| Abstract: | In 1213, Pope Innocent III issued his letter Quia maior asking Christendom to rescue the Holy Land. He also appeared to suspend the indulgences offered for fighting in Iberia so that the crusading forces could concentrate their efforts on the venture to Egypt. Despite this, Innocent was unprepared to totally disqualify the Iberian Christian efforts against al-Andalus – a situation that created an artificial separation between Iberian Christians and the rest of Christendom. Notwithstanding, in 1217 when a fleet of northern crusaders arrived in Lisbon, they were invited by its bishop to join an expedition to conquer the Muslim-controlled city of Alcácer do Sal. This article discusses the evidence available to explain what the real status of this campaign was in the eyes of the papacy and the participants themselves within the evolving concept of “Crusade”. |
