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Fall of Outremer
The Fall of Outremer describes the history of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from the end of the last European Crusade to the Holy Land in 1272 until the final loss in 1302. The kingdom was the center of Outremer—the four Crusader states—which formed after the First Crusade in 1099 and reached its peak in 1187. The loss of Jerusalem in that year began the century-long decline. The years 1272–1302 were fraught with many conflicts throughout the Levant as well as the Mediterranean and Western European regions, and many Crusades were proposed to free the Holy Land from Egyptian Mamluk control. The major players fighting the Muslims included the kings of England and France, the kingdoms of Cyprus and Sicily, the three Military Orders and Mongol Ilkhanate. Traditionally, the end of Western European presence in the Holy Land is identified as their defeat at the Siege of Acre in 1291, but the Christian forces managed to hold on to the small island fortress of Raud until 1302.
The Holy Land would no longer be the focus of the West even though various crusades were proposed in the early years of the fourteenth century. The Knights Hospitaller would conquer Rhodes from Byzantium, making it the center of their activity for two hundred years. The Mamluk sultanate would continue for another century.
The Eighth Crusade ended badly in 1270 and freed the Mamluks to continue to ravage Syria and Palestine. The Frankish fortresses soon fell, and the last major expedition, Lord Edward's Crusade, ended in 1272 and failed to free Jerusalem. There would be at least two planned crusades over the next decade but none that came to fruition, and two more planned before the final expulsion of the Franks from Syria in 1291. At the Second Council of Lyon in 1274, Gregory X, who had accompanied Edward I of England to the Holy Land, preached a new crusade to an assembly which included envoys from both the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Paliollogos and the Mongol Ilkhan Abaqa, as well as from the princes of the West. Many among the Western nobles took the cross. Gregory was successful in temporarily uniting the churches of Rome and Constantinople, and in securing Byzantine support for his new crusade, which reflected a general alarm at the plans of Charles I of Anjou. On 10 January 1276, Gregory X died and there was to be no crusade. Charles was able to resume his plans. In 1277, Maria of Antioch sold her claims to Charles who was then able to establish a presence in Acre, under the regency of Roger of San Severino. In 1278, he took possession of the Principality of Achaea. With these bases, he prepared for a new crusade, to be directed against Constantinople. His plans were disrupted by the War of the Sicilian Vespers and the coronation of Peter III of Aragon as king of Sicily which occupied him until his death in 1285. This was the last serious attempt at a crusade on behalf of the kingdom for two decades.
During the Eighth Crusade in Tunis, Mamluk sultan Baibars expected that he would have to defend Egypt against Louis IX of France. In order to weaken the Frankish position, he arranged for the assassination of a leading baron, the Lord of Tyre, Philip of Montfort. The Assassins in Syria had thrived despite the successful Mongol campaign against the Nizaris in Persia. They owed much to the sultan, who freed them from paying tribute to the Knights Hospitaller, and resented the Frankish negotiations with the Mongol Ilkhanate. At the behest of Baibars, the Assassins sent one of their operatives to Tyre. On 17 August 1270, pretending to be a Christian convert, the would-be assassin entered the chapel where Philip and his son John of Montfort were praying. Philip was mortally wounded, surviving long enough to learn that his heir was safe. His death was a heavy blow to the Franks as John lacked his father's experience and prestige.
The death of Louis IX on 25 August 1270 relieved Baibars of the obligation to assist Tunisian caliph Muhammad I al-Mustansir. In February 1271, he marched into Frankish territory towards the settlement of Safita where the Chastel Blanc stood, a major fortress of the Knights Templar. The Mamluk attack was briefly repelled but the garrison was ordered to surrender by Grand Master Thomas Bérard, and the defenders were allowed to retire to Tortosa. On 3 March 1271, Baibars marched on the huge Hospitaller fortress of Krak des Chevaliers. He was joined by contingents of the Syrian Assassins and the army of al-Mansur II Muhammad, emir of Hama. The Mamluks conveyed a forged letter from Grand Master Hugues de Revel directing the surrender of the garrison and on 8 April they capitulated and were allowed to travel to Tripoli. Krak des Chevaliers had defied even Saladin and it gave Baibars effective control of the approaches to Tripoli. He followed it up with the capture of Gibelacar Castle, falling on 1 May 1271.
Later in 1271, two Assassins were sent by Bohemond VI of Antioch to murder Baibars. The Isma'ili leaders that ordered the assassination were caught and agreed to surrender their castles and live at Baibars' court. Bohemond did not wish for Tripoli the same fate as Antioch and so he proposed a truce to Baibars. The sultan, sensing a lack of courage, demanded that he should pay all the expenses of his recent campaign. Bohemond refused the insulting terms, and Baibars then attacked the small fortress at Maraclea, built on a rock off the coast between Baniyas and Tortosa. Barthélémy de Maraclée, a vassal of Bohemond, fled the attack and took refuge in Persia at the court of Abaqa, where he pleaded with the Mongol Ilkhan to intervene in the Holy Land. Baibars was so furious at this attempt to bring his old nemesis into the equation that he directed the Assassins to murder Barthélémy.
In May 1271, Baibars offered Bohemond a truce for ten years, satisfied with his recent conquests. Bohemond accepted and the sultan returned to Egypt, pausing only to take Montfort Castle, belonging to the Teutonic Knights since 1220. The castle, first besieged in 1266, surrendered on 12 June after one week's siege and was demolished shortly thereafter. All the inland Frankish castles had now been captured. Baibars then sent a squadron of ships to attack Cyprus, having heard that Hugh III of Cyprus had left for Acre. His fleet appeared off of Limassol, but ran aground and its sailors were captured by the Cypriots.
Edward I of England had attempted to join Louis IX on the Eighth Crusade, but arrived in North Africa after the Treaty of Tunis had been signed. That treaty marked the end of the Louis' last expedition in 1270, freeing up troops that Baibars had planned to send into the theater. Edward proceeded on to the Holy Land to confront the Mamluks, beginning his Crusades, the last from the West.
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Fall of Outremer AI simulator
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Fall of Outremer
The Fall of Outremer describes the history of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from the end of the last European Crusade to the Holy Land in 1272 until the final loss in 1302. The kingdom was the center of Outremer—the four Crusader states—which formed after the First Crusade in 1099 and reached its peak in 1187. The loss of Jerusalem in that year began the century-long decline. The years 1272–1302 were fraught with many conflicts throughout the Levant as well as the Mediterranean and Western European regions, and many Crusades were proposed to free the Holy Land from Egyptian Mamluk control. The major players fighting the Muslims included the kings of England and France, the kingdoms of Cyprus and Sicily, the three Military Orders and Mongol Ilkhanate. Traditionally, the end of Western European presence in the Holy Land is identified as their defeat at the Siege of Acre in 1291, but the Christian forces managed to hold on to the small island fortress of Raud until 1302.
The Holy Land would no longer be the focus of the West even though various crusades were proposed in the early years of the fourteenth century. The Knights Hospitaller would conquer Rhodes from Byzantium, making it the center of their activity for two hundred years. The Mamluk sultanate would continue for another century.
The Eighth Crusade ended badly in 1270 and freed the Mamluks to continue to ravage Syria and Palestine. The Frankish fortresses soon fell, and the last major expedition, Lord Edward's Crusade, ended in 1272 and failed to free Jerusalem. There would be at least two planned crusades over the next decade but none that came to fruition, and two more planned before the final expulsion of the Franks from Syria in 1291. At the Second Council of Lyon in 1274, Gregory X, who had accompanied Edward I of England to the Holy Land, preached a new crusade to an assembly which included envoys from both the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Paliollogos and the Mongol Ilkhan Abaqa, as well as from the princes of the West. Many among the Western nobles took the cross. Gregory was successful in temporarily uniting the churches of Rome and Constantinople, and in securing Byzantine support for his new crusade, which reflected a general alarm at the plans of Charles I of Anjou. On 10 January 1276, Gregory X died and there was to be no crusade. Charles was able to resume his plans. In 1277, Maria of Antioch sold her claims to Charles who was then able to establish a presence in Acre, under the regency of Roger of San Severino. In 1278, he took possession of the Principality of Achaea. With these bases, he prepared for a new crusade, to be directed against Constantinople. His plans were disrupted by the War of the Sicilian Vespers and the coronation of Peter III of Aragon as king of Sicily which occupied him until his death in 1285. This was the last serious attempt at a crusade on behalf of the kingdom for two decades.
During the Eighth Crusade in Tunis, Mamluk sultan Baibars expected that he would have to defend Egypt against Louis IX of France. In order to weaken the Frankish position, he arranged for the assassination of a leading baron, the Lord of Tyre, Philip of Montfort. The Assassins in Syria had thrived despite the successful Mongol campaign against the Nizaris in Persia. They owed much to the sultan, who freed them from paying tribute to the Knights Hospitaller, and resented the Frankish negotiations with the Mongol Ilkhanate. At the behest of Baibars, the Assassins sent one of their operatives to Tyre. On 17 August 1270, pretending to be a Christian convert, the would-be assassin entered the chapel where Philip and his son John of Montfort were praying. Philip was mortally wounded, surviving long enough to learn that his heir was safe. His death was a heavy blow to the Franks as John lacked his father's experience and prestige.
The death of Louis IX on 25 August 1270 relieved Baibars of the obligation to assist Tunisian caliph Muhammad I al-Mustansir. In February 1271, he marched into Frankish territory towards the settlement of Safita where the Chastel Blanc stood, a major fortress of the Knights Templar. The Mamluk attack was briefly repelled but the garrison was ordered to surrender by Grand Master Thomas Bérard, and the defenders were allowed to retire to Tortosa. On 3 March 1271, Baibars marched on the huge Hospitaller fortress of Krak des Chevaliers. He was joined by contingents of the Syrian Assassins and the army of al-Mansur II Muhammad, emir of Hama. The Mamluks conveyed a forged letter from Grand Master Hugues de Revel directing the surrender of the garrison and on 8 April they capitulated and were allowed to travel to Tripoli. Krak des Chevaliers had defied even Saladin and it gave Baibars effective control of the approaches to Tripoli. He followed it up with the capture of Gibelacar Castle, falling on 1 May 1271.
Later in 1271, two Assassins were sent by Bohemond VI of Antioch to murder Baibars. The Isma'ili leaders that ordered the assassination were caught and agreed to surrender their castles and live at Baibars' court. Bohemond did not wish for Tripoli the same fate as Antioch and so he proposed a truce to Baibars. The sultan, sensing a lack of courage, demanded that he should pay all the expenses of his recent campaign. Bohemond refused the insulting terms, and Baibars then attacked the small fortress at Maraclea, built on a rock off the coast between Baniyas and Tortosa. Barthélémy de Maraclée, a vassal of Bohemond, fled the attack and took refuge in Persia at the court of Abaqa, where he pleaded with the Mongol Ilkhan to intervene in the Holy Land. Baibars was so furious at this attempt to bring his old nemesis into the equation that he directed the Assassins to murder Barthélémy.
In May 1271, Baibars offered Bohemond a truce for ten years, satisfied with his recent conquests. Bohemond accepted and the sultan returned to Egypt, pausing only to take Montfort Castle, belonging to the Teutonic Knights since 1220. The castle, first besieged in 1266, surrendered on 12 June after one week's siege and was demolished shortly thereafter. All the inland Frankish castles had now been captured. Baibars then sent a squadron of ships to attack Cyprus, having heard that Hugh III of Cyprus had left for Acre. His fleet appeared off of Limassol, but ran aground and its sailors were captured by the Cypriots.
Edward I of England had attempted to join Louis IX on the Eighth Crusade, but arrived in North Africa after the Treaty of Tunis had been signed. That treaty marked the end of the Louis' last expedition in 1270, freeing up troops that Baibars had planned to send into the theater. Edward proceeded on to the Holy Land to confront the Mamluks, beginning his Crusades, the last from the West.