← Explore on the interactive map
Departure of the Fifth Crusade
From 1217, at the call of Pope Honorius III, European princes including King Andrew II of Hungary and Duke Leopold VI of Austria led their forces eas…
Timeline
- 1217Rome · RomePope Honorius III inherited the unfinished crusade plan of Innocent III and issued a call to arms to the European princes. Nobles from Hungary, Austria, Burgundy, and elsewhere answered and took the oath, with the strategic focus clearly shifting to attacking Egypt to cut off the Ayyubid dynasty's supply lines to Jerusalem.
- 1217–1218Trieste to Acre · MediterraneanKing Andrew II of Hungary led a large army from Central Europe overland through the Balkans and Anatolia to the Levant; Duke Leopold VI of Austria and others marched with him. Frictions occurred en route in Bulgaria and elsewhere, but the main forces still reached Acre in succession from late 1217 to early 1218.
- 1218Acre · AcreThe Crusaders completed their final assembly at Acre and Cyprus, with King John of Brienne of Jerusalem and papal legate Pelagius taking part in the planning. The coalition decided to abandon a direct attack on Jerusalem and instead land by sea in Egypt to attack Damietta, bringing the Fifth Crusade into its operational phase.
Sources
- The Fifth Crusade in Context: The Crusading Movement in the Early Thirteenth Century — James M. Powell (2016)
- Oliver of Paderborn, Historia Damiatina — Oliver of Paderborn