THE  FINAL  STRUGGLE	195
who had become Sultan in 1280, agreed to extend the truce
for another ten years. A few months previously, the
Mongols had again challenged Egypt, and, although Kalaoun
had been successful in the struggle, his army had suffered so
severely that he was not ready to deliver the final blow to the
Latin dominion.
But he was resolved that the Franks should be expelled,
and three years before the termination of the truce he found
an excuse for marching into Latin territory. On the ground
that a number of Moslem traders had been killed in the
market at Acre—the cause of the trouble is said have been
the discovery by a Christian of a liaison between his wife and
a Moslem—he declared war, and in 1289 his army was
thrown against the Franks. Since it was hopeless to meet the
Moslems in the field, the Christians shut themselves up in
their few remaining fortresses and in fortified towns. Some
of the castles held out for months against the Egyptians, but
in two years every part of the Latin territory had fallen to
the Moslems with the exception of Acre.
In April, 1291, a hundred thousand Moslems besieged the
last Latin possession in the East. William de Beaujeu, the
Grand Master of the Temple, was entrusted with the com-
mand of the port, which had a garrison of about fifteen
thousand men, including nine hundred knights. Cities less
strong than Acre had held out for months against immense
forces, but the Christians despaired of saving the city, and it
was proposed that, as ample transport existed in the harbour,
the garrison should retire to Cyprus. The aged, the children
and the sick and many of the women were taken to that island,
but de Beaujeu refused to desert Acre, and he was supported
by every knight of the military Orders and by most of the
citizens.
The Moslems were well supplied with siege machinery,
and the walls were pounded day and night. For six weeks
all attempts to take the city failed, but when one of the towers