2. Saladin’s real name was Ṣ alā ḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb Born in 1137 in Tikrit, Iraq Became first Sultan of Egypt and Syria and ruled from 1174 to 1193 after the death of Nur ad-Din Became the founder of the Ayyubid Dynasty

3. Saladin led Muslim and Arab forces against Christians during the crusades, or Holy Wars Conquered land Westward and North from his Empire in Egypt Conquered Qabis, Yemen, Damascus, and all of Palestine and Syria Won many great battles against the Christians, including the Battle of Hatton in 1187 Took control over Jerusalem in 1187 after a siege against the Franks Re-captured Palestine from the Fatimid Egyptians

4. Battle of Hatton in 1187 launched the start of the Third Crusade Faced off during the Third Crusade against Richard the Lionhearted (King of England) for control over Jerusalem Frederick Barbarossa also responded to the call of arms to fight Saladin, but after he drowned in his march through Anatolia, his German troops turned back Richard captured key cities, but failed to fully defeat Saladin’s troops War ended in a draw, but a treaty was made where Christians were allowed to visit the Holy site

5. Although Muslim, Saladin was very respected by his Christian adversaries during the Crusades He should have been very deep in hell (for he was not Christian) but thanks to Saladin’s intelligence and generosity, Dante placed him in Limbo Limbo is the first ring of hell, where Dante placed the brilliant thinkers such as Aristotle and Socrates who were not baptized as they lived before the birth of Christ This placement was very controversial due to his being the rival of Christians during the Crusades

6. http://www.italianstudies.org/comedy/Inferno4.htm http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/Saladin.htm http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0843183.html http://dantesinferno.wikia.com/wiki/Saladin http://history-world.org/saladin.htm http://www.thefullwiki.org/Battle_of_Arsuf