Papal Communication and the Fifth Crusade, 1217–1221

The role of the papacy as a hub of information during the campaigns of crusades in the Near East was a keystone in the organisation of the crusading movement. Yet, while a number of studies on the papacy and the crusades touch upon the topic, a study that focuses exclusively on the mechanics of papal communication and how it affected the crusading movement remains a scholarly desideratum. The Fifth Crusade (1217–21) represents a particularly good opportunity for such an investigation because it was an expedition whose character, strategy and course were determined to a great extent by the sharing of information with the West. This chapter explores how such communication was conducted and ascertains what its effect on the crusading movement was. It argues that the fate of the Fifth Crusade, perhaps more than any other, hung on contact and communication with the West. Paradoxically, though, in the end, the reliance of the Fifth Crusade on this regular stream of information from Europe probably contributed to its undoing.