Most of Palestine had again become Muslim following the capture of Jerusalem in 1187 by the Kurdish general Saladin, who had gained control of Egypt in 1169 and founded the Ayyubid dynasty.

The Ayyubids, zealous Sunnite Muslims seeking to convert Muslim Shi'ites and Christians, have introduced into Egypt and Jerusalem the madrasah, an academy of religious sciences.

Further attempts by the crusaders to regain control of Palestine have proven ineffective, primarily because of incessant quarrels among the crusaders themselves.

The Christians have regained Jerusalem, but still have only toeholds in Asia, surrounded as they are by the Ayyubids and, to the north, the latest incarnation of the amorphous Christian Kingdom of Armenia.

The ten-year treaty secured from Sultan al-Kamil of Egypt by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the diplomatic effort known as the Sixth Crusade has precipitated much disorder in the Holy Land, resulting in the renewal in 1239 of Muslim-Christian hostilities and in a small, poorly organized crusade led initially by Theobald I of Navarre, then by Richard of Cornwall, the wealthy second son of King John of England.

As-Salih Ayyub, son of Al-Kamil, the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt, had in 1221 become a hostage at the end of the Fifth Crusade, while John of Brienne became a hostage of as-Salih's father, until Damietta was reconstructed and restored to Egypt.

He had in 1232 been given Hisn Khayfa in the Jazirah (now part of Turkey), which his father had captured from the Artuqids.

His father in 1234 had sent him to rule Damascus, removing him from the succession in Egypt after suspecting him of conspiring against him with the Mamluks.

His uncle as-Salih Ismail had soon expelled him from Damascus, and he fled to the Jazirah, where he had allied with the Khwarezmians.

Though the Mongols in 1220 had destroyed the Khwarezmian Empire, many Khwarezmians have survived by working in northern Iraq as mercenaries.

As their wages are particularly low, they have attempted to create work unions; historians disagree on whether the work unions were successful.

Khwarezmian Sultan Jalal ad-Din's followers, remaining loyal to him even after his death in 1231, had raided the Seljuq lands of Jazira and Syria for the next several years, calling themselves the Khwarezmiyya.

Ayyubid sultan al-Kamil had died in 1238 and had been succeeded by his son Al-Adil II, as-Saleh Ayyub’s brother; Ismael with the support of the Ayyubids of Kerak, Hama and Homs, had in September 1239 captured Damascus from Ayyub.

Ayyub, abandoned by his troops, had been taken captive by local Bedouin who transferred him to the control of an-Nasir Dawud, Emir of Kerak, ushering in an era of future rivalry between Ismail and Ayyub.

An-Nasir held him prisoner, refusing to give him up to Al-Adil II, Ayyub's brother and the ruler of Egypt.

An-Nasir, quarreling with Al-Adil II, releases Ayyub in April 1240 and allies with him against the Egyptians, in return for a promise that Ayyub will reinstall him in Damascus.

Al-Adil is assassinated by his own troops, and Ayyub and An-Nasir enter Cairo in triumph in June.

An agreement is brokered in July 1240 via Theobald I of Navarre, with the Crusaders allying with Damascus against Egypt.

The Crusaders will secure the southern border of Palestine from Ayyub, while Ismail is forced to effectively cede all of the land west of the Jordan River that Saladin had gained for the Ayyubids in 1187, including Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Gaza, and Nablus.

Ismail also gave up his own fortresses in Hunin, Tiberias, Beaufort, and Safad.

The terms of the treaty provoke outcries and consternation throughout the Arab world, and Muslim imams denounce Ismail because of the loss of Jerusalem.

 An-Nasir, on his return to Kerak the next month, finds himself under attack from the crusaders, who had entered into alliance with his enemy, As-Salih Ismail of Damascus.

Meanwhile, Ayyub renounces his promises to restore An-Nasir in Damascus, leaving An-Nasir diplomatically isolated.

An-Nasir in order to hold onto his lands is forced to come to an agreement with Ismail, then with the crusaders.

How much of the ultimate success of the Crusade of 1239 (the most successful since the First in territorial terms) is attributable to Theobald's intentions and how much was just fortuitous is debatable.

Theobald returns from Palestine late in 1240, before Richard of Cornwall arrives, because he had not wished to be present during any more debating over the leadership and direction of the enterprise.

Souvenirs that he brings back to Europe include the rose called "Provins" (Latin name rosa gallica 'officinalis', the Apothecary's Rose) from Damascus, transporting it "in his helmet"; a piece of the true cross; and perhaps the Chardonnay grape, which in modern times is an important component of champagne and many still white wines.

Richard fights no battles but manages to negotiate for the release of prisoners and the burials of Crusaders killed at a battle in Gaza in 1239.

He also refortifies Ascalon, which had been demolished by Saladin.

Ayyub, having in the spring of 1241 signed a truce with the crusaders, launches a campaign to reconquer Syria.

His army meets the troops of An-Nasir in battle west of Jerusalem, and are defeated.

An-Nasir now changes sides again, submitting to Ayyub.

A parliament at Acre in 1243 refuses homage to Frederick's son Conrad, German king from 1237, unless he appears in person, and names Alice, queen dowager of Cyprus, as regent.

Thus it is that baronial rule triumphs over imperial administration in the Levant.

Nevertheless, the victory of the barons brings to the kingdom not strength but continued division, the more serious as new forces appear in the Muslim world.

An-Nasir has been faced with constant fighting against the Franks for the past two years, and occasionally with Ismail as well, and has received little in the way of concrete aid from Ayyub, so he changes sides once again in 1243, going over to his uncle Ismail's side.

The arrival of a force of Khwarezmian freebooters from the north leads to the abandonment of an attempted joint Crusader-Damascene invasion of Egypt, and An-Nasir again withdraws to Kerak.

The displaced Khwarezmians, heading south from Iraq towards Egypt, invade Crusader Christian-held Jerusalem on July 11, 1244,