History of the Crusades

the Crusades Episode 84, the Fifth Crusade Roman numeral 3.

Hello again.

Last week we saw the members of the Fifth Crusade arrive in Egypt.

By the end of the episode, the Crusaders had managed to take the Tower of Chains,

a fortification in the middle of the river outside the city of Damietta.

Having taken the tower, the Latin Christians severed the chain that blocked the entrance to the river.

The crusader ships were now free to sail right up to the walls of Damietta and

onwards upstream to Cairo. If this was a setback for the

Muslims, well it was nothing compared to what happened next. A message was sent by carrier pigeon to

Al Adil, advising him that the Crusaders had broken the chain and that their way to Cairo was now unimpeded.

As we heard from last week's episode, Al Adil was busy in Syria, trying to prevent an uprising by his nephew and Saladin's son and

heir, Al Aftal.

Al Adil was an elderly man at this point in time. He was in his 70s. He had been suffering

from ill health, and a few days after he received the bad news about Damietta, he died.

Fortunately, he had made plans for his succession.

Al Camille, his eldest son, who was the governor of Egypt, would inherit Egypt, while his

younger son, Al-Muazim, would inherit Syria. The death of his father came as a massive blow to Al-Kamil.

He had been waiting for his father's army to arrive from Syria and for his father to take care of the situation with the

Latin Christian invaders. Al Adil's knowledge of the Franks and their ways and his ability to negotiate with them was now lost.

Al Camille was on his own.

He was unsure whether his younger brother and new ruler of Syria, Al-Moisim, would be able to spare men to come to his aid,

...