Hattin and the return to Jerusalem (1187)

Part oneHattin

In the summer of 1187 Salahuddin gathered the armies of Egypt and Syria and laid siege to Tiberias, a town on the western shore of Lake Tiberias, the Sea of Galilee. It was bait. Guy of Lusignan, the king of Jerusalem, called out every fighting man in his kingdom and marched to relieve the town.

The land between was dry and the days were hot. The Frankish army left the springs of Saffuriyya behind and crossed the plateau under the July sun, while Muslim horsemen pressed its flanks and rear and kept it from the lake. On the night of 3 July it camped without water. On 4 July, Salahuddin's men closed in around the twin hills of Hattin, and the dry grass was set alight. By evening the Frankish army had ceased to exist. The True Cross, the relic that the Franks carried into battle, was taken as well. Guy was taken alive, along with most of the nobles and the knights of the military orders.

Reynald of Chatillon, whose raids had broken the truce, was among the captives. When Guy was brought into Salahuddin's tent, exhausted and thirsty, he was given a cup of cold water. Custom among the Arabs held that a prisoner who was given food or drink from a host was safe, and Salahuddin made it clear that he had not offered the cup to Reynald. Salahuddin had sworn to answer for the attack on the pilgrim caravan, and Reynald was put to death. Guy was spared. A number of captured Templar and Hospitaller knights were also executed, and most of the other prisoners were held for ransom or sold. The kingdom of Jerusalem no longer had an army.

Part twoThe terms for Jerusalem

Salahuddin knew that a new call for a crusade would soon come from Europe, so he did not stop. In the weeks that followed he took Acre, Nablus, Jaffa, Sidon, Beirut and Ascalon, and most of them surrendered on terms. Before he reached Jerusalem he offered the city a generous agreement, first to a delegation that met him at Ascalon in early September. If it yielded, nobody would be harmed, the people could leave with their belongings, and the Christian holy places and pilgrims would be respected. The defenders refused, and the siege began on 20 September.

Inside was Balian of Ibelin, a noble who had escaped from Hattin. He had asked Salahuddin's permission to go into the city to fetch his wife and children, promising to stay one night and not to bear arms. When he saw that nobody else could lead the defence, he stayed, and he wrote to Salahuddin to explain why he had broken his word. Salahuddin let his family go safely. The city was packed with refugees from the towns that had fallen, and it had few fighting men. After several days Salahuddin shifted his camp and attacked the wall from another side, and a breach opened. The defenders offered gold to anyone who would hold it, and nobody came forward. Balian came out to negotiate. He warned that, if the city were not spared, its defenders would fight to the end and destroy the holy places of Islam, and Salahuddin agreed to terms.

The ransom was ten dinars for a man, five for a woman and one for a child, to be paid within forty days. Balian pointed out that thousands of the poor could never pay, and Salahuddin accepted a lump sum for about seven thousand of them. He let widows and orphans leave without payment, and groups of Christians were escorted safely to the coast. Many people did still end up unable to pay. Accounts from the time say that the process was untidy and that the officials were not always strict about receipts.

On 2 October the city was handed over. By tradition this was the 27th of Rajab, the date remembered for the Night Journey of the Prophet ﷺ. A week later, on Friday 9 October, Friday prayers were held in al-Aqsa for the first time in 88 years. The carved minbar that Nur ad-Din had ordered was brought from Aleppo and set up there. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre remained a Christian church, and Christian pilgrims could still visit it. He allowed Christian hospitals to stay open for a year. Many Eastern Christians stayed in the city, and some of them welcomed the change, because the Latin rulers had not always treated them kindly. Tyre, on its island-like peninsula, still held out under Conrad of Montferrat, and Salahuddin's attempt to take it that winter failed. That unfinished business would bring a new crusade.

The contrast with the events of 1099 was noticed by Muslims and Christians alike. News of the victory went out in letters to Baghdad, Cairo and the rulers of the Muslim world. Writers in Europe went on to praise Salahuddin for it for centuries.

From the Quran

سُبْحَـٰنَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَسْرَىٰ بِعَبْدِهِۦ لَيْلًا مِّنَ ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْحَرَامِ إِلَى ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْأَقْصَا ٱلَّذِى بَـٰرَكْنَا حَوْلَهُۥ لِنُرِيَهُۥ مِنْ ءَايَـٰتِنَآ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلْبَصِيرُ ۝١

Glory be to the One Who took His servant ˹Muḥammad˺ by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque whose surroundings We have blessed, so that We may show him some of Our signs. Indeed, He alone is the All-Hearing, All-Seeing.

The city that was taken in 1099 was returned on terms in 1187.

WatchThe lecture for this chapter

Lecture Al MuqaddimahHow The Muslims Reconquered Jerusalem (opens on YouTube)

The mapWhere it happened

• Tiberias
• Hattin
• Acre
• Ascalon
• Jerusalem

This map is a simple sketch to help you picture where events took place. Positions, distances and borders are approximate, so please use it for reference only, not as an accurate map.

SourcesSources for this chapter