Sixth Crusade
Frederick's Journey to Palestine
The Emperor's first stop was Cyprus. He was technically the overlord of the kingdom, since it was his father, Henry VI, who had created the first King of Cyprus. The king at the time was a child, Henry I, and the regency was in the hands of his mother, Alice of Jerusalem. Frederick engaged in some complex negotiations that came within a hair of outright violence. In the end, he was able to exert his influence, though the barons were successful in keeping him from making himself regent.
Cyprus occupied the summer. He went on to Acre in September where the news of his second excommunication arrived about the same time. Many more of his followers found excuses to slip away, while the Templars and Hospitallers flatly refused to have anything to do with him. With the local barons fearful and recalcitrant, the Military Orders (except for the Teutonic Knights) openly uncooperative, and his own followers reluctant, Frederick found that he had arrived in the Holy Land without the power to accomplish much. There would be no grand battles, no epic struggle, no fight to the death with the infidel.