Siege of Damietta (1249)

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Siege of Damietta


caption=
partof=Seventh Crusade
date=6 June 1259
place=Damietta
result=Crusader victory
combatant1=Kingdom of France
combatant2=Ayyubids
commander1=Louis IX of France
commander2=Unknown
strength1=15,000 menA. Konstam, "Historical Atlas of The Crusades", 178] (including 3,000 knights)J. Riley-Smith, "The Crusades: A History", 193]
36 shipsJ. Riley-Smith, "The Crusades: A History", 193]
strength2=Unknown
casualties1=Unknown
casualties2=Unknown

The Siege of Damietta of 1249 was part of the Seventh Crusade.

Louis IX of France landed at Damietta in 1249. Egypt would, Louis thought, provide a base from which to attack Jerusalem, and its wealth and supply of grain would keep the crusaders fed and equipped. On June 6 Damietta was taken with little resistance from the Egyptians, who withdrew further up the Nile. Louis was able to build a stockade for the whole Crusade camp with the wood from 24 captured Egyptian trebuchets. The flooding of the Nile had not been taken into account, however, and it soon grounded Louis and his army at Damietta for six months, where the knights sat back and enjoyed the spoils of war. Louis ignored the agreement made during the Fifth Crusade that Damietta should be given to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, now a rump state in Acre, but he did set up an archbishopric there (under the authority of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem) and used the city as a base to direct military operations against the Muslims of Syria.

Citations

References

*cite book
title=Historical Atlas of The Crusades
last=Konstam
first=Angus
year=2003
publisher=Thalamus Publishing
isbn=1904668003
*cite book
title=The Crusades: A History
last=Jonathan
first=Riley-Smith
year=2005
publisher=Yale University Press
isbn=0300101287