The Seventh Crusade against Egypt

Reasons for the Seventh Campaign
The prevailing idea in Europe since the middle of the twelfth century AD was that as long as Egypt maintained its strength and power, there was no way for the Crusades to succeed and to reclaim Jerusalem from the Muslims, who succeeded in reclaiming it from the Crusaders for a second time in 642 AH / 1244 AD at the hands of King Al-Salih Ayyub. The Franks rebuilt the citadel of Jerusalem after the death of King Al-Kamil in 635 AH, meaning they broke the terms of the treaty and truce between them and the Muslims that King Al-Kamil had signed with them in 626 AH / 1229 AD. The Muslims besieged it and conquered it, and destroyed the citadel in 637 AH / 1240 AD, meaning that it had remained in the hands of the Crusaders for about eleven years since Al-Kamil surrendered Jerusalem to them. This was the reason that led to the Seventh Crusade led by Louis IX against Egypt, a campaign for which the Christian West prepared in coordination between Pope Innocent IV and the French King Louis IX, and the religious council of Lyon witnessed the call for it in 646 AH / 1248 AD.

An alliance that did not happen
The campaign's goal was not only to recapture Jerusalem or to strike at Egypt, as it was an important military base and the key to Jerusalem. It also aimed for a far-fetched goal: to form a Christian-pagan alliance between the Crusaders and the Mongols, which would destroy the Ayyubid state in Egypt and the Levant on the one hand, and encircle and surround the Islamic world from the east and west on the other.
The papal plan was based on the Crusades attacking the Arab region from the shores of the Mediterranean, and starting their military program by occupying Damietta, the most important port in the eastern Mediterranean basin at the time. At the same time, the Mongol forces would advance from the east to launch their attack on the Islamic region. The barbaric Mongol forces had succeeded in invading the eastern side of the Islamic world.
Pope Innocent IV sent two embassies to the Mongols to achieve this goal, but they were not crowned with success. The Great Khan of the Mongols had other ideas. He sent a message to the Pope asking him to recognize his sovereignty and declare his submission to him and the kings of Europe. He even asked him to bring all the kings of Europe to his court to pay tribute, considering him the Great Khan of the Tatars and master of the entire world.
The failure of the Crusader-Mongol alliance project did not change anything. The Crusade set sail in the autumn of 646 AH / 1248 AD from the French port of Marseille to the island of Cyprus, and remained there for a period of time. Then it set sail from there in the spring of the following year, 647 AH / 1249 AD, and sailed towards the Egyptian coast after it had been well prepared. The number of its men reached about fifty thousand soldiers, at the forefront of whom were the brothers of the French king: Charles of Anjou and Robert of Artaud.

Preparation and equipment
Al-Salih Ayyub learned of the news of this campaign while he was in the Levant. He heard about the Crusader forces gathering in Cyprus and their preparation to invade and seize Egypt. He returned to Egypt despite his illness and began to arrange his military affairs.
When Al-Salih Ayyub learned that the city of Damietta would be the Crusaders’ preferred route to invade Egypt, he encamped his armies to the south of it in the town of “Ashmoum Tanah,” which is now called “Ashmoun al-Ruman” in northern Egypt. He ordered the city to be fortified and sent an army to it led by Prince Fakhr al-Din Yusuf, ordering him to encamp on its western coast to prevent the enemy from landing on the shore. He encamped there opposite the city, and the Nile was between him and it.
The Crusader fleet reached Egyptian waters off Damietta on the 20th of Safar 647 AH / June 1249 AD. The following day, the Crusaders landed on the western bank of the Nile. Skirmishes broke out between them and the Muslims, after which Prince Fakhr al-Din and his forces charged with protecting the city withdrew to the Sultan's camp at Ashmum Tanah.
When the people of Damietta saw the garrison withdraw, they fled in fear and panic, leaving the bridge that connected the western bank to Damietta standing. The Crusaders crossed it and occupied the city easily. Thus, Damietta fell into the hands of the forces of the Seventh Crusade without a fight.
Al-Salih Ayyub received the news of the fall of Damietta with a mixture of pain and anger. He ordered the transfer of a number of the fleeing knights and rebuked Prince Fakhr al-Din for his negligence and weakness. He was forced to move his camp to the city of Mansoura. Warships were stationed on the Nile towards the city, and groups of mujahideen who had fled from the Levant and the Islamic Maghreb flocked to the city.
The matter was limited to raids launched by Muslim fedayeen on the Crusader camp and kidnapping everyone they could get their hands on. They devised methods to do so that aroused astonishment and admiration. One such example was a Muslim mujahid hollowing out a green watermelon, putting his head inside it, and then diving into the water until he got close to the Crusader camp. Some of the fighters thought he was a watermelon floating in the water, but when he went down to collect it, the Muslim fedayeen snatched him and brought him as a prisoner. The processions of the Crusader prisoners multiplied in the streets of Cairo in a way that increased the enthusiasm of the people and raised the morale of the fighters to sky high.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian navy besieged the expeditionary forces and cut off their supply lines at Damietta. This situation continued for six months after the expedition's arrival, with Louis IX awaiting the arrival of his brother, Count de Poitiers, in Damietta. When he arrived, the king held a war council to devise a plan of attack, and they decided to march towards Cairo. Their forces left Damietta on Saturday, Sha'ban 12, 647 AH / November 20, 1249 AD, and their ships sailed alongside them on the Nile branch. A Crusader garrison remained in Damietta.

The death of King Al-Salih
While the Crusader campaign was in full swing, King As-Salih Ayyub died on the night of the fifteenth of Sha'ban in the year 647 AH / November 22, 1249 AD. His wife, Shajarat al-Durr, took over the affairs of state after concealing the news of his death, fearing a rift among the Muslims. At the same time, she sent a message to her stepson and heir apparent, Turan Shah, urging him to leave Hisn Kaifa, near the Iraqi border, and hasten to return to Egypt to ascend the throne, succeeding his father.
News of the death of King As-Salih Ayyub leaked to the Crusaders, so they began to move. They left Damietta and marched south along the eastern bank of the Nile to the Damietta branch, their ships moving alongside them in the Nile, until they reached the Ashmum Sea or Canal, known today as the “Little Sea.” On their right was the Nile branch, and in front of them was the Ashmum Canal, which separated them from the Muslim camps located near the city of Mansoura.
To continue the march, the Crusaders had to cross the Damietta branch or the Ashmum Canal. Louis IX chose the canal, and crossed it with the help of some traitors. The Muslims were unaware that the Crusaders had stormed their camp. Panic spread among the Egyptian soldiers, and the Crusaders, led by Robert Artois, stormed one of the gates of Mansoura. They succeeded in entering the city and began killing Egyptians right and left until their vanguard reached the gates of the Sultan’s palace itself. They spread out in the alleys of the city, where people began throwing stones, bricks and arrows at them.
While they were in this state, thinking that victory was in their hands, a reality and not an illusion, and their souls were reassured by this success and triumph, the Bahri Mamluks, led by “Baybars al-Bunduqdari”, attacked the Crusaders while they were in their ecstasy and arrogance, on the 4th of Dhul-Qi’dah 647 AH / the 8th of February 1250 AD. Their victory turned into defeat, and the Mamluks killed them extensively until they had almost wiped them out, including Count Artois himself.
The day after the Battle of Mansoura, Prince Faris al-Din Aktai, the commander-in-chief of the Egyptian army, held a council of war in which he showed his officers Count Artois's coat, believing it to be the king's. He announced that the king's death required an immediate attack on the Crusaders, justifying this by saying: "A people without a king is a body without a head, and there is no danger from it." Therefore, he announced that he would attack the Crusader army without hesitation.
At dawn on Friday, the 8th of Dhu al-Qi'dah 647 AH / February 11, 1250 AD, the Egyptian army began its attack on the Frankish camp, but King Louis was able to hold his ground after suffering heavy losses. Thus, the Second Battle of Mansoura ended. This was the battle after which the Crusaders realized that they could not remain in their positions, and that they had to withdraw to Damietta before it was too late.
Turan Shah and his plan
Not many days passed after this battle until Turan Shah arrived on the 23rd of Dhul-Qi'dah 647 AH / February 27, 1250 AD. He took command of the army and began to prepare a plan to force King Louis IX to surrender by cutting off the French line of retreat. He ordered several dismantled ships to be transported on camels and unloaded behind the Crusader lines in the Nile.
By this means, the Egyptian fleets were able to attack the Crusader ships loaded with provisions and food, seize them, and capture those on board. This led to a deterioration in the situation of the French, with famine occurring in their camp and diseases and epidemics spreading among the soldiers. Louis IX then asked for a truce and the surrender of Damietta in exchange for the Crusaders taking Jerusalem and some of the coastal lands of the Levant. The Egyptians refused this and insisted on continuing the jihad.
The Crusaders had no choice but to withdraw to Damietta under the cover of darkness. The king ordered the removal of the Ashmum Canal bridge, but they were hasty and forgot to cut the bridge. The Egyptians crossed it immediately on Wednesday, the 3rd of Muharram, 648 AH / April 1250 AD. They pursued the Crusaders and pursued them to Faraskur, besieging them from all sides and attacking them like a thunderbolt. They killed more than ten thousand of them and captured tens of thousands. Among the prisoners was King Louis IX himself, who was captured in the village of “Minya Abdullah” north of the city of Mansoura. He was transferred to the house of Judge Fakhr al-Din ibn Luqman, where he remained a prisoner. Harsh conditions were imposed on King Louis IX to redeem himself from captivity, including that he redeem himself with eight hundred thousand gold dinars, half of which he would pay immediately and the other half in the future as compensation for the damage he had inflicted on Egypt. Turan Shah was to keep the Crusader prisoners until… The remainder of the ransom was paid, along with the release of Muslim prisoners, the surrender of Damietta to the Muslims, a ten-year truce between the two sides, and a pledge not to return to Egypt again. Half the ransom was collected with difficulty, and King Louis IX was released and allowed to leave Egypt. He traveled to Acre and then returned to his country.

The Crusader historian Matthew Paris expresses the extent of the pain felt by the Crusaders after their defeat in Egypt, saying: “The entire Christian army was torn to pieces in Egypt, alas! It consisted of the nobles of France, the Knights Hospitallers, the Teutons of St. Mary, and the Knights of St. Lazarus.”

The Seventh Crusade was the last major crusade against Egypt, and the Crusaders were never able to recapture Jerusalem. This victory paved the way for the Bahri Mamluks, who bravely resisted the crusade, to establish their state on the ruins of the Ayyubid state in Egypt. Barely a month after this victory, the Mamluks killed Turan Shah and installed Shajar al-Durr as Sultana of Egypt. This marked the dawn of the era of Mamluk sultans in Egypt and the Levant.

Why We Were Great

The book (Unforgettable States) from the chapter on the Ayyubid State, written by Tamer Badr