A Short History of the Saracens: Being a Precise Account of the Rise and Decline of the Saracen

'Saracen' was a name employed by medieval writers to describe the Muslims of Syria and Palestine, and the Arab rulers of North Africa generally - especially those conquerors of Spain and Sicily, and the invaders of France. Later the name was applied to all those peoples against whom the crusades were preached, and it is with these events that the term 'Saracen is most popularly connected. Saladin, proclaimed sultan in 1174, was the most prominent leader of this period and in many ways he ca...