Gilbert van Punnen led his followers to war in duty to his liege Lord and the Church. They travelled far and fought hard.
During the Fifth Crusade the wars spread widely as alliances and strategies shifted, so that the main Christian forces landed in Egypt, as the Ayyubid Sultan relied on that rich country to supply his armies.
Their first objective was the city of Damietta, and here the Frisians and Dutch played a large part in the siege and battles. Some found adventure and rich loot, but many died of disease or wounds.
Danger did not stay across the sea in foreign lands, but was constant back home as well.