Michael Baizerman Author

Image: The Crusaders' maritime charge against the Tower of Damietta, Egypt The main enemy of a string of Crusader kingdoms spread along the coast of Palestine was the Mamluk Sultanate based in Egypt. The Fifth Crusade was spearheaded against the hostile power in hope to wrest control of the Holy Land.     The stalemate stirred unjustified hopes for the global assault against the Muslim world. King David, Prester John's successor, was destined to play one of the leading roles in this campaign. The following extract describes the confused ambiance prevaling among the Crusaders who pinned their hopes on a non-existent savior:  " After yielding Jerusalem to Salah ad-Din, better known in the West as Saladin, in the wake of the battle of Hattin, the Latin dominion in the Outremer was reduced to a narrow coastal strip stretching from Jaffa to Antioch. The costly enterprise was in constant jeopardy of extinction. Full of determination to turn the tide in the ...

The last great campaign of the unified Mongol Empire was spearheaded against the Muslim East. This onslaught brought forth the Ilkhanate, one of the four Tartar split polities, whose sway spread between the Indus and the Euphrates. The nomadic rulers of this new realm aspired to conquer the lands of Syria and Egypt governed by the novel Islamic power: the Mamluk Sultanate. Since the balance of forces was close to a draw, the geopolitical confrontation between the rivals became locked in a stalemate. Following the classic paradigm, which they exerted from time to time in their turbulent history, the Mongols were seeking an ally to tempt him to open a second front against their foes. They thought they had found a partner among the crusader states of the Levant which struggled for their survival on the Holy Land. They also hoped to forge an alliance with the leading powers of the Latin West, promising to transfer Jerusalem under the Christian control. My new chapter will focus on thes...