History of the Crusades. Episode 63, the Third Crusade Roman numeral 11.

Hello again.

Last week we saw King Richard and the members of the Third Crusade arrive safely at Jaffa after successfully

beating Saladin's army in the Battle of Arsof.

Now once he's in Jaffa King Richard has a decision to make it's quite an

important decision with momentum clearly on his side he has to decide where to go next.

There are two options available, Jerusalem and Ascalon.

Jerusalem is only 40 miles away and at the moment is poorly fortified.

Trouble is Jerusalem is inland and this is a problem.

King Richard has been relying on naval support for his supplies

and clearly he won't be able to do this if he marches inland towards Jerusalem. And then there's Ascalon, a major port town to the south.

And then there's Ascalon, a major port town to the south.

With Ascalon still in Muslim hands, Jaffa would be at risk of attack

if the Crusaders marched inland to Jerusalem.

Strategically then, King Richard's next move should be to march further south and take

Ascalon.

But with Jerusalem the city which is the focus of the crusade being so close,

Richard knows that he will have trouble convincing his army to ignore the holy city for the moment and instead concentrate on a port town that none of the

European Crusaders have ever heard of.

Back in the Muslim camp, Saladin is pondering the same question.

To say that things haven't been going Saladin's way recently is an understatement. He had already lost Acre and now Richard's forces have

managed to take Jaffa. Saladin was depressed, anxious and was not eating properly, but he knew that it was vital that he think ahead and try to counter Richard's next move.

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