The next in line was Sibylla's younger sister, Isabella of Jerusalem. The nobles were hostile to Guy, not liking him from the start, but long ago Sibylla had tricked them into accepting Guy. Guy proved his unworthiness by refusing to relinquish control.
AS further complication was that Isabella was married to Humphrey of Toron. Humphrey was friend of Guy's, and did not want to replace him. Despite pressure from other nobles, Humphrey pledged his loyalty to Guy. That loyalty got him nowhere, because the nobles did not think Humphrey would be suitable as king by right of being married to Isabella, so they wanted to replace him. An annulment was arranged so that Isabella could be married to Conrad of Montferrat (brother of Sibylla's first husband, William), who so disliked Guy that when Guy and Sibylla fled Jerusalem after its takeover by Saladin, Conrad would not give them shelter in Tyre.
Once married to Conrad, the two retired to Tyre, leaving the Siege of Acre to others, including Guy, and taking steps to ensure the succession (Isabella did get pregnant). The European leaders at Acre were divided on there issue: Philip II of France supported Conrad, Richard I of England supported Guy (who was a vassal of Richard due to Guy being Lord of Poitou).
In April 1192, Richard called a meeting of all the European and Holy Land nobles. By this time, Richard may have still wanted Guy to be king, but the vote for Conrad was unanimous. Richard wanted Guy to have something, so he made him the governor of Cyprus, which Richard had captured on his way to the Holy Land. Guy was in Cyprus until his death in 1194, having squandered the country's treasury.
Henry II of Champagne, a nephew to both Philip and Richard, who had been at the Siege of Acre prior to his uncles arriving, was tasked with going to Tyre with the news of Conrad's election. Conrad and Isabella were happy to have a resolution to the conflict.
Conrad was never crowned. On 28 April, a few days after the election, Conrad:
...rode home through the city flanked by a pair of guards. As he turned down a narrow street, he saw two men sitting on either side of the road. As Conrad approached, they stood up and walked to meet him. One of them was holding a letter. Conrad was intrigued but did not dismount. Rather, he stretched down from his horse and reached out to take the letter. As he did so, the man holding the letter drew a knife and stabbed upwards, plunging the blade deep into Conrad's body. At the same time, the other man leaped onto the back of Conrad's horse and stabbed him in the side. [source]
One of the men was killed, the other captured and tortured. They turned out to be members of the Assassins, and might have been contracted by Saladin. Under torture, however, the surviving assassin maintained the order came from Richard (The Assassins had been known to form an alliance with Christians). Humphrey of Toron was also a suspect.
According to Richard I's chroniclers, on his deathbed Conrad said Tyre should be handed only to Richard, which is certainly suspect, especially since Conrad knew that Richard did not support Conrad.
So who became King of Jerusalem? As it turns out, Henry II of Champagne! We'll see how that came about tomorrow.
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