Battle of Montgisard
Part of Crusades
The Battle of Montgisard, 1177, by Charles Philippe Larivière
Date November 25, 1177 Location Montgisard Result Decisive Crusader victory
Combatants
Kingdom of Jerusalem	Ayyubids
Commanders
Baldwin IV, Raynald of Chatillon, Knights Templar	Saladin
Strength
375 knights, 80 Templars, Several thousand infantry	About 30,000
Casualties
1100 killed 750 wounded	About 27,000

The Battle of Montgisard was fought between Saladin and the Kingdom of Jerusalem on November 25, 1177. This article is about the medieval crusades. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Schlacht_von_Montgisard_2. ... November 25 is the 329th (in leap years the 330th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events November 25 - Baldwin IV of Jerusalem and Raynald of Chatillon defeat Saladin at the Battle of Montgisard. ... Official language Latin, French, Italian, and other western languages; Greek and Arabic also widely spoken Capital Jerusalem, later Acre Constitution Various laws, so-called Assizes of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Christian kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 by the First Crusade. ... The Ayyubid or Ayyoubid Dynasty was a Muslim dynasty of Kurdish[1] origins which ruled Egypt, Syria, Yemen (except for the Northern Mountains), Diyar Bakr, Mecca, Hejaz and northern Iraq in the 12th and 13th centuries. ... Baldwin IV (1161 – 1185), called the Leper or the Leprous, the son of Amalric I of Jerusalem and his first wife Agnes of Courtenay, was king of Jerusalem from 1174 to 1185. ... Raynald of Châtillon (also Reynald or Reginald of Chastillon) (c. ... This article is about the medieval military order. ... Artistic representation of Saladin. ... Combatants Kingdom of Jerusalem Ayyubids Commanders Baldwin IV of Jerusalem Saladin Strength About 1500 unknown Casualties 700 killed, 800 captive unknown The Battle of Jacobs Ford was fought in 1179 between the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the forces of Saladin. ... The Siege of Kerak took place in in 1183 between the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and Saladin at Kerak Castle, stronghold of Raynald of Chatillon. ... The Battle of Cresson was a small battle fought on May 1, 1187, at the springs of Cresson, or Ain Gozeh, near Nazareth. ... Combatants Ayyubids Kingdom of Jerusalem Commanders Saladin Guy of Lusignan Raymond III of Tripoli Strength Est. ... The Siege of Jerusalem took place from September 20 to October 2, 1187. ... Artistic representation of Saladin. ... Official language Latin, French, Italian, and other western languages; Greek and Arabic also widely spoken Capital Jerusalem, later Acre Constitution Various laws, so-called Assizes of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Christian kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 by the First Crusade. ... November 25 is the 329th (in leap years the 330th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events November 25 - Baldwin IV of Jerusalem and Raynald of Chatillon defeat Saladin at the Battle of Montgisard. ...

Background

In 1177 the Crusader kingdom was facing the prospect of a succession crisis. King Baldwin IV was a leper and could not leave an heir. His sister Sibylla had been left widowed and pregnant by William of Montferrat, and the nobles of the kingdom began to seek another suitable husband. At the same time, Philip of Alsace, Count of Flanders, arrived on pilgrimage, and demanded that Sibylla be married off to one of his vassals. Philip and Baldwin also planned an alliance with the Byzantine Empire for a naval attack on Egypt; but none of these plans came to fruition. Baldwin IV (1161 – 1185), called the Leper or the Leprous, the son of Amalric I of Jerusalem and his first wife Agnes of Courtenay, was king of Jerusalem from 1174 to 1185. ... Hansens disease, commonly known as leprosy, is an infectious disease caused by infection by Mycobacterium leprae. ... Top: Baldwin IV betrothes Sibylla to Guy; Bottom: Sibylla and Guy are married. ... William of Montferrat (early 1140s-1177), also called William Longsword (modern Italian Guglielmo Lungaspada, originally Occitan Guilhem Longa-Espia), was the Count of Jaffa and Ascalon, the eldest son of William V, Marquess of Montferrat and Judith of Babenberg. ... Philip of Alsace was count of Flanders from 1168 to 1191. ... The counts of Flanders ruled over the county of Flanders from the 9th century. ... Byzantine Empire at its greatest extent c. ...

Meanwhile, Saladin planned his own invasion of the kingdom from Egypt. Learning of Saladin's plans, Baldwin IV left Jerusalem with, according to William of Tyre, only 375 knights to attempt a defense at Ascalon, but Baldwin was blockaded there by Saladin, who, again according to William of Tyre, had 26,000 men. Accompanying Baldwin was Raynald of Chatillon, lord of Oultrejordain, who had just been released from captivity in Aleppo in 1176. Raynald was a fierce enemy of Saladin, and was the effective commander of the army, with King Baldwin too ill to command it personally. Also with the army were Odo de St Amand, master of the Knights Templar, Baldwin of Ibelin, his brother Balian, Reginald of Sidon, and Joscelin III of Edessa. Another Templar force attempted to meet Baldwin at Ascalon, but they were also besieged at Gaza. Baldwin IV (1161 – 1185), called the Leper or the Leprous, the son of Amalric I of Jerusalem and his first wife Agnes of Courtenay, was king of Jerusalem from 1174 to 1185. ... Hebrew יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (Yerushalayim) (Standard) Yerushalayim or Yerushalaim Arabic commonly القـُدْس (Al-Quds); officially in Israel أورشليم القدس (Urshalim-Al-Quds) Name Meaning Hebrew: (see below), Arabic: The Holiness Government City District Jerusalem Population 724,000 (2006) Jurisdiction 123,000 dunams (123 km²) Jerusalem (Hebrew:  , Yerushaláyim or Yerushalaim; Arabic:  , al-Quds, the Holiness)[2... William of Tyre (c. ... The silver Anglia knight, commissioned as a trophy in 1850, intended to represent the Black Prince. ... The name Ascalon can refer to a number of possible topics: a middle-eastern city, more usually called Ashkelon the lance (or in some versions of the story, sword) that St George used to slay the dragon, named after the city Ashkelon the British WW2 aeroplane used by Winston Churchill... Raynald of Châtillon (also Reynald or Reginald of Chastillon) (c. ... Oultrejordain or Oultrejourdain (French for beyond the Jordan) was the name used during the Crusades for an extensive and partly undefined region to the east of the Jordan river, an area known in ancient times as Edom and Moab. ... Old Town viewed from Aleppo Citadel Aleppo (or Halab Arabic: ‎, ) is a city in northern Syria, capital of the Aleppo Governorate. ... Events May 22 - Murder attempt by the Hashshashin on Saladin near Aleppo Raynald of Chatillon released from prison in Aleppo May 29 - Frederick Barbarossa is defeated in the Battle of Legnano by the Lombard League leading to the pactum Anagninum (the Agreement of Anagni) September 17 - Seljuk Turks defeat Manuel... Odo de St Amand (or Eudes or Odon) was Grand Master of the Knights Templar. ... This article is about the medieval military order. ... Baldwin of Ibelin, also known as Baldwin of Ramla (died c. ... Drawing of Balian of Ibelins seal, from The Crusades: The Story of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, by T. A. Archer and Charles Lethbridge Kingsford (London & NY, 1894). ... Reginald Grenier (died 1202; also Reynald or Renaud) was Lord of Sidon and an important noble in the late-12th century crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. ... Joscelin III of Edessa (d. ... Map of the Gaza Strip from The World Factbook. ...

The battle

Saladin continued his march towards Jerusalem, thinking that Baldwin would not dare to follow him with so few men. He attacked Ramla, Lydda and Arsuf, but because Baldwin was supposedly not a danger, he allowed his army to be spread out over a large area, pillaging and foraging. However, Baldwin and the Templars both escaped their blockades, and marched out along the coast, hoping to meet Saladin before he reached Jerusalem. Ramla (Hebrew רמלה Ramlāh; Arabic الرملة ar-Ramlah, colloquial Ramleh), is a city in the Center District of Israel in Israel. ... Lod (Hebrew לוד; Arabic اللد al-Ludd, Greco-Latin Lydda) is a city in the Center District of Israel in Israel. ... Arsuf (also known as Arsur or Apollonia) was a Crusader city and fortress located in what is now Israel, about 15 kilometres north of Tel Aviv. ...

The combined force of Baldwin and the Templars amounted to Baldwin's knights, 80 Templars, and a few thousand infantry. They met Saladin at Montgisard near Ramla, surprising him completely, as his army was not prepared for a pitched battle. Saladin recalled his army as quickly as possible, organizing it a centre flanked by two forward wings, one of which was commanded by his nephew Taqi ad-Din, but the cavalry had not rested since leaving Egypt and the horses were exhausted. While Saladin manoeuvered his flanks so that a nearby tell would be at their rear, the Christians attacked the centre line. Ramla (Hebrew רמלה Ramlāh; Arabic الرملة ar-Ramlah, colloquial Ramleh), is a city in the Center District of Israel in Israel. ... A pitched battle is a battle were both sides choose to fight at a chosen location and time and where either side has the option to disengage either before the battle starts, or shortly after the first armed exchanges. ... Tell Mar Elias, North Jordan in 2005 Tell or tall (Arabic: ‎, tall, and Hebrew: , tel), meaning hill or mound, is an archaeological site in the form of an earthen mound that results from the accumulation and subsequent erosion of material deposited by human occupation over long periods of time. ...

The Muslims were routed with heavy casualties, and their baggage was lost to the Christians. Taqi ad-Din's son Ahmad was killed in the fighting, and the jurist Diya ad-Din Isa was taken prisoner. Saladin himself escaped only because he rode a racing camel. The Old French translation of William of Tyre, commonly attributed to Ernoul, recorded that St. George took the field alongside Baldwin and Raynald. Sharia (Arabic شريعة also Sharia, Shariah or Syariah) is traditional Islamic law. ... Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories corresponding roughly to the northern half of modern France and parts of Belgium and Switzerland from around 1000 to 1300 A.D. It was known at the time as the langue doïl to distinguish it from the langue... Ernoul is the name generally given to the author of a chronicle of the late 12th century dealing with the fall of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. ... For alternate uses, see Saint George (disambiguation) Saint George on horseback rides alongside a wounded dragon being led by a princess, late 19th century engraving. ...

Baldwin pursued Saladin until nightfall, and then retired to Ascalon. Deluged by ten days of heavy rains and suffering the loss of roughly ninety percent of his army, including his personal bodyguard of Mamluks, Saladin fled back to Egypt, harassed by Bedouins along the way. Only one tenth of his army made it back to Egypt with him. A Mamluk cavalryman, drawn in 1810 A mamluk (Arabic: مملوك (singular), مماليك (plural), owned; also transliterated mameluk, mameluke, or mamluke) was a slave soldier who converted to Islam and served the Muslim caliphs and the Ayyubid sultans during the Middle Ages. ... A Bedouin man resting on a hillside at Mount Sinai Bedouin, derived from the Arabic ( ‎), a generic name for a desert-dweller, is a term generally applied to Arab nomadic pastoralist groups, who are found throughout most of the desert belt extending from the Atlantic coast of the Sahara via...

Aftermath

Saladin, fearing the tenuousness of both his hold on Egypt and the alliance with his Syrian vassals, spread propaganda that the Christians had in fact lost the battle; Baldwin likewise propagandized his victory. He erected a Benedictine monastery on the battlefield, dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria, whose feast day fell on the day of the battle. However, it was a difficult victory; Roger des Moulins, master of the Knights Hospitaller, reported that 1100 men had been killed and 750 returned home wounded. A Benedictine is a person who follows the Rule of St Benedict. ... Saint Catherine of Alexandria, also known as Saint Catherine of the Wheel and The Great Martyr Saint Catherine (Greek ) is a Christian saint and martyr claimed to have been a noted scholar in the early 4th century. ... Roger de Moulins was Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller from 1177 to his death in 1187. ... The Knights Hospitaller (also known as the Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, Knights of Malta, Knights of Rhodes, and Chevaliers of Malta) is an organization that began as an Amalfitan hospital founded in Jerusalem in 1080 to provide care for poor and sick...

Meanwhile, Raymond III of Tripoli and Bohemund III of Antioch joined with Philip of Alsace in a separate expedition against Harim in Syria; the siege of Harim lasted into 1178, and Saladin's defeat at Montgisard prevented him from relieving his Syrian vassals. Despite an intervening year of relative peace, by 1179 Saladin was able to renew his attacks on the kingdom, leading to almost another decade of warfare which culminated in the Battle of Hattin and the collapse of the Crusader kingdom in 1187. Raymond III of Tripoli (1140–1187) was Count of Tripoli from 1152 to 1187 and Prince of Galilee and Tiberias in right of his wife Eschiva. ... Bohemund III of Antioch (1144-1201), also know as the Stammerer, was ruler of the principality of Antioch (a crusader state) from 1163 to his death. ... Harim (Hebrew:חָרִם) is a name mentioned in the Bible, meaning mountains, and according to some the name means destroyed or dedicated to God. ... Combatants Ayyubids Kingdom of Jerusalem Commanders Saladin Guy of Lusignan Raymond III of Tripoli Strength Est. ...

Fiction

The battle of Montgisard is alluded in the 2005 movie Kingdom of Heaven, as a battle where King Baldwin IV defeated Saladin when he was sixteen. This is a list of film-related events in 2005. ... There is another article about the theological concept of the Kingdom of Heaven. ...

An account of the battle is also given in Swedish author Jan Guillou's novel Tempelriddaren (the Knight Templar)(ISBN 91-1-300733-5), in which the protagonist, Arn Magnusson (de Gothia) is portrayed as a high ranking member of the Knights Templar , commanding a contigent of the army at the battle of Montgisard. Jan Guillou at the Swedish Book- and Library Convention in Gothenburg, Sweden Jan Oscar Sverre Lucien Henri Guillou (pron. ... This article is about the medieval military order. ... This article is about the medieval military order. ...

Sources

• Baha ad-Din, The Rare and Excellent History of Saladin, ed. D. S. Richards, Ashgate, 2002.
• Willemi Tyrensis Archiepiscopi Chronicon, ed. R. B. C. Huygens. Turnholt, 1986.
• Bernard Hamilton, The Leper King and his Heirs, Cambridge University Press, 2000.
• M. C. Lyons and D. E. P. Jackson, Saladin: the Politics of the Holy War, Cambridge University Press, 1982.
• Steven Runciman, A History of the Crusades, vol. II: The Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Frankish East, 1100-1187. Cambridge University Press, 1952.
• R. C. Smail, Crusading Warfare, 1097-1193. Cambridge University Press, 1956.