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husband and a knight. Was the regent putting the good of his kingdom before his sworn duty as a knight and a husband? Or was he actually serving the interests of Saladin in delaying the army? Or did he simply trust in the chivalry of his infidel friend and rival?
In any case, personal hatred outweighed all considerations of politics or honour. At Gerard's words, Raymond said:
"Sir, I urge and beg you to go to the help of Tiberias."
At the same moment, an urgent plea arrived from Eschiva, begging Guy to come to her aid, because of her danger and the danger in which her people were placed.
When the news was heard, a clamour arose amongst the knights:
"Let us go and succour the ladies and maidens of Tiberias."7
The army moved eastwards to the last oasis before Tiberias, the Wells of Cresson, where it was decided to await Saladin's advance. He was a day away across a burning plain: it would be madness for horses or infantry to attempt to reach him.
And madness it was: acting on the whispers of Gerard, Guy ordered camp broken in the early hours of July 3, 1187. Relucant men hastily saddled their steeds or packed their tents and equipment for what they must have believed to be their final earthly journey.
The beasts were in a particularly bad state, refusing to drink deeply before the departure. According to the Estoire d'Eracles, an hour's march from the Wells, some sergeants found an old Saracen woman on a donkey. They thought she may have been a runaway slave, so they took her prisoner and questioned her. After some bullying, she admitted that she was actually Saladin's servant, and was going to him to be rewarded. She was then put firmly to the torture, and at last cried out that she was actually a sorceress. For three days and three nights she had gone around the army casting a spell. Further, she warned them they were heading for certain death.
It is possible that here was the cause of the strange behaviour of the animals: certain potions sprinkled in the wells could have discouraged the animals yet have been undetectable to men.
In any case, she was summarily dealt with. A pyre of thorns and couch grass was built, into which she was cast. Three times she attempted to escape a fearsome death: at the third, a sergeant clove her in two with his Danish axe.8
Meanwhile, Saladin had ended his siege of Tiberias. Ibn al Athir says his only reason for attacking it had been to lure the Christians into battle.9
The Islamic army, determined at last to risk all on a battle, moved to meet the Christians. Saladin's army placed itself between the lake and the Christians. Unable to turn back, short of water, exhausted from a day's march, denied access to Tiberias, the Christians made a glum camp on the low hills of the Horns of Hattin.
The next day, July 4, marked the end of the kingdom of Jerusalem, and the beginning of the ebb tide of the Crusades.
The Christians fought with the tenaciousness, the blind, stupid courage, and the iron strength of their barbaric ancestors, and even until the last moment the battle was in the balance.
But the Muslims won, aided by superior tactics, overwhelming odds, and the inspirational presence of Saladin.
Most of the Templars and Hospitallers were executed, as was Reynald by Saladin's own hand. Raymond escaped, to die of wounds several days later. Many accused him of treachery, even so. Guy and other nobles were spared and imprisoned.
Eschiva sued for safe conducts - for herself and her children says Ibn al Athir - and these were granted. She left the citadel with her companions and her possessions, and Saladin safeguarded her withdrawal to the coast.10
1. K.S.Walker, Saladin: Sultan of the Holy Sword Dennis Dobson, London, 1971, p.90.
2. Estoire d'Eracles in Pernoud, p.158. Ibn al Athir does not mention Saladin's sister in his account, Gabrieli, Arab Historians of the Crusades, p.116.
3. Ibid., p.118.
4. Ibid., p.119.
5. Runciman II, p.420.
6. Gabrielli, Arab Historians, p.130: Imad ad Din however says the Countess was accompanied by her sons, as does Ibn al Athir.
7. Pernoud, pp.163-4: cf Gabrielli, pp.119-20.
8. Ibid., p.165.
9. Ibid., p.121.
10. Ibid., p.124.
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