The siege of Acre
No, not that one...the one with Joaquin Phoenix.
I am deep in the research of the Siege of Acre, which began in 1189 when Guy de Lusignan, desparate to recover his reputation after the disastrous Battle of Hattin, sets out from his camp outside the city of Tyre to besiege Acre. Having lost the True Cross and essentially the entire Crusader army at Hattin, Guy needed a victory to revitalize his claim to be the King of Jerusalem. Richard would join the siege in 1191, it would rapidly succeed after that. There are so many interesting tidbits in this episode…
But we’re not here to talk about that. We’re here to talk about a later siege of Acre.
Oh, you say, you mean the siege of 1291, where the Crusaders lost control of Acre, to the Mamluks?
Nope. Not that one either. We’re talking about the siege of 1799, five hundred years later, when Napoleon (!) attacked Acre.
You’re probably thinking, wow, I never knew Napoleon did that! Truth is, I didn’t either. Then this morning, my son sent me the trailer for Ridley Scott’s Napolean, and the trailer is too delicious not to pass on. I am feeling confidant/hopeful that the short siege scenes in the trailer, ladders up the wall and over the top and such, are supposed to be the Siege of Acre, which <spoiler alert> Napoleon loses. Acre is a tough cookie.
Anyway, here’s the trailer, featuring Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus Napoleon. You’re welcome.
By the way, Napoleon by Andrew Roberts seems to be the most recent biography of Napoleon, and won a number of prizes. Might be worth a read!
