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A few months ago, i made a thread on a hypothetical victory for Saladin against the Third Crusade's forces at the Battle of Arsuf in 1191. I wanted to bump it, but, because of the red warning, i ultimately decided not to.
I originally thought Saladin would support the Seljuks of Rum due to religious sympathies, but, after reading a short essay on Issac Angelos' alliance with Saladin and remembering the tenuous infighting and diplomacy within the Levant during the time of the Crusades, i ended up changing my mind.
So, what if the Byzantine-Ayyubid Alliance against Rum and the Crusader states had been more successful, perhaps as a result of Saladin slaying Richard the Lionheart's forces at Arsuf?
I'd wager that Saladin would be capable of conquering most, or even all, of the now dying Crusader states. By the terms of his treaties with Byzantine Emperor Isaac, how would the Levant be partitioned? My guess would be Cilicia, Antioch and Laodicea getting annexed by the Byzantines, while Saladin annexes everything else.
The western European kingdoms who supported the Crusaders, however, would now be quite furious at Constantinople's betrayal. Would an earlier attack on Constantinople be in the cards, this time with the approval of the Pope?
Any further thoughts?
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