In 1190 Henry left for the East, after having his barons swear to recognize his younger brother Theobald as his successor should he fail to return.

He is said to have been a member of the group involved in the abduction of Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem, to get her to consent to a divorce from Humphrey IV of Toron so that she could be married to Conrad of Montferrat.

[4] The marriage was glossed romantically by some of the chroniclers: Isabella was so taken with Henry's physical attractions (he was 20 years younger than Conrad) that she asked him to marry her.

Since she was already known to be pregnant with Conrad's child, Maria of Montferrat, the marriage was considered scandalous by some, but it was politically vital for her to acquire another husband to defend the kingdom.

Indeed, Henry, who was known to the Arabs as "al-kond Herri", later sought an alliance with the Hashshashin, and was invited to visit their fortress stronghold, al-Kahf.

A servant, possibly a dwarf named Scarlet, also fell, after trying to save him by catching hold of his hanging sleeve - he weighed too little to pull the king (who was tall and strongly built) back.

Whatever the exact circumstances, Henry was killed outright; the servant, who suffered a fractured femur, raised the alarm, but later died of his injury.

Henry's heir-general was his elder daughter Alice who was soon married to her stepbrother King Hugh I of Cyprus and whose heirs represent the senior line of counts of Champagne.

He had borrowed a great deal of money to finance his expedition to Jerusalem, and for his marriage; and the succession to the county of Champagne would later be contested by his daughters, Alice and Philippa.