Siege of Antioch (1268)

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Siege of Antioch (1268)

The siege happened in May 1268, when the Mamluk sultan Baibars captured the city of Antioch from the Crusaders. Antioch, in today’s Antakya in Turkey, had been weakened by years of conflict with Armenia and internal power struggles. Bohemond IV’s court had moved to Tripoli, and the city was poorly defended when Baibars attacked.

Background
- By 1260 Baibars had threatened Antioch and had already taken Caesarea, Haifa, and Arsuf (1265), then devastated Galilee and Cilician Armenia.
- The Antiochene garrison, led by Simon Mansel, faced a growing Muslim threat. The Crusader states were divided and member rulers were occupied with their own affairs.

The siege and fall
- The defenses were strong in some places, but the long city walls were hard to defend. About 15,000 Mamluk troops attacked roughly 7,500 defenders.
- An initial attempt to break the siege failed. The city eventually surrendered on 18 May after negotiations to spare the inhabitants’ lives; the citadel fell two days later.
- Baibars’ forces then sacked the city, killing many and taking others as slaves.

Aftermath
- Estimates say about 17,000 people were killed and 100,000 were enslaved or imprisoned. The churches and monasteries were destroyed, and much of the city was burned.
- The fall weakened the Crusader states. Krak des Chevaliers fell three years later. Louis IX’s Eighth Crusade in 1270 went to Tunis rather than to Antioch. By 1277 Baibars had confined the Crusaders to a few coastal forts, and the Crusader presence in the Levant dwindled by the early 14th century.