Sicily and the Mediterranean in the Middle Ages by Hiroshi Takayama

Author:Hiroshi Takayama [Takayama, Hiroshi]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: History, General
ISBN: 9781351022286
Google: jy6ODwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2019-03-22T03:40:44+00:00

11

Frederick II’s Crusade

An example of Christian-Muslim diplomacy

Frederick II’s crusade is unique in the bloody history of the crusades for its success in recapturing Jerusalem simply through negotiations with a sultan of Egypt, without any battles. When Frederick II landed at Acre in Syria on 7 September 1228, he was greeted with cheers by the crusaders. Contrary to their expectations, however, he did not take arms against the Muslims, and instead conducted negotiations with al-Kāmil, sultan of Egypt, to take back Jerusalem. Five months later, on 11 February 1229, he concluded a treaty with the sultan to receive Jerusalem. Thus Jerusalem was transferred into the hands of the Christians from the Muslims without any bloodshed.

At a time when many people in Europe – men and women, young and old – were eager to be martyred in the Holy Land due to their strong religious passion, and when many lords and knights tried to distinguish themselves in wars against Muslims, why did Frederick II choose to negotiate? Why was he able to do so with the sultan, who had such a different cultural background from Christians in Europe?

In this article I will focus on Frederick II’s diplomatic relations with al-Kāmil and examine the envoys (or messengers) between them in detail. Since previous studies have highlighted changes in Frederick II’s situation, especially regarding his relations with the pope, the barons in Germany and southern Italy, and the crusaders and prelates in the Levant, I hope to shed new light on another aspect of this crusade.

I believe Frederick II’s crusade cannot be fully understood without knowledge of his long-term relationship with Muslim rulers, although the political circumstances in the Christian world, strongly influenced by the religious passion of the people and by papal ideology, should not be dismissed. Regardless of being marked by quite intense negotiations, his crusade is another example of his long-term diplomatic relations with the sultan rather than just an anecdote of the history of the crusades.

Some of the studies on Frederick II and crusades mention envoys and his diplomatic relationships as one of the important factors of his crusade, but there have been very few studies on the long-standing diplomatic relationships between Frederick II and Muslim rulers. Some exceptions include a partial description by Michele Amari in his excellent work on the Muslims of Sicily, published in 1854–18721 and an article published by Edgar Blochet in 1902, which contains a rough sketch of the diplomatic relations between Frederick II and the Muslim rulers, with references to only a few Arabic sources, mainly Maqrīzī (†1442).2 Previous studies have confused the chronology of envoys and have scant precise information on source materials. It is the purpose of this article, therefore, to reconstruct Frederick II’s diplomatic relationships with Muslim rulers, particularly al-Kāmil, sultan of Egypt, as precisely as possible by examining the available sources.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.