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| Battle of Belvoir Castle | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theCrusades | |||||||
 The Ruins of theCrusaderBelvoir Castle | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Kingdom of Jerusalem |  Ayyubid Dynasty | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Baldwin IV of JerusalemBalian of IbelinBaldwin II of RamlaHugh II of Saint Omer |  SaladinFarrukh ShahGökböri Bektimur | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 9,000 infantry and Turcopoles | 35,000 of which 9,000 were cavalry[3] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Minor deaths among knights, heavy among the infantry[4] | Heavy[5][6][7] | ||||||
TheBattle of Belvoir Castle, also called theBattle of Le Forbelet, was a part ofSaladin’s campaign in May — August 1182 against theCrusaders. Crusader forces led byKingBaldwin IV of Jerusalem battled withAyyubid forces fromEgypt commanded bySaladin.Saladin took action in Damascus on June 11, 1182, together with his regentFarrukh Shah. Entering Palestine from the south of Tiberias, Saladin encountered the Crusader army coming from Transjordan near Belvoir Castle.[8]
The theatre of operations includedAyla,Transjordan,Galilee andBeirut.
Saladin was appointed commander of the Syrian troops and vizier of the Fatimid caliph inEgypt in 1169 and established theAyyubid Dynasty soon after. He slowly began extending his dominion overMuslim emirates inSyria formerly held byNur ad-Din. In 1177,Saladin mounted a major invasion of theKingdom of Jerusalem fromEgypt and was defeated byBaldwin IV of Jerusalem (the "Leper King") at theBattle of Montgisard. Henceforth, theMuslim managed to overcome the youngCrusader King’s military talents on a couple of occasions. In 1179,Saladin thoroughly defeatedBaldwin IV at theBattle of Marj Ayyun inLebanon and at theSiege of Jacob’s Ford inIsrael.
In 1180,Saladin arranged a truce between himself and twoChristian leaders,KingBaldwin IV of Jerusalem andRaymond III of Tripoli to prevent bloodshed. But two years later, in 1182, the lord of theTransjordan fief ofKerak,Reynald of Châtillon, ruthlessly attackedMuslim caravans passing through his lands on their way for pilgrimage, breaking pacts for the safe passage of pilgrims. Resenting this violation of the truce,Saladin immediately assembled his army and prepared to strike, devastating the enemy.
On 11 May 1182Saladin leftEgypt and led his army north towardDamascus viaAyla on theRed Sea. As he moved north, his army entered lands belonging to the fiefs ofMontreal (Shobak) andKerak.Saladin encamped atJerba and launched raids on Montreal, which did great damage to the crops. At a council of war, theCrusader princes pondered two courses of action. They could move across theJordan River to protect the exposed fiefs.Raymond III of Tripoli argued against this strategy, saying that would leave too few soldiers to protect theKingdom of Jerusalem. The aggressiveBaldwin IV overruledRaymond III and theCrusader army moved toPetra in theJordan, thus defending the lands of his vassal.
Meanwhile,Saladin's nephew,Farrukh Shah, led a force fromDamascus to ravage the now-undefendedChristianPrincipality of Galilee. In this destructive raid, the emirs ofBosra,Baalbek andHoms and their followers joinedFarrukh. Before returning toDamascus, the raiders seized the cave castle ofHabis Jaldak in theYarmuk Valley from its weak Frankish garrison.
Out in theTransjordan, the main armies still faced each other. A Frankish plan was proposed to occupy the water points, thus forcingSaladin into the desert, but theCrusaders were unable to carry this out. TheMuslim commander moved north and reachedDamascus on 22 June. TheCrusaders recrossed theJordan intoGalilee and concentrated their army atLa Sephorie, six miles northwest ofNazareth.
After a three-week breathing spell,Saladin marched out of theDamascus on 11 July and advanced to Al-Quhwana on the southern shore of theSea of Galilee. From there he sent forces to raid theJordan Valley, Grand Gerin (Jenin) and the district ofSt Jean d'Acre. One raiding column attackedBethsan but was driven off.Saladin took his main army, crossed to the west side of theJordan and moved south along the high ground.
As soon as reconnaissance patrols revealed theMuslim leader's maneuver, the Frankish leaders determined to move their field army into close contact withSaladin's army. After adding reinforcements by stripping nearby castles of most of their garrisons, theCrusader army marched toTiberias then turned south. In the vicinity ofBelvoir Castle (Arabic name: Kaukab al-Hawa),Baldwin's men spent the night in their closely guarded camp. The next morning, theAyyubid army confronted theCrusaders.
The Franks advanced in their usual formation when in contact with their enemies. The infantry marched in close order, with the spearmen guarding against direct attack and archers keeping the Saracens at a distance. Shielded by the footmen, the cavalry conformed to the pace of the infantry, ready to drive back their enemies with controlled charges. TheCrusaders had successfully used this method of fighting in theBattle of Shaizar (1111) and theBattle of Bosra (1147).
For their part,Saladin's soldiers tried to disrupt theCrusader formation by raining arrows from their horse archers, by partial attacks and by feigned retreats. "It is likely that from time to time the Turks came to close quarters, and this has caused some writers to refer to the action as a battle. It is more probable that although there were short episodes in which there was hard fighting, there was no pitched engagement."[9] On this occasion, the Franks could neither be tempted into fighting a pitched battle nor stopped. Unable to make an impression on theCrusader Host,Saladin broke off the running battle and returned toDamascus.
The outcome of the battle is uncertain; some historians describe the result of the battle as inconclusive[10][11][12][13][14] while other historians like Bernard Hamilton calls it Crusader victory.[15]Saladin was not finished yet. He had arranged for anEgyptian fleet to attackBeirut. As soon as his scouts had spotted the fleet from theLebanese mountains,Saladin leftDamascus, marched through the Munaitra Pass and laidsiege toBeirut. At the same time, a force fromEgypt raided the southern part of theKingdom of Jerusalem, doing further local damage.Baldwin IV recalled his army to La Sephorie, then marched toTyre. From there he appropriated shipping and organized an attempt to relieve the port ofBeirut by both land and sea. WhenSaladin heard of these efforts, he raised the siege and destroyed the attempts in August 1182.
The tirelessSaladin spent the next twelve months campaigning inSyria andMesopotamia, addingAleppo and a number of other cities to his growing empire. He would invade theKingdom of Jerusalem again in September 1183. Free of his adversary, in October 1182,Baldwin IV of Jerusalem recovered Habis Jaldak in theTransjordan. In December 1182,Raymond III of Tripoli launched a raid in the same area andKing Baldwin IV took a mounted force within a few miles ofDamascus. But these were mere pinpricks. Not long afterward,Baldwin became completely incapacitated by leprosy and was forced to appoint his sisterSibylla's husbandGuy of Lusignan as regent.
TheCrusaders kept their enemies from capturing any strongholds and kept their field army intact, so they succeeded in their strategic purpose. ButSaladin's raiders managed to inflict great damage on the countryside. Frankish overlords depended on the rents of their tenants, but these could not be collected if the crops were ruined. Without money, the lords could not pay their soldiers. Therefore, constant devastations would ultimately reduce theKingdom of Jerusalem to a state of helplessness.
Saladin forced theCrusaders into a cruel dilemma. They could concentrate their field army to resist theMuslim main army. Or, they could guard against damaging raids. They could not do both because their military power was limited. "A single mistake on the part of a Frankish commander could lose the field army, the fortresses, and with them the wholeKingdom of Jerusalem."[16] This finally happened in 1187 at theBattle of Hattin. First, the campaign and theBattle of Al-Fule would be fought.
