Siege of Acre (1291)
The Siege of Acre (also called the Fall of Acre) took place in 1291 and resulted in the Crusaders' losing control of Acre to the Mamluks. It is considered one of the most important battles of the period. Although the crusading movement continued for several more centuries, the capture of the city marked the end of further crusades to the Levant. When Acre fell, the Crusaders lost their last major stronghold of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. They still maintained a fortress at the northern city of Tartus (now in north-western Syria), engaged in some coastal raids, and attempted an incursion from the tiny island of Ruad; but, when they lost that, too, in a siege in 1302, the Crusaders no longer controlled any part of the Holy Land.[4]
This article is about the Siege of Acre (1291). For other sieges, see Siege of Acre.Siege[edit]
Prelude to the battle[edit]
Sultan Qalawun dissolved the truce with Acre and the Mamluks began mobilizing by October 1290. Qalawun died in December and was succeeded by his son, Al-Ashraf Khalil[18] (sometimes spelled Chalil[15]). Guillaume de Beaujeu received a message from Khalil, which stated the latter's intention to attack Acre and to refuse peace overtures.[19] Nonetheless, the Crusaders dispatched a peace delegation, led by Sir Philip Mainebeuf,[20][21] to Cairo; the delegation was imprisoned.[22][20] Khalil set out from Cairo in March 1291.[18]
The assembled Mamluk army greatly outnumbered the Crusaders. Khalil called upon Syria to reinforce his Egyptian army;[1] he was answered by contingents from Damascus (led by Lajin), Hama (led by al-Muzaffar Taqai ad-Din), Tripoli (led by Bilban) and al-Karak (led by Baibars al-Dewadar.)[23][24] A significant portion of the troops were volunteers.[25] The army included a substantial artillery train[1] drawn from fortresses across the Mamluk empire. Hama sent the enormous catapult "The Victorious"[18] (المنصورى).[nb 1] Another large catapult was "The Furious" (الغاضبة). There were also lighter mangonels called "the Black Bulls" (الثيران السوداء).[26]
Notable historians in the Mamluks ranks included Baybars al-Dewadar,[27] and Abulfeda in the Haman contingent.[28]
The Crusaders' appeals for aid met with little success. England sent a few knights, including Otto de Grandson of Savoy. The only noteworthy reinforcements came from Henry II of Cyprus, who fortified the walls and sent troops led by his brother Amalric, Lord of Tyre. Burchard von Schwanden suddenly resigned as Grand Master of the Teutonic Order and left Acre for Europe; he was succeeded by Konrad von Feuchtwangen. The only major contingent to leave were the Genoese, who concluded a separate treaty with Khalil. Many women and children were evacuated from Acre to Cyprus in March.[18]
Acre was defended by an inner and outer wall, with a total of twelve towers built by European kings and rich pilgrims.[29][30][31]
Historiography[edit]
Two short works dedicated to the siege were produced by contemporaries on the basis of eyewitness accounts: the Hystoria de desolacione of Thaddeus of Naples and the anonymous Excidium Acconis. These survive in four and six manuscripts, respectively.[52][53] The Gestes des Chiprois, written a generation later and surviving in a single manuscript, is the other main source from the crusaders' perspective.[52]