Richard the Lionheart : the mighty Crusader / David Miller.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Miller, David, 1938-

Contributor:

Constance L. Rosenthal Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Richard I, King of England, 1157-1199.

Richard.

Generals--England--Biography.

Generals.

Great Britain--Kings and rulers--Biography.

Great Britain.

Kings and rulers.

England.

Great Britain--History--Richard I, 1189-1199.

History.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

224 pages : maps ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003.

Summary:

King Richard I won an enduring reputation for personal courage in his numerous wars, but his reputation as a military commander, let alone as a political leader, is less certain. British historians in particular have judged him harshly for what has been seen as absenteeism: he spent so little time in England that his younger brother was eventually able to seize power while he was away. Yet Richard ruled an empire, and the bulk of his territories were on the European mainland. His ability to undertake a two-year campaign at the other end of the Mediterranean demonstrated strategic skills far in advance of other Crusader commanders. As David Miller observes, this was the furthest 'overseas deployment' of an English army to date. Of course, his army was actually an alliance of often mutually hostile elements and to hold this multinational force together for so long suggests the king's political talent has been undervalued. If King Richard ultimately failed to wrest the Holy City from Saladin and the Muslim armies, he restored the fortunes of the Crusader Kingdom that had been on the brink of extinction when he set out for the Middle East.

Contents:

1 The Background to the Third Crusade 29

2 The Start of the Third Crusade 46

3 The Cyprus Campaign 52

4 The Siege of Acre: 1189-91 61

5 The March from Acre to Jaffa and the Battle of Arsuf 80

6 The First Attempt to Reach Jerusalem 101

7 Interlude 116

8 Jerusalem

the Second Attempt 127

9 The Battle of Jaffa 136

10 The End of the Campaign 148

11 Main Fleet to the Holy Land 153

12 Logistics 166

13 Richard I as a Military Commander 185

Appendix A Vegetius's De Re Militari 197

Appendix B Richard I in His Own Words 201

Appendix C The Rulers of the Kingdom of Jerusalem 1099-1192 207.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Constance L. Rosenthal Book Fund.

ISBN:

0297847139

OCLC:

52695416