Stephen Terrett (born 1151) was a general of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Biography[]
Stephen Terrett was born in 1151 in the Kingdom of England. He was a skilled bureaucrat and a promising commander; eager, handsome, and very loyal, he was one of the suitors for adoption for King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem in 1180. At the age of 29, he was adopted by the young monarch, who was not much different in age from him. Terrett became a general of the Kingdom of Jerusalem upon his adoption, and was sent to become the Governor of Ascalon, taking command of the small army outpost there. Terrett upgraded the city's defenses and infrastructure, and also took over the army during the time of the Third Crusade (1188-1194). Terrett's army launched an invasion of the Ayyubid Caliphate-controlled Egypt in the 1190s to force Sultan Saladin to make peace with the crusaders, and was able to defeat the army of Crown Prince al-Afdal at Tanta in 1194. That same year, he was able to capture the city, the second Egyptian stronghold to fall after the city of Dumyat.