Norman-Mamluk War

The Norman-Mamluk War was a series of battles fought between the Mamluk's of Egypt and the Norman rulers of Jerusalem, from 1463 to 1467.

Background
In January 1454 Arthur I, King of Normandy, met with Sultan Sayf ad-Din Inal, ruler of Egypt and Syria at the Citadel of Cairo, where they signed the Treaty of Cairo, an alliance pact between the Mamluk's and Normans. Arthur had begun to grow concerned by the the threat of the Ottomans and looked to protect his assets in Northern Egypt.

In 1461 Kushqadam became Sultan of Egypt and Syria and gathered the support of the Mamluk noble's to retake Jerusalem. Kushqadam met with Sultan Mehmed of the Ottoman Empire, who agreed to support the Mamluk war on the Norman's. Mehmed agreed to attack Tyre and Acre whilst Kushqadam's army would attack Gaza, Ascalon and Jerusalem.

Early Phase
In 1463 Sultan Khushqadam marched an army 30,000 strong on Gaza from Cairo, whilst a second Mamluk army of 10,000, was led by the future Sultan, Qaitbay, from Damascus on Tyre. Sultan Mehmed pledged an army of 25,000, which was placed under the command of the Grand Vizier Davud Pasha, who joined with Qaitbay's force on route to Tyre.

The King's cousin, Louis, Lord Protector of Jerusalem, received news of the Mamluk armies advance on 15 March 1463 and immediately prepared his army. He sent messages to the Norman duchies of Alexandria and Cyprus requesting reinforcements. A week later, Louis arrived in Ascalon and had gathered an army of 18,000. The Mamluk's laid siege to Gaza and Tyre, with both cities refusing to surrender.

When news reached King Arthur, he began preparing an army for the Holy Land. He sent envoys to England, France, Aragon, Venice and Hospitaller Knights, requesting support. Internal problems in England and France meant neither could commit support, whilst Venice was already at war with the Ottoman's. Aragon agreed to send 5,000 men and the Knights Hospitaller agreed to raise an army. By May 1463, Arthur personally led an army of 20,000 and began heading to the Holy Land.

James II de Lusignan, Duke of Cyprus arrived in Acre with an army of around 10,000 in June and was joined two weeks later by Edmund de Montfort, Duke of Alexandria with a force of 15,000. De Lusignan marched his army north and met Qaitbay outside of Tyre on 3 July 1463. The two armies met on the battle field, but prior to the battle, the Ottoman army left the battlefield to the dismay of Qaitbay. Grand Vizier Davud Pasha had received word from Constantinople was required elsewhere as the Venetian's were attacking Argos.

With his army now outnumbered, Qaitbay withdrew his army and retreated back to to Sarepta. De Lusignan was hailed a hero on his arrival in Tyre, which had been under siege for three months.

Upon hearing the news, Louis marched his army south from Ascalon and met Khushqadam at the Battle of Gaza on 26 July 1463. Louis' right flank, commanded by George de Roulion of Ibelin, were outflanked and routed by Kushqadam's elite heavy cavalry and when Louis left flank became engaged and outnumbered, the battle was over for the Normans. Louis left the battlefield with just half his army and retreated back to Ascalon.

Kushqadam left a small force at the siege of Gaza and then marched on Hebron and laid siege on the city. At Hebron, Kushqadam was reinforced by men from Karak and he left an army besieging Hebron and marched his main army on Ascalon.

Kushqadam laid siege to Ascalon on 1 November 1463, but Louis had already left the city with his main army and retreated to Jerusalem where he hoped to regroup his army and mount a defense.

Whilst Kushqadam was attacking Norman cities in the south, de Lusignan, had begun attacking Mamluk cities in the north. De Lusignan had been joined by a Knights Hospitaller army of 5,000 and had besieged Sarepta, Sidon and Beaufort. Qaitbay had been beaten by de Lusignan at the Battle of Sidon and had fled to Beirut for reinforcements. By December of 1463, Jerusalem had been reinforced by a Templar Knights army of 8,000 and a Hospitaller Knights army of 7,000.

Campaign of 1464
De Lusignan suffered his first defeat on 18 January 1464 at the Battle of Kesdesh. The victory for Qaitbay, whilst costly in terms of men, was important, in that de Lusignan was unable to attack any further Mamluk cities and prevented his campaign towards Damascus.

By March 1464, the city of Gaza fell to the Mamluk's ending a year long siege. A month later Hebron fell to the Mamluk's. With the south of the Kingdom now in Mamluk hands, Kushqadam began marching on Jerusalem.

Two smaller Mamluk armies besieged the coastal cities of Ibelin and Jaffa cutting off Jerusalem from the sea. By now a large fleet of Mamluk ships had blockaded the ports of Ascalon, Ibelin and Jaffa.

Louis sent a request to de Lusignan to send his army south to support the defence of Jerusalem, but before de Lusignan could arrive, Jerusalem was besieged by Kushqadam in command of an army of 70,000 on 17 May 1464. The city had been well supplied for a siege and had a huge arsenal of cannon, which kept the advantage for the defenders.

On 4 June 1464, a well armed fleet of Norman-Aragonese-Venetian fleets, under the command of George de Albioncourt, Earl of Saladoria, destroyed the Mamluk fleet blockading Ibelin and arrived with much needed supplies. Albioncourt then sailed to Ascalon and defeated the Mamluk fleet blockading Ascalon. Ascalon, which was on the brink of falling to the Mamluk's was saved by Albioncourt's arrival.

A month later, on 11 July 1464, Arthur I, King of Normandy, finally reached the Holy Land, landing in Ibelin. Arthur's army now numbered 27,000 Normans and 12,000 Aragonese. Arthur was joined by de Lusignan, who commanded an army of 20,000 and the grand Norman army marched to Jerusalem arriving on 23 July 1464.

Battle of Jerusalem
The Battle of Jerusalem saw the largest battle of the conflict take place with the Mamluk army numbering around 100,000 and the Normans around 70,000. The battle lasted two days and it was the far superior Norman artillery that won the battle. The Mamluk army eventually fled the battle with just 30,000 managing to escape the battlefield.

After the battle, King Arthur split his army sending a Templar army to retake Ibelin and a Hospitaller army to retake Jaffa. Arthur took his army south and marched on Daron whilst de Lusignan took his army north to Beirut. By the end of 1464 the Normans had besieged Jaffa, Ibelin, Beirut and Daron

Campaign of 1465
The war slowed down throughout 1465, with the Mamluk's army in disarray and the Norman's spending the year besieging cities. Qaitbay attempted to release the siege on Beirut, but was defeated by de Lusignan's army.

Campaign of 1466
By 1466, Jaffa, Ibelin and Daron had fallen to the Norman's and King Arthur laid siege to Montreal, which surrendered after a three month siege. King Arthur then went further south and laid siege to Aqaba. By the end if the year Beirut finally surrendered to de Lusignan's army. De Lusignan then marched east on Damascus, but was forced to retreat to Beirut after he was defeated by Qaitbay at the Battle of Damascus.

End of the war
Kushqadam made one last attempt to defeat the main Norman army after rebuilding his army. He met Arthur at the Battle of Aqaba, where the Normans destroyed Kushqadam's army. On 8 May 1467 Kushqadam admitted defeat and agreed to the Treaty of Aqaba, ending the war.