Saladin, who was set up as Vizier of Egypt, was declared Sultan in 1171 upon the death of the last Fatimid caliph.

In 1187, Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt and Syria who led the Muslim Ayyubids, captured Bethlehem from the Crusaders.

As the first Sultan of Egypt, Saladin established the Ayyubid dynasty, based in Cairo, and aligned Egypt with the Abbasids, who were based in Baghdad.

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.

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.

The few European knights who did travel to Jerusalem did not even see any combat, since the truce with Saladin had been re-established.

Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb (, Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb, Kurdish: سه ‌ لاحه ‌ دین ئه ‌ یوبی, Selah ' edînê Eyubî ) ( 1137 / 1138 – March 4, 1193 ), better known in the Western world as Saladin, was a Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty .< ref name =" Minorsky "> A number of contemporary sources make note of this.

" He wrote several letters to Saladin, who dismissed them without abandoning his allegiance to Nur ad-Din.

Afterward, in the spring of 1170, Nur ad-Din sent Saladin's father to Egypt in compliance with Saladin's request, as well as encouragement from the Baghdad-based Abbasid caliph, al-Mustanjid, who aimed to pressure Saladin in deposing his rival caliph, al-Adid.

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.

On September 25, Saladin left Cairo to take part in a joint attack on Kerak and Montreal, the desert castles of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, with Nur ad-Din who would attack from Syria.

In this emergency, the emir of Damascus appealed to Saif al-Din ( a cousin of Gumushtigin ) of Mosul for assistance against Aleppo, but he refused, forcing the Syrians to request the aid of Saladin who complied.

Gumushtigin requested from Rashid ad-Din Sinan, grand-master of the Assassins of Syria, who were already at odds with Saladin since he replaced the Fatimids of Egypt, to assassinate Saladin in his camp.

The battle ended in a decisive victory for Saladin who pursued the Zengid fugitives to the gates of Aleppo, forcing as-Salih's advisers to recognize Saladin's control of the provinces of Damascus, Homs and Hama, as well as a number of towns outside Aleppo such as Ma ' arat al-Numan.

His forces in Hama won a victory over their enemy and brought the spoils, together with many prisoners of war to Saladin who ordered the captives to be beheaded for " plundering and laying waste the lands of the Faithful.

Ar-Raqqah was an important crossing point and held by Qutb al-Din Inal, who had lost Manbij to Saladin in 1176.

Saladin agreed to a truce with Bohemond in return for Muslim prisoners being held by him and then he gave A ' zaz to Alam ad-Din Suleiman and Aleppo to Saif al-Din al-Yazkuj — the former was an emir of Aleppo who joined Saladin and the latter was a former mamluk of Shirkuh who helped rescue him from the assassination attempt at A ' zaz.

Saladin, meanwhile, had pacified his Mesopotamian territories, and was now eager to attack the crusader kingdom ; he did not intend to renew the truce when it expired in 1187.

Leaving his brother Tughtigin as Governor of Damascus, Saladin proceeded to reduce other cities that had belonged to Nur ad-Din, but were now practically independent.

Saladin had by now agreed truces with his Zengid rivals and the Kingdom of Jerusalem ( latter occurred in the summer of 1175 ), but faced a threat from the Hashshashin sect or " Assassins " led by Rashid ad-Din Sinan.

The city was now commanded by Conrad of Montferrat, who strengthened Tyre's defences and withstood two sieges by Saladin.

Instead the mausoleum, which is open to visitors, now has two sarcophagi: the empty one made of marble and the original wooden one, which holds Saladin.

Brumbies have lived in this park since the 1930s with many of them having Saladin ancestry and now reflecting this in their buckskin and palomino coat colours.

After Saladin retaliated for these attacks in the campaign and Battle of Belvoir Castle in 1182, Baldwin, now blind and unable to walk, appointed Guy regent of the kingdom.

Guy attended the wedding festivities for Isabella ( now about 11 ) and Humphrey, held in Karak ; however, the festivities were interrupted by Saladin, who besieged the fortress with the wedding guests inside.

The Crusaders, now under the unified command of Richard, defeated Saladin at the Battle of Arsuf, allowing for the Crusader conquest of Jaffa and much of coastal Palestine, but nonetheless, they were unable to recover the interior.

After the rout Saladin was able to regroup and attempted to resume skirmishing, startled back by the Crusaders ' quick and agile response he was now even less willing to risk a full scale attack.

In an incident described by the Itinerarium Peregrinorum ( which is generally hostile to Conrad ), the Old French Continuation and Sicardus of Cremona's second chronicle ( now known through quotations by Salimbene di Adam and Alberto Millioli ), Saladin presented Conrad's aged father, William V of Montferrat, who had been captured at Hattin, before the walls of the city.

Guy was released from his imprisonment in Damascus in 1188, when Saladin realized that returning him would cause strife in the crusader camp and that Guy was a less capable leader than certain others who now held sway.

However, unknown to Saladin, the forces he had left to subdue the King had been insufficient and now both Baldwin and the Templars were marching to intercept him before he reached Jerusalem.

After the Muslim army defeated the Crusaders in the decisive Battle of Hattin in 1187, their leader Saladin, now the independent sultan of the Ayyubid Empire, advanced south and captured both Ascalon and Darom by 1188.

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

Bernard Hamilton wrote " had Sibylla lived in more peaceful times she would have exercised a great deal of power since her husband's authority patently derived from her ", and that only the conquest by Saladin brought her rule to a speedy end.

Usama lived in semi-retirement, as he did in Hisn Kayfa, and often met with Saladin to discuss literature and warfare.

The siege was lifted in December and Saladin retreated to Damascus.

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

Statue of Saladin in Damascus.

While transporting these goods to Damascus, Saladin took the opportunity to ravage the Crusader countryside.

Heavily outnumbered, Saladin initially attempted to make terms with the Zengids by abandoning all conquests north of the Damascus province, but they refused, insisting he return to Egypt.

After leaving the al-Nusayri Mountains, Saladin returned to Damascus and had his Syrian soldiers return home.

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.

As such, he ordered one of his generals, Farrukh-Shah, to guard the Damascus frontier with a thousand of his men to watch for an attack, then to retire avoiding battle and lighting warning beacons on the hills on which Saladin would march out.

In the midst of these victories, Saladin received word that the Crusaders were raiding the villages of Damascus.

" Saladin offered him the city of Busra and property in Damascus in exchange for Harim, but when Surhak asked for more, his own garrison in Harim forced him out.

Saladin died of a fever on March 4, 1193, at Damascus, not long after Richard's departure.

* Humphreys, Stephen R. ( 1977 ), From Saladin to the Mongols: The Ayyubids of Damascus, 1193 – 1260.

* Saladin captures Damascus.

He did not ratify Raymond's treaty with Saladin, but instead went raiding towards Damascus and around the Beqaa Valley.

Following a year of imprisonment in Damascus, Guy was released by Saladin.

Guy was imprisoned in Damascus, while Sibylla together with Balian of Ibelin remained behind to defend Jerusalem, which was handed over to Saladin on 2 October.

Raynald depicted in captivity as part of a statue of Saladin in Damascus, Syria

Later in 1186 Raynald attacked a large Muslim caravan travelling between Cairo and Damascus, breaking the 4 year truce between Saladin and the Crusaders signed in 1185.

Saladin set out to conquer Syria from the Zengids and on November 23, he was welcomed in Damascus by the governor of the city.

Saladin returned to Damascus in September 1184 and a generally peaceful environment between the Crusader states and the Ayyubid empire subsequently ensued in 1184 – 85.

Saladin had appointed al-Afdal the governorship of Damascus with the intention that his son should continue to see the city as his principal place of residence in order to emphasize the primacy of the jihad (" holy struggle ") against the Crusader states.