Battle of Al Mansurah
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| Battle of Al Mansurah | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Seventh Crusade | |||||||
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| Combatants | |||||||
| Ayyubid | Crusaders | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Emir Fakr ed-din | Saint Louis | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 70,000 | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties | |||||||
| Unknown | + 15,000 | ||||||
Seventh Crusade |
|---|
| Damietta – Al Mansurah – Fariskur |
The Battle of Al Mansurah was fought on February 8, 1250 between the French Crusaders led by Louis IX and an Ayyubid army led Emir Fakr-ed-din.
Contents |
[edit] Background
[edit] Battle
The French had been moving towards Cairo after capturing the town on Damietta. Here they met the Ayyubid army of 70,000 at Ashmoun Canal by the town of al-Mansurah. This is the same spot where the Fifth Crusade had met earlier defeat. After a standoff of six weeks, a local Coptic Christian showed the Crusaders a way to cross the canal and in a surprise attack they routed the Egyptians still in their encampment. The French chose to follow the fleeing Egyptians to al-Mansurah despite the lack of reinforcements. Mamlukes, including Baibars al-Bunduqdari, were brought to the battle scene and inflicted heavy casualties on the French who were pushed back northward till Fariskur where they were decimated. The Egyptians successfully cut the reinforcement line from Damietta to the besiged French troops. The French lost a big number of ships and were not able to run back to Damietta. Robert of Artois (brother of Louis IX) and William of Salisbury (leading an English force) were both killed along with most of the Knights Templar.
[edit] Aftermath
Between fifteen and thirty thousand of the French fell on the battlefield and many were taken prisoners. Louis IX of France was captured in a nearby village ( Monyah Abdullah ), chained and confined in the house of Ibrahim ben Lokman, secretary to the sultan, and under the guard of an eunuch named Sahil. The king's brother was made prisoner at the same time, and carried to the same house. The sultan provided for their subsistence. Louis IX was ransomed for 400.000 dinars.
The name of al-Mansurah ( Arabic: the Victorious ) apparently dates from this battle. The house, which is now the only museum in Al Mansurah, is open to the public and houses articles that used to belong to the French monarch, including his personal thirteenth century toilet.
[edit] References
- al-Maqrizi, the Ayyubid and Mameluke Rulers
