Siege of Acre (1189–1191)

Also known as Third Crusade Siege of Acre

Two years after Saladin took Acre in the wake of Hattin, the freshly released King Guy of Lusignan arrived before its walls in August 1189 with a small force and laid siege to the city — only to be encircled in turn by Saladin's relief army. The resulting double siege, with Crusaders and Muslims facing each other across the walls and the surrounding plain, lasted twenty-two months. It was the central military event of the Third Crusade: tens of thousands of Frankish reinforcements arrived by sea, including Frederick Barbarossa's surviving German troops, French forces under Philip II, and finally the English army of Richard the Lionheart. Both sides suffered horrendous casualties from epidemic disease and famine. The city's defenders surrendered on 12 July 1191. Richard's controversial decision to massacre 2,700 Muslim prisoners on 20 August, when negotiations over the agreed ransom stalled, freed his army to march south to Arsuf and Jaffa.

Coordinates: 32.9100°, 35.0800°

Read more on Wikipedia: English article · עברית