The Fourth Crusade, launched by Pope Innocent III in 1198, was a complete disaster.

The Crusaders
were first forced by the Venetians to capture the city of Zara (1202), in lieu of the payment for the ships
they had ordered from Venice. Then, rather than proceeding to liberate Jerusalem, they mingled in
politics and captured instead the Christian city of Constantinople (1204), arousing the hatred of the
Greek Christians and damaging the Byzantine Empire beyond repair.

[The People’s Crusade] it was an expedition of ill-organized pilgrims brought together by a fervent and
popular preacher, Peter the Hermit. The unruly and badly armed band was ambushed and annihilated
by the Muslims before they ever reached Palestine.

[Picture of King Richard the Lionheart – was the most courageous crusader]

In the following years, the major crusades organized to defend the Holy Land ended in failure. Acre,
the last Christian outpost in Palestine, fell in 1291, and all the Christian castles along the coast were
destroyed. It marked the end of the military expeditions but not of the spirit of the Crusades, namely,
the voluntary commitment to the service of God and of his people.

[The Children’s Crusade] it was a pilgrimage of thousands of youngsters to the Holy Land (1212), under
the guidance of Stephen of Cloyes, a 12-year-old shepherd. All of them were either shipwretched, lost,
or sold into slavery in Egypt.

The Knights of Malta – the oldest order of knights was founded by Blessed Gerard at Jerusalem in 1120.
Their purpose was to give medical assistance and military protection to the Christians residing in Holy
Land and to the pilgrims. Alter the fall of Palestine, they transferred their headquarters to the strategic
island of Malta, which was made impregnable with grandiose fortifications. The Order’s navy became
one of the most powerful in the Mediterranean Sea, and waged incessant wars against the incursions of
Muslims and pirates. The Order is presently maintaining hospitals, leprosariums, and ambulance corps.