Mind-Benders of Jewish History
The Rambam was Saladin's court physician when Saladin took Jerusalem
The Rambam served as a physician to Saladin's court in Egypt, attending the sultan's chief secretary. So when Saladin captured Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187 — and once again permitted Jews to settle in the city — the Rambam, then about 49, was a physician inside the very regime that made it happen.
How we know
Rambam 1138–1204; court physician to al-Qadi al-Fadil (Saladin's vizier) from c. 1174. Saladin captured Jerusalem on 2 October 1187 and reopened it to Jewish settlement.
One of many fact-checked wonders across eight traditions at The Spring of Wisdom.