CHILDREN'S CRUSADE MAJOR PLAYERS Stephen of Cloyes, 12-year-old child who led the Crusade Major Battles: None There are many debates about whether or not the Children's Crusade actually took place. The gist of the story is that in the year 1212 a 12-year-old boy named Stephen, from Cloyes, was visited by Christ who told him he was destined to save the Holy Land. Stephen began preaching around the countryside and managed to attract about 30,000 adolescent followers to accompany him to the Holy Land (plus a few prostitutes and anxious mothers). He preached that the adults could not conquer the East with war, but children could conquer the East with love. He also told his followers that when they reached the Mediterranean it would part for them, and they could walk all the way to Egypt. When they arrived in Marseilles they found that the Mediterranean was not going to willingly part for them, but two kind gentlemen offered to sail them to the Holy Land in seven ships. No one heard from the children for 18 years, when stranglers finally began to return. They said that two ships capsized and all were drowned while the other ships were captured and the children sold into slavery. Many historians believe this was a romantic tale designed to demonize the Muslims and encourage support for the Fifth Crusade. FIFTH CRUSADE MAJOR PLAYERS Pope Innocent III  Tried to rouse interest in a Fifth Crusade but died in 1216 before seeing it realized  Pope Honorius III  Took up Pope Innocent's call for a Fifth Crusade  Cardinal Pelagius  Crusader General & Spiritual Leader  Jean de Brienne  Frankish King of Acre  MAJOR BATTLES Damietta  Egyptian city captured by the Crusaders & offered in exchange for Jerusalem  Bahr al Saghir  Site where Pelagius's troops were flooded & forced to surrender    Pope Innocent III died in 1216 trying to rouse interest for another Crusade, but his predecessor, Pope Honorius III finally succeeded in winning the interest of the King of Hungary and Duke of Austria. The kings met with their armies in Italy in 1217. They decided the best way to win back Jerusalem would be to weaken the Muslim forces in Egypt, which was currently the seat of Muslim power. Pope Honorius decided that the past failures of the Crusades had been due to the secular leadership of the campaigns, and he sent Cardinal Pelagius to lead the Crusaders into Egypt. The Crusade set off in July of 1217. They crossed into Egypt and successfully took the city of Damietta in November of 1219. The Sultan Al Kamil now found himself in a dangerous position. Having just stepped into the position of Sultan he was threatened by an uprising among his own countrymen, he needed to be certain of the security of his Egyptian assets. The Sultan made an offer to Pelagius, to trade the city of Jerusalem for Damietta. Pelagius stubbornly refused the trade. He set up himself up as a ruler in Damietta and was quite secure there despite the departure of half of his army to reinforce Acre. In June of 1221, Pelagius decided to set out for Cairo and attempt to attack the city. He summoned Jean de Brienne to return from Acre with his troops. Jean tried to dissuade Pelagius from the attack on Cairo, but Pelagius promptly denounced him as a traitor. Word came that Emperor Frederick II and King Constance of Sicily would soon arrive with armies to assist the Cardinal. Al Kamil now desperately offered Jerusalem and a 30-year treaty of peace, and was still denied.   Pelagius' army seemed to march through Egyptian territory almost totally unopposed. Finally, they reached the river Bahr al Saghir and camped just opposite Al Kamil's own army. The Muslims had dammed back this tributary of the Nile to give the impression that the Crusaders had found a dry place to camp. When they were settled, Al Kamil's men opened the dam and the Crusaders suddenly found themselves standing in water. Forced to retreat, the Crusaders stumbled back awkwardly onto dry land. They now found themselves cut off by large barriers of water and realized they were in a very dangerous position. The terrified Cardinal Pelgaius finally turned command of the army over to Jean de Brienne, who promptly asked Al Kamil for permission for the Crusaders to return home unmolested. Al Kamil politely agreed to allow them to return home, so long as Damietta was abandoned. The Crusaders would not receive Jerusalem in return, but would be allowed to return home.   The Crusaders agreed, and the Muslims closed the dam and helped the Crusaders onto safe land. The conditions of there surrender were hardly the punishment one would expect from an enemy. Al Kamil demanded that an eight-year truce be signed, that Damietta be turned over, and that all prisoners on both sides would be released. The leaders of the Crusaders were kept in the Muslim camp until the city was successfully handed over, with the result that Al Kamil and Jean de Brienne became good friends. And thus ended the Fifth Crusade. This was the last Crusade that would be lead by the Church of Rome, under the auspices of all Christian Kings uniting against the Muslim nation. The remainder of the Crusades would be privately financed.