Hello everyone and welcome to the history of Byzantium. Episode 254, salad in the strategist

with Ben Duval.

Last time, we talked about the first two years of Isaac Angolos's reign. After driving

the Normans out of the empire, the new Vassilafs needed some breathing room. He faced usurpation

attempt from his relatives and three separate provincial rebellions. He really couldn't

afford another conflict with the Western power. So it was with an anguished sigh that Angolos

received the news in autumn 1187 that Jerusalem had fallen to a Muslim army. Isaac knew that

this would lead to the calling of a new crusade, and that most likely a huge foreign army

would march to the gates of Constantinople. Before we get into how Angolos dealt with

the third crusade, let's find out how Jerusalem fell. The last time we were in Ultramir

was towards the end of Manor Wheel's reign, the Emperor twice sent fleets to Egypt to

help the King of Jerusalem in his attempts to capture a port there. The Latins had been

in the Levant for 80 years at this point, and they'd realized that Egypt was going to

be the key to their survival. If they could get their hands on the wealth of the Nile, then

they could secure their hold on Ultramir. Unfortunately for them, their great enemy, Neuraldean,

had come to the same conclusion. Today we hear the story of how the Meir got

his men into Egypt first, and how Saladin used the resources of that kingdom to bring

the Latins to ruin. The man I turn to to tell that story is Ben Duval,

an author and fellow Byzantine enthusiast whose work can be found over at ByzantineImporia.com.

Ben has written the book on this topic, Saladin the Strategist, how the Crusaders lost

the Holy Land. It is available to buy now on Amazon. The Kindle version is ready to

go and print copies will be with you soon. For now, here's the interview.

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