Crusade of 1197

Crusade of 1197
Part of the Crusades
Crusader states about 1200
Date 1197–1198 Location the Levant Result Initial Crusader victories followed by withdraw
Belligerents
Holy Roman Empire Kingdom of Cyprus Duchy of Brabant Duchy of Austria Landgraviate of Thuringia County Palatine of the Rhine Duchy of Merania Bishop of Passau Bishop of Hildesheim County of Gorizia	Ayyubids
Commanders and leaders
Henry VI Amalric of Cyprus Henry I, Duke of Brabant Frederick of Austria Herman I, Landgrave of Thuringia Henry V of the Rhine Berthold, Duke of Merania Wolfger von Erla Conrad of Querfurt Meinhard II, Count of Gorizia	Al-Adil I
Strength
60,000	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

Holy Roman Empire

Henry VI

The Crusade of 1197, also known as the Crusade of Henry VI (German: Kreuzzug Heinrichs VI.) or the German Crusade (Deutscher Kreuzzug) was a crusade launched by the Hohenstaufen emperor Henry VI in response to the aborted attempt of his father, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa during the Third Crusade in 1189–90. Thus the military campaign is also known as the "Emperor's Crusade."

While his forces were already on their way to the Holy Land, Henry VI died before his departure in Messina on 28 September 1197. The emerging throne conflict between his brother Philip of Swabia and the Welf rival Otto of Brunswick made many higher-ranking crusaders return to Germany in order to protect their interests in the next imperial election. The nobles remaining on the campaign captured the Levant coast between Tyre and Tripoli before returning to Germany. The Crusade ended abruptly after the fall of Sidon and Beirut in 1198.

On 2 October 1187 the Ayyubid sultan Saladin captured Jerusalem and large parts of the Crusader states. In an effort to reclaim the Outremer estates, the Third Crusade was launched by King Philip II of France, King Richard I of England, and Emperor Frederick I of the Holy Roman Empire in 1189. Frederick departed with a huge army, defeated a Seljuk contingent near Philomelion and captured Iconium, but then drowned in the Göksu River near Silifke in Cilicia.

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