344 THE DECLINE AND FALL [Violation of the Truce by- attack on the Egyptian caravan. A.D. U87] [Fortress of Earakj [Battle of Hittin or Tiberias. A.D. U87, July 4] were the guardians of the holy city : a leper, a child, a -woman, a coward, and a traitor ; yet its fate was delayed twelve years by some supplies from Europe, by the valour of the military orders, and by the distant or domestic avocations of their great enemy. At length, on every side the sinking state was encircled and pressed by an hostile line ; and the truce was violated by the Franks, whose existence it protected. A soldier of fortune, Reginald of Chatillon, had seized a fortress on the edge of the desert, from whence he pillaged the caravans, insulted Maho- met, and threatened the cities of Mecca and Medina. Saladin condescended to complain ; rejoiced in the denial of justice ; and, at the head of fourscore thousand horse and foot, invaded the Holy Land. The choice of Tiberias for his first siege was suggested by the count of Tripoli, to whom it belonged ; and the king of Jerusalem was persuaded to drain his garrisons, and to arm his people, for the relief of that important place. '^ By the advice of the perfidious Raymond, the Christians Avere be- trayed into a camp destitute of water ; he fled on the first onset, with the curses of both nations ; ^^ Lusignan was overthrown, with the loss of thirty thousand men ; and the wood of the true cross, a dire misfortune ! was left in the power of the infidels. The royal captive was conducted to the tent of Saladin ; and, as he fainted with thirst and terror, the generous victor pre- sented him with a cup of sherbet cooled in snow, without suffering his companion, Reginald of Chatillon, to partake of this pledge of hospitality and pardon. " The person and dignity of a king," said the sultan, " are sacred ; but this impious robber must instantly acknowledge the prophet, whom he has blas- phemed, or meet the death which he has so often deserved." On the proud or conscientious refusal of the Christian warrior, Saladin struck him on the head with his scymetar, and Reginald was dispatched by the guards. *^^ The trembling Lusignan was ^'Templarii ut apes borababant et Hospitalarii ut venti stridebant, et barones se exiiio offerebant, et Turcopuli (the Christian light troops) semet ipsi in ignem injiciebant (Ispahani de Expugnatione KudsiticA, p. i8, apud Schuhens) : a speci- men of Arabian eloquence, somewhat different from the style of Xenophon ! [80,000 as the number of Saladin's army must be an exaggeration. He had 12,000 regular levies. Perhaps his force amounted to 25 or 30 thousand. Mr. Oman (Art of War, ii. p. 322) puts it at 60 or 70 thousand. For a plan of the locality see ib. p. 326.] 6S The Latins affirm, the Arabians insinuate, the treason of Raymond ; but, had he really embraced their religion, he would have been a saint and a hero in the eyes of the latter. [The treachery of Raymond is not proved and is probably un- true. Cp. Ernoul, ed. Mas-Latrie, p. 169.] 69Reaud, Reginald, or Arnold de Chatillon, is celebrated by the Latins in his life and death ; but the circumstances of the latter are more distinctly related by Bohadin and Abulfeda ; and Joinville (Hist, de St. Louis, p. 70) alludes to the
