Fifth Crusade
A New Crusade
Pope Innocent III spent most of his papacy preaching a Crusade. When he began, he was trying to mobilize one to recover Jerusalem in the wake of the failure of the Third Crusade. Henry VI's crusade had died with him. The Fourth Crusade had gone woefully wrong. After that, Innocent was preoccupied with the Albigensians and preached a Crusade against them. He also preached a Crusade in Spain. He called for yet another one at the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215, but by then he was at the end of his years and he died in 1216 without seeing the results.
Three days after Innocent's death, a new pope was elected as Honorius III. He immediately took up where Innocent had left off, writing letters to the monarchs of Europe. Few answered the call, and those who did sent only very small armies. Response was better among the French and German barons, and the Frisians agreed to provide a fleet. The Crusaders were to assemble in Italy in 1217 and set out from there, but the Frisians were late arriving, and the army had to wait out the winter.
A portion of the army sailed in April, 1218 and arrived in Acre with most of the leaders. There they decided that the best course of action would be to attack Egypt. King John of Jerusalem knew perfectly well that there was no point in attacking Jerusalem as long as Egypt was strong, whereas with Egypt under Latin control, then the Muslims could not hold Jerusalem for very long. The great wealth of Egypt must also have been an attraction.
The Crusaders left Acre on May 24, 1218, bound for Egypt.