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duty to return the original and legitimate pre-eminence to the imperial power.
Moved by an almost mystical conception of a world entirely renovated and based
on the culture from classical times, it was proposed to "humanistic", not in the
sense intended by the Church, but in what would have been typical of Florence in
the fifteenth century, Frederick felt that only an empire of which Rome was the
center could reacquire a universal value thanks to the light radiated from the city of
the Caesars.
From the point of territorial view, the unit would have been reassembled with the
creation of an Italian State at the expense of the Papacy, which should limit them to
the spiritual sphere under the protection of Imperial Sword Emperor.
The Crusade of Frederick II, 1228-29
(See source below)
(Picture: Frederick II –left, meets al-Kamil -right). After the failure of
the Fifth crusade in 1221, hope for Christian success in the East
was centered upon Frederick II, the new Holy Roman Emperor.
This was ironic since Frederick was, in religious terms, closer to
his Muslim enemies than to orthodox Christianity. He was far
from pious and seemed to have an odd understanding of the
crusade. He had vowed to go Crusade as early as 1215, but the
Crusader's vow for him seems to have been principally a
method his precarious hold upon Germany and Sicily papal
protection which was extended to Crusaders.
Frederick's concern was primarily to consolidate his own
position as Emperor. To this end, he postponed the fulfillment
of his Crusading vow time and time again. When finally pressed
Pope Honorius III in 1225, Frederick solemnly promised to depart for the East
within two years. Meanwhile, he prepared to use his Crusade to extend his Empire
into the East. In 1225 he married Yolanda, the young heiress of the Latin Kingdom.
Shortly thereafter, Frederick claimed the title of the Latin King for himself. After
seducing one of Yolanda's cousins, Frederick banished his fourteen year old bride
to the harem which he kept at Palermo, where she bore the Emperor a son, Conrad,
in 1228. Yolanda died less than week later, but formally the title to the Latin
Kingdom had already passed to her infant son, and Frederick was forced to be
content with the position of regent for his son ­ if, according to the customs of the
Kingdom, the Latin barons could be persuaded to accept his regency.
A Crusading army, meanwhile, was raised and on September 8, 1227 the Emperor
and his army embarked for East, just before the expiration of the time limit set by
the Pope. Almost immediately after the fleet set sail, Frederick fell ill. His physician
advised him in strong terms that he must return to Sicily to recover before
attempting to make the arduous voyage to Palestine. Frederick forthwith landed to
recuperate.
The Hohenstaufen Dynasty - Page 47 of 200