Editing Sixth Crusade (section)

===In the Kingdom of Jerusalem===
Frederick II arrived in Acre on 7 September 1228 and was received warmly by the Templars, Hospitallers and clergy, but denied the [[kiss of peace]] due to his excommunication. He yielded to pressure and made overtures to the pope, sending [[Henry, Count of Malta|Henry of Malta]] and archbishop Marino Filangieri to announce his arrival in Syria and to request absolution. [[Rainald of Urslingen|Rainald of Spoleto]] was named Frederick's regent in Sicily authorized to negotiate with Rome. But Gregory IX had already made up his mind, sending word to the Latin patriarch and masters of the military orders that the emperor's ban still held, despite his arrival.{{sfn|Van Cleve|1969|pp=451–452|loc=Frederick arrives in Syria}}

When Frederick and his companions arrived at Acre, John of Ibelin went immediately to Beirut to ensure that the city could withstand an imperial attack, returning to face the ''[[High Court of Jerusalem|Haute Cour]].'' Frederick did not immediately take action as Acre was split in its support for Frederick. Frederick's own army and the Teutonic Knights supported him, but the Templars, the patriarch and the Syrian clergy followed the hostile papal line. The Pisans and Genoese supported the emperor and the English vacillated, first for Frederick, shifting to the pope, then back. He gave nominal commands to faithful adherents—[[Hermann von Salza|Hermann of Salza]], [[Odo of Montbéliard]], [[Richard Filangieri]]—in order for Crusaders to avoid jeopardizing their positions in the eyes of the curia. Once news of Frederick's excommunication had spread, public support for him waned considerably. The position of the Hospitallers and Templars was more complicated. They refused to join the emperor's army directly, but they supported the Crusade once Frederick agreed to have his name removed from official orders. The Outremer barons greeted Frederick enthusiastically at first, but were wary of the emperor's history of centralization and his desire to impose imperial authority. This was largely due to Frederick's treatment of [[John of Ibelin, the Old Lord of Beirut|John of Ibelin]] in Cyprus, and his apparent disdain for their constitutional concerns.{{sfn|Van Cleve|1969|pp=452–453|loc=The Crusader Army}}

Frederick's army was not large. Of the troops he had sent under duke [[Henry IV, Duke of Limburg|Henry of Limburg]] in 1227 had mostly returned home out of impatience or of fear of offending the Church. The few who had sailed East under the patriarch [[Gerold of Lausanne|Gérold of Lausanne]] remained as did the knights under [[Richard Filangieri]]. Even augmented with the forces available in Outremer, he could not muster an effective army capable of striking a decisive blow on the Muslims. Further, he got word that his regent [[Rainald of Urslingen|Rainald of Spoleto]] had failed in his attack on the [[March of Ancona]] and that Gregory IX was planning to [[War of the Keys|invade his own kingdom.]] He could neither afford nor mount a lengthening campaign in the Holy Land. The Sixth Crusade would be one of negotiation.{{sfn|Runciman|1954|pp=183–184|loc=Frederick at Acre (1228)}}