The Siege of Acre (also called the Fall of Acre) took place in 1291 and resulted in the loss of the Crusader-controlled city of Acre to the Mamluks. It is considered one of the most important battles of the period. Although the crusading movement continued for several more centuries, the capture of the city marked the end of further crusades to the Levant. When Acre fell, the Crusaders lost their last major stronghold of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem.
In 1260, the Barons of Acre allowed the Mamluks to pass through their territory unhindered, which enabled the Mamluks to achieve a decisive victory against the Mongols at the pivotal Battle of Ain Jalut in Galilee. However, most relations with the Mamluks were not as cordial. With the rise of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt in 1250, an even more dangerous and formidable enemy than the Ayyubids with heavy cavalry to match Crusader knights.
Mamluk Sultan Al-Ashraf Khalil assembled the forces of Egypt and Syria, which included a great number of volunteers and siege engines from everywhere at Hisn al-Akrad. Some of Khalil's catapults were huge and had such names as "Al Mansuri" and "The Furious" in addition to lighter, but potent, mangonels called "Black Bulls".
The Franks of Acre were aware of the seriousness of the situation. They asked for help from Europe which resulted in nothing significant. The only noteworthy reinforcement came from king Henry II of Cyprus who fortified the walls and sent forces led by his brother Amaury de Lusignan to defend the city. Reinforcements from Italy were ill-disciplined and having no regular pay resorted to pillaging indiscriminately from both Muslims and Christians before setting out from Acre.
he fall of Acre signaled the end of the Jerusalem crusades. No effective crusade was raised to recapture the Holy Land afterwards, though talk of further crusades was common enough.
The Latin Kingdom continued to exist, theoretically, on the island of Cyprus.
