The Fifth Crusade: Years, Participants, Goals, Results

Crusades to the East - a phenomenon very visible in history. We know them from school textbooks, feature films and literature.

In all (according to N. Basovskaya) there were eight of them: from 1096 and to 1248-1270. Wikipedia adds another 9th (1271-1272 gg.) And the crusades in Europe. The most explosive, which shook the whole Christian world, was, of course, the first. By this time, Jerusalem in the VII century. Was conquered by the Arabs, and then from the VIII century belonged to the Seljuk Turks. Over the past centuries they had their shrines there.

In historical science, the Crusades are studied as a battle between the Christian and Muslim worlds. It is not finished and continues in our time. The assessments of the Crusades are directly polar. Some believe that this is a holy, good deed in the name of the Church. The historian Michaud writes about them as a feat. Other statements say that this is a diabolical teaching that caused many disasters. For example, in the 4th campaign, the crusaders ravaged Christian cities, plundered Constantinople, obscurantism - the famous Crusade of children. It was believed that if the pure souls come to Jerusalem, the walls will collapse. And it ended very sadly: they died in Europe, in the cold Alps, most were sold into slavery in Egypt.

Prerequisites for hikes

A penniless hermit, Peter Amienski, whose nickname was Desert, visited Golgotha and the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. He saw how Christians are being oppressed in Palestine. Returning, he obtained an audience with Pope Urban II and received the blessing to preach a campaign for the liberation of the Holy Sepulcher. Dressed in rags, barefoot, without a headdress, on a donkey, he moved through the villages and towns of Europe, and everywhere his fiery speeches met support, attention and the desire to follow his sermons. He was considered a saint and for the happiness of taking the opportunity to pinch a piece of wool from his donkey. In the meantime, Pope Urban II promised the participants the forgiveness of sins (this was very important for the masses), care for their families and the cancellation of their debts.

The peasants, inspired by these appeals, sewed red crosses on their clothes. Therefore, this movement was called "crusade", and the participants themselves were called "crusaders". The first to go were not knights, but peasants who did not even imagine how far the Holy Land is from Europe, and each met a large city was mistaken for Jerusalem. Most of them died en route. But we are interested in the fifth crusade - years, participants, goals, results. We'll talk about this below.

The beginning, purpose and reasons for this expedition

The Fifth Crusade (1217-1221) was held under the leadership of the King of Hungary, András II. Knights were gathered not only in Hungary, but throughout Europe. Charges in the fifth crusade (photo, of course, can not be presented because of his invention much later) is depicted On the picture below.

András II led the troops to persuade Pope Honorius III. At this time in Palestine there was a weak Christian kingdom (from 1099 to 1291), which was torn apart by internal contradictions (the struggle of knights' orders among themselves) and attacks of Saracen Muslims. He lacked the support of Europe. The new king, Jacques Brienes, arrived without troops and rejected the profitable peace offered by the Saracens (before they had heard rumors of a new upcoming campaign). This will be the fifth crusade, which was supposed to support the decaying Christian kingdom.

At the end of 1217 the Europeans went to the Venetian ships to Palestine through the Mediterranean Sea. They all gathered in Acre, a small town in the south-west of the country. Sly Saracens, hoping that internal strife, hunger and disease would destroy the army, did not attack. They calculated everything correctly. The Crusaders tried to take Mount Tabor and consolidate on it. But they lacked unity, food, catapults, and the expedition stopped. The Crusaders simply settled in the winter apartments. Inaction led to new strife, and soon, in February 1218, the King of Hungary, seeing the aimlessness of his stay, returned to Europe with a part of his army to pacify the rebellious vassals in his homeland. So the fifth crusade began unsuccessfully.

Reinforcement from Europe

Later, in 1218, arrived a mixed army, consisting of Germans, Dutch and Flemish. It was decided to seize Damietta in Egypt. To avoid fighting on two fronts, a peaceful alliance was concluded with Anatolia. In July, the fifth crusade went to Egypt.

Siege of Damietta

The Crusaders landed near the city of Damietta, which due to its position on the Nile was considered the key to the country. Damietta was magnificently fortified. Inside there were many provisions, and outside there were double walls. It was difficult to get into the harbor, as it was closed by a tower, from which a powerful chain ran along the shore.

In July 1218, the crusaders began the siege of the fortress. They wanted to smash the center of the Islamic world forever and at once put an end to wars for the Holy Land. The fifth crusade (1217-1221), the goal set for itself exactly this. But the interests of the Italian republics and city-states-getting free trade in Egypt-were involved here.

The course of the siege

First there were failures caused by discord in the leadership. Then it was commissioned by Leopold VI of Austria.

After this, two ships joined together and built a tower and bridge on them, which fell. She was brought to the tower of Damietta, and three hundred Crusaders began an assault. The Saracens stubbornly resisted, but the success was accompanied by the attacker. They captured the tower and opened their ships to the entrance to the Nile.

The reasons why the fighters did not move further and capture the city, historians are unclear. At that time, the Cairo sultan approached with reinforcements. Pope Honorius III sent to lead the army of his legate Pelagia Albano. To raise the spirit came St.. Francis of Assisi.

But all this helped a little. At the same time in the army of the Sultan discord began, which played an important role in the future. The army of Muslims retreated. Christians swam across the Nile, surrounded the city and, building a bridge, began his siege. The sultans of Damascus and Cairo joined forces and returned to Damietta. Started skirmishes, and the crusaders often suffered defeat. However, among the Muslims there were rumors that the army of Emperor Frederick II was going to help the enemies. They offered a profitable peace: the surrender of Jerusalem and the money to restore its walls. The pious agreed, but Pelagius, blinded by the possible rich prey in Damietta, refused. The fifth crusade, it turns out, pursued the goals quite material. Unselfishness and a pure goal - the liberation of the Holy Sepulcher - were not peculiar to knights. The siege continued.

Victory or defeat?

In the deep autumn of 1219, the city, brought to an extreme point by famine, surrendered. Out of 70 thousand people, only five survived. Pelagius was triumphant. All were engaged in robbery - the booty was rich, and no one thought that it was necessary to quickly break the army of Muslims. In the meantime, they built a fortified high camp on the other bank of the Nile.

Spilling the Nile

By July 1221, many participants refused to follow Pelagius' orders. They demanded and achieved that the army of the king of Jerusalem returned. His seventy thousand soldiers went to the Cairo sultan. He again proposed peace. Crusaders under the influence of Pelagius repeatedly refused. They were inactive. Many Christians left the army on their own. The Neal flood began as an ally of Saracen Muslims. They destroyed the locks and dams and put water on the plain where the Christian camp was located. Without food, without the possibility of retreating, Christians themselves began to ask for peace. They were allowed to retire to Palestine in 1221. Thus the fifth crusade (1217-1221) ended ingloriously. The results will be discussed in the next section.

Effects

Like the previous ones, the fifth campaign showed:

• Frequent change of leadership.
• Weak discipline: the knights left the army at their own discretion, often during difficult conditions.
• Unwillingness to act cohesively, pursuing the main goal - the liberation of the Holy Land and the Holy Sepulcher.
• Greed and the desire to seize wealth.
• Lack of a single plan.
• Ignorance of natural conditions (the flood of the Nile caught Christians by surprise).
• The desire of Pope Honorius III to lead the campaign through his messenger.
• Shameful world.

Everything taken together led to failures and did not yield any positive results. This painfully hit the European Christians. They spent a lot of money and energy and waited for brilliant victories and benefits, and everything ended in a humiliating world.

The Fifth Crusade (1217-1221): the participants

Hungary and Austria were represented at the beginning of the campaign by the Hungarian King András II and the Duke of Austria Leopold VI. Andrash had the largest army at all times of the Crusades - 20,000 knights. They were joined by Otto of Meran and Count of Dutch Wilhelm. Later Pope Honorius III sent his legate Pelagius, who claimed to be the commander-in-chief. The King of Jerusalem, John, considered it necessary to attach Damietta to his kingdom. Pelagius, however, was against it. Emperor Frederick II sent in 1221 to Damietta considerable reinforcements, but he remained in Europe. For this, Pope Honorius III threatened him with excommunication from the church. That is, the culprit of the defeat was found.

In conclusion, it should be clarified that Europe did not achieve its main goal - the weakening of Muslims - in either the fifth or the other campaigns. Opponents did not submit to European culture. Honor and glory by the knights were not won.