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Secondary sourcePainting

Saladin Seizing the True Cross from Guy of Lusignan

Matthew Paris

A 13th-century English manuscript drawing imagining Saladin's victory over Guy of Lusignan at the Battle of Hattin.

This drawing shows Saladin as the victor over Guy of Lusignan, reflecting how English writers remembered Hattin a generation later.

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Medieval manuscript illumination of mounted knights in combat on a grassy field with red-dotted ground. Riders with lances and shields charge; one rider labeled Saladin and another labeled Guy. Red and black Latin text fills the page above.
Matthew Paris, drawing of Saladin and Guy of Lusignan at Hattin.

About this source

What it is

This is a drawing by the English monk and chronicler Matthew Paris, showing mounted knights in combat, with figures labelled Saladin and Guy of Lusignan. It illustrates the Battle of Hattin, where Saladin's forces defeated the Crusader army.

Why it matters

Matthew Paris made this image in England a generation after the battle, so it shows how the event was imagined and remembered there rather than how it actually looked. It reveals how Saladin became a central figure in European storytelling about the Crusades, often shown as a powerful and feared opponent of Christian knights like Guy of Lusignan.

Look closer

  • Why might an English artist choose to illustrate a battle he never witnessed?
  • What clues in the drawing suggest it was made long after the event, rather than at the time?
  • How does labelling the figures help a reader who could not otherwise tell who is who?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Saladin on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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