Jerusalem was unfortunately retaken by the muslims in 1187, under the rule of Saladin. The fall of Jerusalem quickly reached Europe, Pope Urban III soon died because of shock, and his successor, Gregory VIII soon started to convene the new crusade. The first to respond to the call was William II of Sicily, who immediately abandoned the conflict with Byzantium, even though William died in 1189, the English, Danish, and Flemish ships also departed. In the meantime, Gregory VIII had also sent a legation to the Holy Roman Emperor who had participated in the second crusade, Frederick Barbarossa, now already nearly 70 years old. He decided to join the Third Crusade, which he sent out in 1189 with the largest Crusade Army assembled. He died unfortunately in the Armenian territory on June 10 while swimming through a river, only a small remnant of his army reached Tyre. Meanwhile in Europe, France, and England's Army finally started moving towards Jerusalem, led by Phillip II and Richard the Lion Heart. The two kings who finally led the Third Crusade were completely two different people Richard was a genius at war, whereas on the other hand Phillip was a skilled Politician. 

Richard and Phillip met at Messina where they signed an agreement about the rights in the crusade, Richard reached Cyprus after leaving Messina, Cyprus is a small island beside the coastline of Acre, Richard conquered it and this island became one of the biggest vital sources of supplies throughout the third Crusade and beyond. Richard arrived at Acre on June 8, where he joined the siege. A month later the city surrendered under Saladin's order. After conquering the City, Richard keeps going toward Jerusalem where he meets Saladin and leads the only pitched battle between Saladin and the Third Crusade. The battle occurred on September 7, 1191, at Arsuf, where Richard won the battle using his brilliant military skills. Saladin had to retreat with a heavy loss, and Saladin decided not to fight open battles with Richard again. Richard quickly recaptured Jaffa and established it as his base of operations, his next target was Ascalon in the south, before suggesting to attack Ascalon, Richard had already led the Crusaders twice to Jerusalem, but twice he had to retreat, without the control of the hinterland, He knew that he couldn't hold Jerusalem for long, but his suggestions were rejected by most of the Crusaders. Phillip II, on the other hand, had already returned to Europe and preyed upon Richard's land, Richard received urgent messages from England that requested his return. Richard was communicating with Saladin in the meantime where various peace proposals were made. Finally, on September 2, 1192, the two signed a three-year peace treaty which meant that Richard could finally go back and deal with things about his own country, on October 9 Richard left which declared the end of the third Crusade.