Fifth Crusade

Fifth Crusade, 1217 - 1221

Innocent III did not waste the opportunity, but set forth the zeal of the Children's Crusade as an example, in renewing the call to crusade:

... Innocent III in summoning Europe to a new crusade included in his appeal the spectacle of their sacrifice. "They put us to shame. While they rush to the recovery of the Holy Land, we sleep."...
History of the Christian Church, by Philip Schaff, Volume V, Chapter 7, § 54, citing Wilken, VI. 83

The call for a new crusade was a primary reason for which Innocent convoked the Fourth Lateran Council (1215). Innocent died in 1216 and was succeeded by Honorius III. Initially, the Fifth Crusade was to begin June 1, 1217. An army sent to Syria in 1217 accomplished nothing. An expedition which departed in 1218 went first to Acre, and then on to Damietta, strategically situated in the Nile delta and past which ships had to travel to reach the capital, Cairo. The crusaders, led by papal legate, Cardinal Pelagius, eventually captured Damietta.

The expected reinforcements arrived in early September. A number of counts and other lords came with their forces, but the most significant and influential arrival was Cardinal Pelagius, a papal legate. Honorius agreed fully with Innocent's opinion that a Crusade would succeed only when it was led by the Church rather than by lay lords, and he had sent a strong and forceful representative in Pelagius. Despite grumbling from the barons, Pelagius quickly established himself in the councils of war.
The Crusades, by Dr. E.L. Skip Knox; The Fifth Crusade, p. 2, First Victory

Before the seige of Damietta began, the Sultan offered to hand over the Kingdom of Jerusalem to the crusaders, along with a thirty year truce, if they would but withdraw from Egypt. John of Brienne, the Christian king of Jerusalem, along with many of the crusaders, wanted to accept the offer. However, papal legate Pelagius, using his position, refused the offer, expecting the emperor, Frederick II, to arrive with more troops. Frederick never arrived, though he sent an army in 1221. Pelagius also refused further similar offers by the Sultan. Damietta was captured in November 1219. Less than two years later it was surrendered back to the Muslims, who also maintained control of Jerusalem.

The Fifth Crusade ... was an impressive effort against a divided Muslim opposition. Coming close to success, it failed largely because of divided leadership and the frequently unwise decisions of Pelagius. It might perhaps have succeeded if Frederick II had set out as promised, and it is significant that disillusioned critics blamed Emperor and Pope as well as Pelagius.
Copyright © 1994-2000 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., Crusade, The Fifth Crusade

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