Siege of Alexandria (1167)
{{Short description|Siege in Egypt during the Crusades}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Siege of Alexandria
| image =
| caption =
| partof = the Crusader invasions of Egypt
| date = Summer 1167
| place = Alexandria, Egypt
| result = Negotiated settlement
| combatant1 = Kingdom of Jerusalem
Fatimid Caliphate (de facto)
| combatant2 = Zengids of Syria
| commander1 = Amalric I of Jerusalem
Shawar
| strength1 =
| strength2 =
| casualties1 =
| casualties2 =
}}
{{Campaignbox Fatimid-Crusader War}}
{{Campaignbox Crusades Battles}}
The siege of Alexandria took place in summer 1167, during the third Crusader invasion of Egypt, when the Crusaders of the Kingdom of Jerusalem besieged the port city of Alexandria, nominally part of the Fatimid Caliphate but held by Saladin on behalf of his uncle, Shirkuh. Despite the small number of troops he had with him and the dubious support of the Alexandrians, Saladin managed to sustain the siege for three months, until food started running out. At that point Shirkuh arranged for a negotiated settlement, which saw Alexandria handed over to the Fatimid vizier Shawar, and both the Crusaders and Shirkuh's Zengid troops departed Egypt after the payment of tribute from the Fatimid treasury.
Sources
- {{Cite book| last=Ehrenkreutz |first=Andrew S. |year=1972 |title=Saladin |location=Albany, NY |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=0-87395-095-X}}
- {{Cite book |last=Fulton |first=Michael S. |year=2022 |title=Contest for Egypt: The Collapse of the Fatimid Caliphate, the Ebb of Crusader Influence, and the Rise of Saladin |location=Leiden and Boston |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-51227-6}}
- {{Kalifen und Assassinen}}
- {{Saladin in Egypt}}
- {{Cite book |last1=Lyons |first1=Malcolm Cameron |last2=Jackson |first2=D. E. P. |year=1982 |title=Saladin: The Politics of the Holy War |url={{Gbooks|hGR5M0druJIC|plainurl=yes}} |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-31739-8}}
- {{Cite book| last=Omran | first=Mahmud Said | chapter=King Amalric and the Siege of Alexandria, 1167 | title = Crusade and Settlement. Papers read at the First Conference of the Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East and presented to R. C. Smail | editor = Peter W. Edbury | location = Cardiff | publisher = University College Cardiff Press | year = 1985 | pages = 191–196 | isbn=0-906449-78-2 }}
{{coord missing|Egypt}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexanria, Siege Of}}
Category:Battles of the Crusades
Category:Battles involving the Fatimid Caliphate
Category:Battles involving the Zengid dynasty
Category:1160s in the Fatimid Caliphate
Category:Battles involving the Kingdom of Jerusalem
Category:1160s in the Kingdom of Jerusalem
Category:Egypt under the Fatimid Caliphate