1137/38–1193 · Ayyubid sultan

Saladin

Other names · Saladin · Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf

Ruler who united Egypt and Syria and changed the course of the crusading era with Hattin and the surrender of Jerusalem in 1187.

Verified biography·El-Cezerî yazması ayrıntısı / Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

BIOGRAPHICAL DOSSIER

Life and historical role

Life and political setting

Saladin was born at Tikrit into the Kurdish Ayyubid family. He accompanied his uncle Shirkuh on the Egyptian expeditions and became Fatimid vizier in 1169. In 1171 he ended the Fatimid caliphate and restored the Abbasid sermon; after Nur al-Din's death he gradually brought Damascus, Aleppo and much of the surrounding region under his authority.

Role in the Crusades

In 1187 Saladin assembled a large army and destroyed the main forces of Jerusalem at Hattin. He then recovered most of the kingdom's towns, while Jerusalem surrendered by negotiation on 2 October. During the Third Crusade he lost Acre but retained Jerusalem, concluding the Treaty of Jaffa with Richard in 1192 and permitting Latin pilgrimage to the holy places.

Method note

Biographical information is linked to the sources shown on the page and to the connected event records. Disputed dates are given as approximate, gaps are not filled by conjecture, and later literary or visual depictions are not treated as contemporary portraits.

CONTEXTUAL READING

Crusader–Zengid campaigns in Egypt

Between 1163 and 1169, King Amalric of Jerusalem and Nur al-Din's commander Shirkuh clashed several times to gain influence over weakened Fatimid Egypt. The struggle ended in Nur al-Din's favour when Shirkuh became vizier in January 1169.

Open record →26 March 1169 · Cairo

Saladin becomes Fatimid vizier

After Shirkuh died in March 1169, his nephew Saladin (Salah al-Din Yusuf) was appointed vizier by the Fatimid caliph al-Adid on 26 March 1169. Appearing at first loyal both to the Fatimid caliph and to Nur al-Din, Saladin soon established his own power in Egypt.

Open record →September 1171 · Cairo

End of the Fatimid Caliphate

In September 1171 Saladin had the Friday sermon in Cairo read in the name of the Abbasid caliph al-Mustadi. A few days later the last Fatimid caliph, al-Adid, died; the two-century Isma'ili Fatimid caliphate ended and Egypt was brought into the Sunni Abbasid order.

Open record →May–November 1174 · Damascus and Jerusalem

Deaths of Nur al-Din and Amalric I; Saladin enters Damascus

In 1174 first Nur al-Din (15 May) and then King Amalric of Jerusalem (11 July) died. As young heirs and regency disputes emerged on both sides, Saladin entered Damascus in October 1174 and began gathering Nur al-Din's legacy under his own rule.

Open record →25 November 1177 · near Ramla

Battle of Montgisard

On 25 November 1177 the sixteen-year-old King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem routed Saladin's army from Egypt with a surprise attack at Montgisard near Ramla. Saladin barely escaped back to Egypt; the victory gave the kingdom a few years' respite.

Open record →10 June 1179 · Litani Valley

Battle of Marj Ayyun

On 10 June 1179 at Marj Uyun in the Litani valley, a Frankish army that had scattered in pursuit of Saladin's raiders was defeated by a sudden counterattack. Leading figures such as the Templar master Odo of Saint-Amand and Baldwin of Ibelin were captured; Baldwin IV barely escaped.

Open record →29 August 1179 · Jordan River / Jacob's Ford

Destruction of Jacob's Ford castle

Chastellet, the castle Baldwin IV had the Templars build at Jacob's Ford on the Jordan, was besieged by Saladin in August 1179. Brought down by mining, it fell on 29–30 August; the defenders were killed or captured and the castle was destroyed.

Open record →12 June 1183 · Aleppo

Aleppo submits to Saladin

In June 1183 Saladin acquired Aleppo from the Zengid Imad al-Din Zengi II through an agreement exchanging the city for Sinjar and the surrounding lands. The union of Egypt, Damascus and Aleppo under one government created a powerful front encircling the crusader states.

Open record →1185 · Levant

Truce with the Kingdom of Jerusalem

After Baldwin IV died in 1185, the regent, Count Raymond III of Tripoli, faced with drought and famine, made a four-year truce with Saladin. The truce brought brief stability for trade and travel, but the succession crisis of 1186 and Reynald's caravan raid broke this order.

Open record →1186 (late) · Moab / Kerak

Raid on the Kerak caravan

At the end of 1186 or early 1187, Reynald of Châtillon, lord of Kerak, attacked a large caravan travelling from Egypt to Damascus despite the truce. He took the merchants and goods to Kerak and refused the demands of both Saladin and King Guy to return them; this became the direct cause of Saladin's declaration of war.

Open record →3–4 July 1187 · Hattin

Battle of Hattin

On 3–4 July 1187 at Hattin near Tiberias, Saladin wore down the main army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem with thirst and fire and then destroyed it. King Guy of Lusignan was captured, Reynald of Châtillon was killed and the True Cross was taken; the kingdom's defensive strength collapsed in a single day.

Open record →20 September – 2 October 1187 · Jerusalem

Surrender of Jerusalem to Saladin

Saladin besieged Jerusalem on 20 September 1187. After a breach was opened in the walls, negotiations led by Balian of Ibelin ended with the city's surrender by agreement on 2 October. The departure of the Latin population was tied to a ransom per person; some who could not pay were released, others enslaved.

Open record →November 1187 – January 1188 · Tyre

Defence of Tyre

Conrad of Montferrat, arriving at Tyre by sea a few days after Hattin, took over its defence. Saladin's siege, begun in November 1187, failed when Conrad's ships defeated the Muslim fleet at the end of December, and Tyre remained the most important coastal city still in Latin hands.

Open record →1189–1192 · Anatolia and Levant

Third Crusade

The Third Crusade, launched after the loss of Jerusalem in 1187, was joined by Frederick Barbarossa, King Philip II Augustus of France and King Richard the Lionheart of England. Barbarossa died on the way; the crusade took Acre and recovered the coastal strip, but ended with the Treaty of Jaffa in 1192 without taking Jerusalem.

Open record →28 August 1189 – 12 July 1191 · Acre

Siege of Acre

The siege of Acre, begun by King Guy of Lusignan in August 1189, became a two-year war of attrition as Saladin besieged the besiegers from outside. After Philip II and Richard I arrived in 1191, the city surrendered on terms on 12 July 1191.

Open record →20 August 1191 · Ayyadiya / Acre

Killing of the Acre prisoners

Because of delays in fulfilling the terms of Acre's surrender, Richard ordered on 20 August 1191 that some 2,600–3,000 Muslim prisoners be killed near the hill of Ayyadiya before the crusader army. The episode became one of the most controversial treatments of prisoners in the crusades.

Open record →7 September 1191 · Arsuf

Battle of Arsuf

Richard's army, advancing south along the coast from Acre toward Jaffa, came under Saladin's great attack near Arsuf on 7 September 1191. Keeping its tight formation, the army, after an early charge by the Hospitallers, forced Saladin to withdraw with a general counterattack.

Open record →July – 2 September 1192 · Jaffa

Battle of Jaffa and peace treaty

In July 1192 Saladin took Jaffa in a surprise attack; Richard arrived by sea, retook the city and on 5 August defended his camp with very few knights. On 2 September 1192 the two sides signed the Treaty of Jaffa: the coastal strip stayed with the Franks, Jerusalem stayed under Muslim rule, and pilgrims were granted free access.

Open record →4 March 1193 · Damascus

Death of Saladin

Saladin died of illness in Damascus on 4 March 1193, about six months after the Treaty of Jaffa. His lands were divided among his sons and his brother al-Adil; after family rivalries, al-Adil eventually reunited most of the Ayyubid territories.

Open record →