 The capture of Jerusalem by the Khwarezmians in August had caused great alarm among both the Christian and the Muslim states.Al-Mansur, the Emir of Homs and an-Nasir Dawud, ruling Kerak, joined the Templars, the Hospitallers, the Teutonic Knights, the Order of Saint Lazarus, and the remaining forces of the Kingdom of Jerusalem to take the field against the Egyptian Sultanate.The two armies met near La Forbie, a small village northeast of Gaza.