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===Cooperation during the Ninth Crusade (1269-1274)=== [[Image:EdwardI-Cassell.jpg|thumb|[[Edward I of England|Edward I]] desired and obtained the assistance of the Mongols, against the Mamluks]] In 1269, the English Prince Edward (the future [[Edward I of England|Edward I]]), inspired by tales of his uncle, [[Richard the Lionheart]], and the second crusade of the French King Louis, started on a Crusade of his own, the [[Ninth Crusade]].<ref>Hindley, pp. 205-206</ref> The number of knights and retainers that accompanied Edward on the crusade was quite small,<ref>Nicolle, p. 47</ref> possibly around 230 knights, with a total complement of approximately 1,000 people, transported in a flotilla of 13 ships.<ref>Tyerman, p. 818</ref><ref>Grousset, p.656</ref> Many of the members of Edward's expedition were close friends and family including his wife [[Eleanor of Castile]], his brother Edmund, and his first cousin [[Henry of Almain]]. When Edward finally arrived in Acre on May 9, 1271, the situation in the Holy Land was particularly critical. [[Baibars]] was besieging [[Bohemond VI]] in the city of [[Tripoli]]. Baibars sent a letter to Bohemond threatening him with total annihilation and taunting him for his alliance with the Mongols: {{quote|"Our yellow flags have repelled your red flags, and the sound of the bells has been replaced by the call: "Allâh Akbar!" (...) Warn your walls and your churches that soon our siege machinery will deal with them, your knights that soon our swords will invite themselves in their homes (...) We will see then what use will be your alliance with [[Abaqa Khan|Abagha]]"|Letter from Baibars to Bohemond VI, 1271<ref>Quoted in Grousset, p.650</ref>}} At the same time, in 1271, one of the vassals of [[Bohemond VI]], named [[Barthélémy de Maraclée]], lord of Khrab Marqiya, a small coastal town between Baniyas and Tortosa, is recorded as having fled from the Mamluk offensive, taking refuge in Persia at the Mongol Court of Abaqa, where he exhorted the Mongols to intervene in the Holy Land.<ref>Grousset, p.650</ref><ref>Runciman, p334</ref> As soon as Edward arrived in Acre he renewed the Mongol alliance,<ref>"Edward I renewed the precious Mongol Alliance", Grousset "L'épopée des Croisades", p.301</ref> and immediately sent an embassy to the Mongol ruler Abaqa.<ref>"When he disembarked in Acre, Edward immediately sent envoys to Abagha (…) As he (Abagha) could not commit himself to the offensive, he ordered the Mongol forces stationned in Turkey under Samaghar to attack Syria in order to relieve the Crusaders” Jean Richard, p.446</ref> Edward's plan was to use the help of the Mongols to attack the Muslim leader Baibars.<ref name=runciman-335>"Edward was horrified at the state of affairs in Outremer. He knew that his own army was small, but he hoped to unite the Christians of the East into a formidable body and then to use the help of the Mongols in making an effective attack on Baibars", Runciman, p.335</ref> The embassy from Edward to Abaqa was led by Reginald Russel, Godefrey Welles and John Parker.<ref name=grousset-653>Grousset, p.653.</ref> <ref>Runciman, p.336</ref> Abaqa answered positively to Edward's request in a letter dated September 4, 1271: {{quote|"After talking over the matter, we have on our account resolved to send to your aid Cemakar (Samaghar) at the head of a mighty force; thus, when you discuss among yourselves the other plans involving the afore-mentionned Cemakar be sure to make explicit arrangements as to the exact month and day on which you will engage the enemy."|Letter from Abaqa to Edward I, 1271.<ref>Quoted in Reuven-Amitai, "Mongols and Mamluks", p.98</ref>}} In mid-October 1271, the Mongol troops requested by Edward arrived in Syria and ravaged the land from [[Aleppo]] southward. Abaqa, occupied by other conflicts in [[Turkestan]], could only send 10,000 Mongol horsemen under general [[Samagar]] from the occupation army in [[Seljuk]] [[Anatolia]], plus auxiliary Seljukid troops,<ref name=runciman-336/> but they triggered an exodus of Muslim populations (who remembered the previous campaigns of [[Kithuqa]]) as far south as [[Cairo]].<ref name=grousset-653/> The Mongols defeated the Turcoman troops that protected Aleppo, putting to flight the Mamluk garrison in that city, and continued their advance to [[Maarat an-Numan]] and [[Apamea (Syria)|Apamea]].<ref name=runciman-336/> The historians Runciman and Grousset quote the medieval historian [[William of Tyre]]: [[Image:EdwardICrusadeMap.jpg|thumb|Combined operations during the [[Ninth Crusade]].]] {{quote|"The messengers that Sir Edward and the Christians had sent to the Tartars to ask for help came back to Acre, and they did so well that they brought the Tartars with them, and raided all the land of Antioch, Aleppo, Haman and [[La Chamele]], as far as [[Caesarea|Caesarea the Great]]. And they killed all the Sarazins they found."|[[Guillaume de Tyr]], Estoire d'Eracles, p. 461|<ref>"Et revindrent en Acre li message que mi sire Odouart et la Crestiente avoient envoies as Tartars por querre secors; et firent si bien la besoigne quil amenerent les Tartars et corurent toute la terre dantioche et de Halape de Haman et de La Chamele jusques a Cesaire la Grant. Et tuerent ce quil trouverent de Sarrazins", [http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/GuillaumeTyr4.html Estoire d'Eracles, Chap XIV]</ref><ref>Quoted in Grousset, p.653</ref><ref name=runciman-336>Runciman, p.336</ref>}} When Baibars mounted a counter-offensive from Egypt on November 12, 1271, the Mongols had already retreated beyond the [[Euphrates]], unable to face the full Mamluk army. There is dispute among historians as to the effectiveness of Edward's actions. Most historians say that they accomplished little. For example, historian Geoffrey Hindley described it as saying that Edward's forces merely engaged in some fairly ineffectual raids that did not actually achieve success in gaining any new territory.<ref name=hindley-207/> According to Tyerman, Edward "saw some action" in defending Acre from Baibars in December 1271, and "launched a couple of military promenades into the surrounding countryside."<ref>Tyerman, p. 813</ref> Runciman also agrees that when Edward engaged in a raid into the [[Plain of Sharon]], he proved unable to even take the small Mamluk fortress of [[Qaqun]].<ref name=runciman-337>Runciman, p.337</ref> The Muslim leader Baibars later taunted Edward for not even being able to take a small fortified house.<ref>"The Sultan said to the messengers of the king of Charles d'Anjou that, since so many men had failed to take a house, it was not likely they should conquer the kingdom of Jerusalem!" Grousset, p.655</ref> However, other historians point out that as a result of Edward's military operations, limited though they were, he was able to obtain a 10-year truce between the city of Acre and the Mamluks, signed in 1272.<ref name=runciman-337/> In June 1272, Edward was wounded by an assassination attempt with a poisoned dagger, but he survived, and after recuperating returned to England in September,<ref name=hindley-207>Hindley, pp. 207-208</ref> arriving in 1274.
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