The Seventh Crusade, led by Louis IX with the Templars among its principal fighters, turns the hope of recovering the Holy Land into a campaign of failed judgment and costly defeat. Its Egyptian expedition begins with a successful landing at Damietta, but the advance toward Cairo ends in disaster at Mansura; the king is captured and ransomed, and the Templars’ ideal of holy warfare is left exposed to political humiliation and the eventual loss of their purpose in the Holy Land.

Causes and Crusading Purpose

The campaign follows the definitive fall of Jerusalem in 1244, which ended the Christians’ control of the city after a war begun roughly a century and a half earlier. The account presents that loss not as a reason to abandon the crusade but as the setting for its renewed appeal. Louis IX still believed that another attempt was worthwhile, and the Templars were willing to follow him into defeat. Their readiness reflected more than loyalty to the king: fighting for the Temple’s religious purpose was central to their identity, and without a crusade their role became difficult to justify.

The Templars’ commitment is set against Louis’s pious confidence. At the Egyptian shore, he calls on his followers to remain united in charity, promising martyrdom if they are defeated and greater glory to God if they triumph. The Templars do not share his belief that the expedition will succeed, but their training has made them knights of an ideal, and they act in accordance with that ideal even when their judgment is doubtful.

From Damietta to Mansura

The landing at Damietta succeeds, and the opposing forces abandon the city. Louis delays entering it because he fears a trap, although the city is undefended and available to him. After taking Damietta, he converts its mosques into churches. The next decision is whether to advance toward Alexandria, the more prudent strategic target, or Cairo, the heart of Egypt. Robert d’Artois, the king’s brother, urges the march on Cairo, preferring the prospect of glory to the safer course. The Templars, initially cautious, become eager for action; against the king’s order to avoid isolated engagements, the Temple’s marshal attacks a Mameluke squadron.

At Mansura, the French attempt to cross the river while the opposing force holds the far bank. A Bedouin guide leads Louis and his men to a ford in return for three hundred bezants. The crossing costs lives, and mounted enemy troops wait on the other side. The Templars form the vanguard, followed by Robert d’Artois. When the opposing horsemen withdraw, the Templars wait for the rest of the Christian army, but Robert and his men pursue them. The Templars join the assault in order to avoid the appearance of dishonor and catch up with Robert after he has entered the enemy camp.

The pursuit carries the force into Mansura. The Templars try to restrain Robert, and Brother Gilles, the Temple’s supreme commander, first praises his achievement in an effort to turn him back. Robert instead accuses the Templars and the Hospitalers of having withheld their strength in earlier campaigns. Stung by the accusation, the Templars follow him into the city and continue the attack. Only then do they recognize that they have repeated the error made at Ascalon: while the Christians are occupied with the sultan’s palace, the opposing forces regroup and strike the disordered attackers.

Defeat and Its Costs

Robert d’Artois is killed, along with many knights, including two hundred and eighty Templars. The account presents their decision to continue into the city as a collision between military caution and the order’s need to prove its courage. Brother Gilles is reported to have warned Robert that he and his brothers would follow him despite doubting that any would return. The disaster is described as a disgrace as well as a defeat, although Joinville does not record it in those terms.

The wider campaign also collapses. The Christian army suffers from disease and lack of provisions, and Grand Master Guillaume de Sonnac dies in the fighting. Louis’s forces are routed, and the king is so ill with dysentery that he cuts out the seat of his trousers to save time during battle. Damietta is lost. The queen negotiates with the opposing forces and pays five hundred thousand livres tournois to secure the king’s release. These reversals turn the expedition’s initial success into a campaign of retreat and ransom.

Aftermath and Significance

On Louis’s return to Saint-Jean-d’Acre, the city welcomes him in procession, with clergy, women, and children among those who come out to greet him. The welcome contrasts with the military outcome: Louis is received as a victor even though the expedition has failed. The Templars, meanwhile, attempt to negotiate with Damascus. When Louis learns of their negotiations, he repudiates the new grand master in front of Muslim ambassadors, forcing him to withdraw his promises, kneel, and ask forgiveness. The order may have fought bravely, but the king’s public humiliation of its leader reasserts royal authority over it.

The campaign’s longer significance becomes clear after the fall of Saint-Jean-d’Acre in 1291. By then the Templars are wealthier, more numerous, and more powerful than before, yet their original purpose was to fight in the Holy Land, and the Christian kingdom there has disappeared. The Seventh Crusade thus stands between the Templars’ continued institutional strength and the disappearance of the cause that had given their military vocation meaning.