History of the Crusades

the Crusades Episode 86 Emperor Emperor Frederick II.

Hello again.

Last week we saw the Fifth Crusade fail in the swamps of the Nile Delta. Once Damietta had been

formerly handed over to Al-Kamil, the Crusaders dispersed. Some sailed on to

Acre, but most made their way back to Europe.

So why did the Fifth Crusade fail?

Well, the finger of blame pointed at a couple of factors.

First and most obvious was the fact that leadership of the Crusade had been shared between Cardinal Pelagius and King John of Acre. Cardinal Pelagius saw himself

as having supreme authority over the crusade due to his position as papal legate. However, he had no experience of

military command and when placed in the field made some pretty poor decisions. His decision-making was also impaired by the fact

that he was utterly convinced by local prophecies, which he believed foretold that the crusade would succeed.

Placing blind faith in the prophecies he neglected the hard work which usually forms the basis of military success.

King John of Aka also shared the blame.

The fact that he failed to take overall control of the campaign meant that many decisions were left to Cardinal Pelagius, who really didn't have the requisite experience to make them. The fact that King John kept returning back to the

Crusader states to look after affairs back home also didn't help matters. So the crusade ended in failure.

Al-Kamil celebrated his victory with a splendid feast,

which was attended by King John.

As a gesture of goodwill, Al-Kamil undertook to return the true cross to the Latin Christians, so at least they wouldn't return empty-handed.

However, according to Stephen Runsaman in the third volume of his series on the Crusades, when it came time to return the True

Cross, it couldn't be found.

The people who bore the main brunt of the failure of the crusade were the local Christians and European

...