Saladin
Discover Saladin — the Kurdish sultan who united the Muslim world, recaptured Jerusalem from the Crusaders, and became a legend for chivalry in both East and West.
Saladin (Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, 1137–1193 CE) is one of the most celebrated figures in both Islamic and Western medieval history. A Kurdish Muslim who rose to become Sultan of Egypt and Syria, he is most famous for recapturing Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187 — and for doing so with a magnanimity that earned him respect even from his enemies.
Saladin's path to power was gradual and strategic. He served as a military commander under the Zengid dynasty before becoming vizier of Fatimid Egypt and eventually overthrowing his patrons to establish the Ayyubid dynasty. He then spent years unifying the fractious Muslim states of Egypt, Syria, and Mesopotamia — a necessary precondition for challenging the Crusader states.
The Battle of Hattin in 1187 was his masterpiece. By cutting off the Crusader army from water in the summer heat, he destroyed the military power of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in a single afternoon. His subsequent capture of Jerusalem was notably restrained — in stark contrast to the Crusaders' massacre when they had taken the city in 1099. Saladin allowed Christian inhabitants to ransom themselves and left churches intact. His reputation for honor and generosity made him a figure of chivalric legend in Europe as well as the Islamic world — Richard the Lionheart reportedly called him the greatest prince in the world.