When Frederick II, emperor of Germany, joined the
fifth Crusade in 1227, Louis, a vassal of the emperor, was duty-bound to join.
The encounter between St Francis of Assisi and Sultan Al Kamil Mohammad Al Ayoubi happened in the midst of some of the bloodiest days of the
Fifth Crusade, which lasted from 1217--1221.
Among his discussions are Cahokia, the Mongol advance into North China, the
Fifth Crusade and Francis of Assisi in Egypt, Mesoamerica, fairs and cathedral in northern France, disputes between pope and emperor and the death of Frederick II, the death of Kubilai and the state of the Mongol Empire, Simon de Montfort and the parliament in England, and Great Zimbabwe and the Indian Ocean coast of Africa.
You remind Egyptians of Saint Francis of Assisi who crossed the Mediterranean Sea to meet with Sultan al-Kamel and put an end to the
Fifth Crusade 800 years ago.
Francis of Assisi and Malik al-Kamil (nephew of Saladin and ruler of Egypt during the
Fifth Crusade) is particularly apt during these times of religious suspicion and intolerance.
According to a small miracle collection on the works of St David, during the
Fifth Crusade in the 1220s, a Welsh crusader was captured and put in chains by a Saracen.
Their growth was slow until the
Fifth Crusade, when their effectiveness made them well-known and respected.
During the
Fifth Crusade (also known as Frisian Crusade), the Christian armies were camped in the Nile delta near Damietta where they plotted to take control of the city.
Nor is he convincing that it was the children who inspired Innocent to preach the
Fifth Crusade as a popular crusade, open to all; surely what drove the pope's action was the opportunity to sell more crusade indulgences.
The poor pilgrims suffered particularly heavy causalities, as always, and depended totally on the alms of knights and soldiers, who were themselves dramatically impoverished." (20) We also notice that children died from hunger during the
fifth Crusade. These all are examples of indirect effects of violence.
In July 1217 a fleet from Frisia and the Rhineland bound for the
Fifth Crusade paused in the Tagus estuary to repair their vessels and restore their crews.
Infidel, a historical drama about the
Fifth Crusade written by Roger Gregg and produced by the Dublin-based Crazy Dog Audio Theatre, spares us such explicit comparisons, but the play is laced with evocations of Iraq, terrorism, and militarism in general.