Siege of Acre (1291)
| Siege of Acre (1291) | |||||||||
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| Part of The Crusades | |||||||||
 The Hospitalier Maréchal Matthieu de Clermont defending the walls at the Siege of Acre, 1291, by Dominique Papety (1815–49) at Versailles. |
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Mamluk Sultanate
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 Kingdom of Jerusalem Knights Templar Knights Hospitaller Teutonic Knights
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Al-Ashraf Khalil
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Henry II of Jerusalem Amalric of Tyre
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| Strength | |||||||||
| 220,000 |
17,000 infantry, 1,100 cavalry |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 7 Amirs, 30 Amir's Mamluks, 6 Halqa commanders, 53 Halqas, unknown volunteers | Heavy | ||||||||
17,000 infantry,
The Siege of Acre (also called the Fall of Acre) took place in 1291 and resulted in the loss of the Crusader-controlled city of Acre to the Mamluks. It is considered one of the most important battles of the period. Although the crusading movement continued for several more centuries, the capture of the city marked the end of further crusades to the Levant. When Acre fell, the Crusaders lost their last major stronghold of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem. They still maintained a fortress at the northern city of Tartus (today in north-western Syria), engaged in some coastal raids, and attempted an incursion from the tiny island of Ruad, but when they lost that as well in 1302–3 in the Siege of Ruad, the Crusaders no longer controlled any part of the Holy Land.
The main turning point in the Crusades was in 1187 when, after the pivotal Battle of Hattin, the Christians lost Jerusalem to the forces of Saladin. In the same year, Saladin was able to conquer a great part of the Kingdom of Jerusalem including Acre and Jerusalem. This led to the Third Crusade, during which Acre was besieged and eventually fell in the hands of the Christians in 1191; it became the base of operations and capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem for most of the next hundred years. The religious orders had their headquarters in or near Acre, from which they made crucial decisions in military and diplomatic efforts. For example, when the Mongol forces came in from the East in the mid-13th century, the Christians saw them as potential allies, but also maintained a position of cautious neutrality with the Muslim forces of the Mamluks. In 1260, the Barons of Acre allowed the Mamluks to pass through their territory unhindered, which enabled the Mamluks to achieve a decisive victory against the Mongols at the pivotal Battle of Ain Jalut in Galilee.
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