Sultan Salah ad Din. Salahuddin Ayubi: the legendary justice of the ruler of Egypt
Great commander and the powerful politician of the Middle Ages, Saladin, the conqueror of the crusaders, became the hero of literary and historical works Europe, Asia and Africa. Despite the fact that his life was spent mainly in military campaigns outside of Egypt, he became the first national hero of this country, the ruler who returned Egypt to the greatness and power that it had not known since the times of the pharaohs. The main attraction of Cairo associated with the name of Saladin is the Citadel, which we will tell you about in detail in the articles “Citadel: the trace of Saladin” and “Citadel”, the address of the articles is on the website. But Saladin lives in the country's memory not so much for his architectural achievements as for his military valor, commitment to the Muslim faith and nobility, as well as the superbly accomplished mission of returning Egypt to a leading role in the Mediterranean. Therefore, in order to better understand the national spirit of the Egyptians, it would not be amiss to familiarize yourself with a short essay brilliant life a brilliant commander.
End of the Fatimid era
Troubled times: between the Turks and the Crusaders
The epilogue of the Fatimid rule in Egypt was marked by bloody internecine clashes within the country and endless battles with the Turks and crusaders. The Crusaders invaded Egypt three times and even captured Alexandria once, raising their standard over the Pharos lighthouse. At the same time, some Egyptian viziers - former Christians - tried to come to an agreement with the crusaders, seeing them as fellow believers, albeit former ones, and to unite for a joint fight against the Seljuk Turks. However, the brutal violence of the Crusaders against Muslims in Jerusalem shattered these hopes, and the Seljuks lost their invincible power in the region. As a result, repelling the regular attacks of the knights of Palestine - the crusaders - became a constant occupation of the Egyptian army. At the same time, the rulers of Egypt continued to fight among themselves, since the last Fatimid caliph, al Adid, was too small to rule on his own. Therefore, during the first years of his reign, power endlessly passed from the hands of one vizier to another.
It was scary to live in Cairo at that time, and residents preferred to stay at home so as not to accidentally die, becoming unwitting participants in the bloody battle of political opponents, who often spilled out their fights onto the streets of the city. The position of women in the Caliph's harem, in the absence of one strong ruler, was so desperate that they all cut off their long hair- the main value of an Egyptian woman - and sent them for safekeeping to the ruler of Upper Egypt as Salih Talayi ibn Zurayik, an Armenian by origin. Realizing the scale of the unrest that was happening in Cairo, Zulayik with his troops, which included elite Armenian units, occupied the capital and established his rule, restoring order. However, he was soon killed as a result of a conspiracy of the Mamelukes, who were just beginning to realize their political strength, but were already notorious intriguers. Then again a series of political conspiracies and murders followed, until power passed to the Kurd Assad ad Din Shirkuh, whose name literally meant “Lion of Faith.” The Lion of Faith, at the request of the matured Caliph al Adid, formed an army of Zengit Turks in Alexandria and captured Cairo, driving out the envoys and supporters of the crusaders, as well as the pro-crusader vizier Shavir. Soon Shirkuh unexpectedly died, and the post of Supreme Vizier was taken by his nephew, also a Kurd by origin - Salah ad Din Abu al Muzaffar Yusuf al Ayyub, known in European literature like Saladin.
A refined nobleman turns into a tough ruler
Before entering the political scene as the Supreme Vizier, little is known about the fate of Saladin, except that he was a hereditary mercenary, but at the same time a refined courtier. His grandfather Shazi lived in the Armenian city of Ajdanakan, where Ayyub, Saladin's father, was born. Saladin himself was born in Tikrit, whose ruler was his father Ayub. His origins - the son of a mercenary, the grandson of a mercenary, the great-grandson of a mercenary - predicted for him an exclusively military career, but Saladin in his youth did not show an inclination towards the art of war; rather, he was a born courtier, skilled in the intrigues of the seraglio and poetry. And yet, at the insistence of his family, under the patronage of his uncle, he participated in two campaigns against the crusaders and was a consistent Sunni Muslim. By the way, his name roughly translates as “The Good of Faith.” The paradox of Saladin’s fate is that, not wanting to make a military career, he did it almost against his will. While serving with his uncle, he dreamed of returning to the idle court life, and therefore did not care about career growth: he did not please, did not pretend, did not intrigue, did not seek awards and ranks, but simply served conscientiously as a staff officer. But since by nature he was a talented administrator, strategist and tactician, he performed this service better and more efficiently than others, which was soon noticed by his uncle and other Turkic military leaders.
When his uncle died unexpectedly, Saladin, purely by chance, became the military ruler of Egypt. The fact that he was not on anyone’s side and expressed aspirations for absolute power played a role. Even the nineteen-year-old Caliph al Adid, giving Saladin the high title - al Malik an Nasir - the Victorious Ruler, did not see him as a rival: “There is no man among us weaker or younger in years than Saladin, so he needs to be led, and he will not get out from under our care. The time will come and we will find means to win over the soldiers to our side, and when the army supports us and we gain a foothold in the country, we will easily get rid of Saladin (medieval historian Ibn al Asir, quoted by L. Semenova).
But, having received great power as a result of the unpredictable and sudden death of his uncle, at twenty-six years old (a respectable age for a medieval warrior), he instantly showed the remarkable qualities of a true ruler, starting with bringing order to the Egyptian army, which suffered from weakness due to the disunity of ethnic groups . Relying on the Kurds and Turks, in brutal street battles, Saladin defeated the black units, and drove the Armenian formations into barracks, depriving them of weapons and part of the military booty, which he transferred to his allies the Kurds and Turks. This generosity secured him the loyalty of the Turkic and Kurdish troops, and then, through two years of negotiations and bribery, he achieved recognition from the rest of the emirs who led other ethnic groups.
The seizure of absolute power happened almost by itself: Caliph al Adid silently agreed with the role of a puppet in the hands of the more experienced, more energetic and older Saladin, and now on September 10, 1172, during a solemn Friday Muslim service, Saladin “accidentally forgets” to begin the prayer with the name caliph. Soon after this, the twenty-three-year-old caliph unexpectedly dies, according to one version, having been poisoned by poison from his family ring, which he never parted with. Some historians claim that the caliph never learned of his final removal. Thus occurred the fastest and most bloodless seizure of power imaginable.
Saladin - conqueror of the crusaders
Political marriage and the birth of an empire
During the first years of his reign, Saladin actively restored order in Egypt and resolved issues with formal subordination to the Turkic Sultan. After the death of the Sultan, Saladin captures Syria, Tripolitania (Libya), Kairouan (Tunisia), Nubia (Sudan) and Yemen. He then marries one of the Sultan's widows, whom he had known since his youth at the Sultan's court, thereby legitimizing his ownership of the vast empire. Thus, Saladin becomes the most powerful ruler of the Muslim world, and the islands of the crusader movement find themselves surrounded on all sides by Saladin's empire. It took Saladin only seven years to turn from an unambitious servant and a refined nobleman into the most powerful dictator of Asia and Africa. And now Saladin gets the opportunity to concentrate all his strength on achieving main goal- the fight against the long-standing and irreconcilable enemies of the country and the Muslim faith - the crusaders.
Defeat, victory and the economic genius of Saladin
The first military clash with the crusaders ended disastrously for Saladin - he was completely defeated and barely escaped with his life, galloping off into the desert alone. But just a few months later, Saladin, having gathered a new army, won his first significant victory over his enemies in the battle on the island of Ruvad. However, these first “tests of strength” showed Saladin that it would be very difficult to cope with the crusaders and that victory would not be achieved through straightforward military action alone. Then the economic genius of Sultan Saladin manifested itself, and he decided to unleash an economic war against the crusaders. At that time, the main export product that promised the highest profits was spices and herbs, which were transported by caravans and ships through the Red and Mediterranean Seas to Europe. Mediterranean trade was entirely controlled by the Italian city-states, and the Red Sea and overland caravan routes fell into the hands of Saladin, after which the castles of the knights lost almost all their income from the spice trade.
Holy War and Fall of Jerusalem
This situation did not suit the knights of Asia Minor and their overlords - European monarchs, as a result of which they began to call for a Holy War against the infidels. Saladin, in turn, swore on the Koran that he would put an end to the enemies of Islam. From that moment on, a life-and-death struggle began, since not only Saladin’s political reputation was at stake, but also his military honor. The urgency of the brewing events was given by the provocative attack of one of the knights - the Frankish baron Renaud de Chatillon (Renaud of Chatillon or, as the Arab chroniclers called him, Prince Arnaut), who owned the Krak fortress east of the Dead Sea and had a reputation as an enterprising and romantic man, but unbridled, unpredictable and short-sighted. At one time, Arnaut spent several years in Muslim captivity and was released on the personal orders of Saladin. It was he, the only one of the knights, who tried to break through the economic blockade and attacked the Egyptian caravan with spices, which was also accompanied by Saladin’s sister. This was a real slap in the direction of the Sultan, an insult that the rulers simply have no right to forgive, even if they wanted to, but Saladin did not want to forgive. Nevertheless, he did not immediately and blindly attack, but turned to the King of Jerusalem, Guido de Lusignan, demanding compensation for the damage and punishing the perpetrators, but his appeal remained unanswered, and Saladin received the moral right to declare jihad - a Holy War against the infidels.
Very soon the decisive battle of this war took place near Hittin Hill, not far from Nazareth. Saladin's warriors won an unconditional victory in this battle: the ropes from all the Egyptian tents were not enough to tie all the captives; There were so many prisoners that on the slave market a crusader was sold for a pair of shoes. It is noteworthy that Saladin spared almost all the prisoners, with the exception of two hundred Templar Knights and Ionite Knights (Templars and Hospitallers), who were executed as fierce enemies of Islam. The King of Jerusalem and Renault of Chatillon were also captured and brought before Saladin. Saladin greeted the king warmly and gave him a cold drink, but when he tried to pass the cup to Arnaut, Saladin stopped him with the words: “There is no drink or food in my tent for a liar and a traitor who does not remember goodness.” Then he invited Arnaut to convert to Islam, and when he refused, he cut off his hand with his own hands, and was immediately beheaded by Saladin’s soldiers.
Soon Saladin conquered Jerusalem. Previously, he offered the city to surrender in order to avoid senseless casualties, but the townspeople refused, for which Saladin vowed to destroy the walls of the city and exterminate its inhabitants. During the siege, the residents of Jerusalem came to their senses and asked the Sultan three times to surrender, but Saladin could not refuse the public oath. However, he did not want the death of all Jerusalemites, and therefore called upon the Muslim jurists-fuqihs and forced them to officially annul the oath they had taken. The city surrendered without a fight and without unnecessary casualties; many wealthy residents immediately bought their freedom, others were bought by the knightly orders of the Templars and Hospitallers, and still others, who had no money, were sold into slavery.
“Saladin, sitting on the throne, watched as the people passed by, immersed in despondency. Touched by the genuine grief of the inhabitants, who, having abandoned everything, carried away the seriously ill and wounded, Saladin, in a fit of generosity, allowed the Ionite knights (Hospitaliers) to remain in the city to care for the sick whose illness prevented them from leaving the city. Most Christians were freed from slavery by ransom. The first Kingdom of Jerusalem was thus destroyed” (E. Zelenev). By the way, when the crusaders previously captured Jerusalem, they carried out a brutal massacre there, indiscriminately slaughtering all peaceful Muslims.
Third Crusade
Richard the Lionheart
Legends and tales portray Richard, the English king, as an exceptionally noble and brave knight. However, the story is not so clear: Richard was also well known to his contemporaries for his brutal robberies and executions of Muslim hostages. Richard, together with the French, captured the fortified city of Acre, as well as Cyprus. Then he tried for more than a year to take at least one more Muslim city, “but with his constant cruelty he only achieved that children began to be frightened with his name.” The result of the Third Crusade was the signing of a peace treaty between Saladin and Richard, according to which Jerusalem remained with Egypt, and the crusaders owned only a small piece of the Mediterranean coast. This was an undoubted political victory for Egypt under the leadership of Saladin, who fulfilled his oath and completed his life's work - inflicting a crushing strategic defeat on the knights. The final expulsion of the crusaders from Asia Minor and the Middle East was becoming inevitable.
Endless military campaigns and expeditions undermined Saladin’s already not very strong health - he was a short, frail man with delicate facial features and a weak body. As a result of his grueling military career, Saladin fell ill with a simple fever and died in Damascus, where he was buried, leaving a record of himself good memory not only in everything Muslim world, but, oddly enough, in European literature and culture.
Saladin became a model of knightly honor, courage, loyalty to his word, as well as justice, generosity and generosity. Great importance For Western world What happened was that Saladin released the King of Jerusalem, Guido de Lusignan, and he guaranteed privileges and immunity to all Christian pilgrims who sought to go to Jerusalem. In Saladin's understanding, Jerusalem was truly a Holy City, where there was no place for violence and cruelty. Muslim and Christian history and literature have preserved for us many legends and true stories about the nobility and piety of Salah ad Din, which we will tell you about in the article “Citadel: the trace of Saladin”.
Literature:
- Zelenev E.I. Muslim Egypt: Textbook. allowance. – St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg Publishing House. University, 2007.
- Semenova L. A. From the history of Fatimid Egypt. M., 1974.
- Haag M. History of Egypt / Trans. from English – M.: Astrel, 2009.
- Baha ad-Din Abu al Mahasin Yusuf ibn Rafi ibn Tamim. Saladin. Conqueror of the Crusaders / Trans. from Arabic – St. Petersburg: “Publishing house “Dilya”, 2009.
- Butler. A. J. Arab conquest of Egypt.
- Fedden R. Egypt: a country in the Nile Valley.
- Egypt / ROUGH GUIDES / Trans. from English T.G. Lisitsina, G.S. Makharadze, A.V. Shevchenko. – M.: AST: Astrel, 2009.
The Saracens wanted revenge. But only their great-grandchildren were destined to wait for him, when the Sultan of Egypt and Syria, Salah ad-Din, immortalized in European chronicles under the name of Saladin, challenged the crusaders.
On July 4, 1187, the Muslims won an unconditional victory over the Crusaders. On the slopes of the Horns of Hattin, Saladin looked at the mountains of bodies fallen in battle. The harsh eastern sun burned from the sky, and an unbearable heat came from the grass and bushes set on fire by the Saracens. King Guy Lusignan and many noble barons were captured. Only a few managed to escape by taking refuge in the city of Tire. Almost 200 Templars and Hospitallers were killed on Saladin's orders. The Sultan personally cut off Baron Renault of Chatillon's head with a sword. This is how the medieval chronicler Otto described what happened:
« ...The Cross of the Lord, oh, woe!, was captured, and the Christians were put to flight. The king and his Serene Highness Prince Rainald, along with other Christians, were captured and taken to Damascus. There the king and the said prince were beheaded for their adherence to the true faith."
There were no longer any obstacles to the return of the Holy Land. City after city surrendered to Saladin's mercy. The only rebellious fortress was Tire. But the Sultan decided not to waste time and effort on its siege, aiming for Jerusalem. The city that remained in the rear became a haven for refugees from other villages, and grew stronger day by day.
The defense of Jerusalem was led by the knight Balian d'Ibelin. Having survived the massacre of Hattin, he turned out to be, in fact, the sole ruler of the kingdom. Balian arrived in the city to his wife, the Byzantine princess Maria Komnena, who was there with her children. He was aware of what to protect and hold Jerusalem was unlikely to succeed. The refugees that filled the city were of little use for battle, food supplies were dwindling. However, the inhabitants were ready to repel the Saracens.
Balian took up the matter decisively. With the blessing of the clergy, he used the gold decoration of the Chapel of the Holy Sepulcher to be melted down and coined. This did not bother the laity either: after all, the money served to protect the place where the Lord himself died and rose again.
Jerusalem most of all lacked experienced warriors. Balian knighted 60 young men from among the local nobility. True, the title did not add to their skills and experience.
Saladin did not hesitate, and on September 20 his army began the siege of the holy city. The Sultan's camp was initially located on the western side of Jerusalem, where the army of Raymond of Toulouse stood 88 years ago. The Saracens began shelling the city walls, tried to attack, but were prevented... sunlight. The sun blinded Saladin's soldiers and they retreated. In the evening the fighting resumed, but again produced no results. The defenders of Jerusalem repelled attacks over and over again for 8 days in a row.
Medieval miniature depicting the siege of Jerusalem
Saladin resorted to a trick. The next assault began at sunrise, when it shone in the faces of the Christians. The Saracens themselves were equipped with shovels, which they used to throw dust and sand into the eyes of their enemies. But this did not help either - the defense of Jerusalem held out. In addition, Christians made night forays, disrupting engineering work for the Arabs.
Then the Sultan changed his position and moved to the northern side, where there were no gates or passages for forays in the walls. Stone-throwing machines were installed there and immediately began firing. Saladin divided the soldiers into three detachments, and they, covered with shields and archers from the rearguard, came close to the walls of Jerusalem. Over the next two days, they undermined the walls by 15 cubits, propped them up with logs and set them on fire. The supports burned through and collapsed; the walls and towers in this area were ready to collapse. Christians lost heart. On the streets of Jerusalem, people held processions, wailing and crying out for God's mercy.
On September 29, Saladin's troops managed to make a breach in the walls of Jerusalem. Balian's people repaired it, but they were already aware of the inevitable end. A conspiracy of Greek and Syrian Christians matured within the walls of the city. They could hardly bear their subordination to Catholics, showing dissatisfaction with their church rituals. The Greeks told Saladin that they would open the gates of Jerusalem on the condition that the Sultan would be merciful and release them. These plans were revealed in time, but the conspiracy was made public. This completely broke the spirit of the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
"Victorious Saladin" Gustave Doré, 19th century
The Christians of Jerusalem were ready to leave the city walls for the last battle. However, Patriarch Heraclius exhorted the desperate defenders: “For every person in the city there are up to 50 women and children; if we fall, the Saracens will capture them and not kill them, but convert them to the faith of Mohammed, and they will be lost to God.”
Balian decided to negotiate with Saladin. However, at first the Sultan was skeptical about the proposal to surrender the city to him. He no longer needed the surrender of Jerusalem, being able to take it without any conditions. In addition, he had previously offered the city to submit and, having received a refusal, made a terrible oath: to destroy the walls of Jerusalem and exterminate all its inhabitants. Negotiations dragged on, and despair grew in the city. Finally, it was announced to the Sultan that if it was impossible to surrender to his mercy, then otherwise he would receive nothing. The Promised City and all the Muslim shrines in it will be turned into a pile of ruins and a huge grave.
Saladin's decision was based on plans for the future of these lands. He intended to include Palestine as part of his power, and, as you know, it is much easier to govern grateful subjects. Excessive ferocity could only harm himself. And Saladin agreed - he gave Christians life and the opportunity to buy back their freedom. All that remained was to agree on a moderate fee. As a result, the price for a man's freedom was 10 gold, for a woman's freedom - 5 gold, and for a child's freedom - 1 gold.
Balian d'Ibelin surrenders Jerusalem to the mercy of the winner, Sultan Saladin.
Medieval miniature
Saladin was given the keys to the city. But he decided to set foot within Jerusalem on October 2. This date in 1187 coincided with the twenty-seventh day of the month of Rajab - the anniversary of Muhammad's journey, which ended with his ascent up the heavenly ladder to the throne of Allah himself.
The Saracens planted their banners on the Tower of David and closed all the gates except one. They had guards posted to control the exit of those who bought their freedom. Saladin set aside 40 days for this, and to control the massive outflow of refugees, he organized a street census.
But there were many poor people in Jerusalem, and, of course, not everyone could pay for freedom. Balian managed to bargain for thirty thousand gold pieces for the freedom of seven thousand Christians. People were allowed to take with them whatever property they considered necessary.
15th-century miniature depicting the presentation of the keys to Jerusalem to Saladin
http://www.lessingimages.com
On the day of the exodus of Christians beyond the walls of the city, Saladin sat in the main square and watched their sad procession. Women and children wept, fearing the unknown. The men carried not only their belongings, but also the wounded. Saladin's brother, Salfedin, could not stand the sight. He asked the Sultan to give him 1,000 slaves for participating in the battle with the right to dispose of them as he pleased. Saladin agreed, and his brother's new slaves were freed.
The Patriarch and Balian then prayed. After Heraclius freed seven hundred poor people, and Balian - 500, the Sultan decided to show his mercy. He ordered the gates to be opened and all the poor to be released, subject to a preliminary inspection of their property. The deceiver, who was able to buy his freedom, but who spared the money, was awaiting punishment.
The camp of the liberated was huge and clumsy, and therefore was divided into three. The Templars and Hospitallers walked separately, and the third group was led by Balian. Dispossessed travelers needed protection. However, both in Tripoli and Tire they were not accepted. The refugees were labeled traitors, robbed and expelled. Some found refuge by returning to Muslim lands, others managed to reach Europe. The news of the fall of Jerusalem also came there with them.
Saladin did not lose his head from the victory and did not commit robberies and massacres. The Saracens treated the Orthodox Christians of Jerusalem very tolerantly, and they were allowed to stay. The houses of the Templars were washed and irrigated with rose water, and the al-Aqsa mosque was consecrated anew. An eyewitness to these events told King Henry II of England about the fall of Jerusalem and "the overthrow of the cross of the Temple of Our Lord". They carried the cross throughout the city and beat it with a drekol.
In November, having settled in the city, Saladin decided to deal with Tire. Scouts reported a constant influx of forces and supplies there. Fearing the arrival of reinforcements from Europe, the Sultan considered further delay unacceptable.
Tyre was surrounded not only by high walls, but also by the sea. Neither the shelling from siege weapons nor the actions of the Saracen galleys produced the expected result. Saladin, knowing that the defense of Tire was led by Margrave Conrad of Montferrat, rescued his father, who was captured in Jerusalem, from prison. The Saracens took the old man along the shore and threatened to publicly torture him. But Conrad did not give in, proudly declaring that his duty to God was more valuable to him than his filial duty. Saladin appreciated this answer and saved William V the Old's life. After a two-month siege, the Sultan was forced to retreat from Tire.
15th-century miniature depicting the siege of Tire
http://www.wikiwand.com
However, the Kingdom of Jerusalem fell. Only Tire, Tripoli and the Johannite fortress Krak des Chevaliers in Syria remained in the hands of the crusaders. The following year, 1188, the greatest European monarchs of the era, King Richard I the Lionheart of England and the German Emperor Frederick II Barbarossa, again raised the hammer of war over the Middle East. Thus began the Third, but not the last, Crusade.
Video for Chris de Burgh's song "Crusader"Singer Chris de Burgh dedicated the song “Crusader” (Russian: “Crusader”) with the refrain “Jerusalem is lost” to the eve and history of the Third Crusade. The large-scale video shot for this song opens with footage of the pilgrim who delivered the news of the fall of Jerusalem, and Saladin’s triumph in the captured city.
Sources and literature:
- The history of the Middle Ages in its writers and the research of modern scientists. T. III. St. Petersburg, 1887.
- Michaud G. History of the Crusades. M., 2001.
- Salimbene de Adam. Chronicle. M., 2004.
- Hillenbrand K. Crusades - a view from the East: a Muslim perspective. St. Petersburg, 2008.
- Andrea A. J. Contemporary sources for the fourth crusade. Brill. Leiden-Boston-Koln. 2000.
- Otto von St. Blasien. Marbacher Annalen. Ausgewählte Quellen zur deutschen Gechichte des Mittelalters. Bd. 18a. Darmstadt, 1998.
Saladin, Salah ad-Din Yusuf Ibn Ayyub (in Arabic Salah ad-Din means "Honor of the Faith"), (1138 - 1193), the first Sultan of Egypt from the Ayyubid dynasty. Born in Tekrit (modern Iraq). The success of his career became possible only thanks to the conditions that prevailed in the East in the 12th century. The power that belonged to the orthodox caliph of Baghdad or the heretics of the Fatimid dynasty of Cairo was constantly “tested for strength” by the viziers. After 1104, the Seljuk state was again and again divided among themselves by the Turkish atabeks.
Saladin's life came precisely at a time when there was a conscious need for political unification and defense of Islam. By origin, Saladin was an Armenian Kurd. His father Ayyub (Job) and uncle Shirku, sons of Shadi Ajdanakan, were military leaders in the army of Zengi. In 1139, Ayyub received control of Baalbek from Zengi, and in 1146, after his death, he became one of the courtiers and began to live in Damascus. In 1154, thanks to his influence, Damascus remained in the power of Nur ad-Din, and Ayyub himself began to rule the city. Thus, Saladin was educated in one of the famous centers of Islamic science and was able to absorb the best traditions of Muslim culture.
His career can be divided into three periods: the conquest of Egypt (1164 - 1174), the annexation of Syria and Mesopotamia (1174 - 1186), the conquest of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and other campaigns against Christians (1187 - 1192).
Conquest of Egypt.
The conquest of Egypt was necessary for Nur ad-Din. Egypt threatened his power from the south, being at times an ally of the crusaders, and also being a stronghold of the heretical caliphs. The reason for the invasion was the request of the exiled vizier Shewar ibn Mujir in 1193. At this very time, the crusaders were raiding the cities of the Nile Delta. And Shirku was sent to Egypt in 1164 along with Saladin, a junior officer of his army. Discovering that Shirku was planning not so much to help him as to seize Egypt for Nur ad-Din, Shewar ibn Mujir turned for help to the Christian king of Jerusalem, Amalric I. The crusaders helped Shewar defeat Shirku near Cairo on April 11, 1167 and force him to retreat ( Shirku's nephew, young Saladin, distinguished himself in this battle). The crusaders firmly established themselves in Cairo, which was approached several times by Shirku, who returned with reinforcements. They also tried, although unsuccessfully, to besiege Saladin in Alexandria. After negotiations, both sides agreed to leave Egypt. True, under the terms of the peace treaty, a Christian garrison was supposed to remain in Cairo. The unrest soon started by the Muslims in Cairo forced Amalric I to return to Egypt in 1168. He entered into an alliance with the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos, who at the beginning of 1169 sent a fleet and a small expeditionary force. The skillful maneuvering (both political and military) of Shirk and Saladin, the bad luck that plagued the enemy, as well as the mutual distrust between the crusaders and the Byzantines - all this prevented successful coordination of actions. And so both armies, the Crusaders and the Byzantines, retreated from Egypt. Shirku became vizier under the Fatimid caliph, while remaining subordinate to Nur ad-Din, but died soon after in May 1169. He was succeeded by Saladin, who actually became the ruler of Egypt with the title "al-Malik al-Nazir" (The Incomparable Ruler).
Saladin is the ruler of Egypt. Conquest of Syria and Mesopotamia.
In his relations with the Fatimid caliph, Saladin showed extraordinary tact, and after the death of al-Adid, which followed in 1171, Saladin already had enough power to replace his name in all Egyptian mosques with the name of the Orthodox caliph of Baghdad.
Saladin founded his Ayyubid dynasty. He restored the Sunni faith in Egypt in 1171. In 1172, the Egyptian Sultan conquered Tripolitania from the Almohads. Saladin constantly showed his submission to Nur ad-Din, but his concerns about the fortification of Cairo and the haste that he showed in lifting the sieges from the fortresses of Montreal (1171) and Kerak (1173) suggest that he was afraid of envy on the part of his master . Before the death of the Mosul ruler Nur ad-Din, a noticeable coldness arose between them. In 1174, Nur ad-Din died, and the period of Saladin's Syrian conquests began. Nur ad-Din's vassals began to rebel against his young al-Salih, and Saladin moved north, formally with the goal of supporting him. In 1174 he entered Damascus, took Hams and Hama, and in 1175 captured Baalbek and the cities surrounding Aleppo (Aleppo). Saladin owed his success, first of all, to his well-trained regular army of Turkish slaves (Mamluks), which included mainly horse archers, as well as shock troops of horse spearmen.The next step was to achieve political independence. In 1175, he forbade mentioning al-Salih's name in prayers and engraving it on coins and received formal recognition from the Baghdad caliph. In 1176, he defeated the invading army of Sayf ad-Din of Mosul and entered into an agreement with al-Salih as well as the Assassins. In 1177 he returned from Damascus to Cairo, where he built a new citadel, an aqueduct and several madrassas. From 1177 to 1180, Saladin waged war against Christians from Egypt, and in 1180 he concluded a peace treaty with the Sultan of Konya (Rum). In 1181 - 1183 he was mainly concerned with the state of affairs in Syria. In 1183, Saladin forced the atabeg Imad ad-Din to exchange Aleppo for the insignificant Sinjar, and in 1186 he obtained a vassal oath from the atabek of Mosul. The last independent ruler was finally subdued, and the Kingdom of Jerusalem found itself alone with a hostile empire.
Saladin's conquest of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
The childless King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem's illness with leprosy led to a struggle for succession to the throne. Saladin benefited from this: he completed the conquest of Syria, while continuing to raid Christian territories, although he was defeated at the Battle of Ram Allah in 1177.
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In 1187, the four-year truce was broken by the famous bandit Raynald de Chatillon from the castle of Krak des Chevaliers, provoking the declaration of a holy war, and then the third period of Saladin’s conquest began.
With an army of approximately twenty thousand, Saladin besieged Tiberias on the western shore of Lake Gennesaret. Guido Lusignan gathered everyone he could under his banner (approximately 20,000 people) and marched against Saladin. The King of Jerusalem ignored the advice of Raymond of Tripoli and led the army into the arid desert, where they were attacked and surrounded by Muslims. Many of the crusaders near Tiberias were destroyed.
On July 4, at the Battle of Hattin, Saladin inflicted a crushing defeat on the united Christian army. The Egyptian sultan managed to separate the crusader cavalry from the infantry and defeated it. Only Raymond of Tripoli and Baron Ibelin, who commanded the rearguard, with a small detachment of cavalry were able to break through the encirclement (according to one version, with the tacit approval of Saladin, who sincerely respected the old warrior). The rest of the crusaders were killed or captured, including the king of Jerusalem himself, the Grand Master of the Templar Order, Raynald of Chatillon and others. Reynald of Chatillon was executed by Saladin himself. And Guido subsequently released Lusignan, making him promise that he would no longer fight. Meanwhile, Raymond, who returned to Tripoli, died from his wounds.
Saladin captured Tiberias, Acre (now Acre in Israel), Askelon (Ashkelon) and other cities (the soldiers of their garrisons, almost without exception, were captured or died at Hattin). Saladin was already on his way to Tire when Margrave Conrad of Montferrat arrived by sea with a detachment of crusaders just in time, thus providing the city with a reliable garrison. Saladin's onslaught was repulsed.
On September 20, Saladin besieged Jerusalem. In the absence of the king, who had taken refuge in Acre, the defense of the city was led by Baron Ibelin. However, there were not enough defenders. Food too. Initially rejecting Saladin's relatively generous offers. Eventually the garrison was forced to surrender. On Friday, October 2, Saladin entered the Holy City, which had been in Christian hands for almost a hundred years, and performed a ritual of cleansing it, showing magnanimity towards the Christians of Jerusalem. Saladin released the townspeople on all four sides on the condition that they pay an appropriate ransom for themselves. Many were unable to be redeemed and were enslaved. All of Palestine was captured by Saladin.
In the kingdom, only Tire remained in the hands of Christians. Perhaps the fact that Saladin neglected to take this fortress before the onset of winter was his gravest strategic miscalculation. The Christians retained a strong stronghold when the remaining Crusader army, led by Guido Lusignan and Conrad of Montferrat, attacked Acre in June 1189. They managed to drive away Saladin's army, which was coming to the rescue of the besieged. Saladin did not have a fleet, which allowed the Christians to wait for reinforcements and recover from the defeats they suffered on land. On the landward side, Saladin's army surrounded the crusaders in a tight ring. During the siege, 9 major battles and countless small clashes took place.
Saladin and Richard the Lionheart.
On June 8, 1191, Richard I of England (later the Lionheart) arrived near Acre. Basically all the crusaders tacitly accepted his leadership. Richard drove off Saladin's army, which was coming to the rescue of the besieged, and then waged the siege so vigorously that the Muslim garrison of Acre capitulated on July 12 without Saladin's permission.
Richard consolidated his success with a well-organized march to Askelon (modern Ashkelon in Israel), which was carried out along the coast to Jaffa, and with a great victory at Arsuf, in which Saladin's troops lost 7 thousand people and the rest fled. The losses of the crusaders in this battle amounted to about 700 people. After this battle, Saladin never dared to engage Richard in open battle.During 1191 - 1192, four small campaigns took place in the south of Palestine, in which Richard proved himself a valiant knight and a talented tactician, although Saladin surpassed him as a strategist. The English king constantly moved between Beitnub and Askelon, with his ultimate goal being the capture of Jerusalem. Richard I constantly pursued Saladin, who, retreating, used scorched earth tactics - destroying crops, pastures and poisoning wells. Lack of water, lack of feed for horses and growing discontent in the ranks of his multinational army forced Richard to come to the conclusion that he was unable to besiege Jerusalem unless he wanted to risk the almost certain death of his entire army. In January 1192, Richard's impotence manifested itself in the fact that he abandoned Jerusalem and began to fortify Askelon. Peace negotiations that took place at the same time showed that Saladin was the master of the situation. Although Richard won two magnificent victories at Jaffa in July 1192, the peace treaty was concluded on 2 September and was a triumph for Saladin. All that remained of the Kingdom of Jerusalem were coastline and a free route to Jerusalem, along which Christian pilgrims could easily reach the Holy Places. Askelon was destroyed. There is no doubt that the cause of the death of the kingdom was the unity of the Islamic East. Richard returned to Europe, and Saladin to Damascus, where he died after a short illness on March 4, 1193. He was buried in Damascus and was mourned throughout the East.
Characteristics of Saladin.
Saladin had a bright character.
Being a typical Muslim, harsh towards the infidels who captured Syria, he, however, showed mercy towards the Christians with whom he directly dealt. Saladin became famous among Christians and Muslims as a true knight. Saladin was very diligent in prayer and fasting. He was proud of his family, declaring that “the Ayyubids were the first to whom the Almighty granted victory.” His generosity was shown in the concessions given to Richard and his treatment of the captives. Saladin was unusually kind, crystal honest, loved children, never lost heart and was truly noble towards women and all the weak. Moreover, he showed true Muslim devotion to a sacred goal. The source of his success lay in his personality. He was able to unite Islamic countries to fight the crusader conquerors, although he did not leave a code of laws for his country. After his death, the empire was divided among his relatives. Although a capable strategist, Saladin was no match for Richard in tactics and, in addition, had an army of slaves. “My army is not capable of anything,” he admitted, “if I do not lead it and watch over it every moment.” In the history of the East, Saladin remains the conqueror who stopped the invasion of the West and turned the forces of Islam to the West, the hero who overnight united these unbridled forces, and, finally, the saint who embodied in his own person the highest ideals and virtues of Islam.References.
1. Smirnov S.A. Sultan Yusuf and his crusaders. - Moscow: AST, 2000.
2. The World History wars/resp. ed. R. Ernest and Trevor N. Dupuis. - Book one - Moscow: Polygon, 1997.
3. World history. Crusaders and Mongols. - Volume 8 - Minsk, 2000.
Once upon a time, seven Greek cities argued for the right to be called the birthplace of Homer. In the same way, all the peoples of the Middle East consider Sultan Saladin their fellow tribesman. More than 800 years ago, he defended Islamic civilization from the crusader knights and returned to it the holy city of al-Quds, which we call Jerusalem. Moreover, he did it with such dignity that even his enemies could not reproach him for a single dishonorable act.
Mostly the general public knows about him from chivalric novels, retold by Sir Walter Scott. This is where the name Saladin comes from. In fact, his name was Salah ad-din, which means “Glory of Faith.” But this is only an honorary nickname for the boy Yusuf, born in the spring of 1138 in the family of the military leader Naj ad-din Ayyub ibn Shadi. He was a Kurd by origin, a representative of a wild mountain people who jealously guarded their freedom and the Yazidi faith.
But this does not apply to Saladin - he was born in Tikrit, Iraq, where his father served the local ruler. His mother was an Arab, and he was raised in strict Islam.
19th-century depiction of a victorious Saladin, by Gustave Doré.
We know almost nothing about Saladin's early years. It is known, however, that already in 1139 the father of the future hero moved to Syria to serve the atabek Imad-addin Zengi. Assessing the commander’s abilities, Zengi brought him closer to him and gave him control of the city of Baalbek. After the death of Mr. Ayub, he supported his eldest son Nur ad-din in the struggle for power, for which the latter made him the ruler of Damascus in 1146. In this magnificent city, Saladin grew up and received an education, which for a noble eastern youth at that time amounted to the basics of faith, horse riding and saber skills. It is possible, however, that Saladin was also taught to read and write and the basics of versification. In any case, having become the Sultan, he knew how to read and write, unlike many European rulers.
The possessions of the Zengi dynasty bordered the crusader states in Palestine, which arose after the First Crusade in 1099. In the East, knights lived the same way as they were used to in the West. Having built castles in places convenient for defense, they imposed various duties on the peasants, both immigrants from Europe and local Arabs, Greeks and Syrians. Formally, their possessions were subordinate to the king of Jerusalem, but in fact they were independent. Their rulers themselves administered justice and reprisals, established laws, declared war on each other and made peace. Many of them did not disdain robbery, attacking merchant caravans and merchant ships. Trade brought great income to the crusaders.
According to the calculations of the French historian Fernand Braudel, trade turnover between the West and the East during that period increased 30-40 times. A major role in the crusader states was played by the military knightly orders - the Templars and the Johannites (Hospitaliers). Their members took monastic vows of chastity, poverty and obedience to superiors. In addition, they swore to fight against infidels and protect Christians. At the head of each order was a Grand Master, to whom several hundred knights obeyed.
Gradually, the crusaders fit into the political system of the Middle East. Enmitying with some local rulers, they entered into alliances with others and exchanged gifts. There was no unity among Muslims: supporters of the Baghdad caliph were at enmity with the Shiite Fatimid dynasty in Egypt, and the Turkic Seljuk empire split into parts, control over which passed to the Sultan's educators - the Atabeks. Among them were the Zengids, who made it their goal to expel the “Franks” from Palestine, and especially from Jerusalem. In addition to Christian and Jewish shrines, there were also Islamic ones, including the Qubbat al-Sakhr (Dome of the Rock) mosque, from where the Prophet Muhammad, according to legend, ascended to heaven on the winged horse Borak. After the conquest of the city by the Crusaders, they were all converted into Christian churches, and Nur ad-din Zengi vowed to return them. Saladin became his assistant in this.
Saladin's army at the walls of Jerusalem
The path to empire
But first, the young man had to fight not with the “infidels” at the walls of Jerusalem, but with his fellow believers on the banks of the Nile. To encircle the possessions of the crusaders, Nur ad-din planned to subjugate Egypt, where the vizier Shevar ibn Mujir rebelled against the local caliph al-Adid. To help the latter, Zengi in 1164 sent an army led by Shirku, Ayub's brother. With him was 25-year-old Saladin, appointed commander of hundreds of horsemen. The campaign turned out to be unsuccessful: the straightforward Kurds encountered the treachery of the Egyptians. At the decisive moment, Shevar not only went over to the side of his enemy, the caliph, but also called upon King Amaury I of Jerusalem for help. The knights helped defeat Shirka near Cairo in April 1167 and dug in themselves in the Egyptian capital. It was here that Saladin first showed himself: when his dispirited comrades were already ready to leave the country, he and his detachment captured the most important port of Alexandria and prevented the crusaders from receiving reinforcements.
The skillful maneuvering (both political and military) of Shirk and Saladin, the bad luck that plagued the enemy, as well as the mutual distrust between the crusaders and the Byzantines - all this prevented successful coordination of actions. And so both armies, the Crusaders and the Byzantines, retreated from Egypt. Shirku became vizier under the Fatimid caliph, while remaining subordinate to Nur ad-Din, but soon died (from poison) in May 1169. He was succeeded by Saladin, who actually became the ruler of Egypt with the title “al-Malik al-Nazir” (The Incomparable Ruler).
To the surprise of many, he proved himself not to be a simple-minded fighter, but a skillful politician who attracted the courtiers and people to his side. When al-Adid died in 1171, Saladin took his place without any resistance. His former master Nur ad-din expected him to submit, but Saladin, having become the Sultan of Egypt, made it clear that he did not need leadership. Moreover, after the death of Nur ad-din in 1174, he intervened in the dispute between his heirs and quietly took away their Syrian possessions, including Damascus (his father had already died by that time). When their relative, the powerful atabek of Mosul, stood up for the Zengids, Saladin defeated him and forced him to admit his supremacy. Enemies tried to set assassins on the Sultan - ruthless killers who were feared by the entire East. But he created a secret service that one fine day arrested all the assassins in Damascus. Having learned of their execution, the leader of the murderers, the famous “Mountain Elder,” chose to make peace with the decisive Sultan.
Saladin founded his Ayyubid dynasty. He restored the Sunni faith in Egypt in 1171. In 1172, the Egyptian Sultan conquered Tripolitania from the Almohads. Saladin constantly showed his submission to Nur ad-Din, but his concerns about the fortification of Cairo and the haste that he showed in lifting the sieges from the fortresses of Montreal (1171) and Kerak (1173) suggest that he was afraid of envy on the part of his master . Before the death of the Mosul ruler Nur ad-Din, a noticeable coldness arose between them. In 1174, Nur ad-Din died, and the period of Saladin's Syrian conquests began. Nur ad-Din's vassals began to rebel against his young al-Salih, and Saladin moved north, formally with the goal of supporting him. In 1174 he entered Damascus, took Hams and Hama, and in 1175 captured Baalbek and the cities surrounding Aleppo (Aleppo). Saladin owed his success, first of all, to his well-trained regular army of Turkish slaves (Mamluks), which included mainly horse archers, as well as shock troops of horse spearmen. The next step was to achieve political independence.
In 1175, he forbade mentioning al-Salih's name in prayers and engraving it on coins and received formal recognition from the Baghdad caliph. In 1176, he defeated the invading army of Sayf ad-Din of Mosul and entered into an agreement with al-Salih as well as the Assassins. In 1177 he returned from Damascus to Cairo, where he built a new citadel, an aqueduct and several madrassas. From 1177 to 1180, Saladin waged war against Christians from Egypt, and in 1180 he concluded a peace treaty with the Sultan of Konya (Rum). In 1181 - 1183 he was mainly concerned with the state of affairs in Syria. In 1183, Saladin forced the atabeg Imad ad-Din to exchange Aleppo for the insignificant Sinjar, and in 1186 he obtained a vassal oath from the atabek of Mosul. The last independent ruler was finally subdued, and the Kingdom of Jerusalem found itself alone with a hostile empire.
Saladin's conquest of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
The childless King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem's illness with leprosy led to a struggle for succession to the throne. Saladin benefited from this: he completed the conquest of Syria, while continuing to raid Christian territories, although he was defeated at the Battle of Ram Allah in 1177.
In 1187, the four-year truce was broken by the famous bandit Raynald de Chatillon from the castle of Krak des Chevaliers, provoking the declaration of a holy war, and then the third period of Saladin’s conquest began.
Now everything was ready for the march on Jerusalem. Saladin formed and trained an army, the basis of which were Mamluks - former slaves. From these skilled warriors, selflessly loyal to their commanders, detachments of mounted spearmen and archers were recruited, who quickly advanced and also quickly retreated, leaving behind the clumsy knights in their armor. The other part of the army was made up of forcibly mobilized fellahins, who fought poorly and reluctantly, but could crush the enemy en masse.
After Baudouin's death, power passed from hand to hand until it went to his sister Sibylla and her husband Guido Lusignan, who did not enjoy authority and could not prevent the arbitrariness of the feudal lords. The most violent of them, Baron Renaud de Chatillon, robbed a caravan carrying Saladin's own sister to her fiancé. She was not injured and was released, but first the baron requisitioned all her jewelry. At the same time, he touched the girl, which was considered an unheard of insult. Saladin vowed revenge, and in June 1187 his 50,000-strong army set out on a campaign.
The capture of Jerusalem by the Saracens under Saladin in 1187. Book illustration. 1400
Fight of lions
First, the Sultan laid siege to the fortress of Tiberias. King Guido opposed him, but Saladin lured his army into the arid desert, where many knights died from the arrows of enemies and the scorching sun. While they were getting out of there, the fortress was forced to surrender. The Crusader army, which consisted of 1,200 knights, 4,000 mounted warriors and 18,000 infantry, headed towards Tiberias and was met by Saladin between two hills called the Horns of Gattin.
On July 4, the decisive battle took place. Having fortified themselves on the hills, the Muslims fired from above at their opponents, who were suffering from thirst and smoke from dry branches set on fire by order of the Sultan. Fighting desperately, the knights managed to capture the Horns, but lost almost all their horses and were surrounded by enemy cavalry. Count Raymond
Tripoli with a small detachment managed to break through the encirclement and escape. The rest had to surrender by evening. The following were captured: King Guido himself, his brother Geoffroy, the masters of the Templars and Johannites - almost the entire crusader nobility, except Count Raymond, but he, too, upon arriving in Tripoli, died of his wounds.
The Sultan's offender, Renaud de Chatillon, was also captured. He aggravated his guilt by his impudent behavior, and Saladin cut off his head with his own hand. And then, according to Kurdish custom, he moistened his finger with the blood of the enemy and ran it over his face as a sign that revenge had been accomplished. Other prisoners were sent to Damascus, where their fate was decided. Saladin ordered the execution of all the Templars and Johannites (230 people), considering them sworn enemies of Islam. The Muslim allies of the crusaders were also executed as accomplices of the enemy.
The rest of the knights, including King Guido, were released, taking an oath from them never to fight with the Sultan. Ordinary warriors were sold into slavery.
Meanwhile, Raymond, who returned to Tripoli, died from his wounds.
Saladin captured Tiberias, Acre (now Acre in Israel), Askelon (Ashkelon) and other cities (the soldiers of their garrisons, almost without exception, were captured or died at Hattin). Saladin was already on his way to Tire when Margrave Conrad of Montferrat arrived by sea with a detachment of crusaders just in time, thus providing the city with a reliable garrison. Saladin's onslaught was repulsed.
Saladin Damascus, Syria
On September 20, Saladin besieged Jerusalem. In the absence of the king, who had taken refuge in Acre, the defense of the city was led by Baron Ibelin. However, there were not enough defenders. Food too. Initially rejecting Saladin's relatively generous offers. Eventually the garrison was forced to surrender. On Friday, October 2, Saladin entered the Holy City, which had been in Christian hands for almost a hundred years, and performed a ritual of cleansing it, showing magnanimity towards the Christians of Jerusalem. Saladin released the townspeople on all four sides on the condition that they pay an appropriate ransom for themselves. Many were unable to be redeemed and were enslaved. All of Palestine was captured by Saladin.
Acre and Ascalon surrendered to him, and the last Christian port, Tire, was saved only thanks to the arrival from Europe of Margrave Conrad of Montferrat with a strong detachment. On September 20, 1187, the Sultan besieged Jerusalem. There were not enough defenders, and there was not enough food, the walls were very dilapidated, and on October 2 the city surrendered. Saladin did not repeat the atrocities that the crusaders had once committed: he allowed all residents to leave the city for a relatively small ransom and even take some of their property with them. However, many poor people had no money and also became slaves. There were almost 15 thousand of them. The winner received enormous wealth and all the shrines of the city, whose churches were turned back into mosques.
The news of the fall of Jerusalem caused grief and anger in Europe. The monarchs of the largest countries - England, France and Germany - gathered in a new crusade.
In the kingdom, only Tire remained in the hands of Christians. Perhaps the fact that Saladin neglected to take this fortress before the onset of winter was his gravest strategic miscalculation. The Christians retained a strong stronghold when the remaining Crusader army, led by Guido Lusignan and Conrad of Montferrat, attacked Acre in June 1189. They managed to drive away Saladin's army, which was coming to the rescue of the besieged. Saladin did not have a fleet, which allowed the Christians to wait for reinforcements and recover from the defeats they suffered on land. On the landward side, Saladin's army surrounded the crusaders in a tight ring. During the siege, 9 major battles and countless small clashes took place.
Battle of Gattin- a battle that took place on July 4, 1187 between. Saladin and Guy de Lusignan after the battle
As usual, there was no agreement between the European rulers, so the armies moved towards the goal one by one. The first to set off in May 1189 was the German Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. He followed by land, capturing the Seljuk capital of Konya (Iconium) along the way. But in June 1190, the emperor unexpectedly drowned while crossing the mountain river Salef. His army partly returned home, partly still reached Palestine, but there they almost completely died out from the plague epidemic.
Meanwhile, the English of Richard I and the French of Philip II were still reaching the Holy Land by sea. Along the way they had to fight a lot. King Richard earned his nickname Lionheart by fighting not with Muslims, but with the inhabitants of Sicily who rebelled against him. During another military campaign, he took Cyprus from the Byzantines, which was given to the fugitive king of Jerusalem, Guido Lusignan. It was not until June 1191 that the two kings arrived in Palestine. Saladin's fatal mistake was that he left Tire to the crusaders. Having strengthened there, they were able to receive help from Europe and besieged the powerful fortress of Acre. King Richard appeared at its walls, and a fight between two opponents, equal in strength and courage, began.
The duel between a crusader and a Muslim is believed to be between Richard the Lionheart and Saladin. Book miniature. England. Around 1340
With his fearlessness, the English king aroused the sincere admiration of Saladin. They say that one day, having learned that his enemy had a headache from the heat, the Sultan sent him a basket of snow from the mountain peaks. Ordinary Muslims treated Richard much worse and even frightened children with him. There were reasons for this: the knightly king showed his cruelty more than once. On July 12, Acre fell, and at its walls he put to the sword about 2,000 Muslim prisoners who could not pay the ransom. After this, the crusaders moved south, defeating enemy detachments one after another. It was here that the shortcomings of Saladin’s army, which consisted of forced people, became apparent. The Sultan said in his hearts: “My army is not capable of anything unless I lead it and look after it every moment.” Needless to say, if Mamluks with drawn sabers were on duty behind the fighting Egyptians. The knights did not have this: each of them knew what they were fighting for.
Death on takeoff
Moving from Acre to Ascalon, Richard threatened to return the entire coast to Christian rule. To prevent him, Saladin with an army of 20 thousand on September 7, 1191 blocked the king’s road at the Arsuf fortress. Here again the superiority of European tactics was demonstrated: the knights were able to quickly build a defense against which the rolling waves of Muslim horsemen were powerless. Having lost 7,000 people killed, Saladin's soldiers retreated in panic. After this, the Sultan never once dared to enter into a relationship with Richard. major battle. The English king captured Jaffa and Ascalon and began to accumulate forces for a strike on Jerusalem. However, soon luck turned against the Christians again: Richard and Philip entered into a fierce dispute over the crown of the now defunct Kingdom of Jerusalem. The first supported his protege Guido Lusignan, the second - Margrave Conrad of Montferrat. Having lost the argument, Philip angrily withdrew his army to France. Envy also played a role: the Frenchman did not accomplish any feats, and no one called him the Lionheart.
No more than 10,000 knights remained from the crusader army, and Richard had to admit that fighting their way to the Holy City through the armies of enemies was tantamount to death. Saladin ordered his viziers to equip and drive more and more armies into Palestine. He knew that the villages were emptying and the country was threatened by famine, but the holy war came first. For the Sultan it was not an end in itself, but a means of strengthening the empire.
The Caliph of Baghdad, whose power had waned but whose authority remained high, sent him his blessing and assurance of full support. In the future, Saladin planned a campaign against Baghdad to restore the great Arab Caliphate. His warriors had already captured Libya and even distant Yemen, and were ready to go further. But first it was necessary to finish off the crusaders. In September 1192, Richard concluded a peace treaty, which became an important victory for Saladin. The knights were left with only the sea coast, and Ascalon was destroyed under the terms of the peace. Christian pilgrims were given the opportunity to visit Jerusalem and worship the shrines there. The Sultan made this concession: the main thing is that the terrible Englishman with the heart of a lion returns home.
On his way home, Richard experienced the full consequences of his not entirely knightly act. During the capture of Acre, he threw down the flag of the Austrian Duke Leopold, which he had raised first, from the wall.
The Duke harbored a grudge and now took Richard, who was in his lands, captive and imprisoned him in the castle. The king was released only two years later for a huge ransom. This did not teach the eccentric monarch anything: at home he immediately got involved in another war and in 1199 died from an accidental arrow during the siege of a French castle. “Everything that his courage won, his imprudence lost” - with these words the chronicler summed up the fate of the Lionheart. His enemy Saladin was no longer alive. On his last campaign he fell ill with a fever and died in Damascus on March 4, 1193. The whole East mourned him as a defender of the faith.
Sultan's tomb in the citadel of Damascus
After the death of the Sultan, his empire was divided by his heirs. Al-Aziz got Egypt, al-Afzal - Damascus, al-Zahir - Aleppo. Alas, none of the Ayyubids showed the qualities of the founder of the dynasty. Having entrusted the security of their possessions to ministers and generals, they indulged in drunkenness and entertainment with concubines. Quite soon the Mamluks decided that they would handle the affairs of the country themselves, and in 1252 they drowned the last Ayyubid, the boy Musa, in the Nile. After a bloody showdown, the Kipchak Baybars came to power, who not only finally expelled the Crusaders from the Holy Land, but also defeated the terrible Mongols, who conquered half the world.
In 1260 he expelled the Ayyubids from Damascus, and in 1342 he died last representative this dynasty. It seemed that Saladin and his cause were forever consigned to history. However, the warrior was remembered in the twentieth century, when the Arabs again rose up against the European colonialists. The Sultan became an example for the Egyptian President Nasser, and for the Syrian Assad, and for the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, who was very proud to be his fellow countryman - also born in Tikrit. It got to the point that Osama bin Laden compared himself to Saladin, although he, on the contrary, fought against assassins, whom we would call terrorists. He was a man of his time - cruel, but true to the ideals that our indifferent age so lacks.
Saladin (Salah ad-Din). Chronology of life and deeds
1137 (1138) - A third son, Yusuf, was born into the family of Naim ad-Din Ayyub, military commander of the Tekrit fortress.
1152 - Yusuf enters the service of his uncle Asad ad-Din Shirk and receives ownership of a small territory.
1152 - Yusuf becomes part of the military command of Damascus.
1164 - 1169 - Yusuf's participation in the Egyptian campaigns of Emir Asad ad-Din Shirku.
1169 - After the death of Emir Shirku, Yusuf becomes vizier of the Egyptian Caliph and receives from him the title “Incomparable Ruler” (“al-Malik al-Nazir”).
1173 - 1174 - Saladin's first short-term campaigns against the crusaders.
1174 - Saladin captures Damascus after the death of Nur ad-Din.
1176 - Recognition of Saladin's power over Syria by the Zengids (except for the ruler of Mosul), as well as by the Baghdad caliph. A trip to the lands of the Assassins and the conclusion of an agreement with Rashid ad-Din Sinan.
1177 - Defeat of Saladin from the army of King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem under Ram Allah.
1186 - Acceptance of a vassal oath from the ruler of Mosul.
1189 - 1191 - Military operations at Acre.
Let me remind you about several more famous historical characters: for example, you know, or for example, you know who he was. By the way, let us also remember such a person as The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy was made -
IN At the end of the 11th century, armies of Christian knights moved to the Middle East. Their goal was to liberate the Holy Sepulcher from Muslim rule. For several decades, much of Palestine was occupied by Christians; it seemed that nothing could withstand such force. However, less than a hundred years after the First Crusade, the situation changed. A warrior appeared in the Middle East who challenged the knights - it was Salah al-Din
, which the crusaders and generally all Europeans called.
1095 In the French city of Clermont, a council convened by the pope was ending Urban II; as always, the meeting of the clergy attracted the close attention of secular people, including influential representatives of the knightly class. After the end of the meeting, Urban II made a speech that was completely unexpected for those gathered. Without sparing black paints, he painted hard fate Christians of Palestine and called on listeners to protect fellow believers and liberate the Holy Land, desecrated by Muslims. Even though the situation of Christians in Palestine was not as bad as the pope made it out to be, this proclamation was taken as a guide to action.
Throughout Europe, the organization of the Crusade began, the goal of which was to liberate the Holy Land from Muslim rule. The first attempt to liberate the Holy Sepulcher, whose participants were dominated by poor peasants, ended in defeat. However, the following campaigns, organized primarily by knighthood, were more successful. The warriors fighting in the name of God were truly a terrible force, but often it turned on innocent residents of captured cities, and then there was no mercy for either Muslims, Jews, or Christians.
The authors of the Arab chronicles did not hide their indignation. The knights fighting under the banner of Jesus quickly took Antioch, Jerusalem and other cities of Palestine, previously under the control of the Seljuk Turks, but the pace of Frankish expansion soon slowed down somewhat. The most influential leaders of the Crusaders gained control over the conquered lands, and the cities became the centers of new Christian states in the Middle East. Their elite consisted of Western knighthood, and their subjects were people of many nationalities and religions. However, the war with the Muslims did not subside. After the first defeats, the Muslims began to offer stronger resistance to the crusaders. Mosul atabek Imad ad-Din Zangi united large parts of Syria and Northern Iraq; troops under his leadership launched military operations against Christians, occupied the county of Edessa and plundered the lands of Antioch.
Son of Zangi, Nur ad-Din, successfully continued the fight against the Franks. The domains of the Egyptian Fatimid dynasty suffered the most from the tireless attacks of Christians. Incited by the Crusaders, the King of Jerusalem Amalric I organized more and more campaigns against Egypt, and the only salvation for the local rulers was help from the Syrian Zangids. One of their vassals, a Kurd from the Ayyubid family, arrived in Egypt with an army. Shirkuh Asad al-Din, also known as Leo of Faith. Shirkukh expelled the crusaders of Amalric I from Egypt, but was in no hurry to leave the country and took the position of vizier - the most important post in the power hierarchy. However, Shirkukh's triumph was short-lived - a few weeks later the Lion of Faith died, and the post of vizier was inherited by his nephew Salah ad-Din.
Thus the Ayyubid family became one of the most important in the Middle East. The founder of the family to which Saladin belonged was Shadi from the Kurdish tribe, whose lands were located in the vicinity of Mount Ararat. Looking for better fate he and his two sons, Ayyub and Shirkuh, moved south. The family settled in the city of Tikrit above the Tigris, in what is now Iraq; here Shadi received the position of governor of the fortress, and after him this post was inherited by Ayub.
Soon, however, the family’s luck turned away: he lost all privileges and was forced to leave the city on pain of death, going to Syria. According to legend, Salah ad-Din was born on the last night of his family’s stay in Tikrit (1138). In fact, the boy's name was Yusuf ibn Ayyub, and Salah ad-Din is an honorary nickname meaning Glory of Faith. Under the patronage of a new patron, Sultan Nur ad-Din, the position of the Ayyubids strengthened. They took possession of new lands, and Salah ad-Din, under the leadership of his uncle, was able to gain valuable political and military experience.
However, in his youth, the future winner of the crusaders was more interested in theology than politics and the art of war - he studied theology in Damascus. For this reason, Salah ad-Din's political debut took place relatively late: he was 26 years old when, together with his uncle, he went on the orders of Nur ad-Din to help Egypt. After the death of Shirkuh, Salah ad-Din began to strengthen the political and military influence of the Ayyubids in Egypt. Enraged by this, Nur ad-Din sent his own tax collectors to Egypt and even prepared an army to punish the insufficiently loyal vassal; only the death of the Sultan (1174) prevented the implementation of this plan. After the death of Nur ad-Din, Salah ad-Din took the title of Sultan of Egypt.
After consolidating his position in Egypt, Salah ad-Din set about unifying the lands of the Middle East under his rule. He devoted the next 12 years to achieving this goal, and one of the obstacles on his way was the Christian crusader states led by the Kingdom of Jerusalem. However, Salah ad-Din was able to derive considerable benefit from the confrontation with the infidels: thanks to the war against the crusaders, he could strengthen his image as a defender of the faith and thereby justify the constant expansion of his influence in the Middle East. While Salah ad-Din's power grew, Christian rulers found it increasingly difficult. Conflicts between representatives of various circles of the power elite, the desire of spiritual knightly orders to expand influence, a constant shortage of troops and dynastic problems haunted the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Soon after the king died Baldwin IV the Leper(1186), who consistently fought against the power aspirations of the barons, power passed to the king’s sister Sibylle and her husband Guy de Lusignan. The greatest problem of the new rulers of Jerusalem was the unauthorized raids of the crusaders on Muslim territories. One of these rebellious knights was Baron Renaud de Chatillon, owner of the Krak castle. This knight repeatedly violated the truce, attacking Muslims whose route to Mecca ran through his domain. In the fall of 1182, Reno organized a daring sea raid into the Red Sea, plundered its African coast, after which his people sank a ship they came across with Muslim pilgrims. The count repeatedly violated the agreements on the protection of pilgrims of both sides, as evidenced by the very unkind reviews of Arab chroniclers.
Either at the end of 1186, or at the beginning of 1187, Renaud de Chatillon robbed a caravan carrying Saladin’s sister to her fiancé. She was not injured and was released (according to other sources, Reno brutally raped her), but first the baron requisitioned all her jewelry. At the same time, he touched the girl, which was considered an unheard of insult. Saladin vowed revenge, and in June 1187 his 50,000-strong army set out on a campaign.
The basis of Saladin's army were the Mamluks - former slaves. From these skilled warriors, selflessly devoted to their commanders, detachments of mounted spearmen and archers were recruited, who quickly advanced and also quickly retreated, leaving behind knights clumsy in their armor. The other part of the army consisted of forcibly mobilized fellahs - peasants. These fought poorly and reluctantly, but could crush the enemy with their mass.
The reprisal against the treacherous crusader served Salah ad-din as an excellent occasion for the final unification of the lands of the Middle East under his rule. Ineffective leadership and a lack of drinking water led to the fact that already in the first battle, the Battle of Hattin, the Crusader troops suffered a severe defeat. King Guy of Lusignan, his brother Amaury (constable of the kingdom), Master of the Templars Gerard de Ridfort, Renaud de Chatillon and many other Christian leaders were captured. Saladin, whose nobility was recognized by Christians, again demonstrated generosity towards the defeated, which, however, did not extend to the hated de Chatillon, who fell into his hands. Saladin cut off his head with his own hand.
After this, Saladin marched victoriously through Palestine, which there was no one to defend. Acre and Ascalon surrendered to him, and the last Christian port, Tire, held out only thanks to the fact that it was defended by the count who arrived from Constantinople Conrad of Montferrat distinguished by intelligence and energy. On September 20, 1187, the Sultan laid siege to Jerusalem. There were not enough defenders, and there was not enough food, the walls were very dilapidated, and on October 2 the city surrendered. Saladin did not repeat the atrocities that the crusaders had once committed: he allowed all residents to leave the city for a relatively small ransom and even take some of their property with them. However, many poor people had no money and became slaves. The winner received enormous wealth and all the shrines of the city, whose churches were turned back into mosques. However, Saladin guaranteed immunity for Christian pilgrims visiting Jerusalem.
The fall of Jerusalem was a heavy blow for all Christians. The three most powerful rulers - the German Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, King of France Philip II Augustus and ruler of England Richard I the Lionheart- decided on a new one crusade. From the very beginning, luck did not favor the crusaders. There was no agreement between them, so the armies moved to Palestine one by one. The first to set off in May 1189 was the German Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. He followed to the Holy Land by land, but did not even reach Syria. In June 1190, the emperor unexpectedly drowned while crossing a mountain river. His army partly returned home, partly still reached Palestine, but there they almost completely died out from the plague epidemic.
Meanwhile, the British and French reached the Holy Land by sea. Along the way they had to fight a lot. King Richard earned his nickname by fighting not with the Saracens, but with the inhabitants of Sicily who rebelled against him. In another small war, he took the island of Cyprus from the Byzantines and later gave it to the fugitive King of Jerusalem, Guy de Lusignan. It was not until June 1191 that Richard I and Philip II arrived in Palestine. Saladin's fatal mistake was that he left Tire to the crusaders. Having strengthened there, they were able to receive help from Europe and besieged the powerful fortress of Acre. King Richard appeared at its walls, and a fight between two opponents, equal in strength and courage, began.
With his fearlessness, the English king aroused the sincere admiration of Saladin. They say that one day, having learned that his enemy had a headache from the heat, the Sultan sent Richard a basket of snow from the mountain peaks. Ordinary Muslims treated Richard much worse, and for good reason. The king showed his cruelty more than once. On July 12, Acre fell, and at its walls he ordered the beheadings of more than two thousand Muslim prisoners who could not pay the ransom. After the capture of Acre, King Philip II Augustus returned to France, and the task of liberating the Holy City fell on Richard's shoulders.
The crusaders moved south, defeating enemy detachments one after another. It was here that the shortcomings of Saladin’s army, which consisted of forced people, became apparent. Moving from Acre to Ascalon, the crusaders defeated the Saracen army at the Arsuf fortress. Having lost 7,000 people killed in the Battle of Arsuf, the Sultan no longer dared to engage Richard in a major battle.
After the capture of Ascalon, the crusader army continued on its way to the Holy City. When the crusaders arrived under the walls of Jerusalem, it became obvious that taking the city would not be easy. The long siege exhausted the warriors, and the results were insignificant. The opponents found themselves in a stalemate: Richard blocked communication between the two parts of Salah ad-Din’s possessions - Syria and Egypt - and the Sultan’s army continued to successfully defend the city and had no intention of surrendering. This siege allowed Christians to once again be convinced of the nobility of Saladin - so, when Richard the Lionheart fell ill, the Sultan sent him sherbets prepared with healing water from the springs of the Lebanese mountains.
Legends include stories that Saladin released prisoners who did not have money for ransom, and once he himself ransomed a child captured during a battle and returned him to his mother. Due to the deadlock in which the confrontation had reached (as well as due to bad news for Richard from Europe), the parties negotiated a truce and a peace agreement was concluded in September 1192. The Christians retained the coastline from Tire to Jaffa, and Salah ad-din controlled the lands lying in the interior of the continent. The Crusaders left the Holy Land, but Christian pilgrimages to holy places could be carried out unhindered.
On his way home, Richard found himself in the possessions of the Austrian Duke Leopold V, experienced the full consequences of his not entirely knightly act. At the capture of Acre, he threw down from the wall the flag that the Duke had raised first. Leopold harbored a grudge and now took Richard prisoner and imprisoned him in the castle, and then surrendered the prisoner to the emperor Henry VI. The king was released only two years later for an unheard of ransom: 150 thousand marks - two years' income of the English crown. At home, Richard immediately got involved in another war and in 1199 died from an accidental arrow during the siege of a French castle. Salah ad-Din was no longer alive by that time. On his last campaign he fell ill with a fever and died in Damascus on March 4, 1193. The whole East mourned him as a defender of the faith.
Movie Salah ad-Din from the channel’s “Secrets of History” series National Geographic.
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