ABSTRACT
Saracens. And when he had been there a long time, he was obliged to return. By whose fault or for what reason, I will not tell you either, but you will find those who will, if you search for them well. And so, after his return, war with Holy Church began again. And I tell you once more that you will not learn from me whose fault that war was, through whom it began ; for it is not for me to speak of it. What shall I tell you ? The war lasted as long as the Emperor lived. And when he died he left three sons, the wisest and best ever left behind by any lord (except those of the Lord King En Jaime of Aragon), of whom I will tell you later on. And of these three sons he made one, who was called Conradin,1 heir of all his patrimony in Germany, and the other he made King and heir of Sicily and of the Principality and of the Terra di Labor and of Calabria, and of Apulia and of the Abruzzi, as I have already recounted ; and he was called King Manfred. And the other was King of Sardinia and Corsica, and he was called Enzio. And so all of these three lords held their lands with great rectitude and trust in God. Nevertheless the priests tried to dispossess them of all they had, through the sentence the Pope had issued against their father the Emperor. And they urged all the Christian kings of the world to undertake their defeat, and they found none who would do it, and, especially, because the Holy King Louis of France, who reigned in those days, had lived in alliance and in great friendship with the Emperor Frederick ; and so likewise had King Edward of England and also the King of Castile and also King En Pedro of Aragon, who had to wife the daughter of the aforesaid King Manfred. And so likewise there was no baron in Germany who was not a kinsman of theirs. And the priests spent much time in their negotiation and
found no one who would undertake this enterprise. And it is the truth that, at that time, King Louis of France had a brother, called Charles, who was count of Anjou, and the two brothers had, as their wives, two sisters who were the daughters of the count of Provence, who was first cousin of King En Pedro of Aragon. And during the lifetime of the said count of Provence, King Louis of France took his eldest daughter to wife.1 And when the count of Provence died he left another daughter and the King of France arranged that the count of Anjou, his brother, should have her in marriage, with the whole county of Provence. And when this marriage was made, the Queen of France had a great desire to see the countess, her sister; and the countess, likewise, had a great desire to see the Queen. So that, at last, the Queen sent to beg the count and countess, that when he came to France, to the county of Anjou, he would bring the countess with him, in order that she should see her; and they granted her this, so that not much time passed before he brought the countess to Paris, where the Queen was. And the King and Queen, for joy at this, assembled a great court and summoned counts and barons, each with his wife. And when the court was full of counts and barons and countesses and baronesses, a seat was placed for the Queen, for her only, and at her feet, another seat for the countess her sister and for the other countesses. The countess of Provence was so grieved that the Queen, her sister, did not make her sit next to her, that she almost burst into tears. And when she had contained herself a little while, she said she felt sick and that she wished to go to her lodging, and neither
the Queen nor anyone else could detain her. And when she came to her lodging, she threw herself on her bed, and cried and sighed and showed great grief. And the count, who heard that the countess had gone away without waiting for dinner, was greatly displeased, for he loved her more than any other lord or any other man could love his wife ; and he went to the side of her bed and found her crying ; and he was all burning with rage, for he thought that some man or some woman had said something to her which displeased her. And he kissed her and said : “ Sweetheart, tell me what is the matter, and whether anyone has said something to displease you ; for, if it is so, assuredly I will avenge you at once, whoever it may be.” And the countess, who knew that he loved her more than anything in the world, and in order that he should not go on thinking this, said : “ Lord, as you ask me, I must tell you, for I would hide nothing from you. What lady in the world could be as unhappy as I am ? I have suffered to-day the greatest insult that a gentlewoman has ever suffered. You know, and certain it is, that you are the brother of the King of France through your father and your mother and I, likewise, am the sister, through my father and my mother, of the Queen, and to-day, in full court, the Queen was seated in her seat and I, with the other countesses, sat at her feet. By this I consider myself much aggrieved and insulted. I pray you that to-morrow we return at once to our own country, for on no account will I tarry here.” And to this the count answered and said : “ Ah, countess, do not take this in bad part, for such is the custom ; no one should or may sit with the Queen, who is not a Queen also. But be comforted, for I swear to you by the Sacrament of the Holy Church and by the great love I have for you that, if I live, before a year has passed, you shall wear a crown on your head and be a Queen and able
