The Author Born in 1944, DAVID NICOLLE worked in the BBC's Arabic service for a number of years before gaining an MA from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, and a doctorate from Edinburgh University. He has written numerous books and articles on medieval and Islamic warfare, and has been a prolific author of Osprey titles for many years.
The Illustrator PETER DENNIS was born in 1950. Inspired by contemporary magazines such as Look
and Learn he studied illustration at Liverpool Art College. Peter has since contributed to hundreds of books, predominantly on historical subjects, including many Osprey titles. A keen wargamer and modelmaker, he is based in Nottinghamshire, UK.
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First published in 2011 by Osprey Publishing Midland I-louse, West Way, Ilotley, Oxford OX2 OPH, UK 44-02 23rd St, Suite 219, Long Island City, NY 11101, USA
Dedication For Angus McBride and Richard Hook, the best collaborators an author could wish for.
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CONTENTS
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Introduction
4
Angus Mcllride © Osprey Publishing Ltd. Taken from Men-at-Arms 17"1: Saladin and the Saracens.
Chronology
8
Back cover image
The Early Years
10
The Military Life
13
The Hour of Destiny
19
Opposing Commanders
44
Inside the Mind
51
When War is Done
53
A Life in Words
56
Further Reading
60
Glossary
63
Index
64
Cover image
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. www.ospreypublishing.com
© Master and Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
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57
was sometimes deep in thought and forward planning, dealing with all departments and arranging what was required for each without any onset of bad temper or angeL' Nevertheless, resentment occasionally surfaced in later chronicles and is seen in the words of the leader of an Arab revolt against the Mamluk takeover of Egypt in 1250: 'We are the lords of the land. We are more worthy to rule than the Mamluks. It was enough to serve the Ayyubids [the dynasty established by Saladin], who were rebels and took the land by force, and they [the Mamluks] are only the slaves of the rebels.'14 The depth of Western European ignorance and misunderstanding of the Islamic world at the time of the Third Crusade is apparent in the anonymous Chronicle of the Third Crusade, which claimed that Saladin was from the nation of Mirmunaenus [a corruption of AmiI' al-Mu'minin or 'Leader of the Believers'). His parents were not descended from the nobility, but neither were they common people of obscure birth... Saladin collected illgotten gains for himself from a levy on the girls of Damascus. They were not allowed to practice as prostitutes unless they had obtained, at a price, a licence from him for carrying on the profession of lust. However, whatever he gained by pimping like this he paid back generously by funding plays. So through lavish giving to all their desires he won the mercenary favour of the common people. Saladin's caution was similarly portrayed by Ambroise as cunning or treacherous. Admiration for the virtues of a few Saracen heroes only came to the fore in late 12th- and 13th-century texts, with Saladin being central to this altered image. Saladin was also given an unexpected position in the medieval Italian poet Dante's Divine Comedy. Not being a baptized Christian, he could not be placed in Paradise, but by 1300 Saladin's reputation was high enough for him to reside in Limbo rather than Hell: 'And there across that bright enamelled green, these ancient heroes were displayed to me ... All these I saw, and there alone, apart, the sultan Saladin.'ls During the 19th century Saladin came to be seen by many in Europe as a heroic figure - the archetypal noble Saracen foe. As a result biographies such as that by Stanley Lane-Poole tended to be uncritical. Saladin's position in the pantheon of Muslim heroes has also inhibited critical scholarship in the modern Arab world, although several recent Arab historians have focused more upon Saladin's predecessors and have thus downgraded Saladin's own achievements. Similarly, the Arab world's adoption of Saladin as a role model in the struggle against Israel has encouraged several pro-Zionist historians to seek, consciously or otherwise, to debunk him. In contrast, it is interesting to find that Western rather than Muslim historians have emphasized the legitimacy of Ayyubid rule compared to that of their supposedly 'slave' Mamluk successors. In most of the medieval Islamic 14 I-lolt, P. M., 'Sal