Pope Innocent was succeeded by Pope Honorius III, who continued to embrace the Templars with his support. The Templars looked after their own interests and developed their remaining holdings into self sufficient feudal communities. Castles were reinforced in keeping with the lessons of siege warfare. The skill by which Saladin's soldiers had been able to undermine castle walls was not forgotten. Castle Pilgrim at Atlit, between Jaffa and Haifa, marked the ultimate in medieval castle design. Construction began under the Templar Grand Master William of Chartres in 1217 AD, the same year the Fifth Crusade began.
Beginning in 1217, the Fifth Crusade started off as a multinational force comprised of volunteers from Cyprus, Hungary, Italy, France, England, Holland, and Austria. To start with, the Crusaders attempted to take the Egyptian city of Damietta hoping that a strategic victory against the Ayyubid sultan al-Kamil would allow them safe passage on to Jerusalem. The main commander in this Crusade was a Spanish cardinal named Pelagius. The defining strategy pursued by Pelagius and Pope Honorius was the late Pope Innocent's interpretation of scripture that Muhammad was the Beast as prophesied in the book of Revelation, whose evil empire would eventually fall by its own wickedness. Thus the counsel of the Templars, the Hospitallers, and any other military leaders could be ignored due to religious prejudice.
Francis of Assisi visited al-Kamil at Cairo during the siege of Damietta. Through Francis, the sultan offered the Christians a truce. If they would leave Egypt, he would return the holy relic of the True Cross (previously held by Saladin) and give them the area around Galilee and all of central Palestine, including Jerusalem. Pelagius refused, believing it was sinful to negotiate with an infidel. The more sophisticated military leaders knew that Jerusalem would be in a strategically indefensible position because the sultan insisted on keeping two castles that could be used for future attacks from the Muslims. They also reasoned that the sultan must be weaker than they had estimated if he was willing to offer such favorable terms. Thus they attacked Damietta with renewed enthusiasm and the city fell in November 1219. Upon entering Damietta, they discovered that the city had been ravaged by a plague.
Templar Grand Master William of Chartres had died that summer, due to complications from his wounds. He was succeeded by Pedro de Montaigu, whose leadership inspired morale and confidence among the Templars. Meanwhile, Pelagius held the army within a twenty mile radius of Damietta, and this would last for the next two years. This infuriated the military leaders, but since the Templars were bound by their strict allegiance to the pope, they were forbidden to disobey his orders or the orders of his direct representative no matter how incompetent he may have been.
Ultimately, Pelagius ordered the assault force of over six hundred ships and nearly fifty thousand foot soldiers towards Cairo in July 1221. He had chosen a bad time however, for the annual inundation of the Nile was at hand. After a twelve day march, the Crusader armies came to a plain from which they could see the Muslim army that had surrounded them undetected throughout their march. The Crusaders attempted to retreat only to have the Muslims open the Nile flood gates, which nearly destroyed them. The Fifth Crusade ended in disaster. While al-Kamil offered to return the True Cross as part of the truce ending the Crusade, it had been misplaced and could not be found. The Sultan ordered a thorough search for the holy relic, but unfortunately it was never recovered.
References:
Adduson, C.G. The Knights Templars. (Forgotten Books, 2012).
Haag, M. The Templars: History & Myth. (London, England: Profile Books, 2008).
Robinson, J.J. Dungeon, Fire & Sword. (Lanham, Maryland: The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group Inc., 2009).
Wasserman, J. The Templars and the Assassins. (Rochester, Vermont: Inner Traditions, 2001).
