| Battle of Marj Ayyun | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theCrusades | |||||||
 Saladin the Victorious.Gustave Doré, XIX century | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Kingdom of Jerusalem Knights Templar |  Ayyubid Dynasty | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Baldwin IV of JerusalemRaymond III of TripoliEudes de St Amand (POW) | Saladin | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 1,000 Lancers[1] | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
Heavy
| Unknown | ||||||
TheBattle of Marj Ayyun was a military confrontation fought atMarj Ayyun near theLitani River (modern-dayLebanon) in June 1179 between theKingdom of Jerusalem underBaldwin IV and theAyyubid armies under the leadership ofSaladin. It ended in a decisive victory for theMuslims and is considered the first in the long series of Islamic victories underSaladin against theChristians.[2] However, theChristian King,Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, who was crippled byleprosy, was saved by his bodyguard and narrowly escaped capture.
In 1177,Saladin'sAyyubid army invaded theChristianKingdom of Jerusalem fromEgypt. In that yearKing Baldwin IV surprised and defeated theSaracen host at theBattle of Montgisard.
In 1179,Saladin again invaded theCrusader states, from the direction ofDamascus. He based his army atBanias and sent raiding forces to despoil villages and crops nearSidon and the coastal areas. Farmers and townspeople impoverished by Saracen raiders would be unable to pay rent to their Frankish overlords. Unless stopped,Saladin's destructive policy would weaken theCrusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.
In response,Baldwin moved his army toTiberias on theSea of Galilee. From there he marched north-northwest to the stronghold ofSafed. Continuing in the same direction, he reachedToron castle (Tebnine), about 13 miles (21 km) east-southeast ofTyre. Together with theKnights Templar led byOdo of St Amand and a force from theCounty of Tripoli led byCount Raymond III,Baldwin moved northeast.[3]
TheKingdom of Jerusalem still hoped for an opportunity to attackEgypt, but they were not strong enough. In 1178, a fortress atJacob's Ford - a border crossing outpost north ofLake Tiberias, called by the Arab scholars Beit el-Ahzan - was built as a post of defense and a base from which attacks in the future might be made. On the borders, the castles and posts were now under the command of the fierce religious military orders. During the summer of 1179, severe drought gripped the Levant, while minor skirmishes erupted.Saladin offered to pay theCrusaders 100,000 dinars in exchange for halting incursions and dismantling the castle atJacob's Ford but theCrusaders refused, and hostilities resumed.[2]
From the eastern side of the coastal range, theCrusaders sawSaladin's tents in the distance.Baldwin IV and his nobles decided to descend to the plain and attack at once. As the Frankish army moved downhill, the mounted troops soon outstripped the foot soldiers. After a few hours' delay, theCrusader army reassembled, then encountered and easily defeated the Saracen raiding forces, who were returning from their forays.
Believing the battle won, the Franks let their guard down.Raymond's Knights andOdo of St Amand'sTemplars moved onto some high ground between theMarj Ayyun and theLitani River. TheCrusader infantry rested from their hurried march earlier in the day.[3]
Suddenly,Saladin's main army attacked theCrusaders, defeating them badly. Observers of the time blamed the defeat onOdo of St Amand,[4][5] who was captured in the battle.King Baldwin IV barely was saved by his bodyguard and escaped capture; unable to mount a horse because of his crippling disease, he was carried to safety by a knight as his bodyguard cut a path through the Saracens. Many Frankish survivors of the struggle fled to shelter atBeaufort Castle (Qala'at ash-Shaqif Arnoun)[6] about 5 miles (8.0 km) southwest of the battlefield.
One account suggests, theTemplars attackedSaladin's larger force on their own, rather than falling back, warning theKing, and fighting with him.William,Archbishop of Tyre, blamed the reckless actions of theTemplars for the defeat, as he stated. However, theTemplars were not subjects of theKing Baldwin IV and followed their own policies and strategies.[2]
For theKing himself, the battle revealed the deterioration of his physical condition; he could no longer command his armies from horseback.Saladin was able to exploit his victory, laying siege to the new Frankish fortress atJacob’s Ford and destroying it in August 1179.Saladin immediately took advantage of his victory by destroying the newly built Le Chastellet stronghold at theBattle of Jacob's Ford. In the years afterMarj Ayyun, the Frankish leaders became more cautious and the next two campaigns of note, theBattle of Belvoir Castle (1182), theBattle of Al-Fule (1183) and theSiege of Kerak (1183) were strictly defensive in nature.