The defeat of Hattin and the loss of the kingdom have cast a shadow on the reign of Baldwin IV in the minds of historians ever since Ernoul wrote his Chronicle. Attention has focused on those aspects of the reign which contained the seeds of future Frankish weakness and aided Saladin's victory. It is important to remember that this is not a view which people living at the time would have shared. The leper king's subjects recognised that they faced great dangers, but they did not expect to be defeated, and, indeed, while Baldwin lived they were not. Under his leadership they frustrated for some six years Saladin's plans to take over Nur ad-Din's empire and encircle the Crusader States; while Saladin's direct attacks on Frankish territory were for the most part ineffective. He suffered a disastrous defeat at Mont Gisard in 1177, and a decisive defeat at Le Forbelet in 1182; his newly formed navy did not cause the Franks any serious problems, and when he tried to capture Beirut by a joint land and sea operation he was driven off. He twice failed to capture the fortress of Kerak even though he brought huge forces against it. His victories in the forest of Banias and at Marj Uyun in 1179 were fortuitous and for that reason were not followed through. Indeed, the only important successes that he achieved against the Franks in Baldwin IV's reign were his capture and demolition of Le Chastellet in 1179, and the destruction of Prince Reynald's fleet in 1182, and neither of these victories led to any loss of Frankish territory.

The society of the Latin East in Baldwin's reign showed no symptoms of decline. On the contrary, it appeared vigorous and self-confident. The Franks themselves would have considered the devout practice of the Christian faith the most reliable index of a flourishing society.