Raymond then said, ‘I’m one of you. I’ll do what you wish and
fight at your side, but you’ll see what happens.’
In early July, Saladin was waiting by the lake. He took time to
look carefully to find the best place to fight. The Frankish army
left from Saffuriya. It was only about four hours’ journey for a
man on a horse to get from there to Lake Tiberias, but moving
an army with foot soldiers and knights in heavy armour under
the hot summer sun was difficult. There was no water on the
dry road and men and horses were very thirsty. Saladin’s men
spent the whole day attacking the slowly moving soldiers,
shooting arrows at them to make them travel even more slowly.
The Franks wanted to get to the lake before evening, but they
only got to Hattin. There they had to stop. Looking down the
hill, they saw Saladin’s army waiting by the lake. They couldn’t