The regents dared not to attack the monastery of St. John, which enjoyed all the privileges of a religious house, while Ibelin at once landed with a strong force in Gatria, and marched in all haste to Nikosia. The few troops, which were hurriedly sent to oppose him, were easily dispersed, and in a very short time he presented himself before the capital. For the sake of saving his honour, he had written a letter to the young king, saying how it pained both him and his followers, to have left their allegiance in the Holy Land, but that they were unable to do otherwise, in order to defend their own possessions; should he blame them for their conduct, they relied upon their rights as established by feudal law. The regents were utterly surprised; they at once collected such forces as they could muster, and marched out through the city gates. In vain did they seek for priestly interference for the purpose of establishing peace between the conflicting parties. On the 23rd of June a furious battle took place. The regents wore golden tiaras on their helmets. One of them, Gavain von Chenichy, slew Ibelin’s father-in-law, the old constable; Walter von Cæsarea, Gerhardt von Montagu, and other friends of Ibelin, likewise lost their lives. The regents, however, were particularly anxious to get hold of Ibelin himself, and fifteen knights galloped forward in search of him. This, it would appear, caused considerable disorder amongst the imperial troops; and when Philip of Navarre, with a strong body of men, made his appearance upon the battle-field just at this critical moment, the troops of the regents were completely defeated. Ibelin in the meanwhile had sought refuge in a farm-house, where he was powerless to defend himself, but from which, after the battle, he was set at liberty by his son Balian and Anselm de Brie.
And now appeared the foresight of the emperor in fortifying the castles upon the mountains, in which the vanquished troops found a safe asylum. On the very evening of the battle, Balas, Bethsan, and Giblet, bringing with them the young king and their best troops, repaired to St. Hilarion. Rivet, with his followers, sought protection in Buffavento, and Chenichy, by dint of spurring, succeeded in reaching the still more distant castle of Kantara. From these three castles it was easy to reach the sea-coast at Keryneia. Ibelin, however, hastened to prevent their escape. While he himself surrounded Keryneia, Balian took a position before St. Hilarion, Philip of Navarre before Buffavento, and Anselm de Brie before Kantara.
Anselm had devised a new kind of battering ram with which he broke down the outer wall, and as he personally hated Chenichy, laid in ambush watching for him day and night, until at length, taking an opportunity when the regent was seen on the battlements, took deadly aim at him and shot him with an arrow. Rivet, who knew Buffavento to be impregnable, came there from Kantara, and when he saw the fortalice was in good condition and well manned, went over into Asia Minor to bring over more troops, and was there killed.
The three other regents occupied the extensive and strong fastnesses of St. Hilarion; here they not only repelled every attack, but every now and then made sallies, broke through the palisades of the besiegers, and obtained fresh supplies.
Upon one occasion Philip of Navarre was struck down and fell as though dead. On seeing this a man upon the wall exclaimed, “the verse-maker is dead, now we shall have no more of his bad songs.” Philip, however, recovered during the night, and the next day, taking up a tolerably safe position, he favoured the garrison with a new ballad.
The defenders of Keryneia became at length tired out; for a length of time they had received no pay and had suffered much from want of provisions. A day was fixed, and if by that time no help appeared, they agreed to surrender, more especially as they saw that the castles were closely invested and their occupants had no chance of escape.
Ibelin was now enabled to bring up more troops to the siege of St. Hilarion. That fortress, however, was now no longer in a condition to brave him as it had done before; the place was closely invested on all sides, and the garrison in dire want of provisions, for by this time the insurgents had taken possession of the whole island; even the young king Heinrich suffered severely; he frequently made his appearance upon the battlements and shouted to the besiegers who had brought him to such straits.
Ibelin next resolved to send Philip of Navarre, who had shown great ability in conducting negotiations, into Italy, hoping to obtain help, either from the Pope or from the King of France.
At this juncture Ibelin proposed to Balian and his associates to surrender the young king and the fortress into his power, promising that if they did so, they should be well treated and should retain in all honour whatever property they possessed. The garrison, which had long suffered the greatest privations, and saw nothing before them but a lingering death from famine, at last consented, and Ibelin attained his object. Balas, Bethsan, and Giblet made over to him the youthful Heinrich, and took a solemn oath that they would not again bear arms against the insurgents.