over First Council of Lyon, directing a new Crusade under the command of Louis. With Rome under siege by Frederick, the pope also issued his Ad Apostolicae Dignitatis Apicem, formally renewing the sentence of excommunication on the emperor, and declared him deposed from the imperial throne and that of Naples. The recruiting effort under cardinal Odo of Châteauroux was difficult, and the Crusade finally began on 12 August 1248 when Louis IX left Paris under the insignia of a pilgrim, the Oriflamme. With him were queen Margaret of Provence and two of Louis' brothers, Charles I of Anjou and Robert I of Artois. Their youngest brother Alphonse of Poitiers departed the next year. They were followed by Hugh IV of Burgundy, Peter Maulcerc, Hugh XI of Lusignan, royal companion and chronicler Jean de Joinville, and an English detachment under William Longespée, grandson of Henry II of England. The first stop was Cyprus, arriving in September 1248 where they experienced a long wait for the forces to assemble. Many of the men were lost en route or to disease. The Franks were soon met by those from Acre including the masters of the Orders Jean de Ronay and Guillaume de Sonnac. The two eldest sons of John of Brienne, Alsonso of Brienne and Louis of Brienne, would also join as would John of Ibelin, nephew to the Old Lord of Beirut. William of Villehardouin also arrived with ships and Frankish soldiers from the Morea. It was agreed that Egypt was the objective and many remembered how the sultan's father had been willing to exchange Jerusalem itself for Damietta in the Fifth Crusade. Louis was not willing to negotiate with the infidel Muslims, but he did unsuccessfully seek a Franco-Mongol alliance, reflecting what the pope had sought in 1245. As-Salih Ayyub conducting a campaign in Damascus when the Franks invaded as he had expected the Crusaders to land in Syria. Hurrying his forces back to Cairo , he turned to his vizier Fakhr ad-Din ibn as-Shaikh to command the army that fortified Damietta in anticipation of the invasion. On 5 June 1249 the Crusader fleet began the landing and subsequent siege of Damietta. After a short battle, the Egyptian commander decided to evacuate the city. Remarkably, Damietta had been seized with only one Crusader casualty. The city became a Frankish city and Louis waited until the Nile floods abated before advancing, remembering