Battle of Hattin

Battle of Hattin
Part of the Wars of the Crusader States
The Battle of Hattin, from a 13th-century manuscript of the Chronica Majora depicting the capture of the True Cross by Saladin.[1]
Date 3–4 July 1187 Location Horns of Hattin, Galilee 32°48′13″N 35°26′40″E / 32.80361°N 35.44444°E / 32.80361; 35.44444 Result Ayyubid victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Jerusalem County of Tripoli Knights Templar Principality of Antioch Knights Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus Order of Mountjoy	Ayyubid Sultanate
Commanders and leaders
Guy of Lusignan  Raynald of Châtillon   Humphrey IV of Toron Aimery of Lusignan Reginald of Sidon Joscelin III of Edessa Balian of Ibelin Raymond III of Tripoli Gerard de Rideford  Garnier de Nablus Raymond of Antioch	Saladin Muzaffar ad-Din Gökböri Al-Muzaffar Umar[2] Al-Adil I Al-Afdal ibn Salah ad-Din[3]
Strength
18,000 - 20,000 men[4][5] 1,200 knights[6] 3,000 men-at-arms[7] 500 turcopoles[8] 15,000 infantry	20,000-40,000 men[9][5][10][11][12] 12,000 regular cavalry[9]
Casualties and losses
Most of the army 200 captured knights executed[13] Captured turcopoles executed[14] Captured infantrymen enslaved[15]	Light, mostly spearmen and some archers[16]
class=notpageimage| Location of the battle site on a map of Historical Palestine and modern State of Israel

The Battle of Hattin took place on 4 July 1187, between the Crusader states of the Levant and the forces of the Ayyubid sultan Saladin. It is also known as the Battle of the Horns of Hattin, due to the shape of the nearby extinct volcano of that name.

The Muslim armies under Saladin captured or killed the vast majority of the Crusader forces, removing their capability to wage war.^[17] As a direct result of the battle, Muslims once again became the eminent military power in the Holy Land, re-capturing Jerusalem and most of the other Crusader-held cities and castles.^[17] These Christian defeats prompted the Third Crusade, which began two years after the Battle of Hattin.