User:Per Honor et Gloria/Alliance

Historians describing the existence of a Franco-Mongol alliance
An alliance is "an agreement between two or more parties, made in order to advance common goals and to secure common interests". Agreements clearly took place, proved by the multiple exchanges and letters, and combined operations occured as a result, which amply fulfills the defining conditions of an alliance. The outcome however was frought with difficulties: ambitious attempts at collaboration ended with minimal results, and the efforts ended in defeat against the Mamluks. Saying that there were only "attempts at an alliance" or that there was "no alliance" however is an abuse of language that confuses an alliance (agreements to collaborate) and its outcome (failed attempts at collaboration). In order to reflect what historians as a whole say about these events, it is necessary to distinguish this subtlety. For reminder, the basic facts of the Franco-Mongol alliance that these historians comment upon are quite straightforward: FRANCO-MONGOL ALLIANCE AND OPERATIONS: (+ indicate apparent frequency of academic coverage)
 * 1248: First diplomatic exchanges under Saint-Louis, with attempts at an alliance. +++
 * 1260-1275: Alliance with the Mongols of Bohemond VI, Frankish ruler of Antioch and Tripoli, with joint campaigns (especially the joint capture of Damascus). +++++
 * 1271: Combined operations of Edward I of England with the Mongols (although no junction). ++
 * 1280-1281: Direct participation of the Knights Hospitallers of Margat to the Mongol offensives. ++
 * 1299-1303: Combined operations around the Ruad expedition. ++

DESCRIPTION OF THESE EVENTS BY HISTORIANS:

Irwin, Robert: Bohemond submitted to the Mongols. 1986. Bernard de Vaulx. Writes about the "Franco-Mongol alliance" in History of the Missions (p. 53).


 * Rapprochement
 * Emmanuel Berl in Histoire de l'Europe (p. 219) writes about the "Franco-Mongol rapprochement".
 * Mamluk Perceptions of the Mongol–Frankish Rapprochement. Mediterranean Historical Review 7 (1992): 50–65.

Armenian-Mongol alliance

 * Grousset "The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, client and close ally of the Mongols"
 * The Cambridge history of Islam "The Armenian-Mongol alliance, however, was a reality of some importance"
 * "The Mongol alliance was initially of great benefit to Cilicia and to the Mongols"

Trebizond
himself a vassal of the Mongol empire" E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936, p. 661 paying an annual tribute,became a Mongol vassal." 
 * "Trebizond was spared their invasion but the emperor Manuel had to declare
 * "The emperor of Trebizond made a speedy peace with them and,on condition of
 * "The Emperor of Trebizond, realizing the impossibility of righting the Mongols, made a speedy peace and became a Mongol vassal" History of the Byzantine Empire, 324-1453 Vol 2, A. A. Vasiliev

More facts

 * The three envoys sent by Edward I of England to Hulagu were Reginald Russel, Godfrey Welles and John Parker.
 * Philip IV of France committed to Arghun that "if the armies of the Ilkhan go to war against Egypt, we too shall set out from here to go to war and to attack in a common operation".
 * Edward I of England also expressed his willingness to take part in a joint operation
 * "The Mongol alliance was particularly advocated by the Genoese (...) but opposed by the Venetians"
 * "In military and demographic terms, Antioch was the most important of the Frankish states in the north."
 * In 1234, Muslim ambassadors ("ex parte universitatis Orientalium") went to the court of the French and English kings to ask for help against the Mongols.
 * In 1269, two embassies to the French court, one from the Sultan of Egypt, the other from the Ilkhan, encountered in a central public square in Genoa and fought with each other.
 * Raymond Lulle wrote in 1285-86 a dialogue between a "Tartar" and a Christian (Liber Tartari et Christiani), in which the Tartar is presented as a sage, preoccupied with the salvation of his soul and the well-being of the others, and who ultimately converts to Christianism.
 * An embassy from Charles of Anjou reached Cairo in 1264.
 * Battle of Gaza, when the Mamluks under Qutuz retook the city from the Mongols: "Qutuz led his troops to Gaza where they overwhelmed the small Mongol garisson".
 * "In the autumn of 1244, Bohemund V of Antioch-Tripoli had made a well-publicized appeal to Frederick II for help against a Mongol army menacing Syria"
 * Bohemond VI summoned to surrender to the Mongols in 1244
 * Capture of Nablus by Hulagu
 * Occupation of Jerusalem: "1300: Mongols occupy Jerusalem briefly", "After a brief and largely symbolic occupation of Jerusalem, Ghazan withdrew to Persia"