Introduction

The Third Crusade of 1187-92 was both a pilgrimage and a holy war. Those who ‘took the cross’, by sewing a cross on to their clothing, had made a solemn religious vow to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Sepul­ chre in Jerusalem, supposedly the site of Christ’s tomb which had been found empty on the first Easter morning. But it was understood that, unlike traditional pilgrims, they also formed an army that was fighting to recover the territory of Christ from the hands of the Muslims.