The Three Kings' Sons. Part I. The Text / edited from its unique MS, Harleian 326, about 1500 A.D. by F.J. Furnivall

K. Alfour of Sicily and his Q. Sybil have a lovely girl, Iolante.

NOw seith the tale / that than was there a kyng yn that Reaume named Alfour, a valaunt knight, and gretely loued & dred god / and kepte his commaundementes asmoche as any prince might, and so shewed it wele; for to sustene the feith / put he his body many [leaf 9, bk.] tymes in auenture / and shedde his blode in diuerse batailles.

This kynge was to mary / and,--for to haue comfort and helpe ayenst the miscreauntes / that night and day made him warre, aswele the Turke as othir / holding the dampnable feith of Machoumete,--had counseƚƚ of his princes and Barons to aske to wif the doughter of the kyng of Spayne, named Sybille / And the kyng of Spayne was called Albors, and had to wif the doughter of the kynge of Portyngale / and it was concluded by the hole counseƚƚ of the Reaume / that in asmoche as the kynge of ffraunce had no doughter / that this was the moost myghty place for the kynge of Sizile to be alied witℏ / to haue helpe and comfort for to sustene his warres.

Now then were notable messangers sent forth / and thei labored so that, by the kynge of Spayne, his doughter was agreed & yeuen to the kynge of Syzile; wherof aƚƚ his Reaume was rigℏt ioifuƚƚ, and trusted by tho seide kynge of Spayne to be gretely socoured and holpen.

Now was this lady delyuerd to the Ambassatours, whiche brought hir in-to the Reaume of Sizile, wher-as she was resceyued with fulle grete honour / the kynge maried hir with right grete ioie / and withyn litle while she was with Childe / wherof the Reaume was gretly reioised / abidyng the grace of god til it came to the tyme of .ix. monethes ende / that she was deliuerd / and had a doughter whiche was cristened and named Iolante. whiche was in hir daies the fairest lady of the world / best condicioned and the best biloued; & not without cause / for in hir were all the noble vertues that migℏt or ought to be comprised in so higℏ a pryncesse / and to reherce ferthir .I. passe ouir / for I haue neithir witte nor tonge that suffiseth therto / ffor in hir tyme she passed in beaute and vertu aƚƚ that part of the worlde / for aƚƚthougℏ the kynge hir ffadir were so good a prince & so valiaunt a knyght / yit was the Reaume more susteyned and aided by a hundird part for hir sake than for his, for the pite that eueri body had of the destruccion of such one as she was / And whan she came to

the age of .xiiij. yere / hir renone was so grete that it spredde thorugh the worlde. And yif the kynge hir ffadir wold haue yeuen hir to the grete Turke for his eldest sone, he might haue had peas for hym and aƚƚ his Reaume; but he wold in no wise be agreable therto, for he was so verry parfit goddys knyght, that he had leuer a diede / And thus eueri day encreasid his warres / and his losse grewe more and more; but vigorously, and [leaf 10] as a valiaunt knygℏt, he diffendid his Reaume so long, til his tresour was nygh dispendid / and his Reaume at the poynt of perdicion, his noble men amenyssht be the warres, in-so-moche that he was fayn to sende to alle cristen kynges, to asserteyne hem what cas he was yn / requiryng hem in the name of oure lorde Ihesu criste / that, forto mayntene his holy feith / they wold socoure hym & helpe hym.

Now trewe it was that many notable knightes, that had no warres in the cristen Reaumes, disported them thorugh diuerse Reaumes / wherof many passid by the Reaume of Sizile / and whan thei vndirstede the warres that were there / some of them contynued stille there / and some retourned in-to their contrees / to abile them self for the warres whiche were dispuruaide there / wherof there were diuerse knyghtes of ffraunce / aswele as of othir contrees / that were come out of the Reaume of Sizile / & euerich exorted gretly their kynge or prince, vndir whos obeisaunce thei were, to entreprynse the viage, & shewed them the grete pite that was of the Reaume, & of that faire & good lady the kinges doughter / of whom-eueri man seide more wele than othir / and for the pite & loue that many had of hir / thei abode ful long in the kynges seruice at their owne charge, for he was not of power to sowde them / the Reaume was so gretely empouerysht / thus for hir loue had he the seruice of many a noble knyght.