Richard vs. Saladin

• Used Saladin's gains to get people to fund the crusade. However, this nearly bankrupted England.
• Paid for a force of 6000 men. He did not use volunteers. This made them more reliable, as long as they were paid.
• Trained his army well at Vezelay.
• Made great use of the navy for travel and transporting supplies.
• Tried to pre-empt problems that might occur between himself and Philip. He made deals accordingly. Eg. split land equally.

• Got the Byzantines on his side. He forced them not to supply or give aid to the crusaders.
• Made no attempt to capture the port of Tyre. This would prove to be a huge mistake.

"The crusade took Saladin by surprise" - Mayer.

• Only fought Saladin at Arsuf and Jaffa. This minimised his losses and preserved his force's strength.

• Won the Battle of Hattin. Used smoke to his advantage.
• However, he was defeated many times: Montgisard, Forbelet, Arsuf and Jaffa.

• Was within sight of Jerusalem, but made the sensible decision not to capture it, as he could not garrison it.
• Marched his armydown the coast from Acre to Jaffa, using the orange orchards as shade and used his navy to keep up supplies. He was very good logistically.
• Cleverly arranged the formation of his force whilst on the march, so that the cavalry would not go charging off without his command.
• Quickly took back Jaffa in a "superb counter offensive" - Strickland.
• Led successful sieges and battles. Especially Acre, which was particularly dire. He gave encouragement even when he was badly ill.
• He massacred the inhabitants of Acre, which showed strength of character and desire to succeed.

"As a general, Richard was Saladin's superior." - Mayer.

• United All the Muslims across Asia Minor under the banner of Jihad.The inability to unite the Muslims during the first crusade was why they lost. Saladin managed to unite them.
• Poisoned the wells around Jerusalem and removed any material that may be of use in preparation for a crusader siege.
• Failed to stop the Christian army's siege of Acre in 1189.

"Saladin lacked Richard's killer punch" - Geoffrey.

• Knew that treaties and truces were the only way to secure peace with Saladin.
• Cleverly kept the coast in Christian hands after treaty, in case further crusading was required.
• Carried out his threat to massacre the people of Acre if Saladin did not pay for their release.

"A political realist" - Tyreman

• Gained control over Syria.
• Arranged truces and treaties with other enemies within Asia Minor, in order to avoid having to fight them.
• Retained the Muslim hold on Jerusalem in the treaty.

"Approach was political, not ideological or fanatical" - Tyreman.