cause of his journey. When the holy man had heard it all he burst into tears, knowing that it was a holy thing to weep with those who weep, and to lament with those who lament. After he had given loose to his tears, the young man tried, by all means in his power, to assuage his sorrow; on which the aged man said to him, "Return to the city of Constantinople, and prove yourself a man, for the Lord will deliver it into your hands, and you shall rule over it, and shall be emperor, and from you shall emperors proceed, who shall reign after you; and behold! Basilius, the patriarch, and the chief men of the empire are seeking you that they may become your subjects, and may have you for their lord and emperor; therefore attempt not to fly from that which God has prepared and predestined for you."

Upon this, Tursakius, believing what he said, departed for the city of Constantinople, in the disguise of a poor man and a beggar. Not daring to discover himself to the people because his hour was not yet come, he remained in the suburbs alone, attended by a single servant, and having but one gelding, and that weak and lame, and there with patience awaited the fulfilment of the promise of the holy man beforementioned. There he was frequently visited by the chief men of the land and the patriarch, not openly, however, but in secret, by reason of the fears of the emperor; who was by this time the object of universal hatred, and was himself the hater of all men. Even the patriarch, who had aided in his elevation, he persecuted to such a degree, as, against his wish, to build a certain noble church in the city, and place therein Latin canons, in consequence of which, to the present day, that church is called the "Latin Church."

After a considerable time, the aforesaid Androneus, the emperor, goaded by a bad conscience, was desirous, through his magicians, to learn if there was still any person whom there was reason for him to stand in fear of: on which they made answer to him, "Give us a boy without guilt to slay, and a period of three days, and we will give you information on what you ask." Accordingly, a boy without guilt was immediately delivered to them, whom they offered in sacrifice to the demons, and after making lengthened investigation in his blood and entrails by means of their magical arts, discovered by the signs that the close of his rule was nigh at hand, and his death at the gate

and that he who was to put him to death was in the neighbourhood, and his name was Tursakius Angelus.

Accordingly, on the next day, the above-mentioned magicians came to the emperor Androneus, and said to him, "Now at length have your sins overtaken you of which you were guilty when you sat on your tribunal, oppressing the innocent and condemning the just blood without a cause. For the day of your downfall is hastening on; and lo! he is close at hand who shall destroy you and take your empire, and the name of that person is Tursakius Angelus. After unheard-of torments as your punishment, he will condemn you to a most cruel death, and his deeds will be applauded by the lips of the people, and he himself will become as the very food of those who tell of his exploits, and will reign over us, and his posterity will succeed to the sceptre. It is to your own sorrow that you have deprived his father and brothers of eyesight and other blessings. At this moment he is in the suburbs of this city; therefore expel him, if expel him you can.'

Androneus, however, on learning that he was at hand who was to put him to death, sent his chancellor with some knights and men-at-arms, for the purpose of seizing him. On arriving at the place where he lodged, they found the gates closed; on which those who went first cried with a loud voice, "Open the gates for us, open them; behold! it is the emperor's chancellor come;" and then said, "Tursakius, come forth." Tursakius, seeing that they would break open the gates if he did not come forth with all speed, quickly saddled his horse, and, mounting it, girded on his sword; and then, opening the gates, he darted forth with the greatest rapidity, and, brandishing his sword, made his way among those who resisted, and, rushing upon the chancellor, cut off his head. The rest, however, stood quite astounded, and not one laid hands on him; on which, passing through the midst of them, he entered the city, and going through it came to the church of Saint Sophia, where, finding the patriarch Basilius, he cast himself at his feet, and told him of all that had happened to him.

On this, the patriarch raising him from the ground, exclaimed to the whole of the people there assembled, "Come hither and behold the man whom the Lord hath chosen to reign over us; say, then, what you think thereof." To this they

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all made answer, "It pleases us that he should be our lord, and that he should reign over us, and that we should expel this perfidious Androneus, who is destroying us and our nation." Upon this, the patriarch consented to the wishes of the people, for he too had the same desire, and forthwith consecrated him emperor: after which, having celebrated mass and performed all things with due solemnity, the patriarch took him to his own house, and made a great entertainment for the chief men and tribunes of the city (for it was a festival), to which a multitude of the people and of the elders resorted.

In the meantime, the emperor Androneus had come forth from his palace that he might see the end of Isaac Angelus, for the purpose of arresting whom he had sent his chancellor ; but, on hearing that the chancellor was slain and that Isaac Angelus had been proclaimed emperor, he returned to his palace, and the gate was shut. On this, the new emperor came with a great multitude of armed people and laid siege to the palace of Androneus. Suddenly, there came a great black raven, of sinister appearance, which, sitting upon a wall of the palace, right opposite to the emperor Androneus, sent forth at him an unceasing and ill-boding cawing; upon which, conjecturing that this was an omen of his downfall and ruin, he seized his bow and drew it, but when he attempted to aim an arrow at it, the bow broke: on which, being greatly enraged, he threw it at his feet, saying, "Now I know of a truth that the day of my ruin is hastening on, and that the anger of God has fallen upon me."

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While he was still speaking, the followers of the new emperor scaled the walls of the palace and took the emperor Androneus prisoner, and after binding him, delivered him up, to the new emperor; who said to him, Now, through the righteous judgment of God, have your sins overtaken you, by which you have deserved His anger, in oppressing the innocent, and slaying your lord, the emperor Alexis, and blinding my father and my brothers, and other nobles of the kingdom; therefore you shall die by the most shocking of deaths;" after which he delivered him to the torturers, saying, "Take and scourge him through the streets and lanes of the city, and you are at liberty to put out one of his eyes, and to cut off one ear, one hand, and one foot. You must, however, preserve his life and his other limbs for greater torments."

After this command had been fully complied with, the new emperor delivered him to other tormentors, who, scattering straw over him, set fire to his sides and burned him till the whole of his skin was contracted into wrinkles: after which they fastened him to the tails of horses, and then, dragging him through the midst of the city, when he was dead, cast his body outside thereof.

After this, the religious men who lived in that church in the city, which is called the Latin church, came to the emperor Tursakius and asked for his body; on which he gave it to them, and they buried it in their church, which he had built. But his hand that had been cut off was suspended by chains of iron from a gibbet. In the next place, by command of the emperor Tursakius and the whole clergy and people, it was, ordered, after due consideration, that whatever Androneus had commanded to be done should be declared null and void: in consequence of which, all who by command of Androneus had gone into exile, returned home. In addition to this, the emperor Tursakius slew the two sons of Androneus, and taking due precaution for the future, deposed the above-named patriarch Basilius, and shut him up in a monastery.

He also sent for the person who had foretold to him what should come to pass, and, contrary to the wishes of the canons of the church of Saint Sophia, appointed him patriarch: in consequence of which there arose a division among them, so that no one would pay obedience to him. As he was a man of peace and was unwilling to have any contention with them, he abdicated the patriarchate, on which the emperor appointed him supreme judge in ecclesiastical matters over all the churches of his empire. After this, the emperor Tursakius, by the advice of his family, married the daughter of Bela, king of Hungary, by whom he had sons and daughters, to one of whom Roger, king of Sicily, son of Tancred, king of Sicily, was married.

In the same year, Henry, king of England, the father, made a new coinage in England, and fined the moneyers for the baseness of the old coinage. In this year also, Richard, bishop of Saint Andrew's, in Scotland, departed this life, after whose decease there immediately arose a division as to the election of a bishop. For the canons of the church of Saint Andrew's elected as their bishop master

John, surnamed Scot, while William, king of the Scots, elected his chaplain Hugh, and ordered him to be consecrated by the bishops of his kingdom, in spite of the appeal made to our lord the pope by the before-named John, the bishop elect. In consequence of this, Alexander, the Supreme Pontiff, sent Alexis, subdeacon of the Church at Rome, into Scotland, to learn the merits of the controversy that existed between John, the bishop elect, and Hugh, who had been consecrated, and to put an end to the same.

Upon his arrival in Scotland, after having made lengthened enquiries in presence of the clergy and the people of the kingdom, respecting the election of John and of Hugh, and the consecration of the said Hugh, and having learned that the before-named John had been canonically elected, and that Hugh, after appeal had been made to the Roman Pontiff, had been violently thrust by the king into the bishopric of Saint Andrew's, he without any hesitation deposed him from the bishopric of Saint Andrew's, and by virtue of the authority entrusted to him, condemned him to perpetual silence. The election also of John he confirmed, and caused him to be consecrated by the bishops of Scotland, the king neither forbidding nor opposing the same, indeed, rather, in conformity with the advice of the bishops of the kingdom, sanctioning it. But immediately after his consecration had taken place, the king forbade him to stay in his kingdom. On the other hand, Hugh conducted himself as a bishop none the less than before, and, taking with him the sacramental vessels that belonged to the see, and the crozier and ring, together with other things which he unlawfully withheld, departed for Rome; on which, because he was unwilling to restore what he had carried away, Alexis excommunicated him, and the Supreme Pontiff confirmed the sentence; whereupon the pope wrote to the following effect to the bishops and other ecclesiastical men of the kingdom of Scotland ::

The letter of pope Alexander relative to John and Hugh, the bishops of Saint Andrew's.

"Alexander, the bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his venerable brethren, the whole of the bishops, and his dearly beloved sons the abbats and other prelates of churches throughout Scotland appointed, to the prior, canons, clergy, and people of Saint Andrew's, health and the Apostolic bene