Jusqu’à XIIᵉ siècle
Egypt, Syria, northern Mesopotamia, Yemen and the Near East
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
Salah al-Din, known in Latin sources as Saladin, was the Kurdish commander who became vizier and effective ruler of Egypt in 1169. He ended Fatimid rule in 1171, strengthened Egypt’s finances and military organization, and made the country the heartland of Ayyubid power. Through campaigns and diplomacy he unified Egypt with much of Syria and northern Mesopotamia, while pursuing a controlled commercial policy and defending Red Sea routes against Frankish intervention.
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Le récit
Salah al-Din entered the political history of Egypt through the interventions of Nur al-Din’s Kurdish general Shirkuh. When Shirkuh became vizier in January 1169 and died two months later, Salah al-Din ibn Ayyub assumed both the vizierate and the effective government of Egypt. His position was precarious: he served a Shi‘i caliph while remaining the lieutenant of the Sunni ruler Nur al-Din, and he faced resistance from troops dominated by Armenians and Sudanese.
Salah al-Din consolidated his authority by combining political tact with coercive power. In September 1171 he removed the Fatimid caliph’s name from the Friday sermon and substituted that of the ‘Abbasid caliph al-Mustadi‘, restoring Egypt to the Sunni Muslim community. He then reorganized the country’s military finances through a system of fiefs allocated to Kurdish amirs, officers, and members of his family. These grants supported both personal needs and troop maintenance, while a dedicated ministry supervised their revenues and military functions.
Economic policy formed another pillar of Salah al-Din’s rule. Foreign merchants were barred from conducting business in the Egyptian interior and the Red Sea region, while non-Muslim merchants were concentrated in Alexandria, where they operated funduqs. This arrangement reinforced Egypt’s position in eastern trade and allowed major Egyptian merchants, known as the Karimi, to exercise strong influence over prices. At the same time, Salah al-Din encouraged commercial relations through treaties with leading Italian trading cities.
The security of the Red Sea was central to his strategy. After a Christian fleet based at Ayla attacked ports on the African and Arabian shores in 1182, the Egyptian fleet destroyed the Frankish ships. His brother Turan-Shah had already been sent to Yemen in 1174, where he eliminated Shi‘i dynasties and established Ayyubid rule in major cities, including Aden. The conquest helped secure one of the principal routes connecting Egypt with eastern commerce, and Yemen remained under Ayyubid control for more than half a century.
After Nur al-Din’s death in 1174, Salah al-Din turned toward the political unification of Syria and northern Mesopotamia. Damascus, Hama, and Homs fell under his control that year, while Aleppo submitted to his suzerainty in 1183 and the Zangid prince of Mosul recognized him in 1186. These gains removed major enemies from his flanks and enlarged his army. He also reinforced Cairo’s defenses with a citadel and great walls, reorganized the navy, and alternated military pressure with truces and diplomacy toward the Frankish states.
Jusqu’à XIIᵉ siècle
Egypt, Syria, northern Mesopotamia, Yemen and the Near East
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
Salah al-Din, known in Latin sources as Saladin, was the Kurdish commander who became vizier and effective ruler of Egypt in 1169. He ended Fatimid rule in 1171, strengthened Egypt’s finances and military organization, and made the country the heartland of Ayyubid power. Through campaigns and diplomacy he unified Egypt with much of Syria and northern Mesopotamia, while pursuing a controlled commercial policy and defending Red Sea routes against Frankish intervention.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
Salah al-Din entered the political history of Egypt through the interventions of Nur al-Din’s Kurdish general Shirkuh. When Shirkuh became vizier in January 1169 and died two months later, Salah al-Din ibn Ayyub assumed both the vizierate and the effective government of Egypt. His position was precarious: he served a Shi‘i caliph while remaining the lieutenant of the Sunni ruler Nur al-Din, and he faced resistance from troops dominated by Armenians and Sudanese.
Salah al-Din consolidated his authority by combining political tact with coercive power. In September 1171 he removed the Fatimid caliph’s name from the Friday sermon and substituted that of the ‘Abbasid caliph al-Mustadi‘, restoring Egypt to the Sunni Muslim community. He then reorganized the country’s military finances through a system of fiefs allocated to Kurdish amirs, officers, and members of his family. These grants supported both personal needs and troop maintenance, while a dedicated ministry supervised their revenues and military functions.
Economic policy formed another pillar of Salah al-Din’s rule. Foreign merchants were barred from conducting business in the Egyptian interior and the Red Sea region, while non-Muslim merchants were concentrated in Alexandria, where they operated funduqs. This arrangement reinforced Egypt’s position in eastern trade and allowed major Egyptian merchants, known as the Karimi, to exercise strong influence over prices. At the same time, Salah al-Din encouraged commercial relations through treaties with leading Italian trading cities.
The security of the Red Sea was central to his strategy. After a Christian fleet based at Ayla attacked ports on the African and Arabian shores in 1182, the Egyptian fleet destroyed the Frankish ships. His brother Turan-Shah had already been sent to Yemen in 1174, where he eliminated Shi‘i dynasties and established Ayyubid rule in major cities, including Aden. The conquest helped secure one of the principal routes connecting Egypt with eastern commerce, and Yemen remained under Ayyubid control for more than half a century.
After Nur al-Din’s death in 1174, Salah al-Din turned toward the political unification of Syria and northern Mesopotamia. Damascus, Hama, and Homs fell under his control that year, while Aleppo submitted to his suzerainty in 1183 and the Zangid prince of Mosul recognized him in 1186. These gains removed major enemies from his flanks and enlarged his army. He also reinforced Cairo’s defenses with a citadel and great walls, reorganized the navy, and alternated military pressure with truces and diplomacy toward the Frankish states.
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