and appropriated the dowry.

Indeed, in this case, both the sums of money that Richard received
from Tancred were paid to Richard in trust, or, at least, ought to
have been so regarded, the one amount being for Arthur, and the other
for Joanna. Richard himself, in his own name, had no claims on Tancred
whatever; but as soon as the money came into his hands, he began to
expend it in the most profuse and lavish manner. He adopted a very
extravagant and ostentatious style of living. He made costly presents
to the barons, and knights, and officers of the armies, including the
French army as well as his own, and gave them most magnificent
entertainments. Philip thought that he did this to secure popularity,
and that the presents which he made to the French knights and nobles
were designed to entice them away from their allegiance and fidelity
to him, their lawful sovereign. At Christmas he gave a splendid
entertainment, to which he invited every person of the rank of a
knight or a gentleman in both armies, and at the close of the feast he
made a donation in money to each of the guests, the sum being
different in different cases, according to the rank and station of the
person who received it.

The king, having thus at last settled his quarrels and established
himself in something like peace in Sicily, began to turn his attention
toward the preparations for the spring. Of course, his intention was,
as soon as the spring should open, to set sail with his fleet and
army, and proceed toward the Holy Land. He now caused all his ships to
be examined with a view to ascertain what repairs they needed. Some
had been injured by the storms which they had encountered on the way
from Marseilles or by accidents of the sea. Others had become
worm-eaten and leaky by lying in port. Richard caused them all to be
put thoroughly in repair. He also caused a number of battering engines
to be constructed of timber which his men hauled from the forests
around the base of Mount AEtna. These engines were for assailing the
walls of the towns and fortresses in the Holy Land.

In modern times walls are always attacked with mortars and cannon. The
ordnance of the present day will throw shot and shells of prodigious
weight two or three miles, and these tremendous missiles strike
against the walls of a fortress with such force as in a short time to
batter them down, no matter how strong and thick they may be. But in
those days gunpowder was not in use,