A series of dashed apocalyptic hopes left thirteenth-century crusade ideology bleak

Evidence

The despair caused by Saladin’s capture of Jerusalem gave way to new calls for crusade, inspiring in various authors hopes of crusader victory, of mass conversion of Muslims, or of an alliance with a Christianized Mongol empire. These hopes were regularly dashed as the news reached Europe of the failure of successive Crusades, culminating in the Mamluk capture of Acre in 1291 and the conversion to Islam of the prominent Mongol rulers. The mood at the end of the thirteenth century was decidedly bleak. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 1004