Eighth Crusade The Eighth Crusade was a crusade launched by Louis IX , King of France , in 1270 . The Eighth Crusade is sometimes counted as the Seventh , if the Fifth and Sixth Crusade s of Frederick II are counted as a single crusade . The Ninth Crusade is sometimes also counted as part of the Eighth . Louis was disturbed by events in Syria , where the Mamluk sultan Baibars had been attacking the remnant of the Crusader states . Baibars had seized the opportunity after a war pitting the cities of Venice and Genoa against each other ( 1256 – 1260 ) had exhausted the Syrian ports that the two cities controlled . By 1265 Baibars had captured Nazareth , Haifa , Toron , and Arsuf . Hugh III of Cyprus , nominal king of Jerusalem , landed in Acre to defend that city , while Baibars marched as far north as Armenia , which was at that time under Mongol control . These events led to Louis ' call for a new crusade in 1267 , although there was little support this time ; Jean de Joinville , the chronicler who accompanied Louis on the Seventh Crusade , refused to go . Louis was soon convinced by his brother Charles of Anjou to attack Tunis first , which would give them a strong base for attacking Egypt , the focus of Louis ' previous crusade as well as the Fifth Crusade before him , both of which had been defeated there . Charles , as King of Sicily , also had his own interests in this area of the Mediterranean . The Khalif of Tunis , Muhammad I al - Mustansir , also had connections with Christian Spain and was considered a good candidate for conversion . In 1270 Louis landed on the African coast in July , a very unfavourable season for landing . Much of the army became sick because of poor drinking water , his Damietta born son John Sorrow died on 3 August and on 25 August Louis himself died from a " flux in the stomach " , one day after the arrival of Charles . His dying word was " Jerusalem . " Charles proclaimed Louis ' son Philip III the new king , but because of his youth Charles became the actual leader of the crusade . Because of further diseases the siege of Tunis was abandoned on 30 October by an agreement with the sultan . In this agreement the Christians gained free trade with Tunis , and residence for monks and priests in the city was guaranteed , so the crusade could be regarded as a partial success . After hearing of the death of Louis and the evacuation of the crusaders from Tunis , Sultan Baibars of Egypt cancelled his plan to send Egyptian troops to fight Louis in Tunis . Charles now allied himself with Prince Edward of England , who had arrived in the meantime . When Charles called off the attack on Tunis , Edward continued on to Acre , the last crusader outpost in Syria . His time spent there is often called the Ninth Crusade . Attendant literature . Bertran d ' Alamanon , a diplomat in the service of Charles of Anjou , and Ricaut Bonomel , a Templar in the Holy Land , both composed songs around 1265 . Bertran criticised the decline of Christianity in Outremer , while Bonomel criticised the Papal policy of pursuing wars in Italy with money that should have gone overseas . The failure of the Eighth Crusade , like those of its predecessors , caused a response to be crafted in Occitan poetry by the troubadours . The death of Louis of France especially sparked their creative output , notable considering the hostility which the troubadours had had towards the French monarchy during the Albigensian Crusade . Three " planh s " , songs of lament , were composed for the death of Louis IX . Guilhem d ' Autpol composed " Fortz tristors es e salvaj ' a retraire " for Louis . Raimon Gaucelm de Bezers composed " Qui vol aver complida amistansa " to celebrate the preparations of the Crusade in 1268 , but in 1270 he had to compose " Ab grans trebalhs et ab grans marrimens " in commemoration of the French king . Austorc de Segret composed " No sai quim so , tan sui desconoissens " , a more general Crusading song , that laments Louis but also that either God or Satan is misleading Christians . He also attacks Louis ' brother Charles , whom he calls the " caps e guitz " ( head and guide ) of the infidels , because he convinced Louis to attack Tunis and not the Holy Land , and he immediately negotiated a peace with the Muslims after Louis ' death . After the Crusade , the aged troubadour Peire Cardenal wrote a song , " Totz lo mons es vestitiz et abrazatz " ( more or less : the entire world is besieged and surrounded [ by falsehood ] ) , encouraging Louis ' heir , Philip III , to go to the Holy Land to aid Edward Longshanks . Satiric verses were composed in Tunis about Louis ' new plan to invade Tunis : " O Louis , Tunis is the sister of Egypt ! thus expect your ordeal ! you will find your tomb here instead of the house of Ibn Lokman ; and the eunuch Sobih will be here replaced by Munkir and Nakir . " . Varia . Saint Louis founded the Order of the Ship and the Mussel to commemorate this cruisade . But , as he died in Tunis during the cruisade , the order didn ' t survive him long .