Louis IX’s Crusade Breaks Down at Mansurah

In June 1249, King Louis IX of France landed an expeditionary army at Damietta on the Nile Delta, initiating the Seventh Crusade. Western strategists had concluded that capturing Jerusalem, which had fallen back under Muslim control in 1244, required the subjugation of Egypt, the primary military and economic base of the Ayyubid dynasty. The landing force, having sailed from ports in southern France via Cyprus, quickly occupied Damietta after the local garrison commander, Emir Fakhr ad-Din Yusuf, withdrew toward the interior. The garrison fled in panic and the town's defenses stayed intact, granting the Crusaders an initial foothold without a protracted siege.

The initial French success prompted Egyptian authorities to issue a general call to arms, drawing reinforcements from Cairo and regional population centers toward the delta. Egyptian raiders, including Bedouin, harassed any Crusaders who strayed beyond Damietta. The Crusaders remained at Damietta until autumn, when Louis's brother, Alphonse of Poitiers, arrived with reinforcements. During this period, the Ayyubid sultan, as-Salih Ayyub, died. His widow, Shajar al-Durr, concealed his death while summoning the sultan's heir, Turanshah, from Hasankeyf to assume command of the realm.