Who is saladin crusades

The First Intifada ended in It is, though, important to recognise that not all Muslims revere, or have revered, Saladin. In the course of his career, the sultan spent many years in conflict with his Sunni Muslim co-religionists. Saladin was undoubtedly set upon liberating Jerusalem for Islam, but inextricably linked to this was his determination to create a powerful dynastic empire. Though the former aim was certainly endorsed by all Muslims, he attracted a lot of criticism for usurping the Zengid dynasty in Syria.

In addition, military defeats at the battles of Montgisard , Acre , Arsuf and Jaffa also attracted periodic criticism from Muslims, but such were his diplomatic skills — bolstered by the largely unwavering loyalty of his own family — that these setbacks did not terminally damage his cause.

As a leader of Sunni Islam, Saladin was also determined to assert Sunni dominance over Shia Islam, the rival doctrine headed at that time by the Fatimid caliphate in Cairo. Curiously, this provoked relatively little opposition, perhaps because the Fatimids had become apathetic upholders of the Shia cause. As Sunni and Shia Muslims have intermittently fought one another during the modern era, the sultan has been denounced by the latter as a friend of the crusaders and a traitor to Islam.

The leader of the Fatimid dynasty, which emerged in north Africa at the start of the 10th century, was regarded by Shia Muslims as the successor to the Prophet, and rightful spiritual leader of the Muslim community.

In , the Fatimids took control of Egypt and founded Cairo. At its greatest extent, the Fatimid caliphate spanned Syria and the Holy Land but by the 12th century it was in decline, and was ousted by Saladin in The caliphate was controlled by various dynasties until its abolition in Yet, though crusaders were dismissed by Enlightenment thinkers as credulous zealots, from the 19th century literature and art offered a more positive view.

Coupled with the rising western presence in the Middle East, some — especially the French — chose to recall their own crusading heritage in glowing terms. This metaphor has been deployed in a military context, such as during the First World War, and for other entirely secular uses: we might talk of a crusade against smallpox, for example, or for better education. In such ways, the word is still frequently used across all aspects of life. In the Middle East, though, it represents a memory and a metaphor so deep-rooted that it cannot be shifted, particularly in the minds of those Muslims engaged in conflict with the west.

Where does Saladin fit in to this? His status in the west is something of a paradox. As the man who took Jerusalem, he was immediately branded as the son of Satan, a harbinger of the apocalypse and a mortal enemy of all Christians. Yet in achieving that victory he had created an enduring example of estimable behaviour.

Diplomacy took a prominent role during the Third Crusade and, perhaps to their surprise, the Franks found in Saladin and his chief negotiator, his younger brother Saphadin, men whose behaviour and values they admired and, in many respects, that represented their own aspirations. This was an age in which chivalry was emerging, and the crusaders admired men of faith, of courtesy towards women, of generosity, and with interests in hunting, poetry and music.

They also had to come to terms with the fact that they were dealing with an opponent who had, in taking and holding Jerusalem, defeated and then resisted them. He must, therefore, be a worthy opponent. Saladin was soon cited as a benchmark for generosity, mentioned in guides to chivalric behaviour. He was presented in literature as a gallant suitor of western women, a master of disguise who could visit Europe incognito, and even as a secret convert to Christianity.

His army met the Franks in a massive clash at Hattin, near Tiberias modern-day Israel and defeated them soundly on July 4, Though Saladin had planned to kill all Christians in Jerusalem as revenge for the slaughter of Muslims in , he agreed to let them purchase their freedom instead.

Yet despite the military prowess of the Crusader forces, Saladin withstood their onslaught and managed to retain control over most of his empire. His truce with Richard the Lionheart in late ended the Third Crusade. Just a few months later, in March , Saladin died in his beloved gardens in Damascus.

Though relatively young just 55 or 56 , he was exhausted from a life spent in near continuous military campaigns. By the time of his death, he had given away much of his personal wealth to his subjects, leaving behind not even enough to pay for his own burial. The coalition of Muslim states Saladin assembled would pull apart after his death, but his descendants in the Ayyubid dynasty continued to rule in Egypt and Syria for several generations.

Mark Cartwright. World History Encyclopedia. Paul E. Encyclopedia Britannica. David Nicolle. Saladin Bloomsbury, But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. The Crusades were a series of religious wars between Christians and Muslims started primarily to secure control of holy sites considered sacred by both groups.

In all, eight major Crusade expeditions occurred between and Saladin attacked the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem in , and after three months of fighting he gained control of the city. When Jerusalem fell to Saladin , all of Christendom called for a new crusade. In , the nations of western Europe launched the Third Crusade to win back the holy city.

During the Third Crusade, led by King Richard the Lionhearted, the King arranged for supplies to be accumulated and ships used to deliver them to his troops as they marched along the coast; however, when the King finally marched inland to besiege Jerusalem, he found that Saladin had stripped the countryside of food and fodder. The wells had been poisoned and Richard realized that his army would fall apart from starvation if he tried to besiege Jerusalem. The crusaders had to settle for a treaty with Saladin that guaranteed Christian pilgrims access to the Holy Places.