This two-part film explores a little-known thirteenth-century peace initiative in the Middle East involving Francis of Assisi and Sultan Malek al-Kamil. In 1219, during the Fifth Crusade, Francis took it upon himself to cross battle lines and reach out to the enemy. These countercultural efforts of Francis, a simple friar, and Malek al-Kamil, the leader of the Muslim forces of the Levant, made these men most unusual in their time. This video examines their efforts on behalf of peace in order to help us, in our time, negotiate interfaith misunderstanding and hostility, and other difficult encounters between conflicting peoples.
