Neander97 / Historical Trivia: The military
response of the United States and its allies to Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait is, of
course, not the first time that Western forces have taken to the field in the Middle East.
From the Age of Napoleon to the post-colonial days of the present, Western armies have
campaigned and occupied territory in the Near East. During the Middle Ages, the warriors
and knights of the Crusades conquered a kingdom in the Holy Land and carved out their
personal fiefs along the shores of the Levant.
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Reginald: Wolf of Kerak
Neander97 (copyleft 1992)
Disaster In The Near East:
Western Forces Routed by
Pan-Islamic Coalition
The Moslem
Middle East cries out in rage at the presence of Western forces in the Arabian Peninsula.
Thousands die in climactic battle. Jerusalem falls before the combined armies of Islam.
Contents
Reginald: Wolf of Kerak
The military response of the
United States and its allies to Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait is, of course, not the
first time that Western forces have taken to the field in the Middle East. From the Age of
Napoleon to the post-colonial days of the present, Western armies have campaigned and
occupied territory in the Near East. During the Middle Ages, the warriors and knights of
the Crusades conquered a kingdom in the Holy Land and carved out their personal fiefs
along the shores of the Levant.
Throughout these many centuries, seldom have
Western leaders possessed the audacity to take to field inside the Arabian Peninsula.
Reginald of Chatillon-sur-Marne,(1) whom the Arabs would come
to call Wolf,(2) dared not once, but twice to launch raids
deep into Arabia. In 1181, and again in 1183, small bands of reavers, led by this Frankish
Wolf, sallied forth from Christian Palestine to raid Mecca and Medina. The consequences of
these assaults upon the spiritual bastion of Islam proved so pivotal in the outcome of the
region's history, that these daring forays and the life of the man who led them merit
re-examination.
Reginald of Chatillon-sur-Marne was, indeed, a
man of his times. The Wolf was well versed in the arts of war, accustomed to the clash of
arms, and quick to adopt the hit-and-run tactics of combat in the East. Like the valiant
French chevaliers, who so boldly rode to their deaths in the arrow storms of Crecy,
Reginald's courage and sense of self-honor knew no limits. Like the greed-driven
Conquistadors, who plundered the temples and treasuries of the Aztecs, Reginald's hunger
for wealth knew no bounds. It was this complex combination of Crusader Lord and robber
baron that ever compelled Reginald to pursue, with equal vigor, both the call of glory and
the spoils of war. It was this combination of fearless chevalier and fearsome raider that
would so often prompt Reginald to rain disaster down upon the heads of his enemies and
allies alike.(3)
Reginald first gained notoriety in 1157. Sailing
forth from his base of operations at the fortress of Antioch, the Wolf invaded and laid
waste the island of Cyprus. Like fierce beasts caught in the throes of a blood frenzy,
Reginald and his savage raiders raped and plundered their way across this Christian isle.(4) The Wolf and his sea raiders seemed to gain special pleasure
in chopping off the noses and ears of Orthodox priests as they pillaged Cypriot churches.(5) Such was the treatment meted out by the Wolf to his fellow
Christians and nominal allies. When Cyprus had been stripped of its riches, Reginald
returned to Antioch, his galleys swollen with plunder and, for the moment, his bloodlust
sated with Cypriot gore.
The Wolf was able to stage such a vicious raid
against the Christians of Cyprus due to the unique nature of the political coalition under
which he operated. The various holdings in the Holy Land and the Levant carved out by the
Lords of the First Crusade, known as the Outremer, never constituted a single, unified
political entity. While the Lords of these lands often cooperated to counter the threat of
Moslem invasion, more often than not, they employed their power to benefit themselves at
their neighbor's expense. It was in this cauldron of intrigue and chaos that Reginald,
this Wolf in Crusader's guise, made his bid for wealth and glory.
In November 1160, while trying his hand at cattle
raiding in Syria, Reginald was captured by Nur-ad-Din, the Sultan of Damascus.(6) The Wolf was caged! For 16 long years, Reginald endured
captivity while his peers amassed fortunes, fiefs, and fame. And then, when it seemed that
this relentless adventurer would never again ride the road to glory and fortune, the Wolf
secured his release. Reginald returned to the Outremer, now, more than ever, determined to
make his mark on the world. During his years in Damascus, Reginald had learned much about
the languages and culture of his Moslem captors, knowledge that the Wolf was not slow to
use.(7) In 1176, Reginald wed the wealthy Stephanie of Milly.
Stephanie's dowry included the vast and rich district of the Trans-Jordan marches.(8) The Trans-Jordan and its massive citadel of Kerak proved to
be the ideal base of operations for a warlord of Reginald's nature: the Wolf had, at last,
found his lair.
Near
the site where the Pilgrims' Road from Damascus crossed over the Moab Mountains on its
winding path to Mecca, lay the Crusader castle of Kerak. This mighty fortress was more
than just the stark and grim guardian of the south-eastern flank of the Outremer; Kerak
provided a base from which Christian riders could sever the lines of communication between
Damascus and Mecca, and Damascus and Cairo. From its commanding heights, the man who
controlled Kerak could plunder, at will, the life lines and treasure trains of Islam.(9) It was at Kerak that Reginald, the bloody robber baron,
earned the fear and hatred of the Moslem world. It was the savage raids which Reginald led
against the caravans of both Moslem merchants and religious pilgrims alike, which earned
him the Arab name of "Wolf." Soon the entire Near East would learn to fear the
mere mention of the Wolf's name.
In 1182, a truce between the great Moslem leader,
Saladin, and the Lords of the Outremer was due to expire.(10)
Would the peace hold, or would Saladin call forth his armies to crush the Soldiers of the
Cross and cast the Christians of Palestine into the sea? The Outremer seemed paralyzed
with indecision and doubt. Had the sons and grandsons of the great men of the Crusades
grown weak and decadent? Had they grown fearful of war? While the Great Lords endlessly
debated the merits of peace and war, one man did not passively await the lapse of the
truce. He imposed his will upon Christian and Moslem alike. That man was Reginald, the
Wolf of Kerak, and he willed that there be war!
In the summer of 1181, the Wolf prowled forth
from his lair. Riding at the head of a band of fierce marauders, the Lord of Kerak
launched a desperate raid deep into the Arabian Peninsula. Reginald and his hard-riding
raiders attempted the unthinkable: to raid, to pillage and despoil Mecca, the birthplace
of the Prophet Mohammed. Wielding death in their callused sword-hands, the bloody Lord of
Kerak and his merciless riders carried terror and devastation deep into the heart of
Arabia. The Wolf employed his hard-won knowledge of the hit-and-run tactics of the desert
Bedouin and nearly brought his message of war and death into the very streets of Mecca.
But, finally, less than a day's ride from the gates of Mecca, the Arab force assigned to
protect Mecca intercepted the Wolf and his warband. Reginald was compelled to halt his mad
ride to glory and lead his wild horsemen north toward safety.(11)
Denied the fame of being the first Christian to raid Mecca, the Wolf returned to the
safety of the stout walls of Kerak, where he gloated over his plunder and plotted his next
ride to glory and riches.
The Moslem Near East cried out in
rage and dismay at this attempt to defile the birthplace of the Prophet. The Sultan of
Cairo, Saladin, the artful warlord and skilled statesman, knew that his dreams of unifying
the Moslem lands of the Near East now depended upon his avenging Islam's damaged honor. If
he could now assume the role of the Defender of Islam's sacred shrines, Saladin knew he
could rule the Moslem Middle East.(12) Baldwin IV, the King
of Jerusalem, in the hopes of salvaging the soon-to-expire truce, appealed to his vassal
to return his looted goods and appease the Sultan. But the Lord of Kerak refused to heed
Baldwin's commands and entreaties. Reginald hurled taunts at Baldwin, his lawful King,
further weakening both Kings' prestige and the unity of the Outremer.(13) When King Baldwin proved unable to control his fierce vassal, the
Sultan of Cairo sought his own remedies. If it was war that the Lords of Outremer desired,
then so be it; Saladin would carry war into the very center of Christian Palestine.
In the spring of 1182, Saladin struck at the
Crusader lands. The Sultan, now joined by his Syrian allies, plunged deep into the Kingdom
of Jerusalem. Like a plague of armed locusts, Saladin's riders devastated and laid waste
to the rich and productive heartland of the Outremer. The Sultan shrewdly avoided a set
battle with Baldwin and the Christian host, while all the while his forces visited ruin
and destruction upon the lands and peoples of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Finally, in August
1182, after having gravely punished his Christian foes for the Wolf's raid on Mecca,
Saladin temporarily retired from the field, leaving vast areas of the Outremer a
smoldering ruin.(14)
The survival of the Outremer appeared most
doubtful in 1183. Based largely upon his successes in punishing the Christian infidels,
Saladin had succeeded joining the armies of Cairo and Damascus under his command.(15) King Baldwin, the noble and wise ruler of the Outremer,
was, in this time of grave crisis, a doomed man, slowly succumbing to the ravages of
leprosy.(16) Alone without allies, surrounded by enemies,
and ruled by a dying King, it seemed that the Outremer's only hope for survival lay in
peace with Saladin. But all hopes of peace were destroyed when disaster again struck the
Outremer, disaster in the form of Reginald, the Wolf of Kerak.
Early in 1183, Reginald embarked upon his last
incursion into Arabia. Sailing forth from the Gulf of Aqaba, the Lord of Kerak raided deep
into the heartland of the Islamic world. For several months, the Wolf cruised the Red Sea,
pillaging port after port on both the Arabian and Egyptian coasts.(17) Never before had the Red Sea, this isolated Moslem waterway, suffered
such depredations, as it experienced at the hands of the Wolf and his fierce raiders. No
Christian writer was present during these sea-raids to record the dark deeds and bloody
exploits of the Wolf, but one Arab chronicler wrote, "It was like the coming of the
last judgment."(18) Not yet content with the rich
plunder stored in his holds, the Wolf prepared to launch the final stage of this, his
greatest raid.
Leaving the shores of the Red Sea behind them,
the Lord of Kerak and his few hundred riders set out on one final epic raid--one last mad
dash across the desert. Sowing death and terror along their path, they sped inland,
intending to unleash their destructive talents upon the shrines of Medina. By slaying all
who might sound an alarm, by outpacing all word of their presence, the Wolf and his
raiders hoped to reach their goal. But at last, after months of unequaled successes,
Reginald's luck deserted him: he and his raiders rode into a well-laid ambush.(19) One account of the engagement, set down by an Arab writer,
stated, "We pursued them, until not one of them was to be seen or heard of. All of
that crowd of infidels was sent to hell. We made a hundred and seventy prisoners."(20)
The Wolf's captive reavers were sent to Cairo to
meet with the Sultan's own judgment.(21) A witness to their
arrival at Saladin's court wrote, "The sultan ordered all of them to be beheaded. Not
one man was left to relate. . . to others the route of the Red Sea, that impregnable
barrier between the infidels and our sacred city."(22) But
the Sultan's scribe was greatly mistaken. The story did not end on the blood-soaked sands
of the Arabian desert, nor on the executioner's block in Cairo. One man had, indeed,
escaped the Sultan's punishment: Reginald of Kerak was soon back in his mountain-top
stronghold. There, for a brief time, neither discouraged nor humbled by his experience, he
nursed his wounds and gathered new followers before once again setting forth on the path
to war and fortune.
Again, Saladin entered the Outremer to seek
revenge for the actions of the Wolf. Beginning in November of 1183, Saladin raided far and
wide through the Crusader realms, using fire and cold steel to carry destruction deep into
the Holy Land. For nearly an entire year, the Sultan conducted a devastating campaign
inside the borders of the Outremer. As he had done so often in the past, the Sultan
refused to meet the Christian host in open battle, preferring instead to unleash his
warriors upon the Holy Land's farmlands and villages. In 1185, faced with insurrection in
Aleppo, the Sultan concluded a truce with the Lords of the Outremer and retired to
consolidate his control over Syria.(23)
In the spring of 1185, Baldwin, the Leper, had at
last succumbed to the fearsome ravages of his disease. Although the people of the Outremer
mourned the passing of their bold and valiant King, they also held out the hope that a new
king could restore the realm's tenuous unity. Unfortunately for the Outremer, Baldwin's
successor was anything but a great and masterful King. Guy of Lusignan, the new King of
Jerusalem, proved to be a ruler all too willing to pay heed to the words of his advisors.
And, as time would tell, the majority of Guy's counselors refused to set aside their own
interests for the good of the realm. The new King of Jerusalem had only gained his crown
through backing Reginald and his old allies in intrigue, the Templars.(24) The Wolf of Kerak and his cronies now had a King on the throne whom
they could bend to their will.
Then disaster struck! Overnight all hopes of
peace vanished, and all hopes of survival were destroyed. As a large and wealthy pilgrim
caravan passed near his fortress, the Wolf pounced upon the unfortunate travelers, looted
their goods and subjected them to great abuse and insults. This time, the Wolf had gone
too far. Not only was this caravan traveling under the personal banner of Saladin, not
only had the King in Jerusalem guaranteed its safe passage, not only had the Wolf violated
the truce, but one of the travelers in this peaceful caravan was the Sultan's own sister.(25)
Saladin vowed to obtain vengeance from the Lords
of the Outremer. His rage at the actions of the Lord of Kerak knew no bounds. Reginald had
made for himself a fatal enemy, for Saladin, the Lord of Cairo and Damascus, was no
defenseless pilgrim to lightly suffer the sting of the Wolf's bite. Of Reginald, the
Sultan vowed, "If the Lord wills, I shall slay this man with my own hand."(26) From all corners of his vast realm Saladin summoned his
armies. Veteran Mamelukes from Egypt, sturdy Kurds from the mountains of the north, and
fierce Turcomans from the steppes of the East answered the Sultan's call to war. Out of
the deserts of the south, wild Arab irregulars joined forces with Saladin's heavy cavalry.
When his pan-Islamic army had assembled, the Sultan marched forth with 60,000 men to
punish those infidels who for so long had plagued him and his people.(27)
In response to this deadly threat, the Crusader
Lords set aside their old grievances and hastened to their King's side. The Great Lords,
the mail-clad knights and sturdy men-at-arms of the Outremer rallied and rode to war.
Peasants and townsmen abandoned their fields and shops to march in defense of their lands
and families. In their mighty fortresses, the Templars and Hospitallers donned their armor
and prepared to do battle with the armies of Saladin. By July of 1187, King Guy had at his
command 1,200 heavy knights and 30,000 men-at-arms;(28) the
greatest Christian host to take to the field since the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099.
Guy's army was divided into factions; those who
wished to remain behind the stout walls of Jerusalem and defeat Saladin through patience,
and those who cried out for combat with the Moslems on the open field. With all his powers
of persuasion, Raymond of Tripoli counseled the young King to remain patient. Raymond, the
crafty veteran of many years of combat in the East, knew that the burning heat and lack of
forage for both man and beast would compel the Sultan to forego a protracted campaign.
Raymond argued that the Outremer's best hope for victory lay in holding firm behind the
safety of their great walls.(29)
But King Guy, ever indecisive and ever willing to
find wisdom in the voice of the last advisor to reach his ears, had not the strength of
character to stand firm. The Lord of Kerak and Gerard de Riddeford, the Grand Master of
the Templars, old allies in sowing chaos and discord, gained the King's ear. They spoke of
the shame that would befall a king who sat safely behind his walls while an enemy ravaged
the kingdom. The Wolf and the Templar pressured the young King with their harsh and
stinging words, granting him no rest until, finally, Guy gave in to their fatal counsel.(30) On the third of July, the host of the Outremer marched out
to do battle with Saladin and the armies of Islam.
All that day, Guy's army marched north under the
broiling sun of the desert summer. For the entire day, the Warriors of the Outremer
plodded on, choked by dust and plagued by thirst. That night, they made camp, still a half
day's journey from the Sultan's lines. However, nightfall brought little relief to the
Christian forces, for their campsite lacked water.(31)
Raymond of Tripoli, seeing the dire plight of the Christian host, knew that doom faced his
people even before they had met with the Moslems in combat. "Oh Lord, Oh Lord,"
Raymond moaned, "Already the battle is lost, and we are dead men!"(32)
On the morning of July 4, the men of the Outremer
awoke to find that Saladin's army, drawn up on the Plains of Hattin, had surrounded their
hilltop encampment. The forces of the Sultan lay between the men of the Outremer and Lake
Tiberias, between the Christians and the cool waters of the lake. The Warriors of the
Outremer knew that this day would decide both their fate and that of Christian Palestine.
In two courageous, but doomed charges, 30,000 men
hurled themselves down the hill against 60,000. If only the Warriors of the Cross could
break through to the cool waters of the River Jordan, they might then live. "Deo
Volente! God Willing!", if only they could break through! Shield against shield,
blade against blade, man against man, the bloody whirlwind of slaughter roared on.
Shouting their war cry, "Dieu Lo Vult! God Wills It!", the Crusader Lords and
their brave followers flung themselves against their foes. The steadfast Warriors of Islam
responded with their own battle cry, "Allahu-Akbar! God is Great!", and held
their ground. With the name of their God upon their lips, scores, then hundreds, then
thousands of men on both sides perished on the bloody Plains of Hattin. But the Warriors
of the Cross, the proud descendants of the men of the First Crusade, failed to break the
iron ranks of the Moslem line. As the final charge spent itself against the unyielding
Moslem lines, the survivors of Guy's army retired to a hill overlooking Saladin's camp;
the host of the Outremer had failed to break the Moslem lines.(33)
Only
King Guy, Reginald of Kerak, Gerard of the Templars and a handful of the Great Lords still
resisted the Sultan's troops. They stood shoulder to shoulder atop a small knoll, wielding
their great swords, and dealt out death to all who dared to come against them. Finally,
Saladin commanded his men to surround these last few Warriors of the Cross with a
barricade of brushwood and then ordered the wood set afire. When the flames died down,
when the smoke cleared, these last Great Lords of the Outremer lowered their arms and
surrendered to the Sultan.(34) Perhaps as many as 20,000
Christian lords, knights, and men-at-arms had perished in these two days of bloody
slaughter.(35) The Battle of Hattin had reached its end and
with it the Lords of the Outremer had reached theirs.
The surviving Lords were brought before Saladin.
In his tent, the Sultan offered Guy refreshments, and assured the young ruler that,
"Kings do not kill Kings."(36) Then, the Sultan
began to berate the Lord of Kerak for his lack of honor in breaking treaties as well as
for his cruel treatment of religious pilgrims.(37)
"That man's insolence," Saladin proclaimed, while pointing at Reginald,
"lies beyond all tolerance."(38) The Wolf,
seemingly unbowed and undaunted by the prospect of his impending fate, snarled back at the
Sultan, "I merely followed the customs of great kings."(39)
Reginald's words so enraged the Sultan, that he drew his scimitar and struck the Wolf a
savage blow.(40) Saladin's men then finished off the Wolf
and drug him from the Sultan's tent.
The Sultan had a last obtained his revenge upon
Reginald of Chatillon-sur-Marne. The fierce Wolf of Kerak had finally met with the fate
that he so relentlessly pursued for those many bloody years. In the next few months, the
forces of the Sultan rode out across the Holy Land, storming fortress after fortress,
until only the mighty walls of Jerusalem stood in defiance of the Moslem tide. With the
flower of the Outremer's manhood lying dead upon the plains and hills of Hattin,
Jerusalem, too, had little choice but to surrender to Saladin. For nearly nine decades the
Lords of the Outremer had held their many enemies at bay. In the end, it was neither a
lack of courage nor of numbers on the part of these Christian warriors which led to their
downfall. It was, rather, the unique circumstances of the politics of the Moslem Middle
East and the politics of the Christian coalition of the Outremer which led to Islam's
reconquest of Jerusalem.
The mere prospect of infidel forces operating in
the Arabian Peninsula provided a powerful and charismatic Islamic leader with the means by
which to unify the Moslem Middle East. The Crusader coalition's lack of political control
over the actions of its warlords when coupled with the region's volatile mixture of
religious and nationalistic fervor, insured the eventual fall of the Outremer.
Templars,
Hospitallers, and the Battle of Tiberias
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The first major engagement of the 1187 campaign
was fought on 1 July, along the banks of the Jordan River near the ancient city of
Tiberias. That morning, Saladin had dispatched 7,000 of his men to storm that strategic
citadel. The defenses at Tiberias were under the command of the Countess Eschiva, the wife
of Raymond of Tripoli. Fortunately for the Countess and the out-numbered defenders of the
City, or so it first seemed, a mixed company of 150 Templars and Hospitallers had just
arrived at the fortress. Although the Grand Masters of both Orders were riding with the
force, the company was under the command of Gerard de Riddeford, the Grand Master of the
Knights of the Temple. With the arrival of these reinforcements, it appeared that the
defenders of Tiberias might survive the siege.(41)
Originally, the Templars had functioned as a
military police organization, maintaining order behind the battle lines of the Holy Land.
In 1128, the Order received the Vatican's permission to organize as a monastic community
of Christian warriors and soon the Templars grew to be a premier, heavy cavalry force.
Beginning as a lay order which provided medical aide to pilgrims in Palestine, the
Hospitallers underwent a similar martial evolution. Strict monastic codes of discipline
and constant training for combat provided the Knights of the Temple and Hospital with a
focal point for their existence. The allure of this combination of service to God and
membership in an elite warrior society filled the ranks of both Orders with the younger
sons of Europe's nobility. By the middle half of the twelfth century, both the Templars
and the Hospitallers served the Outremer as its most effective force of shock troops.(42)
On that morning, rather than wait in safety
behind the stout walls of Tiberias until the army in Jerusalem could arrive to lift the
siege, Gerard and the Knights of the Holy Orders sallied forth to the attack. On their
Master's command, 150 mail-clad, heavily-armored Knights charged forth against 7,000 of
Saladin's elite warriors and died almost to the man. Only Gerard and a small handful of
his riders won through the Moslem lines and fled to the safety of Jerusalem.(43)
Gerard's foolhardy charge presented King Guy and,
indeed, the whole of the Outremer with a most rude shock. Not only had the Knights of the
Holy Orders failed to break the siege at Tiberias, not only had the Grand Master of the
Hospitallers perished in that doomed attack, but the assault had caused the Outremer to
lose over ten percent of its heavy horse. The stain of this defeat upon the honor of the
Crusader Lords played heavily upon Guy's decision to ride forth and meet the Army of
Saladin on the open field at Hattin.
Sources:
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A History of the Crusades Volume I, ed.
Marshall W. Baldwin (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1955).
Boase, T.S.R. Kingdoms and Strongholds of the Crusades
(Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Co., Inc., 1971).
Bradford, Ernle. The Sword and the Scimitar: The Saga
of the Crusades (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1974).
Ehrenkreutz, Andrew S. Saladin (Albany: State
University of New York Press, 1971).
Grousset, Rene. The Epic of the Crusades,
trans. Noel Lindsay (New York: Orion Press, 1970).
Hitti, Philip K. History of the Arabs: From Earliest
Times to the Present (London: MacMillan & Co., Ltd., 1958).
Lamb, Harold. The Crusades: Iron Men and Saints and
the Flame of Islam (Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1931).
Richard, Jean. Europe in the Middle Ages, Selected
Studies: The Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, Volume XIa, ed. Richard Vaughan, trans.
Janet Shirley (Amsterdam/New York/Oxford: North Holland Publishing Co., 1979).
Syed, Ameer Ali. A Short History of the Saracens
(London: MacMillan & Co., Ltd., 1899).
Notes:
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"Click on note to return to
corresponding text.
(1) A note regarding the consistency
of the sources. Variations appear in the sources cited, as to the spelling of Reginald:
the works authored or edited by Marshall W. Baldwin, T.S.R. Boase, Ernle Bradford, Andrew
S. Ehrenkreutz, Philip K. Hitti, and Harold Lamb refer to the man as Reginald of
Chatillon-sur-Marne. Rene Grousset refers to a Reynald of Chatillon-sur-Marne. Jean
Richard and Ameer Ali Syed write of one Renaud of Chatillon-sur-Marne. Cross referencing
reveals that these authors and editors all refer to the same individual. I have elected to
side with the majority and refer to the man as Reginald. I similarly elected to refer to
all other individuals and geographical entities by their common, Anglicized names. A
similar degree of inconsistency in the matter of chronology is encountered among the
sources. My sole criteria, when faced with a discrepancy in spelling, dates or chronology,
was the overall readability of the work.
(2) Harold Lamb, The Crusades:
Iron Men and Saints and The Flame of Islam, two volumes (Garden City, New York:
Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1931), Volume II, p 58. Ameer Ali Syed, A Short History
of the Saracens (London: MacMillan & Co., Ltd., 1899) p 354.
(3) For brief accounts on the
origins and character of Reginald, see:
- A History of the Crusades, Volume
I, ed. Marshall W. Baldwin (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1955) p 540;
T.S.R. Boase, Kingdoms and Strongholds of the Crusades (Indianapolis: The
Bobbs-Merrill Co., Inc., 1971) p 111; Rene Grousset, The Epic of the Crusades,
trans. Noel Lindsay (New York: Orion Press, 1970) pp 123-124 & 154; Lamb, pp 58-59;
Jean Richard, Europe in the Middle Ages, Selected Studies: The Latin Kingdom of
Jerusalem, Volume XIa, ed. Richard Vaughan, trans. Janet Shirley (Amsterdam/New
York/Oxford: North Holland Publishing Co., 1979) p 55.
(4) Baldwin, p 541; Boase, p 111;
Grousset, p 125.
(5) Baldwin, p 541; Grousset, p 125.
(6) Baldwin, p 546; Lamb, p 59.
(7) Philip K. Hitti, History
of the Arabs: From Earliest Times to the Present (London: MacMillan & Co.,
Ltd., 1958) p 647.
(8) Boase, p 134; Grousset, p 154.
(9) Accounts of the significance and
importance of Kerak and the remainder of Stephanie's dowry are found in: Andrew S.
Ehrenkreutz, Saladin (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1971) p
179; and Grousset, p 155; Richard, p 54.
(10) Grousset, p 155; Richard, p
54.
(11) Grousset, p 155; Richard, p
54.
(12) For accounts of Saladin's
tactics in achieving Moslem unity, see: Ehrenkreutz, entire; and Ernle Bradford, The
Sword and the Scimitar: The Saga of the Crusades (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons,
1974) pp 138-139.
(13) Grousset, pp 155-156;
Richard, p 54.
(14) Grousset, pp 156-157;
Richard, pp 54-55.
(15) Bradford, pp 138-139;
Grousset, p 157; Richard, p 55.
(16) Boase, pp 133-134; Bradford,
p 140; Grousset, pp 157-158.
(17) Boase, p 134; Ehrenkreutz, pp
179-180; Richard, p 56.
(18) Lamb, p 59.
(19) Boase, p 134; Ehrenkreutz, pp
179-180; Richard, p 56.
(20) Lamb, p 60.
(21) Boase, p 134; Ehrenkreutz, pp
179-180; Richard, p 56.
(22) Lamb, p 60.
(23) Boase, p 134; Ehrenkreutz, pp
179-180; Richard, pp 56-57.
(24) Boase, pp 134-136; Grousset,
pp 162-165.
(25) Boase, p 136; Bradford, p
140; Grousset, pp 165-166; Richard, p 174.
(26) Lamb, p 65.
(27) No two sources agree as to
the size of the armies assembled by both sides in this final campaign. Boase, p 137,
merely lists the Christian force as numbering "about 30,000." Bradford, p 140,
states that Saladin's host numbered 20,000, of which 1,200 were heavy cavalry. Bradford, p
141, is vague as to the strength of the Crusader's force, he sets it at 1,300 knights,
4,000 mounted sergeants, 4,000 or so foot soldiers, and a contingent of bowmen. Hitti, p
647, lists the Outremer's strength at 20,000. Syed, p 355, simply states that 10,000
Crusaders fell in the final battle. Richard, p 175, proposes that Saladin's forces
numbered 60,000 in total, while he lists the Outremer's strength at 30,000; of whom 1,200
were knights and 4,000 mounted Turcopol mercenaries.
(28) See above, Note 27.
(29) Boase, pp 136-137; Bradford,
p 141; Grousset, pp 167-168; Richard, p 175.
(30) Boase, pp 136-137; Grousset,
pp 167-168; Lamb, p 67; Richard, p 175.
(31) Bradford, pp 141-142;
Grousset, p 169; Richard, p 175.
(32) Lamb, p 69.
(33) Boase, p 137; Bradford, p
142; Grousset, pp 169-170; Hitti, p 647; Syed, pp 354-355; Richard, pp 175-177.
(34) Bradford, p 142; Lamb, p 71;
Richard, p 176.
(35) See above, Note 27.
(36) Bradford, pp 142-143;
Grousset, pp 169-170; Hitti, p 647; Lamb, pp 71-73; Syed, p 355; Richard, p 176.
(37) Bradford, pp 142-143;
Grousset, pp 169-170; Hitti, p 647; Lamb, pp 71-73; Richard, p 176.
(38) Bradford, p 143; Lamb, p 73.
(39) Grousset, p 170; Richard, p
176.
(40) Boase, p 137; Bradford, p
143; Grousset, p 170; Hitti, pp 647-648; Lamb, p 73; Syed, p 355; Richard, p 176.
(41) Bradford, 140-141; Richard,
54. Bradford gives the date of this battle as 1 July 1187, while Richard refers to it as
the Battle of Casal and states that is occurred on 1 May 1187.
(42) Lamb, 345-346.
(43) Bradford, pp 140-141;
Richard, p 54.
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