History of the Crusades. Episode 46 the rise of Saladin. Hello again. Last week we discussed the ramifications

for the Latin Christians of the death of King Amalric. We saw the Leper King,

young Baldwin the fourth, rise to the throne, and saw the political situation in the

kingdom of Jerusalem and the crusader states deteriorate

into factionalism and conflict.

What happened in the Muslim world after the death of its leader, Nurendin.

We're about to find out.

As you will probably recall,

Nurendin died unexpectedly in May 1174, possibly as a result of a heart attack.

At the time of his death, he ruled most of Syria, from Aleppo in the north to Damascus in the south.

So, adin ruled Egypt and the conflict between the two leaders had risen to a crescendo,

with New Eden planning to invade Egypt and teach his former underling a lesson.

But Neuridin died before the invasion took place.

Neuridin's successor was his 11 year old son. place. The fact that a successor to power was still a child meant that the child required a protector or a powerful figure who could look after his interests until he came of age and could rule in his own right.

This of course meant that young Al-Salee became a political pawn,

with various factions and men of ambition or vying to become Alsalee's protector.

To complicate matters further, two of Neuridin's nephews, Saif Al-Din, the ruler of Mozil, and Imard Aldin from Sinjar, decided that this would be a perfect opportunity

to extend their power base, and they began pushing the borders of their territory westwards towards the Euphrates River.

King Amalric, unaware of course that he had only weeks to live himself, decided to follow the example of Neuridin's nephews and expand

Latin Christian territory.

He moved his army to Bagnus, a frontier town which had been taken over by Damascus 10 years ago.

Saladin watched these developments with interest.

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