Name: Siege of Damietta (1218–1219)
Start: 1218
Location: Siege of Damietta (1218–1219)

Siege of Damietta (1218–1219) 1218

Image: Cornelis Claesz van Wieringen, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.

Key facts

Year	1218	Wikidata P580 (start time)
Era	Medieval (500–1499)	derived from year
Location	Egypt	Natural Earth (modern borders)
Continent	Africa	Natural Earth
War / conflict	Fifth Crusade	Wikidata P361
Participants	Ayyubid Sultanate, Holy Roman Empire, Kingdom of Cyprus, Kingdom of England, Kingdom of France, Kingdom of Jerusalem, Knights Hospitaller, Knights Templar, Latin Empire, Papal States, Teutonic Order	Wikidata P710
Coordinates	31.4167, 31.8167	Wikidata P625

About the battle

The siege of Damietta of 1218–1219 was part of the Fifth Crusade in which the Crusaders attacked the Egyptian port city of Damietta. The city was besieged in 1218 and taken by the Crusaders in 1219.

At the beginning of the Fifth Crusade, it was agreed that a force would attempt to take Damietta, located at the mouth of the river Nile. The Crusaders then planned to use this city as a launching point for the southern portion of a pincer attack upon Jerusalem from Acre and Suez. Control over the area would also provide wealth to finance the continuation of the crusade, and reduce the threat from the Egyptian fleet. By 1221, Damietta was lost when Crusader forces surrendered the city and evacuated Egypt.

St Francis of Assisi is believed to have made a well-received but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to convert Egypt's Sultan al-Kamil during the siege.

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Damietta (1218–1219) (revision 1371419217), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.