The Templars and Saladin
The fight between Saladin and the Templars was personal – a relationship based on a toxic blend of fear, grudging respect and animosity.
True Crusader Crime: Muslim Murder and Political Drama
The crusaders were tough – but they had no monopoly on political violence. Murders within Muslim hierarchies were relatively common too.
Saladin’s Siege of Saone in 1188: A New Interpretation
In July 1188, Saladin and his army arrived at Saone, one of the largest castles held by the Crusaders in Syria. Despite the castle’s size and strength, it fell to the Muslims after a siege that lasted only a few days.
Writing the History of the Sultan Saladin
Jonathan Phillips talks about his new book on Saladin and researching the historical sources related to his life and times.
Saladin and the Crusades: medieval and modern perspectives
What has been the legacy of the Crusades in Europe and across the Muslim world in modern times? Why is the evolution of the Saladin legend throughout history so remarkable?
Inventing Saladin: The Role of the Saladin Legend in European Culture and Identity
Legends can forge cultural identities, yet they can also be the bane of historians. All too frequently legend is mixed with enough fact that it misleads historians and laymen alike.
Before the Kaiser: The Memory of Saladin and the Crusades in the Near East from the Fifteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries
I remember that I am now in a city in which once lived the greatest prince whose name is recorded in history, the valorius hero, whose courage, his elevation and nobility of character and his devotion to his religion was an example in heroism even to his enemies. I refer to the great sultan Saladin of the dynasty of Ayyub when I think of this.
BOOK REVIEW: Spies, Sadists, and Sorcerers: The History You Weren’t Taught in School
A review of Dominic Selwood’s, ‘Spies, Sadists, and Sorcerers: The History you Weren’t Taught in School’
Friendship, Betrayal, War: “Soldier of God” Movie Review
A Templar and a Muslim; their strange friendship is the premise of this week’s movie based in the 12th century immediately after the disastrous Battle of Hattin.
Saladin and the Problem of the Counter-Crusade in Medieval Europe
The phrase Counter-Crusade is, obviously, a modern construct, but in 1144 the military situation in Syria did drastically change.
The Military Legacy of Richard the Lionheart
Authors look back at the entirety of the reign and reach two common conclusions: 1) he was a neglectful and mostly-absent ruler of England, but 2) he attained spectacular success in war, which was, after all, his primary interest.
Why does Saladin have such good PR in the Medieval West?
The story of Hattin and the Third Crusade is a very good read and it features a splendid duel, indeed almost a tournament, pitting Saladin against Richard the Lionheart. And to this exciting mixture is added a dash of sex
Richard Lionheart: Bad King, Bad Crusader?
This paper analyzes the impact of King Richard Lionheart of England during his tenure as leader of the Third Crusade.
The Battle of Arsuf, 7 September 1191
Benjamin Z. Kedar asks what was Richard I’s plan at Arsuf, one of the key battles of the Third Crusade?
Muslim Perspectives on the Military Orders during the Crusades
What caused the particular enmity between Saladin and the Templars and Hospitallers? To understand this situation one must begin with examination of Muslim perspectives on monasticism in general.
Blood-brothers: a ritual of friendship and the construction of the imagined barbarian in the middle ages
My reflections are part of a broad stream of inquiries into the world of medieval rituals which has proved to be very fertile during the last two decades, but which also has its limits. For more than twenty years now, medievalists have discovered and analysed the importance of personal relationships for the organization of societies before the existence of states in a modern sense of the word.
The Evolution of the Saladin Legend in the West
William of Tyreʼs account of the history of the Crusades stops suddenly in 1184. As he lays down his pen he is in despair at the inevitable outcome which he foresees for the struggle with Saladin. It was fortunate for him that he did not live to see the triumph of Saladin at Hattin and Jerusalem. Williamʼs judgement of Saladin, there- fore, is one of fear and admiration but he is also able to criticize his faults, especially his ruthless ambition.
Nomadic Violence in the First Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Military Orders
That the threat posed by bands of marauders was taken seriously by the early crusader settlers can be seen by some of the barons’ brutal reactions to it.
The Massacre at Acre–Mark of a Blood-thirsty King?
The Christian forces in the Holy Land during the mid-to-late-1100s had, for many years, requested assistance to maintain their dwindling and increasingly challenged control in the Holy Land, but no help came. The tenuous rule of Guy of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem, in the mid-1180s, led to further internal conflict.
The Use of Fortification as a Political Instrument by the Ayyubids and the Mamluks in Bilad al-Sham and in Egypt (Twelfth-Thirteenth Centuries)
Beginning in 1170/1171, Salah al-Din built fortifications as the Fatimid vizier of Egypt. His considerations were primarily defensive in this period, following the Frankish campaign of 1168 that led to the siege of Cairo, and the Frankish-Byzantine naval expedition against Damietta in 1169.
Crusades and Jihads: A Long-Run Economic Perspective
Crusades and Jihads: A Long-Run Economic Perspective Heston, Alan Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 588, Islam: Enduring…
How Eager He Was for the Victory of Islam!’: Saladin’s Strategy Against the Kingdom of Jerusalem (1171-1187)
How Eager He Was for the Victory of Islam!’: Saladin’s Strategy Against the Kingdom of Jerusalem (1171-1187) By Jan Vandeburie Paper given at…
The Byzantines and Saladin, 1185-1192: Opponents of the Third Crusade
The Byzantines and Saladin, 1185-1192: Opponents of the Third Crusade Brand, Charles M. Speculum, Vol. 37, No. 2 (Apr., 1962) Abstract On the eve…
The Artifice of War: Intelligence and Intrigue in the Third Crusade
The Artifice of War: Intelligence and Intrigue in the Third Crusade By Dana Cushing Paper given at the 33rd International Medieval Congress, Western…
The Massacre at Acre: Mark of a Blood-thirsty King?
Ultimately, when it became clear that the True Cross and ransoms were not forthcoming, Richard I was forced to make a military decision.