Salah ah-Din.

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"Salah al Din Abu 'l-Muzaffer Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi"

From a prior blog entry of mine - - the Military Thoughts blog. Some time ago now!

"WHEN THE FIRST MANUAL OF CHIVALRY WAS WRITTEN, WITH EUROPEAN KNIGHTS IN MIND, SALADIN WAS THE ARCHETYPE OF THE CHIVALROUS WARRIOR!!! SUCH WAS THE IMPRESSION THIS MAN MADE UPON THE CRUSADER AND EUROPEAN KNIGHT!!"

AND - - from the much more recent blog entry "Nine", we have an intuitive appreciation that the nine persons listed as Worthies are all from the "western" or Judeo-Christian cultural/religious domain.

That is not to say that other cultures have NOT had persons "worthy" of consideration to the list of Worthies! Rather INDEED!! A number of cultural domains and religions OUTSIDE of the western world have produced persons, warriors and soldiers, adept on the battlefield but even beyond that - - having a nobility of being, personality, stature, gravitas far beyond the norm. Persons displaying chivalrous behavior on and off the battlefield, esteemed leaders of renown.

One such person of course was the Islamic warrior and ruler, Saladin. Famous MOST for his defeating the Christian Crusaders - - while extending to his foes a generosity in a pronounced manner on numerous occasions!!

Saladin to the Crusader represented the "text-book" example of a chivalrous knight, a man from outside the Christian world the archetype of the warrior/soldier/ruler of high moral integrity and repute!!

So great was the impression that Saladin made upon the Crusaders that when Dante Alighieri composed his epic poem, the "Divine Comedy", a special place of honor was set aside for the man [Saladin]!

"When Dante Alighieri compiled his great medieval
Who's Who of heroes and villains, the Divine Comedy,
the highest a non-Christian could climb was Limbo."

"Ancient pagans had to be virtuous indeed to warrant
inclusion: the residents included Homer, Caesar,
Plato and Dante's guide, Vergil. But perhaps the
most surprising entry in Dante's catalog of 'great-
hearted souls' was a figure "solitary, set apart.'"

"That figure was Saladin. It is testament to his
extraordinary stature in the Middle Ages that not
only was Saladin the sole 'modern' mentioned--he had
been dead barely 100 years when Dante wrote--but
also that a man who had made his name successfully
battling Christianity would be lionized by the
author of perhaps the most Christ-centered verse
ever penned."

Salah al Din Abu 'l-Muzaffer Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi!

I couldn't have said it better myself.

coolbert.

Nine!

This is coolbert:

Here is the type of stuff that interests Bert.

The Nine Worthies. A concept and listing from the Middle Ages. Chivalric and noble figures from ancient history.

"The Nine Worthies (les neuf preux) are nine historical, scriptural, mythological or semi-legendary figures who, in the Middle Ages, were believed to personify the ideals of chivalry."

Three persons each from three historical periods and cultural/religious domain [pagan, Jewish, Christian], exemplars of chivalry as that concept is understood.

As to the nine worthies consider:

Pagan:

* Hector.
* Alexander the Great.
* Julius Caesar.

Jewish:

* Joshua.
* David.
* Judas Maccabeus.

Christian:

* King Arthur.
* Charlemagne.
* Godfrey of Bouillon.

"As a group, the nine worthies represent all facets of the perfect warrior."

Comments:

* Hector and King Arthur are often referred to as "mythological figures". My perception is that they were REAL individuals capable of the deeds as attributed to them, perhaps on a more modest scale that what legend suggests, but still REAL warriors and leaders, military men both heroic and noble.

* It can be suggest that some of these chivalric persons [Caesar, Joshua], often as COMMANDERS conducted warfare that was almost or WAS genocidal in nature? Brutality was the order of the day then as it can be in modern times.

AND this too. Compile a list of MODERN military men that are exemplars of chivalry.

Off the top of my head, I can name five persons WORTHY of incorporation into a list of modern "Worthies":

* Saburo Sakai. Outstanding Japanese combat aviator from World War Two, chivalrously sparing the life of an opponent [Southerland] in the skies over Guadalcanal.

* Eugene Fluckey. American submariner and Medal of Honor [MoH] winner from the Second World War. Ran an orphanage in Portugal post-war.

* Bernhard Rogge. Captain of the German surface raider Atlantis. Renowned for his humane and civilized treatment of captured enemy sailors and civilians during World War Two.

* Norman Schwarzkopf. American combat soldier and commander of the allied coalition that was victorious in the First Gulf War. Noted for insisting on measures to minimize casualties among his own troops AND Iraqi civilians both.

* Leonard Cheshire VC. Famous English combat aviator from the era of World War Two. Greatly admired in England for his post-war charitable and philanthropic activities on behalf of the disabled.

WHO can come up with more likely candidates for inclusion into the ranks of MODERN "Worthies"?? I invite input from devoted readers to the blog.

coolbert.

Chivalry VIII.

This is coolbert:

For those that are interested, here is a series of entries from my previous blog, Military Thoughts, that deals with the topic of chivalry, modern and old. Even from the era of World War Two [WW2], there are some instances of chivalry? British naval personnel, vanquished in battle, on three occasions being awarded the Victoria Cross, UPON RECOMMENDATION OF THE GERMAN ADVERSARY, the latter observing and duly commenting upon!!

1. Chivalry I - - The Concept.

2. Chivalry II - - The Ideal.

3. Chivalry III - - Lewis.

4. Chivalry IV - - Saladin.

5. Chivalry V. - - The Thirty.

6. Chivalry VI - - Edward.

7. Chivalry VII - - Southerland/Sakai - - Conclusion.

coolbert.