o Guy de Lusignan was the choice of a group of nobles who
favored a hostile approach to the Muslims and staged a coup at
court in which Raymond was ousted.o Reynald of Chatillon, like Raymond, was a skilled military
commander and had been a captive in Aleppo for many years.
The experience had left Reynald an implacable foe of the
Muslims and a forceful member of the pro-war faction.x Making up the majority of the Christian forces were various men-
at-arms, both mounted and on foot, equipped with an array of
weapons and armor, ranging from leather jerkins to mail hauberks,
and bearing swords, axes, spears, bows, and polearms.The Hattin Campaign
x In 1187, a truce was in effect between Saladin and the Kingdom
of Jerusalem, but Reynald continued to raid Muslim caravans of
merchants and religious pilgrims—plainly a breach of the truce.
Saladin began assembling an army.
x One contingent of Saladin’s army annihilated a Christian
force at the Springs of Cresson that included several hundred
Hospitallers and Templars. Although this battle itself was
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because the heavy losses incurred deprived the Christians of
some of their most dependable forces.x The various Christian factions temporarily shelved their differences
and united under King Guy of Jerusalem. It was an uneasy alliance,
with much bickering and resentments among the leaders. Guy
ignored Raymond’s advice against marching to relieve Saladin’s
siege of the city of Tiberias; Raymond had pointed out that the road
to Tiberias lacked both water and fodder for the horses.x The army traveled in several separate divisions, but each division
assumed a similar formation, with the cavalry in the center,
surrounded and protected by a hollow square of infantry. King