the King he refused to recognize. Saladin, meanwhile, had been consolidating power during the reign of Baldwin IV. His successful campaigns in Mosul, Aleppo, and Egypt resulted in his sultanate being recognized by the Abbasid caliphate. Saladin returned to Damascus following Mosul's fall, having now placed the empire of Nur ad-Din under his uneasy control. In 1185, Saladin had signed a truce treaty with the Franks under then-regent Raymond; however, before the treaty expiration, Reynald captured a caravan of Muslims traveling from Cairo to Damascus that winter When Saladin demanded reparation, King Guy tried to make Reynald to, but he refused the King's request claiming he was absolute sovereign of his lands and he had no truce with Saladin. In response, Saladin launched an offensive against Reynald's castle at Kerak in 1187, leaving his son al Melik al-Afdal as commander of a contingency at Re’sulma. In response to the encroaching threat, Guy assembled the High Court in Jerusalem. A delegation of Gerard of Ridefort, master of the Knights Templar; Roger de Moulins, master of the Knights Hospitaller; Balian of Ibelin, Josicus, Archbishop of Tyre; and Reginal Grenier, lord of Sidon, were selected to journey to Tiberias to make peace with Raymond. Meanwhile, al-Afdal gathered a raiding party to pillage the land surrounding Acre, while Saladin besieged Kerak. al-Afdal dispatched Muzzafar ad-Din Gökböri, Emir of Edessa, to lead this expedition, accompanied by two ranking emirs, Qaymaz al-Najami and Dildirim al-Yarugi. Knowing that his troops were poised to enter Raymond's territory, Saladin agreed that the raiding party would only pass-through Galilee en route to Acre, leaving Raymond's lands untouched. In Frankish sources, this raiding party consisted of approximately 7000 men; however, modern historians believe 700 men is more accurate. The Battle On 30 April, the Ayyubid raiding party passed through Raymond's territory unimpeded, before making their way west towards Nazareth. On the same day, both Gerard and Roger arrived at the Templar castle of La Fève near Nazareth. Balian stopped at his fief of Nablus, and Reginald took an alternate route. The De expugnatione Terrae Sanctae libellus (hereafter "the Libellus"), a contemporary Latin chronicle, states that watchmen in Nazareth alerted Gerard and Roger of the Ayyubid raiders. The Lyon Eracles, a Middle French chronicle written by Balian's squire Ernoul, redeems Raymond – saying he had warned them about the raid. Nazareth, falling outside of Raymond's control, was not privy to Raymond's agreement