Battle
The Kingdom of Jerusalem still hoped for an opportunity to attack Egypt, but they were not strong enough. In 1178, a fortress at Jacob's Ford - a border crossing outpost north of Lake 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 the Crusaders 100,000 dinars in exchange for halting incursions and dismantling the castle at Jacob's Ford but the Crusaders refused, and hostilities resumed. [3]
From the eastern side of the coastal range, the Crusaders saw Saladin'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, the Crusader 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 and Odo of St Amand's Templars moved onto some high ground between the Marj Ayyun and the Litani River. The Crusader infantry rested from their hurried march earlier in the day. [4]
Suddenly, Saladin's main army attacked the Crusaders, defeating them badly. Observers of the time blamed the defeat on Odo of St Amand, [5] [6] 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 at Beaufort Castle (Qala'at ash-Shaqif Arnoun) [7] about 5 miles (8.0 km) southwest of the battlefield.
Aftermath
One account suggests, the Templars attacked Saladin's larger force on their own, rather than falling back, warning the King, and fighting with him. William, Archbishop of Tyre, blamed the reckless actions of the Templars for the defeat, as he stated. However, the Templars were not subjects of the King Baldwin IV and followed their own policies and strategies. [3]
For the King 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 at Jacob’s Ford and destroying it in August 1179. Saladin immediately took advantage of his victory by destroying the newly built Le Chastellet stronghold at the Battle of Jacob's Ford. In the years after Marj Ayyun, the Frankish leaders became more cautious and the next two campaigns of note, the Battle of Belvoir Castle (1182), the Battle of Al-Fule (1183) and the Siege of Kerak (1183) were strictly defensive in nature.
Year 1179 (MCLXXIX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.
Baldwin IV (1161–1185), known as the Leper King, was the king of Jerusalem from 1174 until his death in 1185. He was admired by his contemporaries and later historians for his willpower and dedication to the Latin Kingdom in the face of his debilitating leprosy. Choosing competent advisers, Baldwin ruled a thriving crusader state and succeeded in protecting it from the Muslim ruler Saladin.
Guy of Lusignan was a French Poitevin knight who reigned as the king of Jerusalem from 1186 to 1192 by right of marriage to Sibylla, and King of Cyprus from 1192 to 1194.
The Battle of Hattin took place on 4 July 1187, between the Crusader states of the Levant and the forces of the Ayyubid sultan Saladin. It is also known as the Battle of the Horns of Hattin, due to the shape of the nearby extinct volcano of that name.
Raymond III was count of Tripoli from 1152 to 1187. He was a minor when Nizari Assassins murdered his father, Raymond II of Tripoli. Baldwin III of Jerusalem, who was staying in Tripoli, made Raymond's mother, Hodierna of Jerusalem, regent. Raymond spent the following years at the royal court in Jerusalem. He reached the age of majority in 1155, after which he participated in a series of military campaigns against Nur ad-Din, the Zengid ruler of Damascus. In 1161 he hired pirates to pillage the Byzantine coastline and islands to take vengeance on Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos, who had refused to marry his sister Melisende. He was captured in the Battle of Harim by Nur ad-Din's troops on 10 August 1164, and imprisoned in Aleppo for almost ten years. During his captivity, Amalric I of Jerusalem administered the county of Tripoli on his behalf.
Roger de Moulins was the eighth Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller from 1177 until his death in 1187. He succeeded Jobert of Syria. His successors were two interim masters, William Borrel and then Armengol de Aspa, before the permanent Grand Master Garnier of Nablus was selected in 1190.
The Battle of Montgisard was fought between the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Ayyubid Dynasty on 25 November 1177 at Montgisard, in the Levant between Ramla and Yibna. The 16-year-old Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, severely afflicted by leprosy, led outnumbered Christian forces against Saladin's troops in what became one of the most notable engagements of the Crusades. The Muslim Army was quickly routed and pursued for twelve miles. Saladin fled back to Cairo, reaching the city on 8 December, with only a tenth of his army. Muslim historians considered Saladin's defeat to be so severe that it was only redeemed by his victory ten years later at the battles of Cresson and Hattin and the Siege of Jerusalem in 1187. Saladin did defeat Baldwin IV in the Battle of Marj Ayyun and the Siege of Jacob’s Ford in 1179, only to be defeated by Baldwin again at the Battle of Belvoir Castle in 1182 and the Siege of Kerak in 1183.
The Battle of Cresson was a small battle between Frankish and Ayyubid forces on 1 May 1187 at the "Spring of the Cresson." While the exact location of the spring is unknown, it is located in the environs of Nazareth. The conflict was a prelude to the decisive defeat of the Kingdom of Jerusalem at the Battle of Hattin two months later.
Baldwin of Ibelin, also known as Baldwin II of Ramla, was an important noble of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and was lord of Ramla from 1169-1186. He was the second son of Barisan of Ibelin, and was the younger brother of Hugh of Ibelin and older brother of Balian of Ibelin. He first appears in the historical record as a witness to charters in 1148.
Balian of Ibelin, also known as Barisan the Younger, was an Italian crusader noble of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century. He was Lord of Ibelin from 1170 to 1193. As the leader of the defense of the city during the siege of Jerusalem in 1187, he surrendered Jerusalem to Saladin on 2 October 1187.
Odo of St. Amand was the 8th grand master of the Knights Templar, between 1171 and 1179.
The siege of Kerak was conducted by the forces of Muslim Sultan Saladin against the Crusaders and the Christian King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem at the Kerak Castle from early November to 4 December 1183. The Crusaders successfully withstood the siege.
The siege of Jacob's Ford was a victory of the Muslim Sultan Saladin over the Christian King of Jerusalem, Baldwin IV. It occurred in August 1179, when Saladin conquered and destroyed Chastelet, a new border castle built by the Knights Templar at Jacob's Ford on the upper Jordan River, a historic passage point between the Golan Heights and north Galilee. Jacob's Ford is also known by the Latin name of Vadum Iacob and in modern Hebrew as Ateret. Many scholars believe that Saladin's reconquest of the Holy Land and Jerusalem in 1187 was heralded by this earlier victory.
Reginald Grenier was lord of Sidon and an important noble in the late-12th century Kingdom of Jerusalem.
The Battle of Belvoir Castle, also called the Battle of Le Forbelet, was a part of Saladin’s campaign in May — August 1182 against the Crusaders. Crusader forces led by King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem battled with Ayyubid forces from Egypt commanded by Saladin. Saladin took action in Damascus on June 11, 1182, together with his regent Farrukh Shah. Entering Palestine from the south of Tiberias, Saladin encountered the Crusader army coming from Transoxiana near Belvoir Castle..
In the campaign and Battle of al-Fule, a Crusader force led by Guy of Lusignan skirmished with Saladin's Ayyubid army for more than a week in September and October 1183. The fighting ended on 6 October with Saladin being forced to withdraw.
The military history of the Crusader states begins with the formation of the County of Edessa in 1097 and ends with the loss of Ruad in 1302, the last Christian stronghold in the Holy Land.
Hugh II of Saint Omer was a Crusader knight and titular Prince of Galilee and Tiberias.
Chastelet was a castle located beside Jacob's Ford, a ford of the upper Jordan River in Israel. The castle was built during the Crusades by the Knights Templar and the forces of the Kingdom of Jerusalem but was destroyed by the army of Saladin in 1179.
The Battle of Banias was a military engagement between the Ayyubid force and the Crusader force led by King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem. The Ayyubids routed the Crusaders.
Kingdom of Jerusalem 
Knights Templar 
Ayyubid Dynasty 
Saladin