Page "Saladin" Paragraph 95

His fierce struggle against the crusaders was where Saladin achieved a great reputation in Europe as a chivalrous knight, so much so that there existed by the fourteenth century an epic poem about his exploits.

Though Saladin faded into history after the Middle Ages, he appears in a sympathetic light in Sir Walter Scott's novel The Talisman ( 1825 ).

It is mainly from this novel that the contemporary view of Saladin originates.

According to Jonathan Riley-Smith, Scott's portrayal of Saladin was that of a " modern Century liberal European gentlemen, beside whom medieval Westerners would always have made a poor showing.

" Despite the Crusaders ' slaughter when they originally conquered Jerusalem in 1099, Saladin granted amnesty and free passage to all common Catholics and even to the defeated Christian army, as long as they were able to pay the aforementioned ransom ( the Greek Orthodox Christians were treated even better, because they often opposed the western Crusaders ).

An interesting view of Saladin and the world in which he lived is provided by Tariq Ali's novel The Book of Saladin.