Battle of Cresson

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Battle of Cresson
Part of: War between Crusaders and Ayyubids
Miniature by Jean Colombe depicting the battle, around 1474 [1]
Miniature by Jean Colombe depicting the battle, around 1474
date May 1, 1187
place at Nazareth
output Ayyubid victory
Parties to the conflict

Flag of Ayyubid Dynasty.svg Ayyubids

Armoiries de Jérusalem.svg Kingdom of Jerusalem

Commander

Al-Afdal

Armoiries Gérard de Ridefort.svg Gérard de Ridefort

Troop strength
about 700 men about 140 knights, including

as well as entourage (about 400 lower-ranking mounted and foot soldiers)

losses

unknown

almost all, only 3 surviving knights

Conflict between Crusaders and Ayyubids , 1177–1187

The Battle of Cresson took place on May 1, 1187 . It was a minor skirmish at the Well of Cresson or 'Ain Gozeh near Nazareth and the prelude to the loss of the Kingdom of Jerusalem after the Battle of Hattin two months later.

prehistory

The political situation in Jerusalem was tense. Raimund III. of Tripoli , who was previously regent and always one of the kingdom's best advisers, refused to recognize Guido of Lusignan as king. Gérard de Ridefort , the Grand Master of the Knights Templar , Roger de Moulins , the Grand Master of the Order of St. John , Joscius , the Archbishop of Tire , Balian of Ibelin , Lord of Ibelin and Nablus, and Rainald Garnier , Count of Sidon , were sent to Tiberias to serve with Raimund to negotiate.

At the same time, Saladin dispatched an army to the same place, which, under the leadership of his son al-Afdal, was seeking revenge for an attack on a Muslim caravan by Rainald of Chatillon . Raimund III. hoped Saladin would ally with him against Guido and allowed his troops to pass through Tiberias on April 30, but also warned the Christians and Nazareth of the presence of the army. Upon hearing this, Gérard quickly assembled a small force consisting of the Templar garrisons from Caco and Afula and the royal knights stationed in Nazareth, a total of only 140 knights. Balian of Ibelin had stopped on the way in his castle in Nablus and Rainald of Sidon in his castle Beaufort and did not take part in the battle. The strength of al-Afdal's army is given in the Christian chronicles as around 7,000 men. This number is probably exaggerated, modern estimates are more likely to be around 700, but the Muslims were certainly superior to the Christians.

Course of the battle

Gérard reached Cresson on May 1st. The Muslims feigned retreat, a common tactic, but Gérard, against Roger de Moulin's advice, ordered an attack that separated the knights from the foot soldiers. The Muslims rejected the attack by the Christian knights. They killed the exhausted knights first and then the foot soldiers. Roger de Moulins was killed in action. Gérard fled and was almost the only one to survive. The captured knights were executed.

consequences

As a result of the battle, Raimund recognized Guido as king.

Saladin put together a much larger army, about 20,000 men, with which he raided the kingdom in June, and defeated Guido on July 4, 1187 at Hattin. In October he captured Jerusalem .

literature

  • Thierry Delcourt, Danielle Quérel, Fabrice Masanès (eds.): Mamerot: Les Passages d'Outremer. A Chronicle of the Crusades. Volume 2. Taschen, Cologne 2009, ISBN 978-3-8365-0501-7 , p. 145.
  • Hans E. Mayer : The "Itinerarium peregrinorum". A contemporary English chronicle of the third crusade in its original form (= writings of the Monumenta Germaniae historica. 18, ISSN  0080-6951 ). A. Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1962.
  • Kenneth M. Setton (Ed.): A History of the Crusades. 6 volumes. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison WI et al. 1969–1989, ( accessible online ).
  • Raymond C. Smail: Crusading Warfare, 1097-1193. 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1995, ISBN 0-521-48029-9 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Fabrice Masanes: Picture comment. In: Thierry Delcourt, Danielle Quérel, Fabrice Masanès (eds.): Mamerot: Les Passages d'Outremer. A Chronicle of the Crusades. Volume 2. Taschen, Cologne 2009, p. 145.
  2. ↑ a b c Cf. David Nicolle : Hattin 1187. Saladin's greatest victory (= Osprey Military. Campaign. 19). Osprey Publishing, London 1993, ISBN 1-85532-284-6 , p. 57.
  3. ↑ see Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis Ricardi .