Crusades

Fall and recovery Disillusioned by the failure of the Second Crusade, Western rulers were unwilling to launch another expedition to the Holy Land, despite the threat from Saladin. [ 1 ] Criticism of crusading intensified, recorded in the 1187 Military Affairs by the historian Ralph Niger , who questioned the efficacy of crusading indulgences without corresponding spiritual renewal. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] In this climate only a major defeat in the East could revive crusading zeal. [ 4 ] The Byzantine Empire, a traditional ally of Jerusalem, was destabilised by coups in 1183 and 1185, while the massacre of Italian merchants deepened its isolation from the West. [ 5 ] In 1185 Emperor Isaac II Angelos concluded an anti-Seljuk alliance with Saladin, recognising his claim to Syria except Antioch. [ 6 ] Third Crusade Main article: Third Crusade Muslim warriors seize the True Cross at the Battle of Hattin (from a manuscript of Matthew of Paris 's Chronica maiora ) Despite a truce signed in 1185 still in force, Raynald of Châtillon attacked a Muslim caravan in Transjordan in early 1187, prompting Saladin to muster troops across his empire. [ 7 ] [ 8 ] Guy of Jerusalem and Raymond   III of Tripoli were reconciled, but the Jerusalemite field army, exhausted by a long march, was crushed at the Battle of Hattin on 4   July 1187. [ 9 ] Raymond fled while others were killed or captured. Saladin executed Raynald, the Templars and Hospitallers, but spared other leaders including Guy. [ 10 ] The kingdom lay defenceless—after a 12-day siege the city of Jerusalem surrendered to Saladin on 2   October. [ 11 ] Tyre resisted under the newly arrived crusader Conrad of Montferrat , [ 12 ] who sent Archbishop Joscius west for aid. Saladin's siege of Tyre was lifted on 1   January 1188. [ 13 ] The first reports of the disaster reached Italy through Genoese merchants. William II of Sicily dispatched c.  50   ships and 200   knights, and his fleet's support strengthened the defence of Antioch, Tripoli, and Tyre. Raymond   III died of illness, and the County of Tripoli was seized by Bohemond   IV , son of Bohemond   III of Antioch. [ 13 ] [ 14 ] [ 15 ] Pope Gregory VIII launched the new crusade with the bull Audita tremendi on 29   October 1187. The English prince Richard was the first to take the cross. [ 13 ] Pope Gregory appointed Joscius of Tyre to preach in France and Henry of Albano in Germany. On 22   January 1189 Joscius reconciled Philip II of France and Henry II of England at Gisors , where both kings and many nobles took the cross. [ 15 ] [ 13 ] [ 16 ] Troubadours such as Conon of Béthune also spread the message of the bull. [ 17 ] To fund the crusade, the "Saladin tithe"—a levy of 10% on income and movable goods—was imposed in England and France. [ 18 ] On 27   March 1188 Emperor Frederick   I swore his oath at the Curia Christi ('Court of Christ') in Mainz . [ 13 ] [ 19 ] The English, French, and part of the German host chose the sea route, but Frederick resolved to march overland. [ 18 ] [ 20 ] Map of the Third Crusade Frederick set out in May 1189 with c.  15,000   troops. By then Frankish control was reduced to Tyre, Antioch, Tripoli, and the fortresses of Beaufort , Margat , and Krak des Chevaliers . [ 21 ] [ 22 ] Saladin had freed Guy in May 1188, but Conrad barred him from Tyre. Gathering c.  9,000   men, Guy laid siege to Acre in August 1189 with Pisan naval support, his army reinforced by arriving western contingents. [ 22 ] [ 23 ] [ 24 ] Fearing a German–Seljuk alliance, Emperor Isaac   II denied Frederick safe passage. Frederick retaliated by attacking Byzantine towns, forcing Isaac in March 1190 to allow transport into Anatolia on Genoese and Pisan ships. [ 25 ] Despite Turkoman raids and scarce supplies, the Germans briefly took Konya , capital of Rum, but the crusade collapsed when Frederick drowned in the river Saleph on 10   June 1190. [ 26 ] His son Frederick of Swabia failed to sustain morale: many deserted or died, and only remnants reached Acre in October. [ 27 ] Franco-English tensions persisted until Henry   II's death in July 1189. Richard   I succeeded and swiftly prepared for the crusade, raising further funds by exacting a taillage from the Jews. [ 28 ] He met with Philip   II at Vézelay on 4   July 1190 before departing. [ 29 ] Richard's host numbered c.  17,000 , [ 30 ] while the French force was smaller, as many had already left under Henry II of Champagne . [ 30 ] [ 31 ] Richard hired ships in Marseille , Philip in Genoa, and both sailed to Sicily. There Richard seized Messina , compelling the new Sicilian king Tancred of Lecce to pay a substantial sum. From Sicily the French sailed directly to Acre, arriving on 20   April. A storm drove several English ships onto Cyprus, where the local Byzantine ruler Isaac Komnenos seized the wrecks and captives. Richard conquered the island before reaching Acre on 6   June 1191. [ 32 ] Richard the Lionheart during the siege of Acre , as depicted by Philip James de Loutherbourg (1807) Meanwhile, the long siege caused a deadly plague at Acre, killing Queen Sibylla. As Guy's kingship relied on her, her death voided his claim. Supported by French and German crusaders and the papal legate Ubaldo of Pisa , Conrad married Sibylla's half-sister Isabella on 24   November 1190. Guy refused to abdicate and sought Richard's backing. [ 33 ] The siege intensified with the arrival of two royal armies, and on 12   July 1191 the defenders surrendered without Saladin's approval, under safe-conduct terms. Richard's and Philip's banners rose on Acre's walls, but when Leopold   V of Austria raised his flag, Richard tore it down. Stricken by illness, Philip   II soon withdrew from the crusade. Acre's surrender required Saladin to free 1,600   Frankish prisoners and return the True Cross within a month; when he failed, Richard ordered 2,700–3,000   Muslim captives executed. [ 34 ] [ 35 ] From Acre, Richard advanced south, defeated Saladin at the Battle of Arsuf , and secured Jaffa. [ 36 ] News that Richard's brother John was attempting to seize England reached the Holy Land, prompting Richard to plan his return. On 20   April 1192 he recognised Conrad's claim to the remnant Kingdom of Jerusalem and granted Cyprus to Guy as compensation. Conrad was assassinated eight   days later, and his pregnant widow Isabella soon married Henry of Champagne, a kinsman of both the French and English kings. In June Richard advanced towards Jerusalem, but the crusaders halted at Bayt Nuba , 13 miles (21 km) away, fearing defeat, and withdrew to the coast. Saladin counterattacked at Jaffa, but Richard relieved the town . Peace talks begun the previous year led to the Treaty of Jaffa on 2   September, a three-year truce confirming Frankish control of the coast between Tyre and Jaffa and allowing Christian pilgrims access to the holy sites of Palestine. [ 37 ] Richard left Palestine on 9 October 1192 but was captured in Austria by Leopold   V. In 1193 he was handed to Emperor Henry   VI , who freed him for a ransom of 100,000   marks. [ 38 ] Crusade of 1197 Main article: Crusade of 1197 Revival of the Crusader states between 1197 and 1205 Saladin died of illness on 4   March 1193. His empire soon collapsed, as his eldest son and designated heir, al-Afdal , proved unable to restrain the ambitions of his many Ayyubid kinsmen. Of these, Saladin's brother al-Adil was the most astute, securing control of Damascus in 1196. [ 39 ] [ 40 ] The Third Crusade, with its heavy naval use, set a model for later expeditions: sea travel limited non-combatants and eased army supply. [ 41 ] Though no campaign matched its scale, new plans arose. Emperor Henry   VI, after taking the Kingdom of Sicily from Tancred, revived Norman ambitions in the eastern Mediterranean. He took the cross in April 1195, and Pope Celestine III authorised preaching a new crusade in Germany. [ 15 ] [ 42 ] By then Leo I of Cilician Armenia and Aimery of Lusignan , Guy's successor in Cyprus, had recognised Henry's suzerainty. [ 43 ] Henry planned to recruit 3,000   mercenaries and demanded tribute from the new Byzantine emperor Alexios III Angelos to fund the venture. Alexios levied the heavy Alamanikon ('German tax'), raising over 7,000   pounds of silver, but payment ended when Henry died of illness on 28   September 1197. [ 44 ] Earlier, the ailing emperor had named his marshal Henry of Kalden , and the imperial chancellor Bishop Conrad of Hildesheim to lead the crusade. German forces sailed from southern Italian ports between March and September. That same month al-Adil captured Jaffa, but the crusaders took Botrun , Sidon and Beirut before abandoning the campaign when Henry's death reached Palestine in February 1198. [ 45 ] During the crusade, Aimery of Cyprus and Leo   I of Cilicia Armenia were crowned kings by imperial envoys. After marrying the widowed Isabella   I of Jerusalem, Aimery was also crowned king of Jerusalem in January 1198. He soon prolonged the truce with the Ayyubids until 1204. [ 46 ] The same year the German nursing confraternity that had run a hospital at Acre since the Third Crusade assumed military functions, forming the Teutonic Knights . [ 47 ] Fourth Crusade Main articles: Fourth Crusade and Sack of Constantinople Further information: Siege of Zara and Frankish Greece Pope Innocent III : his policies had a major influence on the ideological and institutional framework of crusading (a fresco in St. Benedict's Cave at the Subiaco Abbey , c.  1219 ). Pope Celestine   III died in 1198 and was succeeded by Innocent   III , a learned theologian and jurist. That year he proclaimed a new crusade, but the Anglo–French war and the German throne dispute between Philip of Swabia and Otto of Brunswick blocked any large-scale campaign. [ 48 ] Markward von Annweiler , a veteran of the Third Crusade, rejected Innocent's claim to act as regent in Sicily for the child Frederick , son of Emperor Henry   VI. Innocent accused him of endangering the Holy Land and extended crusading indulgence to those fighting him, though only Walter of Brienne , a French claimant to southern Italian fiefs, joined this first "political crusade". [ 49 ] [ 50 ] Innocent pressed on with plans for a crusade to the Holy Land. He sent his legate Peter Capuano to mediate peace between England and France, but talks ended when Richard   I died in April 1199. By then Innocent had tasked the preacher Fulk of Neuilly with promoting the crusade in France. [ 51 ] To fund it, he imposed a 2.5% extraordinary levy on clerical income . [ 52 ] Theobald III of Champagne was the first to take the cross on 28   November, followed by his cousin Louis of Blois and, in February 1200, his brother-in-law Baldwin IX of Flanders . [ 53 ] They secretly agreed to strike Egypt first, concealing the plan to avoid rank-and-file opposition. Six envoys, including Geoffrey of Villehardouin —later the crusade's chronicler—were appointed to hire a fleet. They agreed with Doge Enrico Dandolo that Venice would build, by June 1202, a fleet for 33,500   crusaders for 85,000   marks (over 20   tons of silver). After Theobald's unexpected death in May 1201, Boniface of Montferrat , linked to royal houses in East and West, became leader. [ 54 ] [ 55 ] The crusade faltered when only a third of the expected force gathered at Venice; many embarked elsewhere or failed to keep their vows. The Venetians had invested heavily but the crusaders could not pay the agreed sum. To recover losses, Dandolo proposed attacking Zara , a Christian city in Dalmatia under King Emeric of Hungary , himself a sworn crusader. Despite papal prohibition and protests from some, including Simon de Montfort , the leaders agreed and captured Zara for Venice in November 1202. [ 56 ] [ 57 ] [ 58 ] While wintering there, Alexios Angelos , son of the deposed Emperor Isaac   II, offered to reunite the Byzantine Church with Rome, pay 200,000   marks, and supply 10,000   troops if restored to Constantinople. Though only recently absolved for attacking a Christian city, the leaders accepted and diverted the expedition, prompting several hundred dissenters to quit or sail directly to the Holy Land. [ 59 ] The army reached Constantinople in June 1203 and began the siege . Their first assault in July forced Emperor Alexios   III to flee; Isaac   II was restored and his son crowned co-emperor as Alexios   IV. Alexios raised only 100,000   marks and promised more if the crusaders stayed until March, which a parlament , attended by both commanders and knights, accepted. As he failed to pay, the crusaders began plundering. Losing support, Alexios   IV and Isaac were deposed by the aristocrat Alexios Doukas , crowned Alexios   V in February 1204. [ 60 ] [ 61 ] Conquest of Constantinople (from a 15th-century manuscript illuminated by David Aubert ) Lacking supplies, the crusader leaders resolved to attack Constantinople after agreeing on how to divide its spoils and partition the empire . Their first assault failed, but clergy kept morale with sermons branding the Byzantines schismatics "worse than the Jews". The second attack, on 12   April, succeeded and the Sack of Constantinople lasted for days. [ 62 ] The crusaders massacred thousands, desecrated holy sites and seized the city's movable wealth. Relics were taken in great numbers to Western churches. The brutality shocked contemporaries, including the Pope and the Muslim scholar Ibn al-Athir . The Byzantine historian Nicetas Choniates contrasted Saladin's clemency in Jerusalem with the crusaders' slaughter of Orthodox Christians in Constantinople. [ 63 ] A committee of six Venetian and six French crusaders elected Baldwin of Flanders as the first Latin Emperor. Boniface of Montferrat received Macedonia and Thessaly , founding the Kingdom of Thessalonica ; his vassals created the Duchy of Athens in Attica and the Principality of Achaea in the Peloponnese . Venice gained many Aegean islands, including Crete, and thereafter a Venetian cleric was appointed as Latin Patriarch of Constantinople . [ 64 ] Frankish control of former Byzantine lands proved precarious. Baldwin died in Bulgarian captivity after defeat at the Battle of Adrianople in 1205, and Boniface was killed fighting Bulgarians in 1207. Greek resistance centred on three Byzantine successor states: Epirus , Nicaea , and Trebizond . [ 65 ] [ 64 ] From the Crusader states' view, the Fourth Crusade was almost a failure: only about a fifth of those who took the cross around 1200 reached the Holy Land—enabling Aimery of Jerusalem to extend the 1198 truce for six years in 1204—while most participants in Constantinople's sack returned home without going east. [ 66 ] [ 67 ] Towards a new Levantine crusade Further information: Albigensian Crusades and Children's Crusade After the Fourth Crusade's collapse, Pope Innocent   III considered a new eastern campaign. [ 68 ] Yet large-scale plans had little chance amid the prolonged German throne dispute and renewed war between France and England. [ 69 ] The Crusader states faced no immediate danger because of divisions within the Ayyubids. [ 70 ] In 1212 John of Brienne , the new king of Jerusalem, concluded a five-year truce with al-Adil, by then ruler of Egypt and Damascus, and soon asked Innocent to call a crusade once it expired. John had gained the throne by marrying Queen Isabella's daughter and heir, Maria of Montferrat ; after his wife's death, he reigned with their infant daughter, Isabella   II . [ 71 ] The Battle of Muret , a key engagement of the Albigensian Crusades (a miniature from the late 14th-century Grandes Chroniques de France ) The medievalist Andrew Jotischky sees Innocent's crusade policy as "pragmatic reactions to problems". [ 72 ] One challenge was Catharism , a dualist religious movement in southern France. He launched the Albigensian Crusade against them in 1208, denouncing the Cathars as "more evil" than Muslims. [ 73 ] Popular zeal for crusading persisted, though recent failures drew criticism of noble-led campaigns and expeditions. [ 74 ] Petition processions for Iberian Christians resisting the Muslim revivalist Almohads and preaching against the Cathars stirred fervour in central France and the Rhineland in the early 1210s. In 1212 this produced popular movements later called the " Children's Crusade ". [ 75 ] Sources conflict and mix myth with moral tales, but agree the participants were children and youths seeking to retake Jerusalem, but none reached the Holy Land. [ 76 ] Fifth Crusade Main article: Fifth Crusade Further information: Battle of Mansurah (1221) Unlike in the Levant, crusading in Europe was succeeding. In Iberia the Reconquista struck a decisive blow to the Almohads at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in July 1212. That year Simon de Montfort, now leader of the Albigensian Crusade, completed the conquest of much of southern France. [ 77 ] [ 78 ] These victories, with the spontaneous zeal of the Children's Crusade, let Pope Innocent   III plan a new Levantine crusade. He proclaimed it in the bull Quia maior , citing a new Muslim fort on Mount Tabor as pretext. [ 68 ] [ 79 ] According to Madden, this "impressive document represents the full maturation of the crusading idea". [ 68 ] The Fourth Crusade had shown the ruinous effect of poor organisation, [ 80 ] and Innocent concluded only papal direction could ensure success. [ 81 ] He also broke with the tradition of appealing solely to the military class and granted full indulgence to those who funded a warrior's journey if unable to go themselves, and partial indulgence to donors. [ 82 ] The expedition's terms were set at the Fourth Lateran Council in November 1215. Crusaders were to gather at Brindisi or Messina in southern Italy by 1   June 1217, when the 1212 truce ended. A 5% levy on clerical income across Europe for three   years was imposed, and Innocent pledged 30,000   pounds of silver. [ 83 ] [ 84 ] The appeal failed in France, preoccupied with the Albigensian Crusade, but found support elsewhere. Andrew II of Hungary and Leopold VI of Austria took the cross. Frederick   II, Innocent's protégé in the German throne dispute, also vowed to join though had not yet defeated Otto of Brunswick [ 85 ] Oliver of Paderborn , a crusade preacher, toured the Low Countries recounting visions such as three crosses in the sky, while Jacques de Vitry won over Genoese patricians through their wives. [ 86 ] During preparations Innocent died on 16   July 1216, but his successor, Honorius   III , carried on his policy. [ 87 ] [ 88 ] For the first time in crusading history, the crusade was also preached in the Crusader states and in Cyprus. [ 89 ] Hungarian and Austrian crusaders embarked at the Dalmatian port of Spalato on Venetian ships rather than the more distant southern Italian harbours. By late September they reached Acre, where John of Brienne, Hugh I of Cyprus , and Bohemond IV of Antioch joined them. After a failed siege of Mount Tabor , Andrew   II deemed his vow fulfilled and, with most Hungarians, withdrew. [ 90 ] [ 91 ] Frisian, German, and Italian forces then joined, and in May 1218 the army advanced on Damietta , a thriving Nile Delta port. The city's subsequent siege saw a shifting host as Western contingents arrived and others departed. John of Brienne was chosen commander but soon challenged by the papal legate Pelagius . [ 92 ] Francis of Assisi before Sultan al-Kamil during the Fifth Crusade (a 15th-century fresco by Benozzo Gozzoli ) In late August the crusaders seized the Tower of the Chain, guarding the Delta. Al-Adil reportedly died of shock; his son al-Kamil offered to restore the pre-1187 borders of the Kingdom of Jerusalem (excluding Transjordan) for withdrawal. [ 93 ] On learning of the offer, al-Kamil's brother al-Mu'azzam dismantled Jerusalem's walls, but the crusaders rejected the offer as the kingdom was indefensible without the fortresses over the Jordan. [ 94 ] In August 1219, the mystic Francis of Assisi met al-Kamil, seeking to convert him to Christianity unsuccessfully. Prophecies promised victory and aid from the mythical Prester John , fuelled by distorted reports of the Mongol conquests in Central Asia . [ 95 ] Damietta fell to the crusaders in November 1219, but its possession soon sparked renewed conflict between John of Brienne and Pelagius. [ 96 ] A year later Frederick reaffirmed his crusading vow at his imperial coronation in Rome. The first German forces arrived under Louis I of Bavaria in 1221. That July, ignoring Frederick's orders, Louis and Pelagius advanced towards Cairo, but al-Kamil, aided by his brothers al-Muʿazzam and al-Ashraf , forced a northward retreat. With the Nile in flood, he opened the sluices, flooding their route. Trapped, the crusaders accepted terms: Damietta was surrendered for safe conduct and an eight-year truce. Al-Kamil re-entered the city in September as the crusaders withdrew. The sudden collapse shocked Western Christendom. Many blamed Pelagius for the disastrous final campaign, while others—including returning crusaders and Honorius—condemned Frederick for failing to honour his vow. [ 97 ] Sixth Crusade Main article: Sixth Crusade By 1218 Frederick   II had secured his authority in Germany, but the union of Sicily with the Holy Roman Empire under his rule threatened the papacy. Yet, relations with Pope Honorius   III stayed cordial, aided by mediators such as Hermann of Salza , Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, and Thomas of Capua , head of the papal penitentiary . [ 98 ] Frederick renewed his crusading vow in May 1223, setting June 1225 for departure, and agreed to marry Isabella   II of Jerusalem in the presence of her father, John of Brienne. [ 99 ] [ 100 ] With little response to the crusade call, he renewed the vow again in March 1225, pledging under threat of excommunication to depart in August 1227. [ 101 ] In November 1225 he married Isabella and exacted oaths of fealty from the barons of the Kingdom of Jerusalem despite earlier assurances that he would allow John to rule. [ 102 ] [ 99 ] In 1226 tensions between al-Kamil and al-Mu'azzam grew so severe that al-Kamil sent an envoy to Frederick, offering Jerusalem's return to the Christians for aid against his rival. [ 103 ] In March 1227 Pope Honorius died and the energetic Gregory   IX succeeded him. [ 104 ] He soon clashed with Frederick over papal rights in Sicily, though preparations for the crusade continued. [ 105 ] To win Lombard support Frederick used force, yet many eagerly joined, including the German noble Louis   IV of Thuringia , the Italian aristocrat Thomas of Acerra , and the English bishop Peter des Roches . [ 105 ] [ 106 ] Several crusaders sailed from Brindisi on 15   August 1227. Frederick followed on 8   September with c.  800   knights and 10,000   infantry but fell ill and returned to southern Italy. Enraged, Pope Gregory excommunicated him before the end of the month. [ 105 ] [ 99 ] Learning of Frederick's illness and excommunication, many crusaders in the Holy Land abandoned the campaign; the rest repaired coastal fortifications. [ 107 ] They also seized Sidon and built Montfort Castle near Acre after al-Mu'azzam died in November 1227. [ 108 ] Holy Roman Emperor Frederick   II (left) meets al-Kamil (right) (14th-century illumination from Giovanni Villani 's Nuova Cronica ). Disregarding papal demands to seek absolution before resuming the crusade, Frederick resolved to lead an expedition to the Holy Land. As Isabella died shortly after giving birth to their son, Conrad , he departed only in late June 1228. Reaching Cyprus, an imperial fief, he deposed John of Ibelin , regent for the underage King Henry   I , and demanded fealty from Bohemond   IV of Antioch and Tripoli, who refused. [ 109 ] Frederick landed at Acre on 7   September. As the Hospitallers, the Templars, and devout crusaders would not follow an excommunicated leader, he used intermediaries to issue orders. He renewed talks with al-Kamil, displaying tolerance toward Islam and notable learning. On 18   February 1229 the Treaty of Jaffa ceded Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and other key cities to the Christians, while preserving the Temple Mount , the Dome of the Rock , and the al-Aqsa Mosque as Muslim places of worship; it also established a ten-year truce, excluding Antioch, Tripoli, and the Hospitaller and Templar lands. Though gaining more than any earlier crusade, the treaty drew sharp criticism. Visiting Jerusalem, Frederick entered Muslim shrines and on 18   May crowned himself king in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. [ 110 ] [ 111 ] Meanwhile, with papal backing, John of Brienne invaded southern Italy, compelling Frederick to abandon his eastern campaign in May. He landed at Brindisi in June and, by the end of October, had driven his former father-in-law back into papal territory. [ 112 ] Barons' Crusade Main article: Barons' Crusade By Emperor Frederick   II's return from his eastern campaign, the Treaty of Paris had ended the Albigensian Crusades on 12   April 1229. [ 113 ] [ 114 ] The period also saw crusader successes in Iberia: James I of Aragon conquered the Balearic Islands and Valencia by 1238, while Ferdinand III of Castile took Córdoba in 1236 after a successful siege . [ 115 ] [ 116 ] In the Baltic, the Teutonic Knights assumed command of the crusade against the pagan Prussians in 1230. [ 117 ] Pope Gregory   IX meanwhile launched the Drenther and Stedinger Crusades against peasant rebels and the Bosnian Crusade against dissident Christians. [ 118 ] Frederick reconciled with the papacy in May 1230. The following year Frederick appointed Richard Filangieri as bailli (deputy) in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Supported by the Teutonic Knights, Pisans, and some local nobles, Filangieri seized Tyre, but most Jerusalemite barons, led by John of Ibelin and backed by the Genoese and Henry   I of Cyprus, resisted. Upon John's death in 1236, his son Balian of Beirut assumed command of the resistance. [ 119 ] Pope Gregory called for a new crusade in separate encyclicals to the English and French in 1234. The expedition was to depart for the Holy Land when the 1229 truce expired in 1239. He ordered taxation of clerical income and promoted commuting crusading vows for cash. He also proposed the establishment of a garrison in Palestine, to be maintained for ten years and financed by lay contributions in return for partial crusade indulgences. Mendicant friars preached the crusade, but bishops held the funds, which were distributed by papal authorisation to aristocrats who had taken the cross. [ 120 ] In France, Theobald IV of Champagne (also king of Navarre ), Hugh IV of Burgundy , and Peter of Dreux were among the nobles who joined. Most had earlier rebelled against Blanche of Castile , regent for King Louis   IX of France , and by taking the cross gained church protection. [ 121 ] Louis aided them with gifts, loans, and authorised them to fight under the royal banner. [ 122 ] In England, several nobles hostile to royal authority enlisted, including Richard of Cornwall —one of Europe's wealthiest men—and his brother-in-law Gilbert Marshal ; the army also attracted former enemies such as Simon de Montfort and Richard Siward . [ 123 ] In the late 1230s the Crusader states faced little threat from their Muslim neighbours. [ 124 ] After al-Kamil's death in 1238, a two-year struggle followed before his son Ayyub secured Egypt. He recruited new mamluk troops, stationed on a Nile island, forming the Bahri ("river") mamluks . [ 125 ] By contrast, the Latin Empire came under pressure from a Bulgarian–Nicaean alliance. Pope Gregory tried to divert crusaders to Constantinople, but only a few—among them Humbert V de Beaujeu and Thomas of Marle —agreed. By their arrival in 1239, the anti-Latin coalition had collapsed, and the crusaders mounted only minor raids in Thrace. [ 126 ] [ 127 ] The Crusader states and their neighbours ( c. 1241) The French crusaders offered command to Frederick   II, who promised that he or his son Conrad would join. Yet his bid to assert power in Lombardy led to renewed conflict with Pope Gregory, who excommunicated him in March 1239. The French reached Acre that September. Leadership was divided, and in November an Egyptian force routed a contingent at the Battle of Gaza . The defeat emboldened Dawud , Ayyubid emir of Damascus, to sack Jerusalem and dismantle its walls. The divided Ayyubids failed to exploit success; Ismail of Damascus , Ayyub's uncle, even offered to cede Beaufort, Tiberias, and Saphet , then held by Dawud. It is unclear if the offer was accepted, as Theobald of Champagne and Peter of Dreux abandoned the crusade after a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in September 1241. [ 128 ] The English force, c.  600–800   knights and additional troops, arrived in October 1240. [ 129 ] [ 130 ] [ 131 ] Richard of Cornwall, Frederick   II's brother-in-law, sided with the pro-imperialist faction in Jerusalem, favouring alliance with Egypt over Damascus. Ayyub, via his ally Dawud, offered to restore Jerusalem to the Franks and release the prisoners taken at Gaza. Richard accepted the proposal, which also upheld Ismail's earlier concessions, expanding the kingdom to its widest extent since 1187. [ 132 ] [ 133 ] With the agreement secured, the crusade ended in May 1241. 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