Richard the Lionheart by John Gillingham

In late November 1191 the Crusader army advanced inland towards Jerusalem. As the winter of 1191–1192 approached, sporadic negotiations between Richard the Lionheart and Saladin were taken up, though without any immediate result. Jaffa, they hoped, would be the base of operations in a drive to reconquer Jerusalem itself.

On 7 September 1191, after the Battle of Arsuf, the Crusader army proceeded from Arsuf to Jaffa, which the Crusaders took and fortified. The battle ensured that the Crusader presence in the south of Palestine was secure. It was the final armed encounter between the two monarchs before the ratification of the Treaty of Jaffa brought the Crusade to an end. The battle illustrated the determined spirit of Saladin and the courage and tactical skill of Richard. Although the Crusaders did not regain possession of Jerusalem, Christian pilgrims were permitted entry into the city, and the Crusaders were able to retain control of a sizable strip of land stretching from Beirut to Jaffa.Īlthough largely a footnote among the greater events that unfolded during the Crusades, the battle was a decisive encounter, in that it forced Saladin to negotiate an end to the immediate hostilities. It was the final battle of the Third Crusade, after which Saladin and King Richard were able to negotiate a truce. The Battle of Jaffa took place during the Crusades, as one of a series of campaigns between the army of Sultan Saladin (Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb) and the Crusader forces led by King Richard I of England (known as Richard the Lionheart).

Richard the Lionheart by John Gillingham