4 March 1193
Saladin dies.
Saladin, for those who don't know, was a Kurd who united the Muslim empires of Syria and Egypt in the 1170s and 1180s before turning his eye to those nasty little infidel invaders from the West, the Crusader Franks. In 1187 he destroyed the Frankish army at Hattin and retook Jerusalem. This prompted the Third Crusade, on which Richard I of England, known as the Lion-Hearted, rode. Richard and Saladin never fought the apocalyptic battle historians wanted them to, but Saladin hassled Richard enough that he left the Holy Land in 1192, only to fall into the clutches of some Austrian duke and languish in prison for a while as his brother, the mane-less John, and his henchman, the bearish Sheriff of Nottingham, made life miserable for those noble foxed, Robin Hood and Maid Marian. What? I may be getting my information from a Disney movie? Oh, sorry.
Saladin is a fascinating dude. He realized that the Crusaders were only still around because the Muslims were busy fighting amongst themselves, so he unified them. If stories are to be believed, he was ridiculously chivalric, once instructing his army to stop bombarding a particular room in a Crusader castle because a wedding feast was going on in it. Even if the stories aren't true, Saladin was a learned man who cared for his subjects and was at least interested in Christianity, even though he thought Christians were woefully uneducated about the True Faith.
After Saladin's death, his sons and relatives squabbled over his empire, allowing the Crusaders to hang around in the Levant for another 100 years. He's a huge hero in the Islamic world, not surprisingly. Muslims across the Middle East are still waiting for another Saladin to come along.
Saladin, for those who don't know, was a Kurd who united the Muslim empires of Syria and Egypt in the 1170s and 1180s before turning his eye to those nasty little infidel invaders from the West, the Crusader Franks. In 1187 he destroyed the Frankish army at Hattin and retook Jerusalem. This prompted the Third Crusade, on which Richard I of England, known as the Lion-Hearted, rode. Richard and Saladin never fought the apocalyptic battle historians wanted them to, but Saladin hassled Richard enough that he left the Holy Land in 1192, only to fall into the clutches of some Austrian duke and languish in prison for a while as his brother, the mane-less John, and his henchman, the bearish Sheriff of Nottingham, made life miserable for those noble foxed, Robin Hood and Maid Marian. What? I may be getting my information from a Disney movie? Oh, sorry.
Saladin is a fascinating dude. He realized that the Crusaders were only still around because the Muslims were busy fighting amongst themselves, so he unified them. If stories are to be believed, he was ridiculously chivalric, once instructing his army to stop bombarding a particular room in a Crusader castle because a wedding feast was going on in it. Even if the stories aren't true, Saladin was a learned man who cared for his subjects and was at least interested in Christianity, even though he thought Christians were woefully uneducated about the True Faith.
After Saladin's death, his sons and relatives squabbled over his empire, allowing the Crusaders to hang around in the Levant for another 100 years. He's a huge hero in the Islamic world, not surprisingly. Muslims across the Middle East are still waiting for another Saladin to come along.
Labels: Crusades, Saladin, This day in history
posted by Greg | 3:44 PM
1 Comments:
Heck, some non-Muslims in the West are still waiting for a Saladin. Can you throw in a Richard The Lion-Hearted, too?
Enough of this George W. Bush vs. Sadaam Hussein, already! It would be way cooler if Bush actually fought alongside the 'coalition' troops (and only if he wore a suit of armour with a cross on his breast plate).
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