ABSTRACT
And the messengers of King Charles said what he had commanded them to say. And when they had finished their argument, the Lord King of Aragon answered and said : “ Tell King Charles all that Our messengers have said to him We say, and in order that he and you should believe it We will repeat it." And he said to them no more and no less than his messengers had said. And then the messengers of King Charles answered : “ Then, King, as you have answered thus, give your gage in the presence of all." And then the Lord King took a pair of gloves a knight was holding, and threw them down in the presence of all. And the messengers of King Charles took the gages and at once said : “ Then, King, swear upon God’s Holy Gospels, and as a King, that you will not go back upon this ; and if you do, you will be a false and perjured man, in place of being van quished." And the Lord King sent for the Gospels and swore as they requested him. And again the Lord King said : “ If you consider that any more should be done in affirmation, I am prepared to do it." And the messengers said : “ It seems to us that all is complete.” And they returned at once to Reggio with the messengers of the Lord King of Aragon to King Charles and told him all that had been done and what the Lord King of Aragon had said. And, at once, King Charles did all that the King of Aragon had done in regard to the gages, as well as in regard to the oaths. And the messengers of the Lord King of Aragon brought away the gages, and when this was done and signed it could on no account be gone back upon. Wherefore King Charles was joyous, and so he should be for he had, at once, taken the heart out of those who wanted to rebel against him, so that all his plan was being carried out. And for this reason it is said, and such is the truth, that the Lord King of Aragon was never tricked in any war, except in this one. And this happened to him for two reasons. The first is
that he had to do with a king old and very wise in all matters, for I would have you know that long practice is worth much in all affairs of this world. And King Charles had long continued in wars and was old and mature in all his concerns. And the Lord King of Aragon, assuredly, was as well endowed with all capacity and aptitude as he w as; but the truth is that he was young, and his blood was hot and it had not cooled like King Charles’s. Wherefore he did not think of the present. And believe me, every wise prince and any other person, of whatever condition, should fix his mind on the past and the present and the future. And if he does that and has recourse every time to God and prays to Him to be on his side, his plan will not fail. But the Lord King of Aragon did not consider more than two seasons, that is, the past and the future, and he left out the present. If he had fixed his mind on the present, he would have taken good care not to undertake these combats; for he would have seen well that the present time was such, that King Charles would lose all his territory; and, again, that he was in such a situation that, assuredly, it would come to pass that he would have to put himself into the power of the King of Aragon, without a blow and without any cost, for all the country was about to rise in rebellion.
