The Fifth Crusade was a campaign launched by the Catholic Church to recover Jerusalem by first attacking Egypt, the centre of Ayyubid power. It was called by Pope Innocent III and fought mainly under the leadership of King Andrew II of Hungary, Duke Leopold VI of Austria and later the papal legate Pelagius. The crusaders besieged and captured the port city of Damietta on the Nile delta, but their advance towards Cairo was halted when the Nile flooded and the army was trapped. They were forced to surrender and withdraw from Egypt. The Crusade failed to retake Jerusalem, and the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II subsequently led a further expedition.
Before and after
- 1209Irghiz River skirmish
- 1209Founding of University of Cambridge
- from 1209 to 1229Albigensian Crusade
- 1212Children's Crusade
- from 1213 to 1221Fifth Crusade
- 27 July 1214Battle of Bouvines
- c. 1215Birth of Louis IX of France
- from 1215 to 1563Shan States
- 1215Construction of Geghard
More in Wars, politics & history
- from 722 CE to 1492Reconquista
- 9th centuryHanbalism
- from 1096 to 1099First Crusade
- from 6 April 1453 to 29 May 1453Fall of Constantinople
- from 22 May 1455 to 16 June 1487Wars of the Roses
- 2 January 1492The fall of Granada ends Muslim rule in Spain
The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 13th century.