Cover image: A painting at Westminster Abbey thought to be a portrait of Edward I. “Half figure of Edward facing left with short, curly hair and a hint of beard. He wears a coronet and holds a sceptre in his right hand. He has a blue robe over a red tunic, and his hands are covered by white, embroidered gloves. His left hand seems to be pointing left, to something outside the picture.” Text source

Edward I (1272-1307), known to many for crushing the Scots and executing William Wallace in Braveheart (1298-1305), is far less known for his earlier campaigns, such as the subjugation of Wales (1282/3), and almost completely unknown for his expedition to Palestine when he was still very young, in 1271/2.

Text by Ilias Anagnostakis.

Despite compelling reasons to abandon the crusade, Edward remained resolute. On February 6, 1271, he received a letter from the English government informing him of his father’s severe illness and urging his return. Yet, Edward was unmoved. Instead of returning himself, he dispatched Henry of Almain to England via Gascony to handle political matters. His commitment to his crusading vow was unwavering—one chronicle recounts him swearing by God’s blood that he would reach Acre and fulfill his oath, even if only his groom, Fowyn, remained by his side. Not even the shocking news of Henry of Almain’s brutal murder in Viterbo by Simon and Guy de Montfort—an act of vengeance for their father’s death at Evesham—shook his resolve.

Borrowing 70,000 Livres Tournois (about half a ton of silver) from the French King, Louis IX “the Saint,” and leading 1,000 elite men (including 225 knights) along with several hundred sailors carried in a small flotilla of just thirteen ships, Edward arrived in Palestine on May 9, 1271, determined to aid the French King Hugh III, who was besieged in Acre by 30,000 Mamluks under Baibars.

The highly active Edward gave new life to the besieged city of Acre, launching raids as far as… Nazareth, where he slaughtered all the Muslim and Jewish inhabitants (on June 8). He also decimated an entire Turcoman encampment in a fierce night attack, killing 1,500 of them and seizing many spoils (5.000 animals are reffered, on August 14). Also, he took part in defending Acre against Baibars’s attack in December 1271 and led a few military expeditions into the nearby countryside. Muslim accounts report that the attack resulted in the death of one emir and the injury of another. The castle’s commander was also forced to abandon his post. However, Edward made no attempt to capture the stronghold and chose to withdraw before Baibars, who was in Aleppo with his army preparing for a Mongol threat, could launch a counterattack.

However, Edward realized that his forces were insufficient to drive out the Mamluks, let alone reclaim Jerusalem. Thus, he worked tirelessly to forge an alliance between the French in Acre, the Kingdom of Cyprus, and the Mongols, sending repeated letters to the Mongol Khan of Iran, Abaqa.

Additionally, the young English prince was stunned to discover that the Venetians were supplying timber and iron to the… Mamluks (!) in exchange for wheat and, of course, abundant gold. They were also bringing Tatar and Cuman slaves from Crimea to replenish the ranks of the Mamluks, who constantly needed fresh blood. Despite Edward’s vehement protests, the Venetians replied that they had permission from… the French of Acre (!), leaving him utterly speechless.

Despite reinforcements of 800 men from England under his brother, Prince Edmund, and another 500 from the French Kingdom of Cyprus, Edward’s forces, while highly skilled in combat, were numerically inadequate to permanently relieve the French Kingdom of Acre from the Egyptian Mamluk pressure. However, he did manage to sink 17 of their galleys off the coast of Cyprus (on September 19).

His brother Edmund departed on July 5, 1272, while Edward survived an assassination attempt by a hired killer in his tent, likely sent by the Mamluk Sultan Baibars. He personally killed the would-be assassin with his own hands on September 8.

The 1.88m-tall Edward, nicknamed Longshanks, left Acre with his remaining men on September 27, 1272, after fighting in the East for 16 months. Although Edward’s crusade achieved little for Outremer aside from setting up a small English garrison in Acre, it incurred enormous debts, possibly exceeding £100,000. Traveling through Sicily, where he stayed for a considerable time, he finally reached England in July 1274. A few days later, on August 19, 1274, he was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.

The rest is history…

Sources

C. Tyreman, ‘‘God’s war : a new history of the Crusades”, publ. Cambridge, Mass. : Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2006.

M. Prestwitch, ”Edward I”, University of California Press, 1988.