At length the armies broke up from Sicily and sailed for Acre. With the three leading ships of the English fleet were Berengaria and the King’s sister Joanna. Richard brought up the rear. Two of the Queen’s vessels were wrecked upon the Isle of Cyprus, and their crew imprisoned by Isaac, the ruler of that island. This monarch, a descendant of the Emperor John Comnenus, banished from Byzantium, had established himself with the title of Emperor in the Isle of Cyprus. He was an inhuman tyrant, the dread of pilgrims and of shipwrecked sailors. He tried to entice the two queens to land, but luckily Richard’s fleet arrived. The Cyprians were driven from Lymesol, where the King established his court. He there received Guy of Lusignan, the nominal King of Jerusalem, completed his marriage with Berengaria, and made a treaty with Isaac. But when the Emperor sought to evade his engagements, Richard conquered the rest of the island, and organized it in the feudal fashion. On the 8th of July he reached Acre. The arrival of this warlike prince raised the spirit of the besiegers, who were in a very depressed condition. The siege had lasted since 1189, having been undertaken by Guy of Lusignan, who saw the importance of the place, if he was to continue to hold his kingdom. This was indeed a doubtful question. The Christian fortunes had sunk very low. Among the Mahomedans power after power had arisen with rapid success, and sunk as rapidly under the attacks of its own slaves or vassals. As the Abbassid Caliphs yielded to the Seljukian Turks, the Seljukians in their turn yielded to the Atabeks. The power of this race was brought to its height by Noureddin, who established his rule at Damascus, and extended it even into Egypt. Saladin, the son of Ayub, had attended his uncle Shiracouh, when he destroyed the rule of the Fatimite Caliphs in Egypt, and brought that province under the power of Noureddin. On Noureddin’s death, Saladin acquired possession of Egypt, to which he subsequently added the provinces of Damascus and Aleppo, and raised an empire which reached from Tripoli in Africa to the Tigris. It was this new warlike power which had overwhelmed the kingdom of Jerusalem. Baldwin IV.,[31] King of Jerusalem, became a leper. His sister Sybilla married Guy of Lusignan, a French prince of weak character, who succeeded to the throne. His elevation excited the jealousy of Raymond, Count of Tripoli, the greatest of his vassals. By his treacherous advice, Saladin attacked Tiberias. To complete his treachery, Raymond persuaded the Christians to take up a position in a camp destitute of water, and withdrew with his forces at the moment of attack. The destruction of the Christians was complete. In a few months Jerusalem itself was taken, and Tyre and Tripoli the only places left in Christian hands. Tyre was defended with success by the bravery of Conrad of Montferrat, who, in consequence of this success, was regarded as the great champion of the Christians.