History of the Crusades the Crusades Episode 54 the Third Crusade Roman numeral 2.

Hello again.

Last week we saw the effect of the devastating news of the fall of Jerusalem and the loss of the

true cross in Europe. It resulted in the Pope calling for a new crusade and while the Pope prepared to travel to Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to convince him to take the cross,

and while Josias, Archbishop of Tyre, prepared to travel to meet the Kings of England and France,

Richard, Count of Poito, Duke of Aquitaine and heir to the English throne surprises everyone by jumping out of the starting blocks

early and publicly declaring he will take the cross. Now it's likely that this was a spur of the moment decision and that

Richard didn't give much thought to how his decision would affect the delicate

three-way balance of power between himself, his father,

King Henry II of England, and King Philip II of France.

King Philip being the sworn enemy of King Henry the second and sometimes

ally of Richard.

But after having made such a public and popular declaration, the cat was out of the bag.

Richard couldn't take back his decision, regardless of the consequences, so King Henry and King Philip were just going to have to deal with it.

And they dealt with it in quite a sensible way.

A couple of months after Richard's declaration, the two kings met at Gizor on the border between

Normandy and the French kingdom to discuss forming a truce in regard to their ongoing conflict.

It was at this gathering in January 1188 that Josias, Archbishop of Tyre, met with the two kings to urge them to join the

Crusade.

It wasn't a private meeting, the Assembly which gathered at Gizor to discuss the peace treaty included the leading nobleman of both England and France, and Josias preached the cross to them all, publicly, enthusiastically and persuasively.

It was a savvy move on Josiah's part.

He most likely realized that due to the tension and history between them,

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