Third Crusade
The Kings at Acre
Before Richard ever arrived on Cyprus, King Philip had landed at Tyre, where he was met by Conrad of Montferrat, who was now calling himself King of Jerusalem. The two men were cousins, so it was natural that Philip should support Conrad in his dispute with Guy. The two went together on April 20 to the siege at Acre.
Philip ordered the building of some siege towers, and otherwise took general control of the effort, but nothing else was done. It was agreed that they should wait for the English before attempting to storm the city. Richard arrived on June 8, so Philip did not have to wait very long.
Almost from the moment of his arrival, Richard took command of the siege. Although technically both kings merely commanded their own troops, it was Richard who was clearly the more energetic. For example, when both kings fell ill, even though Richard was much more sick, he was back in action more quickly than was Philip, and was visiting the lines almost as soon as he could stand. This was the sort of dynamic leadership that the besiegers needed.
Even so, little progress was made at first, for Saladin was still near by with his army. Whenever the besiegers pressed the city too closely, Saladin would attack the Christian camps. He was not strong enough to risk a pitched battle against so large a Frankish army, but he was strong enough to keep them from being able to concentrate solely on Acre.
And so the city held out for a little longer, but as June wore on, it became plain that Saladin was not going to be able to rescue the city. The walls were breached early in July, and on the 11th the garrison offered terms. They agreed to surrender the city, to give over two thousand prisoners, to pay two hundred thousand gold pieces, and to return the True Cross. The Latins accepted, and the garrison sent a swimmer to carry the news to Saladin.
The city itself could not fulfill the terms. It did not have the prisoners, Saladin did. It did not have the True Cross. And it did not have the money. Unfortunately, neither did Saladin.