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===Letters and embassies (1266-1268)=== [[Image:Papst Clemens IV.jpg|thumb|The French [[Pope Clement IV]] sent an ambassador to the Mongols in 1267.]] In the 1260s, the Mamluks were extending their conquests in Syria, putting the Syrian Franks in a difficult situation. In 1266 [[Pope Clement IV]] was considering an alliance with the Mongols, although he famously explained that, in spite of the fact that the Mongols were allies against the Sarazins, they could not benefit from the "Crusade indulgence", as they were not Christians.<ref>Jean Richard, p. 435</ref> His October 1, 1266, bull famously mentions the help of the Mongols against the Muslims: {{quote|"''Contra Saracenos adjuvantibus Tartaris''"<br>("With the help of the Mongols, against the [[Saracens]]")|Reg.Clem.IV, No. 1131, 1 Oct. 1266.<ref>Quoted in Jackson, Note 14, p.187</ref>}} In preparation for the [[Eighth Crusade]] (the second of [[Louis IX]]), letters about coordinated operations were again exchanged between [[Pope Clement IV]] and the Mongols. Abaqa sent an embassy in late 1266 or early 1267 to Pope Clement IV and [[Jaime I of Aragon]], who had already taken the cross for the Eighth Crusade against Egypt. In 1267, Pope Clement IV and James I of Aragon responded by sending an ambassador to the Mongol ruler Abaqa in the person of [[Jayme Alaric de Perpignan]].<ref>Runciman, p330-331</ref> In his 1267 letter from [[Viterbo]], the Pope wrote: {{quote|"The kings of France and [[Navarre]], taking to heart the situation in the [[Holy Land]], and decorated with the [[Christian cross|Holy Cross]], are readying themselves to attack the enemies of the Cross. You wrote to us that you wished to join your father-in-law (the Greek emperor [[Michael VIII Palaiologos]]) to assist the Latins. We abundantly praise you for this, but we cannot tell you yet, before having asked to the rulers, what road they are planning to follow. We will transmit to them your advice, so as to enlighten their deliberations, and will inform your Magnificence, through a secure message, of what will have been decided."|1267 letter from Pope Clement IV to Abaqa<ref>Quoted in Grousset, p.644</ref>}} Abaqa again sent a letter and an embassy accompanied by Jayme Alaric and an envoy of the Byzantine Emperor [[Michael VIII Palaeologus]] in the summer of 1268, explaining that he had sent troops under his brother Ejei to assist the Christians, possibly in response to the recent [[Siege of Antioch (1268)|Loss of Antioch]] in May, with the mission of joining with the army promissed by the Pope as well as [[James of Aragon]] and the Byzantine Emperor to defeat the Mamluks.<ref>Reuven-Amitai, "Mongols and Mamluks", p.97</ref> Pope Clement welcomed Abaqa's proposal in a non-committal manner, but did inform him of an upcoming Crusade. The embassy then met with James of Aragon, who wrote down in a note that the Mongols would give him supplies and provide assistance should he disembark in the Levant. These contacts gave a new impetus to James' plans for a Crusade, and in September 1269 he sailed with a large fleet in what would become the Aragonese Crusade.<ref>Reuven-Amitai, "Mongols and Mamluks", p.97</ref> The embassy further endeavoured to meet with [[Louis IX of France|Louis IX]], who had just taken the cross, but while in [[Genoa]] encountered an embassy from [[Baibars]] in the city's main square, leading to a full-blown skirmish.<ref>All information in this paragraph from Jackson, p.167</ref> ====Cooperation during the Aragonese Crusade (1269)==== The crusade initiated by James I of Aragon met with a huge storm. Most of the fleet to return, except for a small force under the King's two bastards Fernando Sanchez and Pedro Fernandez, which arrived in Acre in December 1269. At that time, Abaqa had to face an invasion in [[Khorasan]] by fellow Mongols from [[Turkestan]], and could only commit a small force on the Syrian frontier from October 1269, only capable of brandishing the threat of an invasion.<ref name=runciman-332>Runciman, p.332</ref> Although these actions were limited in scale, on this occasion "the Franks of the coast made common cause with the Mongols to attack Muslim territory".<ref>Reuven-Amintai, "Mongols and Mamluks", p.102</ref> When Abaqa finally defeated his eastern enemies near [[Herat]] in 1270, he wrote to Louis IX offering military support as soon as the Crusaders landed in Palestine.<ref name=runciman-332/> ====Failed second Crusade of Louis IX (1270)==== Louis IX, who had been preparing for a new Crusade since March 24, 1267, left on July 1, 1270. However, his travels in the [[Eighth Crusade]] took him to [[Tunis]] in modern [[Tunisia]] instead of Syria, apparently with the intention of first conquering Tunis, and then to move his troops along the coast to reach Alexandria. Saint-Louis seems to have coordinated his second Crusade with the Mongols.<ref>”It really seems that Saint Louis’s initial project in his second Crusade was an operation coordinated with the offensive of the Mongols.” Demurger, “Croisades et Croises”, p.285</ref> According to the French historian Jean Richard, he probably postponed his attack on the Middle-East, and instead temporarily derouted his Crusades to Tunis following a message from Abaqa that he would not be able to commit his forces in 1270, asking to postpone the campaign to 1271.<ref>Jean Richard, p.443</ref> Envoys from the Byzantine emperor, the Armenians and the Mongols of Abaqa were present at Tunis, but events put a stop to plans for a continued Crusade.<ref>Jean Richard, p.445</ref> Louis IX did not achieve his goal, and instead died of illness in Tunis. According to legend, his last words were "Jerusalem".<ref>Grousset, p.647</ref>
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