James Baquet There are two ways to look at some of the Crusaders. One is that they were stalwart soldiers of the Cross, trying to retake the Holy Land from the Infidel. The other is that they were a bunch of barely-competent middle-managers playing at being royals. Today’s episode seems to support the latter over the former. The key figure on the European side at the end of the Second Crusade is one Guy (pronounced “gee” with a hard g) of Lusignan, who was married to Sibylla, sister to Baldwin IV (known as “The Leper King”), one of the many Crusaders who played at being king. When Baldwin IV died, his 8-year-old nephew by Sibylla’s first marriage (who had already been co-reigning with him) became Baldwin V, with his step-father Guy serving as regent. I’ll gloss over all the court intrigues and skip to when, after the boy’s death at age 9, Guy was King of Jerusalem, with Sibylla as Queen. Meanwhile, his colleague and rival Raynald of Chatillon had been harassing caravans under the protection of the Muslim sultan Salah ad-Din, known in our history books as Saladin. This led to open war between the Christians and the Muslims. Unlike Guy, Saladin was a shrewd and effective leader. Before the Battle of Hattin, the Crusaders had amassed an army of maybe 20,000 — much larger than their usual manpower — by withdrawing protection from many towns and castles. The Ayyubids under Saladin mustered up to 10,000 more. But it was not their superior numbers that won the day for the Muslims. It was their strategy. Guy had assembled his troops at a spring (called La Saphorie) sufficient to provide water for such a huge army. Saladin attacked, not their massed troops, but the town of Tiberias, held by another rival of Guy’s, Raymond III of Tripoli. Although Raymond’s wife was trapped in Tiberias, he still advised Guy not to come to the aid of the town. Guy did not listen. When his troops left La Saphorie, they had insufficient water; this was just what Saladin intended, and in a two-day battle his army killed or captured virtually every Crusader. The undermanned towns also fell, laying the groundwork for the Third Crusade. Vocabulary: Which word above means: 1. kings, queens, etc. 2. ruling together 3. clever, sharply practical 4. groups of traveling traders 5. hide, omit 6. unbeliever 7. one with Hansen’s disease, which affects the skin and nervous system 8. people between the top and the workers 9. not enough 10. strong and brave | 