The Crusaders Who Missed the Holy Land

In any case, Pope Innocent III ascended to the throne in A.D. 1198 and immediately started preaching, “Hey guys, remember that time we conquered Jerusalem? That was pretty cool. Let's do it again.” Thousands heeded the call. The original idea was to assemble an army in France, march it to Venice, sail from there to Egypt, and then march to the Holy Land, but they almost immediately hit a snag. They had contracted with Venice to build ships for 40,000 troops, but when only 12,000 showed up, they realized they were all on the hook for a huge fleet they couldn't afford. Fortunately, the Venetians said, “Don't sweat it, guys—just loot some other cities, and pay us back!”