and related many strange things concerning eastern countries. In the course of conversation he was asked whether he had ever seen or heard anything of Joseph, a man of whom there was much talk in the world, who, when our Lord suffered, was present and spoke to him, and who is still alive in evidence of the Christian faith, in reply to which a knight in his retinue, who was his interpreter, replied, speaking in French, "My lord well knows that man, and a little before he took his way to the western countries the said Joseph ate at the table of my lord the archbishop in Armenia, and he had often seen and held converse with him." He was then asked about what had passed between Christ and the same Joseph, to which he replied, " At the time of the suffering of Jesus Christ, he was seized by the Jews and led into the hall of judgment, before Pilate the governor, that he might be judged by him on the accusation of the Jews, and Pilate finding no cause for adjudging him to death, said to them, Take him and judge him according to your law;" the shouts of the Jews, however, increasing, he, at their request, released unto them Barabbas, and delivered Jesus to them to be crucified. When therefore the Jews were dragging Jesus forth, and had reached the door, Cartaphilus, a porter of the hall in Pilate's service, as Jesus was going out of the door, impiously struck him on the back with his hand, and said in mockery, "Go quicker, Jesus, go quicker, why do you loiter?" And Jesus looking back on him with a severe countenance said to him, "I am going, and you will wait till I return." And according as our Lord said, this Cartaphilus is still awaiting his return; at the time of our Lord's suffering he was thirty years old, and when he attains the age of a hundred years, he always returns to the same age as he was when our Lord suffered. After Christ's death, when the 66 Armenia catholic faith gained ground, this Cartaphilus was baptized Sau by Ananias, (who also baptized the apostle Paul,) and was due called Joseph. He often dwells in both divisions of Armenia, and other eastern countries, passing his time amidst the bishops and other prelates of the church; he is a man of holy conversation and religious, a man of few words and circumspect in his behaviour, for he does not speak at all unless when questioned by the bishops and religious men; and then he tells of the events of old times, and of the events which occurred at the suffering and resurrection of our Lord, and of the witnesses of the resurrection, namely VOL. II. LL those who rose with Christ, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto men; he also tells of the creed of the apostles, and of their separation and preaching; and all this he relates without smiling or levity of conversation, as one who is well practised in sorrow and the fear of God, always looking forward with fear to the coming of Jesus Christ, lest at the last judgment he should find him in anger, whom, when on his way to death, he had provoked to just vengeance. Numbers come to him from different parts of the world, enjoying his society and conversation, and to them, if they are men of authority, he explains all doubts on the matters on which he is questioned. He refuses all gifts that are offered to him, being content with slight food and clothing. He places his hope of salvation on the fact that he sinned through ignorance, for the Lord when suffering prayed for his enemies in these words, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” How master Roger succeeded Eustace, bishop of London. In the same year Eustace bishop of London closed his life; and in his place the canons elected master Roger, surnamed the Black, a canon of their church, who was then presented to the king and received by him without any opposition. In the same year too, in the month of December, Geoffrey bishop of Ely died, and was buried in the cathedral church on the 12th of the same month; and on his death the monks by common consent elected Hugh abbat of St. Edmund's, who, when presented to the king, was willingly accepted of by him, and was invested with all the property of the bishopric. How the continental nobles invited the king of England to come to them. A.D. 1229. At Christmas king Henry held his court at Oxford, at which the nobles of the kingdom were present. At that place the archbishop of Bourdeaux, who was sent by the nobles of Gascony, Aquitaine, and Poictou, came to him, and was received with due honour by the king, and he kept Christmas with him. Special messengers also came to him from Normandy, all of whom had one and the same business with him, which was, on behalf of the nobles of the above-named provinces, to invite him to come in person to those parts, and promising that they would all come to him with horses and arms, and followed by the people of the province, and would stand by him without flinching, so that he might regain his lost territories. Henry in his simplicity was doubtful how to act, and therefore consulted the justiciary, who was his only counsellor, who advised him to postpone the matter till a more favourable opportunity. And the messengers being unable to obtain any other answer returned home. How the astronomers of Toledo wrote concerning the planets. In the same year the astronomers of Toledo sent letters to all Christian people to the following effect:-"To all the faithful followers of Christ to whom these letters shall come, master John David of Toledo, and all the other masters of the same place, health and the consolation of the Holy Spirit. From the year of our Lord one thousand two hundred and twenty-nine for seven years, in the month of September, the sun will be in the sign of Libra; all the planets will then come together, and the sun will be in the tail of the Dragon; and this will be a sign of wonderful and dreadful events; and there will be a storm of wind throughout Saturn and Mars, and the sea will rise unusually high; and there will be such a great clashing together of the winds that they will stand almost together, and will obscure and darken the whole world; and they will give forth dreadful sounds, putting the hearts of men in disorder, destroying buildings and trees; and several valleys will be raised to a level with mountains; and they will hurl many cities to the ground, especially Babylon, Baldach, Methas, and Tripolis, and chiefly cities lying in gravelly and sandy places; but before all these things come to pass there will be an eclipse of the sun, and from the third hour of the day till mid-day the sun will be of a fiery red colour, which denotes great effusion of blood; and after this will follow an eclipse of the moon of mingled colours, which will denote great confusion among nations; and after this there will be battles and slaughter in the east and in the west, and there will be universal earthquakes throughout the whole world, and a great mortality and disputing of nations and kingdoms one with another, and a great emperor will die; and after this tempest of winds few will remain alive, but as many as do survive will abound in delicacies and wealth; a doubtfulness will spring up amongst the Saracens, and they shall leave their mosques and shall become one with the Christian. Therefore we, in common with all the magistracy and all our learned fellow astrologers of Toledo, having discovered these facts, have thought proper to disclose them to you, and enjoin you in remission of your sins and for the salvation of your souls, to publish them to persons not aware of them, and to provide places of safety for yourselves to remain in as long as these winds shall continue; they will blow in the month of September, and then it will be difficult to find on the earth a safe dwelling place. Prepare therefore caves on plains surrounded by mountains, not covered with sand or gravel, and let the caves be covered with planks, and place earth upon them, and let no trees be near, by which the mouth of the cave can be blocked up, and in these caves lay up food for yourselves for forty days; know also that in this all the philosophers and astronomers of Spain, Greece, Arabia, Armenia, and the Hebrews, are of the same opinion as ourselves. We have heard too that the king of Manichin is building a tower of excellent materials, in which all his neighbours are assisting him, and the tower will be as large as a mountain. And we also declare of the king of Sicily, the dangers which seem to us impending. Nothing therefore remains for Christians at this present crisis, but for each and all of them to endeavour to prepare their minds by fruitful repentance, by pure and humble confession, and by proper atonement, that when the Bridegroom cometh they may not meet him with empty lamps, like the foolish virgins who had no oil, and, which God forbid, find the door shut against them; but rather, like the wise virgins, with their lamps trimmed, and may be allowed to enter with the Bridegroom to the marriage-feast." We confidently believe that within the seven years following we shall see some things happen to which, either in reality or by analogy, we may find some adaptation to these letters of the astronomers. But of this hereafter. How pope Gregory made war against the Roman emperor Frederic. About this time, pope Gregory, being annoyed because the Roman emperor Frederic had gone to the Holy Land an excommunicated and rebellious man, entirely despaired of his ever repenting, and make satisfaction so as to return to the unity of the church; he therefore determined, as he saw that he was rebellious and contumacious, to drive him from his imperial dignity, and to appoint some other son of peace and obedience in his stead. But since our information on this matter could only have reached us by means of others, we will here give a letter from a certain count Thomas, whom the emperor at his departure had appointed, in conjunction with some others, to be guardian and agent of the empire, which letter that noble sent to the emperor, concerning this affair, and which we obtained from a pilgrim: "To the high and mighty Frederic, by the grace of God, the august emperor of the Romans, and the most potent king of Sicily, Thomas count of Atteræ, his faithful and devoted subject in all respects, health, and victory over his enemies. After your majesty's departure, Gregory the Roman pontiff, the open enemy of your excellency, assembled a large army by the agency of John de Brienne, ex-king of Jerusalem, and some other bold men, whom he appointed chiefs of his expedition, and invaded your territories and those of your subjects, and in disregard of the Christian law, resolved to subdue you by the sword of steel, since he could not, as he says, humble you by the spiritual one; for the aforesaid John is collecting a large body of soldiers from the kingdom of France and other adjacent countries, being in hopes of obtaining the empire, if he can conquer you, and supplies his soldiers with pay from the treasury of the apostolic see. This said John then, and the other chiefs of the army of the apostolic see, have invaded your territory and that of your subjects, and are setting fire to the buildings and towns, seizing the cattle and other booty, making prisoners of the inhabitants, and after torturing them in various ways, compel them to pay a heavy ransom; they spare neither age nor sex, and show no mercy to any one outside of the churches or cemeteries; they are taking towns and castles, and give no heed to the fact of your being in the service of Jesus Christ; and if any one makes mention of the emperor, this John de Brienne declares that there is no other emperor besides himself. Your friends, most mighty emperor, are astonished at these things, and especially the clergy wonder by what advice and with what conscience the Roman pontiff can do such things, and make war against Christians, especially as the Lord said to Peter as he was about to strike the man with his sword of steel, "Put up your sword into the scabbard; for every one who strikes with the sword shall perish by the sword." And they equally wonder by what right he, who every day as it were excommunicates robbers, incendiaries, and tormentors of the Christians, and excludes them from the community of the church, can authorize and give his consent to such proceedings. I beseech you, therefore, most mighty emperor, to take measures for your own safety, and to preserve your honour touching the aforesaid matters, for your enemy, the aforesaid John de Brienne, has garrisoned all the ports on this side the water with large numbers of armed spies, in order that, if you should happen to return from your pilgrimage, he may make prisoner of you, which God forbid.* * Paris adds: "In the same year, on the second and third days of the week before Ash Wednesday, on which days the student clerks are accustomed to make holiday, some clerks left the city and went to St. Marcel, to enjoy the sports there on account of its healthy air; and on their arrival there, after refreshing themselves for a while with their games, they discovered some very good and sweet wine in a tavern there. After some time a quarrel arose between the clerks drinking there and the vintners, as to the price of the wine, and they proceeded to strike one another and tear each other's hair, until the villagers came up and rescued the vintners from the hands of the clerks, inflicting severe blows on the opposing clerks, and at length after beating them soundly, put them to flight. They returned bruised to the city, and aroused their companions to revenge them; they all accordingly sallied forth the next day with swords and clubs, and on arriving at St. Marcel, they forcibly entered the house of one of the vintners, broke all his wine vessels, poured the wine about the floor of the house, and then, proceeding through the streets, they fiercely attacked every one they met, and after beating them severely, left them half dead. The prior of St. Marcel, on learning the great injuries inflicted on the people whom he was bound to protect, laid a complaint before the Roman legate and the bishop of Paris, who at once proceeded together to the queen, who then managed the government of the kingdom, and begged of her to give orders for the punishment of such an insult. The queen, with a woman's sauciness, and at the first impulse ordered the prefects of the city and some of her soldiers to arm themselves immediately, sally forth from the city, and punish the authors of this act of violence, showing mercy to none. These men being always ready to perform any cruelty, went through the gates of the city, and found a number of clerks outside engaged in their games, but who had not been at all concerned in the above violence. The tumultuous clerks, who had caused the origin of |