Page View
Wolff, R. L.; Hazard, H. W. (ed.) / Volume II: The later Crusades, 1189-1311
(1969)
XII: The Crusade of Frederick II, pp. 429-462
PDF (20.5 MB)
Page 457
Ch. XII THE CRUSADE OF FREDERICK II 457 as, in many instances, it was unreasonable. Gerald's letter to the pope in particular reveals that he was opposed to the concluding of any sort of peace with the sultan. For him the paramount purpose of a crusade was to shed "infidel" blood, not to engage in concilia tory negotiations that recognized the rights of Moslems within the city sacred to the name of Christ. The Templars, not wholly for the same reasons, were in sympathy with Gerald's views. It was a tenet of their faith, the raison d'itre of their order, that they were to fight unremittingly against the "infidel". The acceptance of Frederick's terms would impose upon them peaceful relations with the Moslems for at least ten years. Already they had experienced hardships and suffered disease and privations in winning control of fortified places from which they could pursue the conquest. Now, at a single stroke, a Christian emperor, notoriously friendly with Moslems, had set their achieve ments at naught, ignored their rights, perhaps, indeed, pledged himself to prevent their further conquests. 103 It is impossible to avoid the conclusion that both the patriarch and the Templars felt keenly that the treaty had ignored their special interests. The pat riarch was not secured in his former possessions, and the Templars had profited, at most, to the extent of one or two insignificant villages. Moreover, Frederick had made concessions to the Saracens which, as the Templars believed, would make Christian occupation of the holy city difficult, and expose it to reconquest by the enemy. It was no difficult matter for the patriarch and his supporters to depict Frederick as a betrayer, an enemy of the church, and to treat his recovery of the Holy Land as an illusion. Even though Gerald may have recognized some positive gains for the emperor, he dis missed them as of no account to the church. When, therefore, Hermann of Salza approached him with a sincere proposal for a reconciliation, Gerald saw only trickery and deceit. From this point on he sought to destroy Frederick and all his works. His first effort was to prevent the emperor's triumphal entry into Jerusalem by forbidding the army, under the threat of excommunication, to follow, and by placing the city itself under interdict. It was with this object that he sent archbishop Peter of Caesarea post-haste to the crusading army. But Frederick had moved more swiftly than the patriarch had anticipated. When Hermann of Salza had failed to win Gerald over, Frederick set out immediately with the crusading army and a great body of 103 See Böhmer, Regesta imperil, V, part 3, introd., p. xxxvii.
Copyright 1969 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System. All rights reserved. Use of this material falling outside the purview of "fair use" requires the permission of the University of Wisconsin Press. To buy the paperback book, see: http://www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress/books/1733.htm