The Massacre of the Innocents

The Massacre of the Innocents (August 9, 1440) took place in Mameluke-controlled Egypt and the Levant. 15,000 Coptic Christians, mostly artisans, priests, and scribes, were rounded up and executed under the orders of Barsbay.

Prelude to the Massacre
Theodoros IV Laskaris Komnenos, Emperor of the Romans, looking to improve relations with Ethiopia, sent thirty four artisans to accompany the Ethiopians as they returned home from Constantinople. These artisans were to be used to help strengthen Ethiopia and included gunsmiths, stoneworkers, and shipwrights. However, in Alexandria they were arrested and killed to the last man on the orders of Barsbay, leader of the Mamelukes, who did not want his rival Ethiopia to get any stronger. A protest from Ethiopia, including a veiled threat of diverting the Nile River, only served to infuriate Barsbay and his hard-liner Hedjazi imams.

The Massacre and after-effects
A month after the events in Alexandria and Ethiopia's protest, 15,000 Coptic Christians were rounded up and executed. The response from many of the Mamelukes' Muslim neighbors was horror and outrage. The Ottoman imams of Mesopotamia issued a fatwa condemning the massacre as contrary to the proper treatment of people of the book. Imams of the Roman Empire called it "savagery worthy of a Crusader."

From Al-Andalus, The Hammer of Al-Andalus, Mohammed al-Hasan ibu Abu, was even harsher in his criticism, calling the Mamelukes "not Muslims, but dogs" as a result of their actions.

Brihan of Mewari was born ten years to the day after the Massacre.