A Brief History of the Crusades
Part-III: Rise of Mamluks & the End of the Crusades
Unlike Salah ad-Din, his successors relied on the policy of reaction and it gave the Crusaders a chance to regroup themselves and also provided the Church with an opportunity to send another military expedition.
Thus, in 1199, Pope Innocent III — who had already made Crusades a major concern of the Latin Church — called for the Fourth Crusade towards the Eastern Mediterranean.
Fourth Crusade (1199–1204)
Contrary to the first three Crusades, this time the Crusaders were aiming for Egypt, which has now become the center of Muslim power in the region. So, they asked Venetians to provide them the transport and to help them reach Egypt.
Called by Pope Innocent III and led by Boniface of Montferrat, initially the Fourth Crusade was aimed at recapturing of the holy city of Jerusalem. However, driven by political and economic factors, the Fourth Crusade couldn’t achieve its objectives, rather it led to the Sacking of Constantinople in 1204.
