Crusades
THE FOURTH CRUSADE DETOUR
Crusaders arriving at the land and sea walls of Constantinople, from a Venetian manuscript (ca. 1330) if La Conquete de Constantinople by Geoffrey of Villehardouin, who took part in the Fourth Crusade. When the Venetian force’s entry into the city was pushed back by the imperial bodyguard, they set fire to a number of buildings and burned a large section…
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The Fifth Crusade 1213–21 Part I
Pope Honorius III by Giotto di Bondone Writing in an optimistic mood in 1208 to the crusade enthusiast Duke Leopold VI of Austria, Innocent III characterized holy war as an imitation of Christ, an act of unconditional devotion. In recognition of this he sent Leopold a cloth cross and letters…
The Fifth Crusade 1213–21 Part II
RAISING CRUSADERS By the time Ad Liberandam received the council’s approval on 14 December 1215, preaching and recruitment had been going for over two years. It was to continue intensively for another six years then, more sporadically, for at least a further six. The undertaking was massive, in every province…
The Fifth Crusade 1213–21 Part III
A 13th century CE manuscript illustration depicting the attack on Damietta in Egypt in 1218-19 CE during the Fifth Crusade (1217-1221 CE). (From the Chronica Majorca by Matthew Paris, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge) WAR IN THE EAST A decision to attack Egypt had been taken at the Fourth Lateran Council…
The Fifth Crusade 1213–21 Part IV
THE FAILURE OF THE EGYPT CAMPAIGN The outcome of the Egyptian campaign surprised and appalled in almost equal measure. The canny Iraqi pundit Ibn al-Athir called it ‘unexpected’. Western observers were less charitable, attaching blame variously to Pelagius, the pope, the dilatory Frederick II, the clergy, the crusade leaders, sin,…
Spain’s African Crusade(s)
Attack on La Goletta, with Tunis in the background. Imperial troops in the conquest of Tunis, 1535 The dangers of rebellion among the sullen inhabitants of Granada, aided and abetted by their North African kinsmen, inevitably gave fresh impetus to a long-cherished project for the continuation of the Castilian crusade…
Doria and Barbarossa 1536–1541
Portrait of Andrea Doria Portrait of Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha (1478-1546) Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha defeats the Holy League of Charles V under the command of Andrea Doria at the Battle of Preveza in 1538 Charles and Doria, Suleiman and Barbarossa. After Tunis it was clear that the two potentates who would…