On 04 Jul 1187 the Battle of Hattin took place on 4 July 1187, between the Crusader states of the Levant and the forces of the Ayyubid sultan Saladin. The Muslim armies under captured or killed the majority of the Crusader forces resulting in the Muslims once again becoming the pre-eminent military power in the Holy Land, re-capturing Jerusalem and most of the other Crusader-held cities and castles.