Hattin 1187: The Inevitable Defeat of the Crusaders

The Battle of Hattin, Saladin’s greatest victory, and the conquest of Jerusalem that followed, represents the end of the first period of Frankish occupation of the Holy Land. Only the survival of Tyre subsequently allowed them to regain the territories during the Third Crusade in which Philippe Auguste and above all Richard I the Lionheart, distinguished themselves. Despite their initial successes, those who inherited the gains achieved in 1099 were indeed now lost.

This work details the causes, circumstances, and consequences of the most terrible defeat encountered during the Crusades.