After Nuradin’s son Al-Saleh died in 1181, Syria and Egypt
could fight fully on the same side at last. At the same time, the
Franks had terrible problems. King Baldwin’s leprosy made
him weak; he couldn’t see, and he couldn’t fight. It was hard
for him to be King of Jerusalem and he had no son. Two people
wanted to take his place and be King of the Franks. One was
Raymond of Tripoli. He spoke Arabic and he understood both
Muslims and Franks well. But there was another knight, new in
the Holy Land – Guy of Lusignan. He arrived from Europe and
married King Baldwin’s sister. When Baldwin died in 1184, the
Franks made Guy King of the Franks, because they thought that
Raymond was too friendly with the Muslims.
In 1187, Saladin, now forty-nine, spoke to his generals:
‘The Franks’ new king is weak, but they are still brave and,
when they fight together, their armour and their big horses
make them very strong. Our horses are smaller, but faster.
We wear less armour, but we move more quickly. We’re better
at fighting in the desert. We’re also much faster at sending
news to each other with carrier pigeons. We must be clever if
we’re going to win against them, so I have a plan. We’ll attack
Raymond of Tripoli’s castle near Lake Tiberias and my hope is
that they’ll hurry to fight us, forgetting the problems of moving
a large army over that part of the country.’
After Nuradin’s son Al-Saleh died in 1181, Syria and Egypt could fight fully on the same side at last. At the same time, the Franks had terrible problems. King Baldwin’s leprosy made him weak; he couldn’t see, and he couldn’t fight. It was hard for him to be King of Jerusalem and he had no son. Two people wanted to take his place and be King of the Franks. One was Raymond of Tripoli. He spoke Arabic and he understood both Muslims and Franks well. But there was another knight, new in the Holy Land – Guy of Lusignan. He arrived from Europe and married King Baldwin’s sister. When Baldwin died in 1184, the Franks made Guy King of the Franks, because they thought that Raymond was too friendly with the Muslims. In 1187, Saladin, now forty-nine, spoke to his generals:‘The Franks’ new king is weak, but they are still brave and, when they fight together, their armour and their big horses make them very strong. Our horses are smaller, but faster. We wear less armour, but we move more quickly. We’re better at fighting in the desert. We’re also much faster at sending news to each other with carrier pigeons. We must be clever if we’re going to win against them, so I have a plan. We’ll attack Raymond of Tripoli’s castle near Lake Tiberias and my hope is that they’ll hurry to fight us, forgetting the problems of moving a large army over that part of the country.’
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