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Esanul Kahn
Historical Bias: Portrayals of King Saladin and King Richard I during the Third Crusade
My paper focuses on two iconic figures of the Third Crusade (1189 CE – 1192 CE): King Saladin, King of the unified Islamic powers in the Middle East, and King Richard I, called the Lionhearted for his apparently fearless martial skills and commanding. Although there have been many histories and scholarly works about Saladin and Richard, I posed the following question: of the many primary and secondary sources available on the two figures, what insight have said sources (especially the primary sources) given us modern readers as to how scholars portrayed Saladin and Richard and how the people in the time of the Third Crusade saw these two leaders? The hypothesis I have synthesized to answer this question is that heavy bias in the primary sources have lionized both King Richard and King Saladin and over time have portrayed them into figures that are almost mythical in stature.
I will use primary sources to take a look at how Saladin and Richard were both regarded in the eyes of contemporary scholars and historians. D.S. Richards's 2002 translation of Baha' al Din Ibn Shaddad'sThe Rare and Excellent History of Saladin provides some excellent insight insight into the life and events that molded Saladin into who he later became. Carrying on the tradition of his uncle Nur ad-Din, the Kurdish warrior Saladin quickly rose through the ranks of the Muslim forces, united and bolstered Egypt and Syria with his uncle's already large, unified front of Islamic forces, and became well-known as a strong yet merciful leader. Shaddad referred to Saladin as a “paragon of Islamic virtue and a warrior of great martial skill who showed mercy even to the most barbarous of enemies.”[1] This source is clearly biased, portraying Saladin as a near-mythical hero, akin to the heroes of the Homeric epics from Classical Greek culture.
Similarly, Geoffrey de Vinsauf's account of King Richard I of England in Richard of Holy Trinity: Itinerary of Richard I and others to the Holy Land, paints Richard, who really was not originally intended to become king, as a “magnificent warrior, whose chivalry and renown was known throughout all the Christian lands and who was fearless in all battles; so his name was Lionheart to friend and foe alike.”[2] Again, this account of King Richard I, although more objective and clinical in its chronicling, is heavily biased in favor of King Richard I.
Although these primary sources are indeed heavily biased toward one figure or another, this bias is important when analyzing the image that scholars and chroniclers had crafted to portray Saladin and Richard: not just military commanders and political nobility but warriors of almost mythical skills who shared an uncommon bond of mercy, chivalry, and honor that set them apart from other combatants and participants in the normally merciless, bloody religious conflicts that many know as the Crusades.
There was no shortage of secondary sources to draw research material from. The most informative of these secondary sources is James Reston, Jr.'s 2002 book Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade. Reston chronicles the life of Saladin first and later on, Richard's life. The beginning chapters tell of how Saladin, a Kurdish son of a noble, lived and learned in the court of Nur ad-Din, a fierce warrior for the Muslims who helped unite Northern Iraq and much of Syria.[3] This account of Saladin is a more objective look at his life: for example, although most remember Saladin as a magnanimous and merciful military leader, there were times in his life when he was ruthless and merciless. There were many times in Saladin's life when he obeyed orders without questions, examples which give Saladin more depth as a historical figure and man. Another secondary source for research on this comparative analysis on Richard and Saladin is Jean Flori's 2007 book Richard the Lionheart: King and Knight, translated by Jean Birrell. This book is unique because it not only examines the life of Richard I but also attempts to explain why he was such a renowned warrior and King and why his image evolved into what it is today. Richard was not supposed to become King, so his abilities as a diplomatic leader were severely stunted: Richard focused his whole life on honing his abilities on the battlefield.[4]
The reason that secondary sources like the ones aforementioned are important is because although the primary sources show the bias that portrayed Saladin and Richard as near-mythical icons of their time, the secondary sources show a more balanced, objective look at these figures. This relative objectivity serves to contrast and highlight the bias in the primary sources, further deepening our understanding as to how contemporary scholars and chroniclers portrayed Saladin and Richard and how the people during the time of the Third Crusades saw these figures.
Although there are some obstacles to overcome in the research of this analysis of bias in the portrayals of King Saladin and King Richard (obstacles such as finding historical accounts that are both insightful and accessible), I am confident that the sources chosen from the vast array of what is available will make the paper on this topic not just manageable but insightful, as well. So far, my research shows that the hypothesis is proving to be correct in its answer to my original research question and I hope to develop my hypothesis further as I write my paper.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Brundage, James. The Crusades: A Documentary History. Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 1962.
The Conquest of Jerusalem and the Third Crusade: Sources in Translation. Edited and translated by Peter W. Edbury. London: Ashgate, 1998.
of Devizes, Richard. Chronicle. Translated by J.A. Giles. Cambridge, Ontario: In Parentheses Publications, 2001.
Shaddad, Baha' al Din Ibn. The Rare and Excellent History of Saladin. Translated by D.S. Richards. London: Ashgate, 2002.
de Vinsauf, Geoffrey. Richard of Holy Trinity: Itinerary of Richard I and others to the Holy Land. Translated by Anonymous. Cambridge, Ontario: In Parentheses Publications, 2001.
Secondary Sources
Brand, Charles M. “The Byzantines and Saladin, 1185-1192: Opponents of the Third Crusade.”
Speculum 37, no. 6 (April 1962). (accessed January 21, 2009).
Brundage, James A. “The Crusade of Richard I: Two Canonical Quaestiones.” Speculum 38, no. 3 (July 1963). (accessed January 24, 2009).
Ehrenkreutz, Andrew S. Saladin. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1972.
Flori, Jean. Richard the Lionheart: King and Knight. Translated by Jean Birrell. New York: Praeger Publishers, 2007.
Gillingham, John. Richard the Lionheart. New York: Times Books, 1978.
Henderson, Philip. Richard Coeur de Lion. New York: W. W. Norton, 1959.
Housley, Normal. “Saladin's Triumph Over the Crusader States.” History Today 37, no. 7 (July 1987). vid=2&hid=109&sid=1628dfc3-8d73-4a71-bde9-d1b146a21fd7%40sessionmgr104 (accessed January 28, 2009).
Lyons, Malcom, David Jackson, and D.E. Jackson. Saladin: The Politics of War. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Michaud, Joseph Francois. The History of the Crusades. Vol. III. Translated by W. Robson . New York: A.C. Armstrong & Son, 1881.
Newby, Percy H. Saladin in his Time. London: Faber and Faber, 2007.
Regan, Geoffrey. Lionhearts: Saladin, Richard I, and the era of the Third Crusade. New York: Walker, 1999.
Reston, Jr., James. Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade. New York: Random House, 2002.
Richard, Jean. “An Account of the Battle of Hattin Referring to the Frankish Mercenaries in Oriental Moslem States.” Speculum 27, no. 2 (April 1952). (accessed January 25, 2009).
Saul, Nigel. The Three Richards: Ricjard I, Richard II, Richard III. London: Hambledon and London, 2005.
Slaughter, Gertrude E. Saladin: A Biography. New York: Exposition Press, 1955.
[1]. Baha' al Din Ibn Shaddad, The Rare and Excellent History of Saladin, trans. D.S. Richards (London:
Ashgate, 2002), 238-51.
[2]. Richard of Holy Trinity: Itinerary of Richard the I and others to the Holy Land, trans. Geoffrey de Vinsauf
(Cambridge, Ontario: In Parentheses Publications, 2001), 15.
[3]. James Reston, Jr., Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade (New York:
Random House, 2002), 156-66.
[4]. Jean Flori, Richard the Lionheart: King and Knight, trans. Jean Birrell (New York: Praeger Publishers,
2007), 128-36.