Saladin
c. 1137 – 1193 · 56 years · Cairo · Africa
Founder of the Ayyubid dynasty who retook Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187, admired even by his enemies for his chivalry.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 12th century
Portrait: Classical Numismatic Group (CNG) · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
Contemporaries around the world
Europe
- Averroes (Ibn Rushd) — philosopher, commentator on Aristotle, 11 years older
- Henry II — first Plantagenet, builder of the Angevin Empire and of common law, 4 years older
- Hildegard of Bingen — abbess, mystic and composer, 39 years older
- Philip II Augustus — king who took Normandy from the Plantagenets, 28 years younger
- John Lackland — King of England who sealed Magna Carta, 29 years younger
- Francis of Assisi — saint, founder of the Franciscans, 45 years younger
Eastern Europe & Russia
- Vsevolod the Big Nest — grand prince under whom Vladimir became the strongest power in Rus, 17 years younger
- Andrey Bogolyubsky — prince who moved the centre of Rus to Vladimir, 26 years older
- Yuri Dolgoruky — prince of Rostov-Suzdal, founder of Moscow, 38 years older
Middle East
- Richard the Lionheart — King of England, crusader, 20 years younger
- Tamar of Georgia — Queen of Georgia, 29 years younger
- Anna Komnene — Byzantine princess and historian, 54 years older
Africa
- Maimonides — philosopher, rabbi and physician, 1 year younger
Asia
- Genghis Khan — founder of the Mongol Empire, 25 years younger
- Minamoto no Yoritomo — first shogun of Japan, 10 years younger
- Jayavarman VII — King of the Khmer Empire, 15 years older
- Li Qingzhao — Song dynasty poet, 53 years older
The world in their lifetime
- 1163–1345 Notre-Dame de Paris begun — aged 26, Europe
- 1185 Prince Igor's campaign — aged 48, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1192–1333 First shogunate in Japan — aged 55, Asia