Fifth Crusade

The Fifth Crusade was preached by Pope Honorious III in 1217CE. Its aim was the retaking, for Christianity, of Jerusalem and other holy sites.

Leopold VI of Austria led a contingent of soldiers, as did Andrew II of Hungary, but they were unsuccessful. In 1218 further contingents arrived from Germany led by Oliver of Cologne, and from the Low Countries led by William of Holland. They allied themselves with the Sultanate of Rum (in the Cappadocian uplands), and agreed that the Westerners should attack Damietta in Egypt, whilst Rum attacked Muslims in Syria.

Damietta was taken, but a subsequent march south towardsCairo (with the intent of taking the city and exchanging it for Jerusalem) failed when supplies ran out. The Egyptian Sultan then counter-attacked, forcing a surrender by the Crusader army, but an eight-year truce was signed (although the piece of the True Cross which the Sultan promised to return turned out not to exist).