Saladin & the Saracens
Armies of the Middle
East 1100-1300
(Men-at-Arms series; 171)
Readers may care to note that the original paintings from which the colour plates in this book were prepared are available for private sale. All reproduction copyright whatsoever is retained by the publisher. All enquiries should be addressed to: Scorpio Gallery
Chronology :
The Middle East, AD 10711300
1071 - Saljuqs defeat Byzantines at Manzikert
1092 - Death of Great Saljuq Sultan Malik Shah
1097 - First Crusade; Crusaders defeat Saljuqs of Rum at Dorylaeum
1098 - Crusaders capture Antioch; Fatimids seize Jerusalem io99
1099 - 1105 - Crusaders capture Jerusalem
1102 - Saljuq civil war
1109 - Fatimids defeat Crusaders at Ramlah
1115-6 - Crusaders capture Tripoli
1119 - Crusaders occupy Transjordan
1122 - Atabeg force defeats Crusaders at 'Field of Blood'
1127 - Abbasid Caliph recruits own army for first time in many years Zangi made governor of Mosul
1138 - Probable birth of Saladin
1144 - Zangi captures Crusader-held Edessa
1146 - Assassination of Zangi
1147 - German Crusade defeated by Saljuqs of Rum
1148 - Second Crusade defeated outside Damascus
1153 - Crusaders capture Asqalan, last Fatimid stronghold in Palestine
1154 - Nur al Din seizes Damascus
1157 - Death of Sinjar, last effective Great Saljuq Sultan
1161 - Saljuqs of Rum acknowledge Byzantine suzerainty
1163-8 - Crusaders of Jerusalem unsuccessfully invade Egypt three times
1169 - Saladin seizes Egypt
1174 - Death or NW' al Din: Saladin seizes Damascus
1176 - Saljuqs of Rum defeat Byzantines at Myriokephalon
1182-3 - Renaud de Chātillon ravages Red Sea coasts
1183 - Saladin seizes Aleppo
1187 - Saladin defeats Crusader States at Hattin; captures Jerusalem but fails to take Tyre
I189-91 - Siege and capture of Acre by Third Crusade
1191 - Crusaders defeat Saladin at Arsuf
1192 - Richard the Lionheart leaves Palestine
1193 - Death of Saladin
1194 - Khwarazmshah defeats last Saljuq Sultan of Iran
1204 - Fourth Crusade captures Constantinople (Istanbul)
1218-21 - Fifth Crusade invades Egypt; death of Ayyubid Sultan al Adil; defeat of Fifth Crusade
1220-22 - Mongols invade eastern Islam
1228-9 - Emperor Frederick II reaches Palestine, signs treaty with Ayyubid Sultan al Kamil
1238 - Fragmentation of Ayyubid Empire
1243 - Saljuqs of Rum defeated by Mongols
1245 - Al Salih reunites Ayyubid Empire
1249-50 - St Louis Iii of France invades Egypt ; death of al Salih; Mamluk revolution in Egypt; surrender of Louis IX
I258 - Mongols sack Baghdad
126o - Mongols occupy Syria, are defeated by Mamluks at Ayn Jalut
1261 - Byzantines recapture Constantinople (Istanbul)
1268 - Mamluks capture Jaffa and Antioch
1289 - Mamluks destroy Tripoli
1291 - Mamluks capture Acre and all other Crusader possessions on Syrian-Palestinian mainland
Introduction
Salah al Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, known to his Muslim contemporaries as al Nasir, 'The Victorious', and to an admiring Europe as Saladin, is the most famous single figure in the history of the Crusades, being even better known outside the English-speaking world than his Christian foe Richard the Lionheart. While it is natural that Saladin should be well remembered on the Arab and Islamic side, it says a lot about the man and about the entire Crusading enterprise that a Muslim Kurd should be perceived as the chief 'hero' of these events even in Europe.
Traditionally Saladin is portrayed as a quiet, deeply religious and even humble man thrust into prominence by events. In reality he was typical of his day and his culture, though standing head and shoulders above most of his contemporaries in determination, personal morality, political judgement and leadership. Like Saladin himself, the societies and military systems that he and his successors led from defeat to eventual triumph were far more sophisticated than is generally realised.
This book is an attempt to identify and to briefly describe the main strands in a period of military history which too often confronts Western students with a dauntingly tangled and obscure skein.
EDITOR: MARTIN WINDROW
SALADINAND
THE SARACENS
Text by
DAVID NICOLLE Ph.D
Colour plates by
ANGUS McBRIDE
Dedication
For Tinette, for whom the world moved once at
Karak and twice at Ajlun.
First published in Great Britain in 1986 by
Osprey, an imprint of Reed Consumer Books Ltd.
Michclin House, 8i Fulliam Road,
London SW3 6RB
and Auckland, Melbourne. Singapore and Toronto
© Copyright 1986 Reed Internationa] Books Ltd.
Reprinted 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996 All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for die
pmpose ofprivate study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under die Copyright Designs and Patents Act.
1988, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or
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The publishers regret that they can enter into no
correspondence upon this matter.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Nicolle, David
Saladin & the Saracens: Armies of the Middle
East 1 100-1300. (Men-at-Arms series; 171)
1. Armies Near East History 2. Islamic
Empire History 750-1 258
I. Title II. Series
355'-°°956 UA830
ISBN 0-85045-682-7
Filmset in Great Britain
Printed through World Print Ltd. Hong Kong
