Saladin: An Icon of Chivalry
Born of Kurdish heritage, Saladin was a devout practitioner of Sunni Islam. While training in the military, Saladin quickly rose in the ranks until he became commander of the Syrian armies in Egypt as well as vizier, and then at last sultan of Egypt. He is credited with replacing the practice of Shiite Islam in Egypt with Sunni Islam. Eventually Saladin was to become leader of the majority of the Muslim world.
Saladin and the Crusaders agreed to a truce in 1180, but after repeated violations of the truce by Raynald of Chatillon, battle between Christian and Muslim forces was initiated once more. In 1187, Saladin took Jerusalem in a siege and slaughtered the surviving Templar knights in a ceremonial execution. It is the only time that he is known to have killed subsequent to a battle.
Outraged by their defeat, England took up a “Saladin tax” to fund a third Crusade against Saladin and recapture Jerusalem. Saladin found a worthy opponent in Richard I of England (also known as “the Lionheart”). Richard captured the city of Acre and killed 3000 of its Muslim inhabitants. Saladin retaliated by executing the Frankish prisoners he had captured in a previous battle.
Yet in spite of these mutual atrocities, Saladin and Richard cultivated a curiously respectful relationship, which was to re-echo in Western literature in subsequent centuries. In Dante’s Divine Comedy, Saladin is mentioned as one of the righteous pagan souls in limbo. In general, Christendom was at once torn between their furious desire to reconquer Jerusalem, and their fascination with the noble figure of Saladin.
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