The Crusades/VI

1228–1229 · 4 event records

Sixth Crusade

The excommunicated Emperor Frederick II won by diplomacy rather than war; his treaty with al-Kamil returned Jerusalem to the Franks without bloodshed.

Sixth Crusade — Visual summary
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Sixth Crusade

01

Overview

The Sixth Crusade was the outcome of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II's long-delayed crusading vow. In 1225 Frederick married Isabella (Yolande), heiress of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, gaining a claim to the kingdom. When he set out in 1227 and turned back because of illness, Pope Gregory IX excommunicated him.

The excommunicated emperor reached the East in 1228 and chose negotiation with Sultan al-Kamil over war. Under the Treaty of Jaffa in February 1229, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth were ceded to the Franks under a ten-year truce, while the Haram al-Sharif remained under Muslim control. Jerusalem was regained without bloodshed, but conflict between the emperor and local nobles turned into the War of the Lombards.

02

Main route

Brindisi · Cyprus · Acre · Jaffa · Jerusalem

03

Outcome

Jerusalem was regained under a ten-year truce, but conflict between the emperor and local nobles split the kingdom.

CONTEXTUAL READING

Event records for this crusade

March 1223 · Ferentino

Meeting of Ferentino and the plan for the Sixth Crusade

In March 1223 Pope Honorius III, Emperor Frederick II, King John of Brienne of Jerusalem and the Teutonic master Hermann von Salza met at Ferentino. It was agreed that Frederick would marry Isabella, heiress to the throne of Jerusalem, and the emperor's crusade was postponed to 1225.

Open record →29 September 1227 · Italy

Excommunication of Frederick II

Frederick II set out from Brindisi for the East in September 1227 but soon fell ill and turned back. Pope Gregory IX regarded this as another breach of the crusade vow the emperor had postponed for years, and excommunicated him on 29 September 1227.

Open record →1228–1229 · Cyprus, Acre and Jerusalem

Sixth Crusade

The excommunicated emperor Frederick II reached Acre via Cyprus in 1228. Without fighting a major battle, his negotiations with al-Malik al-Kamil led to the Treaty of Jaffa in February 1229, which handed Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth to the Latins for ten years.

Open record →18 February 1229 · Jaffa – Jerusalem

Treaty of Jaffa

The Treaty of Jaffa, signed on 18 February 1229 between Frederick II and the Ayyubid sultan al-Malik al-Kamil, handed Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth to the Franks for ten years, together with a corridor to the coast. The Haram al-Sharif remained under Muslim administration.

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