Who was the greatest military genius during the Crusades (1097-1291)? And Why?

Question

Was it Saladin or Richard Coeur de Lion? Or perhaps Baybars or even Godfrey de Bouillion?

Or may be another person? If so, then who? And why?

Answer 1

Saladin, the general of the muslims
watch kingdom of heaven first of all
second of all, Richard de Lion won hardly any battles
Godfrey and all of them did not make such am impact as Saladin
Saladin was generous and lenient, making him a good military genius

Answer 2

Reynaud de Chaillon
Because he understood that the Christians were financing the Muslim military- by the trade in spices and silk (which went from India/China via Egypt to Venice and Genoa)
Because he tried to eliminate this subsidy in trade- by getting hold of Akaba and building ships there, to estalish direct trade links with India, and also direct links with the Christian kingdoms of Sudan and Ethiopia
Which is why Saladin reacted so violently (the fact that Reynaud defeated him in battle might have some cause in that). Mind you- Saladin was quite smart too, but (later) more than evenly matched by Richard Lionheart

Answer 3

Saladin.

When he captured POWs he was a very lienant man. There are several stories about Englishmen and how Saladin treated prisoners humanly.

There were no butt pyramids, no lynchings, no Englishmen forced to wear fine silk panties, provided they exsisted in that time period, or forced to wear a turban on their head.

Majority of Saladin's batles were recorded by the humanly treated Englishmen. And, enjoyed there stay in Saladin's camps and traveled with him.

Go do some research on Saladin and you will find that it was Englishmen who told his tale of conquest.

Answer 4

We can only speculate between the known as the history books reveal little.
It is quite likly that people have been omitted for political reasons.

Answer 5

Check out what Wikipedia has to say about the Crusades:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crusades


and about the historical figures you mention:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saladin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Coeur_de_Lion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baybars

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godfrey_of_Bouillon

Answer 6

"Millitary genius" is a contradiction in terms.