Preparations
Very absent from his kingdom of England, Richard preferred to devote himself to his French possessions and to the crusade in the Holy Land.
Shortly after his accession to the throne (1189), he decided to join the third crusade, inspired by the loss of Jerusalem, taken by Saladin. But, fearing that the king of France, Philippe Auguste, would usurp his territories in his absence, he persuaded him to join him The two kings took the cross on the same day.
Richard is accused of doing little for England, contenting himself with depleting the kingdom's resources by borrowing from Jews to finance his expeditions to the Holy Land. He also collects taxes, and spends most of his father's treasury. He collects and borrows as much money as he can, for example releasing the king of Scotland from his tribute in exchange for ten thousand marks, and selling many official offices and other land rights. Moreover, it is thanks to the important reforms of his father in terms of legislation and justice that it will be possible for him to leave England for a long time.
In 1190, Richard finally left for the Third Crusade with his friend the Lord of Sablé and future Templar Grand Master, Robert de Sablé (who spent nineteen years at his court). He embarked with Philippe Auguste in Marseilles, leaving Hugues, bishop of Durham, and Guillaume de Mandeville as regents. Guillaume de Mandeville, who dies quickly, is replaced by Guillaume Longchamp. Unhappy with this decision, Richard's brother, Jean, begins to plot against Guillaume.
During the summer of 1190, Richard decided to land near Naples while Philippe Auguste went directly to Messina on September 16. From the Naples region, he reached Messina by land via Amalfi, Salerno and Mileto, where he was attacked by locals. According to Roger de Hoveden, Richard had strayed from his retinue and molested a peasant; immediately, all the inhabitants of the village attack him and he owes his survival only to the speed of his escape.
Passage of the Crusade through Sicily
In September 1190, Richard and Philip are in Sicily. In 1189 King William II of Sicily died. His heiress, his aunt Constance, future Queen Constance I of Sicily, is married to Emperor Henry VI. But immediately after William's death, his cousin Tancred of Lecce rebels, takes control of the island, and in early 1190 is crowned King of Sicily. He is preferred by the people, and by the pope, but he is in conflict with the nobles of the island. The arrival of Richard accentuates the difficulties. Tancrède imprisoned Guillaume's widow, Queen Jeanne, Richard's sister, and did not give her the money she inherited according to the wishes of the deceased. Richard demands the release of his sister and the handing over of her inheritance. During this time, the presence of two foreign armies causes unrest among the population, exasperated in particular by the behavior of the soldiers towards women9. In October, the population of Messina revolts, demanding that foreigners leave the island. A brawl broke out on October 3 between soldiers and residents of the city, "gathers of Greeks and ribalds, people from the Saracens" who shouted at the pilgrims while calling them "stinky dogs". Richard attacked Messina and took it on October 4, 1190. After looting and burning it, Richard established his camp there. He remained there until March 1191, when Tancred finally agreed to a treaty. This is signed, still in March, by Richard, Philippe and Tancrède. Here are the terms:
Jeanne must be freed, receive her share of the inheritance as well as the dowry her father had given to the late Guillaume,
Richard and Philippe recognize Tancred as legally King of Sicily and wish to keep the peace between their kingdoms,
Richard officially proclaims his nephew Arthur of Brittany, the son of Geoffroy and Constance of Brittany, as his heir, and Tancred promises to marry one of his daughters to Arthur in the future, when he will be an adult (Arthur is then four years old).
The treaty shakes relations between England and the Holy Roman Empire, and causes the revolt of John Lackland, who hopes to be proclaimed heir in place of his nephew. Although his revolt fails, Jean continues to plot against his brother from then on.
Richard's passage through Cyprus
Richard and Philippe go back to sea. In April, Richard stops on the Byzantine island of Rhodes to avoid a storm. He left her in May, but a new storm brought his fleet to Cyprus, where three of his ships ran aground. The hostile attitude of Prince Isaac Doukas Comnenus, who reigned over Cyprus after breaking away from the Byzantine Empire in 1184, caused, on May 6, 1191, the landing of Richard's fleet in the port of Lemesos (today Limassol ). He tries to come to an agreement with the Greek for the supply of Acre, but in the face of the latter's perfidy (Isaac was in fact in cahoots with Saladin), Richard undertakes the conquest of the island. The few Roman Catholics on the island join Richard, as well as his nobles, revolted by the seven years of the tyrannical yoke of Isaac.
After being defeated at Kolossi (west of Limassol), Isaac reorganized his defense at Tremithousia, on the road leading to the capital Nicosia, where a decisive battle took place on May 21, 1191. Isaac was defeated and taken prisoner by Richard , who becomes the new master of Cyprus. He plunders the island and massacres those who try to resist him. Meanwhile, Richard's betrothed, Bérangère de Navarre, first-born of King Sancho VI of Navarre, has finally joined him on his journey to the Holy Land. Their marriage was celebrated in Limassol on May 12, 1191. Richard's sister, Jeanne, followed him from Sicily and attended the ceremony. The marriage does not produce an heir, and opinions differ on the agreement between the spouses. The unfortunate Bérangère will not see England again until after Richard's death.
This conquest of Cyprus was to have a very important impact on the Latin East. On the one hand, the island, full of resources, was to constitute a secure supply center for the Latin East (and in particular for Acre still besieged) and a safe stopover for the Italian armadas (mistresses of the sea) and the other crusades. On the other hand, it was going to participate in the decline of the Latin East by attracting Syrian colonists and barons:between the lands full of wealth of the island and those constantly exposed to the danger of Palestine, the choice was obvious for number of knights, especially since the Lusignan clan, future masters of Cyprus, did not hesitate to multiply the offers of land and other baronies.
The Crusade in the Holy Land
Before leaving for Acre and for only 25,000 silver marks, Richard sells the island of Cyprus to his friend Robert de Sablé, the Grand Master of the Order of the Temple. The Templars set up their first base in the Orient there for a few years before selling it to Guy de Lusignan11. Richard, with almost his entire army, leaves Cyprus for the Holy Land at the beginning of June. In his absence, Cyprus is to be governed by Richard Kamvill.
Richard arrived in Acre in June 1191 with his friend the Grand Master of the Order of the Temple Robert de Sablé, two months after Philippe Auguste. The city, besieged for two years by the Franks (themselves surrounded by the army of Saladin), begins to be exhausted. The arrival of King Richard, both a fabulous fighter and tactician, brought about the fall of Acre in July 1191. It was during this victory that Richard distinguished himself darkly by massacring 3,000 Muslim prisoners, because Saladin was late to give him a relic of the True Cross, 2,500 Christian prisoners as well as an agreed ransom (August 20, 1191, after the departure of Philippe Auguste). After this act of barbarism which will strengthen the jihad and make future negotiations, among other things, very difficult (especially for the restitution of Jerusalem), Richard leaves to conquer the coast with Robert de Sablé and his Templars, but he remains the sole leader of the whole Franco-English army (the King of France left with his own household, leaving all his troops under the leadership of the Duke of Burgundy). Richard also did everything to impose as King of Jerusalem Guy de Lusignan (the latter being a native of Poitou, and therefore his vassal) to the detriment of the energetic Conrad de Montferrat, savior of Tire in the midst of the Frankish debacle and ardently supported by all the Syrian barons.
During their conquest of the southern coast, Richard, Robert and their troops were constantly harassed by the troops of Saladin. The Crusaders did not fall into the trap of pursuit and stood firm. However, Saladin, having received Turcoman reinforcements, engaged in the battle of Arsouf in a very favorable strategic position:the Crusaders being surrounded, backed by the sea. Richard did not lose his calm and attempted a skilful encirclement maneuver to completely crush the opposing army. But a Hospitaller and an English knight charged for glory, taking with them a few other knights. Richard then had to charge with all the cavalry to avoid a possibly fatal disorganization, and after hard fighting, victory was for Richard. This was not complete, however, and only led to the scattering and repelling of the enemy army, Richard not having been able to achieve the turning movement that would have allowed him a decisive victory. Saladin then destroyed strongholds (Jaffa in particular) before the arrival of the Crusaders. With the coastline conquered and certain strongholds rebuilt (Jaffa, Ascalon, etc.), Richard left for Jerusalem in the middle of winter. But he finally gave up the siege, at the insistence of the Syrian barons in particular:the season was bad and the latter knew that they could not hold Jerusalem once all the Crusaders left. The king subsequently returned twice, but with his army weakened, while Saladin's was always bigger and stronger, he gave up when he still thought the city was within reach. It is true that he had received serious news from England and that he only thought of returning to his kingdom.
He finally embarked on October 9, 1192, after having rushed the peace with Saladin (the latter, aware of Richard's difficulties, dithered intelligently) and put at the head of Acre his nephew, the count Henry II of Champagne (Conrad de Montferrat had been assassinated by the sect of the Assassins, and Guy de Lusignan alias "Sa Simplesse", having become too embarrassing for the Crusaders, was appointed head of the Kingdom of Cyprus).