Synopsis
The complete failure of the undertaking of
Andrew II. and Count William was generally ascribed to the Emperor Frederic
II., who had taken the cross in 1215, but steadily refused to fulfil the
promise given. Compelled by the Pope, Gregory IX., he finally embarked (Aug.
15, 1227) at Brundusium, but returned a few days afterwards, protesting that he
was sick. Utterly provoked, the Pope put him under the ban; and the next year
he actually went on the expedition. He was very successful. Palestine was
reconquered; and in 1229 he crowned himself King of
Jerusalem, and returned to Europe, defying the Pope and the excommunication.
Jerusalem, however, was not long in the possession of the Christians. The
uproar which the Mongolian avalanche caused in Southern and Western Asia
reached also the Holy Land. The Chawaresmians, a Turkish tribe, overran the
whole country, and (1247) Jerusalem was taken and pillaged. In the following
year Louis IX. of France took the cross for the rescue of the city, and landed
with a great armament in Cyprus. After spending the winter on that island, and
making still further preparations, he went (in 1249) to Egypt, and conquered,
Damiette and Mansura. But, when he attempted to penetrate farther into the
country, he suffered very severe losses, and was finally compelled to surrender
with his whole army. In 1254 it cost France most of its wealth to ransom its
King and its warriors. Notwithstanding this great misfortune, Louis IX. did not
give up the idea of delivering the Holy Land from the sway of the infidels. In
1269 he began a new crusade, the last; and the whole French nobility followed
him. Political reasons led him to open the campaign with an invasion of Tunis;
and there he died (Aug. 24, 1270). His son and successor, Philippe III. made
peace with Tunis, and returned to France.
Philip Schaff, ed., A Religious
Encyclopaedia or Dictionary of Biblical, Historical, Doctrinal, and Practical
Theology, 3rd edn, Vol. 1. Toronto, New York & London: Funk &
Wagnalls Company, 1894. pp.577-78.
 |
 Thomas F. Madden, A Concise
History of the Crusades. Rowman and Littlefield Publishers Inc., 2000. Hbk.
ISBN: 0847694291. pp.167-176. |
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