Salimbene de Adam 641another Nur al-Din (d. 1181), Saladin claimed that he was
the only prince capable of leading a successful war or
JIHADagainst the Franks in the Levant. Saladin controlled
Damascus and central SYRIAby 1174 and then eventually
upper Mesopotamia, or IRAQ, and northern Syria by 1183.
He then attacked the Christians. Profiting from a crisis of
succession in the kingdom of JERUSALEM, in 1187 Saladin
won a resounding victory over the Kingdom of Jerusalem
at the Horns at HATTINnear Tiberias. The kingdom of
Jerusalem was suddenly defenseless and fell into his
hands. Jerusalem was taken on October 2, 1187, without
much bloodshed, and in the following months many
fortresses capitulated in northern Syria. Only TYRE,
TRIPOLI,ANTIOCH, and a few CASTLESremained in Frank-
ish hands. The West soon organized a Third CRUSADE,in
which FREDERICKI BARBAROSSA,PHILIPII AUGUSTUS, and
RICHARD I LIONHEARTtook part. They failed to retake
Jerusalem on this crusade but did capture ACREand some
coastal strongholds. Saladin skillfully avoided a decisive
battle, especially with Richard I. The treaty of Jaffa in
1192 allowed the reestablishment of a second kingdom of
Jerusalem, or the kingdom of Acre, much reduced from
the first but easier to defend. Saladin died of a fever fol-
lowing year, March 4, 1193, in Damascus.
IDEALIZED LEGACYSaladin’s success rested on the support given him by pow-
erful religious leaders including Kurdish and Turkish
emirs. He sought to restore economic support for Sunnite
ISLAMby granting important landed incomes. He restored
the Egyptian fleet and sought good relations with the Ital-
ian towns to ensure that they would supply him with the
wood and iron necessary for his armaments. He con-
cluded alliances with the SELJUKSof ANATOLIAin 1180
and the BYZANTINESin 1185. The unity of his state col-
lapsed soon after his death, in part because of financial
difficulties and in part because of its division among his
sons. Known for his toleration of non-Muslim subjects,
he has remained a hero for many Muslims to this day.
See alsoALEPPO; MOSUL.
Further reading:Ibn Shaddad, The Rare and Excellent
History of Saladin—or, al-Nawadir al-Sultaniyya wal-
Mahasin al-Yusufiyya,trans. D. S. Richards (Aldershot:
Ashgate, 2002); Andrew S. Ehrenkreutz, Saladin(Albany:
State University of New York Press, 1972); H. A. R. Gibb,
The Life of Saladin: From the Works of Imad ad-Din and
Baha ad-Din(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973); Geoffrey
Hindley, Saladin(London: Constable, 1976); R. Stephen
Humpheys, From Saladin to the Mongols: The Ayyubids of
Damascus, 1193–1260(Albany: State University of New
York Press, 1977); Margaret A. Jubb, The Legend of Sal-
adin in Western Literature and Historiography(Lewiston,
Maine: Edwin Mellen Press, 2000); Malcolm Cameron
Lyons and D. E. P. Jackson, Saladin: The Politics of War
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997; P. H.
Newby, Saladin in His Time(London: Faber and Faber,
1983); D. S. Richards, “Salaln al-Dı ̄n,” Encyclopedia of
Islam8.910–914.salat SeePRAYER AND PRAYERS.Salerno See MEDICINE; UNIVERSITIES AND SCHOOLS;
TROTA.Salian dynasty(Salier dynasty) The Salians were the
imperial family who reigned from 1024 to 1125 over the
HOLYROMANEMPIRE. Named for the Salian FRANKS, they
were originally from the Middle Rhine region. The
dynasty began when the duke of Lotharingia, Conrad the
Red (r. 944–953), married Liudgard (d. 953), a daughter
of the emperor OTTOI. Conrad’s great-grandson, Conrad
II (r. 1024–39), was proclaimed king in 1024. Conrad II
and his three successors, all called Henry, ruled the
empire for a century. One, Henry IV, reigned for 50 years,
from 1056 to 1106.
The Salians based their power and patrimony on
lands and fiefs in FRANCONIAand the Rhineland. They
rebuilt and enlarged the CATHEDRALof Speyer for a family
necropolis. Heirs to the policies of the Ottonians and
Henry II the Saint (r. 1002–24), they continued to foster
an imperial dominated church, as did Conrad II. HENRY
III (r. 1039–56) was unsympathetic to SIMONY, nonethe-
less used his authority over the church to appoint three
successive popes and preside over a council with one of
them, Leo IX (r. 1049–54). Henry IV battled but failed
both in taking control of SAXONYand in gaining influence
with Pope GREGORYVII. His sons finally rose against and
deposed him in 1105. Henry V (r. 1105–25) fought with
popes but also reached an accord with the church in the
Concordat of Worms in 1122. The last Salian, Lothair III,
ruled from 1125 to 1137. At his death the HOHENSTAUFEN
dynasty took over.
See alsoCANOSSA; GREGORIAN REFORM; PASCHALII,
POPE.
Further reading: Karl Hampe, Germany under the
Salian and Hohenstaufen Emperors,trans. Ralph Bennett
(1968; reprinted Oxford: Blackwell, 1973); Stefan Wein-
furter, The Salian Century: Main Currents in an Age of
Transition, trans. Barbara M. Bowlus (1991, reprint,
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999);
James Westfall Thompson, Feudal Germany (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1928).Salimbene de Adam (Ognibene) (1221–after 1288)
Italian Franciscan friar, traveler, chronicler
Salimbene was born at Parma in 1221, the son of Guido
de Adamo and Iumelda de Cassio, who were related to
Pope INNOCENTIV. The sources for his life are found
almost completely in his Chronicle.On February 4, 1238,
at Parma, he was admitted into the FRANCISCAN ORDERby