The year 1212 saw the pathetic "Children's Crusade." Some historians believe that the participants in this crusade were not children, but poor people from the countryside who were viewed as childlike innocents by medieval society. Perhaps, many believed, these "children" could achieve what kings and knights had not. In fact they never made it to the Holy
Land, and though some returned home safely, many were captured and sold into slavery in the Arab world.
There were other such crusades by the downtrodden; meanwhile, formal Crusades continued with ever-diminishing success. The Fifth Crusade (1217-21), also ordered by Innocent III, included leaders from England, Germany, Hungary, and Austria, and took place entirely in Egypt, which the crusaders tried unsuccessfully to conquer. The Sixth Crusade (1228-29) is significant not so much for its outcome as for its leader: Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II (ruled 1212-50), a figure of many and varied talents whose interest in literature and science made his court an exciting place. He and Gregory IX also quarreled openly, as other emperors and popes before them had, and during his reign the Guelph-Ghibelline conflict turned into open warfare.
As for the crusade itself, it was chiefly a matter of diplomacy and not warfare. Though Frederick worked out an agreement with the Muslims regarding possession of Jerusalem and visits to holy sites, neither side was happy with the arrangement. Gregory also organized the Seventh Crusade (1239-40), another failure. The last two numbered Crusades, the Eighth (1248-54) and Ninth (1270-72), were led by France's King Louis IX (ruled 1226-70), better known as St. Louis. By then the Seljuks' power had faded, and the Mamluks were the enemy; but the results were the same.
The Mamluks conquered the last Christian stronghold at Acre in
The Children's Crusade was a failure—the crusaders never even reached the Holy Land, and many were captured and enslaved along the way. Reproduced by permission of the Corbis Corporation.
Frederick II, leader of the Holy Roman Empire, led the Sixth Crusade (1228-29).
1291, thus ending two centuries of European presence in the Holy Land. There were still crusades of a limited nature in later years, but the targets were usually in Asia Minor or Egypt. In addition, there were crusades against heretics or rebellious emperors, not to mention the Reconquista (ray-kawn-KEES-tah), or reconquest, of Spain from the Muslims (see box, "The Iberian Peninsula," chapter 19). The last crusade of any kind came in 1464, in response to the Ottoman capture of Constantinople in May 1453. Pope Pius II (ruled 1458-64) led the Crusade himself; but he died en route,
And the crusading movement died with him.
World History
