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Hello,

This is my first TL attempt. I would really appreciate your remarks. I would also appreciate if someone could correct my english mistakes.

During the Seventh Crusade led by Louis IX of France (Saint Louis), in 1248-1250, the Franks attempted to invalde Egypt which would indeed provide a base from which to attack Jerusalem.
The crusader army consists of 15,000 men that included 3,000 knights, and 5,000 crossbowmen. His brothers, Alphonse of Poitiers, Charles of Anjou and Robert of Artois join him.

1249 : Damietta is taken by the Crusaders.

1250 : King Louis's brother Alphonse of Poitiers arrives with reinforcements. The Ayyubid sultan of Egypt, As-Salih Ayyub, dies after hearing about the defeat.
The Crusaders must choose between Alexandria and Cairo as the next target. The ardent Robert of Artois, another brother of the king, will convince the Crusaders to sail up the Nile Delta instead of attacking Alexandria. Indeed, control of Egypt has a significant strategic interest for the Crusaders .
Robert of Artois, Louis's brother and the Templars attack the Egyptian camp at Gideila near Al Mansurah. Emir Fakhr al-Din is killed. After the death of Fakhr al-Din, Robert of Artois chooses to wait for the rest of the royal army (PoD). It is not trapped in the city and avoid a massacre of the frankish vanguard. Robert of Artois and William II of Salisbury are not killed.

On the morning of February 11th, the Muslim forces launch an offensive against the frankish camp but are repelled by the frankish archers regiment. On February 26, the Crusaders take Al Mansurah. The Battle of Fariskur does not happen and Louis IX is not captured. The Mamluks led by Baybars are defeated. Malik al-Salih Ayyub's successor, Al-Mansura Muazzam Turanshah arrives in Egypt on February, 27th. He tries to besiege the city, but is defeated and flees.

The Crusaders seize Cairo a month later. Then, Robert of Artois easily seized Alexandria with a few templars, allowing the Crusaders to take control of the Nile Delta. Louis stands firmly in Cairo.
A short truce is concluded with al-Muazzam Turanshah. Incapable and awkward (as in OTL), Turanshah commits many errors and the frankish army win several battles.
The crusaders consolidate their positions in Lower Egypt.

The Mamluks revolts against Turanshah and kill him (as in OTL). The Ayyubid sultan An-Nasir Yusuf (Emir of Aleppo), which does not accept the takeover of the Mamluks in Egypt, captures Damascus and Gaza. Aybak marry Shajar al-Durr (As-Salih Ayyub's widowed wife) and became the first Mamluk Sultan of Upper Egypt (as in OTL).

Alphonse of Poitiers is crowned king of Lower Egypt under the name of Alphonse I. Charles of Anjou becomes duke of Alexandria, Robert of Artois recieves the title of Duke of Damietta.

1251 : Louis IX leaves for the Holy Land, as in OTL, but in a much more favourable position than in OTL.
The Shepherds' Crusade let to an european settlement of Palestine.

Louis IX ally with the Ayyubid dynasty of Syria (Al-Nasir Yusuf, emir of Aleppo) against the Mamluks of Baybars. In OTL he could because the Mamluks sill had a lot of frankish prisoners.
The Ayyubid agree to give back Jerusalem.

The Mamluks oppose strong resistance to the Franks, continually threatening them.

1258-1260 : The Mongols led by Hulagu Khan take Bagdad, destroying the Abbasid Caliphate. In 1260, they invalde Syria destroying the Ayyubid Dynasty. The last Ayyubid king An-Nasir Yusuf is killed by Hulagu in 1260.
The Crusaders enter into an alliance with the Ilkhanate. The Mamluks are defeated by the Mongols and the Crusaders and Baybars is killed.

The Franks accept to pay a tribute to the Ilkhanate and Hulagu Khan agrees to give away the Upper Egypt.

Thanks to Louis IX, the orthodox Copts are well treated. The Edict of Alexandia in 1255 grants the orthodox Copts religious freedom. Mixed marriages between orthodox Copts and Catholics are not uncommon. The Muslims are forced to convert to christanism or expelled from Egypt.
Alphonse of Poitiers set up an effective administration. Trade between Egypt and Europe increases.

The conquest of Egypt leads to a diffusion of muslim scientific and technological knowledge in Europe.

1261 : Thanks to the franco-mongol alliance, there is no immediat threat against the crusader States. Robert of Artois is send to defend Constantinople.
Michael Palaiologos decides not to take Constantinople in order to avoid a war against the Crusaders States.
The Empire of Nicaea do not focus on Constantinople but instead on Anatolia. Michael Palaiologos avoids the costs of the rebuilding Constantinople and those of a war against Charles of Anjou.
He do not attempt to reunite the Eastern church with the West, avoiding a religious conflict within the Empire of Nicea.

1265-1270 : The Seljuq Sultanate of Rum is weakened by the mongol invasion and starts to split into small emirates (beyliks). The Empire of Nicaea take advantage of the mongol invasion and take a few cities in Anatolia. Michael Palaiologos enters an alliance with the Ilkhanate and with the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia.
He does not betray Hulagu Khan and does not ally himself with Nogai Khan, the ruler of the Golden Horde. The Empire of Nicaea is attacked by Nogai Khan and Michael Palaiologos is forced to stop his offensive against the Turks.
The Empire of Nicaea start to employ egyptian and nubian mercenaries.

The Armenian kingdom of Cilicia is not invalded by the Mamluks in 1266 and Hethum I does not abdicate in 1270. Armenia remain a strong ally of the Christians.
The siege of Antioch does not happen in 1268.

1270 : Charles of Anjou convinces his brother Louis IX to lead a military expedition against Tunis but it is not considered as a crusade. Louis IX dies of dysentery on August 25, 1270 as in OTL.
Alphonse of Poitiers does not join the expedition and does not became ill.

1271 : The Ninth Crusade does not happen. Prince Edward I of England makes a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

1272 : The Kingdom of Makuria remain independant and becomes an ally of the frankish Egypt.

1273 : The Empire of Nicaea retake Sinop.

1275 : Alphonse I of Egypt dies.

1280 : Egypt is already a regional power that protect the other crusader states.

1282 : Michael Palaiologos dies. The Empire of Nicaea is stronger as in OTL and has kept its territories in Anatolia.

1289 : The Knights Templar found their own monastic state, just as the Teutonic Knights had done in Prussia. The State of the Knights Templar is formed in the south of Anatolia in the region of Attalia.

1297 : Louis IX is canonized.

1302 : The Empire of Nicaea, Egypt, the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia, the Knights Templar, the Knights Hospitaller and Venice enter an alliance against the Turks.
Osman I is defeated in the Battle of Bapheus.

1307 : Jean de Joinville completes his Life of St. Louis, a very different one from the one we know.

1312 : The Knights Templar are even more powerful than in OTL, but, since they have not become useless, the order is not dissolved.

1339 : The State of the Knights Templar expands to Iconium.

1350 : King Charles II of Egypt dies without male heir. His successor is his cousin-in-law, Theodoros I, a coptic orthodox prince.
Because of the Hundred Years' War, France does not have the means to intervene.
The Serbian Empire takes Constantinople and Stefan Dušan is crowned Emperor of the Serbs and greeks.
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