Jayme II. received the standard of the Church at Rome, collected eighty-three galleys, and sailed to form a junction with the forces of Naples and overwhelm his brother. En Federigo had an able admiral in Conrad Doria, while Blasco de Alagon commanded the land forces. The allies made their first attack on Syracuse, where they suffered disastrous defeats both by sea and land. Charles of Naples then sent a force of 1,200 men, in fifty galleys, under the command of his son, the Prince of Tarentum, to effect a landing at Trapani. En Federigo, with some of his Catalan supporters, Moncadas and Entenzas, was ready to defend the coast. The gallant young King of Sicily led on the _almogavares_, who shouted ‘Dispierto hierro!’ and fell with such fury on the invaders that they broke and fled. En Federigo himself fought his way straight for his enemy’s standard, and encountered the Prince of Tarentum. After a short combat the Prince was unhorsed, and would have been killed if Federigo had not protected him. He was taken prisoner and sent to the castle of Cefalu. Charles and the Pope appealed to France for help, dispatching ambassadors with an urgent request that the King would send his brother Charles of Valois, ‘the Cap King,’ with a large force to invade Sicily. Accordingly he came to Naples with four thousand men, landed at Termini in Sicily, and besieged Sciacca. His people were decimated by disease, the siege had to be raised, and the expedition was a complete failure. En Federigo had the rare gift, of surrounding himself with the ablest and most efficient men. Among these was the famous Roger de Flor. The good Emperor Frederick II. had a German falconer named Richard de Flor, who married the daughter of a rich proprietor at Brindisi. When Prince Conradin came to regain his right, Richard fought for him and was killed in the battle. All his property was confiscated and his widow was left penniless, with two boys to support, Jacobo and Roger. A ship belonging to the Knights Templars, and commanded by a Serjeant Friar named Vassayll, was wintering at Brindisi when Roger was about eight years old. The little fellow went up and down the rigging with such agility that Vassayll took a fancy for him, and persuaded his mother to let him go to sea and learn a sailor’s duties. By the time he was twenty he had become a very expert seaman, and the Master of the Temple conferred on him the mantle of the Order. He was then given the command of a large ship called the _Falcon_. Friar Roger de Flor soon acquired renown as a very able naval commander. He was captain of another ship, called the _Oliveta_, when he entered the harbour of Messina and offered his services to En Federigo. He was most cordially received, and he swore allegiance to the young King of Sicily, with all his crew. His first service was to capture several large Neapolitan vessels laden with wheat and other supplies, with which the garrisons of Syracuse,