Despite the failure of the Seventh Crusade, Saint Louis’ mysticism drove him to initiate the Eighth Crusade, which would also be the last. While the Crusades had been primarily undertaken by papal decree, the repeated failures of Innocent III seemed to deal a fatal blow to Rome’s influence over these military pilgrimages. Frederick II’s crusade, despite his excommunication, managed to recover Jerusalem through a treaty, which is a notable example. This is the model Louis IX wished to follow when he left Aigues-Mortes in the summer of 1270. Fifteen thousand crusaders landed near Carthage in Tunisia, only to be struck down by dysentery and typhus. This failure would mark the end of the great Crusades.
Context of the Eighth and Final Crusade
The departure of Frederick II left the Latin states in a concerning state of instability, despite the Treaty of Jaffa and the restoration of Jerusalem and several other territories, which had temporarily restored some cohesion to the kingdom. Frederick’s good relations with the Ayyubids were not welcomed by local barons, particularly the military religious Orders, especially the Templars. Tensions escalated between the Syrian barons, allied with the regent of Cyprus, John of Ibelin, and Frederick’s supporters, such as Ricardo Falengieri, who was forced to leave Tyre in 1243. New crusaders arrived in 1239; since Frederick II’s crusade was not legitimate due to his excommunication and the fact that he had recovered Jerusalem without fighting, Honorius III’s call for a crusade remained valid.
Initially led by the Count of Champagne, Thibaud IV, and later by Richard of Cornwall, this new crusade was a failure. Thibaud, supported by the Templars, fought and then attempted to negotiate with Damascus for the return of certain Galilean cities in exchange for an alliance against the Sultan of Egypt. He then negotiated with the Sultan for the release of Frankish prisoners! He made his pilgrimage to Jerusalem and departed Acre again on September 15, 1240. Richard, a relative of Frederick II, followed his policy by negotiating with the Ayyubid sultan to renew the truce signed in 1229. The Latins recovered some additional regions, but the situation was no better, and the security of the “new” Kingdom of Jerusalem was far from assured.
Loss of the Holy City
Internal conflicts continued to plague the Ayyubid dynasty, which was increasingly threatened from both within and outside. A new peril emerged from the East: the Mongols! They pushed various peoples towards the Mediterranean, including the Khwarezmians (or Korasmians), who hailed from the Caspian Sea region. Sultan al-Salih decided to use them against his enemies, particularly the crusaders. He sent them to Jerusalem, which had been left almost defenseless by Frederick II and his successors. The city fell on August 23, 1244!
Worse still, the majority of the Frankish army was destroyed on October 17 of the same year by a combined force of Egyptians and Khwarezmians. The sultan, continuing his momentum, eliminated his rival in Damascus and reclaimed most of the regions previously ceded to the Franks. Acre was directly threatened, and divisions among the Latin states were worse than ever.
Louis IX Decides to Take the Cross
The Capetian king reportedly decided to take the cross in 1244 if he survived an illness. However, in Europe, the problems of the East and the ideal of a crusade seemed quite distant. The conflict between the Empire and the pope had resumed with renewed intensity, and England was also plagued by divisions and disputes against Henry III. Innocent IV did call for a crusade in 1245, but Louis IX had already made his decision independently, despite his mother Blanche of Castile’s objections.
For the future saintly king, it was a matter of upholding his ideals of chivalry and piety, and nothing would prevent him from fulfilling his promise. Saint Louis sought to revive the spirit of the crusade as a penitential pilgrimage, far from the “imperialist” excesses that had characterized most previous expeditions. He also benefited from the good health of his kingdom, which was peaceful and wealthy, and his preparation went smoothly. This crusade would be exclusively French.
Louis IX in the Holy Land
A port was built at Aigues-Mortes specifically for the crusade’s departure, which took place on August 25, 1248. The crusading fleet sailed to Cyprus, arriving in mid-September, where the king organized his army for an attack on Egypt. Once again, the crusaders managed to capture Damietta on June 6, 1249. The Muslims were caught off guard, but it was decided to wait for reinforcements before advancing on Cairo to deliver the final blow. Fortunately, the Ayyubid sultan died, which demoralized the Egyptians and prompted them to negotiate.
However, as in the Fifth Crusade, the crusaders rejected the offers, including one that would have returned Jerusalem once again! The French army then advanced towards Mansourah at the end of 1249 but encountered difficulties crossing the Nile. Violent battles ensued, including those at Mansourah, where Robert of Artois, Louis IX’s brother, was slaughtered along with his knights on February 8, 1250, by the Mamluks, commanded by a certain Baybars. The Egyptians had regrouped under Sultan Turan Shah, cutting off the crusader army from Damietta. The king ordered a retreat and finally surrendered on April 6, 1250; he was taken prisoner.
Negotiations led to his release a month later in exchange for a large ransom. In the meantime, the Ayyubids had been overthrown by the Mamluks (in Egypt; they still controlled Syria), their former slave soldiers. The Franks were forced to evacuate Damietta, but the sultan granted them the borders of 1248 in the Holy Land. Upon his release, Louis IX did not return to his kingdom but went to Acre, determined to fulfill his crusading duty. To this end, he worked to stabilize the political situation in the Latin states and fortified weakened strongholds. However, the Capetian king was less adept at international diplomacy, failing to capitalize on the divisions between the Ayyubids of Syria and the Mamluks of Egypt, and was unable to prevent their rapprochement at the behest of the caliph of Baghdad in the face of the Mongol threat. He left Acre on April 24, 1254, convinced he had done his best for the Holy Land.
The “Holy King” Dies on Crusade
The Eighth Crusade is primarily known for its tragic ending: the death of Louis IX. The circumstances that led to this new military pilgrimage are less clear. In the East, the Mamluks, led by Baybars, were attacking the weakened Latin states, but no one in the West seemed to heed their call for help. In the Mediterranean, rivalries between the Italian cities, as well as the ambitions of the Angevins (including Charles, the Capetian’s brother) against the reconstituted Byzantine Empire, effectively put the issue of the Holy Land on hold.
Perhaps for this reason, and to redeem the failure of his previous attempt, Louis IX once again took the cross in 1267, despite the opposition of his advisers. This time, he had limited support from some of his neighbors, such as Prince Edward of England and James I of Aragon; there was even talk of potential assistance from the Mongols of Persia.
The departure took place on July 2, 1270, once again from Aigues-Mortes. But the objective had already shifted—it was no longer Egypt! This change of direction can be explained by the complex relations between Louis IX and his brother, Charles of Anjou. Charles, the King of Sicily, had his sights set on the Byzantine Empire, and an expedition to Egypt could have undermined his plans. It seems a compromise was reached between the two brothers: an expedition against the Hafsids could be considered a crusade without fundamentally jeopardizing a later attack on Egypt. Moreover, the Emir of Tunis himself had allegedly requested baptism!
By July 18, the army landed without trouble in the region of ancient Carthage, but an epidemic devastated the forces. The king himself became one of the victims, dying on August 25! The siege of Tunis could not continue, and reports suggested that Mamluk reinforcements were being sent by Baybars. Even though the Muslim camp was captured on September 24, Charles of Anjou—who had taken command—decided to return to Sicily in November after signing a treaty with the Emir (who did not convert).
End of the Major Crusades
Yet, this was not the end of the crusade: first, James I of Aragon sent a fleet to Aigues-Mortes, then to Acre, but his crusaders were defeated by Baybars near Acre. Prince Edward of England had sent an army to Tunis just before the treaty between Charles and the Emir, but despite the withdrawal from Tunisia, he did not give up and went to Acre. This too ended in failure, with only a few raids, and he had to return to England in 1272.
The outcome of Saint Louis’s crusades was thus a failure, both militarily and politically. This failure marked the end of the “great” crusades, those led by Western monarchs or formally ordered by the Pope. The ideal of the crusade became nothing more than a memory. However, for the Capetian king, despite the disaster, it was an opportunity to demonstrate his sincere faith and devotion, which contributed significantly to his rapid canonization in 1297.