Third Crusade - Richard 'Cœur de Lion'

Battle of Arsuf - 7 September 1191

Richard 'Cœur de Lion' & The English Army on Crusade

This week we move onto a new army. King Richard I in the Levant, with an army of English, during the Third Crusade. I have always found this era of time captivating, whether it be; Robin Hood and King John, or William Marshall who famously the only knight to best the great man himself King Richard 'The Lionheart'. But it is Richard himself that am focusing on here.  

Richard I 'In Command at Arsuf 1191'

One particular part of Richards reign that I find interesting is the Third Crusade. Richard is documented as being big tall strong character by Christian chroniclers but, also as a respected tactician and diplomat by the Muslims. For those that don't know, the Third Crusade took place in the 1189-1190s after Acre fell to the Ayyubid Sultanate, following the famous Battle of Hattin a few years earlier (as in think Kingdom of Heaven Film). 

Richard with Templar bodyguard

Following the Crusaders' recapture of Acre, Saladin moved to intercept Richard's army advancing south, just outside of the town of Arsuf. 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. There were other commanders present but Richard assumed overall command as the highest ranking, after Acre when King Philip returned to France.

The Army

In addition to this really interesting background of the Battle of Arsuf, it is also the first account of a battle on the march from more than one formal “reliable” source The Itinerarium Regis Ricardi as well as Muslim sources (other battles are recorded in ancient times). Now of course we have to take this account with a whole jar of cautiousness, but it did provide me with great information about how Richard organised the army and keep order in his troops while on the march, on the edge of the desert against a larger force with local knowledge. More on the battle next week. 

Richard charges into Battle

First I am going to post more information on the models in the army. Starting this article we have Richard, with a Templar bodyguard carrying his standard of three Lions on a red field. I have named the bodyguard 'Simon Templeton'.

Richards Lords and Household Knights

 
As some you might be aware this was probably not Richard’s standard at the time, more likely is two rampent lions facing each other. However by 1198 he was defiantly using three lions due to this seal being on royal documents of the time. However, for this army I took the licence to use both. In addition on the miniature there is a mix on the shield to the tabard.  

Centre - Hand Painted Royal Standard for Richard I in later Medieval Style

In this period in history knights had only just started the fashion of wearing household colours in the traditional sense we have, and with a little research, it is highly likely things were fluid in fashion at this time. My thinking here is the Crusade is the trigger for the adding of the third lion. The second leep of faith is the Templar bodyguard. William Marshal is know for being a Templar, one of Richard advisors, and while not on his crusade it is possible his older brother John was, for a time. Further to this there is documented evidence of a Templar Chapter-house patronised by Richard’s Father, with Richard also confirming these holdings when he came to power. Finally they helped towards Richard tax for the Crusade in 1188. So one English Templar selected as a bodyguard while in command of the combined crusader force is not a massive jump from reality. Especially important if people are going around assinating each other, which they were!

FitzWalter Steward of Scotland, Simon de Manning, Godfrey de Lucy Bishop of Winchester

 

Next we have Richard's Household Knights and major Lords. In the first batch we have; High Steward of Scotland Alan FitzWalter on the left, Simon de Manning Royal Standard Bearer carrying a later medieval style royal standard (my artistic license here), and on the right Godfrey de Lucy Bishop of Winchester. As a side note Godfrey is buried in my local city of Winchester and you can visit his tomb in the Cathedral, which I do frequently.

Guy of Lusignan, William de Ferrers 4th Earl of Derby, Robert de Stafford

I have three lesser Barons painted in the same livery, these three did start as three brothers of the de Ferrers family, but I later changed them to Guy who became Lord of Cyprus and Robert later Baron of Stafford keeping William the oldest brother.

Aubrey de Vere 2nd Earl of Oxford, Roger Bigod 2nd Earl of Norfolk, William d'Aubigny, 2nd Earl of Arundel

John Marshal Earl of Pembroke, Richord Brand, Richard de Camville

Two more batches of major Earls and Knights of England of the time. While I have found some historical references to these Knights actually existing in 1190-1198, I can't prove they went on crusade. Having said that Richard above, died at the siege of Acre, so we are in the right ball park. I don’t really mind here, I have found source saying yes, and sources saying no for named knights but happy if anyone feels passionately about something, just leave it in the comments below, for me its all about just adding backstory to the army, it dosen't always have to be 100% spot on. Other notable names I could have included were Sir Allen William Howard of Norfolk and Robert de Beaumont, 3rd Earl of Leicester.

English Archers

No medieval English army would be complete without the trusty longbow/archers. While the famed Welsh Longbow was put into wide practrice by the later Edward I, this is only around 50 years or so later, and again not massive leap of faith required to inculde these.  I am using old plastic Bretonnia miniatures, which I hand strung using string for 20 bows. Came out really well I think.

Wound markers made from spares

Small unit of Crossbows

Also added are a small unit of crossbows from Fireforge I think, above. I hand painted a few extra bits from the plastic box Bretonnia set to add as wound markers or defences if required. Following from the Archers & Crossbows are some converted plastic men at arms from the same range, and some earlier mixed manufacturers, Spearmen to bulk out the core of the army. I love how the Billmen have come out, and again it includes the classic English bill, though later, it is a great staple of a medievel army.

The staple English bill

 

English Spearmen Unit 

 
Fireforges plastic foot knights were a real pleasure to paint, and while recently there have been tones of really nice plastic ranges released, they were not around at the time of paining this army, in 2018. Foot knights always look great, and these are painted with lots of differnt style of Christian crosses from the period. Apprently when Richard and Philip of France, took the cross they agreed that the typical red cross on the white field would not be used by the English while on crusade, rather the white on red we think of today...amazing what you can learn from history when you look for it. A wonderful example of later propaganda in action though I think tons have just jumped on the Templar bandwagon but hey ho I don't really care.

English Foot Knights

Knights charging into battle

Left wing of the army

Finally within the army are some English Battle Pilgrims, led by a Warrior Priest from Games Workshop, and containing a wonderful 3d printed army standard bearer (not painted by me but converted) carrying a simple cross pennant. These have turned out great, nothing better than a crazyed bunch of zealot football fans on holiday....err sorry holy men, fighting for God and freedom. 

Friday night mad men

Next week I shall take a closer look at the battle and cover some Outremer I have painted to supplement this army. I will mainly be using Osprey Campaign 161 book to guide me so won't go too far wrong with that.

Thank you for reading and have a great weekend.