Saladin Introduction

Saladin and Lionheart King make peace

The First Crusade achieved a great victory and occupied Jerusalem. They established the famous Kingdom of Jerusalem here. In the eyes of the Crusaders, this was a victory for the Franks and Christians.

Jerusalem has always been the third holy city of the Islamic world. When Muhammad came to a holy city in his dream while walking on the rocks at night, his followers regarded Jerusalem as the holy city, making it the third holy city in the Islamic world after Mecca and Medina.

Now this place has been taken away by the Franks, they must be very unhappy! But Jerusalem is also the place where Jesus preached and suffered, the only holy city of Christianity. As Christians, the Franks are naturally filled with a sense of justice in seizing the Holy City.

In fact, the war for Jerusalem did not end with the First Crusade, but began. In 144 AD, the Zengid dynasty of the Islamic world occupied Edessa, which was the land of King Baldwin I of Jerusalem, and the Franks immediately organized the Second Crusade.

In this Crusade, the founder of the Zengid dynasty, Zengid, died in battle, and his son Nuriding performed exceptionally well. Not only did they defeat the Franco German coalition, but they also occupied Apamea and Harim.

Obviously, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Nuriding will become the biggest rival of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. So the question is, did Nur ad Din successfully recapture Jerusalem?

Nuriding is not the ultimate Grim Reaper.

At that time, the Arab Empire was already in a state of disintegration, and the Sultan of the Abbasid dynasty was only a symbolic leader. None of his vassals listened to him.

For example, the Zengid dynasty of Nuriding and the Fatimid dynasty of Egypt both had their own independent institutions. It can be said that whoever can capture Jerusalem will become the true king of the Islamic world.

In 149 AD, Nuriding began to attack the Principality of Antioch, which was also established by the Crusaders. Nuriding pretended to withdraw from the encirclement, but caught his opponent off guard and occupied Halim and Apamea in the Principality of Antioch.

At this moment, Nuridin learned that the leader of Damascus, Unur, had passed away, and this was the best opportunity to capture Syria. Therefore, Nuridin immediately turned his gaze to Syria.

After 6 years of negotiations, Nur ad Din finally took control of Damascus. We are one step closer to the road to Jerusalem. As expected, Nuridin will successfully capture Jerusalem and become the true king of the Islamic world.

But at this critical moment, Nuriding fell ill! He fell ill twice in a row. Who would have thought that a great conqueror would be blocked outside Jerusalem due to illness?

Upon learning of this news, King Baldwin III of Jerusalem immediately shifted his focus from attack to defense, first retrieving Halim and returning it to the Principality of Antioch, and then defeating Nuriding's army at Butahah.

Afterwards, both sides engaged in a tug of war, with no one having any advantage. Nuriding's health deteriorated, and Baldwin III passed away directly in 1162.

Amalric Island

Nuriding took advantage of the situation and recaptured Halim, making it meaningless to continue fighting. Therefore, Baldwin III's successor Amalric I set his sights on the Fatimid dynasty in Egypt.

At that time, the Fatimid dynasty was already in turmoil, and Amalric I immediately sent troops to surrender to the Fatimid dynasty and seize Egypt. It can drive Nuriding crazy. I was planning to retake Jerusalem, but the Islamic world lost Egypt? This is not a good deal.

So Nuriding sent his trusted general Hilku to retake Egypt. Everything went smoothly, Egypt fell into the hands of Hilku. Will Nuriding be happy? Nuriding's nightmare has begun.

Because after Hilku's death, his nephew Saladin inherited the position of prime minister of the Fatimid dynasty in Egypt, and he no longer obeyed Nuriding's command! It means that Nuriding did not gain Egypt, but instead lost a powerful army. In 174 AD, Nuriding was infuriated to death during the campaign against Saladin.

When Damascus was captured, how could the ecstatic Nuridin have imagined that the situation would develop like this?

Saladin and Baldwin IV of Jerusalem do not see a future.

After Nuriding's death, the Saladin era finally arrived. Due to the incompetence of Nuriding's sons and their desire for power and profit, the Zengid dynasty was overthrown, and the Islamic world urgently needed a strongman to oversee the situation. It is obvious that this person is the newly rising Saladin.

The territory of the Ubud dynasty

At that time, Saladin had overthrown the Fatimid dynasty in Egypt and established his own Ayyubid dynasty, becoming the ruler of Egypt. As long as he takes Jerusalem, he becomes the leader of the Islamic world.

At the same time, not only Nuriding died, but also King Amalric I of Jerusalem died.

The new Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, the famous leper king, rose almost simultaneously with Saladin. Who is more powerful among these two people?

In 177 AD, Saladin marched into Jerusalem with an army of 26000 people. On the way, they were defeated by 375 cavalry and thousands of infantry led by Baldwin IV of Jerusalem. Saladin himself fled on a camel. Baldwin IV of Jerusalem was only 16 years old that year.

But in 1179, Saladin defeated Baldwin IV of Jerusalem for the first time in the Battle of Spring Valley and took over the castle built by Baldwin IV of Jerusalem in the Battle of Jacob's Ferry.

But this time, Saladin stopped. Why? I don't know. At the same time, Baldwin IV of Jerusalem stopped. Why? Because he is very ill. That's right, a young man in his twenties has a terminal illness.

Baldwin IV 

It can be said that during the two years from 1180 to 1182, Saladin and Baldwin IV of Jerusalem entered a state of truce. Saladin took action because he forgot about the illness of the leper king.

In 182 AD, Saladin immediately attacked Nazareth, Tiberias, Beirut and other places. Baldwin IV of Jerusalem was blind and had a high fever, so he had to give up power to his brother-in-law Guy.

Guy was so arrogant that even Baldwin IV of Jerusalem looked down upon him. Saladin took advantage of this opportunity to once again capture Aleppo. Obviously, Saladin made a lot of money.

Baldwin V 

In 185 AD, Baldwin IV of Jerusalem passed away at the young age of 24. At first, the young Baldwin V inherited him, but unfortunately, Baldwin V passed away a year later. And the throne ultimately fell into the hands of that arrogant guy.

During the lifetime of Baldwin IV in Jerusalem, Saladin had no confidence in taking Jerusalem. In his opinion, with such a wise and young king guarding this place, Jerusalem cannot be lost at all. But who let God give him a chance?

Saladin occupied Jerusalem, but he caused more trouble.

Obviously, there is no comparison between Guy and Baldwin IV of Jerusalem.   He did not realize the gap between himself and Saladin, but took the initiative to challenge Saladin in order to recapture the city of Tiberias. As a result of the Battle of Hading, Gai was defeated and captured, and Saladin took this opportunity to seize Jerusalem and completely destroy the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

In 187, Saladin captured the holy city of Jerusalem, which also marked him as the leader of the Islamic world.

This incident directly scared Urban III of the Roman Church to death. The newly elected Pope Gregory VIII immediately summoned a group of people to a meeting: If we don't launch another crusade, we won't have the face of the Franks!

So, the Third Crusade began.

Friedrich von Stauffen

Saladin never dreamed that his actions would anger the three strongest monarchs in Europe at the time: Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, King Richard of England, and King Philip II of France.

Except for Philip II, the other two are serious and strong! Especially Frederick I, known as the strongest in Europe, was crowned by the Pope.

Angry these three people, Saladin also trembled.

In order to ease the atmosphere, Saladin declared that Christians in Jerusalem should not be slaughtered. Unfortunately, the Crusades could no longer be contained, and a great war was about to come.

Interestingly, the strongest Frederick I (nicknamed Red Beard, Barbarossa) drowned in the river. His Holy Roman Empire army naturally disbanded. Philip II had been fighting against Richard, so he withdrew. That is to say, due to the powerful Crusades, Richard Lionheart of England only had one army left. Saladin breathed a sigh of relief.

Unexpectedly, it was Richard the Lionheart who made Saladin realize that he had no military expertise at all. Richard captured Acre and occupied the strongholds around Jerusalem, to the point where Saladin immediately called on all Muslims to join in guarding the holy city.

Richard I

As a result, Saladin was defeated by Richard in the Battle of Azuf. Saladin counterattacked multiple times, but failed to defeat Richard. Finally, he had to retreat to Jerusalem.

If Lion King Richard persists for a few more months, Jerusalem will be within reach. But Richard Lionheart fell ill at this moment. Unfortunately, Saladin also fell ill at this time.

Since everyone is sick, let's talk about it!

In 192, Richard Lionheart and Saladin signed the Ramsey Peace Treaty, which brought great relief to Saladin. To his surprise, why did Richard want to negotiate? Richard's backyard is on fire, he wants to go back and regain the throne!

However, the outcome of the peace talks was positive. Saladin allowed Christians to freely enter and leave Jerusalem for pilgrimage, and returned Christian holy objects including the true cross. Afterwards, Jerusalem also became a city where Christians and Muslims coexisted.

Holy War leader Saladin won the respect of the Crusaders

In the Middle Ages, Christians in Western Europe were very unhygienic and often went several months without bathing. Not to mention back then, even in 18th century France, not even King Louis XIV of France enjoyed taking baths.

What about the smell? Their solution is to spray perfume on their bodies crazily. There is no reason why French perfume is famous.

So Christians often blame the invasion of the Islamic world for the Black Death, which is unreasonable! Because Islamic believers love cleanliness very much, they will take a shower every day if conditions permit.

Christians promote Islam as a cult in order to propagate their doctrines, and do not allow anyone to promote Islam on the Western European continent. In sharp contrast, when the Third Crusade of the Crusades was defeated by Islamic leader Saladin, Saladin did not prevent Christians from preaching in his own territory.

Saladin confidently said, "Come on, come on, you can promote it freely. If you can influence us in Islam, I'll lose

This is an important reason why Jerusalem has a Jewish district, a Christian district, and an Islamic district at the same time. Saladin, as a representative of medieval Islam, truly taught Christians how to be human. Relatively speaking, Christians at that time were more brutal and bloody.

（1） Saladin, a Sultan full of chivalry.

How did the spirit of chivalry arise? As is well known, knights come from Western Europe and value fairness, humility, perseverance, loyalty, and so on. So where did this thing come from?

Perhaps the knights of Western Europe never dreamed that their knightly spirit would come from the Islamic leader Saladin. It was Saladin's chivalrous style that infected the Crusaders. So after they returned, they shaped the later knightly style according to Saladin's image.

So what are Saladin's performances as a knight?

1. Cultural confidence in inclusiveness.

After Saladin led the Islamic army into Jerusalem, he not only did not slaughter the Christians here, but also encouraged them to stay there and preach. What kind of cultural confidence is this?

In addition, the personal safety of Jewish and Christian believers is also protected by Saladin. He allowed these people to conduct normal pilgrimages and even kept their religious temples intact.

If Saladin lacks confidence in Islam, he will definitely prevent these people from spreading Christianity. On the contrary, Saladin only encourages you to do whatever you want. If you can surpass Islam, I will lose!

The Western Crusaders have arrived, and everyone is stunned. Jerusalem is almost no different from before the invasion. On the other hand, during the First Crusade, Jewish and Islamic believers in Jerusalem were annihilated. What kind of cultural inferiority is this?

2. Be tolerant and have principles.

In 187 AD, Saladin conquered Jerusalem. Many people believe that Muslims come back for revenge. After all, when the Crusaders launched a surprise attack here in 1099, they eliminated 70000 Muslims here.

But after Saladin entered the city, not only did he not massacre Christians, but even their homes were not destroyed. Saladin only proposed an exchange condition, a redemption money.

Saladin spent a lot of money on capital and invaded Jerusalem. He is not willing, so of course he wants to recoup the cost. So, men need to pay a ransom of 10 dinars, women need to pay a ransom of 5 dinars, and children need to pay a ransom of 1 dinar.

Of course, there must be people without money. These people are very miserable and can only be enslaved to serve the military. However, Saladin was more tolerant and waived the ransom for over 7000 poor people. Saladin's reputation immediately spread throughout the Christian world.

3. Integrity.

During the conquest of Jerusalem, the king of Jerusalem was captured by Saladin. Just as his brother was about to die, Saladin let him go and said to him, "If the king doesn't kill him, you go

Wow, this guy was moved to tears and almost planned to work for Saladin. Saladin not only gave him a chance to survive, but also gave him enough dignity.

During the Third Crusade, King Richard Lionheart of England once fell off his horse. After learning of this, Saladin immediately sent people to deliver the horses and told Richard that the king needed horses on the battlefield!

What kind of spirit is this? This guy named Richard doesn't care about this. He didn't say anything and rode away. It goes without saying which is stronger or weaker.

From the above example, it can be seen that Saladin, as the leader of Islam, has fully won the admiration of Christians through his own code of conduct. They never expected that being human could be like this. Afterwards, Saladin's knightly spirit spread throughout Western Europe, and he was also known as the 'knightly monarch'.

（2） Starting from Egypt, gradually dominating the entire Islam.

Saladin is not the leader of Islam, nor is he even the leader of Egypt. He lived in an era when the Abbasid dynasty of the Arab Empire was on the brink of collapse. At that time, the Seljuk Turks rose in Central Asia, and the Fatimid dynasty in Egypt did not follow the discipline of the Abbasid dynasty. The Muslim world is in a state of feudal separatism, and there is no unity at all.

The Fatimid dynasty, also known as the Great Green Food. Under the attack of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Fatimid dynasty in Egypt almost collapsed. At this time, the Syrian Zengid dynasty also had the idea of seizing Egypt, and Saladin happened to be the general of the Syrian Zengid dynasty at that time.

Due to Saladin's brave fighting during the attack on Egypt, he immediately became the prime minister of the Zengid dynasty and the Fatimid dynasty. But at this point, Saladin was already ambitious. He is unwilling to become the Prime Minister. He hopes to conquer Egypt and establish his own dynasty here.

At that time, he encountered several threats:

1. Supporters of the Fatimid dynasty. These people mainly come from the Shia sect of Islam, and they want to restore the glory of the Green Shirt, rather than becoming puppet regimes of the Zengid dynasty.

2. Suspected of Sultan Nuridin of the Zengid dynasty. The Zengid dynasty is a representative of Sunni Islam and is a rival faction to the Fatimid dynasty ruled by Saladin. And Nuriding has begun to doubt Saladin's loyalty.

3. The army of the Jerusalem dynasty. They are Christians left over from the Crusades and also plan to take Egypt, so they occasionally attack Saladin. In addition, there is the threat of Eastern Rome.

If it were someone else's job, someone who is not trusted both domestically and internationally, he would have resigned long ago. But Saladin was not at all flustered. In order to address internal concerns, Saladin demanded that Egyptians swear allegiance to both the Fatimid and Zengid dynasties.

In addition, he also used force to suppress the rebellion of the Fatimid dynasty at that time. After resolving internal troubles, Saladin took the initiative to send troops and defeated the invaders of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Eastern Roman Empire.

Saladin became famous overnight, not only ensuring Egypt's security, but also becoming the actual leader of Egypt. In 1171 AD, Saladin officially abolished the Fatimid dynasty and established the Ayyubid dynasty.

（3） Unify the Islamic world and reclaim the holy city of Jerusalem.

The Ayyubid dynasty of Saladin initially followed the Zengid dynasty, as Saladin was nominally a subordinate of Nuridin. But when Nuridin sent someone to Egypt to check the accounts, Saladin spread out his hands and said he had no money. Why? Due to years of war, money has turned into military expenses.

This made Nuriding furious. No one expected that Nuriding, who planned to attack Saladin, would be killed alive. Afterwards, Saladin decided to go it alone.

Since Nuriding's son is only 11 years old, he is not worried at all. So the nobles of Syria invited Saladin to take charge of the situation in Syria, otherwise the world would be in chaos.

In October 1174 AD, Saladin entered Damascus and became the Sultan of Syria and Egypt. This matter was also recognized by the Abbasid dynasty of the Arab Empire.

Afterwards, Saladin liberated himself, conquered parts of Syria, Arabia, and Iraq, and established a powerful Islamic empire.

In the past, they were always bullied by the Palestinian Crusaders. Now, thanks to Saladin's efforts, they have finally surrounded the Crusaders within their sphere of influence.

A holy war was inevitable, and driving the Franks out of Jerusalem became the common wish of Islamic believers at that time. Once people unite, they can do anything. In July 187, Saladin mobilized a large army of 20000 and surrounded the Crusaders near Lake Tiberias.

It was a hot summer day, and Saladin had set fire to all the bushes around him, causing great suffering to the Crusaders. They not only have no water to drink, but also have to endure the heat from fire and the sun. I want to go to the lake to drink some water. The powerful Islamic army is right ahead, and one of them will die. The Crusaders were ultimately annihilated by Saladin.

Afterwards, Saladin occupied the supply fortresses around Jerusalem, causing it to lose foreign aid. Thirteen days later, Jerusalem had to surrender. The holy city of Jerusalem, which fell into the hands of the Crusaders for 88 years, has finally returned to Muslim hands once again.

（4） Saladin won the respect of everyone in the Crusades.

Jerusalem is not only the holy city of Islam and Judaism, but also the holy city of Christianity. So, the Crusaders who lost Jerusalem were certainly very dissatisfied.

Especially Pope Urban III, he was very angry when he heard this news. The passion of the Crusaders to recapture the Holy City was reignited, and the Third Crusade was put on the agenda.

Heroes always like to pile up. The Islamic world has Saladin, and the Christian world also has three great men. They are:

Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, commonly known as Red Beard, was nicknamed Barbarossa. King Richard I of England, nicknamed Lionheart. King Philip II of France.

The fighting power of the Three Kings is extremely strong, and they cannot defeat Saladin at all. In 189, under the leadership of their three kings, the Third Crusade was launched, which was not good news for Saladin and the entire Islamic world.

At the beginning of the war, Richard Lionheart made a big move. After they captured Acre, they captured 2700 Muslims in the city. Saladin said captured Christians can be exchanged. As a result, Richard Lionheart directly killed all 2700 people. I am very angry that Saladin also killed many Christians.

Afterwards, the Crusaders' attacks were so fierce that Saladin could only resist in Jerusalem. Fortunately, in 1190, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I drowned and King Philip II of France returned home to seize England's territory in France, leaving only the English army led by Richard Lionheart.

This is obviously good news for Saladin, as both sides fought fiercely under the walls of Jerusalem for quite some time. In the end, Richard had to go home to deal with internal affairs and had to sign the Ramsay Agreement with Saladin. Saladin ultimately saved the holy city of Jerusalem.

During the war, Saladin's knightly spirit won recognition from the Crusaders. He will mount Richard's horse when he falls, and also deliver fruit to Richard's troops when they are tired.

It's ironic, but if it continues like this, it's inevitable to be moved. Afterwards, Saladin still respected the Christians in Jerusalem and allowed foreign Christians to pilgrimage to Jerusalem. This is tolerance.

Summary: Saladin may have been a key figure in changing Western civilization.

Saladin was the leader of Islam, but his influence on the entire Western world was significant. He lives a clean, selfless, and simple life. Sincere to people and serious about things. To be chivalrous and tolerant.

The appearance of such characters on the opposite side of Christians has made the entire Christian world begin to reflect. Are they too garbage? Are you still a civilized person? What is the difference between a past filled with bloodshed and slaughter and animals? What is your own monarch?

Therefore, the Christian world began to undergo changes. The image of Saladin was spread throughout the Western world by every Crusader who participated in the Eastern Expedition. This kind of impact is unimaginable and much more effective than any policy that is uploaded and issued.