Crusade.
             Saladin was the main enemy of the English (Christian) crusades. He was the general who took the holy land from the Christians during the first crusade. As a teenager Saladin wanted to be a Muslim scholar rather than a soldier(Halsall 2). When his uncle died, Saladin, at the age of 31, became the commander of the troops and the leader of Egypt. Saladin, whose full name was Salah ad-Din Yasuf ibn-Ayyub, became the Muslim sultan during the Crusades in the 12th century. (Guttman 1). He was a "Muslim sultan of great courage, character and integrity" and was born in 1138 (Treece 158) in Mesopotamia but grew up in Damascus. Saladin was highly respected by the Europeans in that time and the Europeans "openly declared that if Saladin had not been a Muslim it would have been a great honor to serve him" (Treece 161). Saladin's great achievements inspired the Third crusade, which eventually failed to harm him. Saladin started towards Jerusalem in 1174 (Treece 159-160). In 1183, Saladin conquered Aleppo, Acre, Jaffa, Caesarea, Sidon, Beirut, Ascabon, Gaca (Treece 159-160) and all the land between them (Halsall 2-3). On, September 17, 1174, Saladin's armies had Jerusalem encircled (Treece 160-161). The next night, Saladin and his army were inside Jerusalem rejoicing their victory (Treece 160-1
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