History of the Crusades

the Crusades Episode 51 the horns of Hatine. Hello again. The end of last week's episode brought the kingdom of Jerusalem to the brink of war.

A peace treaty which had been in force between the kingdom and Saladin

had been broken by the actions of Reynold of Chateon in attacking a wealthy Muslim caravan and by the actions or

inactions of King Gee, who failed to enforce an order requiring Reynold to make reparations for the goods he stole and the

merchants he imprisoned.

All in all, things weren't looking all that good for the kingdom.

King Guy and Queen Zabilla didn't have the confidence of their subjects

and everyone waited anxiously as Saladin began mustering his forces.

Ramon of Tripoli at this point was in a rather awkward situation.

Not wanting to support the accession to the throne of Queen Zibila or King Gee,

he had set himself up on his wife's lands in Galilee,

with his headquarters in the town of Tiberius.

He had formed a pocket of resistance opposing King Gee's rule in the heart of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

To prevent King G from invading Galilee,

Raymond had formed an alliance with Saladin. As a consequence, Raymond's garrison was bolstered with Muslim soldiers, and Saladin's men were free to traverse his land.

This was less awkward when there was a peace treaty in force between the Latin Christians and

Saladin, but now that the treaty had been broken and war with Saladin looked likely to say that Ramon of Tripoli was in an awkward

situation is an understatement. Here he was one of the most able and respected figures in the kingdom,

surrounding himself with the Muslim soldiers,

and being strongly allied with sulladin.

And things were about to get a whole lot more awkward. In early 1187,

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