To the Holy Land as an excommunicate: the strange case of Frederick II (IMC Leeds, 02-07-2024 Session 824) (original) (raw)

The Crusade of Frederick II in the Holy Land during the years 1228 and 1229 - usually known as "the Sixth Crusade" - represents a turning point of great relevance for the history of the crusading movement and its crises. The short circuit determined by the excommunicated status in which the Swabian Emperor was when he set out for the Latin East and then entered into the Holy City deserves to be reinterpret in the light of its consequences that have also led to a heated historiographical debate (just to mention a few: Kantorowicz, Elze, Abulafia, Musca, Hiestand, Stürner, Houben, F. Delle Donne). Thanks to the numerous sources at our disposal for "the Sixth Crusade" (both Christian and Muslim), it is possible to assess the significance of the Papacy in the crusading movement but also the difference in the evaluation given by the eyewitnesses to the events. Last but not least, the purpose of our paper is to evaluate the crisis triggered by the conflict between the Papacy and the Germanic Empire in the XIII century and its repercussions in the Holy Land after the wedding between Frederick II and Isabelle of Brienne (1225).