The Crusader army had proceeded after the…

The Crusader army had proceeded after the Battle of Arsuf to Jaffa, which the Crusaders had taken and fortified on September 7, 1191 Jaffa, they hope, will be the base of operations in a drive to reconquer Jerusalem itself.

Sporadic negotiations between Richard the Lionheart and Saladin had been taken up as the winter of 1191–1192 approached, though without any immediate result.

The crusader army in November of 1191 had advanced inland towards Jerusalem.

Saladin on December 12 had been forced by pressure from his emirs to disband the greater part of his army.

Richard, learning this, had pushed his army forward, spending Christmas at Latrun.

The army then marched to Beit Nuba, only twelve miles from Jerusalem.

Muslim morale in Jerusalem is so low that the arrival of the Crusaders would probably have caused the city to fall quickly.

The weather has been appallingly bad, however cold with heavy rain and hailstorms; this, combined with the fear that the Crusader army, if it besieged Jerusalem, might be trapped by a relieving force, prompts the decision to retreat to the coast.