The Bona Crusade or the Annaba crusade was a military campaign initiated by the

King of Aragon This is a list of the kings and queens of Aragon. The Kingdom of Aragon was created sometime between 950 and 1035 when the County of Aragon, which had been acquired by the Kingdom of Navarre in the tenth century, was separated from Navarre in ...

Martin the Humane Martin the Humane (29 July 1356 – 31 May 1410), also called the Elder and the Ecclesiastic, was King of Aragon, Valencia, Sardinia and Corsica and Count of Barcelona from 1396 and King of Sicily from 1409 (as Martin II). He failed to secure ...

against the Hafsid sultanate, carried out in the summer of 1399.

Background

''Main articles: and Crusade of Tedelis'' In 1398, as a result of the in which Telmeceni pirates captured the consecrated host and 108 prisoners, King

Martin of Aragon Martin the Humane (29 July 1356 – 31 May 1410), also called the Elder and the Ecclesiastic, was King of Aragon, Valencia, Sardinia and Corsica and Count of Barcelona from 1396 and King of Sicily from 1409 (as Martin II). He failed to secure th ...

after repelling the invasion of Matthew I of Foix ordered a retaliatory attack on

Dellys Dellys ( ar, دلّس, Berber: Delles) is a small Mediterranean town in northern Algeria's coastal Boumerdès Province, almost due north of Tizi-Ouzou and just east of the Sebaou River. It is the district seat of the daïra of Dellys. The town ...

. The fleet gathered in

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...

, amassing a total force of 70 ships and 7,500 crusaders. The fleet set sail in August 1398,and successfully reached Tedelis, which was sacked, killing around 1,000 villagers. After attacking the North African Coast, the expedition then headed towards

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...

to try to relive

Pope Benedict XIII Pope Benedict XIII ( la, Benedictus XIII; it, Benedetto XIII; 2 February 1649 – 21 February 1730), born Pietro Francesco Orsini and later called Vincenzo Maria Orsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 May ...

from the siege the city was under, led by

Geoffrey Boucicaut Geoffrey Boucicaut, was the brother of the illustrious marshal of France Jean le Maingre. He and his army occupied Avignon in 1398 and started a five-year siege of the Palais des Papes where the Avignon Pope Benedict XIII was, which ended when Bene ...

who was opposed to the Avignon Pope. However, the fleet could not cross the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...

due to the low water level of the river and directly grant aid, though they did manage to grant a three-month truce for the besieged. The following year, Martin ordered a repeat of the campaign, this time, directed at bona.

The Crusade

after gathering a fleet of 6 galleys and 54 ships, and the Valencian, of 7 galleys and 23 ships in

Mahón Mahón (), officially Maó (), and also written as Mahon or Port Mahon in English, is the capital and second largest city of Menorca. The city is located on the eastern coast of the island, which is part of the archipelago and autonomous communi ...

set sail on

August 21 Events Pre-1600 * 959 – Eraclus becomes the 25th bishop of Liège. * 1140 – Song dynasty general Yue Fei defeats an army led by Jin dynasty general Wuzhu at the Battle of Yancheng during the Jin–Song Wars. *1169 – Battle o ...

and on

September 1 Events Pre-1600 * 1145 – The main altar of Lund Cathedral, at the time seat of the archiepiscopal see of all the Nordic countries, is consecrated. * 1173 – The widow Stamira sacrifices herself in order to raise the siege of Ancon ...

, the war began and the next day the disembarkation of most of the military personnel began. The Muslims, warned by Majorcan merchants, had defended the city and gathered a large number of fighters. After taking a small fortress near the city, the attack was abandoned. After the siege, the Valencian and Majorcan navy separated and ended up returning to the ports of origin without having achieved any victory.

Consequences

The failure of the campaign forced

to sign a peace treaty with Abu-Faris Abd-al-Aziz on 15 May 1403, which soon became ineffective.

References

{{Reflist 14th century in Aragon 14th century in Ifriqiya Crusades 1399