Franco-Mongol alliance

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The Franco-Mongol alliance covers a period from the mid-1200s to the early 1300s, starting around the time of the Seventh Crusade. During this time, some of the Frankish kingdoms of the Levant (also known as Crusader States)^[1] and the countries of Western Europe attempted to form an alliance with the Mongol Ilkhanate based in Persia, in order to combat their common Muslim enemy in the Middle East. There were numerous exchanges of letters and emissaries between the Mongols and the European monarchs, most of which did not result in anything substantial, though there were a few coordinated military efforts.

The first attempt at a military collaboration took place during the Crusade of the French king Louis IX, between 1248 to 1254. In 1260, most of Muslim Syria was conquered by the joint efforts of the Franks, the Armenians and the Mongols,^[2] only to be retaken by the Egyptian Mamluks when the Mongols had to remove most of their forces due to conflicts within their own ranks in Central Asia. The Mongols again invaded Syria several times between 1281 and 1312, sometimes in alliance or attempted alliance with the Christians, though there were considerable logistical difficulties involved. Ultimately, the attempts at alliance bore little fruit, and ended with the victory of the Egyptian Mamluks, the total eviction of both the Franks and the Mongols from Palestine by 1303, and a treaty of peace between the Mongols and the Mamluks in 1322.

Overall, Mongols were highly tolerant of most religions, and typically sponsored several at the same time. When Genghis Khan declared the Baljuna Covenant with 17 of his companions, several of them were Christian.^[3] Many Mongol tribes, such as the Kerait,^[4] were predominantly Nestorian Christian. Further, the sons of Genghis Khan had taken Christian wives, from a conquered steppe tribe. While the men were away at battle, the empire was effectively run by the Christian women.^[5][6] Under Mongka, the main religious influence was that of the Nestorians.^[7]

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Other Mongols, such as Berke, the ruler of the Golden Horde, were highly favourable to Islam, leading to conflicts between Mongol clans, as in the Berke-Hulagu war. However, in the 1200s, the greatest affinity appears to have been with the Christians. Hulagu was himself the son of a Christian woman, and when he invaded Syria, though he slaughtered other defenders, he allowed the Christians to live. Marital alliances with Western powers also occurred, as in the 1265 marriage of Maria Despina Palaiologina, the Christian daughter of Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus, with the Mongol khan Abaqa.

There had long been rumors and expectations that a great Christian ally would come from "the East." These rumors circulated as early as the First Crusade, and usually surged in popularity after the loss of a battle by the Crusaders, which resulted in a natural human desire that a Christian hero would arrive from a distant land, to help save the day. This resulted in the development of a legend about a figure known as Prester John. The legend fed upon itself, and some individuals who came from the East were greeted with the expectations that they might be the long-awaited Christian heroes.

During the Fifth Crusade, as the Christians were unsuccessfully laying siege to the Egyptian city of Damietta in 1221, these legends conflated with the reality of the Mongols. Rumors circulated that a "Christian king of the Indies", a King David who was either Prester John or one of his descendants, had been attacking Muslims in the East, and was on his way to help the Christians in their Crusades.^[8] And in a letter dated June 20th, 1221, Pope Honorius III commented about "forces coming from the Far East to rescue the Holy Land".^[9]

Gengis Khan himself was a Shamanist, but was tolerant of other faiths, and was especially fond of Christianity. His sons were married to Christian princesses, of the Kerait clan, who held considerable influence at his court. The Nestorian Christians of Central Asia were generally highly favorable to him^[10] and hoped for an alliance between the Mongols and Western Christianity.

The Mongols first invaded Persian territory in 1220, destroying the Kwarizmian kingdom of Jelel-ad-Din, and then conquering the kingdom of Georgia ruled by George IV, who submitted to him, soon followed by Hetoum I, king of the Armenians, who became a longtime advocate of the Mongols.^[11]

Genghis Khan then returned to Mongolia, and Persia was reconquered by Muslim forces,^[12] until a huge Mongol army again came in 1231 under the general Chormaqan. He ruled over Persia and Azerbaijan from 1231 to 1241.^[13] In 1242, Baichu further invaded the Seldjuk kingdom, ruled by Kaikhosrau, in modern Turkey, again eliminating an enemy of Christendom.^[14]

The Mongol invasion of Europe subsided in 1242 with the death of the Great Khan Ögedei, successor of Genghis Khan. However, the relentless march westward of the Mongols had displaced the Khawarizmi Turks, who themselves moved west, and on their way to ally with the Ayyubid muslims in Egypt, took Jerusalem from the Christians in 1244.^[15] This event prompted Christian kings to prepare for a new Crusade, decided by Pope Innocent IV at the Council of Lyons in June 1245, and revived hopes that the Mongols, who had Christian princesses among them and had brought so much destruction to Islam, could become allies of Christendom.^[16][17]

In 1245, Pope Innocent IV issued bulls and sent an envoy in the person of the Franciscan John of Plano Carpini to the "Emperor of the Tartars". The message asked the Mongol ruler to become a Christian and stop his aggression against Europe. Carpini was in Karakorum for the installation of the new Khan on April 8, 1246,^[18] Khan Güyük, whose reply was simply to demand the submission of the Pope^[19] and a visit from the rulers of the West in homage to Mongol power.

In 1245 Innocent had sent another mission, through another route, led by the Dominican Ascelin of Lombardia, also bearing letters. The mission met with the Mongol commander Baichu near the Caspian Sea in 1247. Baichu, who had plans to capture Baghdad, welcomed the possibility of an alliance and had envoys, Aïbeg and Serkis, accompany the embassy back by to Rome, where they stayed for about a year.^[20] They met with Innocent IV in 1248, who again appealed to the Mongols to stop their killing of Christians, and complained that the alliance was not moving forward.^[21][22]

Louis IX of France, also called Saint Louis, had several epistolary exchanges with the Mongol rulers of the period, and organized the dispatch of ambassadors to them. Contacts started in 1248, with Mongolian envoys bearing a letter from Eljigidei, the Mongol ruler of Armenia and Persia, offering military alliance:^[23] when Louis disembarked in Cyprus in preparation of his first Crusade, he was met in Nicosia with two Nestorians from Mossul named David and Marc, envoys of Eljigidei. They communicated a proposal to form an alliance with the Mongols against the Ayyubids and against the Caliphate in Baghdad:^[24]

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"Whilst the King was tarrying in Cyprus, the great King of the Tartars sent messengers to him, greeting him courteously, and bearing word, amongst other things, that he was ready to help him conquer the Holy Land and deliver Jerusalem out of the hand of the Saracens. The King received them most graciously, and sent in reply messengers of his own, who remained away two years, before they returned to him. Moreover the King sent to the King of the Tartars by the messengers a tent made in the style of a chapel, which cost a great deal, for it was made wholly of good fine scarlet cloth. And to entice them if possible into our faith, the King caused pictures to be inlaid in the said chapel, portraying the annunciation of Our Lady, and all the other points of the Creed. These things he sent them by two Preaching Friars, who knew Arabic, in order to show and teach them what they ought to believe."

— "The Memoirs of the Lord of Joinville", Chap. V, Jean de Joinville.^[25]

In response, Louis sent André de Longjumeau, a Dominican priest, as an emissary to the Great Khan Güyük in Mongolia.^[26] However, Güyük died before their arrival at his court, and his widow Oghul Ghaimish simply gave the emissary a gift and a condescending letter to take back to King Louis.^[27]

Meanwhile, Eljigidei, the Great Khan's lieutenant in Asia Minor, planned an attack on the Muslims in Baghdad in 1248. This advance was, ideally, to be conducted in alliance with Louis, in concert with the Seventh Crusade. According to the 13th century monk and historian Guillaume de Nangis, Eljigidei suggested that King Louis should land in Egypt, while Eljigidei attacked Baghdad, in order to prevent the Saracens of Egypt and those of Syria from joining forces.^[28] Louis IX did go on to attack Egypt, starting with the capture of the port of Damietta. However, Güyük's early death, caused by drink, made Eljigidei postpone operations until after the interregnum, and Louis lost his army at Mansurah.

In 1253, Louis tried again, and sought allies from among both the Ismailian Assassins and the Mongols.^[29] When he received word that that the Mongol leader Sartaq, son of Batu, had converted to Christianity,^[30] Louis dispatched an envoy to the Mongol court in the person of the Franciscan William of Rubruck, who went to visit the Great Khan Möngke in Mongolia. But Möngke replied only with a letter to William in 1254, asking for the King's submission to Mongol authority.^[31]

Louis finally had to return to France, due to the death of his mother and regent, Blanche de Castille. Though the Mongols went on to the successful Siege of Baghdad in 1258. At that time, they did not have Christian assistance in the battle, but when they conquered the city, they slaughtered the Muslim defenders, while sparing the Christians.^[32]

A certain amount of military collaboration did not really take place until 1259-1260, when the Franks, under Bohemond VI of Antioch and his father-in-law Hetoum I allied with the Mongols under Hulagu. Hulagu was generally favourable to Christianity, and was himself the son of a Christian woman. The combined Christian and Mongol forces conquered Muslim Syria, taking together the city of Aleppo. Later, they also took Damascus^[33] together with the Christian Mongol general Kitbuqa.^[34]

Some of the conquered cities (including Lattakieh) were given to Bohemond VI, but the Mongols insisted that the Greek Christian patriarch Euthymius be installed in Antioch,^[35] which resulted in a temporary excommunication for Bohemond.^[36]

Following a new conflict in Turkestan, Hulagu had to stop the Mongol invasion before it reached Egypt, and he only left about 10,000 Mongol horsemen in Syria under Kitbuqa to occupy the conquered territory.^[37]

In 1260, the Franks of Acre maintained a position of cautious neutrality. They sent the Dominican David of Ashby to the court of Hulagu in 1260,^[38] but also entered into a passive alliance with the Egyptian Mamluks, which allowed the Mamluk forces to move through Christian territory unhampered.^[39] This allowed the Mamluks to counter-attack the Mongols, at the pivotal Battle of Ain Jalut on September 3, 1260. It was the first major battle that the Mongols lost, and effectively set the western border for what had seemed an unstoppable Mongol expansion.

On April 10, 1262, Hulagu sent through John the Hungarian a new letter to the French king Louis IX from the city of Maragheh, offering again an alliance. The letter mentioned Hulagu's intention to capture Jerusalem for the benefit of the Pope, and asked for Louis to send a fleet against Egypt. Though Hulegu promised the restoration of Jerusalem to the Christians, he also insisted on Mongol sovereignty, in their quest for conquering the world. King Louis transmitted the letter to Pope Urban IV, who answered by asking for Hulagu's conversion to Christianity.^[40] The Pope also issued the papal bull Exultavit cor nostrum, which tentatively agreed to Hulegu's plans, but only cautiously.^[8]

The Mamluk leader Baibars then began to threaten Antioch, which (as a vassal of the Armenians) had earlier supported the Mongols.^[41] In 1262, the king of Armenia went to the Mongols and again obtained their intervention to deliver the city.^[42]

Bohemond VI was again present at the court of Hulagu in 1264, trying to obtain as much support as possible from Mongol rulers against the Mamluk progression. His presence is described by the Armemian saint Vartan:^[43]

"In 1264, l'Il-Khan had me called, as well as the vartabeds Sarkis (Serge) and Krikor (Gregory), and Avak, priest of Tiflis. We arrived at the place of this powerful monarch at the beginning of the Tartar year, in July, period of the solemn assembly of the kuriltai. Here were all the Princes, Kings and Sultans submitted by the Tartars, with wonderful presents. Among them, I saw Hetoum I, king of Armenia, David, king of Georgia, the Prince of Antioch (Bohemond VI), and a quantity of Sultans from Persia.

— Vartan, trad. Dulaurier.^[44]

In 1265, the new Khan Abaqa further pursued Western cooperation. He corresponded with Pope Clement IV through 1267-1268, and reportedly sent a Mongol ambassador in 1268. Abaqa proposed a joint alliance between his forces, those of the West, and the father of Abaqa's wife, the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaeologos. Abaqa received responses from Rome and from Jaume I of Aragon, though it is unclear if this was what led to Jaume's unsuccessful expedition to Acre in 1269.^[8]

The Mamluk leader Baibars finally took the Armenian city of Antioch in 1268, and all of northern Syria was quickly lost, leaving Bohemond with no estates except Tripoli.^[45] In 1271, Baibars sent a letter to Bohemond threatening him with total annihilation and taunted him for his former alliance with the Mongols:

"Our yellow flags have repelled your red flags, and the sound of the bells has been replaced by the call: "Allâh Akbar!" (...) Warn your walls and your churches that soon our siege machinery will deal with them, your knights that soon our swords will invite themselves in their homes (...) We will see then what use will be your alliance with Abagha"

— Letter from Baibars to Bohemond VI, 1271^[46]

Other attempts at Mongol alliance were made in preparation to the Second Crusade of Louix IX (the Eighth Crusade). And when Prince Edward of England arrived in Acre in 1271, ambassadors were sent to Abaqa to try to arrange a joint venture against Egypt. Abaqa did send a force of 10,000 Mongol horsemen, but nothing significant was accomplished,^[8] apart from a 10-year truce with the Mamluks.^[47] Also in 1271, one of the vassals of Bohemond, named Barthélémy de Maraclée, lord of Khrab Marqiya, a small coastal town between Baniyas and Tortosa, is recorded as having fled from the Mamluk offensive, taking refuge in Persia at the Mongol Court of Abagha, where he exhorted the Mongols to intervene in the Holy Land.^[48][49]

Abagha (1234-1282), the son of Hulagu and Oroqina Khatun, a Mongol Christian, was the second Ilkhanate emperor in Persia, who reigned from 1265-1282. During his reign, Abagha, a devout Buddhist, attempted to convert the Muslims and harassed them mercilessly by promoting Nestorian and Buddhist interests ahead of the Muslims. He sent embassies to Pope Gregory X and Edward I of England. During his harsh reign, many Muslims had attempted to assassinate Abaqa. In 1265, upon his succession, he received the hand of Maria Despina Palaiologina, the illegitimate daughter of Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus, in marriage.^[50]

The Mamluks were extending their conquests in Syria during the 1260s, putting the Syrian Franks in a difficult situation.

In 1267, Pope Clement IV and James I of Aragon sent an ambassador to the Mongol ruler Abaqa Khan in the person of Jayme Alaric de Perpignan.^[51] Jayme Alaric would return to Europe in 1269 with a Mongol embassy. In a letter dated 1267, and written from Viterbo, the Pope welcomes Abagha's proposal for an alliance and informs him of a Crusade in the near future:

"The kings of France and Navarre, taking to heart the situation in the Holy Land, and decorated with the Holy Cross, are readying themselves to attacks the enemies of the Cross. You wrote to us that you wished to join your father-in-law (the Greek emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos) to assist the Latins. We abundantly praise you for this, but we cannot tell you yet, before having asked to the rulers, what road they are planning to follow. We will transmit to them your advice, so as to enlighten their deliberations, and will inform your Magnificence, through a secure message, of what will have been decided."

— 1267 letter from Pope Clement IV to Abagha^[52]

On March 24, 1267, Louis IX had indeed expressed the intention to mount a new Crusade. When he left on July 1, 1270, however, the Eighth Crusade went to Tunis in modern Tunisia instead of Syria, for reasons which even today are not well understood. Louis IX would die of illness there, his last words being "Jerusalem".^[53]

The Pope's promise was also followed by a small crusade initiated by James I of Aragon, but ultimately handled by his two bastards Fernando Sanchez and Pedro Fernandez after a storm forced most of the fleet to return, which arrived in Acre in December 1269. At that time, Abagha had to face an invasion in Khorasan by fellow Mongols from Turkestan, and could only commit a small force on the Syrian frontier from October 1269, only capable of brandishing the threat of an invasion.^[54]

When Abagha finally defeated his eastern enemies near Herat in 1270, he wrote to Louis IX offering military support as soon as the Crusaders landed in Palestine.^[55]

In 1269, the English Prince Edward (the future Edward I) started on a Crusade of his own. The number of knights and retainers that accompanied Edward on the crusade was quite small, possibly around 230 knights, other sources stating 1,000.^[56] Many of the members of Edward's expedition were close friends and family including his wife Eleanor of Castile, his brother Edmund, and his first cousin Henry of Almain.

As soon as he arrived in Acre, on May 9th, 1271, he sent an embassy to the Mongol ruler of Persia Abagha, an enemy of the Muslims.^[57] Edward's plan was to join forces with the Mongols.^[58] The embassy was led by Reginald Russel, Godefrey Welles and John Parker, and its mission was to obtain military support from the Mongols.^[59].^[60] In an answer dated September 4th, 1271, Abagha agreed for cooperation and asked at what date the concerted attack on the Mamluks should take place:

"The messengers that Sir Edward and the Christians had sent to the Tartars came back to Acre, and they did so well that they brought the Tartars with them"

— Estoire d'Eracles, p461.^[61]

The arrival of the additional forces of Hugh III of Cyprus further emboldened Edward, who engaged in a raid into the Plain of Sharon, although he proved unable to take the small Mamluk fortress of Qaqun.^[62] In mid-October 1271, the Mongol troops requested by Edward arrived in Syria and ravaged the land from Aleppo southward. Abagha, occupied by other conflicts in Turkestan could only send 10,000 Mongol horsemen under general Samagar from the occupation army in Seljuk Anatolia, plus auxiliary Seljukid troops,.^[63] but they triggered an exodus of Muslim populations (who remembered the previous campaigns of Kithuqa) as far south as Cairo.^[64] The Mongols defeated the Turcoman troops that protected Aleppo, putting to flight the Mamluk garrison in that city, and continued their advance to Maarat an-Numan and Apamea.^[65]

When Baibars mounted a counter-offensive from Egypt on November 12th, the Mongols had already retreated beyond the Euphrates, unable to face the full Mamluk army.

These unsettling events however allowed Edward to negotiate a ten year peace treaty with the Mamluks. Upon hearing of the death of Henry III, Edward left the Holy Land and returned to England in 1274.

Overall, Edward's crusade gave the city of Acre a reprieve of ten years through a truce with the Mamluks.^[66] However, Edward's reputation was greatly enhanced by his participation in the crusade and he was hailed by some contemporary commentators as a new Richard the Lionheart. Furthermore, some historians believe Edward was inspired by the design of the castles he saw while on crusade and incorporated similar features into the castles he built to secure portions of Wales, such as Caernarfon Castle.

Following the death of Baibars and the ensuing disorganisation of the Muslim realm, the Mongols seized the opportunity and organized a new invasion of Syrian land:

"Abaga ordered the Tartars to occupy Syria, the land and the cities, and remit them to be guarded by the Christians."

— Monk Hayton of Corycus, "Fleur des Histoires d'Orient", circa 1300^[67]

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The new sultan Qalawun however managed to neutralize the threat of combined Frank-Mongol operations by signing with the Franks of Acre a 10 year truce (which he would later breach). The Mongols sent envoys to Acre to request military support, informing the Franks that they were fielding 50,000 Mongol horsemen and 50,000 Mongol infantry, but in vain.^[68] However the Mongol raids were made in combination with about 200 Hospitaliers knights of the fortress of Marqab,^[69][70] who considered they were not bound by the truce with the Mamluks:^[71]

"In the year 1281 of the incarnation of Christ, the Tatars left their realm, crossed Aygues Froides with a very great army and invaded the land of Aleppo, Haman and La Chemele and did great damage to the Sarazins and killed many, and with them were the king of Armenia and some Frank knights of Syria."

— Le Chevalier de Tyre, Chap. 407^[72]

In September 1281, 50,000 Mongol troops, together with 30,000 Armenians, Georgians, Greeks, and the Hospitalier Knights fought against Qalawun at the Second Battle of Homs,^[73] but they were repelled, with heavy loss on both sides.^[74] The prior of the English Hospitallers, Joseph of Chauncy was present at the battle and sent an account to Edward I.^[75]

The new ruler Arghun, son of Abaqa, again sent an embassy and a letter to Pope Honorius IV in 1285, a Latin translation of which is preserved in the Vatican.^[76] It mentions the links to Christianity of Arghun's family, and proposes a combined military conquest of Muslim lands:^[77]

"As the land of the Muslims, that is, Syria and Egypt, is placed between us and you, we will encircle and strangle ("estrengebimus") it. We will send our messengers to ask you to send an army to Egypt, so that us on one side, and you on the other, we can, with good warriors, take it over. Let us know through secure messengers when you would like this to happen. We will chase the Saracens, with the help of the Lord, the Pope, and the Great Khan."

— Extract from the 1285 letter from Arghun to Honorius IV, Vatican^[78]

In the Levant, Arghon was also considered as a supporter of the Christian faith:

"This Arghon loved the Christians very much, and several times asked to the Pope and the king of France how they could together destroy all the Sarazins"

— Le Templier de Tyr ^[79]

Apparently left without an answer, Arghun sent another embassy to European rulers in 1287, headed by the Nestorian Rabban Bar Sauma, with the objective of contracting a military alliance to fight the Muslims in the Middle East, and take the city of Jerusalem.^[80] Sauma returned in 1288 with positive letters from Pope Nicholas IV, Edward I of England, and Philip IV the Fair of France.^[81]. Philip seemingly responded positively to the request of the embassy:

"And the King Philip said: if it be indeed so that the Mongols, though they are not Christians, are going to fight against the Arabs for the capture of Jerusalem, it is meet especially for us that we should fight [with them], and if our Lord willeth, go forth in full strength."

— "The Monks of Kublai Khan Emperor of China^[82]

Philip also gave the embassy numerous presents, and sent one of his noblemen, Gobert de Helleville, to accompany Bar Sauma back to Mongol lands:

"And he said unto us, "I will send with you one of the great Amirs whom I have here with me to give an answer to King Arghon"; and the king gave Rabban Sawma gifts and apparel of great price."

— "The Monks of Kublai Khan Emperor of China^[83]

Gobert de Helleville departed on February 2nd, 1288, with two clerics Robert de Senlis and Guillaume de Bruyères, as well as arbaletier Audin de Bourges. They joined Bar Sauma in Rome, and accompanied him to Persia.^[84]

King Edward also welcomed the embassy enthusiastically:

"King Edward rejoiced greatly, and he was especially glad when Rabban Sauma talked about the matter of Jerusalem. And he said "We the kings of these cities bear upon our bodies the sign of the Cross, and we have no subject of thought except this matter. And my mind is relieved on the subject about which I have been thinking, when I hear that King Arghun thinketh as I think""

— Account of the travels of Rabban Bar Sauma, Chap. VII.^[85]

In 1289, Arghun sent a third mission to Europe, in the person of Buscarel of Gisolfe, a Genoese who had settled in Persia.^[86] The objective of the mission was to determine at what date concerted Christian and Mongol efforts could start. Arghun committed to march his troops as soon as the Crusaders had disembarked at Saint-Jean-d'Acre. Buscarel was in Rome between July 15th and September 30th, 1289. He was in Paris in November-December 1289. He remitted a letter from Arghun to Philippe le Bel, answering to Philippe's own letter and promises, and fixing the date of the offensive from the winter of 1290 to spring of 1291:^[87]

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"Under the power of the eternal sky, the message of the great king, Arghun, to the king of France..., said: I have accepted the word that you forwarded by the messengers under Saymer Sagura (Bar Sauma), saying that if the warriors of Il Khaan invade Egypt you would support them. We would also lend our support by going there at the end of the Tiger year’s winter [1290], worshiping the sky, and settle in Damascus in the early spring [1291].

If you send your warriors as promised and conquer Egypt, worshiping the sky, then I shall give you Jerusalem. If any of our warriors arrive later than arranged, all will be futile and no one will benefit. If you care to please give me your impressions, and I would also be very willing to accept any samples of French opulence that you care to burden your messengers with.

I send this to you by Myckeril and say: All will be known by the power of the sky and the greatness of kings. This letter was scribed on the sixth of the early summer in the year of the Ox at Ho’ndlon."

— Letter from Arghun to Philippe le Bel, 1289, France royal archives^[88][89]

Buscarel then went to England to bring Arghun's message to King Edward I. He arrived in London January 5th, 1290. Edward, whose answer has been preserved, answered enthusiastically to the project but remained evasive and failed to make a clear commitment.^[90]

Arghun then sent a fourth mission to European courts in 1290, led by a certain Andrew Zagan, who was accompanied by Buscarel of Gisolfe and a Christian named Sahadin.^[91]

All these attempts to mount a combined offensive failed. On March 1291, Saint-Jean-d'Acre was conquered by the Mamluks in the Siege of Acre. Arghun himself died on March 10th, 1291, putting an end to his efforts towards combined action.^[92]

Had the alliance succeeded, the existence of the Christian kingdoms in the Middle-East would probably have been prolonged, the Mamluks would have been destroyed, and the Mongol Il-Khanate would probably have prospered as an ally of the Christians in the Holy Land.^[93]

From around 1298, the Knights Templar and their leader Jacques de Molay strongly advocated, and entered into, a collaboration with the Mongols and fought against the Mamluks.^[94][95] The plan was to coordinate actions between the Christian military orders, the King of Cyprus, the aristocracy of Cyprus and Little Armenia and the Mongols of the khanate of Ilkhan (Persia).^[96] Following his return to Cyprus in 1296, Jacques Molay campaigned on the coasts of Egypt.^[97]

In 1298 or 1299, Jacques de Molay, as well as Otton de Grandson and the Great Master of the Hospitallers, campaigned in Armenia, in order to fight off an invasion by the Mamluks^{[98][99][100]} Soon however, the fortress of Roche-Guillaume in the Belen pass, the last Templar stronghold in Antioch, was lost to the Mamluks.^[101]

In the summer of 1299, Hethoum sent a message to the Mongol khan of Persia, Ghâzân to obtain his support. Ghazan in turn sent letters to the Franks of Cyprus (the King of Cyprus, the Templars, the Hospitallers and the Teutons) to obtain their intervention, a first one on October 21st, which arrived 15 days later, a second end of November.^[102] Ghazan moved with his troops in October and soon took Aleppo.^[103] There Ghazan was rallied by the Armenians, as well as Hospitallers and Templars from the territory of Armenia, who participated to the rest of the campaign.^[104] The Mongols and their Christian allies defeated the Mamluks in the Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar on December 24th, 1299.^[105] They pursued the retreating Mamluks and continued their advance as far south as Gaza, at the doorstep of Egypt.^[106][107] They took Damas on December 30th, although the citadel continued to resist.^[108] Damascus entirely fell on January 1300 and admitted Mongol suzerainty.^[109][110]

James II of Aragon, sent a congratulation letter to Ghazan for his victories.^[111] Ghazan however soon had to leave with his troops because another conflict erupted in Central Asia with the Chagatai Khanate. He announced however that he would return in the winter of 1300-1301 to attack Egypt.^[112]

In early 1300, two Frank rulers, Guy d'Ibelin and Jean II de Giblet, moved in with their troops from Cyprus in response to Ghazan's earlier call, and established a base in the castle of Nefin in Gibelet on the Syrian coast with the intention of joining him, but Ghazan was already gone.^[113]

"After Ghazan had left, some Christian from Cyprus arrived in Gibelet and Nefin, led by Guy, Count of Jaffa, and Jean d'Antioche with their knights, and from there proceeded to go to Armenia where the camp of the Tatars was. But Ghazan was gone, so they had to return."

— Le Templier de Tyr, 614.^[114]

In 1300, rumors swirled through Europe that the Mongols had taken Jerusalem, and were going to give it back to the Christians.^[115] As early as February 1300, the Cypriots received the news that Jerusalem had been taken, and so prepared to go en masse to the Holy Land.^[116] Thomas Gras in a letter sent from Cyprus on March 24th, 1300, announced the capture of Damas and Jerusalem to the Western world:^[117]

"Ghazan dispatched messengers to the kings of Jerusalem and Cyprus, and to the communes and to the religious orders, asking them to come to him in Damas or Jerusalem, so that he could remit to them all the lands the Christians held at the time of Godefroy de Bouillon".

— Letter of Thomas Gras, Cyprus, March 24th, 1300

During their offensive, the Mongols actually went even farther south than Jerusalem, as far as Gaza.^[118] Armenian and Cyprian reports state that the Christian king Hethoum II, whose forces had worked in concert with the Mongols in this attack in Palestine, had also spent some time visiting other cities in the region.^[119] King Hethoum had reached the outskirts of Cairo, and had also spent 15 days in Jerusalem, visiting the Holy Places.^[115][120] It was said that he celebrated mass in Jerusalem at the Holy Sepulchre on January 6,^[121] and another report said that Christians were there in April to celebrate Easter.^[122] Le Templier de Tyr mentions that one of the generals of Ghazan was named Molay, whom he left in Damas with 10,000 Mongols^[123], but it is thought that this could instead designate a Mongol general "Mûlay".^[124]

The mix of fact and fiction combined to a major story that the Europeans wanted to believe, and so it was passed from person to person, steadily growing in the re-telling. These rumours spread widely throughout Europe. They had multiple complex causes, which basically boiled down to wishful thinking, and the urban legend environment of large crowds that had gathered in Rome for the Jubilee.

The stories further developed in Venice, via merchants that had returned from Cyprus. The merchants told a fairly accurate story about the Mongol capture of Syria, and then extrapolated that the Mongols had probably taken the Holy Land by that point. These rumors then spread through Italy, and were embellished as they went along, with news added that the Mongols had taken Egypt (another falsehood), and that the Mongol Ghazan had even appointed his brother as the new king, who was going to further conquer Barbary and Tunis. The rumors stated that Ghazan had freed the Christians who were held captive in Damascus and in Egypt, and that some of those prisoners had already made their way to Cyprus. From Italy, the rumors spread to Austria, and then to France. By April 1300, Pope Boniface was sending a letter announcing the "great and joyful news to be celebrated with special rejoicing," that the Mongol Ghazan had conquered the Holy Land and offered to hand it over to the Christians. In Rome, as part of the Jubilee celebrations in 1300, the Pope ordered processions to "celebrate the recovery of the Holy Land," and he further encouraged everyone to depart for the newly-recovered area. Edward I was asked to encourage his subjects to depart as well, to visit the Holy Places. And Pope Boniface even referred to the recovery of the Holy Land from the Mongols, in his bull Asculta filii. However, the rejoicing was short-lived, as news of Ghazan's retreat from Syria arrived.

The sheer quantity of written sources though, resulted in later historians continuing to report the taking of Jerusalem in 1299 as fact,^[115] and even expanding upon the stories to indicate that Jerusalem was taken not by Mongols, but by Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templar.^[125] There is even a painting, Molay Prend Jerusalem, 1299, hanging in the French national museum in Versailles, created in the 1800s by Claude Jacquand,^[126] which depicts the supposed event in 1299.

According to Le Templier de Tyr, Ghazan sent embassadors to Cyprus in 1300, led by the Italian Isol le Pisan.^[127] In agreement with the Cypriotes, a joint embassy was then sent to the Pope:^[128]

"From the Tatars, the king of Armenia, the king of Cyprus, the Great Master of the Templars or other nobles from Outremer, are arriving embassadors on a visit to the Pope. They are already in Apulia and should reach the Pope in the next few days"

— Letter by Romeu de Marimundo, counsellor of the king of Aragon, dated July 2nd, 1300, in Barcelona.^[129]

Henry II of Jerusalem, king of Cyprus, in alliance with Ghazan, and sent 15 frigates to Egypt in July to support the offensive.^[130][131] On the ships was hoisted the banner of Ghazan.^[132] In 1300, Jacques de Molay made his order commit raids along the Egyptian and Syrian coasts to weaken the enemy's supply lines as well as to harass them. A message came from Ghazan to coordinate operations.^[133] In response, in November that year, the Franks occupied the tiny fortress island of Ruad (today called Arwad) which faced the Syrian town of Tortosa. The intent was to establish a bridgehead in accordance with the Mongol alliance.^[134] The aim was to link up with Ghazan, the Mongol Il-Khan of Persia, who had invited the Cypriots to participate in joint operations against the Mamluks, but it does appear that this was intended as a step in a more long-term project in that, in November 1301, Boniface VIII granted the island to the Order.

However, Ghazan did not come that winter. In February, he sent an envoy to inform the Franks that he had met with adverse conditions, which were stopping him from coming:

"That year [1300], a message came to Cyprus from Ghazan, king of the Tatars, saying that he would come during the winter, and that he wished that the Franks join him in Armenia (...) Amalric of Lusignan, Constable of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, arrived in November (...) and brought with him 300 knights, and as many or more of the Templars and Hospitallers (...) In February a great admiral of the Tatars, named Cotlesser, came to Antioch with 60,000 horsemen, and requested the visit of the king of Armenia, who came with Guy of Ibelin, Count of Jaffa, and John, lord of Giblet. And when they arrived, Cotelesse told them that Ghazan had met great trouble of wind and cold on his way. Cotlesse raided the land from Haleppo to La Chemelle, and returned to his country without doing more".

— Le Templier de Tyre, Chap 620-622^[135]

Plans for combined operations were again made for the following winter offensive. A letter has been kept from Molay to Edward I, and dated April 8th, 1301, informing him of the troubles encountered by Ghazan, but announcing that Ghazan was supposed to come in Autumn:

"And our convent, with all our galleys and ships, transported itself to the island of Tortosa, in order to wait for the army of Ghazan and his Tatars."

— Jacques de Molay, letter to Edward I, April 8th, 1301.^[136]

And in a letter to the king of Aragon a few months later:

"The king of Armenia sent his messengers to the king of Cyprus to tell him (...) that Ghazan was now close to arriving on the lands of the Sultan with a multitude of Tatars. And we, learning this, have the intention to go on the island of Tortosa where our convent has been stationned with weapons and horses during the present year, causing great devastation on the littoral, and capturing many Sarassins. We have the intention to get there and settle there, to wait for the Tatars."

— Jacques de Molay, letter to the king of Aragon, 1301.^[137]

But this time again Ghazan did not appear with his troops. In 1302 Ghazan sent an embassy to the Pope, and in 1303 to Edward I, in the person of Buscarello de Ghizolfi, reinterating Hulagu's promise that they would give Jerusalem to the Franks in exchange for help against the Mamluks.^[138]

In September 1302 the Templars were driven out of Ruad by the attacking Mamluk forces from Egypt, and many were massacred when trapped on the island. The Mamluks enslaved the Templars and beheaded the Syrian footsoldiers.^[139]

The remaining Templars from Cyprus continued making raids on the Syrian coast in early 1303, and ravaged the city of Damour, south of Beyrouth.^[140] As they had lost Ruad, though, they were not capable of providing important troops.^[141] This time however the Mongols appeared in great strength (about 80,000), but they were defeated at Homs on March 30th, and at the decisive Battle of Shaqhab, south of Damas, on April 21st.^[142]

Ghazan died on May 10th, 1304: dreams of a rapid reconquest of the Holy Land were destroyed.

Oljeitu, also named Mohammad Khodabandeh, was the great-grandson of the Ilkhanate founder Hulagu, and brother and successor of Mahmud Ghazan. His Christian mother baptized him as a Christian and gave him the name Nicholas ^{[citation needed]}. In his youth he at first converted to Buddhism and then to Sunni Islam together with his brother Ghazan. He then changed his first name to the Islamic name Muhammad. In April 1305, Oljeitu sent letters the French king Philip the Fair,^[143] the Pope, and Edward I of England. After his predecessor Arghun, he offered a military collaboration between the Christian nations of Europe and the Mongols against the Mamluks. He also explained that internal conflicts between the Mongols were over:

"Now all of us, Timur Khagan, Tchapar, Toctoga, Togba and ourselves, main descendants of Gengis-Khan, all of us, descendants and brothers, are reconciled through the inspiration and the help of God. So that, from Nangkiyan (China) in the Orient, to Lake Dala our people is united and the roads are open."

— Extract from the letter of Oljeitu to Philip the Fair. French national archives.^[144]

European nations accordingly prepared a crusade, but were delayed. In the meantime Oljeitu launched a last campaign against the Mamluks (1312-13), in which he was unsuccessful. A settlement with the Mamluks would only be found when Oljeitu's son signed the Treaty of Aleppo with the Mamluks in 1322.^[145]

In 1320, the Egyptian sultan Naser Mohammed ibn Kelaoun invaded and ravaged Christian Armenian Cilicia. In a letter dated July 1st, 1322, Pope John XXII sent a letter from Avignon to the Mongol ruler Abu Sa'id, reminding him of the alliance of his ancestors with Christians, asking him to intervene in Cilicia. At the same time he advocated that he abandon Islam in favor of Christianity. Mongol troops were sent to Cilicia, but only arrived after a ceasefire had been negotiated for 15 years between Constantin, patriarch of the Armenians, and the sultan of Egypt. After Abu Sa'id, relations between Christian princes and the Mongols were totally abandoned.^[146]

He died without heir and successor. The state lost its status after his death, becoming a plethora of little kingdoms run by Mongols, Turks, and Persians.

In these invasions westward, the Mongols brought with them a variety of eastern, often Chinese technologies, which may have been transmitted to the West on these occasions. The original weaknesses of the Mongols in siege warfare (they were essentially a nation of horsemen) were compensated by the introduction of Chinese engineering corps within their army,^[147] who therefore had ample contacts with Western lands.

One theory of how gunpowder came to Europe is that it made its way along the Silk Road through the Middle East; another is that it was brought to Europe during the Mongol invasion in the first half of the 13th century.^[148][149] Direct Franco-Mongol contacts occurred as in the 1259-1260 military alliance of the Franks knights of the ruler of Antioch Bohemond VI and his father-in-law Hetoum I with the Mongols under Hulagu.^[150] William of Rubruck, an ambassador to the Mongols in 1254-1255, a personal friend of Roger Bacon, is also often designated as a possible intermediary in the transmission of gunpowder know-how between the East and the West.^[151]

Other innovations, such as printing, may have transited through the Mongol routes during that period.

• History of gunpowder
• History of printing
• Al-'Āḍid, the teenaged Muslim caliph in Egypt, who entered into an alliance with the Christians in the 1100s

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• Chronicle of the Templier de Tyr
• Guillame de TyrWilliam of Tyre: Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum