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Wolff, R. L.; Hazard, H. W. (ed.) / Volume II: The later Crusades, 1189-1311
(1969)
II: The Third Crusade: Richard the Lionhearted and Philip Augustus, pp. 44-85
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Page 67
Ch. II THE THIRD CRUSADE: RICHARD AND PHILIP 67 following the sensible course. Philip's decision explains Guy's trip to Cyprus to meet Richard. With Philip committed to one side of the controversy, even an old foe of the Plantagenet house had hopes that he might persuade Richard to take the other. The arrival of Philip Augustus before Acre gave the crusading army, for the time being at least, a single commander. Although the French king probably did not bring a very large force, his presence increased the enthusiasm and coordination with which the besiegers pressed their attacks. While masses of crossbowmen made it almost impossible for the garrison to man the walls, artillerymen pounded the fortifications with mangonels and rams housed in "cats", while other troops mined under them. Great towers were built from which missiles could be rained on the walls. The garrison resisted vigorously, and burned many of the towers and engines, but they were in desperate straits. Apparently Saladin had taken advantage of a temporary naval supremacy in the waters of Acre in late January and early February to attempt to replace the exhausted garrison with fresh troops. This process had been interrupted before its completion by the arrival of an Italian squadron, with the result that the new garrison was much smaller than the previous one. Moreover, Saladin himself was extremely short of troops. His nephew Taqi-ad-Din, al-Muzaffar 'Umar, lord of the region about Hamah in Syria, had started a private war of aggrandizement against his neighbors, and the emirs of the region had hastened home to protect their own lands. Hence at a crucial time Saladin was left with only his household troops and a few contingents from Damascus and Egypt. If Philip had launched a series of major assaults, he could probably have taken Acre before Richard arrived, but he declined to do this.37 King Richard sailed from Cyprus, as we have noted, on June 5, 1191. The next day he landed at Tyre, but the lieutenant of Conrad of Montferrat refused to admit him to the city, and he camped outside the walls. A day or two later the king and his galleys reached Acre, to be followed in a few days by the rest of his fleet. On his journey Richard and his galley's met a great enemy ship laden with reinforcements and supplies for the garrison of Acre. The accounts of this affair differ widely. The estimates of the troops aboard range from 650 to 1,300, with the first figure the more likely. Some accounts have it that the English galleys sank the ship by ramming it, while others insist the crew sank it to avoid 37 Gibb Ms.; Eracles, pp. 156-157; Bahã'-ad-Din, pp. 233-234, 240; Rigord, p. 108.
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