The fate of the city of Jerusalem, for reasons explained in the preceding Chapter, was a matter of indifference to Cyprus. When it was threatened by the Khwarizmians in 1244, an appeal to King Henry (like others to Bohemund V of Antioch and the allied Sultans of Damascus and Homs) was without effect; although the Patriarch Robert and the Grand Masters of the Temple and the Hospital appeared for a moment to encourage the inhabitants, only to retire, however, before the final fall of the city (23 August 1244), and in the disaster of Gaza (17 October) there was a Cypriote contingent of 300 men, all of whom perished. A second appeal to King Henry and the Prince of Antioch had no better result than the first. France alone responded to the call. St Louis took the Cross within two months of the battle, although it was nearly four years before he sailed for the East.

In 1246 Queen Alice died, and there was once more a vacancy in the regency of Jerusalem. This left King Henry as the nearest relative of Conrad present in Syria, and he was recognized by the Roman curia as seigneur du royaume de Jérusalem. The fiction of Conrad's kingship was maintained, and it was not until the accession of Hugh III of Antioch-Lusignan that the Haute Cour in 1269 proclaimed the King of Cyprus also King of Jerusalem. Nevertheless the Pope now released Henry from all his obligations of fealty and homage to the Emperor, and placed Cyprus directly under the aegis of the Roman see.