Monthly Archives: October 2017

The Mamluk Revolution, 1250

Posted on October 30, 2017 by Ruth

Under the last real Ayyubid Sultan, as-Salih, the Mamluk corps was built up to unprecedented size and strength. They were a neat solution to a political problem because as slaves, they did what they were told, but as people with … Continue reading →

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The Saint and the Seventh Crusade, 1248-50

Posted on October 26, 2017 by Ruth

Of course, the Pope called a new crusade. But Europe was in bad shape for a Crusade. In the Sixth Crusade, the King of Hungary had led, but now Hungary was in ruins. Europe’s bad boy Frederick was not only … Continue reading →

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Sack of Jerusalem, 1244

Posted on October 17, 2017 by Ruth

When the Mongols invaded the land of Khwarezmia, south of the Aral Sea, they sent a wave of ferocious refugees who had been the toughest kids on the block until the Mongols showed them up. Bands of Khwarezmian fighters went … Continue reading →

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Rumi and the Whirling Dervishes, 1244

Posted on October 14, 2017 by Ruth

Jalal ad-Din Mohammed Rumi was born in Balkh, Afghanistan in 1207. There’s some unpacking to be done here: I think Mohammed would have been his father’s personal name, and Jalal his own. Ad-Din, of course, was a chosen or consensus-given … Continue reading →

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The Battle on the Ice: 1242

Posted on October 14, 2017 by Ruth

The Mongols had not touched the city-state of Novgorod, as it was just out of range to north and west. In this period, the region is known as the Novgorod Republic. Novgorod was ruled by a Prince who was appointed or … Continue reading →

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The Barons’ Crusade, 1239-1241

Posted on October 13, 2017 by Ruth

Historians who later numbered the Crusades did something very odd at this point. Emperor Frederick II’s peaceful negotiation for a ten-year control of Jerusalem was the Sixth Crusade, but when that time ran out and a new army came to … Continue reading →

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Baba Ishak’s revolt, 1239

Posted on October 13, 2017 by Ruth

I want to talk about a minor revolt that took place in Anatolia between 1239 and 1241 not because it’s important on the world stage, but because it illustrates very clearly the strains in the Muslim world at this time. … Continue reading →

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The Khan’s Grandsons and the Golden Horde, 1236-41

Posted on October 13, 2017 by Ruth

The four ruling sons of Genghis Khan didn’t last long. Jochi, the controversial oldest son, died before his father. So already at the Great Khan’s death, grandsons had been assigned to rule parts of the western Empire. Batu was the … Continue reading →

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Stupor Mundi and the Sixth Crusade, 1229

Posted on October 7, 2017 by Ruth

While the Mongols were trampling Central Asia, life went on as before for the European West and the Middle East. During the years of Temujin’s rise, Europe was focused on the young King of Sicily and Germany, who had finally … Continue reading →

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Death of Genghis Khan, 1228

Posted on October 7, 2017 by Ruth

Genghis Khan had been having a serious internal family problem during the later campaigns. Although he had promoted on a merit basis for years, and although he railed against aristocratic inheritance, in truth of course he wanted his sons to … Continue reading →

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