diff --git a/docs/NEWS b/docs/NEWS
index d34595b3..80a31274 100644
--- a/docs/NEWS
+++ b/docs/NEWS
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@ Version 2.1-beta1 (June 8th, 2016)
       disabled to prevent Server Side Request Forgery (SSRF).
       Thanks to Xu Yue for pointing this out!
 
+    * Added new API wrapper serendipity_request_url() to request URLs.
+      Currently uses HTTP_Request2, might change to curl or others in
+      the future, but irrelevant to plugins using this function.
+
     * Removed outdated themes blue, carl_contest, kubrick and wp. They
       live on Spartacus now.
 
diff --git a/include/functions.inc.php b/include/functions.inc.php
index 6619ac69..7b0d8ad7 100644
--- a/include/functions.inc.php
+++ b/include/functions.inc.php
@@ -1120,6 +1120,114 @@ function serendipity_request_end() {
     return true;
 }
 
+/* Request the contents of an URL, API wrapper
+ * @param $uri string               The URL to fetch
+ * @param $method string            HTTP method (GET/POST/PUT/OPTIONS...)
+ * @param $contenttype string       optional HTTP content type
+ * @param $contenttype mixed        optional extra data (i.e. POST body), can be an array
+ * @param $extra_options array      Extra options for HTTP_Request $options array (can override defaults)
+ * @param $addData string           possible extra event addData declaration for 'backend_http_request' hook
+ * @param $auth array               Array with 'user' and 'pass' for HTTP Auth
+ * @return $content string          The URL contents
+ */
+
+function serendipity_request_url($uri, $method = 'GET', $contenttype = null, $data = null, $extra_options = null, $addData = null, $auth = null) {
+    global $serendipity;
+
+    require_once S9Y_PEAR_PATH . 'HTTP/Request2.php';
+    $options = array('follow_redirects' => true, 'max_redirects' => 5);
+    
+    if (is_array($extra_options)) {
+        foreach($extra_options AS $okey => $oval) {
+            $options[$okey] = $oval;
+        }
+    }
+    serendipity_plugin_api::hook_event('backend_http_request', $options, $addData);
+    serendipity_request_start();
+    if (version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '5.6.0', '<')) {
+        // On earlier PHP versions, the certificate validation fails. We deactivate it on them to restore the functionality we had with HTTP/Request1
+        $options['ssl_verify_peer'] = false;
+    }
+
+    switch(strtoupper($method)) {
+        case 'GET':
+            $http_method = HTTP_Request2::METHOD_GET;
+            break;
+
+        case 'PUT':
+            $http_method = HTTP_Request2::METHOD_PUT;
+            break;
+
+        case 'OPTIONS':
+            $http_method = HTTP_Request2::METHOD_OPTIONS;
+            break;
+
+        case 'HEAD':
+            $http_method = HTTP_Request2::METHOD_HEAD;
+            break;
+
+        case 'DELETE':
+            $http_method = HTTP_Request2::METHOD_DELETE;
+            break;
+
+        case 'TRACE':
+            $http_method = HTTP_Request2::METHOD_TRACE;
+            break;
+
+        case 'CONNECT':
+            $http_method = HTTP_Request2::METHOD_CONNECT;
+            break;
+
+        default:
+        case 'POST':
+            $http_method = HTTP_Request2::METHOD_POST;
+            break;
+
+    }
+
+    $req = new HTTP_Request2($uri, $http_method, $options);
+    if (isset($contenttype) && $contenttype !== null) {
+       $req->setHeader('Content-Type', $contenttype);
+    }
+    
+    if (is_array($auth)) {
+        $req->setAuth($auth['user'], $auth['pass']);
+    }
+
+    if ($data != null) {
+        if (is_array($data)) {
+            $req->addPostParameter($data);
+        } else {
+            $req->setBody($data);
+        }    
+    }
+
+    try {
+        $res = $req->send();
+    } catch (HTTP_Request2_Exception $e) {
+        serendipity_request_end();
+        return false;
+    }
+
+
+    $fContent = $res->getBody();
+    $serendipity['last_http_request'] = array(
+        'responseCode' => $res->getStatus(),
+        'effectiveUrl' => $res->getEffectiveUrl(),
+        'reasonPhrase' => $res->getReasonPhrase(),
+        'isRedirect'   => $res->isRedirect(),
+        'cookies'      => $res->getCookies(),
+        'version'      => $res->getVersion(),
+        'header'       => $res->getHeader(),
+
+        'object'       => $res // forward compatibility for possible other checks
+    );
+    
+    serendipity_request_end();
+    return $fContent;
+}
+
+
 if (!function_exists('microtime_float')) {
     /**
      * Get current timestamp as microseconds