He resisted the power-seeking of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, in Cyprus, and opposed the imperial forces until King Henry came of age.
Sometime before 1205, John relinquished the office of constable in exchange for the lordship of Beirut, which became the home of the Ibelin family for the rest of the century.
A German ambassador in 1212, Wilbrand of Oldenburg, wrote an impressive account of the castle, describing fresco paintings, mosaics on the floors, and a marble fountain in the courtyard.
[1][2] Historian Peter Edbury described the ambassador's account as "A feature of the public rooms were the Trompe-l'œil effects achieved with marble inlays, with a floor resembling the sea and a ceiling 'painted with such life-like colours that clouds pass across, the west wind blows, and there the sun seems to mark out the year and the months, the days and the weeks, the hours and the moments by its movement in the zodiac'.
A marble fountain with a dragon as the centre-piece stood in the central hall, its jets cooling the air and the murmur of the water giving an altogether soothing effect."
[3] From 1205 to 1210 John served as regent in Acre, which became the new capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, for Maria of Montferrat the daughter of Queen Isabella I.
They had apparently alienated themselves from John of Brienne, but the two represented Cyprus at a council in Acre, which met to plan for the arrival of the Fifth Crusade.
After Frederick departed from the island in April, John's forces defeated the remaining imperial bailiffs in a battle outside Nicosia on July 14, 1229, thus beginning the War of the Lombards.
When Henry I succeeded to the throne, both John and Riccardo immediately raced back to Cyprus, where the imperial forces were defeated in battle on June 15.
John, for his part, was supported by his nobles on Cyprus, and in his continental holdings in Beirut, Caesarea, and Arsuf, as well as by the Knights Templar and the Genoese merchant community.