ABSTRACT
In 1250, with Louis IX still residing in Acre after the disastrous end of his expedition in Egypt, Pope Innocent IV sent a special message to the Frisians. He asked them to come as quickly as possible to the Holy Land to help the French monarch defending the Latin Kingdom. He reinforced his appeal with the remark that Frisians were known to be successful in the lands overseas. 1 This was not an isolated compliment. Long before and after 1250 the Frisians were much sought after as crusaders of great value. 2 Now, the saying is that nothing breeds success like success. The Frisians must have owed their reputation by then at least in part to their nautical and military contribution to the Damietta expedition in 1218–19. That their achievements in the Nile Delta became more generally known is of course due to the report of their preacher, Master Oliver of Cologne, in his Historia Damiatina. 3 Yet, the Frisians participated in earlier crusades. 4 Had they not already acquired some fame in assisting the Portuguese at the conquest of Alvors in 1189, for example, Master Oliver would not have come directly to Frisia to preach the Cross to them.
