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Timeline Main Page Packrat Main Page
Fifth Crusade: 1217 to 1222 in a nutshell:
Leopold VI of Austria and Andrew II of Hungary take up the crusade
Crusaders take and lose Damietta
Genghis Khan shows up
Kings of Jerusalem: John of Brienne, Yolanda, Frederick II,
Byzantine Emperors: Theodore Lascaris, John III Ducas
The Details:
1217 - The Fifth Crusade is announced by Pope Innocent III but only Leopold VI of Austria and Andrew II of Hungary participate. Innocent had banned Emperor Frederick II from marching for fear he would undermine papal authority and is crowned Holy Roman Emperor in Rome in 1220.
Leopold and Andrew are joined by John Brienne, Hugh I of Cyprus, and Prince Bohemund IV of Antioch in Acre to fight against the Ayyubids in Syria. Nothing happens, eveyone goes home.
1218 Apr - A part of the armies from France and German arrive in Acre. The strategy is that there was no point in attacking Jerusalem if Egypt was so strong, and easier to take if Egypt is under Christian control. They leave for Egypt May 24.
1218 - Oliver of Cologne arrives with a new army, allies with Kay Kaus I, the Seljuk Sultan of Rum in Anatolia, and attacked the Ayyubids in Syria to free up the Crusaders from two fronts.
1218 June - Seige on Damietta on the Nile and on the road to Cairo begins, starting with the protective tower which falls Aug 17. Meanwhile the sultan Al-Adil dies in his 70's, replaced by his commander and son, al-Kamil.
1218 Sep - Reinforcements show up, including Pelagius of Albano sent by Honorius III to lead the crusade. Pelagius and John are the joint leaders as well as rivals.
1219 Feb - al-Kamil gets the news that Imad-ad-Din, a Kurdish chieftain, is plotting against him, and walked into their tent as they were swearing the plot oath on the Torah. Al Kamil discovers how thick the plot actually is and flees to Cairo, leaving the Egyptains discover their Kurd leader in chains on Feb 5. Christians happily hop over and take the camp from fleeing Egyptians.
The Sultan sends an offer: Christians keep Jerusalem except for two castles and thirty years of peace if the Christians promise to leave Egypt and never come back. what the Christinas did not know if that Jerusalem walls had been destroyed and it was not defendable, and al-Kamil feared losing Damietta and was unable to defend Egypt. John, King of Jerusalem wants to accept the offer and is backed by the barons, Cardinal Pelagius wants to refuse, backed by the Templars and Hospitallers. Pelgius wins. al-Kamil sends a second offer including bezants for the two castles, Pelagius still refuses. Crusaders start to go home, including Leopold of Austria who had been on the crusades for three years. Francis of Assisi gets involved to no success.
Al-Kamid receives his reinforcements and the game begins. Christian reinforcements arrive, attacks go back and forth, thousands die Aug 29 when Egyptians pull back to confuse the Christians, then reverse and attack.
1219 Feb - al-Kamid sends another offer, this time he includes the return of the Holy Cross and prisoner release. Again, Pelagius wins over John and rejects the offer, expecting troops from Emperor Frederick. Christians continue to starve the Moslems by cutting off supply routes until October.
1219 Nov 4 - Crusaders finally wear out the sultan's forces. Four sentries see abandon towers, the Christians investigate to find they entered the city with ease. Al-Kamid withdrew the next morning. For once, there was no massacre as out of 80,000 inhabitants, only 3,000 were alive, only 100 were not ill.
John Brienne and Pelagius argue over the city, John finally returns to Acre. Meanwhile Al-Kamid is stengthening his army at Mansourah, just up river.
May 1221 - Frederick's never arrives as he never departed, but at least he send some troops who finally arrive.
1221 Jul 7 - John returns advising caution and is ignored. The crusaders set out on the 17th, 5,000 knights , 40,000 foot soldiers, plus arches and unarmed pilgrims. The Moslems rush up to confront them, see their numbers and retreat to Sharimshah with Pelagius on their trail, setting up camp near a dry canal of the Nile. Bad move. Two weeks pass.
1221 Aug - Battle of al-Mansura: The Nile starts to rise and soon strands the Crusaders without enough food. They retreat Aug 26 in the night. The troops had drunk too much wine as they couldn't take it with them, the Teutonic knights set fire to the supplies so the Turks can't use them. This alerts the Turks that the Christians are leaving. Al-Kamid orders the Nile flooded, and the Crusaders are wading away when the Turks attack. King John does the best he can with drunk soldiers, retreats to the burnt camp that has no supplies. Pelagius hops on a ship now freed in the flooding Nile and returns to Damietta to eat crow on Aug 26. A peace treaty is offered Aug 28 and accepted by Al-Kamid Aug 30. The Christians have Damietta well protected, al-Kamid had John at his mercy, but Al-Kamid settles on the return of all prisoners, the Moslems get Damietta, the Christians take the cross and leave for five years. Al-Kamil feeds and entertains John and his hungover army until they are released.
1221 Sept 8 -The Christians board ships for home and leave Damietta, everyone blaming everyone else, marking the end of the Fifth Crusade. Al-Kamil was unable to find the cross in order to return it.
1222 - John III Ducas becomes Emperor of Constantinople until 1254.
1222 - Deacon Robert of Reading, England, was burned for converting to Judaism, setting a precedent for the burning of "heretics".
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