Ayyubids and Latins; 1154 to 1225

Damietta > Dumyat, Egypt

Untitled By February 1219, the Muslims are seriously alarmed and offer peace terms that include the cession of Jerusalem. King Jean and many of the crusaders are eager to accept, but Pelagius, supported by the military orders and the Italians, refuses. Francis of Assisi, to whom Pelagius reluctantly gives permission to cross the lines, makes a famous but fruitless evangelistic attempt to convert the new Ayyubid sultan, al-Kamil, while the crusaders lay siege to Damietta, finally taking the harbor on November 5, 1219. Francis' visit to the East is a preliminary step in the establishment of a Franciscan province in the Holy Land.

by Jeff Moran