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Timeline Main Page Packrat Main Page
Eighth and Ninth Crusades: 1270 to 1291 in a nutshell:
Charles of Anjou and Edward I Longshanks give it one last try
Acre taken by the Moslems
Mamelukes drive Christians from Palestine
Kings of Jerusalem: Hugh I, Charles of Anjou, John II, Henry II
Byzantine Emperors: Michael VIII Palaeologus, Andronicus II
The Details:
1270 Jun - Louis IX sailed from Cagliari in Sicily to attack Tunis, landing on the African coast in July, a very bad time for landing, and much of the army became sick due to poor drinking water.
1270 Aug - Louis died from a "flux in the stomach" one day after the arrival of Charles of Anjou, King of Sicily, and after the death of his son, John Tristan. His dying word was "Jerusalem." Charles proclaimed Louis' son Philip III the new king, but due to his youth, Charles became the actual leader of the crusade.
1270 Oct - Charles makes an agreement with the sultan in Tunis, trade is allowed, Christian monks and priests are allowed residency. Meanwhile, King Edward I Longshanks of England arrives but continues on to Acre, along with Charles.
Ninth Crusade
1271 - Edward launches the Ninth Crusade, traveling to Tunis to meet Louis, too late. Edward continues to the Holy Land. Hugh I of Cyprus is now the nominal king of Jerusalem in Acre. Edward ends up simply mediating for Hugh and his knights from the Cyprus Ibelin family.
1272 - Edward heads home when his father, Henry III dies, and is crowned King of England. Charles remains behind and takes advantage of disputes between Hugh, the Templars and the Venetians to get Acre under control.
1282 - Michael VIII Palaeologus, Emperor of Constatinople dies, leaving the empire to his son, Andronicus II.
1284 - Hugh I died, Charles of Anjou ruling since 1277
1287 Oct 19 - Bohemond VII dies, Tripoli belongs to his sister Lucia, absent in Italy. The Barons of Tripoli offer the crown to Sybilla of Armenia, she installs Bishop Bartholomew, who is hated by the Templars. Lucia arrives to take her throne in 1288 backed by the Venetians and the Templars. A mysterious envoy of Christians ask Sultan Kalaun in Egypt to intervene, arguing Egyptain trade was about to be cut off. 10,000 Moslems take Tripoli in Mar 1289, Venetians evacuate to Cyprus. Almaric of Cyprus fled with the Templar marshal De Vanadac and Lucia, leaving Templar De Modaco who was slaughtered and Kalaun destroyed the city.
Christians attacked a Syrian caravan and killed 19 Muslim merchants. Venetians move to Acre, fight with the Moslems in a bloody mess, Moslems go home to complain to Kalaun. He demands the guilty be turned over, Venetians say no, long time ally Templar De Beaujeu says "yes, keep the peace" but is called a coward. Kalaun builds a war machine but dies before he can use it. His son, Ashraf Khalil, leads the attack in the April of 1291 with 160,000 men, De Beaujeu resigns before the battle starts, but soon dies in the battle.
"One evening the St. Lazarus Gate quietly opened and the silence was replaced with the hoof beats of 300 Templar war horses tearing off into the Moslem camp. Unfortunately the cover of darkness meant to provide cover did not provide the Templars with enough visibility to be effective. The horses tripped on tent ropes and the fallen Templars were slaughtered where they stood. The Hospitallers set out to show the Templars how to do the job and on another evening they charged off under the cover of darkness from the St. Anthony Gate to finish the job the Templars had started. This time the Moslems decided to throw a little light on the issue and set brush afire. The Hospitallers seeing there was no chance of success beat a hasty retreat back through St. Anthony's Gate eating a little crow on the journey. Thus ended the nightly forays into the sultan's camp." http://www.templarhistory.com/acre.html
Amalric and many others flee, the city falls save the Templar tower, held by Peter de Severy who agrees to a promise of safety. The Moslems enter and break their promise, the Templars close the door and the fighting is on again. In the night, Tibauld de Gaudin, the Temple's treasurer loads women, children and treasure onto a gallery and heads for Sidon.
The next morning, the Sultan offers apologies, Peter de Severy falls for it again, goes out of the tower and is beheaded. 2000 Moslems attack the tower and bring it down, killing both the remaining Templars and the attackers. De Gaudin learns he is the new Grand Master, heads for Cyprus and sends out word for help that never comes. The Hospitallers fled to Cyprus. Ironically, the Templars were the last to fight, yet they would be blamed for loss of the Holy Land.
1291 - Mamelukes - Muslem warriors from Egypt - drive Crusaders out of the Land of Israel. Arab speaking Muslims populate Jerusalem. The crusaders left Palestine for good when the Muslims captured Acre, but to protect themselves from ongoing raids the Turks depopulated and impoverished the coast of Palestine for hundreds of years.
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