conquering parts of Ireland on their own account.
So Henry recalled his Englishmen, lest they should go too far without
him, and held a court at which they promised to give him, as their
liege overlord, all the conquests they either had made or might make.
Henry, who understood the value of sea-power, at once granted them
whatever they could conquer, except the seaports, which he would keep
for the Crown.

When Henry died Richard the Lion-Hearted and Philip Augustus of France
agreed to join in a great Crusade. Zeal for the Christian religion and
love of adventure together drew vast numbers of Crusaders to the Holy
Land. But sea-power also had a great deal to do with the Crusades.
The Saracens, already strong at sea in the East, were growing so much
stronger that Western statesmen thought it high time to check them,
lest their fleets should command the whole Mediterranean and perhaps
the seas beyond.

In 1190 Richard joined his fleet at Messina, in Sicily, where roving
Normans were of course to be found as leaders in peace and war.
Vinesauf the historian, who was what we should now call a war
correspondent, wrote a glowing account of the scene. "As soon as the
people heard of his arrival they rushed in crowds to the shore to
behold the glorious King of England, and saw the sea covered with
innumerable galleys. And the sound of trumpets from afar, with the
sharper blasts of clarions, resounded in their ears. And they saw the
galleys rowing near the land, adorned and furnished with all kinds of
arms, with countless pennons floating in the breeze, ensigns at the
tops of lances, the beaks of the galleys beautified by painting, and
glittering shields hanging from the prows. The sea looked as if it was
boiling from the vast number of oar blades in it. The trumpets grew
almost deafening. And each arrival was greeted with bursts of
cheering. Then our splendid King stood up on a prow higher than all
the rest, with a gorgeously dressed staff of warriors about him, and
surveyed the scene with pleasure. After this he landed, beautifully
dressed, and showed himself graciously to all who approached him."

The whole English fleet numbered about two hundred and thirty vessels,
with stores for a year and money enough for longer still. A southerly
gale made nearly everybody sea-sick; for the Italian rowers in the
galleys were little better as seamen than the soldiers were, being used
to calm waters. Some vessels were wrecke