Battle of Crocus Field
The Third Sacred War (often just called 'the' Sacred War) broke out in 356 BC, and would present Philip with his first real opportunity to expand his influence into the affairs of central and southern Greece. The war was caused by the refusal of the Phocian Confederation to pay a fine imposed on them in 357 BC by the Amphictyonic League, a pan-Greek religious organisation which governed the most sacred site in Ancient Greece, the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Behind the religious element, there probably lay a display of "realpolitik" in bringing charges against the Phocians, instigated by the Thebans. At this time, Thebes controlled a majority of the votes in the council, and at the autumn meeting in 357 BC, the Thebans were able to have both the Phocians (for the cultivation of the sacred land) and the Spartans (for occupying Thebes some 25 years previously) denounced and fined. Since the fines for both parties were "unjustifiably harsh", the Thebans probably expected neither party to pay, and thus to be able to declare a "sacred war" on either.
Battle of Hattin
According to the chronicler Ernoul, news of the defeat brought to Rome by Joscius, Archbishop of Tyre caused Pope Urban III to die of shock. Urban's successor, Pope Gregory VIII, issued the bull "Audita tremendi" calling for a new crusade within days of his election. In England and France the Saladin tithe was enacted to raise funds for the new crusade. The subsequent Third Crusade did not get underway until 1189, but was a very successful military operation through which many Christian holdings were restored. Nonetheless, Christian control over territories in the Holy Land remained vulnerable for decades until the Battle of La Forbie (57 years after the Battle of Hattin), which marked the genuine collapse of crusader military power in Outremer.For a succession of related campaigns leading up to the Battle of Hattin on July 3–4, 1187, see: