that clouds pass across, the west wind blows, and there the sun seems to mark out the year and the months, the days and the weeks, the hours and the moments by its movement in the zodiac'. A marble fountain with a dragon as the centre-piece stood in the central hall, its jets cooling the air and the murmur of the water giving an altogether soothing effect." Beirut Castle was so well fortified, that in 1231–1232, it withstood a siege lasting several months. Beirut was effectively an independent state under John's rule; in 1207 John added Arsuf to his territory through his marriage to Melisende of Arsuf, making him one of the wealthiest nobles in the kingdom. Regent From 1205 to 1210 John served as regent in Acre, the new capital of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, for Maria of Montferrat, Queen Isabella I's daughter. As regent, John helped arrange the marriage of Amalric II's son Hugh I of Cyprus to Alice of Champagne, daughter of Amalric's predecessor as King of Jerusalem, Henry II of Champagne. In 1210 he also helped arrange Maria of Montferrat's marriage to John of Brienne, who was suggested by king Philip II of France. By 1217 John and his brother Philip of Ibelin had become involved in the politics of the Kingdom of Cyprus as well. They had apparently alienated themselves from John of Brienne, but the two represented Cyprus at a council in Acre, which met to plan for the arrival of the Fifth Crusade. When Hugh I died in 1218, Philip became regent for Hugh's son Henry I of Cyprus, Philip's nephew. When Philip died in 1228, John took over the same office. Although both Philip and John were closely related to Henry I, as his uncles, they were still opposed on Cyprus by supporters of the Lusignan family, of which Henry was also a member; his grand-uncle Guy of Lusignan, and grandfather Amalric, were the first two kings of Cyprus. Battle for Cyprus In 1228, the power struggle was amplified when Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II arrived in Cyprus on the Sixth Crusade. Frederick was connected to the Jerusalem nobles by being married to Isabella II, John of Brienne's daughter, and Frederick attempted to use this to take power. He claimed the kingship of Jerusalem and the overlordship of Cyprus, as well as John of Ibelin's lordship of Beirut, which John naturally refused.