ThePolitically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades
Lionhe arted of Englan d, and King Philip of France. They did
not manage to retake Jerusalem, but they did strengthen Out-
remer, the Crusader state that stretched along the coast of the
Levant.
- The Fourth Crusade (1201-1204) was disastro usly diverted by
a clai mant to the Byza ntin e thro ne, who conv ince d the Cru-
saders to come to Constantinople to help him press his claim.
The Crusaders ended up sacking the great city, shocking the
Christian world. They established a Latin kingdom in Constan-
tinople, earning the everlasting enmity of the Byzantines and
further weakening the already fragile Byzantine Empire.
- The Fifth Crusade(1218-1221)focused on Egypt. The Crusaders
hop ed tha t by bre aki ng Eg ypt ia n po wer ,the ycou ld re cap tur e
Jerusalem. They besieged Damietta, a city on the Nile Delta that
was the gateway toEgypt's great cities, Cairo and Alexandria. As
the siege dragged on, the Egyptian sultan al-Kamil grew increas-
ingly worried and twice offered the Crusaders a restored king-
dom of Jerusalem if they would just leave Egypt. The Crusaders
refused and ultimately took Damietta: however, infighting and
disunity ultimately doomed this Crusade. The Crusaders con-
cluded an eight-year truce with al-Kamil and abandoned Dami-
etta in exchange for the True Cross (a relic of the cross used to
crucify Jesus), which Saladinhad captured.
- The Sixt h Crusa de (12 2.8-122 9) was esse ntial ly a
cont inua tionof the Fifth. After years of delaying his Crusader
vow, the Holy RomanEmperorFrederickIIwas excommunicated
by the pope;howe ver, he sti ll made his way to the Hol y
Land. The mereprospect of another Crusade seemed to frighten
al-Kama, whowas also dist ract ed by his att emp tto conq uer
Dama scu s. He offer ed the Crusa ders a ten-year truc e, by
whic h they would regain Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Nazareth.
However, Frederick
