The massacre of Ayyadieh occurred on the 20th August 1191. It was perpetrated by Richard Coeur de Lion, better known as Richard the Lion Heart, during the Crusades to recover the holy land from the saracens under the command of Saladin. It is best understood in the context of Richard's attempt to take the city of Acre. The struggle for the city was unusually vicious even by Crusade standards, where little mercy was shown or asked for by soldiers on both sides, and massacres were common place, particularly against the citizens of a captured city.