Battle of Belvoir Castle (1182)

Battle of Belvoir Castle
Part of the Crusades
Date July–August, 1182 Location Belvoir Fortress, Israel Coordinates: 32°35′44.03″N 35°31′17.8″E / 32.5955639°N 35.521611°E / 32.5955639; 35.521611 Result Tactical draw Strategic Crusader victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Jerusalem	Ayyubids
Commanders and leaders
Baldwin IV of Jerusalem Baldwin II of Ramla Balian of Ibelin Hugh II of Saint Omer	Saladin Farukh-Shah Gökböri Bektimur
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Light	Light

In the campaign and Battle of Belvoir Castle (Kaukab al-Hawa), a Crusader force led by King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem sparred inconclusively with an Ayyubid army from Egypt commanded by Saladin. The theatre of operations included Ayla, the Transjordan, Galilee and Beirut.

Saladin was appointed commander of the Syrian troops and vizier of the Fatimid caliph in Egypt in 1169 and established the Ayyubid Sultanate soon after. He slowly began extending his dominion over Muslim emirates in Syria formerly held by Nur ad-Din. In 1177, Saladin mounted a major invasion of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from Egypt and was thoroughly defeated by Baldwin IV (the "Leper King") at the Battle of Montgisard. Henceforth, the Muslim leader learned to respect the young Crusader king's military talents. In 1179, Saladin defeated Baldwin at the Battle of Marj Ayyun in Lebanon.

In 1180, Saladin arranged a truce between himself and two Christian leaders, King Baldwin and Raymond III of Tripoli. But two years later, the lord of the Transjordan fief of Kerak, Reynald of Châtillon, attacked Muslim caravans passing through his lands. Resenting this violation of the truce, Saladin immediately assembled his army and prepared to strike.

On May 11, 1182, Saladin left Egypt and led his army north toward Damascus via Ayla on the Red Sea. As he moved north, his army entered lands belonging to the fiefs of Montreal (Shobak) and Kerak. Saladin encamped at Jerba and launched raids on Montreal, which did great damage to the crops. At a council of war, the Crusader princes pondered two courses of action. They could move across the Jordan River to protect the exposed fiefs. Raymond of Tripoli argued against this strategy, saying that would leave too few soldiers to protect the kingdom. The aggressive Baldwin overruled Raymond and the Crusader army moved to Petra in the Transjordan, thus defending the lands of his vassal.

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