Death of al-Kamil; Ayyubid empire split between his sons.

1239

1 September

Arrival of king of Navarra with 1,500 knights; start of the ‘Barons’ Crusade’.

13 November

A portion of this army badly defeated at Gaza, with many important lords taken captive;

7 December

Frederick II’s truce expires; Jerusalem, being defenceless, surrenders to Muslim forces from Kerak und al-Nasr.

1240

Spring

Taking advantage of infighting between the Ayyubids, Navarra negotiates a treaty that restores Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Galilee and key castles;

September

Navarre departs from Acre; Simon de Montfort arrives;

8 October

Richard, Earl of Cornwall and brother of Henry III, arrives in Acre; completes negotiations with Ayyubids;

6 December

Kiev falls to the Mongols.

1241

8 February

Cornwall signs truce with the sultan of Egypt;

9 April

Mongols obliterate a German army at Leignitz;

23 April

Cornwall obtains release of key prisoners;

3 May

English crusaders under Cornwall depart the Holy Land;

June

Ibelin faction propose Simon de Montfort as a compromise candidate to Filangieri as baillie of Jerusalem; Frederick II rejects the proposal.

1243

26 June

Mongols crush a Seljuk army at the Battle of Kosedag; establish control of Muslim Anatolia, Armenia and Georgia;

Summer

Ibelin faction capture the last imperial stronghold, Tyre, ending Hohenstaufen rule in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

1244

11 July

Khwarazmians seize Jerusalem, slaughtering tens of thousands and desecrating churches; Tower of David falls August 23;

17 October

Combined Christian/Syrian force crushed at the Battle of La Forbie with heavy losses by an Egyptian/Khwarazmian coalition;