Egypt as a theatre of war during the Crusades

The Crusades didn’t just impact the Levant but spilt over into Egypt and north Africa. At key moments, the crusader forces attempted to seize control of Egypt. The river Nile became the backdrop for bloody confrontations between the Christian and Muslim worlds. But ultimately, the Crusades failed to take Egypt.

Rival Muslim dynasties in Egypt

It wasn’t just Christians who fought in Egypt during the Crusades, but rival Muslim forces. Whoever controlled Cairo – the Egyptian capital – held sway in the region. Incredibly, the Kingdom of Jerusalem had the opportunity to conquer the land of the Pharaohs but politics got in the way. As for the Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaller, they found themselves at loggerheads over the wisdom of fighting deep in Egyptian territory.

During the Crusades, three different dynasties came to dominate Egypt: the Fatimids, Ayyubids, and Mamluks. Each had their own distinct dynamic and outlook. The Fatimids were a Shia Muslim empire overthrown by Saladin who united Egypt and Syria under Sunni Islam but his dynasty was swept aside by the Mamluks – formerly enslaved soldiers who dared to become rulers.

Christian presence in Egypt

What may surprise you to know is that Egypt was still a majority Christian country for centuries after the Arab Islamic conquest of the seventh century CE. It took until the beginning of the 13th century for the religious balance to tilt decisively in favour of Islam. The Coptic Christians of Egypt were viewed as heretical in the west – even though they were an ancient branch of Christianity – while being subject to the discriminatory ‘jizya’ tax under Muslim rule.

What was the attitude of Egypt’s Coptic Christians towards their Muslim overlords? For most of the time, the sultans of Egypt saw no reason to antagonise their Christian subjects. Wealthier Copts even served in the administration of the country – there was no point excluding them. But there were periods where the relationship broke down, such as under the violently sectarian Fatimid ruler, Al-Hakim who ruled between 996 and 1021, before being assassinated.

Despite the ups and downs, there’s no suggestion that the Coptic Christians of Egypt were natural allies with the crusaders – quite the contrary. Their privately held attitude to their Muslim rulers in Egypt and the Christian kingdoms in the Levant was – a plague on both your houses. In public, they put on a display of loyalty to the Fatimids then Ayyubids then Mamluks, to avoid persecution.

Egypt becomes a crusader target

Between 1163 and 1174, the crusader kingdom of Jerusalem was ruled by Amalric who forged a close alliance with the Byzantines. From 1163, he launched several attempted invasions of Egypt on the pretext that its Fatimid rulers had not paid tribute demanded by the crusaders. At one point, the Fatimid vizier of Egypt – faced with an advancing army of Templars and Hospitallers – opened the sluice gates and unleashed the river Nile against the enemy. Wisely, Amalric retreated.

From 1166 to 1168, Amalric was back in Egypt attacking Cairo. However, the situation inside the country was complicated. There were three players vying for control of Egypt: Amalric, leading the kingdom of Jerusalem; the tottering Fatimid empire ruling from Cairo; and troops fighting for the Zengid rulers of Syria, led by a Kurdish general, Shirkuh, accompanied by his nephew – a man who would one day strike terror into the crusaders: Saladin.

Amalric’s advisers believed Egypt could be taken, but the military orders were divided. The Knights Hospitaller were bullish and up for the fight. But the Knights Templar had experienced some bruising encounters with Zengid forces to the north and were much more cautious.

In 1168, the Fatimids were so convinced that a full-blown crusader invasion was imminent that they took an incredibly destructive decision. The vizier burned down a big chunk of Cairo. Twenty thousand clay pots stuffed with incendiary material were placed around the Fustat district and ignited. Instead of the crusaders taking Egypt, it was the Zengids who seized the country, ending the Fatimid dynasty. In an audacious move, Saladin took control, establishing the Ayyubid dynasty.

The Saint King in Egypt

Dreams of taking Egypt persisted. In 1204, a Venice-funded crusading army set sail to conquer Egypt – with the blessing of Pope Innocent III. This was the notorious Fourth Crusade, which was diverted by the Venetians into attacking their commercial and political rival: the Byzantine Empire. Even though the Byzantines were Christian. What followed was the shameful looting and burning of the imperial capital, Constantinople. Egypt was left unmolested.

However, the Fifth Crusade brought a renewed effort to take Egypt. The Crusaders aimed to capture Damietta, then march on Cairo, which was the capital of the Ayyubid Sultanate ruled by al-Adil, Saladin’s brother. After a long siege, the Crusaders captured Damietta in 1219. Despite initial successes, the Crusaders were ultimately defeated at Mansurah and forced to retreat, surrendering in 1221.

The Seventh and Eight Crusades saw the French king Louis IX leading an army in Egypt. After his death, Louis would be declared a saint by Pope Boniface VIII. But his crusading was unsuccessful and ignominiously, the king was captured by his Muslim opponents.

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