Crusade of 1197

Crusade of 1197
	Part of the Crusades
Date	22 September 1197 – 1 July 1198
Location	The Levant
Result	Crusader victory
Territorial; changes	Beirut restored to the Kingdom of Jerusalem
Belligerents
Holy Roman Empire Kingdom of Cyprus; Duchy of Brabant; Duchy of Austria; Landgraviate of Thuringia; County Palatine of the Rhine; Duchy of Merania; Bishopric of Passau; Bishopric of Hildesheim; Bishopric of Halberstadt; County of Gorizia;	Ayyubids
Commanders and leaders
Henry VI # Amalric of Cyprus; Henry I, Duke of Brabant; Frederick of Austria; Herman I, Landgrave of Thuringia; Henry V of the Rhine; Berthold, Duke of Merania; Wolfger von Erla; Conrad of Querfurt; Gardolf of Halberstadt; Meinhard II, Count of Gorizia;	Al-Adil I
Strength
16,000	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

The Crusade of 1197, also known as the Crusade of Henry VI (

Frederick I, during the Third Crusade

in 1189–90. Thus the military campaign is also known as the "Emperor's Crusade" (echoing the name "Kings' Crusade" given to the Third Crusade).[2]

While his forces were already on their way to the Holy Land, Henry VI died before his departure in Messina on 28 September 1197. The emerging throne conflict between his brother Philip of Swabia and the Welf rival Otto of Brunswick made many higher-ranking crusaders return to Germany in order to protect their interests in the next imperial election.^[3] The nobles remaining on the campaign captured the Levant coast between Tyre and Tripoli before returning to Germany. The Crusade ended after the Christians captured Sidon and Beirut from the Muslims in 1198.^[3]

Background

On 2 October 1187 the

Outremer estates, the Third Crusade was launched by King Philip II of France, King Richard I of England, and Emperor Frederick I of the Holy Roman Empire in 1189. Frederick departed with a huge army, defeated a Seljuk contingent near Philomelion and captured Iconium, but then drowned in the Göksu River near Silifke in Cilicia

.

Upon his death, Frederick's German crusading host, totaling perhaps 12,000 to 15,000 men, mostly disbanded and a much smaller contingent led by Frederick's son Duke

Treaty of Ramla signed by Sultan Saladin and King Richard I, establishing a three-years armistice and allowing the Muslims to retain control over Jerusalem, while the Crusaders maintained Acre, Jaffa

, and other key coastal cities.

Henry VI, elected

Princes to enforce his succession, the tide turned in his favour when the returning crusader King Richard was captured in Austria and only released against an oath of allegiance and an enormous ransom. In 1194 Henry could assert the inheritance claims of his wife Constance by conquering the Kingdom of Sicily

. By declaring a new Crusade to reconquer Jerusalem, Henry aimed at an agreement with Pope Celestine III to acknowledge his rule over Sicily. In 1195 the armistice concluded by King Richard ended. Sultan Saladin had already died in 1193 and a conflict over his succession raged in the Ayyubid lands. In view of these favourable developments, the emperor hoped to continue the momentum of the previous campaign.

Henry VI decided to take advantage of his father's threat of force against the

Amalric of Cyprus and Prince Leo of Cilicia

.

Call for Crusade

Babenberg pedigree, Klosterneuburg Monastery

, c. 1490

During the Holy Week (March) of 1195, Emperor Henry made a pledge and at the Easter celebrations in Bari publicly announced the Crusade. Henry's original plan in April 1195 was for a force of 1,500 knights and 3,000 sergeants, but this total would be exceeded.^[1] In the summer he was travelling through Germany in order to gain supporters. Despite the stalemate of the Third Crusade, a large number of the nobles responded,^[3] among them:

Archbishop
Archchancellor of Germany, and Archbishop Hartwig of Bremen

Nine Bishops, including Wolfger of Passau, Conrad of Hildesheim
Five dukes: Henry of Brabant, Berthold of Merania, Frederick of Austria, his uncle Henry of Mödling and the emperor's cousin Hermann I, Landgrave of Thuringia
Various counts: including Henry V of the Rhine, Meinhard II of Gorizia, Eberhard of Dörnberg, Albert of Arneburg

A large number of minor nobles also joined the Crusade and before long, according to

Bretislaus III, Duke of Bohemia

had agreed to join the Crusade at the Diet in Worms in December 1195, and planned to do so, until he fell ill and died on 15 or 19 June 1197.

A force of 3,000

Annales Stadenses—do not mention the attack on Silves at all.^[8] The crusaders arrived in Messina in July or August 1197, where they merged with the emperor's troops.^[9]

In March 1197 Henry proceeded to the Kingdom of Sicily. The crusaders embarked for Acre, while the emperor first had to suppress an armed revolt in Catania. Still in Sicily, out for hunting near Fiumedinisi in August, Emperor Henry fell ill with chills, possibly from malaria. He died on September 28 before he could set sail for the Holy Land.

The combined force sailed out of Messina on 1 September and landed in Acre three weeks later.^[7]

Campaign

Reconquest of Beirut, Alexandre Hesse, 1842

On 22 September 1197, a substantial German army under the command of Archchancellor Conrad of Mainz and Marshal

King of Jerusalem

(as Amalric II) in 1198.

The crusaders continued their campaign and by reconquering the estates around

John of Ibelin and the Lordship of Sidon to Reginald Grenier. On his way back to Germany, Archbishop Conrad of Mainz in January 1198 crowned Prince Leo of Cicilia as King of Armenia in Tarsus

.

Aftermath

Overshadowed by Henry's death, the Crusade did not realize his high-flying ambitions. Nevertheless, the weakening of the Byzantine Empire persisted and established a basis for the

Sack of Constantinople

in 1204. At the same time the originally intended reconquest of Jerusalem was abandoned, when the armistice with the Ayyubid dynasty was renewed for another six years.

The German Princes later on concentrated on their land acquisitions in the territories of the

chivalric order during the German Crusade in March 1198, played an important role in the German eastward expansion to Prussia and the adjacent Baltic region

in the 13th century.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Loud 2014, p. 160.
^ The Crusades, C. 1071-c. 1291 By Jean Richard, Jean Birrell, pg. 237
^ ^a ^b ^c Norwich, John Julius (1997). A Short History of Byzantium. New York: Vintage Books. p. 298.
^ Loud 2010, p. 19.
^ Norwich, John Julius (1997). A Short History of Byzantium. New York: Vintage Books. p. 297.
^ ^a ^b Loud 2014, p. 159.
^ ^a ^b Loud 2014, p. 156.
^ David 1939, p. 660.
^ Loud 2014, p. 157.
^ Riley-Smith (1990) p.64
^ Loud 2014, p. 145.