DE RECUPERATIONE TERRAE SANCTAE

Clement V was elected to the papacy fourteen years after the fall of Crusader Acre (18 May 1291), a traumatic event that was still felt in Christendom. Sylvia Schein argues that his pontificate marked the beginning of serious and intensive efforts to launch a crusade. There is no doubt, indeed, about Clement's devotion to the recovery of the Holy Land, which was clearly reflected in the papal encyclical to the faithful only two days after his coronation. This was not just a rhetorical proclamation. Throughout his entire pontificate, Clement devoted himself and curial resources to the implementation of the crusade. The political circumstances in the west seemed to be most propitious for the success of the Christian enterprise Outremer. The peace process between England and France, which was strengthened in 1308 by the marriage of Edward II and Isabella, the daughter of Philip the Fair, and the close alliance between Clement V and the kings of England and France created the illusion of a united Christendom, ready to renew the ‘Just War’ against the ‘Infidel’. On the other hand, the long and (one may say) also scandalous trial of the Templars (1307–12) required much papal energy and cast a heavy shadow over the negotiations between the curia and the different rulers of Christendom.

The political and security circumstances of the kingdoms of Armenia and Cyprus were no less problematic. The two kingdoms originated as by-products of the crusade, and their defence by western Catholics was an important goal of papal crusading policy in the fourteenth century.