Fifth Crusade The Fifth Crusade ( 1213 – 1221 ) was an attempt by Catholic Europeans to reacquire Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land by first conquering the powerful Ayyubid state in Egypt . Pope Innocent III and his successor Pope Honorius III organized crusading armies led by King Andrew II of Hungary and Duke Leopold VI of Austria , and a foray against Jerusalem ultimately left the city in Muslim hands . Later in 1218 , a German army led by Oliver of Cologne , and a mixed army of Dutch , Flemish and Frisian soldiers led by William I , Count of Holland joined the crusade . In order to attack Damietta in Egypt , they allied in Anatolia with the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm which attacked the Ayyubids in Syria in an attempt to free the Crusaders from fighting on two fronts . After occupying the port of Damietta , the Crusaders marched south towards Cairo in July 1221 , but were turned back after their dwindling supplies led to a forced retreat . A nighttime attack by Sultan Al - Kamil resulted in a great number of crusader losses , and eventually in the surrender of the army . Al - Kamil agreed to an eight - year peace agreement with Europe . Preparations . Innocent III had already planned since 1208 a crusade in order to destroy the Ayyubid Empire and to recapture Jerusalem . In April 1213 he issued the papal bull " Quia maior " , calling all of Christendom to join a new crusade . This was followed by another papal bull , the " Ad Liberandam " in 1215 . France . The message of the crusade was preached in France by Robert of Courçon ; however , unlike other Crusades , not many French knights joined , as they were already fighting the Albigensian Crusade against the heretical Cathar sect in southern France . In 1215 Pope Innocent III summoned the Fourth Lateran Council , where , along with the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem , Raoul of Merencourt , he discussed the recovery of the Holy Land , among other church business . Pope Innocent wanted it to be led by the papacy , as the First Crusade should have been , in order to avoid the mistakes of the Fourth Crusade , which had been taken over by the Venetians . Pope Innocent planned for the crusaders to meet at Brindisi in 1216 , and prohibited trade with the Muslims , to ensure that the crusaders would have ships and weapons . Every crusader would receive an indulgence , including those who simply helped pay the expenses of a crusader , but did not go on crusade themselves . Hungary and Germany . Oliver of Cologne had preached the crusade in Germany , and Emperor Frederick II attempted to join in 1215 . Frederick was the last monarch Innocent wanted to join , as he had challenged the Papacy ( and would do so in the years to come ) . However Innocent died in 1216 and was succeeded by Pope Honorius III , who barred Frederick from participating , but organized crusading armies led by king Andrew II of Hungary and duke Leopold VI of Austria . Andrew had the largest royal army in the history of the crusades ( 20 , 000 knights and 12 , 000 castle - garrisons ) . Campaign . Jerusalem . The first to take up the cross in the Fifth Crusade was King Andrew II of Hungary . Until his return to Hungary , king Andrew remained the leader of the Fifth Crusade . Andrew and his troops embarked on 23 August 1217 , in Spalato . They were transported by the Venetian fleet , which was the largest European fleet in the era . They landed on 9 October on Cyprus from where they sailed to Acre and joined John of Brienne , ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem , Hugh I of Cyprus , and Prince Bohemund IV of Antioch to fight against the Ayyubid s in Syria . In October , the leaders of the crusaders - Masters of Hospitalers , Templars and Teutons with the leaders and dignitaries of the crusade - held a war council in Acre , over which King Andrew II presided . In Jerusalem , the walls and fortifications were demolished to prevent the Christians from being able to defend the city , if they did manage to reach it and take it . Muslims fled the city , afraid that there would be a repeat of the bloodbath of the First Crusade in 1099 . Andrew ' s well - mounted army defeated sultan Al - Adil I at Bethsaida on the Jordan River on 10 November . Muslim forces retreated in their fortresses and towns . The catapults and trebuchets did not arrive in time , so he had fruitless assaults on the fortresses of the Lebanon and on Mount Tabor . Afterwards , Andrew spent his time collecting alleged relics . At the beginning of 1218 King Andrew II , who was very sick , decided to return to Hungary . Andrew and his army departed to Hungary in February 1218 , and Bohemund and Hugh also returned home . Alliance with the Sultanate of Rum . Later in 1218 Oliver of Cologne arrived with a new German army and the count of Holland William I arrived with a mixed army consisting of Dutch , Flemish and Frisian soldiers . With Leopold and John they discussed attacking Damietta in Egypt . To accomplish this , they allied with Keykavus I , the leader in Anatolia , who attacked the Ayyubids in Syria in an attempt to free the Crusaders from fighting on two fronts . Egypt . In June 1218 the crusaders began their siege of Damietta , and despite resistance from the unprepared sultan Al - Adil , the tower outside the city was taken on August 25 . They could not gain Damietta itself , and in the ensuing months diseases killed many of the crusaders , including Robert of Courcon . Al - Adil also died and was succeeded by Al - Kamil . Meanwhile , Honorius III sent Pelagius of Albano to lead the crusade in 1219 . Al - Kamil tried to negotiate peace with the crusaders . He offered to trade Damietta for Jerusalem , but Pelagius would not accept these offers . After hearing this Count William I of Holland left the crusade and sailed home . In August or September , Francis of Assisi arrived in the crusader camp and crossed over to preach to Al - Kamil . By November , the crusaders had worn out the sultan ' s forces , and were finally able to occupy the port . Immediately the papal and secular powers fought for control of the town , with John of Brienne claiming it for himself in 1220 . Pelagius would not accept this , and John returned to Acre later that year . Pelagius hoped Frederick II would arrive with a fresh army , but he never did ; instead , after a year of inactivity in both Syria and Egypt , John of Brienne returned , and the crusaders marched south towards Cairo in July 1221 . This march was observed by the forces of Al - Kamil , and frequent raids along the flanks of the army led to the withdrawal of some 2000 German troops who refused to continue the advance and returned to Damietta . By now Al - Kamil was able to ally with the other Ayyubids in Syria , who had defeated Keykavus I . The crusader march to Cairo was disastrous ; the river Nile flooded ahead of them , stopping the crusader advance . A dry canal that was previously crossed by the crusaders flooded , thus blocking the crusader army ' s retreat . With supplies dwindling , a forced retreat began , culminating in a night time attack by Al - Kamil which resulted in a great number of crusader losses and eventually in the surrender of the army under Pelagius . Aftermath . The terms of this surrender meant the relinquishing of Damietta to Al - Kamil in exchange for the release of the crusaders . Al - Kamil agreed to an eight - year peace agreement with Europe and to return a piece of the true cross . However , the cross was never returned as Al - Kamil did not , in fact , have it . The failure of the Crusade caused an outpouring of anti - papal sentiment from the Occitan poet Guilhem Figueira . The more orthodox Gormonda de Monpeslier responded to Figueira ' s " D ' un sirventes far " with a song of her own , " Greu m ' es a durar " . Instead of blaming the Pelagius or the Papacy , she laid the blame on the " foolishness " of the wicked .