Battle of Hattin 1187 • High Middle Ages
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Battle of Hattin

High Middle Ages French defeat
Historical significance:

Summary

On July 3 and 4, 1187, the army of Guy of Lusignan left Sephoria to rescue the besieged Tiberias. Diverted towards the volcanic hills known as the 'horns of Hattin', it suffered two days of harassment, lost its water reserves and saw its infantry squares broken by Ayyubid charges. On the morning of July 4, the banner of the True Cross was captured, Guy, Renaud de Châtillon and Gérard de Ridefort fell into the hands of Saladin and the crusader camp was overwhelmed.

Historical context

The kingdom of Jerusalem is fractured between supporters of Guy and the Count of Tripoli. Saladin took advantage of this division by besieging Tiberias, property of Countess Eschive, forcing Guy to decide whether to save the city or preserve the host. Despite the warnings of Raymond III, the king marched in midsummer with twelve thousand to fifteen thousand men, few light cavalry and loaded convoys. Saladin first burned the pastures, occupied the sources of Turan and placed his contingents around the heights of Hattin.

Tactics

Saladin stretched the Frankish columns by continuous harassment of mounted archers and by burning the brush, forcing the crusaders to bivouac without water. On the morning of July 4, he set up his lines in a semi-circle: infantry and archers fixed the Frankish left wing, while Kurdish and Mamluk heavy cavalry charged the right wing, pushing the knights towards the slopes. A final counter-charge led by Raymond is channeled towards an open corridor to be let slip away, isolating the rest of the army which is surrounded and then captured.

Consequences

The nobility of the kingdom was destroyed: most of the knights of the orders of the Temple and the Hospital perished or were executed, and only a few garrisons retained their numbers. Saladin then captured Acre, Nablus, Jaffa and Jerusalem (October 1187), leaving only Tire to the Franks. The emotion aroused in the West led to the preaching of the Third Crusade by Gregory VIII, the commitment of Philip II, Richard the Lionheart and Frederick Barbarossa, and a profound questioning of Frankish defensive strategies.

Location

Place : Hill of Hattin, near Lake Tiberias (present-day Israel)
Coordinates : 32.7992°N, 35.4911°E

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