0:00:06 > 0:00:09At the end of the 11th century,
0:00:09 > 0:00:14a papal call to arms inspired tens of thousands of Christian warriors
0:00:14 > 0:00:18to march across the face of the known world,
0:00:18 > 0:00:21to reclaim the Holy City of Jerusalem
0:00:21 > 0:00:23from its Islamic overlords.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31These were the first Crusaders,
0:00:31 > 0:00:34and their seemingly miraculous victory
0:00:34 > 0:00:37ignited two centuries of religious war,
0:00:37 > 0:00:40as legends, like Richard the Lionheart
0:00:40 > 0:00:43and the mighty Muslim Sultan Saladin,
0:00:43 > 0:00:46fought for dominion of the Holy Land.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51In the 13th century, this titanic conflict
0:00:51 > 0:00:55reached a decisive and shocking conclusion.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59But for all its drama, this final chapter of the Crusades
0:00:59 > 0:01:01has been virtually forgotten.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07Today, many would have us believe that the Crusades
0:01:07 > 0:01:09were simply a bloody and brutal struggle
0:01:09 > 0:01:11between two diametrically opposed
0:01:11 > 0:01:14religions, Christianity and Islam,
0:01:14 > 0:01:17an unavoidable clash of civilisations,
0:01:17 > 0:01:20the echoes of which resound around us to this day.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25But the true story of the Crusades is more complex,
0:01:25 > 0:01:27and far more compelling.
0:01:31 > 0:01:33In the end, the fate of the Holy Land was decided
0:01:33 > 0:01:37not on the hallowed ground of Jerusalem,
0:01:37 > 0:01:39but in Egypt.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43And the ultimate outcome of the Crusades was dictated
0:01:43 > 0:01:44not by Christians,
0:01:44 > 0:01:48but by the Mongol successors to Genghis Khan,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51and by a Muslim slave, a fearsome warrior,
0:01:51 > 0:01:55whose story is now all but lost to Western history.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13By the 13th century,
0:02:13 > 0:02:16after more than a hundred years of Holy War,
0:02:16 > 0:02:20and thanks to Richard the Lionheart's Crusade,
0:02:20 > 0:02:23Western Christendom retained a fragile foothold in the East.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30As yet, Jerusalem remained in the hands of Islam,
0:02:30 > 0:02:33but three Crusader states survived,
0:02:33 > 0:02:36clinging to the coast of the Holy Land.
0:02:38 > 0:02:39These Christian outposts
0:02:39 > 0:02:42were ruled by bickering warlords,
0:02:42 > 0:02:44with little or no interest
0:02:44 > 0:02:45in waging Holy War.
0:02:45 > 0:02:47Weak, ineffective leaders
0:02:47 > 0:02:49incapable of defending themselves
0:02:49 > 0:02:52from any hostile neighbouring powers.
0:02:53 > 0:02:57As factualism and disunity crippled the secular
0:02:57 > 0:03:00powers of the Crusader states, the defence of the Holy Land
0:03:00 > 0:03:04increasingly fell to others. Above all, the military orders.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07The members of these orders combined the ideals of knighthood
0:03:07 > 0:03:09and monasticism.
0:03:09 > 0:03:12They were, essentially, Christian warrior monks,
0:03:12 > 0:03:14the perfection of the crusading idea.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18And they would come to play an ever more vital role
0:03:18 > 0:03:21in the very survival of the Crusader states.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31After the success of the First Crusade in the 11th century,
0:03:31 > 0:03:37Christian knights banded together to form the legendary Military Orders.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42Today, the most famous of these are the Knights Templar,
0:03:42 > 0:03:44but there were others,
0:03:44 > 0:03:48including the Hospitallers and the Teutonic Knights.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51Together, they formed the elite standing army
0:03:51 > 0:03:53of the Crusader states,
0:03:53 > 0:03:58and they built a series of imposing fortresses across the Holy Land.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12There's something absolutely wonderful
0:04:12 > 0:04:13about coming to a place like this.
0:04:13 > 0:04:17It gives you a really physical, visceral sense of connection
0:04:17 > 0:04:20to the Middle Ages, but a castle like this also reminds you
0:04:20 > 0:04:24of what strongholds were supposed to do for the Crusaders.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26They were all about addressing a critical weakness,
0:04:26 > 0:04:27a lack of man power.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30Ever since they'd arrived in the Holy Land,
0:04:30 > 0:04:32the Christians were short of men,
0:04:32 > 0:04:35and structures like this acted as nails
0:04:35 > 0:04:37driven into the fabric of this world
0:04:37 > 0:04:39to hold the Crusader states together.
0:04:39 > 0:04:41Looking at this place,
0:04:41 > 0:04:44you also get a sense that this is a massive undertaking.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47It would have taken a huge amount of wealth to build it,
0:04:47 > 0:04:50let alone to garrison it and maintain it.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53Only one group could have built a structure like this,
0:04:53 > 0:04:55the Military Orders.
0:04:57 > 0:05:03This stunning fortress at Montfort stood guard over northern Palestine,
0:05:03 > 0:05:08protecting the port of Acre, the capital city of the Crusader East,
0:05:08 > 0:05:11about a hundred miles north of Jerusalem.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17It was here that the Holy Orders established their headquarters.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19And in the heart of the city,
0:05:19 > 0:05:24archaeological excavations have uncovered the remains
0:05:24 > 0:05:27of one of their magnificent command centres,
0:05:27 > 0:05:32a demonstration of the Holy Orders' extraordinary wealth,
0:05:32 > 0:05:37which, until recently, lay almost completely buried underground.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44This remarkable complex was built by the Hospitallers,
0:05:44 > 0:05:47one of the greatest military orders.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50It's extraordinary to think that until just a few decades ago,
0:05:50 > 0:05:53much of this compound remained buried beneath rubble,
0:05:53 > 0:05:58and it's only been revealed now by tireless archaeological excavation.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02The sheer scale and majesty of this place revealed the power
0:06:02 > 0:06:05and wealth of the Hospitallers.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09This is a monument to rival anything in the Middle Ages.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15The Hospitallers began as a charitable order devoted to
0:06:15 > 0:06:18caring for the poor and sick.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21But soon, like their Templar brethren,
0:06:21 > 0:06:24they embraced the Crusading ideal.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28Eight hundred years ago,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31these chambers would have been a frenetic hive
0:06:31 > 0:06:33of military and logistical organization.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39But this complex also stood at the heart of an international
0:06:39 > 0:06:43financial institution, because these Christian knights were not
0:06:43 > 0:06:46just engaged in the business of Holy War.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53The Military Orders received lavish donations from Europe's nobility,
0:06:53 > 0:06:55and also became heavily involved in trade,
0:06:55 > 0:06:56farming, and manufacture.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59By the end of the 12th century,
0:06:59 > 0:07:01the Templars had developed such an elaborate
0:07:01 > 0:07:04and secure financial system that they virtually became
0:07:04 > 0:07:07the bankers of Europe and of the Crusading movement.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10In what was essentially the first use of a cheque,
0:07:10 > 0:07:13it became possible to deposit moneys
0:07:13 > 0:07:14in, say, Paris,
0:07:14 > 0:07:18receive a credit note, and then cash this in the Holy Land.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25Alongside the affluence of the Military Orders,
0:07:25 > 0:07:30Acre emerged as a bustling centre of trade between Islam and Europe,
0:07:30 > 0:07:35awash with exotic goods drawn from the Orient.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39The Crusader states had survived the turmoil of the 12th century,
0:07:39 > 0:07:42albeit in a severely weakened state in political,
0:07:42 > 0:07:44military and territorial terms,
0:07:44 > 0:07:47but they did have one thing going for them,
0:07:47 > 0:07:49there was one force that could transcend
0:07:49 > 0:07:53the barriers of religious and ethnic difference, and that was trade.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57Through the early 13th century, commercial contacts between
0:07:57 > 0:07:58East and West blossomed
0:07:58 > 0:08:02and the amount of money and goods passing through Acre
0:08:02 > 0:08:04increased almost exponentially.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09In fact, we now know that the Crusader states were actually
0:08:09 > 0:08:15minting their own money, so that even in the midst of holy war,
0:08:15 > 0:08:18they could trade with their supposed Muslim enemies.
0:08:20 > 0:08:21The whole economy,
0:08:21 > 0:08:25basically, of the Crusader Kingdom,
0:08:25 > 0:08:26was based on this
0:08:26 > 0:08:27imitation gold coin,
0:08:27 > 0:08:29and the coins are Arabic coins,
0:08:29 > 0:08:31with Arabic script,
0:08:31 > 0:08:35and they are basically imitations made of the coins
0:08:35 > 0:08:37that were produced in Egypt.
0:08:37 > 0:08:42Except for these gold coins, the Crusaders also minted
0:08:42 > 0:08:45these Western-looking dinars.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48This was the typical coin of the West,
0:08:48 > 0:08:49and, besides this one, we also have...
0:08:49 > 0:08:52I brought an example of a coin which was minted here in Acre,
0:08:52 > 0:08:58and which was probably a fraction of this one again.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00So what you see, basically, on this table is, more or less,
0:09:00 > 0:09:03the monetary system of the Crusader Kingdom at that period,
0:09:03 > 0:09:06and these coins are minted in the millions.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11We're taking about a world in which East and West
0:09:11 > 0:09:14are supposed to be pitted against each other in a...
0:09:14 > 0:09:18in a holy war. Why would a Christian mint a coin that looks like
0:09:18 > 0:09:20it's come from a Muslim kingdom?
0:09:20 > 0:09:21Well, I think from the beginning,
0:09:21 > 0:09:24the moment the Crusaders set foot in the East,
0:09:24 > 0:09:29they, of course, understood that they had to fit in economically.
0:09:29 > 0:09:34To build a castle, the quantities of money that were involved,
0:09:34 > 0:09:37we're talking about two million.
0:09:39 > 0:09:40Millions of gold coins,
0:09:40 > 0:09:43just in the building of a castle over a two-year period.
0:09:43 > 0:09:48So the investments, what you see around you of Crusader Acre,
0:09:48 > 0:09:54the buildings, the stone, the masons, the people involved,
0:09:54 > 0:09:57it must have cost an enormous amount of money and it shows that societies
0:09:57 > 0:10:01were at war with each other, but underneath, trade went on.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03And it only became bigger and bigger.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13Acre became the most cosmopolitan city in the known world,
0:10:13 > 0:10:17packed with sailors, pilgrims and foreign merchants.
0:10:19 > 0:10:24In 1217, James of Vitry, a devout French priest,
0:10:24 > 0:10:28travelled to Acre to become its new Christian Bishop.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34He arrived on this, his first visit to the Holy Land,
0:10:34 > 0:10:37expecting to find an earthly paradise.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41He was about to be shocked.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49Through the eyes of James of Vitry,
0:10:49 > 0:10:51Acre was a veritable den of iniquity.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54The Bishop likened the city to a second Babylon,
0:10:54 > 0:10:59a horrible place, full of disgraceful acts and evil deeds,
0:10:59 > 0:11:02where crime and even murder were commonplace.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05James was especially scathing about Acre's residents,
0:11:05 > 0:11:07condemning them as sinners
0:11:07 > 0:11:09utterly given over to the pleasures of the flesh.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12In fact, prostitution was supposedly so rife
0:11:12 > 0:11:16that even clerics were renting out their rooms to whores.
0:11:16 > 0:11:21Of course, we have to remember that James of Vitry was a newly arrived,
0:11:21 > 0:11:26prudish bishop, but to him, Acre was nothing less than Sin City.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39In the midst of this tide of trade and earthly transgression,
0:11:39 > 0:11:41it seemed the Christians had forgotten
0:11:41 > 0:11:44their sacred struggle for Jerusalem.
0:11:45 > 0:11:47At the same time,
0:11:47 > 0:11:51the Islamic East had fragmented after Saladin's death.
0:11:51 > 0:11:53His heirs, the Ayyubids,
0:11:53 > 0:11:58retained control of Egypt, Palestine and Syria.
0:11:59 > 0:12:01Ruled, in theory, by a sultan in Cairo,
0:12:01 > 0:12:06this was really little more than a loose coalition of rivals.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11Given the vast fortunes to be made through trade,
0:12:11 > 0:12:13by Christians and Muslims alike,
0:12:13 > 0:12:17both sides now had a vested interest in maintaining the status quo.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28Back in Europe, the crusading fire still burned.
0:12:28 > 0:12:32But its force was often directed away from the Holy Land,
0:12:32 > 0:12:37as the papacy launched campaigns against Southern French heretics,
0:12:37 > 0:12:40Baltic pagans and the Moors of Iberia.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46For 50 years, those few crusades that did reach the East
0:12:46 > 0:12:49failed to achieve any lasting conquests.
0:12:52 > 0:12:53The Crusade movement was now in crisis,
0:12:53 > 0:12:56and Jerusalem's recapture seemed like an impossible dream.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59What was needed was the leadership of a great European monarch,
0:12:59 > 0:13:01another Richard the Lionheart,
0:13:01 > 0:13:05who could spearhead a new campaign and galvanise support.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11The only likely candidate was King Louis IX of France.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15Around 30 years of age, tall, pale skinned and slight of build,
0:13:15 > 0:13:18he was not quite the storybook crusade hero.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22But Louis was born of a line of kings who had waged a holy war
0:13:22 > 0:13:26and his royal blood was infused with the crusading impulse.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46Louis was a fanatically devoted Christian,
0:13:46 > 0:13:49obsessed with the life of Jesus Christ.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55In 1238, he obtained what was thought to be the actual
0:13:55 > 0:13:57Crown of Thorns worn by Jesus on the cross.
0:14:01 > 0:14:06The young king spent a fortune building this magnificent chapel
0:14:06 > 0:14:10in the heart of Paris to house his sacred relic.
0:14:10 > 0:14:14This miracle of Gothic technology, infused with light and colour,
0:14:14 > 0:14:17was designed to cradle the relics of Christ's passion.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21But it also proclaims Louis' intense personal piety,
0:14:21 > 0:14:25and this devotion would be at the heart of his Crusade.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32Even in his youth, the King was renowned for his intense
0:14:32 > 0:14:34spirituality.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38But at the age of 30, a grave personal crisis stirred in him
0:14:38 > 0:14:41a profound commitment to the Crusading cause.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48In 1244, Louis IX contracted a severe fever
0:14:48 > 0:14:50that brought him close to death.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53In the grip of this dire illness,
0:14:53 > 0:14:57Louis declared his unswerving determination to lead a crusade.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00Once the King had recovered, Blanche, his formidable mother,
0:15:00 > 0:15:03seems to have been infuriated by this pledge,
0:15:03 > 0:15:05judging it to be a reckless folly
0:15:05 > 0:15:08that endangered both Louis' life and the realm.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10But Louis was not to be swayed.
0:15:10 > 0:15:16In fact, he would dedicate his life to the cause of the Crusades.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23Keenly aware of his crusading heritage,
0:15:23 > 0:15:25and spurred on by his piety,
0:15:25 > 0:15:28Louis was determined to bring Jerusalem back
0:15:28 > 0:15:30into the Christian fold.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35His spiritual fervour echoed that of the First Crusaders,
0:15:35 > 0:15:38some two centuries earlier.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42And the King's ardent dedication reignited
0:15:42 > 0:15:45the fire of crusading enthusiasm in the West.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51Not since Richard the Lionheart, 70 years earlier,
0:15:51 > 0:15:54had a major monarch launched a crusade on this scale,
0:15:54 > 0:15:58with this degree of determination and devotion.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02In the months that followed, virtually all the great
0:16:02 > 0:16:06nobles of Northern France enlisted in the coming Holy War.
0:16:10 > 0:16:14One of the Crusade's most important recruits was a young knight
0:16:14 > 0:16:15named John of Joinville,
0:16:15 > 0:16:21a gifted writer, who became one of Louis' closest confidantes.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26As a participant in the coming crusade,
0:16:26 > 0:16:29John of Joinville came to know King Louis well,
0:16:29 > 0:16:31and witnessed the Holy War firsthand.
0:16:31 > 0:16:32Years later,
0:16:32 > 0:16:35he wrote a vivid account of his experiences on campaign,
0:16:35 > 0:16:38albeit one that portrayed Louis in a saintly and heroic light.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41Even today, it's a fabulous read, packed with human colour
0:16:41 > 0:16:43and the kind of visceral detail that allows us
0:16:43 > 0:16:47to recreate the hardships and the horrors of a crusade.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54Describing the agonies of starvation and disease
0:16:54 > 0:16:57later endured by the Christians, Joinville wrote,
0:16:57 > 0:17:01"The epidemic in the camp began to grow worse.
0:17:01 > 0:17:03"Our men had so much dead flesh
0:17:03 > 0:17:04"on their gums
0:17:04 > 0:17:06"that the barbers had to remove it
0:17:06 > 0:17:07"to enable them
0:17:07 > 0:17:10"to chew food and swallow.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13"It was most pitiful to hear the moans of men,
0:17:13 > 0:17:16"from whom the dead flesh was being cut away,
0:17:16 > 0:17:19"for they moaned just like women in the pains of child birth."
0:17:26 > 0:17:29John of Joinville's King and hero,
0:17:29 > 0:17:31Louis IX,
0:17:31 > 0:17:33set out to perfect the art of crusading warfare.
0:17:36 > 0:17:41His campaign was driven by the same spiritual zeal that empowered
0:17:41 > 0:17:43the first Crusaders 150 years earlier,
0:17:43 > 0:17:47yet was underpinned by the most meticulous planning.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53This fortified town of Aigues-Mortes in Southern France
0:17:53 > 0:17:56became the European base of operations for Louis' crusade,
0:17:56 > 0:17:59and it was here that much of the logistical preparation
0:17:59 > 0:18:01for the expedition took place.
0:18:03 > 0:18:04To finance his campaign,
0:18:04 > 0:18:06Louis amassed a huge war chest.
0:18:06 > 0:18:08Royal accounts indicate that
0:18:08 > 0:18:11in two years, he spent two million livres tournois,
0:18:11 > 0:18:13much of it on paying for his knights.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15Given that royal income was around
0:18:15 > 0:18:19250,000 livres tournois per annum,
0:18:19 > 0:18:20this was a vast commitment.
0:18:20 > 0:18:25Louis effectively mortgaged France to pay for his crusade.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33Louis was an astute military realist,
0:18:33 > 0:18:37determined to achieve success where other crusades had failed.
0:18:37 > 0:18:40He combined an eye for the gritty detail of war
0:18:40 > 0:18:43with a dogged belief that he and his army
0:18:43 > 0:18:46must be pure of heart and soul
0:18:46 > 0:18:48if they were to win God's support.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56Louis spent four years making meticulous preparations
0:18:56 > 0:18:57for the coming crusade,
0:18:57 > 0:18:59and the King obviously believed
0:18:59 > 0:19:03that success would depend on both practical and spiritual readiness.
0:19:03 > 0:19:07To ensure that he could start his campaign with a clear conscience,
0:19:07 > 0:19:11Louis created a special commission to root out corruption by the Crown
0:19:11 > 0:19:13and its officials, across the realm of France.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17In terms of determination and pious intent,
0:19:17 > 0:19:20Louis IX was the perfect Crusader King.
0:19:27 > 0:19:32In late August 1248, hundreds of ships set sail,
0:19:32 > 0:19:34carrying Louis' troops to war,
0:19:34 > 0:19:39a formidable Christian army, determined to defeat Islam,
0:19:39 > 0:19:41and recapture the Holy City of Jerusalem.
0:19:43 > 0:19:48John of Joinville vividly described the experience of his own departure.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52"With all on board, the ship's captain called forward priests,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55"and then shouted 'In God's name, sing!'
0:19:55 > 0:19:58"In one voice, they began to chant the Crusader hymn,
0:19:58 > 0:20:00"Veni, Creator Spiritus.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07"As far as your eye could behold,
0:20:07 > 0:20:11"the whole sea seemed to be covered by the canvas of the ships' sails,
0:20:11 > 0:20:17"whose number, large and small, was given as 1,800 vessels."
0:20:18 > 0:20:20King Louis stood at the head
0:20:20 > 0:20:25of the most perfectly prepared Crusader army ever to depart Europe,
0:20:25 > 0:20:2925,000 well-equipped, professional troops.
0:20:32 > 0:20:33But unlike
0:20:33 > 0:20:35the great Crusades of the past,
0:20:35 > 0:20:37their destination wasn't Palestine...
0:20:38 > 0:20:40..but Egypt.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46At first glance, the decision to launch a Crusader invasion of Egypt,
0:20:46 > 0:20:49rather than target Palestine and Jerusalem directly,
0:20:49 > 0:20:50might seem questionable.
0:20:50 > 0:20:53But Louis' actions actually made perfect strategic sense.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57Even if some desperate attempt to take the Holy City succeeded,
0:20:57 > 0:21:01Jerusalem could never be held, given its isolated position.
0:21:01 > 0:21:02But by attacking Egypt,
0:21:02 > 0:21:05the heartland of Islam's economic and military strength,
0:21:05 > 0:21:08Louis hoped to deliver a telling and deathly blow
0:21:08 > 0:21:10to his enemy's power base.
0:21:10 > 0:21:11From now on,
0:21:11 > 0:21:15the war for the Holy Land would be waged here, in Egypt.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22Louis' target was Cairo, capital of the Ayyubids,
0:21:22 > 0:21:24the fragmented dynasty
0:21:24 > 0:21:27whose grip on the Muslim Middle East was faltering.
0:21:27 > 0:21:32The French King reasoned that victory here, in North Africa,
0:21:32 > 0:21:36would undermine Islam's hold over the Near East,
0:21:36 > 0:21:39ushering in a new age of strength and security
0:21:39 > 0:21:41for the Crusader states,
0:21:41 > 0:21:45and opening the road to Jerusalem's recapture.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50On 5th June 1249,
0:21:50 > 0:21:52the Christian army arrived
0:21:52 > 0:21:54at the mouth of the River Nile,
0:21:54 > 0:21:55where they found
0:21:55 > 0:21:57the armies of Islam
0:21:57 > 0:21:58waiting for them.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04The full array of the Sultan's forces was drawn up along the shore.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07It was a sight to enchant the eye,
0:22:07 > 0:22:11for the Sultan's standards were all of gold,
0:22:11 > 0:22:15and where the sun caught them, they shone resplendent.
0:22:15 > 0:22:16All around Joinville,
0:22:16 > 0:22:20hundreds of Christian landing craft were bearing down upon the beach,
0:22:20 > 0:22:23many of them brightly painted with coats of arms
0:22:23 > 0:22:25and streaming with pennants,
0:22:25 > 0:22:28their oarsmen straining to drive the army on to battle.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36This would be Louis' D-Day,
0:22:36 > 0:22:39a daring beach landing here at Damietta.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43The King was gambling the fate of his entire expedition
0:22:43 > 0:22:46on this one moment.
0:22:46 > 0:22:48Failure would end the Holy War
0:22:48 > 0:22:52even before it had begun.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55As the first Crusaders began to land,
0:22:55 > 0:22:58fierce fighting broke out up and down the coastline.
0:22:58 > 0:23:03The Muslims unleashed withering volleys of arrows and spears
0:23:03 > 0:23:05onto the Christian landing craft,
0:23:05 > 0:23:08and a desperate struggle for the beach commenced.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14Many boats couldn't get close enough to land
0:23:14 > 0:23:18and, facing the real possibility that the whole attack might collapse,
0:23:18 > 0:23:21urgent orders went out for the Crusaders to wade ashore.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24When Louis, watching from his landing craft,
0:23:24 > 0:23:26saw his Royal Standard, the Oriflame,
0:23:26 > 0:23:29planted into the sands of Egypt,
0:23:29 > 0:23:31he leapt over board into chest-high water.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35Once ashore, with his blood up, the King had to be physically restrained
0:23:35 > 0:23:37to stop him charging headlong into combat.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54In the beach assault, the Muslims
0:23:54 > 0:23:56were said to have lost some 500 men,
0:23:56 > 0:23:59while the Crusaders suffered minimal casualties.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03For the Christians, the entire landing had been a startling,
0:24:03 > 0:24:04almost miraculous, success.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06A beach head had been established
0:24:06 > 0:24:11and many believed that they'd been lifted to victory by the hand of God.
0:24:13 > 0:24:14At a single stroke,
0:24:14 > 0:24:18Louis IX had achieved the initial goal of his campaign,
0:24:18 > 0:24:20establishing a foothold on the Nile
0:24:20 > 0:24:22and opening the doorway to Egypt.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25It was the most stunning first foray of any crusade,
0:24:25 > 0:24:29and overall victory now seemed all but assured.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42Louis' army now marched south along the Nile.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46Some argued for an attack on the strategically vital
0:24:46 > 0:24:48port of Alexandria.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50But the King decided to risk
0:24:50 > 0:24:52an advance on Cairo itself,
0:24:52 > 0:24:55another huge gamble, one that would
0:24:55 > 0:24:57strike at the beating heart
0:24:57 > 0:24:59of Ayyubid power in the Middle East.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03It was said that Louis threw caution to the wind,
0:25:03 > 0:25:06on the advice of his brother, Robert of Artois,
0:25:06 > 0:25:10who argued that to kill the serpent, you must first cut off its head.
0:25:12 > 0:25:13But to reach Cairo,
0:25:13 > 0:25:17Louis would first have to defeat a mighty Muslim army
0:25:17 > 0:25:21that had now gathered here, on the banks of the Nile, at Mansourah.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23You could say he was now on course
0:25:23 > 0:25:26for a direct confrontation with the Muslim army,
0:25:26 > 0:25:29an encounter that would determine the outcome
0:25:29 > 0:25:31of the entire expedition.
0:25:31 > 0:25:33The stakes for the Muslims were just as high.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37One Islamic chronicler recognised the danger, noting that,
0:25:37 > 0:25:40"If the armies at Mansourah were to be driven back,
0:25:40 > 0:25:44"the whole of Egypt would be conquered in the shortest time."
0:25:46 > 0:25:49On the 21st December 1249,
0:25:49 > 0:25:53Louis' expedition reached the River Tanis, a tributary of the Nile.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57Thousands of Muslim troops were camped on the opposite shore,
0:25:57 > 0:26:01and beyond them stood the fortified town of Mansourah.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14The water separating the Christians and Muslims was too deep
0:26:14 > 0:26:16and fast flowing to cross.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20But just as stalemate seemed inevitable,
0:26:20 > 0:26:25Louis made contact with an Egyptian traitor
0:26:25 > 0:26:26willing to betray his people,
0:26:26 > 0:26:28an informant who led the Christians
0:26:28 > 0:26:31to a secret crossing of the Tanis further downstream.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36On the 8th of February, King Louis
0:26:36 > 0:26:41and a select band of his troops began to ford the deep river.
0:26:41 > 0:26:44The vanguard was led by his brother, Robert of Artois,
0:26:44 > 0:26:46alongside a party of Templar Knights.
0:26:46 > 0:26:47As dawn broke,
0:26:47 > 0:26:51the impetuous Robert decided to launch an immediate assault,
0:26:51 > 0:26:54directly contradicting Louis' explicit orders.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56At first, this ploy seemed to work.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59The Muslim camp was taken completely unawares,
0:26:59 > 0:27:02and a mass indiscriminate slaughter began.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05The Muslim General, Fakhr al-Din, was set upon by Templars
0:27:05 > 0:27:08and cut down by two mighty sword blows.
0:27:09 > 0:27:11As they rampaged through the Muslim camp,
0:27:11 > 0:27:15it seemed the Crusaders would be victorious.
0:27:15 > 0:27:17But in the heat of battle,
0:27:17 > 0:27:21the King's brother made a catastrophic error of judgement,
0:27:21 > 0:27:24urging his troops on to attack Mansourah itself.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28Once inside, the town's gates were closed behind the Crusaders,
0:27:28 > 0:27:32and trapped within, Robert and his men were butchered almost to a man.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42Amidst the chaos,
0:27:42 > 0:27:45Louis tried to rally his remaining men back at the Tanis.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50The King stubbornly refused to retreat,
0:27:50 > 0:27:53and for two dreadful winter months,
0:27:53 > 0:27:57his Crusaders endured near-daily Muslim assaults,
0:27:57 > 0:28:00sustaining crippling casualties.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05The Christians were ravaged by disease and starvation.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08Even the King was struck down by illness.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12When he finally did try to pull back,
0:28:12 > 0:28:17marching north towards Damietta, Louis' bedraggled army was routed.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24At nightfall on the 4th of April 1250,
0:28:24 > 0:28:29Muslim troops eagerly fell upon the fleeing Christians.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33The Crusader King's audacious gamble had failed.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43With the expedition in tatters,
0:28:43 > 0:28:46many Crusaders scrambled frantically onto boats,
0:28:46 > 0:28:51hoping to escape to the relative safety of Damietta.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53Among them, John of Joinville.
0:28:53 > 0:28:55He now watched in horror
0:28:55 > 0:28:58as Muslim troops began pouring into the Crusader camp.
0:28:58 > 0:28:59Wounded Christians,
0:28:59 > 0:29:03who'd been left in the confusion to fend for themselves,
0:29:03 > 0:29:05were crawling to the banks of the Nile,
0:29:05 > 0:29:07desperately trying to reach any ship.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14There is a tinge of guilt to Joinville's account
0:29:14 > 0:29:15of this terrible moment.
0:29:15 > 0:29:17"As I was urging the sailors
0:29:17 > 0:29:21"to let us get away, I watched by the light of the fires
0:29:21 > 0:29:24"as the Saracens were slaughtering the poor fellows on the banks."
0:29:28 > 0:29:32Louis IX's Crusade had collapsed in confusion.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36Reluctant to abandon his men, but debilitated by disease,
0:29:36 > 0:29:39the King was persuaded to take flight.
0:29:44 > 0:29:46Louis, so stricken with dysentery
0:29:46 > 0:29:49that he had to have a hole cut in his breeches,
0:29:49 > 0:29:51was spirited away by a loyal group of lieutenants.
0:29:51 > 0:29:53He was eventually forced
0:29:53 > 0:29:55to take refuge in a small village,
0:29:55 > 0:29:58and there, cowering, half dead in a squalid hut,
0:29:58 > 0:30:01the mighty King of France was taken captive.
0:30:01 > 0:30:03His dream of conquering Egypt
0:30:03 > 0:30:07had ended in abject failure and personal humiliation.
0:30:14 > 0:30:18This cataclysm on the Nile stunned and bewildered Christian Europe.
0:30:20 > 0:30:23Never before had a Western King been taken captive during a Crusade.
0:30:25 > 0:30:29Louis was eventually freed after payment of a colossal ransom
0:30:29 > 0:30:30and returned home in shame.
0:30:32 > 0:30:34If anything, his piety deepened.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37Indeed, he was later canonized as a Saint.
0:30:39 > 0:30:41Yet for all his devotion,
0:30:41 > 0:30:43the perfect Crusader King died
0:30:43 > 0:30:46without seeing Jerusalem re-conquered.
0:30:51 > 0:30:52Louis' defeat in Egypt
0:30:52 > 0:30:56marked the end of the Great Crusades in the Near East.
0:30:57 > 0:31:01It also spelt disaster for the surviving Crusader states.
0:31:01 > 0:31:04For what no-one in the West yet realised
0:31:04 > 0:31:08was that it had been no ordinary Muslim army
0:31:08 > 0:31:12that shattered the French King's crusading dream.
0:31:23 > 0:31:25One of the reasons for Louis' defeat at Mansourah
0:31:25 > 0:31:28was that he faced a deadly new adversary.
0:31:28 > 0:31:30Spearheading the Muslim assault
0:31:30 > 0:31:33against him were elite Mamluks, or slave soldiers.
0:31:33 > 0:31:35Taken captive in the Russian Steppes as boys,
0:31:35 > 0:31:38these Mamluks were sold to Islamic rulers,
0:31:38 > 0:31:40indoctrinated in the Muslim faith,
0:31:40 > 0:31:41and trained in the arts of war.
0:31:41 > 0:31:45These fiercely loyal and highly professional warriors
0:31:45 > 0:31:47would come to play a decisive role
0:31:47 > 0:31:49in the final chapter of the Crusades.
0:31:53 > 0:31:57Above all, these slave soldiers were consummate horsemen.
0:31:57 > 0:32:01Schooled in riding from boyhood, they trained relentlessly,
0:32:01 > 0:32:04using an early form of polo to hone their skills.
0:32:08 > 0:32:11At first, they had served Saladin's heirs.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14But in the aftermath of Louis' defeat,
0:32:14 > 0:32:16the Mamluks swept to power in Cairo.
0:32:18 > 0:32:21Slaves now became the masters of the Islamic world.
0:32:24 > 0:32:27The advent of these mighty Mamluks
0:32:27 > 0:32:30transformed the war for the Holy Land.
0:32:30 > 0:32:32But in the Crusades' final chapter,
0:32:32 > 0:32:35Islam's main enemy was not the Christians,
0:32:35 > 0:32:39but another band of empire-building warriors.
0:32:40 > 0:32:43Nomadic tribesmen from the vast plains of Asia,
0:32:43 > 0:32:47who had united under the leadership of the legendary Genghis Khan,
0:32:47 > 0:32:49they were the Mongols.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54And it was their titanic clash with the Mamluks
0:32:54 > 0:32:56that would dictate the fate
0:32:56 > 0:32:59of the remaining Crusader states in the East.
0:33:01 > 0:33:05The Mongols were a force unparalleled in the mediaeval world,
0:33:05 > 0:33:08perhaps in all human history,
0:33:08 > 0:33:12unrelenting, seemingly unstoppable, and utterly uncompromising.
0:33:14 > 0:33:16Their rise was mercurial.
0:33:16 > 0:33:19In the space of just 50 years,
0:33:19 > 0:33:21they exploded across the face of the Earth.
0:33:21 > 0:33:25By 1260, the vast Mongol empire stretched from China to Europe,
0:33:25 > 0:33:29from the Indian Ocean to the northern wastes of Siberia.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32They had crushed all who stood in their way,
0:33:32 > 0:33:35and now their eyes were fixed on the Holy Land.
0:33:39 > 0:33:44It was Genghis Khan who had put the Mongol Empire on the map.
0:33:44 > 0:33:48By the 1250s, rule had passed to his successors,
0:33:48 > 0:33:50who led an invasion of Iraq.
0:33:50 > 0:33:56There, in 1258, they crushed Baghdad, devastating the city,
0:33:56 > 0:33:59putting 30,000 Muslims to the sword.
0:34:01 > 0:34:05Only the Mamluks in Egypt could now prevent a Mongol apocalypse,
0:34:05 > 0:34:08engulfing the Islamic East.
0:34:12 > 0:34:13In the early summer of 1260,
0:34:13 > 0:34:16envoys from the Mongol General Hulegu,
0:34:16 > 0:34:18grandson to Genghis Khan,
0:34:18 > 0:34:19arrived here in Cairo,
0:34:19 > 0:34:21demanding the Mamluk surrender.
0:34:23 > 0:34:27"Only those who beg our protection will be safe.
0:34:27 > 0:34:32"We will shatter your mosques, reveal the weakness of your God,
0:34:32 > 0:34:36"and then we will kill your children and your old men together.
0:34:36 > 0:34:40"At present, you are the only enemy against whom we have to march."
0:34:43 > 0:34:45The Mamluk Sultan Qutuz responded
0:34:45 > 0:34:49by ordering the Mongol envoys' immediate execution.
0:34:49 > 0:34:51Their bodies were cut in half
0:34:51 > 0:34:53and their heads hung from this city gate.
0:34:53 > 0:34:58With this defiant statement of intent, the Mamluks went to war.
0:35:01 > 0:35:02In midsummer 1260,
0:35:02 > 0:35:05Qutuz marched his troops out of Egypt
0:35:05 > 0:35:08to fight a desperate battle for survival,
0:35:08 > 0:35:11and for control of the Holy Land,
0:35:11 > 0:35:14not against their familiar Crusader foe,
0:35:14 > 0:35:17but an invincible enemy from another world.
0:35:22 > 0:35:27The arrival of the Mongols was almost akin to an alien invasion.
0:35:27 > 0:35:31This was an enemy force unlike anything yet seen in the Holy Land.
0:35:31 > 0:35:33A foe with whom you couldn't negotiate,
0:35:33 > 0:35:35against whom, it seemed, your only choices
0:35:35 > 0:35:38were abject surrender or total annihilation.
0:35:41 > 0:35:43Sweeping south through Syria,
0:35:43 > 0:35:48the Mongols were now just 50 miles from Jerusalem.
0:35:48 > 0:35:50For the Mamluks, the fate of the Holy Land
0:35:50 > 0:35:53and the future of Islam itself was at stake.
0:35:55 > 0:35:57And they decided to confront
0:35:57 > 0:36:00the Mongol horde head-on
0:36:00 > 0:36:01in Galilee,
0:36:01 > 0:36:03here at Ayn Jalut.
0:36:06 > 0:36:09So, here we are overlooking the battlefield.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12What do you think actually happened here?
0:36:12 > 0:36:15I think, even from the beginning, it was a far-fetched venture.
0:36:15 > 0:36:17The Mongols had a terrible reputation.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19They had already taken most of Syria.
0:36:19 > 0:36:22They had behind them, of course, the entire Mongol empire.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24They were virtually undefeated.
0:36:24 > 0:36:28Their conquests were accompanied by destruction,
0:36:28 > 0:36:30by death, by massacres,
0:36:30 > 0:36:31?and they're the scourge
0:36:31 > 0:36:32of the civilized world.
0:36:35 > 0:36:37The Mamluks were good soldiers too, but they,
0:36:37 > 0:36:41since their victories against the Crusaders and...
0:36:41 > 0:36:43against Louis in 1249, 1250,
0:36:43 > 0:36:46they really hadn't had any great victories.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49So it was a bit of gamble, and basically,
0:36:49 > 0:36:51Qutuz was putting everything into one pot,
0:36:51 > 0:36:54he was betting everything that he had on this venture.
0:36:54 > 0:36:57If I was gambling
0:36:57 > 0:37:00in Acre, or in Damascus, or in Cairo, or in Baghdad,
0:37:00 > 0:37:02or anywhere else in the area,
0:37:02 > 0:37:04I would probably put my money on the Mongols.
0:37:06 > 0:37:11The Mamluk vanguard was led by a fearsome general named Baybars,
0:37:11 > 0:37:14a blue-eyed, Caucasian slave warrior,
0:37:14 > 0:37:18who had fought against the Crusaders at Mansourah a decade earlier.
0:37:20 > 0:37:24Contemporary accounts describe how the Mongols launched two
0:37:24 > 0:37:28devastating charges that shook the Mamluk army to the core.
0:37:31 > 0:37:33But teetering on the brink of defeat,
0:37:33 > 0:37:35Qutuz managed to rally his troops
0:37:35 > 0:37:38and mount a decisive counterattack
0:37:38 > 0:37:40that shattered the Mongol lines
0:37:40 > 0:37:43and left their commander slain upon the field.
0:37:45 > 0:37:47It's not the first time the Mongols had been defeated,
0:37:47 > 0:37:49but it was the first time in a long time,
0:37:49 > 0:37:50in this area, they'd been defeated.
0:37:50 > 0:37:55The Mamluks understood that this was not the last of the Mongols,
0:37:55 > 0:37:57but the Mongols were stopped for the time being.
0:37:57 > 0:38:00So the Mongols are thrown out of Syria
0:38:00 > 0:38:02and the Mamluks take over Syria up to the Euphrates River
0:38:02 > 0:38:03with the exception, of course,
0:38:03 > 0:38:05on the coast where the Crusaders are still found.
0:38:09 > 0:38:13Ayn Jalut was perhaps the most important battle
0:38:13 > 0:38:15of the entire Medieval era,
0:38:15 > 0:38:20and its outcome had profound and disastrous consequences
0:38:20 > 0:38:22for the Crusader states,
0:38:22 > 0:38:26now caught in the crossfire of a far greater conflict.
0:38:31 > 0:38:33Up to this point, we've been talking about
0:38:33 > 0:38:36a contest between Christendom and Islam
0:38:36 > 0:38:37for dominion of the Holy places,
0:38:37 > 0:38:43for Jerusalem itself, but now, we have new powers on the block.
0:38:43 > 0:38:46We have the Mongols to the north, threatening invasion,
0:38:46 > 0:38:48the Mumluks based in Syria and Egypt
0:38:48 > 0:38:50trying to hold on to their territory,
0:38:50 > 0:38:52and the Crusaders, really,
0:38:52 > 0:38:55based along the coast as they are, are just onlookers.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58In some ways, they're almost a sideshow to these other powers.
0:38:58 > 0:39:02And, in truth, the Mongols and the Mumluks are now the big players.
0:39:02 > 0:39:05They are the great super powers of the nearer Middle East,
0:39:05 > 0:39:06and they are the people
0:39:06 > 0:39:09who are going to define and decide the fate of the Holy Land.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15Ayn Jalut was an astonishing triumph for Islam.
0:39:15 > 0:39:19Although the Mongols continued to pose a terrifying threat,
0:39:19 > 0:39:21their advance had been halted.
0:39:23 > 0:39:27But there was a twist to the tale of this historic Mamluk victory.
0:39:27 > 0:39:32In October 1260, on their victorious march back south to Cairo,
0:39:32 > 0:39:36the Mamluk army decided to stop in a remote spot in the desert.
0:39:36 > 0:39:40Qutuz wanted to indulge his passion for hare coursing.
0:39:40 > 0:39:44He was joined by a small group of elite Mamluk commanders,
0:39:44 > 0:39:49amongst them Baybars, the man who had led the vanguard at Ayn Jalut.
0:39:50 > 0:39:54The count suggests that Baybars asked the Sultan for a favour,
0:39:54 > 0:39:59and when Qutuz agreed, he reached out to kiss the Sultan's hand.
0:39:59 > 0:40:00At this moment,
0:40:00 > 0:40:04Baybars gripped the Sultan's arms to stop him drawing a sword
0:40:04 > 0:40:07and another conspirator stabbed Qutuz in the neck.
0:40:07 > 0:40:11The Sultan died beneath a furious torrent of blows.
0:40:17 > 0:40:22Before Ayn Jalut, Qutuz and Baybars had been bitter enemies,
0:40:22 > 0:40:28rivals who briefly put aside their differences to face the Mongols.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32Now, with Qutuz's assassination,
0:40:32 > 0:40:35Baybars was free to seize the reins of power.
0:40:37 > 0:40:39After more than a century and a half
0:40:39 > 0:40:40of war in the Holy Land,
0:40:40 > 0:40:42it would be this remarkable man
0:40:42 > 0:40:45who would determine the outcome of the Crusades.
0:41:01 > 0:41:05Baybars' story is all but forgotten in the West.
0:41:08 > 0:41:11No images of him survive.
0:41:11 > 0:41:13Few recognize his name today.
0:41:15 > 0:41:20And yet this is the true Islamic champion of the Crusading age.
0:41:20 > 0:41:24The man who turned back the savage Mongol horde,
0:41:24 > 0:41:27who bent the Muslim world to his will,
0:41:27 > 0:41:30and who brought an unparalleled ferocity
0:41:30 > 0:41:32to the jihad against Christendom.
0:41:34 > 0:41:35Once he had seized power,
0:41:35 > 0:41:39Baybars' most urgent concern was the legitimisation of his own rule
0:41:39 > 0:41:42and the consolidation of Mamluk power in Egypt.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45He dedicated the early years of his reign
0:41:45 > 0:41:47to reshaping the Muslim East,
0:41:47 > 0:41:50forging a potent and authoritarian regime.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53One of his most cunning political moves
0:41:53 > 0:41:57was to re-establish the Sunni Caliphate here in Cairo
0:41:57 > 0:41:59because the Caliph, as a spiritual figurehead,
0:41:59 > 0:42:01could offer him the legitimacy he desired.
0:42:01 > 0:42:04Once he'd selected a suitable candidate,
0:42:04 > 0:42:07Baybars publicly swore allegiance to his new puppet
0:42:07 > 0:42:10and then pledged to uphold and defend the faith,
0:42:10 > 0:42:14to rule justly, and to wage jihad against the enemies of Islam.
0:42:14 > 0:42:17In return, the Caliph appointed him as Sultan
0:42:17 > 0:42:19of the entire Muslim East,
0:42:19 > 0:42:23giving him free reign to forge an empire and to crush his enemies.
0:42:28 > 0:42:33In early summer 1261, Baybars staged a spectacular procession
0:42:33 > 0:42:34through the streets of Cairo,
0:42:34 > 0:42:38to proclaim his new power and authority.
0:42:41 > 0:42:42Dressed in his finery,
0:42:42 > 0:42:45Baybars and the new Caliph rode in procession
0:42:45 > 0:42:47through the heart of Cairo.
0:42:47 > 0:42:49Baybars was to be invested as the Sultan,
0:42:49 > 0:42:52the ruler of Egypt and the Muslim East.
0:42:55 > 0:42:59His subjects would come to love and fear their new master,
0:42:59 > 0:43:01Baybars, the blue-eyed former slave.
0:43:03 > 0:43:08Transfixed and terrified by the spectre of another Mongol invasion,
0:43:08 > 0:43:13the Muslim Near East willingly accepted Baybars' tyrannical rule.
0:43:13 > 0:43:16And with unrivalled and absolute power in his hands,
0:43:16 > 0:43:20he set about creating the perfect military state.
0:43:26 > 0:43:28The Mamluks dedicated themselves to military training, striving to
0:43:28 > 0:43:32achieve perfection as warriors.
0:43:32 > 0:43:35They were taught to deliver precise sword strikes
0:43:35 > 0:43:38by repeating the same cut up to a thousand times a day.
0:43:38 > 0:43:40Baybars encouraged his troops
0:43:40 > 0:43:43to experiment with new weapons and techniques.
0:43:43 > 0:43:47His army became the most highly trained and disciplined force
0:43:47 > 0:43:48of the Crusader era,
0:43:48 > 0:43:51more than a match for Mongols and Christians alike.
0:44:06 > 0:44:09Baybars' Mamluks were a force more numerous,
0:44:09 > 0:44:12disciplined and ferocious than any yet encountered
0:44:12 > 0:44:14in the war for the Holy Land.
0:44:15 > 0:44:17And one with no interest
0:44:17 > 0:44:20in reaching an accommodation with the Crusader states.
0:44:23 > 0:44:25These enfeebled Christian enclaves,
0:44:25 > 0:44:26now encircled by
0:44:26 > 0:44:28the Sultan's mighty
0:44:28 > 0:44:29Middle Eastern empire,
0:44:29 > 0:44:32were horrendously vulnerable
0:44:32 > 0:44:33and exposed.
0:44:35 > 0:44:39In the spring of 1265, Baybars marched out of Egypt.
0:44:39 > 0:44:41He'd actually mobilised his troops
0:44:41 > 0:44:44in order to counter an expected Mongol invasion of Syria,
0:44:44 > 0:44:45but this never materialised.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48And ever the ruthlessly efficient commander,
0:44:48 > 0:44:50with his army already in the field,
0:44:50 > 0:44:52he turned his gaze on the Crusader states.
0:44:54 > 0:44:58Weak as they were, the Christians could still turn to the elite
0:44:58 > 0:45:01knights of the Military Orders,
0:45:01 > 0:45:06and to the formidable fortresses that had preserved and protected
0:45:06 > 0:45:10their fragile foothold in the Holy Land for nearly two centuries.
0:45:13 > 0:45:15Arsuf, like several other
0:45:15 > 0:45:18fortresses throughout the Levant,
0:45:18 > 0:45:20is a masterpiece.
0:45:20 > 0:45:21It is the last word
0:45:21 > 0:45:24in military architecture.
0:45:24 > 0:45:25The complexity,
0:45:25 > 0:45:29the quality of the building here,
0:45:29 > 0:45:31the quality of the garrison inside,
0:45:31 > 0:45:34it's just a remarkable piece of work.
0:45:38 > 0:45:39Capturing the castle at Arsuf
0:45:39 > 0:45:41would be a fearsome challenge
0:45:41 > 0:45:42for any army.
0:45:44 > 0:45:46Yet when Baybars arrived here in March
0:45:46 > 0:45:49and deployed the full force of his Mamluk military machine,
0:45:49 > 0:45:54he quickly proved his mastery of siege warfare,
0:45:54 > 0:45:57down to the finest detail.
0:45:59 > 0:46:04Baybars was an incredibly well-organised sultan.
0:46:04 > 0:46:06His logistics are a masterpiece.
0:46:06 > 0:46:11When we go back to the archaeological finds here,
0:46:11 > 0:46:16you can see it, you can see how careful he was about the planning.
0:46:16 > 0:46:19So if you look at all the walls around you,
0:46:19 > 0:46:24you look at the foundations of the castle, you look at the towers,
0:46:24 > 0:46:30it is built out of local stone, it's a very porous type of beach stone.
0:46:30 > 0:46:33You look at the catapult stones, this is not from here.
0:46:33 > 0:46:38The catapult stones are made out of a very, very dense, hard lime,
0:46:38 > 0:46:40that comes from the foot hills
0:46:40 > 0:46:42of the Samarian hills.
0:46:42 > 0:46:46So when he was planning out the siege, he says,
0:46:46 > 0:46:49"I cannot bombard the castle with the same stones
0:46:49 > 0:46:51"that the castles are built here,
0:46:51 > 0:46:55"because there's not going to be any impact."
0:46:55 > 0:46:59So he's got somebody, 15 kilometres away from here,
0:46:59 > 0:47:00chipping those stones away.
0:47:00 > 0:47:02That is a lot of work. I mean,
0:47:02 > 0:47:04it will take at least,
0:47:04 > 0:47:08I would say a week, maybe ten days, just to get your ammunition ready.
0:47:13 > 0:47:15Baybars knew he had time.
0:47:15 > 0:47:20There was no help that was going to come from outside.
0:47:25 > 0:47:30And because they did not have help coming from anywhere,
0:47:30 > 0:47:33they were fighting a lost battle.
0:47:41 > 0:47:46After three days of fierce fighting, Baybars took control of Arsuf.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49Those Christians who survived were taken into slavery,
0:47:49 > 0:47:51and then forced to demolish their own castle.
0:47:57 > 0:47:59In an act of deliberate humiliation,
0:47:59 > 0:48:01they were then marched to Egypt,
0:48:01 > 0:48:03each wearing a wooden cross around their necks,
0:48:03 > 0:48:06and paraded through the streets of Cairo.
0:48:09 > 0:48:13The Mamluk army was the ultimate military machine,
0:48:13 > 0:48:17created not in response to the Christian Crusades,
0:48:17 > 0:48:21but to counter the Mongols, who had been turned back at Ayn Jalut,
0:48:21 > 0:48:24yet continued to pose a terrifying threat to Islam.
0:48:26 > 0:48:28At the head of this unrivalled force,
0:48:28 > 0:48:29Baybars had the power to dispatch
0:48:29 > 0:48:34the remaining pockets of Christian settlement in the East,
0:48:34 > 0:48:35almost at will.
0:48:37 > 0:48:40Baybars razed Arsuf to the ground.
0:48:40 > 0:48:44Its fate was emblematic of his revolutionary new strategy.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47Other Muslim leaders might have tried to take possession
0:48:47 > 0:48:48of a fortress like this.
0:48:48 > 0:48:50He simply wiped it from the face of the Earth,
0:48:50 > 0:48:54ensuring that it would never again be used by Christians.
0:48:56 > 0:49:00Baybars' policy of devastation meant that the Crusader states
0:49:00 > 0:49:02now faced total annihilation.
0:49:04 > 0:49:08But the Sultan was not just a brutal military genius,
0:49:08 > 0:49:11he was also a frighteningly efficient bureaucrat,
0:49:11 > 0:49:15who imposed his will across the Islamic world.
0:49:24 > 0:49:27So this is a town called Lod.
0:49:27 > 0:49:30In the Middle Ages, this place lay on a key route through Palestine,
0:49:30 > 0:49:34and it still holds one of the great hidden treasures
0:49:34 > 0:49:35of the Crusading era.
0:49:35 > 0:49:38The trouble is, it's a little bit hard to find.
0:49:39 > 0:49:46I'm looking for a forgotten monument to Baybars' mastery of statecraft.
0:49:46 > 0:49:50Hi. Do you know where Baybars' bridge is? Baybars' bridge?
0:49:51 > 0:49:57Far from the usual trail of awesome Crusader castles and mighty cities,
0:49:57 > 0:50:02it's nevertheless a potent reminder of his unique achievements.
0:50:04 > 0:50:07For me, it's an unloved medieval treasure.
0:50:14 > 0:50:16So this is Baybars' bridge.
0:50:16 > 0:50:19I think it's amazing that it's still standing
0:50:19 > 0:50:21more than 700 years after it was constructed,
0:50:21 > 0:50:23and what's even more extraordinary, it's still got
0:50:23 > 0:50:25traffic running over the top of it.
0:50:25 > 0:50:27We know it was constructed under Baybars' rule
0:50:27 > 0:50:30because it bears his famous lion emblem.
0:50:30 > 0:50:33And symbols like this appeared on scores of bridges
0:50:33 > 0:50:36constructed across the Near East under his reign.
0:50:36 > 0:50:37If we look really closely,
0:50:37 > 0:50:40we can pick out a beautiful little detail
0:50:40 > 0:50:42that's supposed to have great symbolism.
0:50:42 > 0:50:46There's a tiny rodent, or rat, being trampled under his raised paw,
0:50:46 > 0:50:49and this is supposed to symbolize the Mamluk state
0:50:49 > 0:50:51crushing the enemies of Islam.
0:50:54 > 0:50:58It may not look that impressive, but this unassuming bridge was
0:50:58 > 0:51:02just as important to Baybars' military strength and power
0:51:02 > 0:51:06as any of the magnificent weapons he could bring to bear in war.
0:51:09 > 0:51:10Before Baybars,
0:51:10 > 0:51:12no-one had been able to rule the Near East from Egypt
0:51:12 > 0:51:14because they were unable to communicate
0:51:14 > 0:51:16with the far reaches of their realm.
0:51:16 > 0:51:18Baybars understood this truth
0:51:18 > 0:51:22and that's why he threw huge amounts of money at infra-structure,
0:51:22 > 0:51:24building bridges like this and roads,
0:51:24 > 0:51:27and with that communication system in place,
0:51:27 > 0:51:30he was able to create what's known as his Barid.
0:51:30 > 0:51:33This was effectively a postal service,
0:51:33 > 0:51:35a system of elite riders and messengers,
0:51:35 > 0:51:38who would go in relay from point to point,
0:51:38 > 0:51:41bringing messages to the Sultan himself.
0:51:44 > 0:51:47Forlorn and forgotten as it might look,
0:51:47 > 0:51:50this bridge was actually a key element
0:51:50 > 0:51:52in the success of Baybars' Mamluk state.
0:51:56 > 0:52:00When the age of the Crusades began, 200 years earlier,
0:52:00 > 0:52:03the Islamic world was in disarray, divided and disunited.
0:52:07 > 0:52:11The First Crusade, and most of the Holy Wars that followed,
0:52:11 > 0:52:15had been waged against an enemy paralyzed by infighting.
0:52:17 > 0:52:19But Baybars' tyrannical rule
0:52:19 > 0:52:20united the Muslim world as never before,
0:52:20 > 0:52:24finally bringing Islam the power to prevail
0:52:24 > 0:52:27in the war for the Holy Land,
0:52:27 > 0:52:30spelling disaster for the few remaining Crusader states.
0:52:34 > 0:52:40In May 1268, three years after defeating the Christians at Arsuf,
0:52:40 > 0:52:43the Mamluk army arrived at Antioch,
0:52:43 > 0:52:47a city of special significance to the Crusades.
0:52:50 > 0:52:52Two centuries earlier,
0:52:52 > 0:52:56this mighty metropolis had been the Christians' first major conquest
0:52:56 > 0:52:57in the Holy Land.
0:52:59 > 0:53:03Now, it would mark the beginning of the end.
0:53:04 > 0:53:08The first Crusaders had taken eight months to break into Antioch,
0:53:08 > 0:53:10but when the Sultan Baybars turned
0:53:10 > 0:53:13the full force of his Mamluk military machine
0:53:13 > 0:53:16against this city, it fell within a single day.
0:53:17 > 0:53:20As his troops poured through a breach in the defences
0:53:20 > 0:53:21near this very spot,
0:53:21 > 0:53:25Baybars ordered that the city's gates be barred
0:53:25 > 0:53:27so that no-one would escape.
0:53:27 > 0:53:32He then had tens of thousands of men, women and children butchered.
0:53:32 > 0:53:35The last days of the Crusader states had begun.
0:53:37 > 0:53:42The inexorable obliteration of the Crusader states
0:53:42 > 0:53:46continued after Baybars' death in 1277.
0:53:46 > 0:53:50The Sultan's successors conquered Tripoli in 1289,
0:53:50 > 0:53:56and finally seized Acre itself in 1291.
0:53:56 > 0:53:59After almost 200 years,
0:53:59 > 0:54:03the war for the Holy Land ended in a definitive victory for Islam.
0:54:09 > 0:54:12Dark, brutal, and savage as they often were,
0:54:12 > 0:54:14the Crusades, nonetheless,
0:54:14 > 0:54:18left no permanent mark upon Islam or the West.
0:54:18 > 0:54:19In truth,
0:54:19 > 0:54:23the war for the Holy Land had been all but forgotten
0:54:23 > 0:54:25by the end of the Middle Ages.
0:54:25 > 0:54:29So why do these distant wars still seem to exert
0:54:29 > 0:54:32a profound influence upon our modern world?
0:54:43 > 0:54:45In the 19th century,
0:54:45 > 0:54:48Europe's fascination with the Crusades was reawakened.
0:54:50 > 0:54:55These medieval wars were now recast as glorious triumphs
0:54:55 > 0:54:58that seemed to affirm the capacity of great powers,
0:54:58 > 0:55:01like England and France to forge empires,
0:55:01 > 0:55:04to colonise the supposedly barbaric Near East.
0:55:07 > 0:55:10The desire to reconnect with the mediaeval past
0:55:10 > 0:55:13found its ultimate expression here at Versailles.
0:55:13 > 0:55:17King Louis Philippe of France dedicated five rooms -
0:55:17 > 0:55:20the Salles Des Croisades - to these monumental,
0:55:20 > 0:55:23highly romanticised, paintings of the Crusades.
0:55:26 > 0:55:30Here is crusading history reshaped in art.
0:55:30 > 0:55:37The first Crusaders capturing sacred Jerusalem.
0:55:37 > 0:55:43Richard the Lionheart crushing the Muslims at Arsuf,
0:55:43 > 0:55:45and even King Louis of France,
0:55:45 > 0:55:50the saintly monarch brought to his knees in Egypt,
0:55:50 > 0:55:53now portrayed as an all-conquering hero.
0:55:59 > 0:56:03This triumphalist propaganda eventually found its echo in Islam,
0:56:03 > 0:56:06not least in the promotion of Saladin
0:56:06 > 0:56:11as a Muslim hero, second only to Muhammad himself.
0:56:13 > 0:56:17And the misappropriation of the past continues to this day.
0:56:19 > 0:56:21This crusade,
0:56:21 > 0:56:24this war on terrorism,
0:56:24 > 0:56:27is going to take a while.
0:56:28 > 0:56:32When George W Bush spoke these words,
0:56:32 > 0:56:35five days after the terrorist attacks of 9/11,
0:56:35 > 0:56:39many commentators were horrified,
0:56:39 > 0:56:43while Islamist extremists, including Osama Bin Laden,
0:56:43 > 0:56:45seized upon the President's statement
0:56:45 > 0:56:48as proof that the West was still waging a holy war
0:56:48 > 0:56:49in the Middle East.
0:56:52 > 0:56:56But I don't believe that these centuries-old conflicts
0:56:56 > 0:56:59ignited a fire of inimitable and unending hatred
0:56:59 > 0:57:01between Islam and the West.
0:57:03 > 0:57:04The idea of a direct
0:57:04 > 0:57:07and unbroken line of conflict linking the mediaeval
0:57:07 > 0:57:08and the modern eras
0:57:08 > 0:57:10has helped to give rise
0:57:10 > 0:57:12to an almost fatalistic belief
0:57:12 > 0:57:15that a clash between Islam and the West is inevitable.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21Yet careful study of the complex encounter
0:57:21 > 0:57:24between Muslims and Christians, in the age of the Crusades,
0:57:24 > 0:57:26reveals that the uneasy mix
0:57:26 > 0:57:31of peaceful contact and simmering conflict was not so dissimilar
0:57:31 > 0:57:35to relations between rival powers anywhere in the Middle Ages.
0:57:37 > 0:57:40I do believe that the Crusades have things to tell us
0:57:40 > 0:57:41about our own world,
0:57:41 > 0:57:45but most of these lessons are common to all eras of human history.
0:57:46 > 0:57:50How hatred of an alien enemy can be harnessed,
0:57:50 > 0:57:54how trade can transcend the barriers of conflict,
0:57:54 > 0:57:58and how faith can inspire extraordinary deeds
0:57:58 > 0:58:00and horrific violence.
0:58:03 > 0:58:06The notion that the struggle for the Holy Land
0:58:06 > 0:58:10has a direct bearing upon the modern world is misguided.
0:58:10 > 0:58:14I think we must examine and seek to understand these medieval wars,
0:58:14 > 0:58:17so that we can counter the distortion
0:58:17 > 0:58:19of our collective history.
0:58:19 > 0:58:22And, above all, we must place the Crusades where they belong -
0:58:22 > 0:58:23in the past.
0:58:45 > 0:58:48Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:48 > 0:58:53E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk