Louis IX's siege of Tunis (the Eighth Crusade)
منازلة الفرنسيس تونس
July 1270 CE · Dhu al-Qa'da 668 AH
Louis of France sailed at the end of Dhu al-Qa'da 668, mustered at Sardinia, and landed at Carthage with some six thousand horse and thirty thousand foot on three hundred ships — as Ibn Khaldun reports from his father from his grandfather — seven kings among them the lords of Sicily and the islands; he refused the sultan's envoy and pocketed the eighty thousand gold pieces sent to buy him off. The hosts met in mid-Muharram 669 with some five hundred dead on both sides, until the Frankish king was found dead in his camp; the peace was drawn by the qadi Ibn Zaytun over fifteen days, and Carthage was demolished, its stones carried to Tunis.
At a glance
- Era
- The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era
- Region
- Maghreb · al-Andalus & Europe
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
In time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
Overview
The arrival
Ibn Khaldun, quoting his father, who quoted his own father, says that Louis gathered at Sardinia and then landed with about six thousand horsemen and thirty thousand foot soldiers, on three hundred ships, with seven kings with him. He says that he refused to let the sultan's envoy sit in his presence, and he took eighty thousand gold pieces that had been sent to turn him from his purpose. 1
The meeting and the truce
The two forces met in the middle of Muharram 669 AH, and about five hundred were killed on both sides. Then the king of the Franks was found dead, so the truce was concluded, and the judge Ibn Zaytun wrote it out in fifteen days. Carthage was ordered destroyed, and its building was carried to Tunis. The sultan al-Mustansir al-Hafsi was a party to these events. 1
Ibn Khaldun's words about the enemy's destruction express his own view; this page reports them and does not adjudicate them.
Connections
- Had participant
- Louis IX of France· al-Mustansir billah al-Hafsi
- Occurred at
- Tunis
People and things also explored
Abu Zakariya al-Hafsi's break with the Almohads· Abu al-Hasan al-Marini's entry into Ifriqiya· Mecca's bay'a to the Hafsid al-Mustansir· استرداد تونس من الإسبان· Abu Zakariya al-Hafsi· Amir Abu Zakariya, lord of Bejaia· al-Wathiq Yahya ibn al-Mustansir al-Hafsi· Hafsid dynasty
Sources
- Kitab al-Ibar of Ibn Khaldun
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Louis IX's siege of Tunis (the Eighth Crusade)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/eighth-crusade-tunis-669/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-17.