Having made himself sultan of Egypt, Saladin united the
Moslems of Syria under his sway and then advanced against the Latin Kingdom of
Jerusalem. The Christians met him in a great battle near the lake of Galilee.
It ended in the rout of their army and the capture of their king. Even the Holy
Cross, which they had carried in the midst of the fight, became the spoil of
the conqueror. Saladin quickly reaped the fruits of victory. The Christian
cities of Syria opened their gates to him, and at last Jerusalem itself
surrendered after a short siege. Little now remained of the possessions which
the crusaders had won in the East.
THIRD CRUSADE ORGANIZED, 1189 A.D.
The news of the taking of Jerusalem spread consternation
throughout western Christendom. The cry for another crusade arose on all sides.
Once more thousands of men sewed the cross in gold, or silk, or cloth upon their
garments and set out for the Holy Land. When the three greatest rulers of
Europe—Philip Augustus, king of France, Richard I, king of England, and
the German emperor, Frederick Barbarossa --assumed the cross, it seemed
that nothing could prevent the restoration of Christian supremacy in Syria.
