Original subtitles

for thousands of years

the holy lands of the Middle East have

run the food

here

the scars of battle fought between free

of the great religions of the world are

etched into the earth but the deepest

wound was made by a war between

Christian and Muslim the gun at the

close of the 11th century and fought for

200 years at stake a tiny strip of land

just a few hundred miles long but with

the greatest prize Jerusalem's

now this holy war is past of legend

but they were those who saw it with

their own eyes

great chronicles from two different

worlds Christian and Muslim who wrote of

great deeds great battles great warriors

of men who would lay down their lives

for their God

this was the collision of two great

faiths the clash between the Crescent

and the crops

this was the Crusades

in 1096 to great fanfare

more than 60,000 Christian warriors set

off from Europe on the First Crusade

their goal was Jerusalem for more than

400 years the holy city had been in

Muslim control the Crusaders vowed to

reclaim it in the name of Christ for

Christians Jerusalem is so important

because Jesus died here on the cross and

he rose from death so the most important

point of the history of salvation took

place there so therefore Jerusalem for

the Christians is a center of the world

this Christian army had struggled its

way 3,000 miles across the forbidding

landscape of the Middle East in a series

of epic encounters with the forces of

this life

after three years this the first crusade

reached the walls of Jerusalem once

inside no one was spared an estimated

30,000 citizens were slaughtered by the

Crusaders Muslims Jews even fellow

Christians but as the Crusaders reveled

in victory slowly steadily the Muslims

prepared to strike back eventually the

wrath of Islam would be unleashed on the

fledgling Crusader king under one leader

Saladin and one battle cry jihad

[Music]

when Jerusalem was taken during the

First Crusade the killings were horrible

Jews had gathered in the temple were

burnt promises made to Muslims that

Muslim women and children would be

allowed out free were violated with

impunity to Muslim eyes two of their

holiest shrines were now defined the

Crusaders stabled their horses in the

al-aqsa mosque and at the Dome of the

rock where the Prophet Mohammed is said

to have ascended to heaven they tore off

the Islamic symbols to reconsecrate the

mosque as a church in the heart of

Jerusalem its gleaming new crucifix

boasted to the Muslims that this was now

a Christian City they were just stunned

and shocked by the violence the

brutality the killings that were

inflicted on them and what shocked them

even more that this was done in the name

of Christianity

[Music]

Oh

140 miles to the northeast in the city

of Damascus thousands of Muslims flocked

to the umayyad mosque to mourn the loss

of Jerusalem imagine the scene here when

the news arrived from Jerusalem to the

demoscene people that Jerusalem was

captured not only captured but the

Muslims and Christians their fellow

Syrians were massacred in the thousands

every little corner was filled by men by

soldiers taking their turbans off

moaning weeping and discussing what

should happen though the will of the

people to rise up against the Christian

invaders was strong in 1099 the Muslim

world was in no position to mount a

counter-attack - the most celebrated

Islamic chronicler of the age even

Alafia the reason was clear its leaders

were hopelessly divided whilst the

Christians were conquering and settling

in our territories the rulers and armies

of Islam were fighting amongst

themselves

[Music]

this caused much discord and disunity

among the people and weakened the power

to fight the Christian enemy though the

culture of Islam was magnificent and big

advances have been made in in the

sciences and mathematics nonetheless the

political institutions of

had not succeeded in creating a society

which could be stable and what we saw

emerging was strong local rulers and

what we can describe the city-states

since the death of Muhammad the Islamic

world had been split between two

competing doctrines the Sunni orthodoxy

of Baghdad and Aleppo and their bitter

rivals the shear who held power in Cairo

to defeat the Christians they would need

one leader who could unite the strength

of the Muslims under the banner of war

this was the greatest fearful Crusaders

a major Muslim counter-attack William of

Tyre was a scholar and Christian

archbishop whose chronicles have become

the most important record of the life of

the Crusaders through zealous Christian

eyes he recounted how the Muslims or

Saracens began their guerrilla campaign

against the fledgling Kingdom of

Jerusalem the entire country surrounding

this city was inhabited by infidel

Saracens who were cruel enemies to our

people even within these city walls they

were scarcely a place where one could

rest in security they reduced the realm

to such a state of terror that no one

dared venture outside the fortifications

to survive in this hostile environment

the Christians who remained after the

First Crusade had to secure their grip

on their new kingdom after the captured

Jerusalem many of the Crusaders returned

home sending maybe two or three hundred

Knights left their Jerusalem must have

seen quite an empty place I mean

physically it's quite a big city what

the Crusaders had to do a course was to

try and hold on to that trying to

consolidate it and also try and get more

people out there that was the crucial

thing

the Catholic Church appealed for

European families to come and settle in

Jerusalem the homes of Muslims Eastern

Christians and Jews were requisitioned

to house the new arrivals recruiting

toys went around Western Europe

advertising the idea much as when

Americans were told to sir to go west

this was go east young man going to get

good property good tax deals put a sort

of a sense of adventure the other thing

of course you'll be living in Christ

Patrick as that extra element to it as

well everybody who is faithful to Christ

here's a nikla nation to go to the place

where Jesus lived where Mary his mother

lived the Apostles and also because

Christianity derives from the Jewish

roots also whether prophets lived in the

aftermath of the First Crusade Jerusalem

blossomed into a thriving spiritual

metropolis with a population of around

30,000 about the same size as medieval

Paris we have after the first crusade is

a series of nails that are hammered into

the fabric of the Holy Land strong

points and Crusaders have but they have

to be connected they have to link up

these cities that they've taken and

consolidate the territory

European set up new farms villages and

castles around the captured cities and

created four powerful new Crusader

states Edessa

Antioch Tripoli and the Kingdom of

Jerusalem

now that the holy city was Christian

pilgrims visitors from Europe poured

into Jerusalem

every year thousands of them flopped

here determined to walk in Christ

footsteps and to worship at the holy

places like tourists of today they

needed advice on food drink where to

stay health care and they also needed a

guide building the top attraction in

this 12th century guidebook was the

Church of the Holy Sepulchre rebuilt by

the Crusaders to house the key holy

sites under one roof it was a spiritual

tourist complex for thousands of

faithful visitors the guide also

included the essential destination for

every traveler the souvenir shop Heights

passage souvenir space yes please what

do you want

yeah the holy water actually is what I

was most interested in you tell me a

little bit about it yeah you've got 20

water holy oil holy incense on the earth

where's the water come from the water

comes from Griffith daughter brat it has

been blast inside the Church of the Holy

Sepulchre okay do you want anything else

rosaries holy or no I think with the

holy water that's fine it's the holy

water every good

thanks very much Indian kisser in the

back streets of Jerusalem the pilgrims

found not just souvenirs but also a

taste of foreign food pilgrims needed to

eat and this is the notorious street of

bad cooking fast food for the Middle

Ages now it's quite possible of course

that you're going to get ill and you're

going to need some help

let's look at the guidebook and see what

they have to say about it next to the

Holy Sepulchre is the hospital in which

a great crowd of sick people is

collected the total of persons at the

time and I was present was 2,000 between

night and day there were sometimes more

than 50 corpses carried out but again

and again there were new people admitted

[Music]

on capturing the city the Crusaders are

taken over the hospital of Saint John

here Christian pilgrims who fell ill

were cared for by the men who took holy

vows of chastity poverty and obedience

known as hospital is they soon took on a

military rule to ensure the safe passage

of thousands of pilgrims to and from the

Holy Land

[Music]

all along the way our bandit bands lying

in wait for you waiting to pounce on you

so much so that a pilgrim in the early

12th century writing an account of

pilgrimage said that the road from Jaffa

to Jerusalem was littered with the bones

of dead pilgrims and that if you were

with pilgrims and one of your friends

one of your buddies was killed don't

stop to bury him because the grave you

dig he said will be your own

[Music]

to offer increased protection to these

buildings a second holy order had been

established

combining a monastic way of life with

the bearing of arms this Brotherhood

believed fighting off the infant was

both an act of charity and a way to

salvation they became known as the

Knights Templar

taking their name from their

headquarters the ancient site of the

temple of Solomon both of these military

orders would quickly become for the

Muslims the most feared and reviled

symbols of the Crusader occupation they

both become immensely powerful as

monastic orders and as political forces

in the Crusader States they're able to

do this because both the hospital is and

the Templars develop military strength

they become the elite fighting troops of

the Crusader States and they're

essential to the survival of this world

to underpin the defence of their new

kingdom the Templars and the hospital

a--'s oversaw the construction of a

chain of castles the most magnificent

was cracked a Chevalier in modern-day

Syria stark symbols of authority these

castles declared to the Muslims that the

Christians were here to stay but the

Muslims dreamed of fighting back against

the Crusaders and returning Jerusalem to

their faith an old Arabic word was being

uttered once again the word for struggle

jihad

through the early 12th century men

across the Muslim world began to talk of

rising up under the banner of jihad

against the Crusader occupation the

jihad is the key element in the armory

of Muslim ideology the notion of jihad

dated from the time of the Prophet

Muhammad in the 7th century so it's

something that's integral to the Islamic

faith it's not something that's invented

to sort of counter the crusade it's

there and it's sort of taken off the

shelf and deployed against the Crusaders

ahmad al deen zengi a Turk was the ruler

of the city of Mosul now part of

modern-day Iraq intelligent and ruthless

zengi was intent on expanding his empire

he would be the first leader to launch a

successful jihad against the despised

Christian invaders for him it was

essential that he defeat and move them

out of the Muslim heartland to do this

he had to unite Syria under his

leadership the mighty citadel of aleppo

is one of the oldest Islamic fortress

cities in the world the Knights of the

First Crusade had never dared to attack

it like most of the Muslim world at the

time it was an independent city-state

with its own ruler zengi set his sights

on this fortress as his new power base a

springboard to topple the Crusaders with

his military strength growing he offered

to protect Aleppo from the Christians in

11:28 an agreement was reached and zengi

took control of the city

with Mosul and Aleppo he now controlled

northern Syria before he came to power

we had no one to impose justice and the

presence of the Christians in our land

had made the country into a wilderness

and he made it flour again it took

singly nearly 20 years of brutally

fighting his fellow Muslims before he

finally United northern Syria his own

secretary described him as a lion some

kind of fierce wild cat I believe the

words that he used to describe him were

a raging calamity zengi was one of those

fortunately minority of the human race

who seemed to have enjoyed causing pain

to his fellow human beings his own

troops followed him in terror it was

said because if he told them not to step

on crops on their route of March and one

of them did he would have him hanged in

11:44 Zanghi was now at last ready to

let loose his ruthlessness on the

crusade 120 miles from his power base in

Aleppo was Edessa

one of the Crusader States

and zangi had just learned of a golden

opportunity to recapture the city zengi

had always coveted odessa and looked for

a chance to achieve his ambition and

take it once he heard that the Prince of

Odessa was out of the city it was like a

sign from God for him to advance

nearly half a century after the

foundation of the Crusader States the

Muslims were finally about to strike

their first counter blow Zheng He

besieged the city with an army of 30,000

men

the few Crusader Knights who remain to

protect the desert were taken by

surprise and desperately retreated

within the walls for Muslims this was

the long-awaited show of strength and

the great Arab chronicler Eden Alafia

reveled in it they battered the walls

ceaselessly

nothing interrupted their mostest

struggle his troops were as numerous as

the stars in the sky like the fields

around the city but filled with him

they say that birds did not fly near so

absolute was the destruction by the

procedures so unwinking their vigilance

the fortifications were so strong that

the only way to get inside a desk was to

bring its walls tumbling down zenki

brought in expert miners who knew

precisely how to attack the walls

foundations going over walls is

difficult because you get shot at and

all the rest of it but under the city

walls there was a natural cave system

and his men broke into the cave system

and started to pick away at the bottom

of the walls

the Christian settlers in the city

desperately tried to defend the tongue

but they stood little chance against

segi's powerful assault

his troops set fire to the wooden beam

supporting the tiles as they burn the

walls above came crashing down

tunneling is actually very effective and

very quickly Zenga Stroup's brokens the

city

once inside the Muslims began to

slaughter the Christian inhabitants

thousands of men and women and children

were killed

William of Tyre chronicled the terror of

his fellow Christians as they fled to

the safety of their City the tower in

the heart of the city the more prudent

of the citizens rushed to the citizens

so that they might at least preserve

their lives if only for a short time at

the gate there was such a crush of

people trying to enter because of the

press of the crown many was suffocated

and died miserably

[Music]

adesso was now back in the hands of the

Muslims and zengi the hero of the

Islamic world the first phase of the

gifs the struggle against the Christian

Empire was one the taking of Edessa

marked an important stage in the taking

back of Jerusalem because what it

created was the feeling we can do it

although zengi had led his people to

victory

he wasn't admired he remained brutal and

field he had told one of his slaves that

the next morning the slave would be

killed for having offended Zheng He in

some minor way and the slave assuming

that his life was over anyway decided to

take zenki with him that night as the

mighty Zanghi slumbered amidst his proud

army ringed by his Braves with their

swords he perished neither riches nor

power one of his time two years after

the taking of a desert the 59 year old

Zheng He was murdered in his bed the

hopes of the Islamic world might have

died with him but there was another

willing to take up the challenge his own

son nur al-din a man who would prove to

be a very different leader that his

father

nur al-din was the son of the brutal

Turkish warlord zengi he was ready to

continue his father's battle and is set

out to unite the Muslim world and

restore Jerusalem to Islam neutral Deen

was a very pious man you know did not

like too much play did not like the way

in which the caliphs lived in but God

with their opulence and their splendor

and their dancing girls and their wines

and said one reason why we have suffered

these defeats is because we as a people

have become too indulgent he was highly

respected because he never miss used his

authority and his power the Christian

saw the rise of this new leader as a

serious threat to the Crusader kingdoms

his message was simple and direct unity

and jihad Norrell Dane's vision was very

straight forward our countries have been

occupied by the barbarians and we have

to free them and the only way to free

them they have waged holy war on us we

will wage a holy war against them

in Europe word reached the Pope of the

fall of Edessa on December 1st 11:45

Pope Eugenius the third was compelled to

take drastic action

he called for a second crusade the

Second Crusade was an extraordinarily

ambitious scheme it was an idea of

extending the borders of Christianity in

every single direction Christians were

terribly confident at this time they

looked upon it as a sort of a rerun of

the First Crusade a lot of the preaching

stresses the idea that the Crusaders

should live up to the deeds of their

fathers the call to arms was answered by

one of the most powerful men in Europe

King Louie the seventh of France and his

wealthy wife Eleanor of Aquitaine the

First Crusade had been led by Nobles

counts here the King of France King

Louie the seventh took the cross this

was of course quite a sort of radical

move the idea of a king leaving his

lands for two or three years having

probably said a one-in-three chance of

dying it's a dangerous thing King Louie

had a deep Christian faith and was

determined to honor the exploits of the

first Crusaders by retaking a desert and

then expanding the Crusader kingdoms

but he was a man of very little military

experience and not a natural leader

in May 11:47 he set off on the Second

Crusade leading an army of more than

thirty thousand at the heart of his

fighting force with 300 highly skilled

Knights Templar it took Lois Crusader

army nearly five months to cross Europe

from France to Asia Minor the journey

took them through the rugged landscape

of central Turkey along this still

intact Roman Road the logistical

problems the second crusade were pretty

frightening because they decided to move

inland through the mountains of

Southeast Anatolia through this kind of

terrain in winter now that's a very bad

time of year to be moving very little

food in the countryside we know that

they were almost entirely dependent on

what they could carry many of the roads

they were on on high mountains like

these in the background narrow terraces

animals are falling off men desperate to

keep the food

but logistical problem is one of the

only challenges the Crusaders face the

route took them through Turkish land

where they were in constant fear of

attack by the local Muslim forces you

have to think although this is

mountainous terrain there's plenty of

open land over here the Turks would be

hovering ready to pounce on any sign of

weakness the strength of the Army lies

in its compact tight formation by now it

was winter and harsh weather conditions

caused the Crusaders to lose their tight

formation the heavily armed vanguard

became separated from the main body and

the slow wagon train led by liu yun

elemér was left behind and exposed it

was just the opportunity the Turks

needed

Christian historian William of Tyre

interpreted what happened next as a

punishment from God in battle array they

fell upon our forces for two close

quarters with the sword brought death

and destruction to the Christians in

punishment for our sins the infidel

conquered an army was reduced to a very

few that day the glorious reputation of

the Franks

was lost Louie and Eleanor escaped but

thousands of Crusaders were killed to

restore discipline the humiliated Louis

surrendered control of the March to the

Templars the battered Crusader armies

staggered on to take refuge in Antioch a

city they had taken on the first crusade

they're faced with a diminished force of

20,000 men and the growing strength of

nur al-din Louie abandoned the campaign

to retake a desert in the north and

instead looked south to Damascus a city

much closer to Jerusalem nur al-din also

had designs on this independent Muslim

city the question was who was going to

take it first in 11:48 Louie made the

first move the attack on Damascus can be

seen as a preemptive strike against

neuro Dean he ruled Aleppo if he was to

take Damascus to the south be the first

time a Muslim had governed these two key

cities the whole eastern flank of the

Crusader States would be governed by one

single man with growing power growing

wealth and a great great threat

while in the past

Damascus had been an ally of the disease

it had recently become hostile people

who the Masters got really terrified

because no one else before came that

close to the city wall the machine

simply like any other inhabitants trying

to defend their homes try to dependent

families that defend their habitats

their livelihood the demoscene could

have called on the lunar of Aleppo nur

al-din to rescue them but that would

mean surrendering their independence

they were determined to defend their

City one said they were really defending

Islam against the Crusaders again in the

Frankish army and it really looking to

die go to heaven according to their

beliefs if there was one man who

embodied their spirit of defiance

it was 71 year old lawyer Alf and allowi

his story has become part of the

folklore of Damascus his tail is still

told today by storytellers in the city

cafes what I do on Luke I'm in Hamlet

Makara the crusaders believed in their

evil hearts they could take Damascus

50,000 infantry and cavalry marched on

our city and the Muslims challenged him

to fight in an altered by the walls that

battle began

kyndall owie the old lawyer was

determined to fight thang to them so he

went into battle striking down

Christians in the orchard like a man

possessed he said I have offered myself

for sale and God has brought me

titania tea tomorrow

Thomas knew my job

who denied the townspeople became

demoralized by the horror after a fierce

struggle the crusaders overwhelmed the

muslims and closed any on the city walls

closer than any army in ancient of

modern times

else and alawi vimanam hello Alf Angela

we continue to fight bravely and refuse

to throw in obedience to God Almighty

but alas he fell in battle a martyr for

the faith

[Music]

for days the battle rains the orchard

surroundings and thousands of Muslims

lost their lives

the proudly independent demoscene now

have little choice they sent word to nur

al-din pleading for him to send his army

it was just the news near Alden had been

waiting for but it left Louis with a

crucial decision to stay and fight a

growing Muslim opposition or to retreat

if they withdrew from Damascus they felt

they would be shamed if they stayed and

fought they might be defeated so what

they actually did was the worst of all

worlds they shifted their siege from one

side of the city to the other and then

decided they had to retreat anyway this

was military incompetence

Louie returned home to Europe shamed and

defeated after so much hope expense and

suffering his second crusade had ended

in disaster

not only had he turned his back on the

Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem he had

strengthened the resolve of the Muslims

for Christians the consequences were

calamitous they abandoned the siege and

returned home as a result fewer people

undertook this pilgrimage there after

this day on the conditions for the

Latins in the East declined when the

Second Crusade failed the Muslim world

was hugely hugely relieved that God had

blessed them with this divine victory

also of course they were terribly

confident I mean the last time the

Franks had come over in huge numbers the

First Crusade they defeated the Muslims

now kings and come over from Western

Europe and had not succeeded

this meant the Westerners were not

invincible Muslims could succeed and

could perhaps in the end throw the

Christians out the failure of the Second

Crusade was just what nur al-din needed

to win over Damascus through

intimidation and charm he entreated them

to unite with him only as one he

preached could they have the strength to

overtake all the Crusader States the

demoscene 's finally succumbed to his

relentless campaign

in April 11 54 they invited him to enter

the city people rejoiced at the

prospects of good times ahead rich and

poor peasant and artisan but won't

offered their prayers to grant them ear

a longer life and victory of the

Christians

they were throwing rice petals flowers

people really shouting whoring him and

praising his courage and really they

were happy

knurl Dean was the first pry and give

the Arabs a feeling that we are one

people and that if we get together we

can actually do it for the first time

the two powerful wealthy cities of

Muslim Syria were united under the same

ruler a man focused on the jihad whose

objective was one day to drive the

Crusaders out the entire eastern flank

of the Crusader Kingdom was now in

knurled Dean's control

he was tightening the noose and now

began the final phase of his master plan

to surround the Christians entirely by

taking control of a rich and powerful

land to the south

Egypt by 1160 the goal of the Muslims

now united under neuralgia was to

encircle the Crusader Kingdom he already

ruled Syria now he wanted to take

command of Egypt and it's independent

capital Cairo Cairo was like a beautiful

bride with an impotent husband waiting

to be taken and absolutely necessary in

knurl Dean's eyes if there was any

chance of defeating the Crusaders and

there was also a big worry on the part

of new rule Dean that if we don't take

in the Crusaders might

the Crusaders also coveted Cairo Egypt

was a rich and strategically positioned

country and in the early 11th 60s it was

up for grabs

Egypt wanted to remain independent

it was the stronghold of the Shia branch

of Islam and was just as determined to

resist nur Aldin Sunni Orthodox Muslims

as the Christians but in 1168

the Christians made a fatal mistake and

handed nur al-din a great advantage

the crusaders perpetrated a brutal

massacre of shia muslims in an egyptian

town near Cairo

if the Crusaders have acted differently

they would have taken Cairo with the

greatest of ease for the city notables

were ready to surrender it but when they

heard of the massacres perpetrated by

the Christians they decided to resist

the Egyptians were left with little

choice but to plead with Nordine for

help

nur al-din was only too eager to her he

sent in his most talented and ambitious

young general to help the Egyptians

defend Kyle his name was salary

to the Muslim world Saladin is a legend

his heroic reputation was carefully

crafted by one man his close friend and

confident Bahaa el-din I said when Lena

in the law why shadow and Mohan Baha

Alden was close to and a great admirer

of Saladin falala while he was him I

bore witness to the genuineness of the

raised stories told about the noble hero

Saladin like a medieval spin-doctor he

put a gloss on the great deeds of his

master one could swear that from the

time is it out he did not spend one

silver coin except when she had Saladin

shared his master nur al-din ambition to

control both Syria and Egypt and drive

out the Crusaders but under his own

leadership and that meant taking on nur

Aldin himself his first step was to

assume command of all of Egypt from the

Shia rulers by any means necessary

[Music]

[Music]

the fact that some people who were in

solid ins way in his path to power

conveniently died at appropriate moments

has led other people to suggest at the

time and since that Saladin had

something to do with those convenient

demises that's impossible to prove

people did die with distressing

regularity by the end of 1169 with all

his rivals conveniently out of the way

Saladin was now the unchallenged ruler

of Egypt controlling as much territory

as his mentor nur al-din Nordine used to

call Saladin the ambitious definitely

Noureddine wanted to punish Saladin for

his treason five years later before he

could cut his young lieutenant down to

science nur al-din died under mysterious

circumstances

it was 57

saladin rushed from Cairo to nur Aldens

fortress stronghold Aleppo but a

successor had already been announced the

son of nur Aldin was the new ruler of

Syria al Sally

he was just twit but young as he was Al

Sally was no pushing he refused to allow

Saladin to enter the city and forced his

army to camp outside the gates of a

level

the young leader then took his boldest

step he called on the services of a

group of religious fundamentalist hitmen

to eliminate his rival their name has

gone down in history the assassins the

word assassin is derived from her she

she ashish we all know is marijuana and

the story was that the only way they

could be worked up to go and kill

someone was by drugging them out of

their skulls

the assassins tracked Saladin down to

his tent outside the city walls they got

through his guards

killing one Saladin was lucky to escape

with only a flesh wound the

assassination of Saladin would have been

a tremendous blow to the cause and when

the assassin actually got into a stem

also created total panic you can just

imagine it a year passed before Saladin

returned determined to capture eleven

this time he was taking no chances

he ringed his quarters with guards and

even scattered chopped dust and cinders

around the tent to detect footprints

still despite the security the assassins

struck again in a curious and disturbing

way by his pillow they left a present

some pastries and with them a Death Note

warning Saladin to retreat or next time

they would succeed in assassinating him

saladin fled aleppo again

it was seven years before Saladin's

fortunes chain

in 1181 his rival al sali now 19 years

old died like his father and grandfather

before him another victim who died in

uncertain circumstances I have no

problems in believing that Saladin was

ruthless what's the problem I mean in

order to survive in that world you had

to be whether he was responsible for the

killing of knurl Dean son one doesn't

know Syria and Egypt now belong to

Saladin 80 years of Muslim disunity were

over now he has encircled the Crusader

States he is threatening to strangle

them into oblivion and I think what we

can see happening as far as the

Crusaders are concerned is a real

heightening of the temperature a

heightening of the level of threat and

an awareness that that really things are

moving inexorably towards some kind of

serious confrontation having fought and

bullied the Muslim world into a

coalition Saladin would now have to

deliver a knockout blow

against the Christians of the Holy Land

by 1183 Saladin was at last ready to

strike against the Christians and

claimed Jerusalem

the ambition of the greatest Muslim

leader in the century hung like a cloud

of the Crusaders as they prepare to do

battle for their kingdom any rise in

Saladin's power is a cause for suspicion

in our eyes he's a man wise in council

and valiant in war so we had great

reason to fear that when Saladin had

increased his empire twofold he would

rise against the kingdom with greater

force and harris's more violently than

ever while the Muslims were unified the

Christians in Jerusalem were at their

weakest they were led by Baldwin the

fourth a king who from an early age had

been crippled by disease he was playing

one day and as playful boys do he began

to pinch each other's arms the other

boys gave evidence of pain forming felt

nothing and he began to reach years of

maturity and became apparent that he was

suffering from the terrible disease of

leprosy impossible to refrain from tears

when speaking of this great misfortune

day by day his conditioned rulers

Baldwin became so ill it was clear he

could no longer rule his kingdom in the

autumn of 1183 from his sickbed he

appointed his brother-in-law key of

loosing young as regent of the realm

many thought key to weak to rule but he

was determined to prove his leadership

by taking on the might of Saladin he

would be helped by an ally at court

a brutal prince with a deep hatred of

Saladin Raynald of shanty owned it was

Raynald who would trigger the long

awaited war for four decades Christians

had respected the rights of Muslims to

pass through their territory on trade

routes between Egypt and Syria but in

January 1187 Reynald broke the truce

he launched an unprovoked attack on a

richly Laden Muslim Caravan he took the

noblemen and women prisoner and

plundered their possessions seized a

treacherously taking the booty animals

and weapons he threw all the travelers

in dungeons much tweeting and torturing

them when they reminded him of the truth

he replied tell you Mohammed release you

when news of this attack was brought to

Saladin he said this is unacceptable

killing unarmed pilgrims on their way to

worship and whatever else I do or don't

do this is one head I must have Reynolds

brutal attack gave Saladin his excuse

for war he gathered a formidable army

drawn from every corner of his empire

20,000 foot soldiers and over 10,000

cavalry he marched towards a team near

the shores of Lake Galilee till that

point that that army was created Saladin

was viewed essentially as an important

leader but one amongst many who had

basically been fighting his own side in

order to achieve this unity the first

big chance for him to show what this

army he had created was capable of doing

was at the Battle of

in June 1187 forces that Saladin had

gathered began to assemble in this broad

plane down behind me here we can imagine

streams of Muslim horsemen and foot

soldiers coming in from Iran from Syria

from Egypt Saladin had thrown down the

gauntlet

mmm ghee had to respond he assembled the

entire Christian force from castles and

cities across the kingdom 1,300 nights

including Templars and Hospitallers and

15,000 foot soldiers forty miles in that

direction behind that modern settlement

at over the hills was Sofia the base

where the Frankish army gathered as

their standard they carried the most

prized holy relic the true cross they

believed that would protect them from

defeat and ensure victory today many

Catholics still believe in the power of

holy relics

maybe he cut was omnipotence nail in a

trampled monastery in Jerusalem

protected in a gold relic way lies a

fragment of what is said to be the true

cross the very little piece of what's in

form of a cross is a part of the real

cross on which Jesus was crucified the

cross is so precious to us can imagine

we should not consider relics as magic

objects if we are protected by a relics

this is because God protects us or his

holy angels protect us believing God was

on their side

he Reynold and the Christian army were

ready to face Saladin on July the 3rd

the Frank set out from the camp at

Caesarea in good order initially the

March went reasonably well because the

day wore on Higa hotter and hotter and

hotter with no water in the desert

plains the heavily armored Christian

army suffered from severe dehydration in

the heat of the day the franks were

struggling intensely they began to

slowly lose cohesion they began to lose

formation like enormous train slowly

running out of momentum going up a long

long hill they ground to a halt they

were there an open place no water hardly

anything to eat then like an oasis in

the distance the Christian spotted Lake

Galilee a chance at last to quench their

thirst

Saladin's biographer Bahaa el-din

revealed how that day his master laid a

trap for the Christians the Christians

surrounding themselves with infantry

tried to fight their way towards the

lake in the hope of reaching water but

Saladin realized their objective and

planted himself and his army in the way

saladin and his men now stood between

the Crusader army and the lake

Kiev loosing you had no option in a

desperate bid to reach the water

he ordered a charge on Saladin's men

of the weakened Crusader Knights were no

match for Saladin's highly disciplined

on charge after charge was repelled by

the Muslim

and at the end of the day saladin still

had another trick up his sleeve in the

summer this place is a tinderbox this

stuff's incredibly dry saladin

compounded the crusaders thirst by

setting fire to it and the smoke was

driven onto the crusaders by the wind

and made their throats even drier

the Muslim soldiers piled on the mizzen

creating a terrible constant noise drums

cymbals chanting to inflict fear and

foreboding on the Crusader on

it must be an awful experience to be

stuck out in the open

knowing that really the following day

you are likely to meet your death

on the morning of July 4th the

Christians who remain prepared to make a

final step the foot soldiers saw here

the horns of Hattin an old Iron Age port

where they thought they could be safe

they marched up this ascent here and

here in the crater was set up the Red

Tent and pinky of Lucy on

you can imagine here in this crater very

evocative scenes the few remaining

hundred horsemen twirling around trying

to get themselves organized manacles

recorded at the sacred gold reliquary

holding the precious relic of the true

cross was hustled into these Red Tent

for safe as the exhausted Christians

began to collapse the disciplined Muslim

army closed in for the kid sensing

victory Saladin commanded his troops to

capture ghee Reynold and the Red Death I

was at the certain side when we see the

franks retreating before the Muslim on

slope they cried out for joy we have

conquered an something turns to me and

said be quiet we will not have beaten

them until the tent falls as he spoke

detention

the relic of the true cross was seized

Saladin's victory over the Crusaders

seemed to be complete

July 11 87 the Battle of her team was

over

Saladin had defeated the Crusader army

finally he was face to face with his

sworn enemy Reynold Saladin wanted

revenge for the brutal attack on the

Muslim Carragher he had given orders for

both transferring us and the king of the

franks key to be brought before him the

king complained of thirst

so the Sultan had a glass of rose water

brought for him from which he drank

and then he passed it on to Reynold the

certain cried out at the king this

godless man did not have my permission

to drink and would not save his life

that way and with one hand cut off

penalty he assumed he would be next

Saladin assured him very peacefully very

gently that Kings he said literally

Kings do not kill Kings and Reno was an

evil man and he deserved to be killed

because of his evil deeds and that was

really the exception and not the norm

but there was no mercy for the hospitals

and the templates the finest nights of

the Crusader states dedicated to

fighting the forces of Islam

Sutton chose to put them to death to

kill them all without exception it was

partially the decision of Saladin to

impose some shock and all these you say

are your best warriors there they exist

no longer

[Music]

losing the battle of a team was a

catastrophe for the Crusader states in

the Holy Land he and the king of

Jerusalem had lost almost everything

they had stripped almost every castle

almost every city of its defenders they

had as it were gathered up all their

dice in their hand and thrown it and

they had all turned up wrong the

Christian army had been annihilated and

the king of Jerusalem was now a prisoner

of Saladin

Saladin's dream was finally realized I

think it's true to say that hattingh is

a key victory for sounding and that he's

aware that this is a moment in history

in which he's gonna be able to make his

mark in Islam Saladin could justify all

the years of struggle to bring his

people together he had delivered the

crushing victory they so desired they

drank the cup of fate and the spears

courted them the horse's hooves mass

doesn't clouds merged together by the

thunder of neighing horses the lightning

of polished swords flashing alongside

them this was a hard day for them

believers

God decreed the victory of our faith

[Music]

the captured gold relic containing the

fragment of the true cross was paraded

through the streets of Damascus a final

insult to the Christians

in fact the Christian defeat had been

foretold two years earlier by their

official chronicler William of Tyre

where it by the sand disasters which are

occurring in the kingdom so frequently

indeed almost continually I have

resolved to abandon the pen and commit

to the Silence of the tomb the chronicle

of events which we had undertaken to

write for posterity

[Music]

saladin swept through the Christian

Kingdom of Jerusalem Acre Caesarea and

Jaffa all quickly fell in October 1187

the Muslim army reached the greatest

prize of all Jerusalem they set up camp

outside the walls and prepared to lay

siege to the city the defenders begged

for mercy

at first Saladin wasn't minded to grant

the Christians this he wanted to

slaughter them in the way that the

Crusaders had killed the Muslims back in

1099 inside Jerusalem the Christians

knew they stood no chance in a siege

against Saladin in his mighty army so

they played a clever psychological game

if Saladin attacked the city they

threatened to destroy the al-aqsa mosque

one of Islam's most sacred sites

Saladin thought about this he decided to

take a prudent line of action he would

spare the Christians if they paid a

ransom this was agreed and Saladin

entered the holy city his goal his

target in peace

[Music]

for our lord saladin this was a great

victory a great victory

[Music]

the reason he is hero-worshipped in the

Arab world is that he was the one who

took back Jerusalem made it an open city

once again for believers of the book and

transformed the fortunes of that world

Jerusalem was in Muslim hands again and

it had been taken peacefully

unlike the Crusader occupation 88 years

earlier but the Muslims showed their

contempt for the Christians in symbolic

wings when Saladin's victorious troops

entered Jerusalem in October 11 87 one

of the first things they did was to tear

the cross off the Dome of the rock and

have that cross dragged through the

streets of Jerusalem kicked abused spat

on the Crusader kingdoms were crushed

the fall of Jerusalem sent shockwaves

through the Christian world but not for

long

almost immediately they would be a call

for a Third Crusade

the shocking news of the Crusaders

defeats at a teen in 1187 and especially

the loss of Jerusalem reverberated

throughout the West almost immediately

Pope Gregory the 8th made an emotional

appeal for a Third Crusade

anyone of say mind who does not we would

seem to have forgotten not only his

Christian faith but even his very

humanity with those savage barbarians

thirsting after Christian blood and

using all their force to profane the

holy places and banished the worship of

God from the land

the difference for the Third Crusade as

opposed to the second is that now

Western Europe has a very clear goal

it's very clear what this crusade is

going to be about it's going to be about

getting Jerusalem back and the kind of

shockwaves that went through Western

Europe after hattingh and after the loss

of Jerusalem were immense

Europe's most powerful leaders rallied

to reclaim the holy city of Jerusalem

once and for all in May 1189 the first

army of 100,000 men left Germany led by

Emperor Frederick Barbarossa Emperor

Frederick Barbarossa was the Holy Roman

Emperor the most powerful man in Western

Europe he'd been on the throne for over

40 years by this time he was a veteran

from the Second Crusade one of the few

men still living at the time of the

Third Crusade his Authority was enormous

Saladin was terrified he knew that this

was the strongest car that the

Christians had to blame

but Barbarossa drowned in a freak

accident crossing a river on the way to

Jerusalem most of his vast army lost

heart and turned for home

[Music]

this left the newly crowned King of

England at the head of the largest

Crusader on the 33 year old Richard the

first in our mind we think of him was

one of the greatest kings of England or

the mythical kings of the English past

in reality he probably thought of

himself far more as what we might think

of today as a Frenchman because his key

lands were in what we now think of as

France and the Algerian Empire which

held England and large parts of the of

the continent stretched throughout what

we now think of as the French world

Richard the first was the son of eleanor

of aquitaine

and already an experienced general he'd

spent most of his life fighting in

europe and knew that success in battle

required a full war just he's very aware

that crusading costs money and that if

he wants to prosecute a successful

crusade and he wants to achieve his

goals he's got to have the financial

backing necessary to do this he's

prepared to literally take money

anywhere he can get it a new tax called

the Saladin tithe had been levied to

finance this third concede in addition

Richard sold everything he owns

castles towns and Lordships to ensure he

could buy the very best military heart

it was said he would have sold London if

he could have he was determined not to

repeat the fiasco of the Second Crusade

his was to be the best organized and

most highly equipped campaign ever

after 14 months of preparation Richard

set off to the Holy Land on the Third

Crusade meanwhile confident in his power

Saladin decided to release his prisoner

G of loosing yon he believed the deposed

Christian King was no longer a threat

the Sultan had undertaken to release

Kinki he stipulated that the king should

not draw soul against him ever again and

he would be servant forever but the King

broke faith and God curse him but key

breaking his pledge to self gather his

remaining forces and set out to redeem

himself and rebuild his kingdom he was a

man who'd been humiliated he was shamed

in the eyes of Christendom who was the

man who'd lost the holy city of

Jerusalem in order to get his reputation

back he had to do something spectacular

he settled on a very very bold idea

indeed here we see the city of Acre it

was the most important port in the

Levant it was could be the base of a new

wealthy kingdom he was a king without a

kingdom he needed to start somewhere the

fortified port of acre had fallen to

Saladin's forces soon after the loss of

Jerusalem

now with his army of 400 knights and

7,000 foot soldiers he was determined to

take it back we can actually see some of

the area that he attacked here looking

at this map we have down here the Tower

of flies which you can see out there in

the harbor and stretch along there other

sea walls and this route is the medieval

city that gieg had chosen to besiege he

said his troops up in a ring around here

and that was where he entrenched his men

and dug in

[Music]

the Muslims inside hater bombarded DS

army with stone rocks even body parts

word of the siege got back to Saladin

and his army charge down the coast to

help defend the city with soudns forces

in place

he and his deceiving army couldn't break

through

over to punishing yields Muslims and

Christians fought an on-and-off battle

over 80s he knew that to break the

deadlock he would need help

and it would come Richard the first and

his army of 17,000 or on the way

in June 11 91 after months of meticulous

preparation and a year-long journey

Richard the first of England and his

17,000 strong army arrived in Acre the

accursed King of England arrived he's

coming had a great ceremony for he was a

mighty warrior of great courage and his

coming had the dread and frightening

effect on the heart of the Muslims

Richard and his men were an instant

source of inspiration for the weary

Christian army

Richard's seized control of the Bell and

within weeks he broke the bit

he came with a cutting edge of Western

military technology he had enormous

siege engines which was able to bring

with him these things were most

individual characters to the Crusaders

they had names like God's own catapult

and bad neighbor and they struck the

fear of God into them as an opponent's

siege engines brought in pieces and then

reassembled in the east allow the

Crusaders to intensify their bombardment

of acre and to get right up to the war

but the Chronicles revealed house

Saladin managed to counter-attack these

huge towers a Syrian soldier offered

Saladin a recipe for Greek fire a kind

of medieval napalm made from crude oil

and sticky wood resin it was devastating

burning to a cinder anything or anyone

in its path Christ this is actually very

difficult stuff to make and the key

component is naphtha because naphtha

provides sticky fire that is fire which

will not mean is splash all over

something that's not too difficult but

will stick to it and hold and set it

afire volley after volley a Greek fire

rained onto the Crusader arm

son Richard was on the defensive as all

three of his giant siege towers went up

in flames

blazing meteors of Greek fire hit their

targets the weakest friends

deprived of his great war machines

Richard desperately needed an eel

strategy

he offered his soldiers four gold coins

for every stone they could remove from

the base of one of the towers what he

did was to put so much effort on the one

particular point that a breach in the

war was created it was a gaping hole

through which the Crusaders would be

able to enter the city after five weeks

of fighting Richard's troops broke

through the walls of Acre capturing the

city and taking two thousand seven

hundred of Saladin's men hostage the

unempioyed rise of Saladin had been

brought to a halt Baha Aldean witnessed

the impact of this defeat on the Muslim

later I came into Saladin's prisons

it was like a parent behaved for child

they offered a mud comfort I could and

exalted him to think of his duty to

Palestine and Jerusalem to save the

Muslims left in the city

[Music]

Aker was a great victory for the

Crusaders and for Richard his courage in

battle gained him Fame throughout the

Christian world and with it a new name

Richard the Lionheart the Third Crusade

could now advance to Jerusalem to

recapture the holy city but first

Richard had a deal with the thousands of

hostages

he issued an ultimatum to seven the men

would be released in return for a ransom

of two hundred thousand gold pieces and

the return of the relic of the true

cross negotiations dragged on and

Richard the lion-hearted began to

conclude probably correctly that Saladin

was using those hostages as a way to

drag out the negotiations and wear down

the France Richard became increasingly

frustrated and eventually he did

something that some people have

considered a war crime and that he was

criticized for at the time

Richards actions that day at Hager have

gone down in history as one of the most

ruthless episodes throughout all the

Crusades the enemy brought out the

prisoners for whom God decreed martyrdom

with the sword they killed them in cold

blood

[Music]

the massacre of the Muslim prisoners

that were taken in acre is is still

talked about it was a very brutal

episode

Richard was totally brutal in my opinion

Bridget took such drastic action because

he believed he had no alternative and in

the coldest most stark military terms

it's true

these men were a drain on him he had to

feed them here to look after he had to

guard them he was hardly going to

release them they come and attack him

again so what he did was tried to

resolve the situation quickly and

effectively was a terribly brutal thing

to do but it enabled him to carry on his

momentum to begin to march south and to

fulfill his mission of recapturing the

holy city

the triumphant Crusader force of 12,000

men left acre in pocus 1191 and marched

south toward their final goal Jerusalem

saladin had a stop richard the lionheart

smart south toward jerusalem if not he

risked losing the holy city and his grip

on the muslim world when the Crusaders

left acre they were in super confident

mood they were convinced that they would

be able to defeat the Muslims they set

out in a very very particular formation

inland with the foot soldiers without

vital role of protecting the heavy

cavalry the cavalry themselves were

lined up with the Templars at the front

and hospitalists at the back the

strongest men to protect the most

vulnerable parts of the March then

between the cavalry and the sea came the

baggage train the weakest the slowest

the most difficult bit to defend then

finally out to sea there came the

Crusader fleet essential to keep the

army supplied this was in the textbook

March

[Music]

the Third Crusade had become a war of

wills between two great men Richard and

Saladin both were warriors diplomats and

strategists of the highest order

Saladin was determined to draw the

Crusaders into battle he bombarded them

constantly but Richard was unstoppable

and what he demonstrates in this period

is enormous charisma as a military

leader an enormous discipline he shows

himself to be able to keep his troops

marching even as they're being peppered

by arrows we hear about people having

ten arrows sticking out of them and

still staying in formation still

marching this completely wrecks

Sullivan's plan to pick off the

Crusaders as they're making this march

and it's this discipline that shows

Richard was a true military genius

Rich's army survived the onslaught by

Saladin and reached the Crusader town of

Jaffa in September 11 91 a month later

he left the coast and rode inland

towards Jerusalem Richard was now

tantalizingly close to the holy city but

then he made a monumental and startling

decision that shocked his army to the

court and has been debated by historians

ever since

it was 45 miles from Jaffa to Jerusalem

yet Richard stopped a few miles short of

the holy city he come to realize the

dictum Crusaders captured it they would

not be able to hold onto it the masses

in the army were furious they come to

free the holy city they couldn't

countenance not attacking it Richard

overruled them turn them around and went

back to the coast

[Music]

Richard feared his depleted force of

12,000 men couldn't hope to take the

holy city and defended against Saladin's

vast army drawn from across the Muslim

world he had failed in the primary

mission of the Third Crusade to

recapture Jerusalem deep in his heart

and deep in his motivation of him was a

real desire to march on Jerusalem and to

take this holy city that was what the

crusade was all about but at the same

time he was also a general and he was a

king and so he knew that military sense

told him Jerusalem could not be taken he

didn't have the resources and the very

best it couldn't be held even if he

managed to take you through some miracle

[Music]

in the spring of 1192 Richard returned

to acre the coastal town captured 8

months earlier he decided to consolidate

the cities he had taken along the coast

leaving the door open for a future

crusade but his decision handed the

initiative back to his arch rival

Saladin no longer forced to protect

Jerusalem Saladin launched a lightning

attack on the coastal town of Jaffa next

to modern-day Tel Aviv here a jaffa

Saladin tried to break the Christian

stranglehold on the coast

he sent a group of men in and they

besieged the city very quickly they got

in and only the Citadel resisted the

garrison was desperate they sent an

appeal up to Richard who was way up the

coast at a hail Richard reacted

immediately he gathered a tiny force of

only 55 knights and crossbowmen and

sailed down the coast to Jaffa on the

beach just in front of the town rigid

would display his inspired military

leadership

[Music]

the Crusaders were staring defeat in the

face but showing immense personal

bravery

Richard was beginning to turn the battle

around as Saladin looked on both these

men developed a healthy and real respect

for one another in the course of this

expedition

I think Saladin knew that Richard was a

real military force to be reckoned with

and I think Richard knew that Saladin

was almost unique in the Muslim world in

the fact that he'd created this unified

Empire

[Music]

Saladin's admiration for the Crusader

King grew as they watched Richard Drive

the Muslim forces off the beach and into

the town the battle was fought street by

street as the Christians try to take

Jaffa back and Saladin's troops during

the battle a volley of arrows brought

down Richards horse seeing the king

vulnerable and exposed Saladin ordered

his men to send him a replacement

as the battle wore on both sides were

overcome by exhaustion and fatigue but

ultimately Richards highly disciplined

and organized army proved too much for

Saladin's men and they retreated by

September 11 92 the two armies had

fought each other to a standstill

Saladin faced increasing discontent from

his Muslim allies he was no longer sure

that he could maintain this level of

armed struggle in armed warfare

definitely the reason for that was that

his soldiers were from the lands they

had not come from abroad they had not

been paid they were not going to follow

their leaders till Kingdom Come these

were people who came from neighboring

villages who came from the towns who had

families who had property who had lands

they had to tend to and they did not

like being away from that permanently

saladin decided the best option was to

make a truce with richard the lionheart

it was agreed the christians would keep

the coastline towns from jaffa to tyre

but Jerusalem would remain in Muslim

hands as a concession Christian pilgrims

will be allowed to enter Jerusalem to

worship at the Holy Sepulchre richard

the lionheart himself never set foot in

the holy city he refused to enter

Jerusalem as long as it was in the hands

of his enemy in October 11 92 Richard

left for Europe Saladin received an

envoy from his archrival pledging he

would return to rest the whole territory

of Jerusalem back once he had raised

more money and Men through messengers

Saladin sent his reply if the land were

to be lost he would rather it be taken

into Richard's mighty power than into

the hands of any other Prince just six

months later in March 11 93 Saladin was

dead at the age of 56 worn out by more

than five years of relentless marching

sieges and battle his loyal friend Baha

Aldean recalled the sad day he arrived

when he was already dead and transported

to God's favour and see his face

[Music]

Citadel ect

the world was overwhelmed by such a

sense of loss as gold alone could

comprehend each man's grief sorrows

chills and cries for help

kept him from looking at anyone else

barakallahu Phil Olivetti well I have

lower water in lavender honey Nadi

eyeshadow and earlier in the law

I think Sardis legacy was that he was

the man who captured back Jerusalem

capturing it really fulfilled many

aspiration among the Muslims of the

Middle East but for Richard the

Lionheart there was bitter irony in

Saladin's death so soon after he left

the Holy Land have Richard stayed just

over that one last winter his chief

enemy would have gone the Muslim world

fragmented there was a real succession

struggle after Saladin's death Richard

would have been perfectly placed to

exploit that

richard the lionheart never returned to

the homeland

he died in 1199 from an arrow wound he

received while fighting in Europe

Crusades would be periodically launched

over the next 100 years but the

enthusiasm for reclaiming the Holy Land

eventually began to wane really this

movement only achieves one victory and

he has won success and that's the first

crusade the reality of course is that

the Crusades never really managed to

dominate Islam in the course of the 12th

and 13th century and that really

throughout that period they're fighting

a losing battle they're trying

desperately to hold on or to retake and

they never achieve full vigil in 1291

the last Christian outpost acre fell to

the Muslims the 200 year Crusader

military occupation of the Holy Land was

over with the psychological scars

remained the Crusades had a very deep

impact on Arab society they were seen as

a barbarian incursion and stories of

those Crusades are still told in cafes

and in families as if they happened

yesterday and so whenever the West is

invaded that region again people say

it's another Crusade

after their victory in the first Cruiser

the Christian struggled desperately to

keep hold of

yet in the end Saladin's capture of

Jerusalem in 1187 was the death knell to

the Christian cause

the cuisine saw the collision of two

civilizations each fighting for the holy

land each believed in God was on their

side

the blood spilled on both suffered

redefined relations between Christians

and Muslims forever that epic clash

almost a thousand years ago of two IDs

Crusade and jihad still casts its shadow

to this day

[Music]

you