The Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II
As I watched the progress of Pope Francis in Iraq last month and his wonderful rapport with the Muslim leaders of that country, I could not but help see a parallel between his peace-making efforts and the peace brokered between the crusader Emperor Frederick II and the sultan of Egypt, Al Kamil, recounted in Ernst Kantorovicz’s recently republished biography of Frederick Hohenstaufen.
It’s ironic that Frederick can now be seen in parallel with a modern pope. At the time, even though he had won back Jerusalem for Christians for a ten-year period – and was duly crowned its king – he had been excommunicated by the reigning Pope.