Muslim Dynastic War of 1196-1200

The late Saladin, although having provided for the division of his Muslim empire among his male Ayyubid relatives, had failed before his death to designate a successor to the sultanate of Cairo.

A dynastic war begins in 1196 between his sons, one the ruler of Egypt, the other of Syria.

The Kingdom of Jerusalem is now relatively secure, with its new capital at Acre, from which a narrow strip along the Mediterranean coast is ruled.

When the Muslims recaptured Jerusalem in 1187, the Hospitallers had removed their headquarters first to Margat and in 1197 to Acre.

Members continue to nurse the sick, guard the roads, and fight the Muslims.

On the accidental death of Henry of Champagne in 1197 (due to a fall from a first-floor window of his palace), Amalric succeeds to the throne of Jerusalem-Acre, accepting investiture as King Amalric II of Jerusalem from the chancellor of the Hohenstaufen emperor Henry VI.

A widower, Amalric is induced to marry Henry's widow, the thrice married, thrice widowed Queen Isabella I, because the emperor's German advisers are hoping to get the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem as a fief like Cyprus.

Amalric has chosen to govern his two domains separately and to regard himself as merely Jerusalem's regent, and in Acre, he proves to be an excellent administrator.

As titular king of Jerusalem, Amalric is able to make peace with his Muslim neighbors, thanks to the struggle that had taken place among them after Saladin's death in 1193.

He also deals wisely with Saladin's brother, al-'Adil of Egypt.

The death of Emperor Henry VI from malaria on September 28, 1197, has caused an important change: a number of German crusaders who had arrived in Palestine decide to return home.

In order to fill the gap, the German princes and bishops, together with those of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, militarize the House of the Hospitallers of Saint Mary of the Teutons in Jerusalem in 1198, making it a religious order of knights.

The new order is put under a monastic and military rule like that of the Templars and Hospitallers.

It receives privileges from Popes Celestine III and Innocent III and extensive grants of land, not only in the kingdom of Jerusalem but also in Germany and elsewhere.

The members, who are nobles, take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and come to be called the Teutonic Knights.

Al-Adil, achieving military supremacy in 1200, assumes complete control as sultan, reuniting Egypt and Syria under his leadership and replacing his late brother Saladin's activist policy with one of détente with the Crusaders; this allows, particularly, for increased trade with Europe.