Outremer
Loss of Jerusalem
On 5 April 1243, Conrad of Hohenstaufen turned fifteen and came of age. This made him King of Jerusalem and Frederick no longer had a legal position there. But by custom a new king had to appear in person to be confirmed by the barons, and this he did not do. This left the barons free to nominate a regent, and they chose Alice of Cyprus.
With a legally-chosen regent in place, Filangieri no longer had any legal status, either. The barons moved against him at once. The city quickly fell and Filangieri was captured. He was later released to return to Italy, where Frederick threw him into an Imperial jail. The Emperor did not tolerate failures in others.
In 1244 war broke out between Cairo and Damascus. The barons sided with Damascus, but Cairo allied with the Khwarismian Turks, who'd been knocking about Syria for a few years after the death of their king. They were fierce fighters and had once held a great kingdom between the Caspian and the Aral Sea, before the Mongols had driven them out. Since then, they were more like marauding nomads.
They'd been up around Edessa when receiving the Sultan's invitation to alliance. They started moving south. By the time anyone realized the danger they represented, it was much too late. The Khwarismians entered Jerusalem on 11 July 1244. They killed some of the inhabitants, but the Sultan negotiated on their behalf. On 23 August, six thousand Christians were allowed to leave the city. As they marched away, they saw Frankish flags hoisted on the ramparts. Some argued to keep going, but two thousand or so turned back. They were all killed beneath the walls. The other four thousand were attacked repeatedly by raiders. Only three hundred reached Jaffa.
The Khwarismians, meanwhile, had sacked the city. They killed everyone in an Armenian convent. They broke into the Holy Sepulchre and killed the few priests who'd refused to leave. They dug up the bones of the Kings of Jerusalem and set fire to the church itself. After pillaging the city of everything of value, they left. Jerusalem was nearly empty.
La Forbie
The Kingdom rallied at once. The barons mobilized every man they could and put six hundred knights into the field. In addition, the Templars and the Hospitallers each mustered three hundred. These joined the armies from Homs and Damascus. On the other side, the Egyptians, were joined by the Khwarismians.
They met at La Forbie, near Gaza, on 17 October 1244. Al-Mansur Ibrahim, of Damascus, counselled patience. Do not fight, he said, for the Khwarismians could not bear idleness and could not carry a fortified position. They would leave, and the Egyptians would never dare to fight alone.
Walter of Jaffa, however, scorned such caution. He wanted to attack at once. The barons supported him, of course. The Damascene-Latin army was larger, a rare event, and the opportunity to destroy the enemy should not be wasted. The decision was made to attack.
The Franks advanced on the right, facing the Egyptians, who did not break. The Khwarismians, more numerous than the Egyptians, attacked in the center and on the left. The men of Homs and Kerak held the left, but the Damascenes broke in the center. The Muslim forces on the left fought their way out, but the Turks flanked the Christians and destroyed them.
The dead included the Grand Master and the Marshal of the Temple, the Archbishop of Tyre, and the Bishop of Ramleh. Taken prisoner were the Grand Master of the Hospital, the Constable of Tripoli, and the Count of Jaffa (the one who'd argued for an attack). At least five thousand were dead on the battlefield. Eight hundred were taken prisoner to Egypt. Of the Orders, three Teutonic Knights survived, twenty-six Hospitallers, and thirty-three Templars. It was the worst loss since Hattin, but the results were all the more profound because by this time the Orders were the principal line of defense, and they'd been almost completely destroyed.
The Khwarismians continued to be a disruption in Syria for another eighteen months, but they were annihilated by the Egyptians near Homs in 1246.
The Egyptians tried to recover Ascalon and Jaffa, but the recent fortifications there withstood the attacks. The Egyptians could not press too hard for fear of Damascus, so they had to be patient. They captured Tiberias on 17 June 1247 and Belvoir a few weeks later. Ascalon fell 15 October.
There followed a few years of peace between Cairo and the Latins. Everyone knew that the King of France was mounting a major crusade.