which had been handed over to Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor by al-Kamil during the Sixth Crusade. Later that year as-Salih, again allied to the Khwarezmians, defeated as-Salih Ismail in Syria, who had allied with the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, at the Battle of La Forbie. In 1245 as-Salih captured Damascus, and was awarded the title of sultan by the caliph al-Musta'sim in Baghdad. As-Salih was not however able to extend his rule far beyond Damascus, although he was able to retain the emirate of Baalbek under Saʿd al-Din al-Humaidi. In 1246 he decided that his Khwarezmian allies were dangerously uncontrollable, so he turned on them and defeated them near Homs, killing their leader and dispersing the remnants throughout Syria and Palestine. As-Salih's capture of Jerusalem after the Khwarezmian sacking led to the call for a new Crusade in Europe, and Louis IX of France took up the cross. The campaign took several years to organise, but in 1249 Louis invaded Egypt on the Seventh Crusade, and occupied Damietta. Death and legacy As-Salih was away fighting his uncle in Syria when news of the Crusader invasion came, but he quickly returned to Egypt and encamped at al-Mansourah, where he died on 22 November after having his leg amputated in an attempt to save his life from a serious abscess. As-Salih did not trust his heir, al-Muazzam Turanshah, and had kept him at a safe distance from Egypt in Hasankeyf. As-Salih's widow, Shajar al-Durr, managed to hide his death until Turanshah arrived. Turanshah's rule was brief and was followed by a long and complicated interregnum until the Bahri Mamluks eventually took power. As-Salih was thus the last major Ayyubid ruler of Egypt, and the last to combine rule of Egypt with effective rule of parts of Palestine and Syria. References Sources Al-Maqrizi, Al Selouk Leme'refatt Dewall al-Melouk, Dar al-kotob, 1997. See also List of rulers of Egypt Ayyubid sultans of Egypt Muslims of the Barons' Crusade Muslims of the Seventh Crusade 1205 births 1249 deaths Ayyubid emirs of Damascus 13th-century Ayyubid sultans of Egypt 13th-century Kurdish people