Download the high-resolution image here

The rest of the Crusades

The rest of the crusades were a fantastic failure:

Fifth Crusade:

In 1215, Innocent III again appealed to Europe to recover the land of Christ. In 1217 the fifth crusade was led by the Hungarian King Andrew. They laid siege to Damietta and tried to sue peace with Malik al Kamil (Turk Sultan). The terms gave the crusaders the “true cross” but left Damietta to the Muslims.

Sixth Crusade:

Frederick II (emperor of Sicily and Germany) was blamed for the failure of the Fifth crusade, and was excommunicated. To make up for it, he set out on 1228 for the sixth Crusade, exchanged pleasantries with al-Kamil, and signed a treaty that ceded Acre, Jaffa, Sidon, Nazareth, Bethlehem, and all of Jerusalem except the enclosure containing the Dome of the Rock. For 10 years and 10 months each side pledged itself to peace. The excommunicate emperor had succeeded where for a century Christendom had failed. But Pope Gregory IX denounced the pact, and the Christian nobles in Jerusalem allied themselves with the Muslim ruler of Damascus against al-Kamil. Enraged, al-Kamil called for help to capture Jerusalem and massacred a large number of its inhabitants.

Seventh Crusade:

Louis IX organized the seventh crusade. He set out in 1248. They reached Damietta and captured it. A flood confined them there for half a year. When resumed, at Mansura, his army was defeated and fled in wild rout.

Eight Crusade:

Louis IX took the cross again on an eight crusade that no one supported. He landed in Tunisia and died from a stomach bug.

What now?

Between 1265 and 1291, one by one, the Christian towns fell. The Latin kingdom of Jerusalem maintained a ghostly existence for a time in the titles of vain potentates, and for two centuries a few adventurers or enthusiasts embarked upon sporadic and futile efforts to resume the "Great Debate"; but Europe knew that the Crusades had come to an end.

Back to All Crusades

Source: Durant, Will, 1885-1981, The Age of Faith: A History of Medieval Civilization, Christian, Islamic, and Judaic, From Constantine to Dante, A.D. 325-1300. Simon and Schuster, 1950.

Frederick II meets Sultan al-Kamil
Frederick II meets Sultan al-Kamil
Public Domain

Back to archive



Full disclosure, I may occasionally borrow a sentence from Will Durant's Story of Civilization. I absolutely love that collection!