Saladin, Muslim Unity, Byzantium and the Franks c.1169-89

Question 1

Who did Saladin accompany to Egypt in the 1160s?

Answer 1

Shirkuh

Question 2

Saladin distinguished himself at which battle against Amalric of Jerusalem in March 1167?

Answer 2

al-Babayn

Question 3

In what year did Saladin become dominant in Egypt after Shirkuh’s death?

Answer 3

1169

Question 4

The siege of which Frankish castle did Saladin abandon in October 1171 to Nureddin’s annoyance?

Answer 4

Montreal

Question 5

In which year did Saladin fail to offer meaningful assistance to Nureddin’s siege of Kerak?

Answer 5

1173

Question 6

What did Nureddin send to Egypt in 1173, demonstrating suspicion of Saladin’s loyalty?

Answer 6

Auditors

Question 7

What did Saladin bring to an end in September 1171?

Answer 7

Fatimid dynasty

Question 8

Where did Saladin use capable administrators such as Qadi al-Fadil and al-Makhzumi to generate huge wealth?

Answer 8

Egypt

Question 9

Who did Saladin formally recognise as overlord of Egypt between 1169 and 1174?

Answer 9

Nureddin

Question 10

Which son and heir of Nureddin did Saladin claimed to be working for him but instead worked against him?

Answer 10

as-Salih

Question 11

Who did Saladin send to conquer Yemen from Muslims he claimed were heretical, in the years 1174 to 1176?

Answer 11

Turanshah

Question 12

Which Red Sea castle was recaptured by Saladin from the Franks in December 1170?

Answer 12

Aila

Question 13

Which widow of Nureddin did Saladin marry in 1176 to increase the legitimacy of his claim to be ‘Sultan of Egypt and Syria’?

Answer 13

Ismat

Question 14

Victory over the Zengids at which battle, in April 1175, left Saladin in control of Damascus, Baalbek and Homs?

Answer 14

Horns of Hama

Question 15

Which Emir of Erbil and Zengid supporter, opposed Saladin at the Horms of Hama but then defected to support him in 1182?

Answer 15

Gokbori

Question 16

At which battle was Saladin was victorious over Sayf al-Din in April 1176?

Answer 16

Tell Sultan

Question 17

Which sister of Saladin was married to his key supporter Gokbori in the 1180s to cement his loyalty?

Answer 17

Rabia Khatun

Question 18

Which sister of Saladin was married to the emir of Homs to greater bind him to the Ayyubids?

Answer 18

Zumurrud

Question 19

Which ruler of Homs plotted to exploit Saladin’s expected death in 1186 but then died himself of excessive drinking?

Answer 19

Muhammad ibn Shirkuh

Question 20

Which Abbasid caliph acknowledged Saladin as ‘Sultan of Egypt and Syria’ in 1176?

Answer 20

al-Mustadi

Question 21

When did Saladin’s forces successfully clash with Kilij Arslan II’s to keep territory taken by Nureddin in 1173?

Answer 21

1179

Question 22

With which Sultan of Rum did Saladin have an uneasy and mutually untrusting relationship?

Answer 22

Kilij Arlsan II

Question 23

In what year was Saladin criticised by Kilij Arslan II for involving himself in a local dispute rather than jihad?

Answer 23

1180

Question 24

In what year did Saladin act to prevent the union of Aleppo and Mosul against him?

Answer 24

1182

Question 25

Which group rejected Saladin’s attempted dominance of Syria between 1174 and 1183?

Answer 25

Zengids

Question 26

Which Zengid powerbase fell to Saladin in 1183 two years after the death of as-Salih?

Answer 26

Aleppo

Question 27

In what year did Saladin arrange a truce with the Franks so that he could focus on defeating his Muslim foes?

Answer 27

1185

Question 28

Which Muslim city’s ruler only acknowledged Saladin’s overlordship in 1186?

Answer 28

Mosul

Question 29

Who was Saladin’s loyal governor of Aleppo between 1183 and 1186 then administered Egypt from 1186 to 1192?

Answer 29

al-Adil

Question 30

Which ruler of Mosul, built a coalition of Muslim leaders to oppose Saladin between 1174 and 1180?

Answer 30

Sayf al-Din

Question 31

Which ruler of Mosul from 1180 led the remaining opposition to Saladin until 1186?

Answer 31

Izz ad-Din

Question 32

Which Muslim group did Saladin come to terms with in 1176 after his war on them failed?

Answer 32

Assassins

Question 33

At which battle in 1177 did Saladin face a major setback when the Franks were victorious and his nephew was killed?

Answer 33

Montgisard

Question 34

Which Abbasid caliph (from 1180) criticised Saladin even after the capture of Jerusalem, out of fear of his power?

Answer 34

al-Nasir

Question 35

Which vital crossing point in did Saladin prevented Baldwin IV from fully fortifying in 1179?

Answer 35

Jacob’s Ford

Question 36

At which battle in June 1179 did Saladin defeat Baldwin IV and the Templars allowing him to attack Jacobs Ford?

Answer 36

Marj Ayyun

Question 37

Which city’s capture on 2 October 1187 cemented Saladin’s reputation as a successful leader of the Jihad?

Answer 37

Jerusalem

Question 38

What item, constructed by Nureddin, was placed in the al-Aqsa mosque after Saladin’s conquest of Jerusalem?

Answer 38

'Minbar of Saladin’

Question 39

Which Frankish city resisted Saladin in July 1187 and again between November 1187 and January 1188?

Answer 39

Tyre

Question 40

In the summer of which year did Saladin take most of the coastal castles and towns of the states of Tripoli and Antioch?

Answer 40

1188

Question 41

When did Saladin’s attack fail to dislodge the Latins besieging Acre?

Answer 41

October 1189

Question 42

Baldwin III of Jerusalem and Manuel I sealed an alliance in 1158 with Baldwin’s marriage to which of the emperor’s nieces?

Answer 42

Theodora

Question 43

Who did Maria Comnena, who was dispatched to Jerusalem, marry in 1167?

Answer 43

King Amalric

Question 44

Where had Nureddin declined to attack out of fear of Byzantine military strength?

Answer 44

Antioch

Question 45

In what year did Manuel send a large fleet to Damietta to help the Franks drive Nureddin from Egypt?

Answer 45

1169

Question 46

When did Manuel I order the mass arrest of Venetians throughout the Empire, including 10,000 in Constantinople?

Answer 46

1170

Question 47

When did the Venetians have to concede defeat in their conflict with Manuel I of Byzantium?

Answer 47

May 1172

Question 48

Which major Byzantine defeat to the Seljuk Turks of Rum happened on September 17, 1176?

Answer 48

Myriocephalum

Question 49

Who was the Sultan of Rum that defeated the Byzantines at the battle of Myriocephalum?

Answer 49

Kilij Arslan II

Question 50

Which battle did Manuel I compared his defeat in 1176 by the Seljuk Turks to?

Answer 50

Manzikert

Question 51

In what year did the Byzantines defeat the Seljuks at Hyelion and Leimocheir on the Meander River?

Answer 51

1177

Question 52

What type of impact did the defeat at Myriocephalum have on the Byzantine Empire?

Answer 52

Psychological

Question 53

In what year did Emperor Manuel I die?

Answer 53

1180

Question 54

Who became regent for the ten-year-old emperor Alexius II in 1180?

Answer 54

Empress Maria of Antioch

Question 55

Who seized the Byzantine crown in 1183 after exploiting hostility to Maria of Antioch?

Answer 55

Andronicus I

Question 56

When was the bulk of the Latin community in Constantinople (c.60,000) wiped out or forced to flee?

Answer 56

April 1182

Question 57

After the arrival of Andronicus Comnenus in Constantinople in Spring 1182, which group were massacred?

Answer 57

Latins

Question 58

Which daughter of King Louis VII of France did Andronicus I marry in 1183?

Answer 58

Agnes

Question 59

In what year did a Venetian embassy visit Constantinople, receiving some compensation for the losses of 1171?

Answer 59

1184

Question 60

The reign of Andronicus I (1183-85) was characterized by what?

Answer 60

violent civil strife

Question 61

Who led to an invasion of 200 ships and 80,000 men, including 5,000 knights to Thessalonica in 1185?

Answer 61

William II of Sicily

Question 62

Who was proclaimed Emperor in 1185 after Andronicus I attempted to kill the aristocracy?

Answer 62

Isaac II Angelus

Question 63

When was Emperor Andronicus I killed by a mob in Constantinople?

Answer 63

September 1185

Question 64

When did Isaac II agree to re-establish a mosque in Constantinople?

Answer 64

Summer 1189

Question 65

Which part of the Third Crusade did Isaac II inform Saladin about as they crossed into Byzantine territory?

Answer 65

Germans

Question 66

After promising to assist the Germans on the Third Crusade what did Isaac do to their ambassadors in the summer of 1189?

Answer 66

Imprison