New Saladins: Spiritual Crusading and the Typology of Crusading Enemies

Abstract

ABSTRACT Historians have long recognized that the papal condemnations of their imperial rivals intensified during the first half of the thirteenth century. This change has typically been attributed to the growth of the papacy’s political agenda. This article provides a more detailed examination of the language used by the popes and their supporters. The results of this study reveal that papal condemnations of the Hohenstaufen during this period were based on established descriptions of Islamic enemies of the crusades in the Levant, now applied to the papacy’s Christian enemies in Italy. More specifically, this language reflects the dissemination of a particular typology of crusading enemy contained in the intercessory crusading rituals promoted by the papacy during this period. The presence of this rhetoric reveals the important role these rituals played in establishing a devotional framework that supported the expansion of the crusading movement to new theatres and enemies.