He was very much like his brother and predecessor, Baudouin III,
          whom he succeeded when he was twenty-seven. His brother had all the
          talents to make a great king whereas Amalric, lacking in charm and
          ease of manner, was taciturn and unsociable, the latter probably
          caused by a slight stammer which embarrassed him. While his brother
          loved gambling, he himself loved women to a degree that made him
          notorious. However, he also had a healthy respect for money.
              To counter-act the threat of Nur ed-Din, he made sure of being on
          good terms with Manuel, the Byzantine Emperor. However, he also had
          designs on Egypt, then in a state of anarchy, as he feared that Nur
          ed-Din might try to take Egypt and then encircle the Franks of
          Outremer. However, Nur ed-Din made the first move, in April 1164, by
          sending an army under his most trusted general, Shirkuh, with the
          order to restore peace in Egypt by reinstating the ex-Vizier Shawar.
          In turn, the latter had to accept being Nur ed-Din's vassal. General
          Shirkuh took with him his newphew, Salah ed-Din, who would become
          known as Saladin. It took Shirkuh only a month to succeed as his main
          weapons had been speed and surprise. However, once reinstated, Vizier
          Shawar not only ordered Shirkuh to leave but refused to regard himself
          as anyone's vassal. But, Shirkuh refused to leave and instead occupied
          the city of Bilbeis, after which Shawar asked for Amalric's support.
          Only too pleased to assist, Amalric marched with an army to join in
          with the siege of Bilbeis. Then Nur ed-Din, to assist his general
          besieged in Egypt, attacked Antioch, thus forcing Amalric to hurry
          home. After this, General Shirkuh also left Egypt so that the only one
          to benefit from it all was Vizier Shawar.
              Two years later, when nothing within Egypt had improved, Nur
          ed-Din again ordered Shirkuh to invade Egypt. Amalric failed to
          intercept the Moslem army which was almost destroyed by an appalling
          sand-storm in the Sinai desert. Nevertheless, Amalric followed them to
          arrive in Egypt a few days later. Amalric and Vizier Shawar then made
          an alliance to defeat Shurkuh; but for a month nothing happened, while
          flies made life intolerable for Moslems and Franks alike. Then at last
          Amalric succeeded in crossing the Nile; but after an indecisive
          battle, Shirkuh went north to occupy Alexandria. After being besieged
          for several months, Shirkuh suggested a peace treaty with Amalric, who
          was also eager for peace as he wanted to return home. Saladin played a
          large part in the negotiations and so became highly esteemed by the
          Franks.
              However, Vizier Shawar then paid him protection money; and if only
          Amalric had been satisfied history would have been very different. But
          in October 1168 he marched across the Sinai intent upon conquering
          Egypt. After the conquest of Bilbeis, his soldiers went on a bloody
          rampage which shocked even the French. The Egyptians, especially the
          Copts, would at first have welcomed him, but were revulsed and
          consequently invited Shirkuh to take possession of Cairo. However,
          only a few weeks later Shirkuh died of over-eating and his position
          was taken by his nephew, Saladin, who would become the scourge of the
          Franks.
              Then in 1174 Nur ed-Din died, to be succeeded by an eleven-year-
          old son which caused chaos in the Moslem world. Eager to profit,
          Amalric set out to attack the city of Banyas south of Damascus; but
          before reaching it, the Governor of Banyas came to him offering an
          alliance against Saladin. This Amalric accepted and set out for home,
          but by the time he reached Jerusalem he was seriously ill with
          dysentery. He asked his native physicians to bleed him but they
          refused as they regarded him too weak for this treatment. Then he
          called in a French doctor who applied leeches at once and, a few days
          later on 11 July 1174, Amalric died.
 

Source: Leo van de Pas