Lesson video

Hello, and welcome back to history, with me Mrs Badhan.

We'll be starting our third lesson on our four part inquiry.

Looking at the question who lives in the Crusader States.

In this third lesson, we will be looking at the question.

What was it like to be a Christian living under the control of Saladin.

for this lesson you will need a pen, a piece of paper and a calm, quiet environment.

If you aren't quite ready, press pause now and press play once you're ready to get going.

Great, let's make a start.

The image in front of you is a depiction of the battle of Hattin.

This battle was significant as it paved the way for the Muslim reconquest of the city of Jerusalem and of the greater parts of the three Crusader States.

The County of Trupuli, the principality of Antioch and the kingdom of Jerusalem, thus alerting Europe to the need for a third crusade.

Saladin decided to set a trap for the Crusader army.

He first attacked the city of Tiberias knowing that the land between the Crusader army and Tiberias was a harsh and dry land.

Crusader army reacted as he had hoped and began to match to Tiberias, the crusaders foolishly left their only shore water source near the horns of Hattin and were tormented by light amount of troops and they're burning heat and thirst throughout the battle.

When the crusaders grew tired and even more thirsty, Saladin sprung his trap and attack the Crusader army with his full force, Saladin and his army soundly defeated the crusaders at the battle of Hattin.

This opened the way for him to Jerusalem.

When Saladin invaded the principality in 1188, only a year after defeating the forces of Jerusalem at Hattin and capturing the Holy city , for him on the third was left without allies.

As such he proved unable to prevent the loss of all, but Antioch, It is from this point that our lesson will begin.

To take a pause and to recap what we've learned so far about the Crusader States, before we go any further.

In our first lesson, we looked at the Crusader States and what they are.

We were able to learn that these were the States of Tripoli, the County of Odessa ,Jerusalem and of course the principality of Antioch.

One that we have been drawing a closer focus on.

We also looked at the groups of people who lived in these States and how society was organised.

In our second lesson, we began to look at the experiences of these groups with a particular focus on the Muslims under the Frankish rule and we found that many Muslims were actually living very well and peacefully with the Franks.

We also noted that it was a minority who did not accept Frankish rule.

In this lesson, we'll be looking at the Crusader States after Saladin conquered them and how he took back the lands and placed them once again, under Muslim control.

we will focus upon the Christian experiences under his rule and what life was really like for them.

Did they suffer terribly for having ruled these lands and conquering them or was life one, which was bearable even perhaps normal.

Before we continue, we will need to know some key words for this lesson.

So the first key word will be the word Merciful, which means to show compassion or kindness.

Our second word Merciless is the opposite to merciful.

So being more ruthless.

Our final word will be Saracens.

And this is the word that's referred to as Muslims who live in the Crusader States, this is what they were called.

That's just a reminder from last lesson.

Now Saladin has often been described by many as being merciful.

And in this lesson, we will certainly be exploring this more.

So let's just take a moment to work out when all of these events that we're talking about took place.

As the timeline shows in 1097 to 98, we have full of Antioch.

In 10 99, this was followed by the capture of Jerusalem by the crusaders.

And then we have a period which is known as the crusaders rule.

In 1187 we then had the battle of Hattin, which is where our lessons started today with the image and 1192 solid intakes most of the Crusader States.

And it's this latter part of the timeline, we should focusing upon in our lesson today.

So it seems sensible now to look at who Saladin was.

The image here in front of you is of Saladin.

Although he was born as Yusuf Ibn Ayyub.

Once Saladin was a great warrior, he earned the name, Al-Malik al-Nasir Saladin for short Saladin.

He began his military career around the age of 14 when he went to work for his uncle Sheikah.

Now his uncle was a high ranking officer in the army and then 1169 Sheikah and Saladin took that army to Egypt to help fight off the crusaders from Europe.

They were victorious.

We've just heard at the beginning of this lesson of some of these victories that he enjoyed.

Some of the legends of Saladin have some basis in history.

As all legends tend to unfollow three distinct types, the most popular and famous of these types revolved around Saladin as a chivalric merciful figure and focused on his sparing of Jerusalem as well as his conduct towards his enemies.

These legends frequently repeat count to Salain, inspiring, and freeing European captives, witnessing and rewarding courage in European and Turkish armies.

So how merciful was Saladin? Well, this is something for you to figure out.

We're going to pause here and you're going to dive a bit deeper and look at what life was like for Christians undecided in Israel.

I would like you to answer the following questions.

Why was Saladin considered merciful? What happened to the crusaders when Saladin arrived? What did Saladin do to the churches? How did Saladin treat the Franks once he had captured the Holy land? And your challenge is to look at the question, how did Frankish rule come to an end in the Crusader States? You can pause the video now, read through the information sheet, answer the questions, and then hit play once you're ready to come and check your answers through together.

Now, as we go through the answers to these questions, I'd just like to stress that these are suggested answers and you may have something slightly different.

And that's okay.

Question number one.

Why was Saladin considered merciful now? An acceptable answer may have looked like Saladin was considered merciful as he was tolerant towards the Christians to extend this Saladin was considered merciful as he allowed the Christians to leave safely and even allowed many of them to leave without having paid the ransom.

And ransom of course was money they owed to Saladin in order to be able to leave the city.

Question number two, what happened to the crusaders when Saladin arrived? He took them as prisoners of war.

That would have been absolutely acceptable and fine.

to extend it Saladin kept the crusaders as prisoners of war and gave them 40 days to be able to come up with a ransom Question number three.

What did Saladin do to the churches? He changed some of them to mosques, he wanted to extend that Saladin converted some of the churches to mosques.

He also had some of the Christian items removed from the more significant churches, however, some were allowed to remain so Eastern Christians could worship there.

So it's important to stress here that solid didn't close down all of the churches, some did still remain.

Question number four.

How did Saladin treat the Franks once he'd captured the Holy land, acceptable answer, he mainly treated them well, good answer.

Saladin treated the Christians with respect and tolerance.

He allowed them safely leave the city.

And those who could not afford the ransom was still freed.

For example, the elderly and the nobleman.

And of course, we can now begin to see why he built up the reputation and was given the name Saladin the merciful.

The challenge question.

How did Frankish rule come to an end in the Crusader States? Acceptable answer.

There were eventually expelled from the Holy land, a good answer, with the help of the Mamluks ,the Mongols and the Franks were driven out of the Crusader States, which effectively ended the Frankish rule in 1291.

Super, now you know more about Saladin takeover of the Crusader States and the Christian experiences under his rule.

Hopefully looking at this image, everything you've learned will help you spot three things about this picture, which tells you a little bit more about the Christians and their experiences under Saladin's rule.

Pause now, have a look and pick out three things which you can see that demonstrate or tell you a little bit more information about the Christian experiences.

Great.

These were some of the things that I noticed we can see Saladin here, sitting down, showing that he has been victorious.

We can also see that most of the men with crosses on their back seem to be bowing down to him, which suggests that they have surrendered.

The fact that they have crosses means that we can also assume that they are the crusaders.

Furthermore, we can also see that one of them is offering something.

And lastly, we can see that the man sitting beside him seems to almost be in negotiations with him ,as we can see he's leaning in a perhaps having some sort of conversation, again, he's bowed down, which suggests his surrender to Saladin and his inferiority so his lower status to Saladin, this may suggest that there was a certain amount of peace between them and some understanding as this Crusader is still on the stage with Saladin.

However, if we look closer, we can also see that one of Saladin's men is holding him.

So perhaps he is trying to speak to Saladin, or perhaps this man is trying to remove him, or perhaps he's just holding him there to ensure that he doesn't do anything like attack Saladin.

But it's very clear from this image.

That Saladin is the one that holds the power.

He is the one that is there of authority and very that the Christians bowing down to him where they have accepted that position of defeat.

I think we now have a greater understanding of who Saladin was and what he did when he took control.

But I think we still need to find out a little bit more about this view of him being both merciful and mercyless.

So let's have a look at what people have said about him from the time in the primary sources.

And after this time in secondary sources, you can press pause now.

Have a read through the following slides and make up your mind whether they show how he is merciful or how he was merciless.

Remember these words from the beginning of the lesson, merciful means kind and passionate and merciless is the opposite to this presenting more of a ruthless character, press pause now.

Read through the sources and decide for yourself.

So let's go through the answers together.

I'll first source by Cartwright historian read.

Some Nobles were freed on the production of a ransom as was typical of mediaeval warfare, including guy, others were less fortunate.

Raynald of chatillion the Prince of Antioch was hated for his early attack on a Muslim caravan.

And so it was executed solid in himself.

First, taking a swing with his sword and chopping off one of Reynaldo's arms. Now this source demonstrates solid ins violence and brutality, and therefore we would consider him as merciless.

I'll second extract by Cartwright again, read the Sultan Saladin was also approached by a group of wailing women who upon inquiry revealed themselves as Dames and damsels of Knights who had either been killed or held prisoners.

They begged for the sultans mercy and salad in order for their husbands, if they were alive to be released.

And none of these women were enslaved.

Now this demonstrates Saladin's character as being compassionate and one that was kind and caring and therefore merciful.

Next source read in April, 1191, a Frankish woman's three month old baby had been stolen from her camp and sold on the market.

The Franks urged her to approach Saladin herself with her grievance.

According to Bahaa Aladdin Saladin and used his own money to buy the child back.

And this presents Saladin in a positive light person that is kind giving merciful.

This source read Reginald of Chatillon Saladin's enemy, whom he personally killed over 200 knights, Hospitaller and Templar, nightly orders whom he ordered to be killed and many crusaders whom he ransomed remaining captured, Christians were sold on the local slave market.

This again shows Saladin's brutality and how he was merciless.

Now this story from Elias Anta read "During one of his periodic attacks on the castle of Kerak Saladin learnt that there was a wedding party underway inside politely inquired in which when it was being held and then directed his catapults elsewhere.

Now let's just pause here and think about why there are different views on Saladin.

Some would argue the reasons for these legends being created because the European Christians were attempting to justify not only Saladin's conduct, but his victories as well.

We have to remember that European Christian society at this time believed that God chose the winner of such engagements.

Thus, the Christian loss was difficult for them to understand.

And it was also really important to remember that during the mediaeval period and long before much of the purpose of people writing at this time, and particularly historical writing was moralistic.

This means that they were looking at what was right and wrong in the eyes of God.

So for them, it was a way of justifying why they had lost to Saladin by presenting him as this merciful character.

We have learned so much about Saladin and Christians living under his rule.

We've looked at how some saw him is brutal, but overwhelmingly we've seen that many saw him as a kind and compassionate leader, but what about how he treated the Christians? What did you find out for this last challenge of the lesson? Could you please now write a short paragraph explaining how Christians were treated under Saladin.

Please use the writing from instructor provided to help you answer this question.

I've also added some key words which might be helpful for you to use during this piece of writing.

You can press pause, now, write your answer, and then press play.

Once you're ready to resume the lesson.

Now that you've done your piece of writing, I think it's a good opportunity to get back to our story of Antioch and think about what happened to Antioch.

During this time of Saladin, let's look at how Saladin's actions were viewed in Antioch.

The extract in front of you reads, this summer, the unspeakable Saladin totally destroyed the city of except for the Templar Citadel, burnt down the city of Valania before moving onto the region of Antioch, where he claimed the famous cities of Jabala and Latakia and the lands, as far as Antioch The Prince and the people of Antioch made a pitiful agreement with Saladin that if no help was forthcoming in the seven months from the beginning of that month of October, they would formally surrender Antioch.

Now, this extract certainly shows that Saladin had ruined the city during his attempted siege and would present him in a less favourable light compared to what we have seen throughout this lesson.

So what actually happened when Saladin invaded the Prince policy in 1188, only a year after defeating the forces of Jerusalem at Hutton and capturing the Holy city, but Heman was largely without allies.

Saladin started the invasion of Northern Syria on July, the first 1188, after the Knights Templar surrendered, their fortress Bagrass, which is the image here presented in front of you.

But human pleaded for a truce Bagrass fell under Muslim control after the Knights Templar surrendered, their fortress of Bagrass to Saladin on the 26th of September, but hemen pleaded for a truce offering the release of his Muslim prisoners.

Saladin granted the truth from the 1st of October, 1188 to the 31st of May, 1189, and his Muslim forces kept control of Bargrass here in this image, which you can see in front of you.

Saladin stipulated that Antioch was to be surrendered without any resistance.

However, the Hemend urge, the Holy Roman emperor to come to Syria and even offered him the crown.

And to be able to rule over Antioch.

Saladin in the end did not capture Antioch.

However, his Muslim men did remain in bad grass until 1190.

Once they left, they had left the Bargras castle in such a horrific state.

And you can see in this image here that these are the ruins and what is left of this castle.

It's been argued that the principality of Antioch never really recovered from Saladin's invasion.

This castle is just one element, which demonstrates the devastation that Saladin and his men placed upon Antioch.

Thank you so much for joining us for our third lesson on who lived in the Crusader States.

I hope in this lesson, you were able to gain an insight into those that lived in the Crusader States.

And in particular, the Christians during the rule of Saladin.

Perhaps it was more surprising than what you first assumed.

And perhaps the idea that Saladin was considered merciful, challenged your views of a leader during this brutal period of the crusades.

I would really love for you to share your work and to see how you got on in today's class.

So if you'd like to please ask your parent or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, tagging at Oak national and hashtag learn with Oak ,thank you.

And I really look forward to seeing you in lesson four.