Hattin, Battle of

Salah ad Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub—better known in the West as Saladin— deposes the last Fatimid caliph, whom he had served as grand vizier, in 1174 and seizes power as sultan of Egypt.

A Sunni scholar and experiences soldier of Kurdish origin, Saladin soon directs his energies against the crusader states in Palestine and Syria.

Saladin annihilates the crusaders' army at the decisive Battle of Hattin on the west shore of Lake Tiberias (Sea of Galilee) in 1187 and soon afterward retakes Jerusalem.

Saladin had left Egypt in late June 1187 with eighteen thousand troops, crossed the Jordan south of the Sea of Galilee, and had taken up a position near the riverbank.

Saladin blocks the main road to Tiberias and on July 2 sends a small force to attack the town, hoping, since Count Raymond's wife is there, to lure the crusaders into the open.

The crusaders mobilize an army of perhaps twenty thousand men and including some twelve hundred heavily armed cavalry, probably the equal of Saladin's.

Near Saffuriyah (modern Zippori), in a spot well chosen and adequately supplied with water and provisions, they await Saladin's first move.

When word reaches them that Saladin has attacked the city of Tiberias, Raymond at first persuades the King not to fall into the trap, but, late that night, others, accusing the Count of treason, prevail upon the King to change his mind.

About fifteen thousand crusaders abandon their camp to go to the relief of the besieged city on July 3.

Their route takes them through a hot, arid plain where, halfway to Tiberias, they run out of water while under continual harassment from Saladin's cavalry.

The crusaders' condition worsens after a night spent without water, but the next morning they resume their march, heading toward a range of hills above the village of Hattin.

Confronted by Saladin's army, the exhausted and thirst-crazed crusaders, who are no longer able to fight effectively, leave the road and are driven back against the two largest hills, the Horns of Hattin, by the Muslims.

After a long day fighting, with smoke from grass fires set by the enemy pouring into their faces, the foot soldiers break and flee, destroying the essential coordination with the cavalry.

When Saladin's final charge ends the battle, most of the knights have been slain or captured.

Only Raymond of Tripoli, Reginald of Sidon, Balian of Ibelin, and a few others escape.

Saladin spares the lives of King Guy and most of the Christian lords, but orders the execution of some two hundred Templars and Hospitallers.

Saladin takes both Guy and Raynald prisoner and, after castigating Raynald for truce breaking, beheads him upon his refusal to convert to Islam; Guy secures his own release by ceding the port of Ascalon.

Other captive knights are treated honorably, and most are later ransomed.

Less fortunate are the foot soldiers, most of whom are sold into slavery.

Virtually the entire military force of the Kingdom of Jerusalem has been destroyed.

Saladin, pausing only to retake Tiberias, launches his campaign to retake Jerusalem on the day after the battle of Hattin.

He moves toward the coast and …

…seizes Acre.

So great are the losses in the ranks of the crusaders in the Battle of Hattin that the Muslims are quickly able to overrun nearly the entire Kingdom of Jerusalem.

The castles of Toron, …

…Beirut, and …

…Sidon fall to Saladin’s forces, together with the Crusader cities in Palestine, shortly after the disastrous battle of Hattin.