The Third Crusade Launches, and Barbarossa Drowns
Europe's three most powerful kings answer the fall of Jerusalem, but the campaign loses its most experienced commander before reaching the Holy Land
Quick facts
- Crusade leaders
- Frederick I Barbarossa, Philip II of France, Richard I of England
- Barbarossa's death
- Drowned crossing the Saleph River, Cilicia, 10 June 1190
- Effect
- German army largely disintegrated after his death
- Result
- Richard I becomes the crusade's dominant leader
What happened
Pope Gregory VIII called for a new crusade after Jerusalem's fall, and three of Europe's most powerful rulers took up the cross: Frederick I Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor, Philip II of France, and Richard I of England. Frederick, the most militarily experienced of the three, led a large army overland through Anatolia and won a battle against the Seljuks along the way, but drowned crossing the Saleph River in Cilicia on 10 June 1190, apparently after being swept away while trying to cross or bathe. Much of his army, deprived of its leader, disintegrated or turned back, and only a fraction reached the Holy Land. Philip II sailed separately with an army of 650 knights and 1,300 squires. Richard I, soon to be called "the Lionheart" for his battlefield conduct, became the campaign's dominant figure by default.
Why it matters
Barbarossa's death removed the crusade's most capable and experienced military leader before the fighting in the Levant had even begun, leaving Richard I to carry the campaign largely alone and shaping the entire character of the Third Crusade around his particular strengths and limitations.
How we know
Frederick's drowning and its effect on his army's cohesion are described in the World History Encyclopedia's narrative of the Third Crusade's opening stages, drawing on western chronicle accounts of the German contingent's march.
Sources
- World History Encyclopedia. Third Crusade · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- World History Encyclopedia. Saladin · Reputable sourceworldhistory.org · The domain "worldhistory.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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