VII. Crusade And Epidemics

Abstract

King of France Louis IX. fell ill with malaria in 1244, lost consciousness due to this disease, and his servants thought he was dead when he was unconscious. IX. Louis had sworn to organize a Crusade if he recovered from the disease.

Immediately after Louis IX. regained his health, he started the preparations for the Crusade and came to Cyprus on September 11, 1248. On June 4, 1249, he came to Dimyat and took this place in a short time. Later Louis' IX. brother, Robert, Count of Artios, had raided the soldiers in the Muslim headquarters in Mansoura. As a result of this raid, many Muslim soldiers were martyred, including the army commander, Fahreddin Şeyhu'ş-Şuyûh. Some of the Mamluk troops in the Ayyubid army escaped from this turmoil and lay an ambush in the narrow streets of Mansura, waiting for the Crusaders to enter the streets of the city. After the Crusaders entered the streets of the city, they suddenly attacked and killed almost all of the knights. Thus, the Crusaders had to withdraw from Mansura by suffering great losses before they could get what they wanted.

Meanwhile, the Ayyubid ruler of Egypt, Melikus-Sâlih (637-647/1240-1249) died due to the tuberculosis he had caught, and his son Turanşah ascended to the Ayyubid throne. As soon as Turanşah came to the throne, he had light ships built to effectively fight the Crusaders, and prevented the Crusaders from bringing supplies and war equipment from Damietta via the Nile River. Turanşah later strengthened the army by adding many soldiers to the army. While Turanşah was making these preparations, the Crusaders were struggling with hunger and epidemic diseases. Finally When Louis IX. realized that he was not likely to win against the Muslims, he sent an envoy to Turanşah to make an agreement, but the desired agreement could not be achieved.

When Louis IX. could not come to an agreement with Turanşah, he decided to withdraw the army and return to Damietta. Being aware of this situation, Turanşah ordered the army to attack the Crusaders. Many Crusader soldiers were killed in this attack. who was diagnosed with dysentery. Louis IX, took the men to a cabin. Various epidemics spread among the crusader knights due to the lack of supplies and the shortage of clean water. Dead layers appeared on the gums of the soldiers who got the disease. So much so that surgeons had to cut this meat so that patients could chew their food. The symptoms of another epidemic were the drying of the flesh on the legs and the formation of black, earth-colored spots on the skin. In addition, the teeth of those who had the disease began to rot. They were subsequently bleeding from their noses and later died. As a result, When Louis IX. saw that the army had suffered too many casualties, he was convinced that he could no longer resist the Muslims. After the meeting with his leading commanders, he asked Turanşah for safety and decided to surrender.

Turanşah responded positively to the Crusaders' demand for security. While making an agreement between the Muslims and the Crusaders, someone named Marcel; Unbeknownst to Louis IX. "Knights! The final order of our king is to surrender unconditionally to the Muslims.” said. The knights of the Crusades, thinking that this order was a request of the king, gave all their weapons to the Muslims and surrendered. Thus VII. The Crusade ended in great disappointment. Later Louis IX. VIII on Tunisia in 1270. He organized the Crusade. Here he himself, his son and most of his army died of the plague.