Saladin (Civ5)/Civilopedia

Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, better known as Saladin, was a Kurdish noble who rose to become the first sultan of Egypt and Syria. Born in Tikrit (Iraq) around 1138 AD, his military training began at the age of 26 under the tutelage of his uncle Asad, an influential commander in service to Nur ad-Din, governor of the Syrian province of the Seljuk Empire. In a campaign against Crusaders and the Egyptian usurper Dirgham, Saladin distinguished himself in the sack of Bilbais and at a battle near the Nile west of Giza. Proceeding to Alexandria, Saladin entered the city unopposed and in 1169 was appointed vizier by al-Adid, the Fatimid caliph. Two years later Saladin was ordered to establish a caliphate in Egypt by Nur ad-Din. Upon Nur's death in 1174, Saladin proclaimed the establishment of the Ayyubid dynasty.
Using Egypt as his base, Saladin spent the next few years expanding his authority, and autonomy. Yemen had already been occupied in 1173; the fall of Damascus and the fortress at Hamas to his forces in 1174 added Syria. Following his defeat of the rival Zengids there, Saladin returned to Cairo to devote himself to strengthening his rule. He oversaw the fortification of Cairo, the digging of the Bir Yusef well, construction of a bridge at Giza and several new madrasas. But after Crusader raids into his territory, Saladin turned his attention to Palestine in 1177.
Saladin's war against the Christians raged until his death in 1193 AD. Marked by a string of Ayyubid victories and the occupation of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1187, including the holy city itself, Saladin became infamous in Europe. The result was the Third Crusade - mounted by England's Richard the Lionheart, Philip II of France, Frederick Barbarossa, among others - marked more by massacres than battles. By September 1191, the Crusader army had been reduced to about 2000 men-at-arms and 50 knights fit for battle. Richard and Saladin finally came to an agreement, the Treaty of Ramla in 1192, whereby Jerusalem would remain in Muslim control but be open to Christian pilgrimages.