Battle of Fariskur The Battle of Fariskur was the last major battle of the Seventh Crusade . The battle was fought on April 6 , 1250 , between the Crusaders led by King Louis IX of France ( later Saint Louis ) and Egyptian forces led by Turanshah of the Ayyubid Dynasty . Following an earlier Crusader defeat at the Battle of Al Mansurah , Fariskur resulted in the complete defeat of the crusader army and the capture of Louis IX . Background . With the full support of Pope Innocent IV during the First Council of Lyon , King Louis IX of France accompanied by his brothers Charles d ' Anjou and Robert d ' Artois launched the Seventh Crusade against Egypt . The aims of the crusade were to defeat Egypt , destroy the Ayyubid dynasty in Egypt and Syria and recover Jerusalem which the Muslims recaptured in 1244 . The ships entered the Egyptian waters and the troops of the Seventh Crusade disembarked at Damietta in June 1249 . Louis IX sent a letter to as - Salih Ayyub . Emir Fakhr ad - Din Yussuf the commander of the Ayyubid garrison in Damiette retreated to the camp of the Sultan in Ashmum - Tanah causing a great panic among the inhabitants of Damietta who fled the town leaving the bridge that connected the west bank of the Nile with Damiette intact . After occupying the Egyptian port of Damietta in June 1249 he decided to march to Cairo , encouraged by the arrival of reinforcement led by his third brother Alphonse de Poitiers and the news of the death of as - Salih Ayyub the Ayyubid Sultan of Egypt . The Franks succeeded in crossing the Canal of Ashmum ( known today by the name al - Bahr al - Saghir ) and launched a surprise attack against the Egyptian camp in Gideila , two miles away from Al Mansurah . The Egyptian troops in the camp , who were taken by surprise , retreated to Al Mansurah and the crusaders proceeded towards the town . The leadership of the Egyptian force passed to the Mamluk commandants Faris ad - Din Aktai , Baibars al - Bunduqdari who succeeded in reorganizing the retreating troops . Shajar al - Durr who was in full charge of Egypt agreed about the plan of Baibars to defend Al Mansurah . Baibars ordered the opening of a gate to let the knights of the crusaders enter the town . The crusaders rushed into the town that they thought was deserted to find themselves trapped inside . The crusaders were besieged from all directions by the Egyptian forces and the town ' s population and heavy losses were inflicted upon them . Robert de Artois ( brother of Louis IX ) who took refuge in a house and William of Salisbury were among those who were killed in Al Mansurah . Only five Knights Templar survived the battle . The crusaders were forced to retreat in disorder to Gideila where they camped within a ditch and wall . Early in the morning of February 11 , the Muslim forces launched an offensive against the Franks ' camp . For many weeks the Franks were forced to remain in their camp enduring an exhausting guerilla war . Many crusaders were captured and taken to Cairo . Battle . On February 27 , Turanshah , the new sultan , arrived in Egypt from Hasankeyf and went straight to Al Mansurah to lead the Egyptian army . Ships were transported overland and dropped in the Nile ( in Bahr al - Mahala ) behind the ships of the crusaders cutting the reinforcement line from Damietta and besieging the crusade force of King Louis IX . The Egyptians used Greek fire and destroyed and seized many ships and supply vessels . Soon the besieged crusaders were suffering from devastating attacks , famine and disease . Some crusaders lost faith and deserted to the Muslim side . King Louis IX proposed to the Egyptians the surrender of Damietta in exchange for Jerusalem and some towns on the Syrian coast . The Egyptians , aware of the miserable situation of the crusaders , refused the besieged king ' s offer . On April 5 , covered by the darkness of night , the crusaders evacuated their camp and began to flee northward towards Damietta . In their panic and haste they neglected to destroy a pontoon bridge they had set over the canal . The Egyptians crossed the canal over the bridge and followed them to Fariskur where the Egyptians utterly destroyed the crusaders on 6 April . Thousands of crusaders were killed and taken prisoner . King Louis IX and a few of his nobles who survived were captured in the nearby village of Moniat Abdallah ( now Meniat el Nasr ) where they took refuge . Louis IX surrendered to a eunuch named al - Salihi after he was promised he would not be killed and together with his two brothers Charles d ' Anjou and Alphonse de Poitiers he was taken to Al Mansurah where he was imprisoned in the house of Ibrahim ben Lokman , the royal chancellor , chained and under the guard of another eunuch named Sobih al - Moazami . King Louis ' coif was exhibited in Syria . < ref name = " Ibn Taghri , pp . 102 - 273 / vol . 6 " > Ibn Taghri , pp . 102 - 273 / vol . 6 < / ref > While the house of Ibrahim ben Lokman was used as a prison for Louis IX and the nobles , a camp was set up outside Al Mansurah to shelter thousands of war prisoners . Aftermath . The defeat of the crusaders and the capture of Louis IX in Fariskur created shock in France . The crusaders were circulating false information in Europe , claiming that King Louis IX defeated the Sultan of Egypt in a great battle and that Cairo had been betrayed into his hands . When the news of the French defeat reached France an hysterical movement called the Shepherds ' Crusade occurred in France . Louis IX was ransomed for 400 , 000 dinars . After he pledged not to return to Egypt again and surrendered Damietta to the Egyptians , he was allowed to leave on May 8 , 1250 to Acre with his brothers and 12 , 000 war prisoners , including some from older battles , who the Egyptians agreed to release . Many other prisoners were executed . Louis ' s queen , Marguerite de Provence , suffered from nightmares . The news ( the capture of her husband Louis ) terrified her so much , that every time she fell asleep , she fancied that her room was filled with Saracens , and she would cry out , " Help ! help ! " and left for Acre a few days earlier with her son , born in Damietta , who was called Jean Tristan ( John Sorrow ) . The National Day of Damiette Governorate on May 8 , marks the anniversary of the expulsion of Louis IX from Egypt in 1250 . Historical consequence . The Seventh Crusade met its end at Fariskur in 1250 , marking a historical turning point for all the regional parties existing on that time . Egypt defeated Louis ' s crusade and proved to be Islam ' s citadel and arsenal . The Seventh Crusade was the last major offensive undertaken by the crusaders against Egypt . The crusaders never could recover Jerusalem and the kings of Europe , except Louis IX , began to lose their interest in launching new crusades . But shortly after the battle of Fariskur , the Ayyubid Sultan Turanshah was assassinated at Fariskur itself and the Mamluks , the same victorious champions of Al Mansurah , became the new rulers of Egypt . The power map of the southern and eastern Mediterranean basin became divided among four main dominions : Mamluk Egypt , Ayyubid Syria , the Franks of Acre and Syrian Christian beach - heads and the Levantine Christian state of Cilician Armenia ] ] . While the Mamluks of Egypt and the Ayyubids of Syria turned into conflicting rivals , the Franks and the Cilician Armenians in addition to the Principality of Antioch were allied . The Mongols , who suddenly erupted out of the Eurasian Steppe , had their armies by 1241 riding westwards as far as the river Oder and the northeastern shore of the Adriatic ] ] and during the Battle of Fariskur they were penetrating deep into all adjoining regions . [ [ File : AscelinOfCremone . jpg | thumb | left | The pope sent emissaries to the Mongols . [ [ Ascelin of Lombardia receiving ( left ) and remitting ( right ) a letter to the Mongol general [ [ Baiju . ] ] The Western Christians and the Cilician Armenians always hoped to have a grand alliance with the Mongols against the [ [ Muslim world | Islamic World ] ] . The Cilician Armenians submitted themselves to Mongol suzerainty in 1247 , and in 1254 their King [ [ Hetoum I of Armenia | Hetoum ] ] visited the Mongols ' capital . In 1246 , [ [ Pope Innocent IV ] ] , who fully supported the Seventh Crusade against Egypt , sent his Franciscan emissary [ [ Giovanni da Pian del Carpine ] ] to the Great Khan of the Mongols in [ [ Karakorum | Qaraqorum ] ] to seek an alliance against the Muslims . However , he received a disappointing answer from [ [ Güyük Khan ] ] who told him that he and the kings of Europe should submit to the Mongols . In 1253 , after his defeat in Egypt , King Louis IX sent from Acre another emissary , the Franciscan friar [ [ William of Rubruck ] ] who accompanied him earlier in his Egyptian expedition , but the outcome of this trip was also not followed by effective action . [ [ File : 1260MongolConquestsLevant . jpg | 150px | left | thumb | The 1260 Mongol offensive reached the border of Egypt . ] ] In 1258 the Mongol army led by [ [ Hulagu Khan ] ] sacked Baghdad and liquidated the Abbasid Caliphate , then advanced to Syria and captured Damascus . The path to Egypt was then open . The Mongols sent a threatening message to Egypt asking it to submit to the Mongols . In 1260 an Egyptian army led by the Mamluks Sultan Qutuz and commander Baibars al - Bunduqdari - the same champions of Al Mansurah - annihilated a Mongol army at [ [ Battle of Ain Jalut | Ain Jalut ] ] . The commander of the Mongol army who was killed at the battle was [ [ Kitbuqa ] ] , a [ [ Nestorianism | Nestorian ] ] Christian who was accompanied by the Christian king of Cilician Armenia and by the Christian prince of Antioch . The Franks of Acre who stood neutral , and who were warned by Qutuz not to commit an act of treachery , gave passage to the Egyptian army . The triumphant army took Damascus and Syria became part of the Mamluks ' dominion . [ [ File : DisasterOfMari1266 . JPG | thumb | Baibars punished the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia in 1266 ] ] External links . [ [ Category : Battles of the Seventh Crusade | Fariskur ] ] [ [ Category : Battles involving Arab Egypt | Fariskur ] ] [ [ Category : Battles involving the Ayyubids ] ] [ [ Category : 1250 in Egypt ] ] [ [ Category : Conflicts in 1250 ] ]