Which crusade targeted Egypt and ended after the failed march on Cairo in 1221?

The Fifth Crusade targeted Egypt and ended after the failed march on Cairo in 1221.

Western European leaders chose Egypt because the Ayyubid sultanate used it as the economic and military base of power behind Muslim control of Jerusalem. The campaign began in 1217, but its decisive phase started with the siege of Damietta in 1218. Crusaders captured the strategically important Nile port in 1219 after a long siege.

Instead of exchanging Damietta for Jerusalem, the crusaders demanded more extensive concessions. Sultan al-Kamil offered terms that included Jerusalem, but papal legate Pelagius rejected them. In 1221, the crusader army advanced toward Cairo during the Nile flood season. Al-Kamil’s forces opened dams, flooding the surrounding countryside and trapping the invading army. The crusaders surrendered, abandoned Damietta, and accepted an eight-year truce.

The Fifth Crusade is often confused with the Sixth Crusade, during which Frederick II recovered Jerusalem by negotiation in 1229. The Fifth Crusade’s Egyptian strategy was influential, but its leaders failed to turn the capture of Damietta into lasting territorial gains.