Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Part 1 Sources
- 1 Hamdan al-Atharibi’s History of the Franks Revisited, Again
- 2 Legitimate Authority in the Kitab al-Jihad of ‘Ali b. Tahir al-Sulami
- 3 Politics, Religion and the Occult in the Works of Kamal al-Din Ibn Talha, a Vizier, ‘Alim and Author in Thirteenthcentury Syria
- Part 2 Christians
- 4 Adapting to Muslim Rule: the Syrian Orthodox Community in Twelfth-century Northern Syria and the Jazira
- 5 The Afterlife of Edessa: Remembering Frankish Rule, 1144 and After
- Part 3 Convivencia
- 6 Diplomatic Relations and Coinage among the Turcomans, the Ayyubids and the Crusaders: Pragmatism and Change of Identity
- 7 Symbolic Conflict and Cooperation in the Neglected Chronicle of a Syrian Prince
- 8 A Critique of the Scholarly Outlook of the Crusades: the Case for Tolerance and Coexistence
- Part 4 War and Peace
- 9 The Portrayal of Violence in Walter the Chancellor’s Bella Antiochena
- 10 Infernalising the Enemy: Images of Hell in Muslim Descriptions of the Franks during the Crusading Period
- Part 5 Cities
- 11 Sunnites et Chiites à Alep sous le règne d’al-Salih Isma‘il (569–77/1174–81): entre conflits et réconciliations
- 12 The War of Towers: Venice and Genoa at War in Crusader Syria, 1256–8
- 13 Gaza in the Frankish and Ayyubid Periods: the Run-up to 1260 CE
- Part 6 Saladin’s Men
- 14 Picture-poems for Saladin: ‘Abd al-Mun‘im al-Jilyani’s Mudabbajat
- 15 Ayyubid Realpolitik and Political–Military Vicissitudes versus Counter-crusading Ideology in the Memoirist–Chronicler al-Katib al-Isfahani
- 16 Assessing the Evidence for a Turning Point in Ayyubid– Frankish Relations in a Letter by al-Qadi al-Fadil
- Part 7 Key Personalities
- 17 Saladin, Generosity and Gift-giving
- 18 Hülegü: the New Constantine?
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index of Names
- Index of Places
- Index of Terms/Concepts
17 - Saladin, Generosity and Gift-giving
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 October 2020
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Contributors
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Part 1 Sources
- 1 Hamdan al-Atharibi’s History of the Franks Revisited, Again
- 2 Legitimate Authority in the Kitab al-Jihad of ‘Ali b. Tahir al-Sulami
- 3 Politics, Religion and the Occult in the Works of Kamal al-Din Ibn Talha, a Vizier, ‘Alim and Author in Thirteenthcentury Syria
- Part 2 Christians
- 4 Adapting to Muslim Rule: the Syrian Orthodox Community in Twelfth-century Northern Syria and the Jazira
- 5 The Afterlife of Edessa: Remembering Frankish Rule, 1144 and After
- Part 3 Convivencia
- 6 Diplomatic Relations and Coinage among the Turcomans, the Ayyubids and the Crusaders: Pragmatism and Change of Identity
- 7 Symbolic Conflict and Cooperation in the Neglected Chronicle of a Syrian Prince
- 8 A Critique of the Scholarly Outlook of the Crusades: the Case for Tolerance and Coexistence
- Part 4 War and Peace
- 9 The Portrayal of Violence in Walter the Chancellor’s Bella Antiochena
- 10 Infernalising the Enemy: Images of Hell in Muslim Descriptions of the Franks during the Crusading Period
- Part 5 Cities
- 11 Sunnites et Chiites à Alep sous le règne d’al-Salih Isma‘il (569–77/1174–81): entre conflits et réconciliations
- 12 The War of Towers: Venice and Genoa at War in Crusader Syria, 1256–8
- 13 Gaza in the Frankish and Ayyubid Periods: the Run-up to 1260 CE
- Part 6 Saladin’s Men
- 14 Picture-poems for Saladin: ‘Abd al-Mun‘im al-Jilyani’s Mudabbajat
- 15 Ayyubid Realpolitik and Political–Military Vicissitudes versus Counter-crusading Ideology in the Memoirist–Chronicler al-Katib al-Isfahani
- 16 Assessing the Evidence for a Turning Point in Ayyubid– Frankish Relations in a Letter by al-Qadi al-Fadil
- Part 7 Key Personalities
- 17 Saladin, Generosity and Gift-giving
- 18 Hülegü: the New Constantine?
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Index of Names
- Index of Places
- Index of Terms/Concepts
Summary
In the course of the 1170s Saladin worked assiduously to develop his power and authority in Egypt and then into Syria and the Jazira. To the Franks of Jerusalem (amongst others) this was a cause of profound concern and William of Tyre, the great chronicler of the Latin East, offered a contemporary assessment of the sultan's progress. His analysis went beyond matters of rising military strength:
Wise in counsel, valiant in war, and generous beyond measure. All the more, for this very reason, he was distrusted by those of our nobles who had keener foresight. Even in our day there is no better means by which princes can win the hearts of their subject, or for that matter, of others, than by showing generosity (munificentia) toward them; and nothing more readily attracts the eye of strangers, especially when it proceeds from princes.
The sultan's qadi and close confidant, Baha’ al-Din, wrote of him:
Saladin's generosity was too public to need to be recorded and too famous to need to be recounted … in times of shortage he would be generous, just as he would in easy circumstances. The officials from the royal chest used to hide a certain amount of money from him as a precaution in case some crisis surprised them because they knew that if he learnt of it, he would spend it.
Baha’ al-Din provided a theological endorsement for such behaviour: ‘[The Prophet] (God bless him and give him peace) said: ‘When a generous man stumbles, God takes him by the hand. There are many hadiths concerning generosity.’
From these two comments it is clear that the lavish giving of gifts and rewards was a central element of Saladin's modus operandi, his character and his reputation. Gift-giving was a fundamental aspect of contemporary culture in both the Near East and Western Europe. Saladin, as the skilled and flexible operator that he was, adapted to this practice; he certainly embraced it and to some extent, may be said to have raised it to a new level. While, as William of Tyre observed, it was a way to exercise power, matters could go awry.
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- Syria in Crusader TimesConflict and Co-Existence, pp. 307 - 320Publisher: Edinburgh University PressPrint publication year: 2020