The Battle of Hattin: The Major Turning Point of the Crusades
The Battle of Hattin in July 1187 was a complete disaster for the Crusaders of Outremer, the Roman Catholic states set up in the Holy Land during the First Crusade. It caused a total reversal in the fortunes of the Christians and led directly to the Third Crusade, which attempted to fix the damage. This catastrophe need not have occurred. That is because a series of absolutely idiotic decisions made by people who knew better led to this outcome. Even worse, the Crusaders were up against one of the greatest generals of the time: Saladin.
Saladin was the Sultan of both Egypt and Syria as well as the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. He had built himself a solid reputation as an effective general in fighting the dreaded Franks, a word the Muslims used to describe all crusaders no matter where they came from.
An excellent strategist and tactician, Saladin was provoked into action by 2 significant events. The first was when a pilgrim caravan on its way to Mecca was raided. In addition to the gold and spices captured, Saladin’s sister, ‘a maiden so fair that the nightingale praised her beauty,’ was taken for ransom. [1] The second involved a group of Saracen (what Europeans called Muslim Arabs and Turks) cavalry that included Saladin’s son who had received permission to cross Christian territory. A small unit of Templar knights, headed by Master of the Templars Gerard de Ridefort, basically went rogue and attacked the Saracen force in contravention of the agreement. The attack failed miserably and only Ridefort and 3 other knights escaped with their lives. [2]
There were 2 immediate reactions to these incidents. On the Christian side, King Guy de Lusignan of the Kingdom of Jerusalem mobilized virtually all Christian forces leaving the cities and fortresses of Outremer devoid of garrison troops in an all-or-nothing bid for victory. He also ordered the Patriarch of Jerusalem to release an extremely important artifact from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for the upcoming battle, a piece of the True Cross. [3] Opposing them, Saladin raised a large army and stated, ‘I shall not lay down my arms until there is no more infidel on earth.’ [4]
There is some dispute about the size of the opposing forces. The Christian army is listed at 16,300-19,300 [5], 20,000 [6] or 15,000 [7] in size. Saladin’s forces are estimated to have numbered 18,000-24,000 [8], 30,000 [9] or 80,000 [10].
Saladin demonstrated his intelligence straightaway. He laid siege to Tiberias where the wife of a senior Christian noble, Count Raymond III of Tripoli, was trapped. Raymond was the only Christian leader who had Saladin’s trust as they had a mutual respect for each other [11], so Raymond was not concerned that his wife was in any real danger. Equally intelligent, he understood that Saladin’s siege was meant to draw the Christian forces away from their fortified bases and out into the open desert where the Muslim army had the advantage. Raymond advised King Guy not to take the bait, but due to various background political machinations, the king angrily disregarded the very sensible warning.
The stage was now set for the upcoming battle. However, King Guy made a foolish decision that doomed his forces just as they set off into the desert. Because of their slow speed, he decided to leave the water carts behind as they were drawn by oxen. It was a calculated risk based on the hope of finding adequate water supplies during the first day of the campaign. This mistake was compounded by the fact that the army was moving slowly anyway because foot soldiers made up the majority of it. Their heavy armor and weapons plus the unrelenting heat left them plodding along at an ever more sluggish pace. A chance to right the dreadful situation presented itself when a short detour to the Springs of Turan would have provided all the water the army needed. However, King Guy vetoed this idea leaving his men and horses more and more desperate.
Saladin’s forces included thousands of light horse archers who constantly harassed the Christian forces. They caused little damage at first because Christian crossbowmen, who were feared for their accuracy and hitting power, kept them at a distance. However, the Saracens (Muslim Arabs and Turks) had a further trick up their sleeves. They started lighting the dry brush around the Crusader army on fire which further tormented it with increased heat and the addition of smoke to make breathing more difficult.
Later in the day, the Crusaders reached the heights that overlooked the Sea of Galilee. Salvation was in sight! However, there was one small problem: Saladin’s army stood literally in the way blocking their access to the water they could see but could not taste.
It was at this point that an unexpected opportunity presented itself. Count Raymond knew of another water source, the springs of the Horns of Hattin. [12] The only problem was that going to them would take the Christian forces away from Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee, but King Guy understood the situation clearly enough to give the order to go. Saladin also knew of the springs and had positioned a blocking force to keep the Christians away from the life-giving water. Count Raymond led his knights in a series of desperate charges that miraculously broke the Saracen line and opened a route to the springs. Then the most unexplained incident of the entire battle took place: with salvation at hand, King Guy refused to move the army and ordered Count Raymond to return to the Christian camp on the heights. [13] That decided the fate of the army.
The Christian forces suffered from extreme dehydration during the night as the Saracen forces surrounded them waiting for dawn. Half dead as the sun rose, a final surprise awaited the Crusaders. A Saracen messenger rode up and made the following statement: ‘Sire, I come in peace from my liege, the Sultan. He wishes you to know that you must abandon your quest, return from whence you came beyond the sea, never to return.’ [14] It was a most generous offer considering the circumstances since Saladin had the total advantage by that point, but it was also equally impossible to accept. Christian pride and ego, along with a series of idiotic decisions, doomed the Crusader army to near total destruction. King Guy refused the offer, and the battle moved towards resolution.
He ordered the army to move towards the springs of the Horns of Hattin, an objective that was his the evening before that he refused to take hold of. Now it was too late. Ferocious fighting broke out that was so intense that even Saladin started doubting the outcome. Count Raymond led his men in a furious charge, broke through the Saracen lines and escaped the carnage; some say at the wish of his counterpart Saladin. [15].
Overnight, the Saracens had brought up enormous numbers of arrows and their archers later switched their tactics in using their bows: They started targeting the knights’ horses instead of the knights themselves. ‘A Frankish knight, as long as his horse was in good condition, could not be knocked down. Covered with mail from head to foot, which made him look like a block of iron, the most violent blows make no impression on him. But once his horse was killed, the knight was thrown and taken prisoner. Consequently, though we counted them (Frankish prisoners) by the thousand, there were no horse amongst the spoils whereas the knights were unhurt.’ [16]
The Crusaders fought on until the shard of the True Cross they had taken with them was captured and held up for all to see that it was now in the hands of the Saracens. At that point, the Christians laid down their arms and waited for what fate had in store for them. Most were subsequently massacred and only about 200 knights and 1000 foot soldiers were captured. [17]
The consequences of the battle were severe and far reaching. The following months saw something that became known as Saladin’s Blitzkrieg [18], where he reconquered most of the Holy Land from the Crusaders, including Jerusalem, because most of their garrisons lay dead in the desert. These disastrous losses led directly to the Third Crusade. Though partially successful with Saladin even losing battles against Richard the Lionheart, Jerusalem and much of the former Christian lands could not be recovered. Later crusades were even less successful. Thus, the Battle of Hattin was the beginning of the end of Christian control of the Holy Land.
Sources
Battle of Ḥaṭṭīn | Middle Eastern history | Britannica
Battle of Hattin – World History Encyclopedia
Durschmied, Erik. The Hinge Factor: How Chance and Stupidity Have Changed History. London, UK: Hodder and Stoughton, 1999.
