Thomas Andrew Archer

Book received from NetGalley.

Another reprint of a much older book by Endeavor Press. This book mainly uses journals, material lists, ship manifests and church documents to give an idea of what Richard I aka Richard the Lionheart went through to keep his promise to follow the cross and free Jerusalem. I was particularly interested in the section, small though it was, on what happened during his capture and King John's first chance at governing the kingdom. It's not written how modern history books for the general public are written and I think some people will not like it due to that. I definitely like it as a research book since so many materials are printed verbatim in the book.… (more)

A good book, an interesting and very readable compilation of primary sources about the Third Crusade, what we would now call a sourcebook, and I'd recommend it to anyone curious about the subject.

This was part of a 19th century publisher to put together learned but popular histories for the English public, and Archer went on to write several entries in the Dictionary of National Biography.

Archer’s footnotes are valuable in annotating the confusing similarities of names and titles, alternate names for places, correct mistakes in dates, and even trying to locate where certain settlements in Outremer were.

The famous stories from the Third Crusade are all here. Saladin (or his brother Saphadin) really did send Richard a horse after the king lost his at the Crusader assault on Jaffa. Richard did have almost 3,000 Moslem captives beheaded though both English and Islam accounts support the conclusion it was not gratuitous cruelty but impatience over stalled negotiations between Saladin and Richard. (They didn’t call them hostages for nothing.) A few noble emirs were kept alive because both armies were always looking to cash in with aristocrat redemption.

Richard and Saladin did really respect each other, and Crusader and Moslem accounts express similar admiration for the opposition’s leader, and it seems sincere and not the medieval equivalent of resume inflation.

Hospitalers and Templars really did bring a long-term, extensive knowledge of Palestine and its customs and politics that the short-term crusaders from Europe lacked.

And the sincere piety – and grumblings and occasional despair – of the Christian pilgrims comes through, an indication that the Crusades, whatever their faults, were not cynical, insane, moneymaking schemes.

Some of the lesser known bits are just as interesting: the penal code for misbehaving Crusaders, how Richard conquered the whole island of Cyprus en route to Jerusalem, the forged letter put out to quash the rumor that Richard hired the Order of Assassins that killed King Conrad, the tactics of employing crossbows and how dismounted knights used their lances like pikes in extremity, the long negotiations that brought Richard’s crusade to an end, and Saladin and Richard’s final conversation.

Richard comes across as not only charismatic and a skilled warrior in combat but also a keen student of logistics. In his dealings with the French and Christians in Outremer, he had to overcome resistance and internal dissension. For instance, he talked the French out of assaulting Jerusalem – the Crusade never took it – because the Crusaders did not have enough men and Saladin has poisoned the wells for miles around the city so their mounts would have to go off station to be watered.

These days Richard might be referred to as a coalition commander. Saladin faced similar problems on the Moslem side.
The sources for this crusade, says Archer, are numerous. These are the sources that modern historians spin all those thick volumes out of. The main ones are Bohâdin (a confidant of Saladin), Richard de Templo reputed writer of the Itinerarium Regis Ricardi, Roger of Howden, and some Ernoul thrown in for color.
Those competing accounts of the same events unsurprisingly differ in telling details but agree on others.

My review copy from the publisher was a kindle edition, and it was a mess.

Words are slammed together, and footnotes jammed into the text, splitting the text up and making the reader struggle to tell which is which. I think the publisher scanned an old edition without editing the resulting chaos. Plenty of chapter titles in bold but no navigation to individual chapters.

It appears that the edition for sale on Amazon has solved some of these problems though I’m not sure about chapter navigation.… (more)