Mamluks capture Acre

May 18, 1291

The last great crusader stronghold fell after a six-week siege by Sultan al-Ashraf Khalil. Templars fought to the last in their sea-tower as it collapsed into the Mediterranean. Nearly two centuries of Frankish rule in the Holy Land ended in smoke on the Levantine sand. The fall of Acre sent shock waves through Christendom and prompted calls for new crusades that would never materialize.