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

K. Charles gives his Son Philip an evasive Answer.

THe kynge, consideryng the wordes of his sone, thought hem trewe & right honorable / al-though he had no wille therto / yit answerd hym thus: "my sone, youre seyng is good and laudable, & I wol remembre it / and take auyse vpon̄ your exortacion." The right noble sone of the kynge was wise, and knewe anoon / that this was but a meane to be delyuerd of hym, & that he had no wille to entende to this matter; & thus moornyng, pensif and right soroufulƚ, he departed fro hym / & went to his chambre, where-as were many noble folkes; and he withdrewe hym in-to an Inner chambre with suche as pleasid hym / and made one rede holy stories and lyues of Seyntes, seruauntes to the cristen feith / wher-by he sawe the paynes and trauailes that the holy Apostells and Martirs had sofred to gete the perdurable glorie. Sone aftir he went ayen in-to his Chambre, where-as he founde many yonge lordes, sonys to the grete princes and grete lordes of the Reaume / that had be brought vp of childhode with hym, whiche caused bitwene him and them a verry naturel loue; and they exorted hym to speke to the kynge for this Viage of Sizile, whiche they knewe for trouthe that ouir alle thynge he desired; & gladly eueri man meueth his maister of suche matiers as moost may please hym / Also eche of [leaf 12] theym was of the age to bere Armes / and ouir aƚƚ

thyng desired to be at that viage / and often saide to their maister / "yif ye myghte haue this viage, ye shold haue al the sute of the world / for eueri man wold be ioifuƚƚ to put hym vndir you. Ector of Troie nor Alisaundre had neuer the renome that ye shold haue aftir your dethe" / This yong philippe, heryng dayly thies wordes, knowyng the kynges pleasir contrary, answerd lesse than he was wont to do, wherof they that spake to hym of þe matier were abasshed, & thought in hem self that he was not so hote ther-yn as he had ben bifore / but for trouthe he was more ardaunt in his mynde than euir he was. Thus euerichon departid, for it was tyme to go to slepe. This yong prince beyng in his bedde, contynuelly thinkyng on the wordes that he had hadde witℏ his ffadir / aftir came him to remembraunce the stories he hadde herd redde a litle bifore his going to bedde / callyng to mynde also / the paynes that be in this world / hou myghti a kyng someuer he be, here hath he no surete in noon erthly thyng / but only of the kyngdom of heuen, that neuer hath fyne / thus he debated in him self, seyng thies wordes / "A, verray god ! y may do the no seruice / I haue the wille, but I haue not the power / I remembre the paynes / the seyntes of whom I rede to day endured to come to thy Reaume. Alas ! y had neuer payn for the / but aƚƚ wele and glorie / hou may y than acheue that crowne without ende / I am of thy grace abidyng on that is erthly / whiche right sone y may lese / for dethe shal make the departyng; & than shaƚƚ I haue no more possessioune nor part yn erthe than the porest in this Reaume; wele cured were I, yif y migℏt make a chaunge of that crowne that is morteƚƚ, for that whiche ys ymmorteƚƚ. So y pray the, very god, þat of thy grace thou wilt helpe me, though y may not nowe / that here-aftir this Reaume and I may be emploied in thy seruice." After, he torned hym in his bedde, and said in this wise: "what seruice may y do / y haue no power but of myn only body, that neuer sawe no thyng, ne wote not what it is of Armes / ner neuer sawe company assembled. y am yong & but a childe; what seruyce may .I. than do to god?" / than seide he ageyn, "A, good lord / tho that y redde of to-day, that sought the Reaume of heuen / ne did it not in grete company, but only with their owne propre bodies. It were they that sought the very parfit glorie, and god was suffised with the desertes of their owne bodies / wherfore alle thynges [leaf 12, bk.] considered, y shaƚƚ put forth my body / and renounce alƚ the successioun þat in this world may befalle me, and for his sake

promyse with good hert to go vnto the seruice of the kyng of Sizile / and neuer to departe til the warres be ended / or ellis y shaƚƚ dye yn the defence of his reaume" / and thus vttirly concludid Phelip to departe, & to abandoune the Reaume and aƚƚ his frendes / thynkyng yn hym self / hou to conduyte this matier that no lyving creature shold haue knowlage therof / ffor wele wist he that there was noman in alle the Reaume, and he knewe it / that durst concele it fro the kynge; for he was sure / and they did othirwise / they shold die; and therfore determyned he yn alle poyntes to entreprise this viage without discoueryng of his entent to any lyving creature / considering wele that he had not ben accostomed to be alone / and that it shold be to hym right straunge / neuirtheles, for the loue of oure lord, he determyned to suffre & bere paciently all paynes and troubles that he wolde sende hym. In this determynacion & purpose contynued Phelip the space of a Moneth and more / thinkyng on that besinesse / and did so that he puruaide hym of money y-nough to fynde hym .v. or vj. yere / trustyng withyn that terme to fynde some good auenture / So it befel that on a Monday at night, the mone shone faire and clere, and he departid out of Paris; and this was the xxijth. day of ffeuyrer / And his age was than xxv. yere / and at his departyng, he verrily promysed in his mynde neuer to be knowen what he was, til the warres were ffynysshed / and bettir for to couer hym self / he chaunged his name / & concludid to calle hym self "le despurucu" / and passed so forth / & thought wele that whan his goyng was knowen, that ouir alƚ the marches men sholde seke hym, and in especiaƚƚ vpone the marches of Sizile, for this that many folkes had knowen his desire thiderward; & therfore he avised hym not to go that way, but rather drewe hym to the Reaume of Spayne; for he thought / yn-asmoche as the kynge of Sizile had maryed þe kynge of Spaynes doughtir, there he sholde here more certeyn tidynges þan in any othir Reaume / So rode he forth the streight way towarde Spayne / yn so grete haste that he rode more in one day / than any of the best ryders the kynge his ffadir had / did in two / and rode so fortℏ, aƚƚ-wey vnknowen̄, so long tyme til he came to Spayne / so sore chaunged & amegred that vnnethe any man myght him knowe / for he had not the lif / he had ben accostomed to / where-thorugh, yif god of his grace had not [leaf 13] the better comforted & holpen him / he had neuer departed out of Spayne alyue / alweis, what payne and trauaile so euer he had, he

toke it in pacience, for the loue of god. So fortuned hym to come to a Cite was named Towlette / where-as the kynge was / And for-asmoche as he thought there were folkes a-boute the kynge of alle nacions, as wele of ffraunce as of othir / and perauenture suche as might lyghtly knowe hym / it thought hym good to fynde some secrete loggyng where-as he shold not be often seyen / and so, by the meane of a gentilman that he mette by the way / he was loggid in the hous of a noble Burgeis, one of the moost riche of the Towne / whiche had weddid the Aunt of that same gentilman / at whos request they loggid hym right wele, and made hym right good chere / which felle wele for le Despurueu; for thei were good and notable folkes, & had a sone & a doughter of right grete and notable recommendacion, faire persones of good condicions, & wele and honorably norisshed / & withyn litle while that the Despurueu had ben there, the loued hym as their owne sone / & the sone & the doughter loued hym as their brother. And to the sone of the hous taught he such thynges of honour, that folkes meruailed to se hym so wele ensured / And the doughter taught he to syng / to harpe, & to play at the chesse, and all such goodly th[y]nges as bilonge to a gentilwoman of honour.

Now felle it so / that while he was in this reste aftir his grete trauaile, whiche he was not accustomed to / bifelle hym a grete sikenesse, that alle tho that sawe him iuged in hym no thyng but dethe / and durid in hym more than half a yere / so that he might neuer rise of his bedde, whereby he was so moche empeired / that, & he had ben in the presence of his ffadir / he coude not know hym / and moche more greued hym his sekenesse / for it taried hym fro the seruice of god / than for any payne that he endured / but our lorde, in whos kepyng he had put hym, whiche wold not refuse his seruice / made hym to haue that sikenes / for othir wise migℏt he neuer accomplissh his desire vnknowen / there was so grete serche for hym yn eueri cristen Reaume / for so grete sorowe was neuer seyn in no contre as was for his departyng, thorughout alle ffraunce. [leaf 13, bk.] [[Illum.]]