 And lastly , there was not much support among the general populace in Europe for a Mongol alliance . Writers in Europe were creating " recovery " literature with their ideas about how best to recover the Holy Land , but few mentioned the Mongols as a genuine possibility . In 1306 , when Pope Clement V asked the leaders of the military orders , Jacques de Molay and Fulk de Villaret , to present their proposals for how the Crusades should proceed , neither of them factored in any kind of a Mongol alliance . A few later proposals talked briefly about the Mongols as being a force that could invade Syria and keep the Mamluks distracted , but not as a force that could be counted on for cooperation . 
