History of the Crusades

the Crusades Episode 99 Egyptian resistance.

Egyptian Resistance.

Hello again.

Last week we saw the Mongols under the the leadership of the warlord Hulagu, move out of Persia and take the city of Baghdad.

The caliph was killed, as were most of the residents of the city, and the city itself was sacked

with centuries of Islamic culture going up in smoke. In the year 1259 Hooligoo's Mongol army left Baghdad behind, crossed the Euphrates

river and began its push into Syria.

Now the Muslims and the Latin Christians viewed the approaching Mongol army in quite different ways. The Muslims of Syria quite rightly were terrified, having just

seen the mighty city of Baghdad fall to the Mongol sword. The Latin Christians, however, adopted an approach of cautious neutrality.

They had been fighting the Muslims of Syria for more than 150 years, and the Mongols,

while not Christian, definitely showed some Christian leanings. The warlord Hoolagu's favorite wife was a

Nestorian Christian, as was his mother. The general that Hoolagu is about to place in charge of his Syrian campaign, Kit Buka is also an historian Christian.

So keeping in mind the saying that my enemy's enemy is my friend, most of the

Latin Christians of the crusader states sat back to see what would happen next.

Most of the Latin Christians that is except Prince Boermond of Antioch.

As we saw back in episode of Antioch.

As we saw back in episode 96 during the four years in which King Louis had been effectively

ruling the Kingdom of Acre, King Louis had taken the 15-year-old Prince Boweum on the 6th of Antioch

under his wing, and had helped him form a strong alliance with the nearby kingdom of Armenia.

Well, the kingdom of Armenia had surrendered to the Mongols way back in 1246, and King Hetham of Armenia had been allowed to retain his crown in return for paying an annual tribute to the Mongols.

Prince Boermond was also King Hetham's son-in-law.

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