Battle of Montgisard - Aftermath

Aftermath

Baldwin memorialized his victory by erecting a Benedictine monastery on the battlefield, dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria, whose feast day fell on the day of the battle. However, it was a difficult victory; Roger des Moulins, master of the Knights Hospitaller, reported that 1,100 men had been killed and 750 returned home wounded. Saladin, fearing the tenuousness of both his hold on Egypt and the alliance with his Syrian vassals, spread propaganda that the Christians had in fact lost the battle.

Meanwhile, Raymond III of Tripoli and Bohemund III of Antioch joined with Philip of Alsace in a separate expedition against Harim in Syria; the siege of Harim lasted into 1178, and Saladin's defeat at Montgisard prevented him from relieving his Syrian vassals. Despite an intervening year of relative peace, by 1179 Saladin was able to renew his attacks on the kingdom, including his victory at the Battle of Marj Ayyun that year. This led to almost another decade of warfare which culminated in Saladin's victory over the Crusaders at the Battle of Hattin in 1187.

After his withdrawal, Saladin reorganized his armies in Egypt with the assistance of his brother Turan-Shah and received the ambassador of the powerful Kilij Arslan.