Saladin captures Sidon and Beirut

August 10, 1187

In the weeks after Hattin, Saladin's armies rolled up the Crusader coast almost unopposed. Sidon, Beirut, Jbeil, and eventually Ascalon all fell without significant fighting. Only Tyre, defended by the newly arrived Conrad of Montferrat, held out as a foothold for the Latin kingdom. Conrad's defense of Tyre saved the Crusader presence in the Levant from total annihilation and provided the base from which the Third Crusade would operate.