ABSTRACT
Queen Costanza, your wife, should be our lady and, after her, your sons and hers should be our kings and lords. And the other reason is that every virtuous king is bound to succour orphans, wards and widows. And as the island of Sicily is widowed, having lost so good a lord as the virtuous King Manfred, you can count her as a widow ; and the people are all orphans, who have neither father nor mother, nor anyone to help them, if God and you and yours do not succour them. And the innocent creatures in the said island who expect death, one may count as wards of tender age who cannot help themselves in their need. Therefore, virtuous Lord, have mercy on us, and may it please thee to go and take that Kingdom which is thine and thy children’s and deliver the people out of the hand of Pharaoh. For, as God delivered the people of Israel out of the hands of Pharaoh, so, Lord, canst thou deliver that Kingdom out of the hand of the most cruel people on earth. For there is no more cruel people in the world than the French, where they have power.”
