The fourth crusade, which was commenced in 1195 by the Emperor Henry VI., was more political than religious. It had in view, not so much the deliverance of the Holy Land, as the destruction of the Greek empire. But after some successful engagements Henry died, and the Germans resolved to return home. Pope Celestine III., who had urged on the expedition, survived the Emperor only a few months. He died A.D. 1198.
To describe the Fifth and Sixth Crusades would involve much repetition, but the seventh and eighth deserve a few words.
Louis XL, king of France, who is commonly known by the name of St. Louis, believed that he was raised up from a serious illness by heaven to undertake the recovery of the Holy Land. Nothing could dissuade him from performing his vow. After four years' preparation he sailed to Cyprus in 1249, accompanied by his Queen, his three brothers, and all the knights of France. After a few trifling successes and the taking of Damietta, he was defeated and taken prisoner along with two of his brothers. The Earl of Salisbury, who had accompanied him, with almost all his English followers, perished. Pestilence and famine began to do their dreadful work among the Franks; the distress increased; the fleet was destroyed; and the Saracens, in vast numbers, were hovering around them. The liberty of the king was at length purchased by a large ransom, and a truce was concluded for ten years. After quietly visiting some of the sacred places, he returned to France. But amidst all the labors of government at home the pious Louis never forgot his crusading vow. He was haunted with the idea that he had been entrusted by heaven with this great mission.
At length, on the 14th of March A.D. 1270, he entered upon his second and the Eighth Crusade. He was so weak that he could neither bear his armor nor remain long on horseback. But scarcely had he landed his army on the shores of Africa, than all his sanguine visions perished. The Sultan's troops, the climate, the want of water and of food, began to produce their sad effects. His army was almost wholly destroyed, and Louis himself, with his son, John Tristan, sank and died in the month of August. The survivors returned to Europe; and thus terminated these holy wars, leaving the avowed object of the crusades as far distant as before the days of Peter the Hermit.