ABSTRACT
I t is the truth that when the Prince of Taranto returned from the interview of Toulouse, he went so long on his journeys that he came to King Charles, his father, who asked him for news of the interview. And he told him all that had happened to him ; how the King of France and the King of Mallorca had done him much honour, but the King of Aragon would not at all be his friend but, instead, was harsh and angry with him ; whereat King Charles was greatly displeased and knew that King Pedro had that thorn in his heart which he had thought and feared he had. Nevertheless he trusted so much in his own expertness and in his numerous forces that he decided he need not fear the King of Aragon. And, assuredly, he might decide so, for he had four advantages that no other king on earth had. The first, that he was held to be the wisest prince and most accom plished in arms in the world, since the death of the good King En Jaime of Aragon. The other, that he was the most powerful King in the world, for he was at that time king and lord of all King Manfred used to have ; and besides, he was count of Provence and Anjou, and, also, he was a Roman senator, and vicar-general of all the Guelph part of Tuscany and Lombardy and of the Marches. Besides, he was Vicar-General of all the Land beyond Sea and chief of all the Christians there, as well as of the Templars and of the Hospitallers and of the Germans,1 as also of all cities, castles and
1 Knights of the Teutonic Order.
