by Michael Fassbender

Created on: June 11, 2009   Last Updated: June 16, 2009

The improbable success of the First Crusade fueled a sense of inevitability on the part of the Crusaders. While neighboring Muslims were far too numerous to ignore, Crusaders felt that divine favor and proven European tactics would ensure the success of the Crusader States, even after the reversals of the middle 12th century. For the better part of that century, this assumption seemed to be right to all but the most astute; this faith was not to be truly shaken until the Battle of the Horns of Hattin.

Many factors influenced the success of the early Crusaders, from its own high level of motivation to the disunity of its opponents. It is one thing to carve out kingdoms in a hostile land, however, and quite another to maintain and expand them. Even the early efforts to branch out from the original Crusader States - the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the County of Tripoli, the Principality of Antioch, and the County of Edessa - proved disastrous, but what mattered most to the Westerners was the fact that the core of Christianity's holy sites had been secured under Christian control. Many felt that God would grant them victory once they had shown themselves to be worthy enough. The more practical looked for ways to put down lasting roots in the area and create a growing, sustainable population, but here success eluded them.

The first sign of real trouble was the loss of Edessa in 1144. The County of Edessa had constituted a massive salient projecting deeply into Muslim territory, and had lacked the manpower and resources to hold out against a large and determined enemy. This defeat had sparked a resurgence of European interest in the Crusader States, leading to an ineffectual Second Crusade. When this crusade faltered outside the walls of Damascus, a new equilibrium arose that would reign for about four decades. On the Christian side, the Crusader States tried to flourish on the Levantine coastline, while the Muslim world tried to sort out its own doctrinal disputes, above all that between Sunni and Shi'ite. The Second Crusade had taught the Muslims that they would have to deal with the Crusader States eventually, but having pushed the "Franks" back to the coast, they felt that they could afford to wait until they were strong enough to finish the job.

They found a leader capable of undertaking such a task in Sallah al-Din ibn Ayyub, better known to the West as Saladin. Saladin, a Kurd who had already taken Fatimid Egypt under the Syrian banner, arose to preeminence

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