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.’
When the Franks heard that Saladin’s army was at Tiberias,
many of them wanted to march at once, but Raymond said,
‘Tiberias belongs to me. I’ve never seen so strong a Muslim army,
and I think that we’re not wise to fight them even if my castle
and my wife are in danger!’
But Reynald of Chatillon replied, ‘You’re trying to make us
afraid because you prefer the Muslims to us!’