The Battle of Hattin (1187) and the Third Crusade

The Battle of the Horns of Hattin was fought on 4 July 1187 near the Sea of Galilee, between Saladin's army and that of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The crusader army, led by King Guy of Lusignan, advanced across arid terrain in the height of summer to relieve the city of Tiberias, which Saladin was besieging. Saladin applied a strategy of attrition, cutting off access to water and constantly harassing the crusader column on its march, and the Christian army, exhausted by thirst and heat, was surrounded and virtually annihilated on the hills known as the Horns of Hattin. The relic of the True Cross, traditionally carried by the crusaders into battle, was lost there, captured by Saladin's troops, and King Guy of Lusignan was taken prisoner, as was Raynald of Chatillon, whom Saladin personally executed for his repeated violations of the truces.