Baldwin I of Jerusalem to Jaffa, although the Egyptian army had blockaded it from the land. He went to Jerusalem to gather new troops and returned to Jaffa with more than 100 horsemen. However, only the arrival of a fleet filled with hundreds of English, French and German pilgrims forced the Egyptians to lift the siege on 27May. Baldwin urged Alexios I Komnenos not to obstruct their journey in a letter. During the siege of Jaffa, Baldwin had sent envoys to Antioch and Edessa, seeking assistance from Tancred and Baldwin II. They arrived only after the Egyptians' withdrawal. Tancred tried to persuade the new
Philip I, Count of Flanders brother-in-law, intervened in 1184 on behalf of his son-in-law, King Philip, in support of his daughter's interests. The dispute between Count Philip and Baldwin was encouraged by King Philip, who went so far as to name Baldwin his representative in negotiations with the Count. Count Philip's wife, Elisabeth, died in 1183, prompting King Philip II to seize the province of Vermandois on behalf of Elisabeth's sister, Eleonore. Philip then remarried, to Matilda, daughter of Afonso I, the first King of Portugal. Philip gave Matilda a dower that included a number of major Flemish towns, in an apparent slight to Baldwin