CONSTANTINOPLE AND CAIRO 133
it was taken the Temple had lost a ship and over five thousand
Christians had fallen. The difficulty of capturing the fortress
cooled the ardour of some of the Crusaders and they withdrew
to Europe, although threatened with excommunication by the
Pope. Much more serious than such desertions, however,
were the ravages of a pestilence which broke out in the
Crusading camp. The Temple lost William de Chartres, but
the new Master of the Order, Peter de Montaigu, was quite
as enthusiastic as his predecessor for the war in Egypt, and
when some of the Christian leaders proposed a retreat, he
defeated the suggestion.
The reduction in the strength of the Crusaders was more
than counterbalanced by the new bands which came from the
West. Numerous attacks were made on Damietta during
the summer, but all of them were repulsed and in the autumn
operations practically ceased. The position of the Crusaders
became critical during the winter. The pestilence still raged
in the camp 5 the overflowing of the Nile swept away the
baggage and supplies 5 and to the horror of disease was added
famine. The proposal to end the campaign was again raised,
but the Temple was as determined as ever that Damietta
should be taken. And now the Crusaders had a leader more
subservient to the military Orders than John of Brienne.
Pope Honorius had despatched Cardinal Pelagius to Egypt
as his legate, and Pelagius was a fiery fanatic who scoffed at
withdrawal.
The legate claimed that, as the Christian army had been
raised by the Pope and fought in the name of the Church, it
must be under his command. John of Brienne angrily refused
to surrender the leadership, and a long and bitter tussle took
place between the king and Pelagius, The king had con-
tributed comparatively few men to the besieging force and he
had made many enemies during the expedition, but on the
other hand the idea of serving under a prelate was distasteful
to many of the warriors. The quarrels lasted throughout the