Fifth Crusade
Results of the Fifth Crusade
The Fifth Crusade accomplished almost nothing. It did not even manage the recovery of the True Cross, for when al-Kamil was ready to return it, no one could find it. Somehow, in the forty years since the fall of Jerusalem, it had been lost, nor was it ever found again.
Perhaps because the Crusade had come so close to succeeded, there was plenty of blame spread about. King John was blamed for not working more closely with Cardinal Pelagius. Pelagius, in turn, was blamed for the disaster at Sharimshah. Back in Europe, many blamed Emperor Frederick, who had promised to come but had not. Even though he sent troops, there was a general feeling that the Emperor was the natural leader of a Crusade and that he had shirked his duty to Christendom in order to watch out for his own narrow political interests.
The Fifth Crusade was the last general crusade Europe mounted (not counting the 14th century effort that ended at Nicopolis). Plenty of crusades followed, but they were led by individual princes, financed out of national treasuries. Frederick went in 1228, King Louis IX went in 1250 and again in 1271, and just before he became king, Prince Edward of England went in 1270. The papacy might (or might not) bless these undertakings, but never again was there a general movement for a passagium to the East.
It was not so much that the Fifth Crusade had ended dismally so much as it appears that Europeans had finally worn themselves out with crusading. Ever since Saladin had captured Jerusalem, there had been call after call to liberate the Holy Land. The memory of the First Crusade laid a heavy burden on the conscience, and the leaders of Europe struggled mightily to equal that early victory. After forty years of trying, the papal letters and the fiery sermons no longer carried the same appeal.
Still, there was one champion left. Frederick of Hohenstaufen was the greatest monarch of the day. He still proclaimed his determination to go. His empire was vast enough that even unaided he might succeeded where everyone else had failed. Although the other nations did little to help, they watched as he made his preparations even as the dejected crusaders returned from Damietta.