War and Religion: Europe and the Mediterranean From the First Through the Twenty-First Centuries by Arnaud Blin

Author:Arnaud Blin [Blin, Arnaud]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780520961753
Google: Z2SDDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Published: 2019-03-19T00:00:00+00:00

The Fifth reason [why a crusade should begin in Constantinople] is that the army of the Lord can protect itself against the frauds and plots which the emperor of Greece [Byzantium] and his people are accustomed to make and devise against the sons of the Roman church. For since the emperor lacks confidence in his own power and is not armed with the prowess of soldiers and seeing that he has no defense against our men and no escape is possible, he turns to fraud and malicious deeds, and he devises any malice he can to harm us by some treacherous cunning. Being envious of us and full of the venom of hate, he does not want things to go well for us but wants bad things, and he wants and strives for good things for the Saracens more than for the Christians. This almost natural venom of bitterness against us has always originated with them, and this evil store still perseveres in their hearts. [. . .] The seventh reason, roused by the double cause of the stimulus of love and the zeal for revenge and hate, is that we have to fight the Greeks I do not say as much as but even more than the Saracens.12

By the middle of the twelfth century, the jihad launched by Zangī and pursued after him by Nūr ad-Dīn was gaining traction. The process was still a slow one, however, and it would take one more generation for all the parts to come together. For this to happen, it was imperative that Egypt fall into the right hands. Egypt, as it had been in the past, was an economic breadbasket and a key element of the strategic puzzle. Although it had been ruled by Shiites, the majority of the population was Sunni. Not only was it imperative for Nūr ad-Dīn to gain control of it in light of his quest for Muslim unity, it was just as crucial that it not fall into the hands of the Franks. Strategically, its conquest constituted a vital stage in the quest to recover Jerusalem.

The man entrusted with the task of conquering Egypt was Salāh ad-Dīn, whom the Franks called Saladin, a promising military officer of Kurdish origin whose father and uncle had fought loyally for Nūr ad-Dīn.

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