Melchizedek, a Jew, has money enough to cover the shortfall, but Saladin believes he is too avaricious to lend it fairly.

In the end, Saladin gets his loan and repays it and Melchizedek gets Saladin's respect and gifts of praise for his intelligence.

In 1187, the Crusaders were evicted by the Ayyubid forces of Saladin after their victory in the Battle of Hattin, and the town slowly went into decline.

The inexperienced Guy led the Frankish army against Saladin's incursions into the kingdom, but neither side made any real gains, and Guy was criticized by his opponents for not striking against Saladin when he had the chance.

Saladin attacked Kerak again in April, and in May, a Muslim raiding party ran into the much smaller embassy on its way to negotiate with Raymond, and defeated it at the Battle of Cresson near Nazareth.

The Ayyubid empire had fallen into civil war after the death of Saladin in 1193.

The medieval historian Ibn Athir relates a passage from another commander: "... both you and Saladin are Kurds and you will not let power pass into the hands of the Turks ": Minorsky ( 1953 ), p. 138 .</ ref > He led Muslim opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant.

Muslim sources at the time, however, put Saladin in the " baggage of the center " with orders to lure the enemy into a trap by staging a false retreat.

As soon as he dismissed the bulk of his troops to Egypt, Saladin led his army into the al-Nusayri range in August 1176.

In November 1177, he set out upon a raid into Palestine ; the Crusaders had recently forayed into the territory of Damascus and so Saladin saw the truce was no longer worth preserving.

Initially, Saladin attempted to organize his men into battle order, but as his bodyguards were being killed, he saw that defeat was inevitable and so with a small remnant of his troops mounted a swift camel, riding all the way to the territories of Egypt.

Previously, Saladin offered to mediate relations between Nur al-Din and Kilij Arslan II — the Seljuk Sultan of Rum — after the two came into conflict.

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

According to some sources, after his triumphal entry into the city, Allenby raised his sword in salute to the famous statue of Saladin and proudly declared " Today the wars of the Crusaders are completed.

On July 2, Saladin, who wanted to lure Guy into moving his army away from the springs at Saffuriya, personally led a siege of Raymond's fortress of Tiberias while the main Muslim army remained at Kafr Sabt.

The medieval historian Ibn Athir relates a passage from another commander: "... both you and Saladin are Kurds and you will not let power pass into the hands of the Turks ": Minorsky ( 1953 ), p. 138 .</ ref > Salah El Din in Syria, Ameer Sherko in Egypt and Ameer Adil in Jordan, with family members ruling most of the cities of today's Iraq.

Although Nur al-Din failed to provoke the Ayyubids into rivalry, the extended Ayyubid family was not entirely behind Saladin, particularly a number of local governors in Syria.

In 1177, Saladin led a force of some 26, 000 soldiers according to William of Tyre into southern Palestine after hearing that most of the Kingdom of Jerusalem's soldiers were besieging Harim north of Aleppo.

Saladin saw this as the perfect trap ; but Richard was quick to turn it into an opportunity.

Saladin was forced to pull back yet again, burning his siege engines and ships to prevent them from falling into enemy hands.

In 1180, Saladin ventured into the County of Tripoli, ravaging the area.

In council, war is agreed upon " because God wills it " and against sound advice they march into the desert to fight Saladin, leaving Jerusalem unguarded except for Balian, Tiberias, their knights, a few remaining Crusader soldiers and the townspeople.

He had first put this plan into action in 1194 by seizing the strategic fortress of Baghras after Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt and Syria, had abandoned it.

Raymond thus unsuccessfully argued in favor of peace with Saladin, but, ironically, it was Saladin's siege of Raymond's Countess in Tiberias that led the Crusader army into Galilee before its defeat at Hattin in 1187, and although Raymond survived the battle, he died soon afterwards.

After the conquest of Jerusalem by Saladin it was transformed into a school for Shafi ` i fiqh.

As Saladin approached Mosul, he faced the issue of taking over a large city and justifying the action.

Shirkuh became vizier, although he himself died in March, and was succeeded by his nephew Saladin.

Over the next few years the kingdom was threatened not only by Saladin and Nur ad-Din, but also by the Hashshashin ; in one episode, the Knights Templar murdered some Hashshashin envoys, leading to further disputes between Amalric and the Templars.

The Latin clergy were expelled after the city was captured by Saladin, the sultan of Egypt and Syria.

In 1169 Saladin was appointed as the new vizier of Egypt by the Fatimids and two years later he would seize power from the family of the last Fatimid caliph, al -' Āḍid.

In 1183, a census was taken of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, to ascertain the number of men and amount of money that could possibly be raised against an invasion by Saladin, sultan of Egypt and Syria.

* 1192 – Richard the Lion-Heart is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England after signing a treaty with Saladin ending the Third crusade.

A 12th-century treatise prepared by Mardi bin Ali al-Tarsusi for Saladin records an Arab version of Greek fire, called naft, which also had a petroleum base, with sulphur and various resins added.

The first kingdom lasted from 1099 to 1187, when it was almost entirely overrun by Saladin.

The fragmentation of the Muslim east allowed for the initial success of the crusade, but as the 12th century progressed, the kingdom's Muslim neighbours were united by Nur ad-Din Zangi and Saladin, who vigorously began to recapture lost territory.

Shawar was promptly assassinated, and when Shirkuh died in 1169, he was succeeded by his nephew Yusuf, better known as Saladin.

The subsequent events have often been interpreted as a struggle between two opposing factions, the " court party ", made up of Baldwin's mother, Amalric's first wife Agnes of Courtenay, her immediate family, and recent arrivals from Europe who were inexperienced in the affairs of the kingdom and who were in favour of war with Saladin ; and the " noble party ", led by Raymond of Tripoli and the lesser nobility of the kingdom, who favoured peaceful co-existence with the Muslims.

In October 1183 Isabella married Humphrey of Toron at Kerak, during a siege by Saladin, who perhaps hoped to take some valuable prisoners.

Raymond of Tripoli, Balian of Ibelin, and Reginald of Sidon escaped, but Raynald was executed by Saladin and Guy was imprisoned in Damascus.

Grand Master Gérard de Ridefort was beheaded by Saladin in 1189 at the Siege of Acre.

He spent most of his father's treasury ( filled with money raised by the Saladin tithe ), raised taxes, and even agreed to free King William I of Scotland from his oath of subservience to Richard in exchange for marks.

The emperor demanded that marks ( 65, 000 pounds of silver ) be delivered to him before he would release the king, the same amount raised by the Saladin tithe only a few years earlier, and 2 – 3 times the annual income for the English Crown under Richard.

The battle ended in a Zengid victory, and Saladin is credited to have helped Shirkuh in one of the " most remarkable victories in recorded history ", according to Ibn al-Athir, although more of Shirkuh's men were killed and the battle is considered by most sources as not a total victory.

In 1169, Shawar was reportedly assassinated by Saladin, and Shirkuh died later that year.

Ibn al-Athir claims that the caliph chose him after being told by his advisers that " there is no one weaker or younger " than Saladin, and " not one of the emirs obeyed him or served him.

" Although positions were complicated by rival Muslim leaders, the bulk of the Syrian rulers supported Saladin due to his role in the Egyptian expedition, in which he gained a record of military qualifications.

According to Imad ad-Din, Nur ad-Din wrote to Saladin in June 1171, telling him to reestablish the Abbasid caliphate in Egypt, which Saladin coordinated two months later after additional encouragement by Najm ad-Din al-Khabushani, the Shafi ' i faqih, who vehemently opposed Shia rule in the country.