 The barons of the Kingdom of Jerusalem proposed that John marry Maria , Queen of Jerusalem . With the consent of Philip II of France and Pope Innocent III , he left France for the Holy Land and married the queen ; the royal couple were crowned in 1210 . After Maria 's death in 1212 John administered the kingdom as regent for their infant daughter , Isabella II ; an influential lord , John of Ibelin , attempted to <unk> him . John was a leader of the Fifth Crusade . Although his claim of supreme command of the crusader army was never unanimously acknowledged , his right to rule Damietta ( in Egypt ) was confirmed shortly after the town fell to the crusaders in 1219 . He claimed the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia on behalf of his second wife , Stephanie of Armenia , in 1220 . After Stephanie and their infant son died that year , John returned to Egypt . The Fifth Crusade ended in failure ( including the recovery of Damietta by the Egyptians ) in 1221 . 
