Saladin

Saladin was born in 1137 in Tikr'it, Iraq. Saladin was of Kurdish Heritage, and at the age of 14 he started in the service of the Syrian ruler, Nuru d-Din. He started to show his qualities under 3 campaigns against the Crusaders who were established in Palestine. The first was in 1164 and the last in 1169. 1169 Saladin served as second to the commander in chief of the Syrian army, his uncle Shirkuh. Shirkuh became vizier of Egypt, but died after only two months. Saladin then took over as vizier. Despite the nominal limitations to the vizier position, Saladin took little regard to the interests of his superiors, and turned Cairo into a Ayyubid poser base, where he used Kurds in leading positions.

Saladin managed to revitalize the economy of Egypt, he reorganized the military forces and he started serious military actions against the Crusaders. Saladin suppressed the Fatimid rulers of Egypt in 1171, where he united Egypt with the Abbasid Caliphate, but was not as eager as Nuru d-Din to go to war against the Crusaders, and relations here became very difficult.

When Nuru d-Din died in 1174, Saladin used the opportunity to extend his power base, and during the next 15 years he conquered many important cities including Damascus, Syria in 1174, Aleppo, Syria in 1183, and Mosul, Iraq in 1186.

With his new strength he attacked the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1187, and after three months of fighting gained control over the city. Now the Crusaders only had control over the coast. A third Crusade of 1189 only managed to enlarge the coastal area of Palestine. Following an armistice agreement with King Richard 1 of England in 192, the whole coast was in Christian hands, while Jerusalem remained under Muslim.