Furthermore, when Richard decided that his new objective should be to recapture Egypt and then bargain Egypt for Jerusalem with Saladin, as Saladin’s power base and wealth was in Egypt, he had already lost the support of Duke Burgundy and lacked the manpower necessary to take Egypt, so he failed in that respect too.
Following the unsuccessful first march to Jerusalem, Richard took his men back to Ascalon in 1192 to begin rebuilding the castle there in a four month construction program. Ascalon proved to be a formidable offensive and defensive castle, and he could have used it for his attack on Egypt. This was only a short term success, however, as Saladin forced him to abandon it in the 1193 Treaty of Jaffa.
However, it was not a completely failure for Richard. In 1191, Richard I managed to secure the port of Acre and take it back from Muslims hands, which helped to expand the Crusader states, and in 1192 he also managed to get Jaffa back. This, to an extent, could be deemed as a success – however, it was not his primary objective, merely an additional bonus to recovering Jerusalem.
Furthermore, Richard managed to diminish Saladin’s military reputation on two occasions. First, at the battle of Arsuf in 1192 when Richard managed to defeat Saladin’s army in battle, and secondly when Saladin attempted to besiege Jaffa in 1193 – Richard sailed to Jaffa from Acre and managed to defeat Saladin again.
The result of this was the Treaty of Jaffa, in 1193, in which Richard managed to secure the remainder of the Crusader states in return for the abandonment of Ascalon. Whilst this was successful, it was only a short term guarantee as when Saladin died in 1193, his truce died with him and the abandonment of Ascalon was also a failure as it meant that the Crusaders had wasted four months rebuilding it.
Although the Third Crusade had its successes, I think that ultimately Richard I’s objectives were not met. He didn’t managed to recover Jerusalem, he didn’t get anywhere near Egypt and he lost the one castle which could have been used offensively to potentially help him in the future.
by
kitchenjakbtinternetcom (student)
