Editing Louis IX of France (section)

===Four years in the Kingdom of Jerusalem===
Upon his liberation from captivity in Egypt, Louis IX devoted four years to fortifying the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]], focusing his efforts in [[Acre, Israel|Acre]], [[Caesarea Maritima|Caesarea]], and [[Jaffa]]. He used his resources to aid the Crusaders in reconstructing their defenses<ref name="brehier">{{cite web|title=Bréhier, Louis. "Crusades." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company|orig-year=1908|year=2013|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04543c.htm|access-date=29 September 2014}}</ref> and actively engaged in diplomatic endeavors with the [[Ayyubid dynasty]]. In the spring of 1254, Louis and his remaining forces made their return to France.<ref name="Encarta-Crusades" />

Louis maintained regular correspondence and envoy exchanges with the [[Mongol]] rulers of his era. During his first crusade in 1248, he received envoys from [[Eljigidei]], the Mongol military leader stationed in [[Armenia]] and [[Persia]].{{sfn|Jackson|1980|p=481-513}} Eljigidei proposed that Louis should launch an offensive in Egypt while he targeted [[Baghdad]] to prevent the unification of the Muslim forces in Egypt and Syria. In response, Louis sent [[André de Longjumeau]], a [[Dominican Order|Dominican]] priest, as a delegate to the [[Khagan]] [[Güyük Khan]] ({{Reign|1246|1248}}) in [[Mongolia]]. However, Güyük's death preceded the arrival of the emissary, and his widow and acting regent, [[Oghul Qaimish]], rejected the diplomatic proposition.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Grousset|first1=René|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CHzGvqRbV_IC&q=berke+khan+demanded+louis+IX&pg=PA273|title=The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia|publisher=[[Rutgers University Press]]|year=1970|isbn=978-0813513041|location=Durham, New Carolina|access-date=29 September 2014}}</ref>

Louis sent another representative, the [[Franciscan]] missionary and explorer [[William of Rubruck]], to the Mongol court. Rubruck visited the Khagan [[Möngke]] ({{Reign|1251|1259}}) in Mongolia and spent several years there. In 1259, [[Berke]], the leader of the [[Golden Horde]], demanded Louis's submission.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sinor|first=Denis|date=1999|title=The Mongols in the West|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41933117|journal=Journal of Asian History|volume=33|issue=1|pages=1–44|issn=0021-910X|jstor=41933117}}</ref> In contrast, Mongol emperors Möngke and [[Khubilai]]'s brother, the [[Ilkhan]] [[Hulegu]], sent a letter to the French king, soliciting his military aid; this letter, however, never reached France.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Aigle|first=Denise|date=2005|title=The Letters of Eljigidei, H¨uleg¨u and Abaqa: Mongol overtures or Christian Ventriloquism?|url=http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/38/19/67/PDF/InnerAsia.pdf|journal=Inner Asia|volume=7|issue=2|pages=143–162|doi=10.1163/146481705793646883|s2cid=161266055|access-date=26 February 2017}}</ref>