1885

After Sept. 10. P. de Albeneio [325] writes to his friend the earl of Chester [comes Cestriae et Lincolniae]. After a sea-voyage from Marseille to Damietta, he arrived to hear of the disastrous campaign, undertaken by the king of Jerusalem, who, he had heard, was opposed to it, the papal legate, the duke of Bavaria, the Knights Templars and Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem, who led 1000 milites crucesignati, another 5000 milites and 40000 foot soldiers [pedites]. He describes how the army became trapped between Damietta and Cairo [Babylonia], how, under attack from the sultan and his brother Conradinus, it was forced to withdraw with the Nile in flood, how it lost many dead and captured and was compelled to exchange hostages and make a truce of 8 years with the sultan, involving the return of Damietta and all captives. He decided to journey to Acre, which he reached on 9 September. Damietta was formally surrendered on the following day. He reports that the king of Jerusalem intends to visit the West for assistance.