Saladin annexes Aleppo

1183

After a carefully managed campaign of marriage, pressure, and siege, Saladin finally took Aleppo from the surviving Zengids. For the first time since Nur al-Din's death, the entire Muslim Near East was under one hand. The encirclement of the Crusader states was effectively complete. Saladin's control of both Cairo and Aleppo gave him the resources and strategic position to launch the campaign that would culminate in the reconquest of Jerusalem.