Battle of Montgisard

Saladin invaded the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1177 while many Crusader forces were absent. The young Baldwin IV gathered a small army that included knights of the military orders and moved to intercept the invaders.

Near Montgisard, the Crusader attack surprised and broke Saladin’s larger force. The victory strengthened Baldwin’s reputation but did not remove the long-term strategic danger facing the kingdom.

This context supports fiction about Baldwin IV, Saladin, the Templars and the unstable decade preceding the Battle of Hattin.