Treaty of Jaffa (1229)
The two sovereigns did not meet in person, but exchanged envoys in their respective camps, at first Acre for Frederick and Nablus for al-Kāmil, later Jaffa and Tall al-ʿAjūl.
The sultan ceded the castle of Toron and the city of Jerusalem, with Bethlehem and a corridor of territory connecting it to the rest of the kingdom.
[1] As early as 1213 (or possibly 1217), Frederick sent a diplomatic envoy, John of Cicala, to the Ayyubid courts in Cairo and Damascus.
[3] The Arabic chronicles generally agree that al-Kāmil sought Frederick's military aid against the alliance of al-Muʿaẓẓam with the Khwarazmians.
[3] Shortly after the imperial embassy left Damascus, al-Muʿaẓẓam died, leaving a twelve-year-old heir, al-Nāṣir Dāʾūd, who appealed to another uncle, al-Ashraf, for assistance against al-Kāmil, who had marched north to Nablus intending to take control of his late brother's lands.
[5] Frederick II departed on crusade on 28 June 1228 and arrived in Acre, the capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, on 7 September.
[7] Frederick's initial demand of al-Kāmil was the fulfillment of the promise made the previous year to hand over Jerusalem.
According to Roger of Wendover, he procured "Christian dancing women" for the Muslims envoys entertainment and cohabitation.
The Patriarch Gerold of Jerusalem wrote that the sultan sent Frederick "dancing girls and jugglers ... of ill repute.
"[11] As negotiations were ongoing, Frederick sent al-Kāmil questions on philosophy, geometry and mathematics to see if his scholars could provide answers.
According to Ibn Naẓīf, when Frederick requested a meeting with an esteemed astronomer, the sultan sent him ʿAlam al-Dīn.
On 10 November 1228, al-Ashraf arrived in the sultan's camp, ostensibly to prevent him from ceding territory to the crusaders but in reality to negotiate the future of Damascus and all Ayyubid lands in Asia.
[16] The main Christian sources are the letters of the Patriarch Gerold, the Teutonic master Hermann von Salza and the Emperor Frederick himself to his brother-in-law, King Henry III of England.
[14] According to the terms of the treaty, the city of Jerusalem was handed over to the emperor along with a corridor of territory, including the diocese of Lydda, connecting it to the kingdom's coastal possessions and Acre.
[20] The Christian sources record that Bethlehem and the land between it and Jerusalem were ceded to Frederick, although Muslims were to be allowed access to the town.
[16] They record that the villages in the vicinity of Jerusalem, including Hebron, were to remain under a Muslim governor (wālī), whose seat was in al-Bīra.
[18] The treaty stipulated a truce of ten years, five months and forty days from 24 February (28 Rabīʿ al-ʾAwwal).
[7] On 19 March, in accordance with the patriarch's instructions, the Archbishop Peter of Caesarea, placed Jerusalem under interdict and closed its shrines because the terms of the treaty had been negotiated by an excommunicate.
[22] The sultan waited in Tall al-ʿAjūl until late April, both to be nearby during the handover of the city and to put pressure on al-Ashraf, who needed his assistance to take Damascus, into renegotiating their deal.
In the end, al-Ashraf agreed to give Diyār Muḍar to al-Kāmil with al-Nāṣir to be compensated in Palestine and Transjordan.
Although Sibṭ ibn al-Jawzī implies that al-Ashraf was disturbed by the cession of Jerusalem, he was appeased by the acquisition of Damascus.
[25] Ibn al-Athīr and Badr al-Dīn al-ʿAynī record the strong negative reaction that the treaty of Jaffa produced in the Muslim world.
[22] To buttress his position in besieged Damascus, al-Nāṣir Dāʾūd had Sibṭ ibn al-Jawzī preach a sermon in the Umayyad Mosque denouncing the treaty and extolling the sanctity of Jerusalem.
Public opinion in the Muslim world had not been prepared for the loss of Jerusalem, the conquest of which by Saladin in 1187 was the glory of the Ayyubid dynasty.
The German poet Freidank, writing of the recovery of Jerusalem, asked, "What more can sinners desire / Than the sepulchre and the glorious cross?
"[19] Another poet in Frederick's service, the troubadour Guillem Figueira, praised the treaty of Jaffa, singing that Frederick "brought about an honourable, clean achievement in the Holy Land when he conquered Jerusalem and Ascalon, for before a bolt or arrow had been fired at him the sultan made him a good and honourable peace".
