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>> so the person who tried to negotiate for peace was the brother of saladin. the name of saladin's brother is al adil. >> al adil is also known as saphadin to the crusaders. by all accounts, he is equally skilled as saladin, but he's his younger brother, so he had fewer opportunities to show that. >> saphadin is a man of courtesy, of culture. he enjoys talking with richard about music, about singing, about hunting. it's part of a positive relationship that's formed between the two of them. and in the course of the negotiations, there is a radical solution put forward by richard at one stage, ...

He was a general, a brutal general. that's what saladin was. >> saladin uses both diplomacy and violence to forge his empire. and as he prepares to finally attack jerusalem, the crusader kingdom is in turmoil. >> the politics of the kingdom of jerusalem are horrendously complicated. we have different factions. we have vendettas. we have warring families. it's a little bit like "the godfather," an episode of "game of thrones," and even an easter mass all rolled into one. >> and a new ruler has just emerged on the throne, guy of lusignan. >> guy of lusignan comes from a noble family in the west ...

Richard had to rush back to england to rescue his kingdom. but finally, in 1197, in the middle of a battle, he was hit by an arrow in his chest and was ultimately killed. richard was a great king who lived by the sword and died by the sword. >> at the end of the third crusade, saladin is able to return to damascus where he is given a hero's welcome. but he has spent years and years fighting, physically and mentally, he is shattered. and just six or seven months after richard has gone home, saladin falls ill. and on the 4th of march, 1193, the great hero of the near east dies. >> this was a man...

>> as the crusaders set out, saladin is very well prepared. he has a huge army. he has a lot of water. he has a lot of military supplies. and he also takes the precaution of spoiling the wells that are on the route. >> this was july, so very hot in northern palestine, very dry. saladin ordered his men to burn the dry grass, and the wind was blowing westward, so all the smoke and the heat went the direction of the crusader army. >> thus causing them to choke, to swelter, to suffer even more. to add and to compound to the chaos, they're beating their drums really loudly.

Further south and try to take all the coastal cities because in this way, he can block jerusalem from any kind of serious enforcement from the west. >> as richard the lionheart and his army moves down the coast, saladin loses battle after battle after battle. >> a great lethal warrior, sort of scattering people in front of him. for saladin. >> it's another setback, another humiliation. >> you can imagine a man who's used to winning victory after victory now finding himself losing, and not only losing but losing to this small ragtag army of crusaders. >> the best thing he can do is to retreat t...