The Siege of Antioch (1268)

In 1260, the Mamluk Sultan Beibars I threatened the principality of Antioch , which, as a vassal of Armenia, supported the Mongols, the traditional enemies of the Mamluks. In 1265, Beibars I took Caesarea , Haifa and Arsuf , and interrupted their inhabitants. A year later, Baybars I captured Galilee and devastated Cilician Armenia .

As noted by Stephen Ransimen, long before the siege of the city, Prince Bohemond IV of Antioch settled at the court of Count Tripoli . Therefore, in 1268, the Knights of Antioch and the garrison were under the command of Simon Munsel, the constable, whose wife was Armenian and was related to the wife of Bohemond IV .

In 1268, Beibars I laid siege to Antioch , which was “poorly defended and abandoned by the majority of the inhabitants” ^[1] . Before the Mamluk troops laid siege to the city, Constable Simon Mansel, together with a group of knights, launched an unsuccessful attack on Muslims in order to prevent the encirclement of the city. The walls were in good condition, but the garrison was unable to protect them along its entire length. Mansel was captured during a cavalry attack, and Beibars I ordered him to persuade the garrison to surrender. However, the garrison refused to capitulate and continued to defend the walls.

The city fell on May 18 (the citadel lasted two more days) after relatively weak resistance ^[2] . Antioch was weakened by the previous struggle with Armenia and the internal struggle for power, and the inhabitants of the city without hesitation agreed to surrender provided that their lives would be saved.

Baybars I very soon forgot about his promise. As soon as his troops entered the city, he ordered the gates to be locked and all the inhabitants were cruelly killed. It is estimated that 40 thousand Christians were killed and another 100 thousand taken into slavery ^[3] . Then, complaining that the ruler of Antioch was not present either during the siege or at the plunder of the city, Beibars I ordered the secretary to write a letter to Bohemond IV with a detailed description of all the circumstances of the siege ^[4] .

'Death came to the besieged from all sides and on all roads: we killed all those whom you appointed to protect the city or to protect the approaches to it. If you had seen your knights trampled by the feet of horses, the wives of your subjects exposed to open bargaining; if you had seen inverted crosses, sheets of the gospel torn up and thrown down in the wind, defiled tombs of yours; if you saw your enemies trampling sacred places for you, monks, priests and deacons, in a word, if you saw your palaces, devoured by the fire of this world, completely destroyed by the Church of St. Paul and St. Peter, you would have called "I pray O Heaven, so that I may become dust! ” (Michaud, 1853)

Michaud after quoting the letter of the Sultan concludes:

' Baybars I distributed the spoils among his soldiers, including slaves [...] A little boy cost twelve dirhams , a little girl cost five dirhams . Within one day, the city of Antioch lost all of its inhabitants, and the fire, which arose on the orders of the Sultan, ended this barbaric deed. Most historians agree in their estimates, saying that fourteen thousand Christians were killed and hundreds of thousands were enslaved. '

The Krak des Chevaliers Hospitaller Fortress fell three years later ^[5] . Louis IX , king of France, began the Eighth Crusade to compensate for these failures. At the same time he went to Tunisia instead of Constantinople, as his brother Charles I of Anjou recommended. The hike eventually failed.

By the time of his death in 1277, Beibars I had driven the Crusaders into several fortresses along the coast, and the Christians were expelled from the Middle East in the early 14th century.