Shortly after king Louis IX left the Holy Land in 1254, a civil war broke out between Venetian and Genoese merchants in the port city of Acre. Acre had replaced Jerusalem as the crusaders military headquarters ever since the loss of the Holy City to Saladin in 1187. During the course of the conflict, the Templars joined with the Teutonic Knights and the corporate powers of Genoa and Barcelona. This vicious battle known as the Saint Sabas War, may have been responsible for the deaths of as many as twenty thousand Christians between 1256 and 1260 AD.
This period was also filled with danger from the Mongol conquests under the leadership of Huelgu. The Mongols had issued threats to both the Templars and the Hospitallers in 1255. In 1258, Huelgu took Baghdad and in 1260, Aleppo fell, as did Damascus shortly thereafter. The Templars, Hospitallers, and Teutonic Knights sent representatives to Europe to raise funds and gather troops. For the fierce barbarity of the Mongols struck fear into the hearts of many, and caused panic and dread throughout all of Europe.
However, the more dangerous threat was closer to home. For in September 1260, the great Mameluke general Baibars defeated the Mongols at Ain Jalut, just south of Nazareth. Baibars murdered the Sultan of Egypt in October 1260 and seized the Mameluke throne. The Mameluke empire eventually included Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and other adjoining territories. In 1265, Baibars launched his offensive against Outremer. He took Caesarea, Haifa, and Arsuf. In 1266, he took Safed, and as soon as Baibars took control of the castle and captured the Templars, he gave them a choice: convert to Islam or death. The Templars chose death rather than to give up the cross. In 1268, Baibars took Beaufort, Antioch, Jaffa, Banyas, and Baghras, the first Templar castle in Palestine.
Pope Clement IV pleaded for help from all the European crowned heads. King Louis IX, now fifty-four years old and the father of eleven children, again answered the call of Christian duty. Louis left France for his second Crusade on July 1, 1270. He arrived at Carthage in Tunisia on July 17, where he contracted dysentery accompanied by fever and convulsions. On August 27 he died, whispering his last words, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem!”
Charles of Anjou took command of the Crusade after the death of Louis IX. The decision was made to withdraw from Carthage after a deal was negotiated with the Emir of Tunis to hand over Christian prisoners, guarantee freedom of worship in the city, and donate over 200,000 pieces of gold. After hearing of the death of Louis and the evacuation of the Crusaders from Tunis, Baibars canceled his plan to send Egyptian troops to fight Louis in Tunis. It was at this point that Edward I of England arrived in Africa, but the part was already over. The fleet sailed back to Sicily to regroup, but any plans to use the military force to make any gains were washed away along with most of the Crusader ships and 1,000 men due to a violent storm out at sea. Only Edward wished to continue on to the Holy Land, everyone else abandoned the Crusade, the most crushing failure of a long line of Crusader catastrophes.
Despite the failure, the Papacy did not abandon the idea of crusading. Edward I and his small force of 1,000 men, along with a regime of French knights, arrived at Acre in September 1271 AD marking the beginning of what is sometimes referred to as the Ninth Crusade. Edward arrived at Acre while it was still under siege, causing Baibars to change his plans and abandon Acre. However, the forces under Edward's command were much too small to take on the Mamelukes. Later, the arrival of additional forces from England and Hugh III of Cyprus under the command of Edward's younger brother Edmund, emboldened Edward. With more support he then launched a larger raid on the town of Qaqun.
Informed of Edward's activity, Baibars came to suspect there would be an attack on Egypt. After building a fleet, Baibars attempted to land on Cyprus hoping to draw Hugh III of Cyprus and his fleet out of Acre, with the plan of conquering the island and leaving Edward and the Crusader army isolated in the Holy Land. Baibars disguised many warships as Christian vessels and attacked Limassol. However, the fleet was destroyed off the coast of Limassol and Baibars and his army were forced back.
Following this victory, Edward realized that to create a force capable of retaking Jerusalem it would be necessary to end the internal unrest within the Christian state. So Edward mediated between Hugh and his knights from the Ibelin family of Cyprus. At the same time, price Edward and king Hugh began negotiating a truce with Baibars. In May 1272, at Caesarea, a 10-year-10-month-10-day agreement was made. In 1273 Edward began his journey home, via Italy and Paris. Edward finally reached England in the middle of 1274, and was crowned King of England on the 19th of August, 1274 AD. Back in the Levant, in 1291 AD, with the fall of Acre to the Mamelukes, the Latin East, established during the First Crusade, effectively and finally came to an end.
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).
