ABSTRACT
If princely strife played an uncertain role in the Mongols' retreat from Eastern Europe in 1242 (pp. 78–9), it is undoubtedly one reason behind their failure to return in force for some time. For all the efficiency and discipline of the Mongol military machine and the striking loyalty of the nomads to Chinggis Khan's dynasty, the empire he had founded was characterized by certain tensions. At the time of the attack on Aleppo, Mongol raiders had entered the principality of Antioch and the county of Tripoli. The city of Antioch, whose dilapidated condition Rubruck had noticed five years previously, surrendered and accepted a Mongol resident. The effect of the brief Mongol occupation, followed by the defeat at 'Ayn Jalut, had been simply to create a power-vacuum west of the Euphrates which was filled by the victorious Mamluks, as one Western observer, at least, realized.
