Battle of Hattin

The Battle of Hattin was one of the most consequential military engagements of the medieval period, setting the stage for Saladin's reconquest of Jerusalem. Saladin, who had spent years patiently unifying the Muslim states of Syria and Egypt, lured the crusader army out of its fortresses in the height of summer by threatening Tiberias. The crusader army marched across waterless terrain to relieve Tiberias and was surrounded at the Horns of Hattin, a twin-peaked hill near the Sea of Galilee. Denied access to water, harassed by fire and arrows, the crusader army disintegrated. King Guy of Lusignan was captured, along with the True Cross, which the crusaders had brought as a holy relic. Raynald of Châtillon, who had repeatedly violated truces including attacking a Mecca-bound caravan, was personally executed by Saladin. Around 200 Knights Templar and Hospitaller were executed. The Crusader military power in the Levant was effectively broken in a single day, and Jerusalem fell three months later.