Battle Of Hattin Research Paper

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The Battle of Hattin was a major turning point for the Christian Kingdom in The Middle East. The battle took place in July of 1187, where the Kingdom of Jerusalem fought with Sultan Saladin’s forces. In 1171, Saladin became the sultan of Egypt, and by 1174 he gained rule over Damascus too. After the death of Baldwin V in 1186, Guy of Lusignan took over the thrown of Jerusalem. Because of Saladin’s control over both Egypt and Syria, a united Muslim states surrounded Guy’s Kingdom.
It was definitely a threat that Saladin had consolidated an empire around the Christian lands for the Latin camp. To make things worse, Saladin had been looking for a reason to break the truce he had made with the Christians in 1185. This truce was crucial for the …show more content…

Weighed down by their weapons and armor, his men quickly became tired, hot, and dehydrated. To make matters worse, when they tried to rest on the night before they were to battle, the Muslim army taunted them and set fires to the hills around, causing smoke to pour into the Latin campsite. Even after a hellish night, the Christian army fought quite bravely, pushing back Saladin’s army a few times. But in the end it was futile. The numbers and fatigue were against them. Most of the Christian army, along with Guy and Reynaud, were captured at the Horns of Hattin and were taken prisoner. Only Raymond of Tripoli and a small party were able to escape capture. Raymond would soon go on to die in his sleep. The captured King Guy and Reynaud met with Saladin. Saladin gave Guy a cup of water to drink, which Guy passed to Reynaud. Saladin then claimed that because he had not passed Reynaud the cup himself, he did not have to uphold Muslim rules for hospitality. Saladin then beheaded Reynaud, but left Guy to live. As for the captured soldiers, Saladin ordered that all the Templars, except for the Grand Master, and the Hospitallers were to be beheaded. And to add insult to injury, the Muslims seized The True Cross, an important religious artifact that was supposed to give the Christian army good luck. The cross was brought to Damascus and paraded through the city upside

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