November 25: The Battle of Montgisard

On 25 November 1177 the 16-year-old King Baldwin IV led an army of 375 Christian knights against the army of Saladin which consisted of over 26,000 men. Saladin marched towards Jerusalem with the mindset that Baldwin would not dare attack him with such a small army. Saladin attacked smaller towns like Arsuf, Lydda and Rahmla, spreading his army very thin as he did. The Christian army, led by the king, followed Saladin until finally catching him at Mons Gisardi. Saladin, Caught totally by surprise, scramble to get his men into battle ranks so that they could fend off the attackers. But the Islamic army was tired from pillaging and marching all day and was no match for the Christian army. The young king’s victory was quick and complete. Nine tenths of the Islamic army was decimated and the remaining soldiers would be killed by Bedouin raiders on the return home. Although Saladin had escaped, the king had protected Jerusalem and won the day. –Brendon Wheeler Photo Caption: Charles-Philippe Larivière’s Battle of Montgisard (19^th century)

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Meet the Author: Brendon Wheeler Brendon Wheeler is a student at Schoolcraft College.

Posted on November 25, 2013 by Schoolcraft College Student
Categories: World History: Early Modern
Tags: Jerusalem, military, religion

8 Responses

Mustafa Raychouni says:

25 November 2012 at 2:26 pm

Baldwin celebrated his victory by raising 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 1,100 men had been killed and 750 returned home wounded. Saladin, fearing the fragility of both his hold on Egypt and the alliance with his Syrian vassals, lied and spread false information that the Christians had in fact lost the battle.

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 a superseding year of relative peace, by 1179 Saladin was able to repeat his attacks on the kingdom, including his victory at the Battle of Marj Ayyun that year. This led to almost another decade of warfare, which ended in Saladin’s victory over the Crusaders at the Battle of Hattin in 1187.

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Chris Hernandez says:

25 November 2012 at 3:55 pm

The battle of Montgisard was a very impressive battle for King Baldwin IV, giving the circumstance of the size of his army compared to Saladin’s army. Also how young King Baldwin IV was and that he was riddled with disease that made him very weak as well. It is widely debated on the casualties of the battle but it is reported that only ten percent of Saladin’s army survived that battle, and among the casualties was Saladin’s nephew son Taqi ad-Din and Saladin only was able to escape by a racing camel. As for the crusaders this was an important victory, however; it would be there last. Over the next ten years Saladin’s army regrouped and would eventually take Jerusalem in 1187.

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Caleb Schonschack says:

26 November 2012 at 8:51 pm

King Baldwin IV was king of Jerusalem from 1174 to 1185 when he died. His sister was Queen Sibylla and her child became King Baldwin V. He also had a half sister named Isabella through his father’s second marriage. In the summer of 1180, Baldwin IV married Sibylla to Guy of Lusignan. In 1182 Baldwin was now blind and unable to walk and appointed Guy regent of the kingdom. Baldwin was offended by Guy’s actions as regent.The wedding of Isabella (Baldwin’s half sister) was held in Karak. It was however interrupted by Saladin who besieged the fortress. Baldwin tried to lift the siege, but Guy refused to fight and Saladin’s troops simply went home. Baldwin was extremely unhappy about this and took away Guy’s authority as regent. Guy was humiliated and left for Ascalon and took his wife Sibylla with him.

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wilker32 says:

30 November 2012 at 3:06 pm

The Battle of Arsuf was another battle that ended in Saladin’s defeat. It was a battle of the Third Crusade in which Richard I of England was the one to defeat Saladin. The battle began on the morning of 7 September 1191. Richard’s other forces were; The knights Templar, The Angevins and the Bretons and the Poitevins. Next came the AngloNormans, then the Flemings and finally the Knights Hospitallers.
The best tactic for Richard and his forces to do was to split up. Some were sent to the hills and others ride up and down the ranks ensuring that they were kept in order.Troops feel from all sides, on land and on water. The battle lasted from 09:00 to the middle of noon. Saladin’s army was too powerful and started to push Richard’s forces back. When the other forces were getting pushed back the Hospitallers started to attack, without order, with their crossbows. Richard charged into the Saracen ranks and the knights followed and this led to victory.
Later, after the victory Rickard’s response was; “The precipitate action of the Hospitallers could have caused Richard’s whole strategy to unravel. But in the end Saladin’s archers were overwhelmed by the unexpected Hospitallers onslaught.”

-Shari Wilke

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Kristen Becker says:

7 December 2012 at 6:35 pm

– King Baldwin IV was known to have died from leprosy at a young age, but even though he was sick and had only gained the thrown at the age of 15, it is said that he had possessed great strength and character that made him a good ruler. It was one of Baldwin’s first actions as King of Jerusalem, which he decided to reject the peace made with Saladin and instead raid the lands that surrounded Damascus which had forced Saladin to take defense. When Baldwin had decided to attack Saladin at Damascus instead of at the front of Aleppo, where Saladin had troops attacking. It was said he showed great maturity and wisdom for a king of such young age.

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Brandon Filipiak says:

9 December 2012 at 6:56 pm

It seems as if in the ancient days that it wasn’t uncommon to see a ruler that was at a very young age. But also we see something else that was truly great and heroic about this ruler, he was not afraid to play the odds and go to war against 26,000 soldiers while his army was only 375 soldiers. We see another scenario like this in the last stand of the 300 which is a movie that we watched on the battle of Thermopylae. a battle in which king Leonidas lead roughly 7,000 men against 100,000 to 300,000 soldiers and made a pretty good statement and impact on the way people view the Greeks and the fighting tactics of there nation. this also can be said for King Baldwin IV because with as few as 375 men he still made a point to fight and did prevail saving the city of Jerusalem for the time being. This just goes to show us how much even the littlest of bit of fight can go a long way even when the odds seem to be against you 375 to 26,000.

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Clariss_riss3 says:

9 December 2012 at 11:16 pm

I can’t imagine what Saladin had to go through to try and get Jerusalem back, and also it troubles me how this one place could be so sacred to various cultures. It makes me wonder who originally made the Bible or the Quran and try to understand why the people who created these sacred text picked this original place. Why not just have a different places to have as their sacred homeland? Looking at this reminded me of the time that Dr. Berg talked about Jerusalem and what my thought process was at the time. (which was is this “God” or Allah” really different people, because at this point I somewhat find it hard to believe that they are in a way.)

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- Clarissa Berg says:
  
  9 December 2012 at 11:32 pm
  
  ^ -Clarissa Berg
  
  Reply