Court was prepared to accept him. But when he sailed in May 1268 to Acre, the capital of what remained of that Crusader state, he found his claim challenged by his aunt Maria, who was then in her forties. She asserted that the regency should belong to her because she was, by one degree, more closely related to the king of Jerusalem, Conrad III, and the only surviving grandchild of Isabella I. Her case was legally stronger than Hugh's. She delivered accurate information and had a carefully prepared deposition read for her. After hearing Hugh's spontaneous reply, she withdrew and did not return to hear the verdict. It appears that the High Court recognized the superiority of Maria's claim and used her absence to justify awarding the regency to Hugh, arguing that she was in default. In reality, Hugh was preferable because he had experience in government and his Cypriot troops could contribute to the defense of the dwindling kingdom against the Egyptian sultan Baibars. Maria, on the other hand, could offer them nothing. The acquisition of the regency marked Hugh as the heir presumptive to King Conrad. Conrad was executed on the orders of Charles I of Anjou on 29 October 1268. Hugh duly became king of Jerusalem, but Maria continued to contest his title. She demanded that she be crowned by the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, William of Agen, but he "scornfully dismissed" her claim and "considered it worthless". The Knights Templar supported her claim, possibly because they expected her to be a weak ruler or to sell the kingdom to Charles. A sale, rather than a wish to rule, may have been Maria's principal motivation for claiming the throne. Hugh's coronation, held in the cathedral at Tyre, was thus postponed until 24 September 1269. Maria had a clerk and a notary interrupt it with a protest on her behalf, after which they ran out of the cathedral. She appealed to the Templars for support before leaving the Holy Land and launching a long litigation at the Holy See in Rome. Life in Europe By 1270, Maria had come into contact with Charles. A ship carrying her goods sunk that year, prompting Charles to intervene for her. The loss may have caused lasting financial troubles for Maria. On 24 October 1272, Pope Gregory X authorised the archbishop of Nazareth and the bishops of Bethlehem and Banyas to investigate