This is part of the
Medieval European History Metanode.
The Third Crusade was also known as "The Kings' Crusade." It lasted from 1189 to 1192. In 1182, most of the
Holy Land that remained in
Christian hands had fallen to the Turk
Saladin. Pope Urban III died soon after receiving the news, some say because of
grief. His successor, Pope Gregory VIII, issued a
bull appealing to the kings of Europe to go on yet another Crusade.
Frederick Barbarossa's German army was the first to arrive. His army had some minor successes, but he drowned while attempting to cross a river on 10 July 1190 (that's why you don't wear
armor when swimming!) That was the end of the German presence on this Crusade; the kings of
France and
England took over.
Richard the Lionhearted of England and
Philip Augustus of France both took rival armies to the Holy Land. In the end, Saladin signed a
treaty that said that
Jerusalem would remain in Moslem hands, but Christians could make
pilgrimages there. The armies did manage to take
Cyprus, which was a rather large feat in itself.