by Rayarama das

On the morning of Friday, July 3, 1187 A.D., Guy of Lusignan, crowned king of Jerusalem, led his army of Frankish Crusaders out from their camp at Sephoria and marched eastward to the relief of Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee, then under siege by the forces of Saladin, Sultan of Egypt. This was the greatest army the Christians of the East had ever assembled, consisting of 1,200 knights, about 2,000 light native cavalry, and close to 10,000 infantry. Saladin, camped at Kafr Sebt somewhat south of Guy's line of march, had likewise the greatest army he had so far commanded-a mainly mounted force slightly more numerous than the Franks.

Though by our nation-in-arms standards of today these were minute quantities of men, they were nevertheless about to fight one of the decisive battles of world history, a battle with significance to the student of spiritual enlightenment as much as to the student of military or political affairs. For this was a "religious" war, as indeed the entire Crusading movement was a "religious" phenomenon; and the uses and misuses of religion in this context are important to us in enquiring into the nature of relations between God and man.