1191
Fall of Acre
After a grinding two-year siege sustained by an arriving stream of European reinforcements, the Muslim garrison surrendered. When Saladin was slow to pay the agreed ransom, Richard had some 2,700 Muslim prisoners executed on the plain outside the city. The crusade gained a port; it lost much else. The massacre at Acre horrified the Muslim world and ensured that Saladin's successors would show no mercy when they eventually retook the city.
Eisai introduces Rinzai Zen to Japan
The Tendai monk Eisai returned from his second study trip to Song China bringing seeds of tea plants and the koan methodology of the Linji school. He would plant tea at the first temple he founded and spend his life arguing that Zen meditation was consistent with Japanese Buddhism. The tea culture he introduced would eventually evolve into the Japanese tea ceremony, one of the defining aesthetic practices of Japanese civilization.
Battle of Arsuf
Marching down the coast from Acre under constant harassment, Richard halted his column near Arsuf, ordered a disciplined charge at the critical moment, and broke Saladin's army on the beach. It was one of the rare times a Crusader army out-maneuvered Saladin in the field. The victory restored Crusader morale after years of defeat and demonstrated that Richard's tactical genius could match the great sultan's.
Richard I marries Berengaria at Limassol
Storm-driven to Cyprus, Richard the Lionheart conquered the island in a fortnight, deposed its Byzantine rebel ruler, and married his Navarrese bride in a hastily decorated chapel. Cyprus would stay in Latin hands for nearly four centuries, first under the Lusignans and later Venice. The conquest gave the Crusader states a secure offshore supply base and refuge that would prove invaluable after the fall of the mainland kingdoms.