rdfs:comment
| - The war began as part of a succession crisis in the Fatimid Caliphate, which began to crumble under the pressure of Syria and the Crusader states. While one side called for help from Nur ad-Din Zangi, the other called for Crusader assistance. As the war progressed however it became a war of conquest. A number of Syrian campaigns into Egypt were stopped short of total victory by the aggressive campaigning of Amalric I of Jerusalem. Even so, the Crusaders generally speaking did not have things go their way, despite several sackings. A combined Byzantine-Crusader siege of Damietta failed in 1169, the same year that Salah ad-Din, also known as Saladin in the West, took power in Egypt as vizier. In 1171 Saladin became Sultan of Egypt and the Crusaders thereafter turned their attention to the de
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abstract
| - The war began as part of a succession crisis in the Fatimid Caliphate, which began to crumble under the pressure of Syria and the Crusader states. While one side called for help from Nur ad-Din Zangi, the other called for Crusader assistance. As the war progressed however it became a war of conquest. A number of Syrian campaigns into Egypt were stopped short of total victory by the aggressive campaigning of Amalric I of Jerusalem. Even so, the Crusaders generally speaking did not have things go their way, despite several sackings. A combined Byzantine-Crusader siege of Damietta failed in 1169, the same year that Salah ad-Din, also known as Saladin in the West, took power in Egypt as vizier. In 1171 Saladin became Sultan of Egypt and the Crusaders thereafter turned their attention to the defence of their Kingdom, which, despite being surrounded by Syria and Egypt, held for another 16 years However, after the fall of Jerusalem in 1187, the focus of the Crusaders shifted decisively towards Egypt and less so towards the Levant. This can be seen in the Third Crusade, where Richard the Lionheart recognized the importance of Egypt and twice suggested an invasion of the region. An assault against the Levant could not succeed without the resources and manpower of Egypt, which currently gave the Islamic powers in the region a decisive advantage. The Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, Eighth and Alexandrian Crusades all had Egypt as the intended target, with temporary victories followed by defeats, evacuations or negotiations - ultimately amounting to nothing. By 1291, Acre, the last major Crusader fortress in the Holy Land fell to the forces of the Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, and any remaining territories on the mainland were lost over the next decade.
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