Further to the downfall of the Crusader Kingdom in the Battle of Hattin (1187), Acre fell into Moslem hands and its Christian inhabitants fled. They returned to Acre four years later (1191) when it was conquered by Richard the Lionhearted, the King of England who headed the Third Crusade along with King of France Philippe Auguste. The Hospitallers returned to Acre, however the buildings that served them in the 12th century no longer met their needs at the time since Christian rule did not resume in Jerusalem in the wake of the Third Crusade. The Order lost its main stronghold and its headquarters, which were in Jerusalem. Renewed concessions granted to the Order by the new rulers of the Kingdom – Guy de Lusignan (1192) and Henry of Champagne (1193) – enabled the Hospitallers to expand their center in Acre up to the street adjacent to the city's walls to the north. This led to renewed construction whose aim was to transfer the head of the Order and its headquarters to Acre. This construction process, which began in the late 12th century and continued throughout the 13th century, encompassed expanding the Hospitaller quarter and adding new wings and additional floors to the old center. Moreover, the Hospitallers constructed buildings in the new quarter – the Montmusard quarter – which expanded the city's boundaries to the north and was surrounded by new walls of its own.
