Happy Forth of July

Salvete Omnes,
 today there is the anniversary of several important battles and the American national holiday.
well,
on July 4th 1187 the Kingdom of Jerusalem and its vassals lost the most important battle since the First Crusade - Hattin. Cunning,talented and most ruthless Kurdish  sultan Saladin won his most stunning victory, that gave him an immortal fame.
on July 4, 1610 Polish hetman Zolkiewski with his tiny army of mostly winged hussars defeated the huge army of the Muscovite tsardom under Shuisky-de la Gardie, took Moscow in a short stride, Poles occupied Kremlin and thus opened the way for a Polish ruler on the 'Rurik's' throne. It is entirely other matter that the scheme did not work out to the Polish advantage.

Happy Forth of July to all my Americans all over the world !
and the detail from the XV century (?) fresco from a Church in Norwich, UK. Saint George and the dragon.
I do not have a better image - images from Wiki Commons.





Valete

Battle of Hattin 1187 reenactment

Salve,
I am a big fan of the Crusades, and have been reading and researching about that period of Medieval history.
Last July 4 was also yet another anniversary of the battle of Hattin AD 1187 -  it was the most tragic disaster for the Crusader states of the Holy Land et al.

 Modern view of the battlefield.

Dr Helena Shrader who has written many books on this period, wrote a blog entry on this battle that I quite like. Also  you can read her short stories about the most important companion of the medieval knight, his dextrarius or destrier stallion - the horse in question is Centurion, the mount of the famous knight of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Balian of Ibelin.

Ad rem, Salah Ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, known as Saladin (Saudi Aramco has a long article on this ruler) and  the most famous Kurdish Muslim  warrior  of the Middle Ages, entrapped and then crushed the thirsty and demoralized army of the King of Jerusalem and his barons. After the battle 230 knights of the Templar and Hospitaller Orders were murdered by the scholars from the Saladin's entourage.
 'De re Militari' site has this article that includes four accounts of the disaster, from Christian and Muslim sides, including one by William of Tyre.

This year the battle was reenacted in Galilee, Israel, in its original surrounding. This article has some interesting photos from this daring reenactment
enjoy