The second Muslim woman to become a monarch in Islamic history. In 1250, the desolate town of Mansoura was filled with a sense of impending war as Queen Shajar al-Durr of Egypt ordered her army to lay low and await the arrival of the Crusaders led by the French king Louis IX. The Crusaders believed that the Egyptians had fled Mansoura, but little did they know that this was a tactical trap laid by Shajar al-Durr. When they occupied the town, they suddenly found themselves surrounded by the elite Egyptian forces from all sides. With high morale and fierce determination, the Egyptian army launched a brutal assault on the panicked Crusaders. After a fierce battle, the Crusaders suffered heavy losses and were forced to retreat. Shajar al-Durr ordered a pursuit and ultimately annihilated the Crusaders, capturing King Louis IX in the process. When news of her triumph reached Cairo, she was officially crowned as the first Sultan of the Mamluk dynasty.