History of the Crusades

the Crusades Episode 60, the Third Crusade Roman numeral 8.

Hello again.

Last week we saw King Philip of France and King Richard of England finally arrived in the Holy Land.

King Richard arrived in Acre to much fanfare on the 8th of June 1191, while King Philip had come some six weeks earlier, landing at

Acre on the 20th of April.

When King Philip arrived, he was accompanied by only six ships, which must have been a disappointment

to those who believed that the arrival of the Kings would turn the tide of the war.

However, the ships were well stocked and King Philip assured the Latin Christians

that more ships were on their way.

King Philip and his men disembarked and immediately made themselves useful,

using the equipment on board the ships to assemble no less than seven giant

catapult machines and working to reduce the effectiveness of the

formidable defences surrounding the city of Acre.

Now, Muslim sources tell of an interesting event happening not long after King Philip arrived at Acre.

Apparently, King Philip was inspecting the defences around the city,

accompanied by his favorite Falcon.

The hunting bird was pure white, and of a much larger breed than those found in the Middle East.

The magnificent bird took off as King Philip was doing his rounds and flew up to the city landing on one of its walls.

Attempts to call it back failed and the bird was captured by the Muslims and presented to Saladin as a gift.

King Philip was devastated by its loss and offered to pay the enormous sum of 1,000 gold pieces for its return.

However, Saladin took a liking to the bird and decided to keep it.

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