In
1175 Saladin seized Central Syria with his victory at the Battle of Hama.
By 1181, with the death of Nur ad-Dins son, Saladin had become the leader
of a unified Muslim state.
In his De Laude Novae Militiae (1128 - 1131),
Bernard of Clairvaux exhorted young Christian knights to take up
the calling of spiritual chivalry and fight pagans without fear of eternal
damnation since when he kills an evildoer, he is not a homicide, but ...a
malicide, and it is plainly Christ's vengeance on those who work evil.
Though Bernard's words served as a precursor to the Second Crusade they
are important when examining the life of Saladin, for in his life and actions
this man, destined to become the greatest of the aforementioned pagans,
would exemplify none of the traits one would expect of a horrible infidel.
Rather, one could say that, aside from religion, Saladin embodied many
of the ideals held dear by the chivalric Christian warrior of the age.
Saladin, or Salah al - Din, was born in 1138 into a Kurdish military family at Takrit in present - day Iraq. Saladin's origins were fodder for many Europeans chroniclers of the Crusades. The Latin Itinerarium regis Ricardi compiled in the 13th Century described Saladin as a pimp, the king of the brothels, who campaigned in the taverns, and devoted his time to gaming and the like. Far from these conjectures we now know with a fair amount of certainty that Saladin grew up at Baalbak and various other outposts where his father served as governor. In 1152 he joined his uncle in the service of sultan Nur ad- Din and by 1156 he had become his uncles deputy in the military governorship of Damascus.
Saladin became a close companion of Nur ad- Din .
He also accompanied his uncle on three separate expeditions to Egypt between
1164 and 1168. In 1169 Saladin's uncle, Shirkuh, took over the Fatimid
caliphate in Egypt and became Vizier of Egypt with Saladin as chief administrator.
Shirkuh died nine weeks into his rule and Saladin seized power. By 1171
Saladin had abolished the Fatimid caliphate and placed it under Nur ad-Dins
rule. Nur ad-Din died in 1174 and Saladin promptly married his widow and
began to establish his sway over the sultans empire. In
1175 Saladin seized Central Syria with his victory at the Battle of Hama.
By 1181, with the death of Nur ad-Dins son, Saladin had become the leader
of a unified Muslim state.
Having achieved unification, Saladin now turned his thoughts to Jerusalem, the Holy city for Christian, Jew and, in Saladin's case, Muslim. Historical evidence is abundantly clear that Saladin had always made the capture of Jerusalem from the Latin Kingdom his ultimate goal. In 1187 he set out to liberate the city. On July 4, 1187, Saladin won a decisive victory at Hittin which paved the way for the conquering of Palestine. After taking most of the inland fortresses and cities and all the coastal towns, except Tyre, Saladin headed to Jerusalem. In a magnanimous gesture Saladin offered generous terms to the city of Jerusalem, but the Latin leaders rejected the offer and Saladin laid siege to the city until it capitulated on October 2, 1187. Once again, Saladin, in contrast to the Crusaders taking of Jerusalem in 1099, granted the Latins in the city generous terms. The Latins were granted safe conduct provided that each male pay ten dinars, each woman five dinars and each child two dinars. A contribution of 30,000 dinars was given to help the poor leave the city safely. Continuing in his magnanimous and chivalric ways Saladin set over 2,000 slaves free at the requests of various men while also sending a guard throughout the city to announce that all old people unable to pay would be allowed to leave the city safely. In the end, however, around 15,000 men and women stayed in the city to be enslaved. This should not detract, however, from the fact that Saladin granted many more thousands a safe passage home rather than a meeting with certain death. The taking of Jerusalem in itself was enough to show Saladin as a chivalric and fair minded man, equivalent to any noble Christian warrior or King.
The fall of Jerusalem was the highlight of Saladin's rule. The Third Crusades were a direct result of the city's capitulation. In 1189 Frederick Barbarossa would set out with a large force for Jerusalem, but Barbarossa's drowning along the way halted this army's momentum. Saladin attributed this death to the will of God, for he had feared the strength of Frederick's army. Richard I of England and Philip II of France led the next wave of invasions. In 1191 Saladin, unable to effectively relieve the city, experienced his only loss with the fall of Acre to the Crusaders of Richard and Philip. In July of 1191 Philip returned to France. In September of 1191 Saladin and Richard's forces fought to basically a stalemate at Jaffa (Arsuf). In September 1192 Richard agreed to a truce with Saladin and the Third Crusade came to an end. Six months later, in March of 1193, Saladin died.
The legacy and legend of Saladin only grew
after his death. Respected by those who fought against him as well as those
who surrendered to his mercy, he found a lasting place in the mythology
of the Arab race and achieved a renown rarely given in Western society
to a non Christian enemy. It is Saladin's adherence to the chivalric ideals
of justice and magnanimity as well as his combat expertise that gave this
pagan a unique place in the pantheon of chivalric heroes.
Some Medieval Accounts of Salah al - Dins Recovery of Jerusalem. Online.
Fordham University. Available: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/salahdin.html.
Gibb, Sir Hamilton. The Life of Saladin . Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1973.
Hallam, Elizabeth, ed. Chronicles of the Crusades. London: Weidenfold
and Nicolson, 1989.
Hitti, Philip K. Makers of Arab History. New York: St. Martins Press,
1968.