Category Archives: Muslim Empire (old series)

The Ilkhan Turns Muslim, 1291-95

Posted on December 21, 2017 by Ruth

In 1291, the Mamluks finally captured Acre, the last outpost of the Crusader states. The Christian world didn’t know that they’d never take back any of that land, but in fact, they never would, until after World War I. At the … Continue reading →

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The Eighth and Ninth Crusades, 1270-2

Posted on December 4, 2017 by Ruth

The Mamluk Sultan Baybars had a field day in the Holy Land during the 1260s. War between Venice and Genoa had drawn the remaining Crusader towns into war with each other, exhausting the region one more time. Mamluk forces, which … Continue reading →

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West African Empires, 1269-1312

Posted on December 4, 2017 by Ruth

The Almohad dynasty had been ruling in Marrakesh and much of Spanish Andalusia for the last century. It wasn’t materially different from the Almoravids before or the Marinids after it; at this point, West and North Africa had settled into … Continue reading →

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The Reconquista in Spain, 1236-1265

Posted on December 3, 2017 by Ruth

The Reconquista moved into final stages when King Ferdinand III of Castile and Toledo inherited the kingdoms of Leon and Galicia, in 1230. He was the wealthiest, most powerful Spanish king yet: he married first a princess from the Hohenstaufen … Continue reading →

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Hulegu Khan and Goliath’s Well, 1260

Posted on November 22, 2017 by Ruth

Möngke Khan died in 1259. The Mongolian procedure for selecting a new Great Khan was not an automatic succession by Möngke’s son, but a massive family gathering called a kurultai. The kurultai was usually organized with an obvious purpose by one … Continue reading →

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The Fall of Baghdad, 1258

Posted on November 22, 2017 by Ruth

The last Caliph of Baghdad ascended to his throne in 1242. The position had been powerless for a long time during the Turkish migrations, ruling in name while the cities were virtually independent, but then a series of energetic Caliphs … Continue reading →

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The Ilkhan and the Fall of Alamut, 1256

Posted on November 17, 2017 by Ruth

Between 1251 and 1254, Mongol armies subdued the Goryeo Kingdom of Korea, though not without drama. Under military pressure, the Korean king sent them a hostage who was supposedly his son, but it turned out to be a stepson not … Continue reading →

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The Splendor of Karakorum, 1251

Posted on November 16, 2017 by Ruth

In 1251, the Mongol Empire went through an internal coup. Temujin’s son Ögedei had died in 1241, and his widow got their son Güyük installed as Great Khan. But when Güyük died and his widow tried to do as her mother … Continue reading →

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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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