Baldwin IV became king at a time of increased factionalism and squabbling among nobility, a situation worsened by the growing power of Salāh al-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb, aka Saladin. Saladin, as Britannica says, was born in Damascus in either 1137 or 1138, and grew up interested more in religious studies than warfare. Starting in 1174, the exact year that Baldwin became king, Saladin set out to unite all the various Muslim nations in the Middle East, including Syria, Iraq, and Palestine. Saladin was intensely religiously zealous, which when combined with his reputed forthrightness, united Muslims under his rule.
Baldwin IV and Saladin met for the first time in combat that same year, 1174, when Baldwin was still only 13 years old — Saladin would have been in his mid-30s. Baldwin, proving his worth as a leader by not succumbing to his growing illness, and also proving a worthy foe for Saladin, led an attack on Damascus to draw Saladin away from Aleppo, as History of Yesteryear recounts. The maneuver frustrated Saladin to the utmost, and launched a rivalry between the two men that would last for years.
Ironically, Baldwin's leprosy may have contributed to his leadership. Leprosy was a horrifying, debilitating illness, it's true. But, those afflicted with it were seen, in some ways, to be touched by God and made "holy sufferers" like the Biblical figures Job or Lazarus, as Sky History says. This may have inspired Baldwin's troops, much like Saladin's zeal inspired his.
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