

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creating a medieval society unique to the crusader states. 

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One settler, writing in the 1120s, noted, 

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'We who were Occidentals have become Orientals. 

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'He who was a Roman or a Frank has in this place become 

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'a Palestinian or a Galilean.

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'He who was a citizen of Rheims or Chartres is now 

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'a member of Antioch or Tyre. 

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'We have forgotten the very places of our birth.' 

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A minority Latin elite ruled over a mixture of Muslim, Jewish 

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and Eastern Christian subjects. 

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Growing familiarity forged a degree of mutual acceptance. 

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And, inevitably, 

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the Westerners developed a taste for local goods and delicacies. 

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Sugar cane, olive oil, citrus fruits, pomegranates, 

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rice and saffron... 

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all became popular with the Western Europeans.

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Some began to frequent Turkish bath-houses, or hammams, 

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others started to adapt their dress to suit the climate, 

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especially the aristocracy, who could afford silks. 

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Some 30 years after the First Crusade, this cultural fusion 

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was epitomised by the marriage of Fulk V and Melisende, 

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his half-Latin, half-Armenian bride. 

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Melisende was heir to the throne of Jerusalem and Fulk, 

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a wealthy count of Anjou, had been brought East to marry her. 

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Together, they were to rule the kingdom.

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An extraordinary memento of their world survives 

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today in the form of a small prayer book, thought to have been 

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made in the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 1130s... 

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one of the greatest treasures held in the British Library. 

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It's a thing of the most remarkable beauty and craftsmanship. 

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And for someone who loves the Crusades, its every 

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bit as important as the Doomsday Book or the Bayeux Tapestry. 

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And that's because it speaks to us of the Medieval World,

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it offers us a direct connection to the crusading era. 

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This Psalter is a beautifully ornate personal prayer book, 

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probably given as a peace offering from King Fulk to Melisende, 

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to repair the wounds of a bitter feud. 

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Inside are full page images from the life of Christ, 

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illustrated in a typically Byzantine, 

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or Greek Christian, style. 

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Magnificent as the book itself is, in many ways, the real treasures 

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are the pair of covers that originally enclosed the Psalter.

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Two pieces of ivory, intricately and precisely carved, 

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and decorated with semi-precious stones and turquoise. 

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And what I love about these covers is that I think they show us 

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the message that Fulk wanted to send to his wife. 

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And that message was... 

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from this point forward, I will rule as a good king. 

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On the front cover are a series of images 

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drawn from the life of King David... 

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another ruler of Jerusalem, from the Old Testament. 

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Here he is shown fighting against Goliath.

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And on the rear cover, we see a second king, this time, probably 

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Fulk, and he's shown carrying out acts of Christian virtue. 

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Here he is feeding the hungry, and here, clothing the naked. 

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The message here is, 

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from this point, I will rule as a monarch should. 

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But the Psalter is not just a reflection of Fulk's Christian faith, 

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it also allows us to glimpse the wider world that he 

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and Melisende inhabited. 

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Because it is a product of the mixture of cultures that 

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shaped the Crusader States.

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We can see in the way in which it's constructed and designed evidence 

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of different cultures, different artistic styles coming together. 

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Within the book itself, we can see French, English 

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and even Armenian styling. 

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And these covers are very clearly Byzantine 

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or Greek in their overall style and design. 

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Here is Fulk dressed very much as a Byzantine emperor, 

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as a man of great power, 

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and if we look at the geometric patterning 

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surrounding the whole design,

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this is very suggestive of Islamic influence. 

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What this book says to me is that 

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the Crusaders did not live in some hermetically sealed environment, 

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instead, even in the context of the Holy War, 

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these Christians were being influenced 

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by the Near Eastern world around them. 

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But even as Fulk was giving peace gifts to his queen, 

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outside the boundaries of their kingdom, a new force was gaining momentum... 

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prompting Islam to unite and fight back against the Christian invaders. 

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Jihad.

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I've come to Cairo to meet 

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Taef Al Azhari, 

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Professor of Islamic Studies, 

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to find out how Islam's recorded history sheds light on Jihad 

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and the First Crusade, from the Muslim perspective. 

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In the Middle Ages, the idea of Jihad is to spread 

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the message of Islam into the non-Muslim territory - 

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in central Asia, in North Africa, 

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and most importantly, 

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into Christian territory, 

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Byzantine Empire. 

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But Jihad gained huge momentum when the Crusaders came to

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the Middle East in the 11th and 12th century. 

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You are not into the others' territory, 

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you are defending your own territory against the others. 

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So Jihad was a prime responsibility and duty. 

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Jihad literally means struggle, 

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but in the Middle Ages, this could represent 

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a fight against internal impurity or a sacred physical struggle, 

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a Holy War. And its message could be spread by poetry. 

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The Arab poetry from pre-Islamic time through the Islamic history

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was one of the tools to galvanise society and, 

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you have thousands of lines of poetry 

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urging Muslim communities to defend and recapture Jerusalem. 

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Let me read you just few lines. 

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HE SPEAKS ARABIC 

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Here, the poet is reminding the Muslim community about how important 

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Jerusalem is, and he's calling for its recapture, and he says 

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the only way to recapture it 

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is through blood which would purify Jerusalem. 

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In the 12th century, the torch of Jihad was taken up by a new,

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powerful Turkish dynasty... 

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The Zangids. 

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In the name of Islam, they conquered great 

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swathes of territory in the East and brought the promise of a new era. 

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One in which the Christians might be driven from the Holy Land. 

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In 1146, the Sunni warlord Nur al Din Zangi came to power. 

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In the course of his career, he united Aleppo and Damascus, 

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consolidating the Zangid hold on Syria, 

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and pushed their rule further, into Egypt. 

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But rising up through the ranks of his armies was an ambitious

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Kurdish soldier. 

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Born Yusuf son of Ayyub, he's known to history by the honorific title, 

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Salah al Din, Goodness of the Faith. 

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In the Western tongue, Saladin. 

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In 1169, Saladin took command of the Syrian forces 

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that had seized Shi'a-controlled Egypt. 

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Although, officially, the answer to the Shi'ite caliph, 

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or spiritual leader of Shi'a Islam, 

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he began to act with increasing autonomy. 

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But as a Sunni Muslim, Saladin was an isolated outsider, 

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and his prospects seemed bleak.

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The qualities that would mark Saladin's career soon shone through. 

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When threatened with open rebellion by a powerful Sudanese 

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regiment based in Cairo, Saladin was ruthless, burning their garrison 

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to the ground with men, women and children still locked within. 

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But he also knew the value of caution, 

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waiting a full two years before abolishing the ruling Shi-ite 

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caliphate and uniting Egypt under his own rule. 

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And as Egypt's new lord, he now possessed a base with huge 

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economic reserves,

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riches provided by the arable lands of the Nile Delta. 

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In 1174, Nur al Din died, 

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leaving his 11-year-old son to rule in his stead. 

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But Saladin seized this opportunity to expand into Syria. 

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To lend his rule the aura of legitimacy, he moved to Damascus, 

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Nur al Din's capital, and married his widow, Ismat. 

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Saladin was quickly becoming the premier Muslim leader in the East. 

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With the might of Egypt behind him, Saladin brought Arabia 

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and Syria under his control.

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And before long, he united the disparate Muslim 

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factions into a cohesive army and began styling himself as Sultan. 

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The Sultan proclaimed his growing power and status 

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with massive public building works, like this citadel here in Cairo. 

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A towering fortification 

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that served as his royal residence and military barracks. 

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On the gate into the citadel is an ornate inscription, 

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commissioned by Saladin and deliberately placed here, 

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where ordinary residents of Cairo could see it.

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So what does this inscription tell us? 

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Well, on the one hand, 

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it proclaims Saladin as the builder of this great citadel, 

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and it names him with honorific titles, 

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Al-malik Al-nasir, the victorious king, 

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Salah al-Dunya Wa al-Din, the goodness of the world 

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and of the faith. 

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But the inscription also sets out to demonstrate that Saladin's 

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achievements weren't all about serving his own agenda. 

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Because it states 

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that this citadel was built to protect his people.

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And it affirms that he was the one who had restored orthodox 

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Sunni faith to Egypt. 

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This was the image that Saladin wanted to present to the world. 

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As a great Sultan, but also a man of the people and a servant of Islam. 

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As Saladin's status and kingdom grew, he presented his gains 

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as a necessary step on the road to Jerusalem. 

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By the mid 1180s, 

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the Sultan's empire stretched from the Nile to the Euphrates. 

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But his grip on this realm remained fragile and hung

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on the question, would he make good on his promises to wage holy war? 

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As yet, he had not shown total dedication to all-out battle 

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with the Franks. 

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Did he really aim to annihilate them 

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and recapture Jerusalem for Islam, or were they merely a convenient 

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00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:29,840
justification for his meteoric rise to power? 

253
00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:36,000
In December 1185, Saladin fell ill and retired from the battlefield. 

254
00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:39,160
The exact nature of his malady is unknown, but it involved 

255
00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:42,400
severe bouts of fever that left Saladin racked with pain.

256
00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:45,400
And as the weeks turned to months, his condition became 

257
00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:47,240
increasingly grave. 

258
00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:50,520
Emaciated and drifting in and out of consciousness, 

259
00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:53,320
the Sultan was on the edge of death. 

260
00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:57,000
Physicians were called and announced there was no hope. 

261
00:15:57,000 --> 00:15:59,920
The Muslim world was gripped with confusion and fear. 

262
00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:03,880
But after three months, he pulled through. 

263
00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:08,160
Saladin's friends and closest advisers saw this illness, 

264
00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:11,960
this brush with mortality, as a moment of transformation...

265
00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:16,960
sent by God to wake the Sultan from 'the sleep of forgetfulness'. 

266
00:16:16,960 --> 00:16:20,960
The experience does seem to have deepened Saladin's piety 

267
00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:23,240
and spiritual devotion. 

268
00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:28,560
Before his illness, Saladin had been a ruler who spoke about Jihad, 

269
00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:30,640
he had spent most of his time fighting fellow Muslims 

270
00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:32,720
and forging an empire. 

271
00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:34,880
He now emerged with new drive 

272
00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:39,280
and purpose as a man ready to wage the Holy War in earnest. 

273
00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:44,400
The Sultan mustered a huge force near Damascus,

274
00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:48,120
and prepared for an invasion of the crusader kingdom of Jerusalem. 

275
00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:52,840
His troops were drawn from across the Near Eastern world, 

276
00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:55,800
some 12,000 professional cavalrymen 

277
00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:58,200
and 30,000 volunteers, 

278
00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:00,600
described by a Muslim eyewitness 

279
00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:03,720
as a pack of 'old wolves and rending lions.' 

280
00:17:06,840 --> 00:17:10,680
Surveying his own troops, Saladin observed that a huge dust 

281
00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:12,840
cloud darkened the eye of the sun 

282
00:17:12,840 --> 00:17:16,160
once the swarming Muslim horde began to advance. 

283
00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:20,040
But victory here wouldn't depend simply upon military might.

284
00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:22,080
The real key would be water. 

285
00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:30,160
To lure the Crusaders into his trap, 

286
00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:31,560
Saladin attacked 

287
00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:34,520
the Christian-held town of Tiberias. 

288
00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:35,440
Sure enough, 

289
00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:38,280
on 3rd July 1187, 

290
00:17:38,280 --> 00:17:43,480
a massive Latin army set out from Saffuriya, led by Guy de Lusignan, 

291
00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:46,400
the recently-anointed King of Jerusalem. 

292
00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:49,560
In these hot, dry conditions, 

293
00:17:49,560 --> 00:17:52,200
dehydration could be a deadly weapon, 

294
00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:55,640
something that Saladin understood only too well. 

295
00:17:55,640 --> 00:17:59,040
The Sultan had carefully scouted his chosen terrain. 

296
00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:01,440
He knew where water could be found

297
00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:05,720
and went to great lengths to ensure that the Christians were denied it. 

298
00:18:05,720 --> 00:18:08,080
The Sultan immediately dispatched a number of men to guard 

299
00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:11,400
the nearest ample spring in the village of Hattin, 

300
00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:15,720
and then filled in all the remaining wells in the region. 

301
00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:19,480
His own soldiers and horses would be supplied with water 

302
00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:23,160
ferried in on camel-back from the Jordan valley below. 

303
00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:26,080
The Christian army, marching in the height of summer, 

304
00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:28,280
was being led into a waterless killing zone.

305
00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:34,720
Around noon that day, parched and weakened, the Franks paused 

306
00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:40,720
briefly to quench their thirst, beside the settlement of Turan. 

307
00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:42,600
There was a small spring in the village, 

308
00:18:42,600 --> 00:18:45,760
a last precious lifeline of water, 

309
00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:47,480
but oblivious to their desperate situation, 

310
00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:49,000
the Christians left it behind, 

311
00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:52,480
pressing on with their march eastwards. 

312
00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:56,280
As soon as they had left, the Sultan sent flanking divisions 

313
00:18:56,280 --> 00:18:57,640
to capture the town. 

314
00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:00,080
There was no going back. 

315
00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:03,160
The Christian armies were forced to press on to the plateau

316
00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:05,480
so carefully prepared by Saladin. 

317
00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:10,760
On 4th July, the Christian troops left their camp 

318
00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:14,600
and Saladin's cruel and brilliant strategy was revealed. 

319
00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:17,120
Instead of launching an immediate attack, 

320
00:19:17,120 --> 00:19:20,600
the Sultan allowed them to continue their pitifully slow progress 

321
00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:25,360
eastwards, and waited for the midday sun to take effect. 

322
00:19:26,360 --> 00:19:30,560
And then Saladin's archers began bombarding the Frankish troops. 

323
00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:31,920
In desperation, 

324
00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:35,960
they headed to higher ground on the Horns of Hattin, 

325
00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:38,160
to make their last stand.

326
00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:44,760
I'm visiting the site with Rafael Lewis, 

327
00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:47,120
a specialist on the Battle of Hattin. 

328
00:19:47,120 --> 00:19:48,520
We know that, at a certain point, 

329
00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:54,400
the foot soldiers had left the main body of knights and escaped 

330
00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:56,320
and basically ran up towards the mountain. 

331
00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:59,680
Anyone who was seated on a horse was basically stuck 

332
00:19:59,680 --> 00:20:02,360
in the basin between the mountain 

333
00:20:02,360 --> 00:20:05,800
and between Salah al Din himself, who was probably positioned 

334
00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:10,280
about 800 metres from here, on the other side of this valley. 

335
00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:13,760
Twice, the Christians launched driving counter-attacks,

336
00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:17,360
pushing the Muslims back, but it was no use. 

337
00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:21,840
They were annihilated by Saladin's forces. 

338
00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:25,200
Salah ad-Din chose to lead his army into battle, 

339
00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:28,920
he didn't stay aside and let his emirs plays the role. 

340
00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:31,240
At the final moments of the battle, he was the one there, 

341
00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:33,520
he was the one standing with his people, 

342
00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:36,640
close enough to see that everything turns out 

343
00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:38,760
the way that he wanted it to be. 

344
00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:42,680
From his vantage point, the Sultan saw the red tent 

345
00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:45,400
of Guy de Lusignan fall, and with it,

346
00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:48,720
the last shreds of Christian resistance. 

347
00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:52,440
For Saladin, the battle of Hattin was a total victory. 

348
00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:55,480
It culminated in the capture of the Christian King of Jerusalem 

349
00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:57,600
and the sacred relic of the True Cross. 

350
00:20:57,600 --> 00:21:00,800
And it left virtually the entire army of the crusader states 

351
00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:03,560
either slain or in captivity. 

352
00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:07,200
By day's end, this landscape was littered with the bodies of the dead. 

353
00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:10,840
And a Muslim eyewitness reported that the perfume of victory 

354
00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:12,760
was thick with the stench of them.

355
00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:16,760
As the sun set, Saladin was said to have looked over 

356
00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:20,200
the field of battle like a lion in the desert. 

357
00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:24,720
This was his moment of triumph, a proclamation to all Islam 

358
00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:27,360
that he was a true jihadi warrior. 

359
00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:33,160
With the Christian armies decimated at Hattin, Jerusalem, 

360
00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:34,480
Saladin's avowed objective, 

361
00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:38,320
stood virtually undefended. 

362
00:21:38,320 --> 00:21:40,560
And in September 1187, 

363
00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:45,720
he directed the full force of his army towards the Holy City. 

364
00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:49,240
Within ten days, he knocked through the outer walls.

365
00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:54,560
Christian mothers shaved their children's heads in atonement 

366
00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:59,760
and the clergy led barefoot processions through the streets. 

367
00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:04,920
But in stark contrast to the Crusaders' sack of Jerusalem in 1099, 

368
00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:08,680
the Sultan took the city without a bloodbath. 

369
00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:12,080
And this episode has been instrumental in shaping 

370
00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:14,320
his reputation. 

371
00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:17,160
For centuries, it's been argued that Saladin, 

372
00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:19,360
the wise and just ruler, 

373
00:22:19,360 --> 00:22:24,200
willingly agreed terms of surrender with Jerusalem's Christian citizens.

374
00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:27,240
This notion has become a cornerstone of his legend. 

375
00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:29,680
But I think it's just a pretty fiction, 

376
00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:33,920
because it ignores the evidence drawn from those closest to the events 

377
00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:35,360
and to Saladin himself. 

378
00:22:35,360 --> 00:22:37,720
Shockingly, this material suggests 

379
00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:42,240
that what Saladin wanted was not peaceful capitulation, 

380
00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:44,000
but a bloody massacre! 

381
00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:49,200
Saladin's secretary, Imad al Din al-Isfahani, 

382
00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:52,480
arrived in Jerusalem the day after its surrender. 

383
00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:55,240
An early copy of his written account is kept 

384
00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:57,480
in the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

385
00:22:59,360 --> 00:23:04,360
This text is not just important contemporary testimony, 

386
00:23:04,360 --> 00:23:06,600
it offers us the fall of Jerusalem 

387
00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:09,960
as Saladin wanted it to be remembered. 

388
00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:13,880
What's so remarkable is that Imad al-Din 

389
00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:17,680
makes no attempt to present Saladin as the man of peace. 

390
00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:21,360
Instead, what we get is Saladin the holy warrior. 

391
00:23:21,360 --> 00:23:24,800
He is described telling the Christians inside Jerusalem 

392
00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:26,720
in categorical terms, 

393
00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:30,600
"You will receive neither amnesty nor mercy! 

394
00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:35,360
"Our sole desire is to inflict perpetual subjugation upon you.

395
00:23:35,360 --> 00:23:40,080
"And worse still, we will kill and capture you wholesale, 

396
00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:44,480
"spill men's blood and reduce the poor and the women to slavery." 

397
00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:49,520
Saladin only relented and offered more generous terms 

398
00:23:49,520 --> 00:23:53,360
when the Christians responded that they would fight to the very last man, 

399
00:23:53,360 --> 00:23:56,520
destroy Jerusalem's Islamic holy places 

400
00:23:56,520 --> 00:24:00,000
and execute thousands of Muslim prisoners still held in the city. 

401
00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:03,520
Imad al-Din's account is corroborated by 

402
00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:08,280
a series of official letters, written in the Sultan's own name. 

403
00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:09,400
Taken together,

404
00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:12,280
this evidence offers us a startling insight 

405
00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:15,600
into Saladin's state of mind in the autumn of 1187. 

406
00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:20,400
He arrived at Jerusalem conscious of one overwhelming truth. 

407
00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:22,160
He had forged his empire 

408
00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:27,000
and bent Islam to his will on the promise of jihad, selling himself 

409
00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:31,360
as the man who would crush the Christians and re-conquer Jerusalem. 

410
00:24:31,360 --> 00:24:32,960
Under these conditions, 

411
00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:37,160
anything short of a brutal sack would be positively embarrassing! 

412
00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:41,920
This revelatory text shows us that the Sultan felt the need to

413
00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:46,880
explain why he had failed to butcher the Christians inside Jerusalem. 

414
00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:48,800
Saladin's primary concern 

415
00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:52,360
was not to present himself as a magnanimous victor. 

416
00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:57,240
What he feared, above all, was an attack upon his image as a mujahid, 

417
00:24:57,240 --> 00:25:00,440
as Islam's perfect champion of Holy War. 

418
00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:08,680
Jerusalem was back in Muslim hands 

419
00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:12,280
and Saladin's string of achievements that year 

420
00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:14,760
turned him into an Islamic hero. 

421
00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:17,120
But they also sparked a new Crusade. 

422
00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:25,960
News of Saladin's attack on the Crusader States,

423
00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:29,720
his conquest of Jerusalem and the catastrophe at Hattin, 

424
00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:34,200
sent a shockwave of horror and dismay coursing through the West. 

425
00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:37,440
When the first tidings reached the elderly Pope Urban III, 

426
00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:40,800
he promptly died of a heart attack on the spot. 

427
00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:46,000
He was replaced by Pope Gregory VIII, who immediately issued a new 

428
00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:51,880
papal proclamation, Audita Tremendi, declaring a new Crusade. 

429
00:25:51,880 --> 00:25:56,000
Audita Tremendi's call to crusade was lent particular force 

430
00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:57,840
by two compelling themes.

431
00:25:57,840 --> 00:26:02,000
God's supposed decision to allow Islam victory in the East 

432
00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:04,160
was explained as a punishment for sin, 

433
00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:07,600
the guilt for which was shared by all Christians. 

434
00:26:07,600 --> 00:26:11,560
And for the very first time, the evil enemy was personified, 

435
00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:14,720
Saladin himself was named and likened to the Devil. 

436
00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:21,720
The messages contained within Audita Tremendi 

437
00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:24,680
were soon translated into popular songs and music, 

438
00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:29,000
composed and played by travelling court singers. 

439
00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:33,920
HE SINGS IN LATIN 

440
00:26:36,360 --> 00:26:40,760
These troubadours toured the courts of the European aristocracy

441
00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:44,680
to sing about chivalry and love. 

442
00:26:44,680 --> 00:26:47,240
Now their words and music became infused with religious 

443
00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:50,240
passion, as they spread the word about the coming war. 

444
00:26:59,240 --> 00:27:02,120
As the crusading message swept across Europe, 

445
00:27:02,120 --> 00:27:04,960
it began to acquire a more distinct identity. 

446
00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:08,920
Previously, crusaders had been variously dubbed as travellers, 

447
00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:11,120
pilgrims, even soldiers of Christ. 

448
00:27:11,120 --> 00:27:13,200
Now, for the very first time, 

449
00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:16,800
documents began to speak of them as Crucesignatus, 

450
00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:18,720
one signed by the cross,

451
00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:23,320
the very term that would lead to the words "crusader" and "crusade". 

452
00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:34,880
Tens of thousands of Latin Christians enlisted, 

453
00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:38,080
including whole tranches of the European aristocracy, 

454
00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:40,640
princes and monarchs, 

455
00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:42,040
among them the King of France. 

456
00:27:43,880 --> 00:27:47,160
But even before this crusading fever had spread, 

457
00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:51,480
one leader made an immediate commitment to the cause, 

458
00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:56,240
the man who would emerge as the driving force behind this crusade. 

459
00:27:58,120 --> 00:28:00,760
Richard I was crowned King of England, 

460
00:28:00,760 --> 00:28:05,960
here in Westminster Abbey on 3rd September 1189.

461
00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:08,880
He was now ruler of the Angevin Empire, 

462
00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:13,440
a powerful realm that stretched from Ireland to the Pyrenees. 

463
00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:15,480
But by the time he took the throne, 

464
00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:18,720
Richard had already committed to joining the crusade. 

465
00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:28,840
The decision had shocked his family, a volatile dynasty. 

466
00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:33,640
Richard's youth was spent variously scheming against his brothers, 

467
00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:36,040
including Prince John, 

468
00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:39,320
and then uniting with them in opposition to their father, 

469
00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:41,080
Henry II. 

470
00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:48,240
The old King opposed Richard's decision to enlist in the crusade,

471
00:28:48,240 --> 00:28:51,240
viewing it as an act of unsanctioned folly. 

472
00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:52,400
But for Richard, 

473
00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:57,160
the Holy War offered an opportunity to emerge from his father's shadow. 

474
00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:01,440
Henry died in July 1189, 

475
00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:07,600
and Richard was transformed from scheming prince to ruling monarch. 

476
00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:12,040
But this did nothing to stem his crusading enthusiasm. 

477
00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:15,320
This was his chance to prove his prowess, his valour and his 

478
00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:19,840
skills as a military commander, to make his mark on history. 

479
00:29:19,840 --> 00:29:23,920
But this was also the start of a troubling crisis of identity,

480
00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:29,040
as the Lionheart struggled to reconcile his roles as a crusader and as a king. 

481
00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:31,880
Like all medieval monarchs, 

482
00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:36,720
Richard had a sacred obligation to protect his people. 

483
00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:39,840
But enthralled by the allure of Jerusalem, 

484
00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:44,080
he was about to turn his back on his realm, leaving his grasping brother, 

485
00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:46,600
John, behind, and his kingdom vulnerable. 

486
00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:51,400
For now, England would be entirely dedicated 

487
00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:54,240
to the preparations for Holy War 

488
00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:59,960
and to footing the bill for the King's colossal military campaign.

489
00:29:59,960 --> 00:30:03,000
Henry II had already begun to raise the necessary funds 

490
00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:05,240
by imposing a special crusading tax, 

491
00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:08,640
the Saladin Tithe, throughout England. 

492
00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:10,560
Enforced by threat of excommunication, 

493
00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:12,880
it proved deeply unpopular. 

494
00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:15,640
But the Lionheart pushed these fundraising efforts even further, 

495
00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:18,920
he was said to have put up for sale... 

496
00:30:18,920 --> 00:30:23,440
lordships, earldoms, sheriffdoms, lands, castles, towns, everything. 

497
00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:27,680
And then the Lionheart began spending on an unprecedented scale.

498
00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:31,560
Thanks to fastidious record-keeping in medieval England, 

499
00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:35,360
details of this immense outlay can now be recovered from the pipe 

500
00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:37,080
rolls of the Exchequer, 

501
00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:39,720
kept at the National Archives. 

502
00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:40,760
These documents, 

503
00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:43,680
the earliest surviving public records in England, 

504
00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:47,640
contain accounts of the royal income, arranged by county, 

505
00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:49,760
for each financial year. 

506
00:30:49,760 --> 00:30:53,600
This is the pipe roll for the year 1189-90, 

507
00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:57,120
effectively a full financial account of Richard's reign. 

508
00:30:57,120 --> 00:31:00,400
And what's fantastic about this piece of evidence

509
00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:04,400
is that it shows us an incredibly precise and detailed record 

510
00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:07,760
of what was spent to prepare for the Third Crusade. 

511
00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:10,160
If we look at one example here... this is for Sudhantescr, 

512
00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:12,160
that's Hampshire, 

513
00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:15,400
and we can see incredibly precise details 

514
00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:19,480
of what was taken to the Holy Land and how much it cost. 

515
00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:22,040
Here's a listing for 800 baconibus, 

516
00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:27,880
that's sides of cured bacon, to be taken to Jerusalem with the King. 

517
00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:29,320
And the cost... 

518
00:31:29,320 --> 00:31:34,800
58 pounds 18 shillings and 11 pence.

519
00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:39,920
And the record continues with 20 portions of beans, 

520
00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:44,720
an extraordinary 10,000 horse shoes with double nails, 

521
00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:47,240
and a hundred weight of cheese. 

522
00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:50,560
This pipe roll allows us to see what was spent in Hampshire, 

523
00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:54,360
just one area of England, in preparation for the Third Crusade. 

524
00:31:54,360 --> 00:31:57,960
It allows us to glimpse the furious activity that was going on 

525
00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:00,440
before Richard set out for the Holy Land. 

526
00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:05,920
In total, Richard spent around �14,000 

527
00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:07,720
preparing for his crusade.

528
00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:12,320
This was more than half of England's entire annual crown revenue. 

529
00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:18,160
Not only would Richard be the best provisioned crusader king, 

530
00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:21,280
he also adopted an entirely new approach to 

531
00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:24,000
the problem of reaching the Holy Land. 

532
00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:26,200
His crusade would travel by sea. 

533
00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:30,920
This major logistical operation required detailed 

534
00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:33,960
and extensive planning, and it was not without its dangers 

535
00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:36,720
from the likes of shipwreck and disease. 

536
00:32:36,720 --> 00:32:39,360
But if Richard could pull it off, this new approach would be

537
00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:42,640
quicker and safer than marching his troops through enemy territory 

538
00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:46,160
and would also allow him to transport the machinery of war to the East, 

539
00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:49,360
from weapons and armour to horses. 

540
00:32:49,360 --> 00:32:53,080
But success would depend upon a leader of exceptional strategic 

541
00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:55,040
and organisational ability. 

542
00:32:57,200 --> 00:32:59,040
Most of Richard's men would have 

543
00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:02,160
little or no previous experience of sea travel, 

544
00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:05,800
so the King paid special attention to discipline on board. 

545
00:33:05,800 --> 00:33:08,360
The King drew up a precise set of regulations,

546
00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:10,680
outlining harsh penalties for disorder. 

547
00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:13,280
If a soldier committed murder while at sea, then 

548
00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:16,880
he would be tied to his victim's corpse and pushed overboard. 

549
00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:20,920
If guilty of the same crime on land, he'd be thrown into a grave 

550
00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:23,400
and buried alive alongside the body. 

551
00:33:23,400 --> 00:33:25,680
And thieves had their hair shaved 

552
00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:29,280
and boiling pitch poured over their heads to mark them as criminals. 

553
00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:35,040
Finally, his meticulous preparations complete, 

554
00:33:35,040 --> 00:33:39,560
Richard was ready to depart from the port of Marseille.

555
00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:43,080
Although familiar to pilgrims travelling to the Holy Land, 

556
00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:46,080
this was the first time it would be used for such a major 

557
00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:47,440
crusading expedition. 

558
00:33:49,640 --> 00:33:51,840
What would the conditions have actually been like 

559
00:33:51,840 --> 00:33:53,360
for the crusaders on board a ship? 

560
00:33:53,360 --> 00:33:54,520
The conditions 

561
00:33:54,520 --> 00:33:56,560
would've been appalling. 

562
00:33:56,560 --> 00:33:58,880
They departed Marseille 

563
00:33:58,880 --> 00:34:00,360
on 7th August 1190, 

564
00:34:00,360 --> 00:34:05,040
so we can assume the temperatures hovered around 35 degrees Celsius. 

565
00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:13,080
You're talking about 150 men or more 

566
00:34:13,080 --> 00:34:16,680
crammed in with provisions and arms in a vessel 

567
00:34:16,680 --> 00:34:18,240
with a shallow keel,

568
00:34:18,240 --> 00:34:22,960
meaning it was susceptible to anything above mild sea states. 

569
00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:25,960
Sea sickness, with certainly the knights and their attendants, 

570
00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:30,560
who weren't used to sea travel, would have been a real concern, 

571
00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:32,360
as would dehydration. 

572
00:34:32,360 --> 00:34:35,480
Dysentery and any of the maladies 

573
00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:38,520
that you would expect among men in close quarters 

574
00:34:38,520 --> 00:34:40,480
for a prolonged period of time. 

575
00:34:45,680 --> 00:34:47,480
The fleet would take the long way round, 

576
00:34:47,480 --> 00:34:52,040
avoiding the more treacherous route straight through the middle of the Mediterranean.

577
00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:57,520
You needed to go as close as possible 

578
00:34:57,520 --> 00:35:01,080
to the shoreline in order to navigate, 

579
00:35:01,080 --> 00:35:05,240
and this meant that you had to travel during the day. 

580
00:35:05,240 --> 00:35:10,800
Also, water was a severe limitation, rowing was arduous work, 

581
00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:13,320
your oarsmen needed approximately eight litres a day, 

582
00:35:13,320 --> 00:35:19,440
it'd take a metric tonne of water to keep a whole crew compliment 

583
00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:21,120
going for the day. 

584
00:35:21,120 --> 00:35:27,000
The horses would have taken as many as 28 to 35 litres a day, 

585
00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:30,320
so you had to put in almost daily for water 

586
00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:32,960
and food replenishment reasons alone.

587
00:35:45,160 --> 00:35:49,720
In June 1191, Richard the Lionheart sailed down the coast of Palestine, 

588
00:35:49,720 --> 00:35:52,680
at the head of his fearsome crusading army, 

589
00:35:52,680 --> 00:35:55,280
and caught his first glimpse of Acre. 

590
00:35:55,280 --> 00:35:58,240
One of the greatest ports of the Near East, 

591
00:35:58,240 --> 00:36:01,240
Acre stood at the gateway to Palestine. 

592
00:36:01,240 --> 00:36:03,200
For the Muslims, it was a bastion 

593
00:36:03,200 --> 00:36:07,320
against Christian attack from the north, whether by land or sea. 

594
00:36:07,320 --> 00:36:09,360
Its looming defensive walls rising from the Mediterranean 

595
00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:13,360
would have been visible to Richard as he approached with his fleet.

596
00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:17,160
And what the Lionheart found was a city deeply entrenched 

597
00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:20,800
in a siege that had already lasted one and a half years. 

598
00:36:22,120 --> 00:36:24,680
The Muslim garrison within the city 

599
00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:28,160
was besieged by tens of thousands of Crusaders. 

600
00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:31,320
Beyond those, spread out across the plains, 

601
00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:35,040
were the tents and trenches of the Muslim armies, 

602
00:36:35,040 --> 00:36:37,000
with Saladin in their midst. 

603
00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:42,920
Why was Saladin unable to crush the Crusaders' siege of Acre 

604
00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:45,400
before Richard the Lionheart arrived? 

605
00:36:45,400 --> 00:36:47,360
The answer was the sea. 

606
00:36:47,360 --> 00:36:49,160
Because this was a coastal port,

607
00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:53,360
the Mediterranean acted as a pulsing, unstemmable artery, 

608
00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:56,920
allowing troops to flow from the west to the Holy Land. 

609
00:36:56,920 --> 00:36:59,080
No matter whether the Sultan would kill 1,000 

610
00:36:59,080 --> 00:37:03,240
Christians on one day, 2,000 more would appear on the next. 

611
00:37:03,240 --> 00:37:07,080
For Saladin, Acre quickly became a military engagement 

612
00:37:07,080 --> 00:37:09,480
that was almost impossible to win. 

613
00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:15,200
Breaking this siege would take all of Richard's military genius. 

614
00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:20,120
To smash through Acre's mighty walls, the Christians deployed heavyweight

615
00:37:20,120 --> 00:37:25,360
siege machines capable of unleashing a terrifying aerial barrage. 

616
00:37:25,360 --> 00:37:30,760
The Crusaders nicknamed their most powerful trebuchet "Bad Neighbour", 

617
00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:34,880
while at the foot of another machine christened "God's Own Catapult", 

618
00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:35,760
a priest stood, 

619
00:37:35,760 --> 00:37:38,800
preaching and collecting money to pay to repair damage 

620
00:37:38,800 --> 00:37:41,400
done by the incessant Muslim counterattacks. 

621
00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:46,200
But the Lionheart's machines continued to wreaked havoc. 

622
00:37:46,200 --> 00:37:49,720
And to make them even more destructive, 

623
00:37:49,720 --> 00:37:51,480
they were loaded with huge stones

624
00:37:51,480 --> 00:37:53,960
that Richard had brought from Western Europe. 

625
00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:56,480
The Crusaders' most powerful trebuchets could propel 

626
00:37:56,480 --> 00:37:59,040
a missile into the very heart of the city. 

627
00:37:59,040 --> 00:38:01,480
And a single catapult stone 

628
00:38:01,480 --> 00:38:05,520
might kill 12 of Acre's Muslim garrison. 

629
00:38:05,520 --> 00:38:08,720
By late July, the Christians' tactics had worked 

630
00:38:08,720 --> 00:38:12,040
and the city's walls were on the verge of collapse. 

631
00:38:12,040 --> 00:38:17,880
The men inside were weak and exhausted by constant fighting. 

632
00:38:17,880 --> 00:38:21,080
One Crusader summarised the Muslims' predicament. 

633
00:38:21,080 --> 00:38:23,560
He wrote, "They were afraid of the miracle they now beheld,

634
00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:27,000
"how the whole world had come to annihilate them. 

635
00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:30,800
"They saw their walls broken down, pierced and destroyed, 

636
00:38:30,800 --> 00:38:34,680
"they saw their people injured, killed and cut to pieces. 

637
00:38:34,680 --> 00:38:37,280
"Saladin's garrison could take no more." 

638
00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:41,160
The great victor at Hattin, conqueror of Jerusalem, 

639
00:38:41,160 --> 00:38:46,400
Saladin now had to watch in horror as Acre's shattered garrison 

640
00:38:46,400 --> 00:38:50,520
buckled and negotiated peace terms with King Richard. 

641
00:38:50,520 --> 00:38:53,040
According to the deal struck, 

642
00:38:53,040 --> 00:38:55,000
the Muslims captured would only be released

643
00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:56,880
when specific terms were met by Saladin. 

644
00:38:56,880 --> 00:39:00,160
Including the payment of 200,000 gold dinars, 

645
00:39:00,160 --> 00:39:03,080
and the return of the True Cross. 

646
00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:06,800
The Third Crusade had achieved a categorical victory. 

647
00:39:08,400 --> 00:39:12,280
Richard wanted the terms of the surrender settled quickly 

648
00:39:12,280 --> 00:39:16,320
so that he could press on with his Palestinian campaign. 

649
00:39:16,320 --> 00:39:18,960
But Saladin played for time, 

650
00:39:18,960 --> 00:39:22,440
a dangerous strategy that prompted Richard to take shockingly 

651
00:39:22,440 --> 00:39:23,640
brutal action. 

652
00:39:23,640 --> 00:39:28,320
As Saladin's advance guard looked on, the bulk of Acre's Muslim garrison -

653
00:39:28,320 --> 00:39:33,520
some 2,700 men - were led from the city, bound in ropes. 

654
00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:34,960
Herded onto the open plain, 

655
00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:37,440
they huddled together in fear and confusion. 

656
00:39:37,440 --> 00:39:40,600
Some perhaps imagining that they were about to be released. 

657
00:39:40,600 --> 00:39:43,480
A Muslim contemporary described what followed. 

658
00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:45,960
"As one man, the Crusaders charged them, 

659
00:39:45,960 --> 00:39:50,800
"and with stabbings and blows of swords, they slew them in cold blood." 

660
00:39:50,800 --> 00:39:54,880
This terrible massacre sent Saladin a stark message. 

661
00:39:54,880 --> 00:39:58,720
This would be the ruthless dedication that the Lionheart would bring to 

662
00:39:58,720 --> 00:39:59,840
the Holy War.

663
00:40:01,720 --> 00:40:03,120
This atrocity, 

664
00:40:03,120 --> 00:40:06,240
one of the most controversial acts in Richard's career, 

665
00:40:06,240 --> 00:40:10,720
shocked Islam, fuelling the fires of Jihad, 

666
00:40:10,720 --> 00:40:14,760
and left an indelible mark on the Lionheart's historical reputation. 

667
00:40:18,880 --> 00:40:21,560
Richard's task now was to try and march his army 

668
00:40:21,560 --> 00:40:23,240
down the coast of Palestine. 

669
00:40:23,240 --> 00:40:26,600
Even for the Lionheart, actually persuading his troops 

670
00:40:26,600 --> 00:40:28,960
to leave Acre proved no simple matter. 

671
00:40:30,880 --> 00:40:33,400
The port had become a comfortable, even enticing, 

672
00:40:33,400 --> 00:40:37,200
refuge from the horrors of Holy War. A fleshpot,

673
00:40:37,200 --> 00:40:40,640
offering all manner of illicit pleasures. 

674
00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:45,200
One Christian conceded that it was "delightful, with good wines 

675
00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:47,360
"and girls, some of them very beautiful," 

676
00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:51,600
with whom the Crusaders were "taking their foolish pleasure." 

677
00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:53,840
Richard had to induce his men's obedience 

678
00:40:53,840 --> 00:40:58,400
through a mixture of flattery, prayer, bribery and force. 

679
00:40:58,400 --> 00:41:01,280
But his will would be done. 

680
00:41:01,280 --> 00:41:04,120
Four months after arriving in the Holy Land, 

681
00:41:04,120 --> 00:41:07,280
Richard the Lionheart's Christian army set off 

682
00:41:07,280 --> 00:41:09,280
on a long march down the coast.

683
00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:14,000
His aim was to avoid a risky confrontation, 

684
00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:19,280
and reach the southern staging post of Jaffa with his armies intact. 

685
00:41:19,280 --> 00:41:22,640
His soldiers would be escorted by a fleet of ships, 

686
00:41:22,640 --> 00:41:25,480
sailing along the shoreline. 

687
00:41:25,480 --> 00:41:27,320
They would rendez-vous along the way... 

688
00:41:27,320 --> 00:41:31,760
at Haifa, Destroit, Caesarea and Jaffa. 

689
00:41:31,760 --> 00:41:33,000
This meant that the soldiers 

690
00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:34,040
could travel light, 

691
00:41:34,040 --> 00:41:36,080
while the bulk of the resources 

692
00:41:36,080 --> 00:41:38,120
could be carried by the fleet. 

693
00:41:38,120 --> 00:41:40,360
Richard's coastline hugging route offered his troops 

694
00:41:40,360 --> 00:41:43,160
protection from Muslim encirclement.

695
00:41:43,160 --> 00:41:46,920
Wherever possible, the Crusaders advanced at a measured pace, 

696
00:41:46,920 --> 00:41:51,440
the right wing of their tightly packed ranks practically wading in the sea. 

697
00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:54,480
By these measures, the Lionheart skilfully minimised the impact 

698
00:41:54,480 --> 00:41:56,000
of marching through enemy territory. 

699
00:41:58,400 --> 00:42:02,080
At every stage, they were shadowed by Saladin. 

700
00:42:02,080 --> 00:42:06,040
He launched sporadic attacks and harassed them with skirmishers, 

701
00:42:06,040 --> 00:42:08,480
always looking to provoke an open battle 

702
00:42:08,480 --> 00:42:10,920
and stop Richard in his tracks.

703
00:42:13,240 --> 00:42:16,280
Richard's constant visible presence in the midst of the Crusaders, 

704
00:42:16,280 --> 00:42:18,600
signalled by his massive dragon banner, 

705
00:42:18,600 --> 00:42:22,560
was critical to the morale and continued discipline of his troops. 

706
00:42:22,560 --> 00:42:26,000
And it was the Lionheart's charisma and sheer force of personality 

707
00:42:26,000 --> 00:42:30,560
that drove the crusade forward through the storm of war. 

708
00:42:30,560 --> 00:42:34,080
Richard took great care to conserve his army's energy, 

709
00:42:34,080 --> 00:42:37,760
resting them for two days after every marching interval. 

710
00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:41,240
But by September, with food shortages starting to bite,

711
00:42:41,240 --> 00:42:42,280
arguments were breaking out. 

712
00:42:43,560 --> 00:42:46,360
Ordinary Crusaders apparently swarmed over the carcasses 

713
00:42:46,360 --> 00:42:49,760
of the fattest horses to fall during each day's march, 

714
00:42:49,760 --> 00:42:51,520
brawling over their flesh, 

715
00:42:51,520 --> 00:42:55,000
much to the disgust of the dead animals' knightly owners. 

716
00:42:55,000 --> 00:42:58,360
Richard stepped in, promising to replace any lost mounts 

717
00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:02,440
so long as the carrion was freely offered to "worthy men at arms." 

718
00:43:02,440 --> 00:43:05,800
His grateful troops were said to have eaten the horseflesh 

719
00:43:05,800 --> 00:43:06,960
"as if it were game. 

720
00:43:06,960 --> 00:43:09,120
"Flavoured by hunger rather than sauce,

721
00:43:09,120 --> 00:43:11,120
"they thought it was delicious." 

722
00:43:11,120 --> 00:43:14,960
On 6th September, Richard set up camp, 

723
00:43:14,960 --> 00:43:18,560
pausing to rest his starving, exhausted army. 

724
00:43:18,560 --> 00:43:22,320
At that same moment, his enemy's patience was faltering. 

725
00:43:22,320 --> 00:43:25,760
Eyewitness testimony from within Saladin's camp tells us 

726
00:43:25,760 --> 00:43:28,320
that he was deeply frustrated by Richard's 

727
00:43:28,320 --> 00:43:29,720
inexorable advance, 

728
00:43:29,720 --> 00:43:33,760
and wrong-footed by the Lionheart's policy of resting his troops 

729
00:43:33,760 --> 00:43:35,360
every two to three days. 

730
00:43:35,360 --> 00:43:38,960
What the Sultan needed now was to engineer a confrontation, 

731
00:43:38,960 --> 00:43:40,560
a pitched battle.

732
00:43:40,560 --> 00:43:43,640
In the morning, Richard and his men set out for Arsuf 

733
00:43:43,640 --> 00:43:48,240
and were almost immediately met with the full strength of Saladin's army. 

734
00:43:48,240 --> 00:43:52,680
The Sultan had decided that this was where the Franks would be stopped. 

735
00:43:52,680 --> 00:43:57,040
The Christians marched on, pummeled by Saladin's incessant onslaught. 

736
00:43:57,040 --> 00:44:00,880
The air thick with Muslim howls and thundering battle drums. 

737
00:44:00,880 --> 00:44:05,280
One eyewitness described how the Crusaders were "now surrounded, 

738
00:44:05,280 --> 00:44:08,440
"like a flock of sheep in the jaws of wolves, so that they could

739
00:44:08,440 --> 00:44:12,280
"see nothing but the sky and their wicked enemies on every side. 

740
00:44:12,280 --> 00:44:15,640
"The tumult was almost unbearable." 

741
00:44:15,640 --> 00:44:18,640
King Richard's soldiers begged him to let them retaliate, 

742
00:44:18,640 --> 00:44:20,640
but he refused. 

743
00:44:20,640 --> 00:44:23,200
They would keep marching in formation. 

744
00:44:23,200 --> 00:44:25,240
Richard's hand was suddenly forced. 

745
00:44:25,240 --> 00:44:29,400
Two knights near the rearguard unexpectedly broke rank. 

746
00:44:29,400 --> 00:44:32,800
Fuelled by anger, humiliation and bloodlust, 

747
00:44:32,800 --> 00:44:35,800
they raced towards the Muslim lines, screaming the name of St George. 

748
00:44:35,800 --> 00:44:36,840
Within moments, 

749
00:44:36,840 --> 00:44:39,840
thousands of Crusaders joined the headlong charge.

750
00:44:39,840 --> 00:44:43,000
With no hope of recalling his men, the Lionheart immediately 

751
00:44:43,000 --> 00:44:46,640
spurred his horse to gallop and led his remaining forces into battle. 

752
00:44:48,720 --> 00:44:52,000
The Muslim armies shattered under the charge. 

753
00:44:52,000 --> 00:44:55,760
Hotly pursued, they melted into the forests. 

754
00:44:55,760 --> 00:44:59,440
It was another damaging psychological blow for Saladin. 

755
00:44:59,440 --> 00:45:03,080
The Sultan had thrown the full force of his armies into the field, 

756
00:45:03,080 --> 00:45:07,240
hoping to stop the crusaders in their tracks, and yet he'd failed. 

757
00:45:07,240 --> 00:45:09,760
Despondent, the Sultan's heart was said to have been

758
00:45:09,760 --> 00:45:13,080
full of feelings only God could know. 

759
00:45:13,080 --> 00:45:16,800
Richard, by contrast, could look back on Arsuf with some satisfaction. 

760
00:45:16,800 --> 00:45:20,280
He may not have set out to confront Saladin in open battle, 

761
00:45:20,280 --> 00:45:22,320
but when the moment of decision came, 

762
00:45:22,320 --> 00:45:27,120
he reacted with swift resolution, scoring a morale-boosting victory. 

763
00:45:27,120 --> 00:45:29,400
With the Crusaders' momentum building, 

764
00:45:29,400 --> 00:45:32,760
it now seemed that Richard was primed to march on to Jerusalem. 

765
00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:36,920
His strategy now combined 

766
00:45:36,920 --> 00:45:39,440
a forceful military advance inland 

767
00:45:39,440 --> 00:45:42,080
with a subtle diplomatic offensive.

768
00:45:43,200 --> 00:45:44,240
This approach 

769
00:45:44,240 --> 00:45:46,840
involved a remarkable proposition. 

770
00:45:46,840 --> 00:45:50,200
The warrior-king offered his own sister in marriage to 

771
00:45:50,200 --> 00:45:51,680
the Sultan's brother, 

772
00:45:51,680 --> 00:45:53,320
Al Adil. 

773
00:45:53,320 --> 00:45:57,000
The details of this offer are recorded in the biography 

774
00:45:57,000 --> 00:46:00,800
of Saladin, written by his close adviser, Baha' al-Din. 

775
00:46:02,920 --> 00:46:04,320
A rarely seen, 

776
00:46:04,320 --> 00:46:08,120
800-year-old original manuscript of this account 

777
00:46:08,120 --> 00:46:12,080
is held in the library of the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. 

778
00:46:14,080 --> 00:46:17,080
It is an honour to be permitted 

779
00:46:17,080 --> 00:46:19,480
to view this crucial eyewitness testimony,

780
00:46:19,480 --> 00:46:24,440
a piercing insight into the Muslim view of Richard the Lionheart. 

781
00:46:24,440 --> 00:46:26,920
So one of the most extraordinary moments in the Third Crusades 

782
00:46:26,920 --> 00:46:30,160
is when Richard is actually negotiating with Saladin's bother... 

783
00:46:30,160 --> 00:46:33,120
Al Adil, and he makes a remarkable offer. 

784
00:46:33,120 --> 00:46:36,200
Could you tell us what this text reveals? 

785
00:46:36,200 --> 00:46:37,720
This text, 

786
00:46:37,720 --> 00:46:42,480
actually, the folio 157, here, 

787
00:46:42,480 --> 00:46:45,920
and Al Adil sent a letter for his brother, Salah al Din, 

788
00:46:45,920 --> 00:46:50,880
and on the Monday 29th of Ramadan, 

789
00:46:52,840 --> 00:46:56,640
they are reaching this deal after a lot of negotiations have taken place,

790
00:46:56,640 --> 00:46:59,240
a lot of letters between each other. 

791
00:46:59,240 --> 00:47:04,000
But in the end, they're reaching a point that Al Malik Al Adil, 

792
00:47:04,000 --> 00:47:09,240
the brother of Salah al Din, will marry the sister of Richard. 

793
00:47:09,240 --> 00:47:13,160
This wedding offer was a cunning move by the Lionheart, 

794
00:47:13,160 --> 00:47:16,840
designed to sow seeds of doubt about Al Adil. 

795
00:47:16,840 --> 00:47:20,600
After all, he was not just Saladin's trusted brother, 

796
00:47:20,600 --> 00:47:22,720
but also a potential threat to 

797
00:47:22,720 --> 00:47:23,960
his son and heir. 

798
00:47:23,960 --> 00:47:26,600
Someone who might just 

799
00:47:26,600 --> 00:47:28,840
be harbouring personal ambitions. 

800
00:47:28,840 --> 00:47:31,440
And Salah al Din agree about this agreement.

801
00:47:31,440 --> 00:47:34,880
Why they agree? Because everybody want the coast, 

802
00:47:34,880 --> 00:47:37,880
and the, or the city or that city, 

803
00:47:37,880 --> 00:47:40,800
but Richard agree to give all the coast 

804
00:47:40,800 --> 00:47:43,360
to his sister after they married. 

805
00:47:44,840 --> 00:47:49,160
It seems to me the sister of the King did not accept that, 

806
00:47:49,160 --> 00:47:54,320
because she became angry. She makes an oath. 

807
00:47:54,320 --> 00:47:57,640
She does not accept this thing, to do it. 

808
00:47:57,640 --> 00:48:00,160
You see, it's not easy in the Middle Ages 

809
00:48:00,160 --> 00:48:02,320
for the Muslims to marry from the Christians, 

810
00:48:02,320 --> 00:48:04,080
or the Christians from the Muslims. 

811
00:48:04,080 --> 00:48:06,040
Absolutely.

812
00:48:06,040 --> 00:48:10,240
Reading Baha' al-Din's text, we get a real sense that Richard was an agile 

813
00:48:10,240 --> 00:48:14,280
and cunning negotiator, and that Saladin was only too aware of this. 

814
00:48:14,280 --> 00:48:17,800
The two of them were engaged in a delicate game. 

815
00:48:17,800 --> 00:48:19,480
Saladin almost certainly only accepted 

816
00:48:19,480 --> 00:48:21,400
the idea of a marriage offer 

817
00:48:21,400 --> 00:48:25,120
because he thought it would later be withdrawn, and he was right. 

818
00:48:25,120 --> 00:48:27,800
Within a few days, Richard replied that his sister would be 

819
00:48:27,800 --> 00:48:30,960
unable to marry Al Adil because he was a Muslim.

820
00:48:32,280 --> 00:48:36,600
By December, Richard was ready to march on his holy prize, 

821
00:48:36,600 --> 00:48:37,920
Jerusalem. 

822
00:48:37,920 --> 00:48:41,520
He moved his troops to within 12 miles of the city 

823
00:48:41,520 --> 00:48:43,320
and prepared for a strike. 

824
00:48:45,600 --> 00:48:47,640
That winter, conditions were appalling. 

825
00:48:47,640 --> 00:48:51,480
One eyewitness described how it was, "cold and overcast, 

826
00:48:51,480 --> 00:48:54,800
"rain and hail battered us, bringing down our tents. 

827
00:48:54,800 --> 00:48:57,840
"Food became water-logged, armour rusty, 

828
00:48:57,840 --> 00:49:00,400
"and even the Crusaders' clothes began to rot." 

829
00:49:00,400 --> 00:49:03,600
And yet in spite of all of this, morale was high.

830
00:49:03,600 --> 00:49:06,280
The Christians were almost within reach of their goal 

831
00:49:06,280 --> 00:49:07,840
and were said to be filled with, 

832
00:49:07,840 --> 00:49:12,320
"an indescribable yearning" to see Jerusalem, to complete their pilgrimage. 

833
00:49:12,320 --> 00:49:15,000
This was why they had joined the crusade. 

834
00:49:16,920 --> 00:49:21,880
But did Richard share his men's single-minded devotion? 

835
00:49:21,880 --> 00:49:24,760
He was finally within reach of the Holy City. 

836
00:49:24,760 --> 00:49:28,240
Now he faced an agonizing decision, 

837
00:49:28,240 --> 00:49:31,080
between his crusader ambition 

838
00:49:31,080 --> 00:49:33,720
and the stark reality of war. 

839
00:49:34,840 --> 00:49:37,400
The Lionheart announced that the crusade 

840
00:49:37,400 --> 00:49:39,400
was to turn away from Jerusalem.

841
00:49:39,400 --> 00:49:42,400
The fragile supply lines back to the coast were faltering amidst 

842
00:49:42,400 --> 00:49:43,960
the freezing winter rains. 

843
00:49:43,960 --> 00:49:46,600
And any attempt to actually besiege Jerusalem 

844
00:49:46,600 --> 00:49:48,640
would be unacceptably dangerous. 

845
00:49:48,640 --> 00:49:51,720
In strict military terms, Richard's decision made sense, 

846
00:49:51,720 --> 00:49:54,440
but his announcement had a catastrophic affect 

847
00:49:54,440 --> 00:49:55,960
upon the morale of his men. 

848
00:49:55,960 --> 00:49:57,640
One Crusader later recalled, 

849
00:49:57,640 --> 00:50:01,560
"Not since God created time was there ever seen an army so dejected, 

850
00:50:01,560 --> 00:50:05,600
"and so depressed, everyone cursed the day he was born."

851
00:50:06,640 --> 00:50:11,360
The King dragged his devastated men away from their holy goal. 

852
00:50:11,360 --> 00:50:16,640
Disillusioned, great numbers left Palestine and returned home. 

853
00:50:16,640 --> 00:50:20,560
The Third Crusade was in disarray. 

854
00:50:20,560 --> 00:50:23,120
But Saladin's armies were also faltering. 

855
00:50:23,120 --> 00:50:27,400
And as the two forces circled each other at arm's length, 

856
00:50:27,400 --> 00:50:30,040
rumours of insurrection among Saladin's troops presented 

857
00:50:30,040 --> 00:50:35,200
Richard with an opportunity to make a second advance on Jerusalem. 

858
00:50:35,200 --> 00:50:39,560
But his plans were disrupted by troubling news from Europe.

859
00:50:39,560 --> 00:50:43,720
During Richard's long absence from home, his brother, John, 

860
00:50:43,720 --> 00:50:46,360
had been plotting to take control of England. 

861
00:50:46,360 --> 00:50:49,320
This news deeply disturbed the Lionheart, 

862
00:50:49,320 --> 00:50:53,880
he was said to have become "saddened, downcast and melancholy... 

863
00:50:53,880 --> 00:50:56,280
"his thinking confused." 

864
00:50:56,280 --> 00:50:58,360
This was also a stark reminder of the fact 

865
00:50:58,360 --> 00:51:01,760
that he was not simply Commander in Chief of the Third Crusade, 

866
00:51:01,760 --> 00:51:04,400
he was also an Angevin king. 

867
00:51:04,400 --> 00:51:05,880
He now now had to decide, 

868
00:51:05,880 --> 00:51:09,520
should he stay and fight for the Holy Land, or return home

869
00:51:09,520 --> 00:51:11,440
to try to secure his kingdom? 

870
00:51:13,400 --> 00:51:15,800
Richard was paralysed by indecision, 

871
00:51:15,800 --> 00:51:20,080
but his men were determined to strike out for Jerusalem. 

872
00:51:20,080 --> 00:51:22,680
The King eventually conceded. 

873
00:51:22,680 --> 00:51:26,960
Against his better judgment, the Lionheart began a second advance, 

874
00:51:26,960 --> 00:51:31,320
having effectively lost control of his crusade. 

875
00:51:31,320 --> 00:51:35,320
Richard's lack of resolve had given Saladin time to regroup. 

876
00:51:35,320 --> 00:51:38,520
He was already positioned inside Jerusalem with his troops, 

877
00:51:38,520 --> 00:51:42,120
readying himself for the moment of decisive confrontation. 

878
00:51:42,120 --> 00:51:44,680
But then, the Sultan wavered.

879
00:51:44,680 --> 00:51:48,560
His financial resources were profoundly overstretched, 

880
00:51:48,560 --> 00:51:52,720
and, after four years of campaigning, men were in short supply, 

881
00:51:52,720 --> 00:51:55,160
and their loyalty was waning. 

882
00:51:55,160 --> 00:51:57,120
With an attack on Jerusalem imminent, 

883
00:51:57,120 --> 00:52:00,520
his remaining troops threatened mutiny. 

884
00:52:00,520 --> 00:52:04,440
Many were fearful of being trapped in another disastrous siege 

885
00:52:04,440 --> 00:52:05,600
like that at Acre. 

886
00:52:05,600 --> 00:52:07,040
With the pressure mounting, 

887
00:52:07,040 --> 00:52:11,480
long-submerged tensions between between Turks and Kurds in Saladin's forces began to

888
00:52:11,480 --> 00:52:15,640
bubble to the surface, threatening to boil over into open conflict. 

889
00:52:15,640 --> 00:52:18,320
In this increasingly precarious position, 

890
00:52:18,320 --> 00:52:21,960
Saladin's closest advisers urged him to leave the Holy City 

891
00:52:21,960 --> 00:52:23,320
while he still could. 

892
00:52:26,960 --> 00:52:29,800
It was the Sultan's turn to agonise. 

893
00:52:29,800 --> 00:52:33,080
Should he stay to mount a hopeless defence of Jerusalem, 

894
00:52:33,080 --> 00:52:37,360
or do the unthinkable and turn his back on this most sacred city? 

895
00:52:39,080 --> 00:52:42,120
Baha' al-Din was beside Saladin through a long 

896
00:52:42,120 --> 00:52:44,240
and tortuous night and he's left us

897
00:52:44,240 --> 00:52:48,000
an extraordinary record of the Sultan's state of mind. 

898
00:52:48,000 --> 00:52:50,840
He wrote that Saladin felt a concern for Jerusalem 

899
00:52:50,840 --> 00:52:52,960
that could "move mountains", and that it was 

900
00:52:52,960 --> 00:52:57,200
"a night entirely given over to the concerns of Holy War." 

901
00:52:57,200 --> 00:53:00,440
By morning, the Sultan had made a shocking decision. 

902
00:53:00,440 --> 00:53:02,080
He would abandon Jerusalem. 

903
00:53:05,840 --> 00:53:09,960
With his fateful choice made, Saladin took a final chance 

904
00:53:09,960 --> 00:53:13,240
to lead prayer in the heart of the Holy City. 

905
00:53:14,520 --> 00:53:20,120
Here, in the Aqsa mosque, on Friday 3rd July 1192, Baha' al-Din watched

906
00:53:20,120 --> 00:53:24,320
the Sultan "prostrate himself and say some words, 

907
00:53:24,320 --> 00:53:26,840
"while his tears fell on his prayer rug." 

908
00:53:26,840 --> 00:53:31,160
On the verge of collapse, the Muslim Army prepared for exodus. 

909
00:53:35,240 --> 00:53:38,200
Richard was on the brink of victory. 

910
00:53:38,200 --> 00:53:42,880
Once Saladin marched from Jerusalem, the city would be open to attack. 

911
00:53:44,120 --> 00:53:48,040
It seemed that the Lionheart was hours away from achieving 

912
00:53:48,040 --> 00:53:49,640
a startling triumph. 

913
00:53:51,120 --> 00:53:55,400
But entirely unaware of Saladin's astonishing decision, 

914
00:53:55,400 --> 00:53:58,200
the King's own resolve was weakening.

915
00:53:58,200 --> 00:54:02,240
Richard was said to have looked upon Jerusalem with its massive, 

916
00:54:02,240 --> 00:54:05,920
near impregnable defences and to have had a change of heart. 

917
00:54:05,920 --> 00:54:07,760
He called a meeting of leading Crusaders 

918
00:54:07,760 --> 00:54:09,160
to discuss what should be done. 

919
00:54:09,160 --> 00:54:11,440
But according to Christian eyewitnesses, 

920
00:54:11,440 --> 00:54:13,040
his mind was already made up. 

921
00:54:13,040 --> 00:54:16,280
Having once again led his men to within hours of the city, 

922
00:54:16,280 --> 00:54:18,600
the attack was called off. 

923
00:54:20,440 --> 00:54:24,120
For the Crusaders, this was an appalling reversal. 

924
00:54:24,120 --> 00:54:27,280
After the vast sums raised and spent,

925
00:54:27,280 --> 00:54:29,960
the months campaigning away from his empire, 

926
00:54:29,960 --> 00:54:32,680
all the lives given up in the name of Jerusalem, 

927
00:54:32,680 --> 00:54:34,760
his retreat was utterly shocking. 

928
00:54:34,760 --> 00:54:38,760
Richard apparently said that he was unwilling to lead the crusade 

929
00:54:38,760 --> 00:54:42,960
on such a "rash venture" because it would end in "terrible disgrace" 

930
00:54:42,960 --> 00:54:46,880
for which he would be "forever blamed, shamed and less loved." 

931
00:54:46,880 --> 00:54:49,640
At this moment of crisis, as the fate of Jerusalem 

932
00:54:49,640 --> 00:54:51,040
hung in the balance, 

933
00:54:51,040 --> 00:54:54,880
Richard refused to risk everything on a direct assault,

934
00:54:54,880 --> 00:54:58,240
at least in part out of fear for his reputation. 

935
00:54:58,240 --> 00:55:01,440
Had he held his nerve, the King could have defeated 

936
00:55:01,440 --> 00:55:04,960
Saladin's stricken armies and conquered Jerusalem. 

937
00:55:05,960 --> 00:55:08,360
Instead, his crusade was torn apart, 

938
00:55:08,360 --> 00:55:12,400
without either side scoring a victory. 

939
00:55:18,800 --> 00:55:22,880
Richard the Lionheart, the legendary crusader knight, 

940
00:55:22,880 --> 00:55:26,640
left the Holy Land without ever setting foot in Jerusalem. 

941
00:55:28,000 --> 00:55:30,560
When he returned to his Angevin realm, 

942
00:55:30,560 --> 00:55:32,280
the kingdom was still his to rule 

943
00:55:32,280 --> 00:55:35,280
and he spent the remainder of that decade

944
00:55:35,280 --> 00:55:39,400
campaigning against his European enemies, 

945
00:55:39,400 --> 00:55:42,640
until he was shot and killed by a crossbow bolt. 

946
00:55:46,400 --> 00:55:48,600
King Richard was buried at his father's feet 

947
00:55:48,600 --> 00:55:51,680
here in Fontevraud Abbey in the heart of his realm. 

948
00:55:51,680 --> 00:55:55,120
He's remembered as a peerless warrior and a great crusader, 

949
00:55:55,120 --> 00:55:57,880
the man who brought Saladin to his knees. 

950
00:55:57,880 --> 00:56:02,360
But in reality, he never truly mastered the art of Holy War. 

951
00:56:02,360 --> 00:56:04,880
Torn between the need to defend his realm 

952
00:56:04,880 --> 00:56:07,760
and the desire to forge a legend in Palestine,

953
00:56:07,760 --> 00:56:11,720
the Lionheart failed to lead the Third Crusade to victory. 

954
00:56:17,600 --> 00:56:19,960
Islam held onto its Holy City, 

955
00:56:19,960 --> 00:56:23,280
but despite his undoubted military genius, 

956
00:56:23,280 --> 00:56:26,680
Saladin had been wholly unable to prevent the Franks 

957
00:56:26,680 --> 00:56:28,640
from reconquering the coast. 

958
00:56:30,000 --> 00:56:32,720
Exhausted, after years of campaigning, 

959
00:56:32,720 --> 00:56:36,440
Saladin died just six months later, at the age of 55. 

960
00:56:36,440 --> 00:56:39,800
Born a Kurdish outsider, he had risen through the ranks 

961
00:56:39,800 --> 00:56:41,360
to become an Islamic icon, 

962
00:56:41,360 --> 00:56:44,640
one of the most extraordinary and fascinating leaders 

963
00:56:44,640 --> 00:56:45,880
of the Medieval age.

964
00:56:45,880 --> 00:56:47,560
But one question remains. 

965
00:56:47,560 --> 00:56:50,720
Did he champion the cause of Jihad and wage the war 

966
00:56:50,720 --> 00:56:53,440
for the Holy Land in pursuit of his own gain 

967
00:56:53,440 --> 00:56:56,240
and glory, or in the interests of Islam? 

968
00:56:56,240 --> 00:56:59,280
In the end, I think perhaps even Saladin himself 

969
00:56:59,280 --> 00:57:01,280
remained unsure of the answer. 

970
00:57:11,520 --> 00:57:14,600
The story of these two men has so often been simplified 

971
00:57:14,600 --> 00:57:19,240
and manipulated, cast as emblematic of the great struggle 

972
00:57:19,240 --> 00:57:23,080
between East and West, Christians and Muslims. 

973
00:57:23,080 --> 00:57:30,960
Even today, their images are still appopriated and twisted.

974
00:57:30,960 --> 00:57:35,480
Richard, the ultimate warrior, the cruel king, lionhearted, 

975
00:57:35,480 --> 00:57:42,280
and Saladin, the clement hero of Islam, avowed enemy of the West. 

976
00:57:42,280 --> 00:57:44,200
Their confrontation during the Third Crusade 

977
00:57:44,200 --> 00:57:46,320
also revealed the complexity of their characters. 

978
00:57:46,320 --> 00:57:49,680
Saladin was not simply the pious defender of Islam. 

979
00:57:49,680 --> 00:57:52,000
He could also be ruthless and self-serving. 

980
00:57:52,000 --> 00:57:55,920
And Richard was not just the masterful warrior-king, 

981
00:57:55,920 --> 00:57:58,680
but a wily and skillful negotiator. 

982
00:57:58,680 --> 00:58:00,480
Almost perfectly matched as adversaries,

983
00:58:00,480 --> 00:58:03,800
these were the men who contested the Third Crusade 

984
00:58:03,800 --> 00:58:07,040
and who ultimately fought one another to a standstill. 

985
00:58:10,120 --> 00:58:13,000
The bloody war for possession of Jerusalem 

986
00:58:13,000 --> 00:58:15,040
had raged for 100 years. 

987
00:58:15,040 --> 00:58:17,000
In the century to come, 

988
00:58:17,000 --> 00:58:18,960
the final chapter of this epic struggle 

989
00:58:18,960 --> 00:58:22,000
would be played out in Egypt, as a saintly French King, 

990
00:58:22,000 --> 00:58:24,080
afire with crusading zeal, 

991
00:58:24,080 --> 00:58:28,600
and the most remarkable Muslim in the Middle Ages, 

992
00:58:28,600 --> 00:58:30,960
fought for ultimate victory in the East. 

993
00:58:40,320 --> 00:58:42,360
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd 

994
00:58:42,360 --> 00:58:46,960
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