During the Sixth Crusade, Balian supported Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II for the throne of Jerusalem.
In 1229, Frederick left Balian in charge of Tyre and in 1231 he gave him the co-regency (bailiwick) of the kingdom with Garnier l'Aleman.
The remaining group of the crusaders charged the Egyptians, was routed, resulting in the capture of Amaury VI of Montfort and the death of Henry II of Bar.
If Balian was part of the group which stayed and fought, he would have been among the relatively small number of survivors not to be captured by the Muslims.
Balian later received the castle of Shaqil Arnun, which his father had defended by a ruse from Saladin in 1190, from the sultan As-Salih Ayyub.