Battle of Hattin: Encyclopedia II - Battle of Hattin - Aftermath

Battle of Hattin - Aftermath

The Muslims captured the royal tent of King Guy, as well as the True Cross, after the Bishop of Acre was killed in the fighting. Prisoners included Guy, his brother Amalric, Raynald, William III of Montferrat, Gerard, Humphrey IV of Toron, Hugh of Jubail, and many others. Perhaps only as few as 3,000 Christians escaped the defeat, including Raymond, Joscelin, Balian, and Reginald of Sidon, who had trampled their own men while retreating. The exhausted captives were brought to Saladin's tent, where Guy was given a goblet of iced water as a sign of Saladin's generosity. When Guy offered the goblet to his fellow captive Raynald, Saladin allowed the old man (Raynald was about 60) to drink it but shortly afterwards said that he had not offered water to Raynald and thus was not bound by the Muslim rules of hospitality. When Saladin accused Raynald of being an oath-breaker, Raynald replied that "kings have always acted thus". Saladin then executed Raynald himself, beheading him with his sword. Guy fell to his knees at the sight of Raynald's corpse. Saladin bade him to rise, saying, "Real kings do not kill each other." The Templars and Hospitallers, considered by Muslims to be the most ardent partisan of Christian cause, who had been captured were also killed, although Guy was taken to Damascus as a prisoner and the others were eventually ransomed. Raymond of Tripoli, having escaped the battle, died of pleurisy later in 1187.

By mid-September, Saladin had taken Acre, Nablus, Jaffa, Toron, Sidon, Beirut and Ascalon. Tyre was saved by the fortuitous arrival of Conrad of Montferrat. Jerusalem was defended by Queen Sibylla, Patriarch Heraclius, and Balian, who negotiated its surrender to Saladin on October 2 (see Siege of Jerusalem).

News of the disastrous defeat at Hattin was brought to Europe by Joscius, Archbishop of Tyre, as well as other pilgrims and travellers. Plans were immediately made for a new crusade; Pope Gregory VIII issued the bull Audita tremendi, and in England and France, the Saladin tithe was enacted in order to finance expenses. The subsequent Third Crusade did not get underway until 1189, in three separate contingents led by Richard Lionheart, Philip Augustus, and Frederick Barbarossa.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Aftermath", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki