Outremer
Death of King Henry I
Back in Europe, a new crusade was forming, brewed up by the son of Frederick Barbarossa, Henry VI. The young emperor was determined to lead a large army eastward, to finish what his father had begun. There are some indications that he even contemplated an attack on Byzantium. But we'll never know, for he died just as the armies were forming in Italy.
Lead contingents of this abortive crusade arrived in Acre in the summer of 1197. Conditions in Outremer were fairly stable, and King Henry was not pleased to receive these Westerners. Worse, the Germans would not follow the advice of the locals and quietly await developments. No, they had come to kill Saracens and that's what they were going to do. The marched to to attack the nearest Muslims they could find.
Al-Adil summoned help from his brothers and sent a force against the Germans. Rumor made the Muslim far larger that it was in fact, and the Germans fled without ever seeing it, scurrying back toward Acre. As usual, the knights out-distanced the infantry.
Meanwhile, King Henry had sent reinforcements. As these arrived, the German infantry decided to stand and fight after all. Al-Adil was not prepared to undertake a pitched battle, so he suddenly marched on Jaffa instead, which was only lightly defended. The city fell immediately, but the citadel held out.
Jaffa was too important to give up without a fight, so Henry summoned his vassals and organized a relieving force. On 10 September 1197, he was in Acre, reviewing the troops from a balcony window, eagerly awaiting word from the Pisans that their ships and soldiers were likewise ready.
The Pisan delegation arrived in the room and Henry turned to greet them. As he did so, he took a step backward and lost his balance. As he pitched over, his little dwarf, Scarlet, grabbed at his robes. But instead of saving his master, the dwarf fell, too. Both men crashed to the ground below and died instantly.
Once again a city was threatened and a Muslim army was in the field and Outremer was all alone. And, once again, Queen Isabella was a widow.