The challenge is simple, yet awesome. Produce a scenario by which Richard the Lionheart and Saladin join forces against the Mongols.
The timing of Genghis Khan's invasions isn't quite right, but it's not far off. So what if the Mongols had gotten started 20 or 30 years earlier? What if, in the midst of the Third Crusade, word had reached the Holy Land of a Mongol horde taking Baghdad (or maybe just attacking it)? Could Richard the Lionheart and Saladin - men who, by all accounts, respected one another - have joined forces to defend the Holy Land against pagans? Could they have won? What might the impact have been? And exactly how awesome would the sight of Crusaders and Saracens against Mongols have been?
The timing of Genghis Khan's invasions isn't quite right, but it's not far off. So what if the Mongols had gotten started 20 or 30 years earlier? What if, in the midst of the Third Crusade, word had reached the Holy Land of a Mongol horde taking Baghdad (or maybe just attacking it)? Could Richard the Lionheart and Saladin - men who, by all accounts, respected one another - have joined forces to defend the Holy Land against pagans? Could they have won? What might the impact have been? And exactly how awesome would the sight of Crusaders and Saracens against Mongols have been?