An Alternate Fourth Crusade
1202
The Fourth Crusade arrives in Venice on its way to invade Egypt.
Not enough Crusaders turn up to pay the Venetians the full amount they agreed for transport to Egypt
1. The Venetians tell the Crusaders that in order to make up the shortfall they would have to attack the Croatian city of Zara.
2. Pope Innocent III excommunicates the Crusaders and Venetians for this attack
3. Innocent offers to recind the excommunication of the Crusaders if they attacked Venice
4. The Crusade sucessfully attacks Venice and Pope Innocent makes Boniface of Montferrat Duke of Venice
1207
In the Ayyubid Caliphate civil war breaks out again between the sons of Saladin. The Crusaders, decide to take this opportunity to invade Egypt. By the end of the year, thanks to the Ayyubid civil war the Crusader Kingdom of Egypt has been established under the leadership of Baldwin of Flanders, who is crowned King of Egypt by a Papal envoy.
In OTL Saladin's brother Al-Adil had managed to take control of the Caliphate but in this ATL he had died some years before
A cousin of Boniface is already married to a relative of Alexius of Byzantine and Boniface is related to Maria the current Queen of Jerusalem. Therefore, Venice, Byzantium and Jerusalem are all related to each other by blood or marriage.
1210
After the sucessful Crusader invasion of Egypt most of of the rest of the Ayyubids moved to the remnants of the Caliphate. This consisted of modern day Syria, Jordan and Palestine. In order to strengthen its existence and increase its territory the Kingdom of Jerusalem decides to attack the Ayyubid remnants in conjunction with the Kingdom of Egypt. The demoralized and weakened Ayyubids are no match for the combined forces of Jerusalem and Egypt and are soon destroyed and their land is added to that of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
In Spain the forces of the Christian kingdoms of Leon, Castile, Navarre and Aragon combine to defeat those of the Almohade Caliphate at Las Navas de Telosa. Muhammad III an-Nasir dies in the course of the battle and his young son and successor retreats to the Almohade territories in North Africa.
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