Chapter 6 – A great general
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.’ 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!’ 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 get to the water, and no man or horse in the Frankish army had anything to drink all through the night. Next morning, Frankish foot soldiers ran to get water, but many died under the swords and arrows of the Muslim army Then Saladin told his men to light fires in the dry grass in front of the Frankish army. Smoke filled the Franks’ eyes and mouths.