Battle of Hattin: Encyclopedia II - Battle of Hattin - Siege of Tiberias

Battle of Hattin - Siege of Tiberias

Saladin had assembled his own army at Raymond's fortress of Tiberias. When Raymond reconciled with Guy, this assembly turned into a siege, and the town fell on July 2. Raymond's wife Eschiva was besieged in the citadel. Raymond and Guy met at Acre with the bulk of the crusader army, which consisted of 1200 knights, possibly as many as 20,000 foot soldiers, and a large number of mercenaries (including Turcopoles and other Muslims) hired with money donated to the kingdom by Henry II of England. Muslim sources claim that the crusaders had over 80,000 men. Also with the army was the relic of the True Cross, carried by the Bishop of Acre, who was there in place of the ailing Patriarch Heraclius.

Raymond argued that a march from Acre to Tiberias was exactly what Saladin wanted and that Sephoria was a strong position for the Crusaders to defend. Furthermore, Guy should not worry about Tiberias, which Raymond held personally and was willing to give up for the safety of the kingdom. Despite their reconciliation, internal court politics were still strong and Raymond was accused of cowardice by Gerard and Raynald. The latter influenced Guy to attack immediately. Guy ordered the army to march against Saladin at Tiberias, which is what Saladin had planned, for he had calculated that he could defeat the crusaders only in a field battle, rather than by besieging their fortifications.

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