"Our Ships Are Horses": The Anti-Crusader Defense Strategy of the Mamluks, 1250–1517

The paper examines the naval policy of the Mamluks, a dynasty of military slaves who ruled Egypt and Syria during the years 1250-1517. In fact, the paper discusses the lack of a coherent naval policy. As fierce mounted warriors, dependent on horses, the Mamluks opted to raze all the towns of the Syro-Palestinian coast after the expulsion of the last Christian knights after 1291. This was done in part out of the fear the Crusaders might return and use the harbors as bridgeheads for new intrusions. Ultimately, the Mamluks resorted to this kind of policy because they deliberately opted out of building powerful navies in favor of a strategy that would aim to prevent the better equipped European fleets from landing soldiers on their shores. Thus, instead of building naval squadrons, the Mamluks maintained this “scorched shore” policy for the rest of their reign.

This paper will analyze the reasons behind this peculiar behavior, and raise questions about what alternatives might have been possible, and what the long-term impact of these policies were on the medieval Mediterranean world.