56
1000–1500
In the summer of 1187, the
truce between the Crusader
States of Palestine and Saladin,
the ruler of Egypt, was shattered
when French nobleman Raynald
of Châtillon attacked a Muslim
trading caravan. An incensed
Saladin gathered an army of 30,000, and attacked the
castle of Tiberias on the western shore of the Sea of
Galilee on June 30, aiming to lure the crusaders to come
to its rescue. King Guy de Lusignan of Jerusalem had
raised 20,000 men, including 1,200 knights. As Saladin
hoped, Guy marched out on July 3 to break the siege.
The crusaders reached the nearby springs of Turan at
noon, but from there they had to cross an arid, waterless
plain. Guy pressed on, but Saladin’s force cut him o from
Turan, preventing any further advance. In the morning,
Guy had little choice but to order a breakthrough towards
the nearby twin hills of the Horns of Hattin and the springs.
Several charges failed, although Raymond broke through
and escaped, and the infantry ed toward the Horns, where
they were massacred. Decimated by archery, the knights
fought on, with Guy ordering a desperate charge at Saladin’s
bodyguards. In the end, tired and surrounded, the crusaders
were overwhelmed and captured. With few knights left
to defend it, Jerusalem fell to Saladin in early October.
The reaction in Europe was one of shock and
outrage, and led directly to the Third Crusade, in which
Saladin faced a new foe—King Richard I ("the Lionheart")
of England. After a stinging defeat at Arsuf in 1191, and
a retreat at Jaa in 1192, Saladin conceded a number of
coastal towns to the crusaders.
Hattin
1187
◼
MODERN-DAY ISRAEL
◼
KINGDOM OF JERUSALEM VS. AYYUBIDS
AYYUBID–CRUSADER WAR
4
SALADIN VICTORIOUS
This illustration from a mid-13th century manuscript
shows Saladin addressing the captive King Guy of Jerusalem. He and other noble
prisoners were spared for ransom, although the truce-breaking Raynald of
Châtillon was executed on Saladin’s orders. Around 200 Templar and Hospitaller
knights, whom Saladin viewed as dangerous adversaries, were also put to death.
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57
HATTIN
◼
1187
In context
1
THE LOSS OF THE TRUE CROSS
The Crusaders'
standard at the battle of Hattin was a relic of the
True Cross on which Jesus Christ was said to have
been crucied. It was borne by the Bishop of Acre,
but was taken by the enemy: this 13th-century
illumination depicts Saladin at Hattin taking the
cross from the Christians.
1
FAILURE IN THE EAST
The Crusades were a
two-century-long attempt by Christian Europe
to wrest Jerusalem and the Holy Lands from
Islamic rule. There were nine major crusades in
all, beginning in 1095, but despite briefs gains
they ended in failure in 1291. The beginning
of the end came in 1270, when King Louis IX
of France (embarking on the Eighth Crusade,
above), and much of his army, died of dysentery
on arriving on the shores of Tunisia.
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