Richard of Cornwall’s Treaty with Egypt, 1241

The treaty concluded in 1241 by Richard, earl of Cornwall, with the ruler of Egypt, al-Malik al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub, represented the high-water mark of Frankish territorial gains made in Syria and Palestine following Saladin’s conquests after the battle of Hattin in July 1187, when virtually all the former kingdom of Jerusalem had been lost. The main expansion of the area under Frankish control took place in 1229, following the arrival of the emperor Frederick II in the Holy Land. Continuing rivalry between the different Ayyubid rulers led al-Malik al-Kamil to seek Frederick’s help in return for the cession of a large part of the former kingdom of Jerusalem. The great rivalries that had afflicted the descendants of Saladin became particularly acute in the late 1230s and early 1240s and led the different Ayyubid factions to negotiate separate military alliances with the Franks in return for territorial concessions.