Fifth Crusade

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources (ideally, using inline citations). Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2009)

Fifth Crusade
Part of the Crusades
Frisian crusaders confront the Tower of Damietta, Egypt.
Date 1217 - 1221 Location Egypt Result Eight year peace deal between Ayyubids and Europe
Belligerents
Crusaders Latin Empire of Constantinople Jerusalem Kingdom of Cyprus Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm Holy Roman Empire Archduchy of Austria Knights Templar Teutonic Knights Knights Hospitaller Kingdom of Hungary Croatia Dalmatia Halych County of Holland Cologne Flanders Frisia Kingdom of France Papal States	Egyptians Ayyubids
Commanders
John of Brienne Bohemond IV Hugh I Kaykaus I Frederick II Leopold VI Pedro de Montaigu Hermann von Salza Guérin de Montaigu Andrew II William I Phillip II Pelagio Galvani	Al-Kamil
Strength
32,000 men	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

v • d • e Crusades People's – First – Second – Third – Livonian – German – Fourth – Albigensian – Children's – Fifth – Prussian – Sixth – Seventh – Shepherds' – Eighth – Ninth – Aragonese – Alexandrian – Nicopolis – Northern – Hussite – Varna – Otranto – Ottoman-Hungarian Wars  – Ottoman-Habsburg – Lepanto – Vienna Crusades portal

The Fifth Crusade (1217–1221) was an attempt to take back Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land by first conquering the powerful Ayyubid which is a state in Egypt.

Pope Honorius III organized crusading armies led by Leopold VI of Austria and Andrew II of Hungary, and a foray against Jerusalem ultimately left the city in Muslim hands. Later in 1218, a German army led by Oliver of Cologne, and a mixed army of Dutch, Flemish and Frisian soldiers led by William I, Count of Holland arrived. In order to attack Damietta in Egypt, they allied with the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm in Anatolia, who attacked the Ayyubids in Syria in an attempt to free the Crusaders from fighting on two fronts.

After occupying the port of Damietta, the Crusaders marched south towards Cairo in July of 1221, but were turned back after their dwindling supplies led to a forced retreat. A nighttime attack by Sultan Al-Kamil resulted in a great number of crusader losses, and eventually in the surrender of the army. Al-Kamil agreed to an eight-year peace agreement with Europe.

Contents 1 Call to Crusade 1.1 France 1.2 Germany and Hungary 2 Campaign 2.1 Jerusalem 2.2 Alliance with the Sultanate of Rum 2.3 Egypt 3 Result 4 Notes and references 5 Literature

[edit] Call to Crusade

In spring 1213, Pope Innocent III issued the papal bull Quia maior, calling all of Christendom to join a new crusade. The kings and emperors of Europe, however, were preoccupied with fighting among themselves. At the same time, Pope Innocent III did not want their help, because a previous crusade led by kings had failed in the past. He ordered processions, prayers, and preaching to help organize the crusade, as these would involve the general population, the lower nobles, and knights.

[edit] France

The message of the crusade was preached in France by Robert of Courçon; however, unlike other Crusades, not many French knights joined, as they were already fighting the Albigensian Crusade against the heretical Cathar sect in southern France.

In 1215 Pope Innocent III called the Fourth Lateran Council, where, along with the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Raoul of Merencourt, he discussed the recovery of the Holy Land, among other church business. Pope Innocent wanted this crusade to be under the full control of the papacy, as the First Crusade was supposed to have been, in order to avoid the mistakes of the Fourth Crusade, which had been taken over by the Venetians. Pope Innocent planned for the crusaders to meet at Brindisi in 1216, and prohibited trade with the Muslims, to ensure that the crusaders would have ships and weapons. Every crusader would receive an indulgence, including those who simply helped pay the expenses of a crusader, but did not go on crusade themselves.

[edit] Germany and Hungary

Oliver of Cologne had preached the crusade in Germany, and Emperor Frederick II attempted to join in 1215. Frederick was the last monarch Innocent wanted to join, as he had challenged the Papacy (and would do so in the years to come). Innocent, however, died in 1216. He was succeeded by Pope Honorius III, who barred Frederick from participating, but organized crusading armies led by king Andrew II of Hungary and duke Leopold VI of Austria. Andrew had the largest royal army in the history of the crusades (20,000 knights and 12,000 castle-garrisons).

[edit] Campaign

[edit] Jerusalem

Andrew and his troops embarked on 23 August 1217, in Spalato. They landed on 9 October on Cyprus from where they sailed to Acre and joined John of Brienne, ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Hugh I of Cyprus, and Prince Bohemund IV of Antioch to fight against the Ayyubids in Syria.

In Jerusalem, the walls and fortifications were demolished to prevent the Christians from being able to defend the city, if they did manage reach it and take it. Muslims fled the city, afraid that there would be a repeat of the bloodbath of the First Crusade in 1099.

Andrew's well-mounted army defeated sultan Al-Adil I at Bethsaida on the Jordan River on November 10. Muslim forces retreated in their fortresses and towns. The catapults and trebuchets didn't arrive in time, so he had fruitless assaults on the fortresses of the Lebanon and on Mount Tabor. Afterwards, Andrew spent his time collecting alleged relics.

Andrew and his army departed to Hungary in February 1218, and Bohemund and Hugh also returned home.

[edit] Alliance with the Sultanate of Rum

Later in 1218 Oliver of Cologne arrived with a new German army and the count of Holland William I arrived with a mixed army consisting of Dutch, Flemish and Frisian soldiers. With Leopold and John they discussed attacking Damietta in Egypt. To accomplish this, they allied with Keykavus I, the Seljuk Sultan of Rum in Anatolia, who attacked the Ayyubids in Syria in an attempt to free the Crusaders from fighting on two fronts.

[edit] Egypt

In June of 1218 the crusaders began their siege of Damietta, and despite resistance from the unprepared sultan Al-Adil, the tower outside the city was taken on August 25. They could not gain Damietta itself, and in the ensuing months diseases killed many of the crusaders, including Robert of Courcon. Al-Adil also died and was succeeded by Al-Kamil. Meanwhile, Honorius III sent Pelagius of Albano to lead the crusade in 1219 . Al-Kamil tried to negotiate peace with the crusaders. He offered to trade Damietta for Jerusalem, but Pelagius would not accept these offers. After hearing this Count William I of Holland left the crusade and sailed home. In August or September, Francis of Assisi arrived in the crusader camp and crossed over to preach to Al-Kamil. By November, the crusaders had worn out the sultan's forces, and were finally able to occupy the port.

Immediately the papal and secular powers fought for control of the town, with John of Brienne claiming it for himself in 1220 . Pelagius would not accept this, and John returned to Acre later that year. Pelagius hoped Frederick II would arrive with a fresh army, but he never did; instead, after a year of inactivity in both Syria and Egypt, John of Brienne returned, and the crusaders marched south towards Cairo in July of 1221 .

By now Al-Kamil was able to ally with the other Ayyubids in Syria, who had defeated Keykavus I. The crusader march to Cairo was disastrous; the river Nile flooded ahead of them, stopping the crusader advance. A dry canal that was previously crossed by the crusaders flooded, thus blocking the crusader army's retreat. With supplies dwindling, a forced retreat began, culminating in a night time attack by Al-Kamil which resulted in a great number of crusader losses and eventually in the surrender of the army under Pelagius.

[edit] Result

The terms of this surrender meant the relinquishing of Damietta to Al-Kamil in exchange for the release of the crusaders. Al-Kamil agreed to an eight year peace agreement with Europe and to return a piece of the true cross.

The failure of the Crusade caused an outpouring of anti-papal sentiment from the Occitan poet Guilhem Figueira. The more orthodox Gormonda de Monpeslier responded to Figueira's D'un sirventes far with a song of her own, Greu m'es a durar. Instead of blaming the Pelagius or the Papacy, she laid the blame on the "foolishness" of the wicked.

[edit] Notes and references

http://crusades.boisestate.edu/5th/

[edit] Literature

• R. L. Wolff/H. W. Hazard (Hrsg.): The later Crusades, 1189–1311 (A History of the Crusades, volume II). University of Wisconsin Press, Madison/Wisconsin 1969, S. 377ff., Here online.
• Jonathan Riley-Smith (Hrsg.): Illustrierte Geschichte der Kreuzzüge. Frankfurt/New York 1999, S. 478 (Index, s.v. Damiette).
• Barbara Watterson. The Egyptians. Blackwell Publishing, 1998, S. 260.
• Heinrich von Zeißberg. Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Einzelband Nr. 18: Lassus – Litschower. 1. Auflage. Leipzig, Verlag von Dunder & Humblot, 1883, S. 389.