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

The three Princes go home. The Emperor goes to Milan and Rome.

YE haue herd bifore, hou the Emperour was concluded to go to Rome & to othir places / where he shold resceyue the Crownes of the Empire; and as he had concluded, so he did, and departed toward them assone as he might, where he was resceyued of alle the lordes of the Empyre / ffor his renome was so spred ouir alle the worlde, that euery man desired to se him, and knowe who he was / they had him in grettir fauour than they had bifore. and the lordes askid him of the demeanyng of his warres / and he tolde them the trouthe, & forgate not to reherce the noblesse of Le Surnome and his ij ffelawes / Aftir his coronacion, he toke his way to millayne, and was crowned ther agein / & from thens departed and went to Rome, and helde there a grete court, and there soiourned a long while, where he was resceyued of the Pope and alle the Cardynalls with grete ioye / and whan he had contynued there as long as it pleased him, he retourned agein in-to his contre / where he made grete purueaunce ageinst the tournay / whiche began fast to approche. & he made thorugh alle the Towne, the loggynges to be apointed, and

dressid in the best wise / and euery man applied him so wele / that alle thing was sure & redy. Euery prince & lord that was of roialle blode, that had herd the crye of this Tournay, and knewe also the grete renoun of this ffaire lady for whom the tournay shold be / aredyed them the moost richely that they coude, to be ther at that day. But ouir alle othir, Orkais, the [leaf 99] yonge Turke, had desire and wille to shewe him self at this ffeste. he was so sore taken with the loue of this faire lady / that he was yn fulle wille to bileue in the lawe of Ihesu crist / the gretist drede he had, was, hou he might bringe this aboute by the agrement of alle his suggettes / whan he was comen in-to this contre, he was resceyued as to his estate belonged / and euery man had grete trust in his persone / for that they sawe him alle othirwise in his maner and condiciouns than his ffadir had ben bi-fore. Alle thestates of his Reaume came vnto him / for eche of them desired gladly to se him / he was right large & courtaise / and moche conuersaunt with the noble men of his Reaume / and many tymes they asked him of the warres, and of the maner of the cristen folkes, in whos handes he had long tyme bene. Orkais tolde hem the trouthe / and rathir seid more of honour, than lesse, to thentent to drawe the hertes of his people the more to that bileve / and seide verrily, "that he bileued, that if the god that the cristen folkes worshipped, had not ben their helpe / it had ben impossible for them euir to haue recouered." Than tolde he them in what caas the Cezilians were / and of their pore corage / and howe that, by one only man, they were sodeinlye transmuted in to the moost valiaunt nacion that at this houre was cristen / and hou aftir that, ij. othir were comen, by whom, with the helpe of the first, was the destruccion of his ffader, & dethe of alle them of his lawe, whiche thought him a thing ouir meruailous / and so moche preised he the cristen feith, that his folkes thought wele he had some pleasir therin / and some of them seide that "the cristen god was more worthi than their god that they bileued on" / and so moche did the yonge Turke by his wordes, with contynuaunce of tyme, that he sawe & knewe verrily that, suche part as he toke, the most part of his reaume wold take / wherof he was as ioifull as he might be / and thervpone ordeyned his habilementes, the moost riche þat had be seen in that reaume / & thought to take with him the grettist parte of princes & Barons of his reaume, to thentent that they shold be cristened with him / and he trusted verrily by this dede to conquere this faire lady / whiche in hir tyme was very mirrour of alle

othir fair ladies / Many men askid him whider he wold go, and he seide, his entent was to go the ffeest of themperour, with whom he had ben prisoner, & was in his Daunger by the places that he helde in his contre. wherfore he wolde do him honour and pleasir, to thentent he might haue his places the sonner agein / [leaf 99, bk.] and to take a Lenger trewes with him / "for I propose nomore to Warre with him. They that herde him, were right ioifulle of thies tidynges. they that had apointed to go with him / habiled them-self as richely as they coude, and so wele, that the yong Turke thought him-self there sholde come neither kynge ne prince at that day bettir appointed than he and alle his people shold be / he puruaide so that alle thing was redy longe bifore the day of his departyng; and in his mynde he dred noman; sith that he knewe wele the iij. seruauntes of fferaunt might not turnay, he thought him verily assured that the faire Iolant shold be his wiff. Thus passed forth the tyme alle in ioie, trustyng in goode auenture. And thus shalle we leve a while of hym, and speke of the iij. ffelawes that were departed eche fro othir / and euery man hielde his way with grete sorowe and payne, contynuelly remembryng the faire Iolant / whiche eche of them trusted to haue to his wif, Remembryng also the bounte of the Emperour and of the Emperesse / and aftir, they thought on their curtaise maister, and of the fortunes they had there / and aftir, remembred hou they shold come agein in-to that Reaume, and hou the Emperour shold meruaile to se them come agein, like kynges sones / and in esspeciall, fferaunt, whiche hadde reteyned them so long in seruice / and so shold their ij. ffelawes that most be there that day, whan they shalle saye how long they haue ben ffelawes vnto a kynges sone / and euerich of them had his thought bie his two ffelawes. [[Illumination: a King, or Noble, receiving and embracing a young Man.]]