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household of Henry, king of England, son of William the Bastard. Although he was a knight of prowess in arms, he was still unable to find any favour with the king, whereby to enrich himself. In consequence of this, with his wife and children and brother, he left Normandy and went to Rome; where, having received from the Supreme Pontiff permission and advice to subjugate the barbarous nations, a great multitude of valiant men resorted to him as his adherents. On this, he departed thence, and, entering Apulia, on seeing that it was a fine and fertile country, and that its inhabitants were unskilled in arms, he often attacked them with a strong and armed hand, and conquered them, and took possession of their territory. The whole of Apulia, Calabria, and the principality of Capua he also subjugated, and, taking them out of the hands of the emperor of the Romans, gave them to his son Tancred.

He then collected a large fleet, boasting that he would invade the empire of Constantinople, and subjugate the whole thereof. In the meantime, while his fleet was being equipped, it happened that he, and Tancred, and Boamund, his sons, on the same day, fought with our lord the pope, the emperor of the Romans, and the emperor of Constantinople; Robert Guiscard himself engaging with the emperor of Constantinople, one of his sons with the pope, and the other with the emperor of the Romans; and he, and each of his sons, gained a victory on one and the same day. After this, Robert Guiscard embarked on board of his fleet, and his wife with him, and subjugated the island of Cuuerfu, the island of Crete, the Isle of Rhodes, and many other islands, which he took from the emperor of Constantinople. He next came to the harbour which now, after his name, is called Port Guiscard. While he was preparing to proceed thence, and to enter Romania, the emperor of Constantinople, being in great dread of his approach, sent word to his wife, that, if she would put to death the said Robert Guiscard, and so free his territories from all dread of him, he would marry her, and make her empress of Constantinople. On this, the woman agreed to what the emperor requested; and, having gained an opportunity both as to time and place, gave her husband, Robert Guiscard, poison to drink: on which he died, and was buried in the island which to this day is called Port Guiscard, and the whole of his army was dispersed. The woman fled to the emperor of Constantinople, who immediately fulfilled all his promises, and married her, and had her

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crowned empress; and when all the proper solemnities had been performed, both as to the marriage, the coronation, and the nuptial ceremonies, so becomingly, that she said to the emperor, "My lord, you have now graciously performed all the terms of our agreement, the emperor caused silence to be made, and in the presence of all, showed the agreement which he had made with her, and how she had put her husband to death, and then requested them to pronounce judgment upon her; on which, they condemned her to death. Accordingly, she was removed from the nuptial ceremony to the place of punishment, and was thrown upon a lighted pile, and reduced to ashes.

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Roger, the brother of the said Guiscard, waged war with the people of Sicily, and subjected the whole of that island, and became the earl of Sicily. This Sicily is a large island, and, before the said Roger subdued it, was inhabited by pagans, and under the dominion of the emperor of Africa. But Roger before-mentioned, having expelled the pagans, established the Christian religion, and erected in it two archbishoprics and six bishoprics. After this, he married a wife, by whom he had an only son, whom, after his own name, he called Roger, and made him duke of Apulia, and gave to him Calabria and the principality of Capua, after the decease of Tancred, the son of Robert Guiscard, without issue. The said Roger, earl of Sicily, then died; on which, his son Roger, duke of Apulia, succeeded him in the earldom of Sicily, and shortly after, with the consent of his earls and barons, caused himself to be crowned king of Sicily; and thus the said Roger was crowned the first king of Sicily. He married a wife, and by her had two sons and one daughter; the first of whom was called Roger, and the other William, while his daughter was called Constance. He gave to his eldest son the dukedom of Apulia and the principality of Capua. This son married against the will of his father, and by his wife had an only son, whom he called Tancred; after which he died, in the lifetime of his father.

After this, his father died, who was king of Sicily, and was succeeded in the kingdom by his son William, who married, and by his wife had an only son, whom he called William, after his own name. This William, last-mentioned, succeeded his father in the kingdom, and gave to Tancred, the son of his 64 V. r. Walter.

uncle, the earldom of Laleche. He also gave Constance, the sister of his uncle, in marriage to Henry, king of the Germans, son of Frederic, emperor of the Romans. He also caused the kingdom of Sicily to be secured to him on oath in succession to himself, in case he should die without issue; shortly after which, William, king of Sicily, married Joanna, daughter of Henry, king of England, son of the empress Matilda; he died however, without issue.

On his decease, Tancred, the earl of Laleche above-mentioned, unmindful of the oath which, with the rest, he had taken to Henry, king of the Germans, usurped the kingdom of Sicily, and was crowned king thereof. On Henry, emperor of the Romans, hearing of this, he levied a large army and entered the territory of king Tancred, bringing with him his wife Constance, who was heir to the kingdom of Sicily; and then laying siege to Salerno, within fifteen days, that place was surrendered to him and his wife, whom he left there. Proceeding thence he laid siege to Naples, where having stayed six weeks, in that time he lost nearly the whole of his army through pestilence; he himself also fell sick and nearly died. When he saw that he could not effect his object, he took his departure, and went to his city of Milan. On the people of Salerno hearing of this, they laid hands on their mistress, the empress Constance, and detaining her, delivered her to Tancred, king of Sicily; on which the emperor of Germany, grieving and in confusion at the loss of his wife, wrote to pope Celestinus, that by his aid he might recover her: and after some time, by the intervention of our lord the pope, he was restored to him.

When Philip, king of France, had taken his departure from the isle of Rhodes, and had come to the coast of Romania, he passed a great mountain which has the name of the Cape of Melia; after which he came to the gulf of Witun, and passed by the castle of Maine. He next came to a city which is called Curun, and then to a deserted city, the name of which is Munzum, which lies at the end of that gulf. He then passed by the island of Triffat, and then came to the islands, of which the one is called Cephalenia and the other Fale de Compar. These two islands are called 66 Port Guiscard. On the opposite side, in Romania, there is a town called Saint Salvator, where, at nearly all seasons, pirates are lying in wait for passers-by. 66 This does not agree with what he has said before as to Cephalenia and Port Guiscard. See p. 251.

On the king of France departing thence, he came to the island, the name of which is Cuuerfu. At the entrance of the isle of Cuuerfu, towards the land of Sulia, there are dangerous sands, extending through the middle from the island of Cuuerfu to the coast of Romania; the sea being not deeper upon the sands than four ells and a half. The island of Cuuerfu is large and fertile, and yields a yearly revenue to the emperor of Constantinople of fifteen quintals of gold-a quintal being a hundred pounds. The island of Cuuerfu is six miles distant from Romania, and in some places the sea is so narrow between Cuuerfu and Romania, that from one shore to the other one man may be heard by another. The length of Cuuerfu is fifty miles; and between Cuuerfu and Apulia, the distance is computed to be one hundred miles. Cuuerfu can easily be seen by those in Apulia, but not the converse, because Apulia lies low, and Cuuerfu is high land.

At the extremity of the island of Cuuerfu, in Romania, there is a deserted castle, the name of which is Butentrost, in which the traitor Judas was born. After this, when you have almost come to the entrance of the straits, there is a deserted city at the extremity of the island of Cuuerfu, which is called Gaszope, in which there is such a vast quantity of serpents that no one dares to land near it on that side. Just opposite to it, on the coast of Romania, is a deserted city, the name of which is Santa Carenta, where there is a good harbour, wide and deep. At the mouth of this harbour, at the entrance of the straits, there is a rock resembling a half-ruined tower, which extends almost to the middle of the harbour and lies concealed beneath the waves, so that it is necessary for those passing by to hug the shore of the island of Cuuerfu. At the extremity of the island of Cuuerfu are four islands, the name of one of which is Fanum. After this, about forty miles from the island of Cuuerfu, there is a lofty mountain on a cape of Romania, which is called Paxo; from this mountain to Octrente,67 an archiepiscopal city in Apulia, is a distance of fifty miles; and from this mountain to Brindisi, a hundred miles.

At this mountain, called Paxo, begins the Gulf of Venice, which is a hundred and fifty miles in length and a hundred in width. Persons passing up this gulf, on their way to Venice, will leave behind Romania, Sclavonia, and Istria. In Apulia, on the sea-coast, are the ports known by the following names :

67 Otranto.

the first port of Apulia is called Leuke; next to which is a port called Castre, then the port called Octrente, next the port called Leliche, and then the harbour called Brandiz, the same as Brindisi. After this, you come to the port of Monopola, and the port of Bar, where Saint Nicolas reposes; then the port of Trani, and next the port of Barlet. You next come to the port of Sipontum, then the port of Bestia, and then that of Tremula. This port of Tremula is the last port of Apulia. After this comes Ortona, the first port of the territory of Venice; then the port of Atri, and then the port of Pescara; after which you come to the ports of Ancona, and of Ravenna, and then to Venice, a splendid city with a fine harbour.

When the king of France had arrived at Cuuerfu, he sent envoys to king Tancred, and asked his permission to pass through his territories, which was accordingly granted him. He then came to Apulia, where he landed at Octrente, on the sixth day before the ides of October, being the fifth day of the week. Proceeding thence, he sent his forerunners to Henry, emperor of the Romans, and asked his leave to pass through his territories; which permission was granted him. On his arrival at Rome, he said many evil things of the king of England, in presence of our lord the pope and of all the cardinals, asserting that the king of England had forced him to leave the land of Jerusalem, and accusing him of treachery. However, neither our lord the pope nor the cardinals put any faith in his words, knowing that this proceeded rather from envy than from any bad conduct on the part of the king of England. Our lord the pope, however, received him with all honor and attention, and supplied him with all things necessary for a period of eight days. Moreover, in consideration of the love of God and his own affection, he devised a new method of relief for the pilgrims; for, both the king, and all who had come with him, or who came after him, he absolved from their vows, and from going on the expedition to Jerusalem, and, even though they had not performed their vows, he still distributed palms among them, and hung crosses from their necks, thus enacting that they were pilgrims. After this, the king of France prevailed upon the emperor of the Romans to lay hands upon the king of England, in case he should pass through his territory.

The king of France, upon arriving at length in his own terri

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