Case index/Saladin and the Third Crusade

1185 · Levant

Truce with the Kingdom of Jerusalem

Diplomacy

After Baldwin IV died in 1185, the regent, Count Raymond III of Tripoli, faced with drought and famine, made a four-year truce with Saladin. The truce brought brief stability for trade and travel, but the succession crisis of 1186 and Reynald's caravan raid broke this order.

Truce with the Kingdom of Jerusalem
Contextual historical image·Wikimedia Commons · free licence

RESEARCH DOSSIER

Historical analysis of the event

01

Background

Before his death, the leper king Baldwin IV made his young nephew Baldwin (Baldwin V) his heir and appointed Raymond III regent. The king died in spring 1185. The kingdom was suffering serious famine because of drought, and Saladin was occupied with Mosul.

02

The truce

Raymond III made a four-year truce with Saladin. During the truce trade between Muslim and Christian merchants revived; according to the sources Saladin allowed food to be sold to the famine-stricken kingdom.

But Baldwin V died in summer 1186, only nine years old. His mother Sibylla, despite the opposition of Raymond and his supporters, was crowned in Jerusalem in September 1186 and proclaimed her husband Guy of Lusignan king. Refusing to recognise Guy, Raymond withdrew to Tiberias and made a separate agreement with Saladin.

03

Outcome and significance

The succession crisis split the kingdom's barons in two: on one side Guy, Sibylla, Reynald of Châtillon and the Templar master Gerard of Ridefort; on the other Raymond and the Ibelin family. At the end of 1186, Reynald's attack on an Egypt–Damascus caravan and his refusal to return it gave Saladin a legitimate reason to end the truce.

As the last period of peace before Hattin, the truce laid bare the kingdom's internal divisions.

04

Sources and debates

Because William of Tyre's chronicle ends in 1184, the main Latin source for this period is the Old French narrative attributed to Ernoul and its continuations, which take a view close to the Ibelin family. Imad al-Din al-Isfahani and Ibn al-Athir give the Muslim view. Baldwin IV's death is dated variously between March and May 1185.

Method note

Dates, places and figures in this record compare the principal narrative sources with modern scholarship. Where the sources disagree this is stated in the text; for a thesis or publication, consult the relevant edition and page reference.

CONTEXTUAL READING

12 June 1183 · Aleppo

Aleppo submits to Saladin

In June 1183 Saladin acquired Aleppo from the Zengid Imad al-Din Zengi II through an agreement exchanging the city for Sinjar and the surrounding lands. The union of Egypt, Damascus and Aleppo under one government created a powerful front encircling the crusader states.

Open record →1186 (late) · Moab / Kerak

Raid on the Kerak caravan

At the end of 1186 or early 1187, Reynald of Châtillon, lord of Kerak, attacked a large caravan travelling from Egypt to Damascus despite the truce. He took the merchants and goods to Kerak and refused the demands of both Saladin and King Guy to return them; this became the direct cause of Saladin's declaration of war.

Open record →3–4 July 1187 · Hattin

Battle of Hattin

On 3–4 July 1187 at Hattin near Tiberias, Saladin wore down the main army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem with thirst and fire and then destroyed it. King Guy of Lusignan was captured, Reynald of Châtillon was killed and the True Cross was taken; the kingdom's defensive strength collapsed in a single day.

Open record →