Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/98

72 point; the army turned its back upon the sacred city and advanced into Egypt. The king, deeply though he resented the secondary position in which he found himself, could not bring himself to abandon a cause in which he had so much at stake, and which was promising so fairly, and for these reasons accompanied the army.

The Christians boldly pushed their way into the Delta of the Nile, the Egyptian forces retreating as they advanced. Here they found a new enemy before which they were powerless. The sultan broke down the banks of the Nile, flooded the whole intervening tract of country, and completely surrounded the Latin forces with an impassable lake. It was equally impracticable either to advance or retreat, whilst to remain where they were entailed certain starvation. In this unfortunate predicament the Christians were driven to treat with the enemy, and had at length to purchase their safety by the surrender of all their recent acquisitions. Daniietta was restored to the sultan, the army retired to Acre, and thus, owing to the obstinacy and presumption of Pelagius, backed by the Templars, the campaign was brought to an ignominious close, although at one time it bid fair to lead to the complete restoration of the kingdom.

The unfortunate result of this expedition did not, however, quell the high spirit of Europe, now once more aroused into its old crusading fervour. Further and still more energetic efforts were set on foot for the recovery of Jerusalem. Herman de Saltza, the head of the Teutonic Order, returned to Europe to solicit aid from the German emperor, Frederic. He proposed to him to marry Violante, the daughter and heiress of John of Brienne, who was at the time twelve years of age, and suggested that her father could probably be induced to resign his crown in favour of so distinguished a son-in-law. Flattered with this prospect, and tempted by the crown thus tendered for his acceptance, Frederic, with the sanction of the Pope, married Violante, and John of Brienne, weary of a throne which existed only in name, resigned in his favour.

Delays of various kinds caused a period of five years to elapse before Frederic found himself on the shores of Syria. During this interval the ill-feeling which had been gradually growing