Events <onlyinclude> By place Europe Spring – Boniface I, marquis of Montferrat, sends envoys to Venice, Genoa and other city-states to negotiate a contract for transport to the Levant. Meanwhile, Boniface and various nobles are mustering an expeditionary army (mainly forces from France and the Holy Roman Empire) at Paris. On February 23, Baldwin IX, count of Flanders and his brother Henry of Flanders take the cross at Bruges (modern Belgium), and agree to take part in the Fourth Crusade called by Pope Innocent III (see 1199). May 22 – The Kings John of England and Philip II of France, sign a peace treaty at Le Goulet, an island in the middle of the Seine River, near Vernon in Normandy. The agreement recognizes John as overlord of most of the English owned lands in France, but John has to give Philip the lands of Norman Vexin and Évreux and a large sum of money (some 20,000 marks) – a "relief" payment for recognition of John's sovereignty of Brittany. August 25 – Eager to make peace with Aymer Taillefer, count of Angoulême, John marries 15-year-old Isabella of Angoulême at Bordeaux. In order to remarry, John needs to abandon his first wife, Isabella of Gloucester. John accomplishes this by arguing that he has failed to get the necessary papal dispensation to marry Isabella of Gloucester. The rebel leader Ivanko of Bulgaria is captured and executed by the Byzantine general Alexios Palaiologos (son-in-law of Emperor Alexios III Angelos). England November 22 – During a tour of the Midlands, John receives homage from William the Lion, king of Scotland, at Lincoln. William is looking to move into the areas of Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmoreland. John on the other hand ensures that these areas are controlled by English nobles he can trust. Levant February 17 – Al-Adil I, Ayyubid ruler of Damascus, Jerusalem, and parts of the Jazira takes control of Egypt, and is recognized as sultan of the Ayyubid Empire. During his reign, he promotes trade and good relations with the Crusader States. His son Al-Kamil becomes the effective ruler (viceroy) of Egypt. Asia Temüjin (or Genghis Khan) manages to unite about half the feuding Mongol clans under his leadership. He delegates authority based on skill and loyalty, rather than tribal affiliation or family. The main rivals of the Mongol confederation are the Naimans to the west, the Merkits to the north, the Tanguts