Saladin :: Essays Papers

Saladin In his De Laude Novae Militiae (1128 - 1131), Bernard of Clairvaux exhorted young Christian knights to take up the calling of spiritual chivalry and fight pagans without fear of eternal damnation since when he kills an evildoer, he is not a homicide, but ...a malicide, and it is plainly Christ's vengeance on those who work evil. Though Bernard's words served as a precursor to the Second Crusade they are important when examining the life of Saladin, for in his life and actions this man, destined to become the greatest of the aforementioned pagans, would exemplify none of the traits one would expect of a horrible infidel. Rather, one could say that, aside from religion, Saladin embodied many of the ideals held dear by the chivalric Christian warrior of the age. Saladin, or Salah al - Din, was born in 1138 into a Kurdish military family at Takrit in present - day Iraq. Saladin's origins were fodder for many Europeans chroniclers of the Crusades. The Latin Itinerarium regis Ricardi compiled in the 13th Century described Saladin as a pimp, the king of the brothels, who campaigned in the taverns, and devoted his time to gaming and the like. Far from these conjectures we now know with a fair amount of certainty that Saladin grew up at Baalbak and various other outposts where his father served as governor. In 1152 he joined his uncle in the service of sultan Nur ad- Din and by 1156 he had become his uncles deputy in the military governorship of Damascus. Saladin became a close companion of Nur ad- Din . He also accompanied his uncle on three separate expeditions to Egypt between 1164 and 1168. In 1169 Saladin's uncle, Shirkuh, took over the Fatimid caliphate in Egypt and became Vizier of Egypt with Saladin as chief administrator. Shirkuh died nine weeks into his rule and Saladin seized power. By 1171 Saladin had abolished the Fatimid caliphate and placed it under Nur ad-Dins rule. Nur ad-Din died in 1174 and Saladin promptly married his widow and began to establish his sway over the sultans empire. In 1175 Saladin seized Central Syria with his victory at the Battle of Hama. By 1181, with the death of Nur ad-Dins son, Saladin had become the leader of a unified Muslim state.