THE KHORASMIANS 155
Crusade! Frederick, however, could not be stopped, and he
set out from Brindisi for Palestine in August, though with a
force of no more than six hundred knights. At Acre, which
was reached on September yth, he found only part of the army
which he had despatched in the previous year, for a number
of his soldiers had gone back to Europe on learning that
their Emperor had deserted. His arrival was the signal for
great rejoicing and he was soon in command of an army of
fifty thousand men. The acclamation did not last long.
Gregory had sent his emissaries to the Holy Land, com-
manding that no assistance whatsoever should be given to the
impious Emperor, and Gerold, Patriarch of Jerusalem, laid
under interdict every town which Frederick entered. The
Temple and the Hospital were specially enjoined not to lend
their aid to Frederick, and they informed the Emperor that
they could take no part in the Crusade. He was left with
his own army and the Teutonic Knights, and his force shrank
to less than thirty thousand men.
Although faced with such opposition, Frederick refused
to abandon the Crusade. He marched to Jaffa, and the
Temple and the Hospital hastily consulted on the attitude
to adopt. They could not ignore the command of the
Church to which they were under vows, but on the other
hand they dared not allow Frederick to fight alone. It was
their duty to face the Moslems. Apart from that considera-
tion, they feared that Frederick might gain the Holy City,
and they would not risk the disgrace which would fall upon
them if the Crusade took Jerusalem in their absence. A
compromise was reached. The Templars and Hospitallers
would fight the infidel, but not under Frederick's banner.
When therefore the Emperor left Acre, the Templars and
Hospitallers marched along the same route but under their
own leaders. They claimed that they were not disobeying
the Pope, but were a separate army which had no connection
with Frederick.