1160. Aded. The Fatimite race had before this period sunk into such imbecility, that the Wizirs held the whole executive power. Shawûr, the _reigning_ Wizir, having been supplanted by the intrigues of Dargham, passed to Syria, to implore the assistance of Nûr-el-din, Sultan of Damascus[19]. In 1164 his request was complied with. Shirakûk, called Syracon by the Christian writers, and his nephew, the famous Salah-el-dîn, or Saladin, were sent to re-establish Shawûr, who soon finding his associates too powerful, formed an alliance with the Franks. Shirakûk however defeated all his projects; and in 1169 procured an order from the Chalîf Aded for the decapitation of Schawûr, with the robe and firmân of wizîr for himself. He died in the same year, and was succeeded by his nephew Saladin. 1171. Saladin obliges the Franks to evacuate Egypt. An enemy of the Fatimites, from religious schism, he omits the name of Aded, in the public prayers, and substitutes that of the Chalîf of Bagdad. Aded died on the 13th of September 1171; and in him terminated the dynasty of the Fatimites. His successors renounced the title of Chalîf, and assumed only that of Sultans. DYNASTY III. _The Aiûbite Sultans._ Salah-ed-din, son of Aiûb, a Kurd, usurped the title of Sultan of Egypt in 1174. Not contented with that sovereignty, he extended his views to Syria. In 1177 he is defeated at Ramlé by Rainaud de Chatillon. 1182. More success attended his arms in Syria; and next year he seized Amida in Mesopotamia, and forced Aleppo to a capitulation. 1187. Saladin gains over the Franks his famous victory at Hittîn: the Christian power falls, and Saladin becomes master of Jerusalem on the 2d of October. 1189. The Franks besiege Akka, or Ptolemais, which did not surrender till after it had been invested for two years. 1192. Saladin concludes a truce with Richard king of England. Akka and Yaffa were almost the only places left to the Franks. Saladin died on the 4th March 1193, aged only fifty-seven, leaving sixteen sons and a daughter. 1193. Malek-el-Azîz, second son of Saladin. He seized Damascus, and left to his brother only Samosata. 1198. Malek-el-Mansûr. His uncle Afdhal, prince of Samosata, was called by the Emîrs to rule the kingdom during the minority, by the title of Atabek. 1200. Adel-Seif-el-dîn, brother of Saladin, usurps the crown. 1209. The Franks penetrate into Egypt, and retire with considerable booty. Nine years afterward they returned, and seized the isle Pharos and Damiatt. 1218. Malek-el-Kâmel, son of Seif-el-dîn. The crusaders abandon Damiatt in 1221. 1228. Malek surrenders, by treaty, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Sidon, to Frederic II. the Emperor of Germany. 1239. Malek Adel deposed by his brother. 1240. Malek Salah. In 1244 he defeated the Franks and Syrians, who were about to penetrate into Egypt. 1249. St. Louis seized Damiatt; and in the same year Malek Salah died.