Egypt During the Crusades

In the 11th century new enemies appeared in the northeast. These were the Seljuk Turks, who became masters of all the territory from Turkestan to the Mediterranean, but failed in an attack on Egypt. The Turkish menace to the Byzantine Empire resulted in the Crusades, beginning in 1096.

The Crusaders conquered much of Palestine, which the Fatimids claimed, causing them to join with the Turkish sultan of Syria against the Christians. The sultan used the alliance to make one of his own officers governor of Egypt in 1169. In 1171, Saladin, the sultan's appointee, abolished the Fatimid caliphate and in 1174, upon the death of the sultan, assumed independent rule of Egypt. Soon he became sultan of Syria as well and in victories over the Crusaders regained most of Palestine.

In the Fifth Crusade, 1218–21, Christian forces invaded Egypt, but were soon driven back. In the Seventh Crusade, 1248–54, also directed at Egypt, the Christian army led by King Louis IX of France was surrounded and captured.

The victorious Egyptian army was composed largely of Mamelukes, foreign (mainly Turkish and Circassian) cavalrymen. In 1250, during a struggle for the throne among Saladin's descendants, a Mameluke made himself sultan. Egypt soon faced a new menace, as Mongol invaders conquered Persia and proceeded westward. In 1260, the Mameluke and Mongol armies met in Palestine, near Nazareth, and the Mongol force was destroyed.