he defeat of the Crusader army at the Battle of Hattin on July 4th, 1187 by Saladin's much larger army and the fall of Jerusalem to the Muslims were the triggers that started the Third Crusade. One of those Crusaders captured by Saladin was William, the Marquis of Montferrat a man in his early seventies. One of his sons, Conrad had been travelling to the Holy Land at the time of the battle and when he arrived at Acre he was surprised to find it in the hands of the Muslim army. Escaping from Acre without getting caught, he sailed to Tyre and found it still controlled by the Crusaders but on the brink of surrender. Conrad had sailed to the Holy Land with a band of knights and instantly they took charge of the situation.

Outside the walls of Tyre, Saladin threatened to execute the Marquis if Conrad failed to surrender the port, but Conrad refused to save his father and give up his fellow Crusaders. Saladin accepted that Conrad could not be pursuaded to capitulate and moved on. In November of 1187 Saladin turned his attention back to Tyre and in late December launched both a seaborne and land attack, but the Crusaders were well prepared and captured the Muslim's ships and launched a devastating counter attack outside the walls of Tyre forcing Saladin to retreat inland.