Battle of Arsuf 1191
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1191 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Medieval (500–1499) | derived from year |
| Location | Israel | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Third Crusade | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Ayyubid Sultanate, Kingdom of England, Kingdom of France, Kingdom of Jerusalem, Knights Hospitaller, Knights Templar | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 32.1944, 34.8069 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Arsuf took place on 7 September 1191, as part of the Third Crusade. It saw a multi-national force of Crusaders, led by Richard I of England, defeat a significantly larger army of the Ayyubid Sultanate, led by Saladin.
Following the Crusaders' capture of Acre, Saladin moved to intercept Richard's advancing army just outside of the city of Arsuf (Arsur in Latin) as it moved along the coast from Acre towards Jaffa. In an attempt to disrupt the cohesion of the Crusader army as they mobilized, the Ayyubid force launched a series of harassing attacks that were ultimately unsuccessful at breaking their formation. As the Crusaders crossed the plain to the north of Arsuf, Saladin committed the whole of his army of 35,000 troops to a pitched battle. The Crusader army, with 25,000 troops, maintained a defensive formation as it marched, with Richard awaiting the ideal moment to mount a counterattack. However, after the Knights Hospitaller launched a charge at the Ayyubids, Richard was forced to commit his entire force to support the attack. The Crusader charge broke the Ayyubid army; Richard was able to restrain his cavalry from a rash pursuit, regrouping them to achieve victory.
Following the engagement, the Crusaders secured control over the central coast of Palestine, including the city of Jaffa.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Arsuf (revision 1378275864), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- First siege of Arsuf 1099 · 0 km
- Battle of Tabsor 1918 · 7 km
- Battle of Jaffa (1917) 1917 · 11 km
- Battle of Jaffa (1192) 1192 · 16 km
- Siege of Jaffa 1799 · 17 km
- Battle of Megiddo (1918) 1918 · 24 km
Other battles of the Third Crusade
- Siege of Acre (1189–1191) 1189
- Battle of Iconium (1190) 1190
- Battle of Philomelion (1190) 1190
- Battle of Jaffa (1192) 1192
All 5 battles of the Third Crusade →
Browse more: battles in Israel · Asia · Medieval battles