Anatomy of a Crusade, 1213-1221

Introduction

INTRODUCTION The Fifth Crusade had its beginnings in 1213, when Pope Innocent III announced his intention to summon acouncil of the church to meet in 1215 to discuss reform of the church and the promotion of the crusade. It ended in Egypt in 1221 on the Nile road between Damietta and al­Mansurah with the surrender of a major part of the crusader army to the forces of the sultan, al­ Kamil. Its failure marked the last time that a medieval pope would succeed in mounting a major expedition for the liberation of the Holy Land. This crusade involved more extensive planning and a greater commitment than any of its predecessors. Preachers carried its message to virtually all parts of Europe, from Scandinavia to Si­ cily, from Ireland to Poland. Its ranks were filled with men—and women—of myriad tongues. The greatest charismatic of the age, Francis of Assisi, visited the crusader camp. Through long periods of frustration and intense suffering, the crusader army persevered. In desperation over the threat it posed, the sultan offered several times to exchange Jerusalem for the conquered city of Damietta, the "key to Egypt," but the crusaders refused. Finally, with victory seemingly in their grasp, they lost everything. Yetanother disaster had been added to the heavy burden of failure that already weighed on the crusade movement and its supporters because of the meagre results of the Second and Third crusades and the turning of the Fourth Crusade from its goal in the East to the conquest of Con­ stantinople and much of the Byzantine Empire. Anatomy of a Crusade Despite the intense interest among modern scholars in the his­ tory of the crusade, there has been no previous monograph dedi­ cated completely to die Fifth Crusade, if we except die lengdiy essay published by Hermann Hoogeweg a century ago.1 Shordy before Hoogewegfs work appeared, that indefatigable harvester of crusade sources, Reinhold Rohricht, had begun to collect materials relating to this expedition, which he published in three separatevol­ umes between 1879 and 1891.2 The major beneficiaries of this in­ dustry have been die authors of die numerous general histories of the crusades, especially those who have included lengthier discus­ sions of the Fifth Crusade in their multivolume studies.3 The most detailed treatment in English is that written by Thomas C. Van Cleve for Kenneth Setton's History of the Crusades.* Among shorter histories, the best account is that found in Hans Eberhard Mayer's excellent synthesis The Crusades. There have been, however,numer­ ous books and articles devoted to particular aspects of this crusade or individuals among its leaders. Helmut Roscher's Papst Innocenz III und dieKreuzzuge is a pathbreaking study of the development of that pope's idea of crusade and of the manner in which he worked to carry it out so long as he lived. Since Innocent died in 1216, however, Roscher has litde to say about the implementation of the crusade by his successor, Pope Honorius III. Among crusade lead­ ers, the cardinal legate, Pelagius, has attracted continuing attention and controversy.5 Other studies have dealt with John of Brienne, the king of Jerusalem; James of Vitry, the distinguished crusade preacher and bishop of Acre; and Robert Coupon, the papal legate who preached the crusade in France.6 There is a considerable lit­ erature devoted to Francis of Assisi's visit to the East.7 The Fifth Crusade has also attracted the attention of genealogists and histo­ rians interested in crusade participation.8 Special studies on canon law, preaching, and finance have contributed to our understanding of its placewidiin the broader movement, asdo those general works dealing with the developing ideology of the crusade in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.9 The absence of a specific history of this crusade has been due not as much to a lack of interest as to the absorption of scholars with these other approaches. Recently, however, there has been a re­ newed concern with individual crusades, and this, combined with other trends in recent research, has demonstrated the need for a study of the Fifth Crusade by highlighting its importance in the history of the crusade movement in the late twelfth and early thir­ teenth centuries.10 2 Introduction The dominant interpretations of the Fifth Crusade have hitherto focussed on military history, emphasizing personality conflicts and decrying the lack of effective leadership that led to the defeat of...