Reading Asbridge

Asbridge's Work:

Decided to borrow a book from a friend about the Crusades, mainly looking for interesting stories or information that might engage the students. Information like how Conrad - a prominent figure in the Second Crusade - took part in the First Crusade's Third Wave, led by Stephen of Blois. Stephen was defeated in battle and Conrad was allowed to leave the battle alive as he fought valiantly (these figures being important to the First and Second Crusades).

The book is titled the Crusade:  the war for the holy land by Thomas Asbridge. He is widely regarded as an excellent source and even my former teacher approved of this particular book, offering it many times for revision. This is my first time looking throughout the book and noticeably there are some key photographs I can refer to: the images of the maps and routes of the Crusaders will likely feature in my video, meanwhile the pictures of artwork depicting Saladin and Richard and other key figures will certainly be worthwhile for reference.

Certain facts that appear interesting within the Third Crusade:

• Saladin allegedly send fruit and snow to Richard when the King was ill with fever, the snow coming from the mountain and was to be melted into water. Additionally, Saladin had allegedly sent some of his men to deliver a horse to Richard - after seeing the Crusading King has lost his in battle. These actions were bred out of Muslim beliefs (the idea of helping those in need), however many like to believe it was also out of a profound respect between the two leaders. Saladin's chivalry and good character often being brought into Western writing; he even began to build  hospitals in areas he conquered such as Egypt, even denying his men the (then) convention of plundering and pillaging cities he captured. There are some out there that believe he used this as a means of spying on the Crusaders and, in fact, Saladin did discover Richard's forces had dwindled to 2,000 fit soldiers and 50 fit knights to use in battle (according to some research I did). Richard would not have been able to take Jerusalem with this number of men.
• While marching from Acre to Haifa, Richard decided to join the rear of his forces in an attempt to maintain morale and supervise equipment and other means of care and health. This followed after the Crusading forces had split into three, one division under Hugh of Burgundy - as appointed by Philip. A small force of Saracens had attacked the vanguard and word quickly spread to the back where Richard was; accounts claim he galloped to the frontlines like a "lightning bolt" to which morale was boosted.

There are likely more facts that might be interesting like these, however these will likely suffice. I will certainly include reference to Asbridge's work however the narrative presented in his work is too detailed for my video; I will be providing a concise overview of the chronological events however focusing on an ultimate question might be more beneficial to my work, allowing for a clear focus. Below is a picture of Asbridge: