Best Crusades POD

What's the best one for Crusade success? It's no secret that outside the First and parts of the Third, little went right for the Crusaders despite being nearly unbeatable in the field. Whether it's the debacle of the Fourth Crusade, Barbarossa drowning in the third, the failure to capitalize on success and appointment of Pelagius during the fifth Crusade, surrounding incidents essentially wasted the power of the Crusading armies in what resulted in about two hundred years of wasted time on the part of Europe.

So what's the best POD (of any Crusade) to secure the lasting security of the Crusader states as well as the maximum extent of Crusader territory? The little regarded fifth Crusade seems to have had the best chance, if the King of Hungary doesn't quit. What is y'all's take?
 
A good way for a Christian victory in the 3rd Crusade would be either Barbarossa surviving or his army remaining intact after he died. If Richard the Lionheart had enough men, he could have taken Jerusalem
 
There's so many. If you have a lot of time on your hands, might I suggest The History of the Crusades podcast? Sharyn goes over the crusades in pretty good detail and in entertaining fashion. Suffice to say, there's probably too many to count.

The second crusade could have done plenty but didnt (maybe if eleanor stayed home?), it just kinda toured around. The fifth could have done much better in Egypt, Pelagius seemed woefully unqualified as a military leader.
 
The Crusaders have a chance provided their Muslim enemies don't unite like they did under Saladin.

I think a more successful Second Crusade is essential. If the Crusaders concentrated on capturing Aleppo and then Edessa, it would strengthen the Outremer and deal a defeat to the Zengids who were the prime enemy. They certainly should not have attacked Damascus who was Jerusalem's ally. That would keep the three major areas of Islam politically separated - Syria, Egypt, and Mesopotamia.
 
There's so many. If you have a lot of time on your hands, might I suggest The History of the Crusades podcast? Sharyn goes over the crusades in pretty good detail and in entertaining fashion. Suffice to say, there's probably too many to count.

The second crusade could have done plenty but didnt (maybe if eleanor stayed home?), it just kinda toured around. The fifth could have done much better in Egypt, Pelagius seemed woefully unqualified as a military leader.

I've been reading God's Battalion's. From the way it read, it seems that a successful Fifth Crusade (which seems very plausible given a few slight changes, including Pelagius not being sent) could have brought the whole roof of the Muslim world crashing down in, changing history completely.
 
A successful crusade of 1101 could hurt the Anatolian Seljuks badly while they were still reeling, and open up the coast road so that a continuous flow of reinforcements could keep coming.

For a successful Second, the Germans need to make it through Anatolia with most of their army intact. Then the crusaders need to do something more sensible than OTL when they arrive.
 
What about if the assassins had successful killed Saladin? That alone does so much. It keeps the major states divided and gives the crusaders just more time to consolidate themselves.
 
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