Hattin Campaign Options and Possibility of Victory?

Hattin Campaign Options and Possibility of Victory?

The Battle of Hattin was an unprecedented defeat for the Crusader states and broke their military power. My question is could this defeat have been avoided? What could have been done differently to achieve victory? How should the Crusaders have dealt with Saladin?

My opinion would be not to even fight the battle and leave Tiberias to its fate. Some are of the opinion that Saladin's army might have broken up and left afterwards. Not sure what Saladin's next move would be? This solution however to me seems unrealistic based on the political situation in the Kingdom of Jerusalem: Guy of Lusignan was criticized heavily for not engaging Saladin in 1183 and knights had just been massacred in the battle of Cresson. So with this in mind Guy will be forced to engage and chances of prolonged peace with Saladin also seem unlikely.
 
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Byzantines win Myriokephalon, providing a better overland route to Jerusalem.

Alternatively, the Battle of Hattin is still a Crusader defeat, but Frederick Barbarossa and his massive army don't drown in the Saleph river.
 
Hattin Campaign Options and Possibility of Victory?

The Battle of Hattin was an unprecedented defeat for the Crusader states and broke their military power. My question is could this defeat have been avoided? What could have been done differently to achieve victory? How should the Crusaders have dealt with Saladin?

My opinion would be not to even fight the battle and leave Tiberias to its fate. Some are of the opinion that Saladin's army might have broken up and left afterwards. Not sure what Saladin's next move would be? This solution however to me seems unrealistic based on the political situation in the Kingdom of Jerusalem: Guy of Lusignan was criticized heavily for not engaging Saladin in 1183 and knights had just been massacred in the battle of Cresson. So with this in mind Guy will be forced to engage and chances of prolonged peace with Saladin also seem unlikely. With this in mind some sort of major clash seems inevitable.

Raymound Of Tripoli urged King Guy to wait for Saladin outside Acre, rather than marching across a virtually waterless desert in order to engage Saladin. It is possible that Saladin would have come to them. In that case, the advantage would have been with the Franks.
 
Raymound Of Tripoli urged King Guy to wait for Saladin outside Acre, rather than marching across a virtually waterless desert in order to engage Saladin. It is possible that Saladin would have come to them. In that case, the advantage would have been with the Franks.

That does sound like the best plan. Downside though it leaves alot of territory for Saladin to ravage before he gets to Acre. What are the implications if Saladin loses a battle?
 
That does sound like the best plan. Downside though it leaves alot of territory for Saladin to ravage before he gets to Acre. What are the implications if Saladin loses a battle?
Depends on your definition of losing a battle. If anything, Saladin may fall back to Damascus.
 
Depends on your definition of losing a battle. If anything, Saladin may fall back to Damascus.

I don't think they could annihilate Saladin's army so I guess just force him from the Kingdom's territory. Saladin however has no other major Muslim opponents left so he will be back for more soon.
 
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