The endeavor of the Seventh Crusade began under the French king Louis IX. Louis was an intensely spiritual man, and was canonized as a saint of the Catholic Church twenty-seven years after his death. He brought a holy passion for the Crusades that seemed reminiscent of the victorious First Crusade. Louis' enthusiasm, sincerity, and piety allowed him to gain support for a new crusading effort. The Templars were instrumental in helping him organize and finance the Crusade. So, Louis set sail in August of 1248 AD, and thus began the Seventh Crusade.
Louis' armada stopped off at Cyrus and stayed on the island for eight months to resupply and make ready. The delay also allowed stragglers to join the main army from both Europe and the Middle East. In addition Louis would benefit from the contribution of the military orders based in the Levant, namely the Knights Hospitallers, Knights Templar, and Teutonic Knights. By the summer of 1249, the army was finally ready to begin the Crusade. Louis wrote to the Sultan of Egypt, boldly expressing his intention of not just taking back Jerusalem but of conquering all of Egypt and the Levant:
“I will assault your territory, and even were you to swear allegiance to the cross, my mind would not be changed. The armies that obey me cover mountains and plains, they are as numerous as the pebbles of the earth, and they march upon you grasping the swords of fate.”
Louis' Crusader army landed in Egypt in June of 1249, and met their first of many problems. The heavy and deep-bottomed sailing ships of the Europeans meant that the army could not easily disembark to the sandy beaches of Egypt, and so the knights were forced to wade their way to the shore. Meanwhile, al-Kamil had been busy reinforcing Damietta, the fortress city of the Nile Delta. As it turned out, the Crusaders captured Damietta with surprising ease. An added bonus was that because the garrison had fled in a panic, the cities fortifications remained intact. However, the Sultan's main army waited at a safe distance from Damietta. This was only the opening move of what would be a very long game.
The Ayyubid Dynasty was at this time led by al-Salih Ayyub, the second son of al-Kamil, the previous Sultan of Egypt. Like his father, al-Salih struggled to keep control of his territories due to rivalries between Muslim leaders and even Ayyubid princes. In addition, the Mongol Empire was rapidly expanding westwards and seemed unstoppable. Louis IX had made some diplomatic advances towards the Mongol khan hoping that he might make a usefully ally in pushing the Ayyubids out of Egypt and the Levant. But the Mongols were only interested in conquest, it made no difference to them whether the lands be in the control of Christians or Muslims.
In the Fall of 1249, al-Salih was dying at his camp at Mansourah on the Nile Delta. The people of Cairo were in a panic at the double blow of losing Damietta and now possibly their leader. Meanwhile, Louis was still waiting for an important military force belonging to his brother Alphonse, which did not arrive in Egypt until October. At this time the annual Nile flood was abating, and so the way to Cairo was open. Going against the advice of most of his nobles to wait out the winter in safety at Damietta, Louis ignored their warnings and set off for Cairo on the 20th of November in 1249 AD.
The Crusaders made very slow progress as they marched along the banks of the Nile. At this point, the end of November 1249, al-Salih died, succumbing to his illness. The officers, led by their commander Fakhr al-Din, then stepped in to smoothly continue the war against the Crusaders. In December, the Crusader army reached the canal separating them from Mansourah. On the other side of the canal were the armies of Fakhr al-Din, and the Mameluke general Baibars. The Muslims held the Crusaders in check until February of 1250, when part of the Christian force was able to cross the canal and attack the Muslim camp at dawn. Fakhr al-Din was killed as he jumped naked from his bath. The Crusaders continued on to Mansourah, where Baibars tricked them. His soldiers hid themselves within the walls of the town. The Crusaders stormed through the gates, where they were ambushed resulting in great casualties on the Christian side. Meanwhile, the rest of the army crossed the river and were attacked by the Egyptian force, where they also suffered a great loss of men.
By the end of February in 1250 AD, the new Sultan of Egypt, al-Mu'azzam Turan Shah, arrived at Mansourah along with vital supplies and reinforcements. The Crusaders, on the other hand, had no means of resupply, since their camp had been cut off from Damietta by a fleet of Muslim ships. Soon starvation and disease spread throughout their camp. Finally, on the 5th of April in 1250, Louis ordered a retreat. The Crusader army, greatly reduced by disease, starvation and constant attacks from the Ayyubid army, was virtually useless as an effective force. The remaining Crusaders surrendered, and the French king was captured. Louis was released on the 6th of May, but only after a large ransom was paid for himself, and for what remained of his army, and also the surrender of Christian held Damietta.
Once free from his Muslim captors Louis did not flee back to Europe in disgrace, but remained in the Middle East for four more years. During that time, he oversaw the re-fortification of his base at Acre, as well as the strongholds of Sidon, Jaffe, and Caesarea. Louis also created an innovative new force of 100 knights along with a regime of crossbowmen. Unlike previous knights, who were garrisoned at particular strategic cities or castles, this force was used wherever they were most needed to protect Latin interests in the Middle East. Eventually King Louis IX left the Holy Land in 1254 AD, officially bringing an end to the Seventh Crusade.
References:
Adduson, C.G. The Knights Templars. (Forgotten Books, 2012).
Haag, M. The Templars: History & Myth. (London, England: Profile Books, 2008).
Robinson, J.J. Dungeon, Fire & Sword. (Lanham, Maryland: The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group Inc., 2009).
Wasserman, J. The Templars and the Assassins. (Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions, 2001).
