Editing Baldwin IV of Jerusalem (section)

===Truce and resumed hostilities===
[[File:Dirham Saladin.jpg|thumb|Saladin as depicted on a [[dirham]] coin, c. 1190]]

Baldwin made use of the truce with Saladin to strengthen the position of his maternal kin, granting Maron and [[Chastel Neuf]] to Joscelin and [[usufruct]] of Toron to Agnes, while associating Guy and Sibylla with him in public acts. He remained unreconciled with Raymond, however, and forbade the count to enter the kingdom in early 1182 owing to suspicions of another conspiracy.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=167}} Baldwin likely intended to charge Raymond with treason and deprive him of the [[Principality of Galilee]], a [[vassals of the Kingdom of Jerusalem|fief of Jerusalem]] held by Raymond through marriage to [[Eschiva of Bures]]. The law prevented the king from seizing the fief without the assent of the High Court, and the High Court urged the king to reconcile with Raymond; Baldwin reluctantly heeded his vassals' advice.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=168}}

Baldwin's truce with Saladin was due to expire in May 1182{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=168}} but was broken in mid-1181 by Raynald, who seized a merchant caravan on its way from Egypt to Damascus.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=171}} Raynald ignored the king's request to make restitution to Saladin, who was then preparing to annex the [[Zengid]]-ruled [[Aleppo]].{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=171}} The king, who consistently acted against Saladin's attempts to expand into northern Syria, decided to oppose him.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|pp=172–178}} The recent [[Massacre of the Latins|anti-Catholic coup in Constantinople]] gave Saladin confidence to attack the Kingdom of Jerusalem. In July, Baldwin marched with his host to relieve the Muslims' siege of [[Bethsan]], and his outnumbered army won the [[Battle of Le Forbelet]].{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=174}} Historian Bernard Hamilton attributes the victory to the respect and loyalty commanded by Baldwin,{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=175}} who stayed on the battlefield despite his illness and intense heat.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=174}}

The defeated sultan took his host to besiege Beirut, while another army from Egypt attacked the south of the kingdom. Baldwin knew that he was being provoked into dividing his forces. Deciding that Beirut was of a greater strategic importance, he ignored the southern attack and moved with his troops to [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]]. From there he procured assistance from the Italian [[maritime republics]] in lifting Saladin's naval blockade of Beirut.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=175}} Saladin abandoned the siege, but declined to make a truce, worrying Baldwin and his advisers.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=176}} He proceeded north to fight the Zengids, thereby expanding his realm, while Baldwin led an attack on Saladin's Damascene territory, then on [[Bosra]], before finally laying siege and capturing [[Cave de Sueth]].{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|pp=177–178}} In the winter of 1182–1183, after agreeing on a strategy with his council, Baldwin attacked Damascus again. He threatened to destroy a mosque in [[Darayya]], but local Christians convinced him not to for fear of losing their churches in retaliation.{{sfn|Hamilton|2000|p=179}}