XXXIX.

And presently companies from Catalonia and Aragon came to me, so that we were in all two hundred knights, and had besides up to a thousand footmen. I went against Linesola (Liñola), and arrived there after the third day. And while I was before Linesola, the day after our arrival there came R. de Moncada, upon which all the army got ready to fight; and they (the enemy) entered the town and took possession of it. And En R. de Cardona came to me and said: "I would counsel you, my lord, not to fight; there are good soldiers there inside the town, and its capture would not really be worth the harm that you and yours might receive. Let me parley with them, and see if I cannot get good terms for you ?" But I would not listen to him, and went up to the town and fought with those inside, and on foot, as I was, with my own men I took the town. Upon which the besieged barricaded themselves in the fortress, where there was a very good tower and several outworks;⁽¹⁾ but the same day they surrendered to me, and the day after I established my camp there. [85]

XL.

Thence I went to Balaguer to besiege it; I crossed the river at a place called Almata, and there ordered two "fonevols" to be made. Then came En Guillen de Moncada, En Guillen de Cervera, and some other barons of Aragon, and we were in all up to three hundred knights. And when we had been eight days at that place, a messenger came from Menargues and besides him⁽²⁾ from En Pere Palau, two of the chief people in the town, saying that, if I wished to finish the work at Balaguer I should send for the Countess, who was then at Lerida, as she should summon them on their allegiance to her; having been once her father's subjects, and she was their lady, to surrender the town to her. And as I saw that these words were important and had a hidden meaning, and that they could not, for fear, [86] send me such an answer as they wished, I them a message, thanking them much, and assuring them that I would repay the love they showed me, in such wise that it should profit them and their houses. And thereon, after a few days, the messenger returned to me; he was a young scholar whom I did not hold in much account, and he repeated to me the very same words formerly uttered on their behalf. And I said to myself, "Of two things one: either they do this of themselves, or by the advice of others; it is so important a thing that if there be a party against them [in the town] they may yet not be strong enough to carry their point." I then asked the messenger: "When do your people wish the Countess to come to the camp ?" And the messenger said: "I will send to them, and ask." He sent, and a day was fixed for her coming, and on that day the Countess came. At the end of four or five days the people of Balaguer sent to me again, to ask that I should bid a number of men with shields and in armour go before the Countess for protection and approach the wall, so that those on it might hear her speak, and that with the will of God they would comply with her demand, and do what they had said to me. Thereon I did as I had arranged with them. And so the Count [of Urgel] heard that there was some parley between us and those in the town. [87]

XLI.

En Ramon de Moncada had guard by day and night of the fonevols [war-engines], and one day between nones and vespers he was on watch, and with him were En Sancho Perez de Pomar, son of En Pere de Pomar, En Bardoyl, who was his bailli or governor at Castelsera, and A. de Robio, a knight. When the men of Balaguer saw how few they were, they and En Guillen de Cardona, who was also in the town, came in armour, on horseback, through an opening they had made in the wall, and into the ditch, unobserved, with dry faggots soaked in grease. I happened to be at the time in the tent of En Guillen de Cervera, whom I had gone to visit; I was talking with him, when there was a cry: "To arms, to arms! They are coming to set fire to the fonevols, and are bringing burning faggots for that purpose." And En G. de Cardona had with him as many as twenty-five knights in armour, besides two hundred footmen, including those who carried the faggots. And there came out with him Sire Guilleumes, the bastard son of the King of Navarre by a certain woman, and others. And Don Sancho Perez de Pomar had not courage to stand the attack; and he ran away towards the camp; so that there remained with En Ramon de Moncada only A. de Robio and En Guillen Bardoyl. En Guillen de [88] Cardona came lance in hand against En Ramon de Moncada, and said to him: "Surrender En Ramon, surrender." And En Ramon said: "To whom am I to surrender, foul minion - to whom am I surrender ?" Meantime Cardona's men approached the palisade and set fire to it, but could not get to the "fonevol," for I came up with the men and prevented it. On this occasion Blasco Destada, a young knight, made trial of his arms; and went up with the rest, helm on head and lance in hand, and fought with the people of Balaguer; and followed by Joan Martinez Dezleva on foot, with shield on arm and sword in hand, both attacked the Balaguerians as they were re-entering [the town], overtook them in the moat of the castle, and wounded one of the horsemen who had attempted to burn the fonevol.⁽³⁾ Blasco de Estada himself went a stone's throw into the moat, wounded there a knight with his lance, and got away without receiving a blow from any one of them, nor from stones which they threw from the top of the wall. [89]

XLII.

On the third day the Countess came, and in presence of En Guillen de Cervera I told her of the parley with those in the town. She said that she would do whatever I might bid her, and would willingly repeat the words I wanted her to say; she only asked to be protected from the arrows of the Balaguerians. I said to her: "That you shall." Accordingly I caused upwards of fifty knights, with their coats of mail and shields, to go with the Countess and protect her: and she riding up, dismounted and approached the wall within a stone's throw, and one of the knights spoke for her. "Are you there, people of Balaguer ?" As nobody answered the first time, she herself said to them, "The Countess is here; are the chief men of the town there?" Some one said: "Yes, they are; what do you want of them; and what is your errand ?" Then one of the knights said: "The Countess prays you to listen to her for a little while: she is a woman, and cannot speak loud." Then the Countess said: "Good men, you know well that you were my father's men, his born lieges; and as you were his you are my liege men, for I am his daughter; wherefore I pray and command you, by the sovereignty I have over you, that you surrender Balaguer to me, [90] your liege lady."⁽⁴⁾ And they replied: "We have heard your words, and will deliberate on them1 and do our duty, and nothing else." Then another knight replied on behalf of the Countess and said: "Good men, the Countess thanks you much for saying you will do your duty, and hopes that of you." Thereon the Countess returned to the camp. And at vespers the student who had been carrying on messages between me and the town came and said that my plans had met with complete success. The Balaguerians sent word that if I and the Countess agreed to the terms they proposed, the town would be ours immediately. She would with my consent appoint a baron to hold Balaguer for En Pons⁽⁵⁾ and for the Countess conjointly until such a time as the dispute was settled. They did not dare to stir because there was a great power in the castle, and they could not complete the business, but if they only could get the Count's forces out of the town on any pretext, they would manage that both town and castle should be surrendered to the Countess. [91]

XLIII.

And one morning, whilst the chiefmen of the town talking together on a terrace, En Guerau⁽⁶⁾ made a cross-bowman of his bend his bow and shoot an arrow into their assemblage, but he hit no one. "And so," said they, "he shoots arrows at us, while we are defending the place and doing what we ought not to do, for his sake." They sent to him two chiefmen to say they wondered much at him that he shot at them while they were in danger of death from the king, who had come against them and was laying waste their country; if he did so, they must protect themselves and take another course. When this message was received En Guerau (the Count of Urgel) and En Guillen de Cardona and their Council saw that the Balaguerians wished to submit to the Countess, and as they knew nothing of what had been planned in the town, they sent to me and offered terms. They would surrender the castle to En Ramon Berenguer Dager, and the question between the Count and Countess should be judged by my authority. And they of the town sent word agreeing to that; for I would (they said) get everything I wanted the moment the Count left the place. I spoke to En Guillen de Moncada about this, and said to him that I was willing to subscribe to those terms; that is, [92] that the castle should be surrendered to En Ramon Berenguer Dager,⁽⁷⁾ for him to hold it in fealty and trust, and that whichever of the two, En Guerau or the Countess, won the suit, should have it. En Guillen de Moncada replied: "I do not hold that advice to be good; you should not do that. Since you have come as far, you should carry out your first intention, and not leave this till the castle is yours." I had not yet disclosed to En Guillen what they in the town had communicated to me; so I said to him: "En Guillen, skill in most cases is better than strength. Now that you have spoken what you thought it your duty to speak, I will tell you the secret reason I have for wishing to do what I tell you. The chiefmen in the town have treated with me; they have sent me messages that they are quite willing to surrender both the town and the castle. The Countess came here because of that; and so I tell you that if the castle comes into the power of En Ramon Berenguer Dager, as soon as En Guerau is out of it, you may consider both castle and town as mine; and need not pay attention to the conditions under which he (Berenguer) may receive it, for, as I say, he will lose possession of it at once." And En Guillen said: "You tell me that ? " "Yes," said I; "and you will see immediately that it will be as I say." [93]

XLIV.

Meantime I sent word to En Guerau de Cabrera and to the townsmen, that I agreed to the condition that En Ramon Berenguer Dager should hold the town and castle in trust, for whomsoever had better right to it. Hearing this, En Guerau, who had not the wisdom of Solomon, and who was afraid of the townsmen, took a very good and fine falcon he had, placed it on his hand, crossed the bridge, and sent a message to me by En Berenguer de Finestres, saying that he was prepared to give up the castle to En Ramon Berenguer. The townsmen also sent word, that if I sent my standard, they would have it hoisted on the top of the castle. And thereupon I sent a knight and five esquires with the Royal standard, which they were told to keep concealed, and also with a lance on which to fix the said standard when they would get into the castle. Meanwhile En Berenguer de Finestres talked to me, and begged that I should send En Ramon Berenguer Dager forthwith to receive homage, and take the castle in trust, as everything was ready for that. Having already done that, and sent my standard to the castle, I kept Finestres in parley for some time; he pressed me to dispatch him, as the Count (he said) wished to leave; but I did not grant his request, and kept all time watching [94] for the sight of my standard on the castle. When I saw it I said to him: "En Berenguer de Finestres, you can go now; for I see that Balaguer is already mine." "How, yours ?" said he. I said to him, "Look yonder, and you will see my standard waving on the battlements." He (Finestres) was astonished, and experienced great shame and confusion thereat; he went away forthwith without saying another word, whilst the Count himself went to Montmagastre.

XLV.

The Count's friends, however, resolved to send [messengers] to Agramunt, and see what they could do there. He himself went thither; En Guillen de Cardona, and some fifteen knights accompanied him. When the people of Agramunt heard that there had been negotiations between Balaguer and me, they made an agreement with En Ramon Jafa de Agramunt and others of the town to this effect, that should the Countess present herself at Agramunt they would surrender it to her. That had been agreed on before Balaguer was taken. And so En Ramon de Moncada held a parley with En Berenguer de Perexens,⁽⁸⁾ the result of which was that he said to me, and to the Countess, and [95] to En Guillen de Moncada, and to En Guillen de Cervera, and to my Council, that immediately after the taking of Balaguer, I should go to Agramunt, for En Berenguer de Perexens had come to him, and settled that they would surrender. So, after handing over the castle of Balaguer to the Countess, I went with her to Agramunt, and encamped on the side of the Dalmenare⁽⁹⁾ hills, in sight of the town. When En Guillen de Cardona saw that he left the town, at dusk, and marched all night; and when in the morning I heard that he had left, and that the camp was raised, Agramunt was entered by my men, and the Countess was put in possession of its castle.

XLVI.

And the people of Pons having sent me a message for the Countess to go also thither, I determined she should go. I myself would not accompany her because I had not defied En Ramon Folch, who held the castle; I had not defied him, nor had he defied me, and we were friends.⁽¹⁰⁾ The Countess, however, went, accompanied by En Guillen [96] and En Ramon de Moncada and the whole of my force, save five knights who stayed behind with me, as I would not go for the above-mentioned reason. The Countess found the town deserted, but the warder of the castle came out with all his men on horseback and ready. They who were with the Countess set spurs to their horses and charged and drove them at the point of the lance under the castle. And as I was told afterwards, En Bn. Dezlor, brother of the Sacristan of Barcelona, was he who most distinguished himself on the occasion. The same day, at vespers, En Guillen and En Ramon de Moncada sent me word, that I ought without fail to go there; if I did, they said, the Countess would get possession of the castle; otherwise, she would not. And I said: "How can I go there when I have not defied En Ramon Folch, and he is holding the castle ? " They said: "Know, that if you do not go the Countess will not have the castle." I said: "What am I to do when I am there?" And they said: - "If you summon them to surrender the castle to the Countess, they certainly will." "Very well," said I, "I will do that, saving the right of En Ramon Folch, if right he have." And thereon I went there: but I ordered those who accompanied me up to the castle to leave horses and arms behind. The morning that I got there some twenty of the townsmen and the Castellan himself came down; [97] and I asked them, "Why have you sent for me?" They said: " To ask your advice as to what we shall do with the castle." I said: "My advice is that you surrender it at once. I and the Countess promise you, and the castellan also, that En Remon Folch's rights in the castle shall be reserved; and you shall give assurance that since she obtains the rest of the county by judgment of our Court, and by law and justice,⁽¹¹⁾ these other possessions in your hands shall go to her, and that you will surrender her castle." And straightway they surrendered it. After this the Countess's people sent to Oliana, and when the inhabitants heard that the castle of Pons had surrendered, they also surrendered to the Countess. And they did not ask from me anything in return, for it was by her right that she obtained it.⁽¹²⁾[98]

XLVII.

Half a year afterwards I went to Tarragona. And it was the Lord's will that, without my having summoned Cortes, the greater part of the nobles of Catalonia went thither with me, notably Don Nuño Sanchez, son of the Count Don Sancho, who was a son of the Count of Barcelona; En G. de Moncada, the Count of Ampurias; En R. de Moncada, En Guerau de Cerveylo, En Ramon Alamany, En Guerau de Clermunt, and En Bernart de Sancta Engenia, Lord of Torroella. En Pere Martel, a citizen of Barcelona, who had great knowledge of the sea, invited me to dinner one day, and all the barons who were with me. Towards the end of dinner a conversation began among them. And I asked: "What kind of country is Mallorca, and what is the extent of that kingdom ?" They asked En Pere Martel, because he was a shipmaster; and En Pere Martel said that he would give an account of it, as he had been there once or twice. He supposed the island of Mallorca to be about three hundred miles round. Minorca was on the side of Sardinia, facing the north-east (a la part de Grech); and Iviça was towards Morocco. Mallorca ruled over the [99] other neighbouring islands, and they did what the Lord of Mallorca commanded. There was another island inhabited by Saracens, named Formentera, near Iviça, from which it was separated by a strait a mile wide. When dinner was over, they came before me, and said: "My lord, we have asked En Pere Martel about Mallorca, and he has told us what we think will please you. It is a good-sized island, in the midst of other smaller islands, called Minorca, Iviça, and Formentera, all of which are subject to the King of Mallorca. What is God's will, no one can take away or change; and, so please you, we hold it right that you conquer that island for two reasons: the first, that you and we will thereby increase in power; the other, that those who hear of the conquest will think it a marvel that you can take land and a kingdom in the sea where God pleased to put it." This speech of theirs pleased me much. I answered: "I am much indebted to you for the thought that you have given me: what I can do in that matter shall not be wanting." There, at once, it was settled in Council that general Cortes⁽¹³⁾ should be held at Barcelona, at which the Archbishop of Tarragona, the bishops, abbots, and the nobles of Aragon, as [100] well as the citizens of Catalonia,⁽¹⁴⁾ should appear a certain day.

XLVIII.

And on the day fixed for the meeting of the Cortes, the archbishop [of Tarragona], the bishops and the nobles came to Barcelona; and the day after they all met in the palace built by the Count of Barcelona. And when all were before me, I began my discourse in this manner: "Illumina cor meum, Domine [et verba mea de] Spiritu Sancto. Wherefore I beseech my Lord God and the Virgin Saint Mary, His mother, that I may speak words to my honour, and to the honour of you who listen, and that they be pleasing to God and to His mother our Lady Saint Mary; for I would speak of good works, for good works come and are of Him; and the words I intend saying to you shall be of good works. May it please Him that I can bring the said words to performance.

"Certain is it that my birth was through God's interposition, for my father and mother did not love one another, and so it was by the will of God that I was born into this world; and if I were to tell you the circumstamces [101] and marvels that attended my birth, great would be your astonishment; but I will omit them, because of their having been narrated at the very beginning of this book.⁽¹⁵⁾ Nor do you ignore that I am your liege lord, and am alone, without brother or sister, for my father had no child but me by my mother; and I came to you a child of six and a half years old, and found Aragon and Catalonia in confusion, man fighting against man, and not agreeing on any thing; that which some would have done, others would not; and you were in ill-repute in the world for the things that had passed. And that evil I could not remedy but in two ways; by the will of God that directed me in my work, and makes me undertake such things for you and for me as were pleasing to Him, so great and good as to take away the ill-repute that is on you; for the light of good works dispels darkness. Wherefore I pray you very earnestly for two reasons, the first for God's sake, the second for your allegiance to me, that you give me counsel and aid in three things: the first, how am I to put my land at peace ? the second, how may I serve the Lord in this expedition that I mean to make against the kingdom of Mallorca [102] and the other islands that pertain to it ? the third, how and whom am I to consult so that action shall be for the honour of God ? " Saying which I ended my speech.

XLIX.

And the Archbishop of Tarragona, En Esparech, arose at the prayer of the barons, who wished him to speak first; and his answer was: "My lord, we know well that you came young among us, and that you have need of good advice on such great matters as you have brought before us here; we will give such advice to you, and make you such answer as shall be for the honour of God and of you and of us." En Guillen de Moncada then answered for the barons and for himself, and said that he gave great thanks to our Lord for the good intent that He had given me; but because the thing was of great importance, they (the barons) could not reply without much counsel; "this however we say before you all, that the advice shall be such as you should take and we give." And they of the cities spoke next, and En Berenguer Girart, who was of Barcelona, answered for them; he rose and said, "The Lord, who is your Lord and ours, has put into your will those good things that you just said to us; and may it please Him that our reply be such that you may fulfil your wish to God's [103] honour and your own. We will hold our consultation with the nobles, and will reply to you." The Archbishop then said, "The Clergy will deliberate apart, and the nobles apart, and the men of the cities by themselves." And all assented to this. In that way, on that day the Cortes were divided; and they deliberated, and on the third day made their reply. And then we all were in secret council apart; and the barons were there, and spoke to me before the archbishop and the bishops. And the Count of Ampurias arose and said: "This I will tell you, before the answer your barons make; if any men in the world have evil repute, we have, instead of the good repute we once used to have. You have come among us as our liege lord, and it behoves you to do such works, with our help, that the good name we have lost we do recover it; and we will recover it in this way: if you conquer a Saracen kingdom in the sea with our help, all the bad repute that we have will be taken away from us, for it will be the greatest deed that Christians have done for a hundred years; it is better that we die and regain the good name that we were wont to have, and the esteem that our lineage used to have, than to live in this evil repute in which we now are; wherefore, I say that on every account in the world, by my advice, this enterprise should be done." All agreed with the speech of the Count of Ampurias, and every one [104] said such good words as he could for the promotion of the undertaking. That evening it was settled that in the morning there should be general Cortes, and that they (the barons) should first speak, to lead on the clergy and the men of the cities; and a message was sent by the barons to the archbishop, the abbots, and the bishops to be before me in the morning, to make answer.

L.

And in the morning, when morning masses were said, all came to Cortes, and entrusted G. de Moncada to speak what they had agreed on. He rose and said: "My lord, true thing is it that God made you to rule us, and made us that we should serve you well and loyally; but we cannot serve you well and loyally if we do not raise your reputation and honour with all our power, for your rise is our rise, and your welfare falls also on us: so good reason is there that we should wish what is good for both. And as it seems that the enterprise of which you have spoken to us, i.e. conquering the kingdom of Mallorca in the sea, will be a greater honour than if you conquered three kingdoms on land; and as we ought, my lord, to strive for your honour above all things in the world, therefore we speak to you on the three things on which you asked our advice, that you make peace. [105] In your land, and that we [the barons] help you so that this action may be performed to your honour and ours. First, that you make peace and truce throughout Catalonia, putting down in your writings and deeds all those who will be in it; and Don Nuño here, who is grandson of the Count of Barcelona, shall be included in the peace for two reasons, one for the good kindred he has with you, the other for the good works you wish to do; and if any one of Catalonia will not be in it" (the peace) "we will make him be, whether it please or displease him. And also we will that you levy 'bovatge'⁽¹⁶⁾ on our men; this we give to you as a gift, for once already you have taken it of right, as is custom of the kings to take it once [during their reign]; but this we give you of grace and love that you may do well your enterprise. As to myself, I offer to you that I and my lineage will serve you in it with four hundred armed horse, and that until God have given you the island of Mallorca, with the lordships of the other islands that are around it, Minorca and Ivica, we will not leave you till the conquest be complete. Don Nuño and the others will each for himself say what aid he will bring; and we pray you that, since we do those three things for you, you do give us a share in the conquest that you make [106] with us, a share of the movables as well as of immovables; for we will serve you well and we wish to have such a share that for all time shall be a memorial of the service that we do you." So he ended his discourse.

LI.

And Don Nuño Sanchez, who was a son⁽¹⁷⁾ of the Count of Barcelona, rose and said, "My lord, the discourse that En G. de Moncada has addressed to you is very good, and he speaks well for himself and for his lineage. I will make answer for myself; the Lord who made you willed that you should be our lord and king, and since it pleased Him so, it should also please us, and me more than all because of the kindred I have with you, and the sovereignty you have over me. If you get honour and advancement, I shall have my share also, for it was the will of God that I should be of your lineage; it is a good and meritorious work, for it is the work of God, and he who works with God cannot work ill. I pledge myself and the land your father gave me to peace and truce, that is to say, Rosellon, Conflent, and Cerdagne, and will keep peace in my days. I grant you the right of levying a 'bovatge; moreover, I will accompany [107] you with a hundred armed knights at my own expense. Do you give me a share of land and movables according to the horse and foot I bring, and to the ships and galleys that may be fitted out by me, and I will serve you in that land till God shall give you to gain it." And when Don Nuño had finished his discourse, the Count of Ampurias rose and said, "My lord, one cannot praise too much the enterprise you intend, for the honour and advantage it will bring are clear; and I promise you to go with sixty knights on armoured horses. And although God made me Count of Ampurias, yet En G. de Moncada is the foremost man of our lineage and the noblest, for he is Lord of Bearn and Moncada, which he holds of you, and of Castelví, which is his own; and I give the same pledges that he has given. To that number of four hundred knights I put my sixty, for he shall lead there for you all our lineage; and from the share promised to him and to the others do you give to me according to the horse and foot I take; and the knights that we and others take will all have armoured horses."

LII.

And then the Archbishop of Tarragona rose and said, " 'Viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum.' Those are the words of Simeon when he received our Lord [108] in his arms and said, 'Seen have my eyes thy 'salvation; [so do I say] my eyes beheld yours 'salvation.' And I add, though Scripture does not, that since we see your salvation we see our own. Our salvation is, that you begin the work of setting your heart to good works. And that is ours, when you advance in repute and honour and power; for if your power and your advancement are works of God, we consider yours as ours; and the intent that you and the noblemen who are with you have formed and mean to begin to execute is to the honour of God and all the court of Heaven, and to gain that you and your men receive and will receive in this world, and in the other which is without end; and so may it please God, who has thus assembled this Cortes, that it be to His service and to your gain, and that the barons here assembled may all do you such service that you may thank them much for it. When God shall give you that kingdom that you have in your heart to conquer, and they with you, may you do well by them, and divide the lands and movables with those who will help and serve you. For myself and the Church of Tarragona I tell you this much; that for myself I never yet bore arms, and I am of an age at which I could ill bear them; but as for my goods and my men I give you power to use them as you could use your own. And if any bishop or abbot wishes [109] to go with you and serve in person, it will please me well, and I give him licence to do it in God's name and in mine; for in so good a venture as this every man should aid in word and deed; and God, who came on earth for our salvation, let you end that enterprise to your and our content."

LIII.

And then arose the Bishop of Barcelona, En Berenger de Palou, and said, "To you one may apply the vision that the Father sent to our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, whose name was [in] Excelsis, for there was our Lord the Son of God, and Moses, and Elias, and Saint Peter.⁽¹⁸⁾ And "Saint Peter said, 'It would be a fit thing that we made here three places of tabernacles; the first for our Lord Jesus Christ, and the other for Moses, and the other for Elias.' And thereon came a great thunder from heaven, and all fell on the earth, and when all had fallen fear seized them." And the cloud from heaven came, and lowered on them and spoke, 'Ecce Filius meus dilectus qui in corde meo placuit.' Such a vision can one apply to you, for you are a son of our Lord, when you [110] resolve to pursue the enemies of the faith and of the cross. I trust in Him that, for this good intent you have, you may gain the kingdom of Heaven. And I offer you for myself and the church of Barcelona a hundred knights or more to be maintained by me till God gives us to conquer those islands of Mallorca; and do you give me my share, according to the men I take, for seamen as well as for knights." And then the Bishop of Gerona said, "I give thanks to our Lord for the good intent that God has given to you and to your Cortes, and if I would I could say much in praise of that good work; but that our Archbishop, the Bishop of Barcelona, En Guillen de Moncada, Don Nuño, and the Count of Ampurias have already said so fully what I meant to say. But I offer you for myself and for the church of Gerona that I will go with you with thirty knights; and do you give me a share according as you give it to the others."

LIV.

And the Abbot of Saint Feliu de Guixols rose and said, that he would accompany me with five well-appointed knights. And then the Provost⁽¹⁹⁾ of Tarragona rose and said, "I have not so many knights as they have; but I will follow you with [111] four knights and an armed galley." And after those En Pedro Grony⁽²⁰⁾ arose and said, "My lord, all we of the city of Barcelona give thanks for the good intent God has given you, and we have trust in the Lord that you will complete it to your wish; we offer you first the light barques and the ships and the vessels of burthen⁽²¹⁾ that are in Barcelona to serve you on this meritorious expedition, undertaken for the honour of God; and we will so do that we may have your thanks for ever for the service that we shall now do you; and we will not say more for the rest of the cities, for only Barcelona is [represented] here." And Tarragona and Tortosa made the same engagement as the chief men (prohomens) of Barcelona.

LV.

After these addresses they asked me to prepare a writing, setting forth the division to be made of the lands I might conquer with their help, as well as of the movables; and the purport of the writing was, that according to the knights and the armed men, and ships and galleys and vessels, and the equipments in them, I, when the Lord had given us victory, would give to them a share, and to those who went with me, horse and foot, according to the [112] munitions they brought. And that division of booty would be made as to everything captured in the expedition after the army started; and so promised them, on God's faith, that I would keep it without fail; they on the other hand promised that they would serve me well and loyally, and would not put down more men than actually went [to the expedition]. That was the beginning that I made of the crossing to Mallorca; and I appointed a day in the middle of May for all to be at Salou. So the Cortes separated and every one thought of his preparations. And the barons all took an oath to be at Salou on the 1st May, with all their equipments, without fail. On that day I myself was there, and remained till the beginning of September waiting to cross, and for ships and galleys to come to me; and so I waited till the fleet was complete. Part of it was at Cambrils; the greater part, with which I was, in the port of Salou and on the shore; the rest at Tarragona, for most of the ships belonged to that place. And the fleet was this: there were twenty-five full-sized ships, and eighteen taridas,⁽²²⁾ and seventeen galleys, and a hundred brices⁽²³⁾ and [113] galliots; and so there were in all a hundred and fifty large vessels, besides small barques.

LVI.

And, before starting, I ordered how the fleet should go: first, that the ship of En Bouet, in which Guillen de Moncada went, should lead, and should carry a lantern as light; and that that of En Carrós should take the rearguard, and carry another lantern as light. And that the galleys should go round the fleet, so that if any galley [of the enemy] came to the fleet, it should first encounter our galleys. And I started on a Wednesday morning from Salou with a land breeze. I had stayed there so long that any wind was good for us that could move us from the land. And when at Tarragona and Cambrils they saw that the fleet moved from Salou they too made sail; and it made a fine sight for those who stayed on land and for us, for all the sea seemed white with sails, so large a fleet was it. I myself sailed in the rear of the whole fleet on the galley of Montpeslier;⁽²⁴⁾ and I collected fully a thousand men in boats who wished to go with us, and would not otherwise have gone. And when I had gone [114] twenty miles of sea, the wind changed to the south-west,⁽²⁵⁾ and the sailing-masters⁽²⁶⁾ of my galley-came, in concert with the sailors, and said, "My lord, we are your subjects, and are bound to guard you life and limb, and to give you good advice, as well as we know. This south-west wind is not good for us nor for your fleet; rather it is so against you that you cannot make the island of Mallorca with it; by our advice you will put about and go back to land. God will soon/give you a wind for crossing." When I had heard their words and counsel, I told them that I would not do so on any account; for many were in the ships who, for the harm the sea did them, would willingly run away from it, and dared not cross over with us, and if we put back to land would most certainly leave us, for they were not men of courage. I further told them that I was going on that expedition for the love of God, and against those who do not believe in Him, and that I went thither against them for two reasons, either to convert them and turn that kingdom to the faith of our Lord, or destroy them; and since I went in His name, I had faith in Him that He would guide us. When the masters of the galley heard that such was my will, they told [115] me that they would do what they could in the matter; and that they had no doubt the faith I had must guide us. The hour of vespers had come; and in the first hours of night I overtook the ship of En Guillen de Moncada, who had the lead; and I went to the lantern and hailed him, and asked, "What ship is that ? " And the men asked in return, "What galley is it?" and my men replied, "It is the king's galley." Whereupon they told us, "You are a hundred thousand times welcome: this is the ship of En Guillen de Moncada;" and we sailed away. So that though I sailed last from Salou, by the first watch of the night, my galley was in the morning of next day before all the other ships. In this way we went all night with the south-west wind, my galley, I, and all the rest as close hauled to the wind as we could; and so ran all night before the fleet without shifting or shortening sail as fast as my galley could run. And between nones and vespers, as the wind rose the sea got higher and higher; so high was it that a third of my galley forwards went under water when the heavy waves of the sea came upon her. Towards vespers, before sunset, the wind abated, and we saw in the distance the island of Mallorca, and could distinguish La Palomera and Soller and Almerug.⁽²⁷⁾ [116]

LVII.

And thereon they said to me, that as we came in sight of the island it would be well to lower sails, if I pleased, that we might not be seen from the land. I said that it might be done so, and accordingly the sails were lowered. The sea was calm when we did so. Then they said that they would light a lantern, but that they feared the watchmen on the island would see it. I told them, "There is a plan to adopt. Put a thick cloak on the side towards the island, and the lantern on the poop, covered on the side of the high land by the cloth, so that the fleet might see it, and your object will be attained." They said they thought that plan good, and did as suggested. And I then could see lanterns on ships and lanterns on galleys; I knew that they had seen us, and that the fleet was coming. And when it was nearly the first watch two galleys came to us, and I asked them for news of the fleet. And they said that all were coming as they best could. At midnight I could see and count from thirty to forty ships, galleys, and transports. The moon was bright, a breeze had sprung from the west, and I said, "By that breeze we can reach Pollença," which had been from the beginning fixed as the place of landing. We therefore [117] made sail for it, as well as all those who were on the sea at the time. As we were sailing thither in smooth water and with fine weather, there came a cloud against the wind from Provence; and a seaman on my galley, En Berenguer Sagran by me who was sailing-master, said, "I do not like that cloud that comes from the quarter of Provence wind." And he ordered sailors to be ready at the ropes, some forward, some aft; and when they were ready, and the galley in good order, the wind came taking the sails aback; and when it came the master called out, "Lower, lower!" And all the ships and vessels about us were in great confusion, and had great difficulty in lowering sail. And there arose great clamour among them, for the wind came suddenly on them; indeed, it was a white squall.⁽²⁸⁾ We furled sails, as did the rest; and a bad sea got up as that Provence wind drove back the south-west wind. The ships and galleys and vessels around us in the fleet were under bare poles. And there was a bad sea with that Provence wind, and no one in my galley spoke a word; all were quiet, and the vessels were driving round us. I saw the danger we were in. I was greatly discomforted, but I turned to Our Lord and His Mother, and prayed thus: "Lord God,[118] I know well that Thou hast made me king of the land, and of the goods that my father held by Thy grace. Until this time I had not begun any great or perilous enterprise, seeing that Thy help has been felt from my birth up to this time, and Thou hast given us honour and help against our bad subjects, who would overthrow us. Now, O Lord my Creator, help me, if it please Thee, in this so great danger, that so good a work as I have begun may not be lost, for I alone would not lose, but Thou wouldst lose more; for I go on this expedition to exalt the faith that Thou hast given us, and to abase and destroy those who do not believe in Thee; and so, O true and powerful God! you can guard me in this danger, and fulfil my will, which is to serve Thee. And I should remember Thee, for as yet no creature ever called to Thee for mercy that did not find it, and especially they who have it in their heart to serve Thee and who suffer for Thy sake, and I am one of them. And, O Lord, remember so many people who go with me to serve Thee; and Thou, Mother of God, who art a bridge and a pathway for sinners, I beseech Thee, by the seven joys and the seven sorrows that Thou hadst for Thy dear Lord, to remember me, by praying to Thy dear Son to take me from this affliction and danger in which I am, and those with me." [119]

LVIII.

And after that prayer the thought came to me how it had been previously agreed between the barons and those who were expert in sea matters that we should land at Pollença. I asked, "Is there in this my galley any one who has been in Mallorca and in the island ?" And En Berenguer Gayron,⁽²⁹⁾ master of the galley, replied that he had been in the country. And I asked him: "What harbours are there near the city, on the side towards Catalonia ?" And he said that there was a hill three leagues from the city by land and twenty miles by sea: the hill was called Dragonera; it was not on the mainland of Mallorca, but separated from it by an arm of the sea; that there was a spring of fresh water on it, and that when he himself was there with his ship his men got water from it. And that near it was another hill, not connected either with the mainland, the name of which was Pantalere, and it was a long cross-bow shot from the mainland to that hill. And I said to him, "Why should we seek any place but that to land at, since we have there fresh water and a good harbour, where the horses can rest, despite the Saracens; and all our fleet will come, and we [120] can attempt to advantage what we choose ?" So I told them to sail before the Provence wind, and that they could get in with that wind. We therefore made sail for it, and told the people of the galley to tell all other ships to make sail also, and that it was by my command; and every ship and galley to follow us to the harbour of Palomera. And so all made sail when they saw my galley make it. And behold the goodness of God, what it is! With that wind, which took us to Mallorca, we could never have taken Pollença as intended; that which we thought was against us helped us on, for all and every one of the vessels that were to leeward went with that wind to the Palomera, where my galley was; so that not a vessel or barque was lost or missing from the whole fleet. We entered the harbour of Palomera on the first Friday in September,⁽³⁰⁾ and by Saturday night all the fleet had anchored in its harbour.

LIX.

And on that same Saturday I sent for the barons and nobles of my court, that is for Don Nuño, for the Count of Ampurias, and En Guillen de Moncada, and for the others; and I sent also for some of the shipmasters of most authority in the fleet, and consulted them as to what had better be done [121] first. The advice given was this: to send Don Nuño in his own galley, and En Ramon de Moncada in the galley of Tortosa, to go along he coast as if they were going to Mallorca; and we all would land wherever they thought the fleet should stop. They found a place called Santa Ponza, and they thought it a good one to land at; there was a hill near the sea, on which hill, if five hundred men⁽³¹⁾ were put, there was no fear of their being dislodged before the rest of the fleet arrived. So it was determined that on Sunday we should rest on that hill of Pantaleu, and so we did. At mid-day on Sunday a Saracen, named Ali, came from La Palomera, swimming, and told us news of the island, of the king, and of the city. At midnight I ordered the galleys to weigh anchor, and that no one should cry ayós,⁽³²⁾ but that in order to keep time at weighing anchor, they should strike with a stick on the prow of the transports and galleys. It was a good harbour, and vessels required only one anchor down. And that was done so, for before us, on the shore, were no less than five thousand Saracens, and fully two hundred horse, and their tents pitched. And when midnight came, you would say that [122] not one man spoke in all the fleet. Each of twelve galleys towed a transport,⁽³³⁾ and went towing them gently out of harbour. The Saracens perceived this, and roused themselves; our people, who towed transports, stopped rowing and listened, but went on towing gently. And after a bit, the Saracens shouted loud for a time, and I saw that we were completely discovered. They shouted; and we shouted, "Let us go, and good luck be with us." The Saracens went by land, horse, and foot, watching well where we should land; and our twelve galleys and twelve transports made such exertions that they actually got to the landing before them.

LX.

And those who landed first were Don Nuño, Don Ramon de Moncada, the Master of the Temple, En Berenguer de Santa Eugenia, and En Gilabert de Cruyles. Before they arrived on the shore, there were fully seven hundred Christian footmen on the hill near the sea; the cavalry⁽³⁴⁾ might be a hundred [123] and fifty. The Saracens were ranged in battle before them; and they were fully five thousand foot and two hundred horse. En Remon de Moncada came up and that he would reconnoitre them; he went alone, saying, "Let no one come with me." And when he got near the enemy, he called for our people, and when they got up to him, he said, "Let us charge them, for they are good for nothing." He was the first to reach them; when the Christians were within four lance lengths of them, the Moors turned their heads and fled. They did their best to reach them, and more than fifteen hundred Saracens were killed on this occasion, for our men would take no prisoners. When they had done this, they returned to the sea shore. When I landed, I found my horse saddled, and I heard one of the Aragonese knights, who had just landed from one of the transports, say, "Ill luck for us! that the first battle in Mallorca is already won, and we were not in it." I then said, "Are there any knights who will go with me far into the island ?" And those who were already armed went along with me, about twenty-five of them. And we all went trotting⁽³⁵⁾ towards where the battle had been. And [124] we saw on a hill there from three to four hundred Saracen foot. They saw us also, and went down from the hill on which they were, and made for another hill there was farther off. And a knight, one of the Ahe of Tahust, said, "My lord, if you wish to overtake them, let us be quick." So I made haste, and on reaching them killed four or five of them; and as my people continued to come up they overthrew and killed the Moors as they encountered them. I, and three more knights with me, came against a dismounted knight, who had his shield on his arm, his lance in his hand, his sword girt, his Zaragozan helmet on his head, and a coat of mail on. We summoned him to surrender; but he turned against us with his lance, and would make no reply. I then said, "Barons, horses are of great value in this country; each of us has but one, and one horse is worth twenty Saracens. I will show you how to kill this one; let us surround him, when he thrusts at one of us with his lance, let another strike him in the back, and send him down; so he will hurt no one." As we were about doing that, Don Pedro Lobera came, and ran at the Saracen; the Saracen, who saw him, thrust his lance into the chest of the horse so that it went half a fathom in. The horse, however, went up against him (the Saracen), and threw him down; he tried to rise, and put his hand to his sword. Thereon we all fell upon him and [125] told him to surrender. Still he would go on and die rather than surrender. We again said to him, "Surrender." He said "Le,"⁽³⁶⁾ which means "No." Some eighty besides him were killed. And we returned to the camp.

LXI.

As I entered it (it might then be near sunset), En Guillen de Moncada, En Remon⁽³⁷⁾ de Moncada, and other knights with them, came to greet and welcome me. I dismounted and went towards them on foot; En Guillen de Moncada smiled; I was glad, for I had been afraid of his scolding me for my rashness, and perceived that he would not be so hard upon me as I had thought. En Remon de Moncada said "What have you been doing ? Did you want to kill yourself and us all? Had we by ill luck lost you - and you have no doubt run risk of it - the army and all else would have been lost; and then this good work we have in hand would never have been done by any man on earth." En Guillen de Moncada said, "En Remon, true the king has done a very foolish thing; nevertheless we may hold it for a good deed of arms; it was right well of him to be so angry and impatient at not being [126] in the battle. And, my lord," continued he, addressing me, "restrain yourself, for in you lies life or death for us; comfort yourself with one thing, that since you have set foot on this land you are henceforwards king of Mallorca; if you die in the attempt, you die as the best man in the world; and even if you lie disabled in bed you will hold this land for your own, for yours it is." En Remon de Moncada then said: "My lord, we must now consider how we are to guard ourselves to-night, for in this night will be the greatest danger that you will encounter in this country; for if we do not keep good watch, so that we may arm ourselves before they get at us, all of us will be lost." And I said to them: "You, who know better than I, say at once what to do; what will be our next step ? " They said, "Then, my lord, arm a hundred horse to-night, and let them be on the lookout so far off that the camp can be under arms before the Saracens get at us." My answer was that he spoke well. I had not yet eaten any dinner, and I said that after it I would send messages to the nobles, for each of them to arm the third part of his retainers, horse and foot as well, and send out scouts to bring in news if they heard any. And so, after I had eaten a morsel, I sent my porters to each of the barons, but found they could not send out any people, owing to the disorderly state of their bands, both men and horses, owing to the sea and [127] battle that had been fought on the coast. I relied, however, on their sending out scouts, and went to sleep. Our ships, with full three hundred knights and their horses on board, were then at the Cape of La Porrassa; and at vespers they saw the army of the King of Mallorca on the hill above the harbour of Portupi. Then Don Ladron, an Aragonese noble in my suite, who was on board one of the ships, arranged with the knights inside of her to send a barque by sea to tell me of the King of Mallorca and his army being on the hills above the harbour of Portupi with their tents pitched, and that I should keep on my guard. That message came to me at midnight before Wednesday. I then sent a messenger to En Guillen de Moncada, Don Nuño, and the nobles of the army, but for all that they did not rise till daybreak. When day broke we all rose, and heard mass in my tent; and the Bishop of Barcelona preached the following sermon.

LXII.

"Barons, this is not the time for a long sermon, the occasion does not allow it; the enterprise in which the King, our lord, and you are engaged, is the work of God, not ours. You should reckon upon this, that whoever should die in this meritorious work will die for our Lord, and will have Paradise and everlasting glory therein for all time; [128] and they who shall live will have honour and praise in life and a good end at death. And, barons, strengthen yourselves in God; for our lord, the king, and we, and you, all desire to destroy those who deny the name of Jesus Christ. Each man should and can trust, that God and His Mother will to-day not depart from us, but rather will give us victory; so you should have good heart, and trust that we will overcome everything, for the battle will be this day. And comfort you well and rejoice, for we go with our good liege lord, the King, and God who is over him and over us all will help us." And so the bishop ended his sermon.

LXIII.

And after mass,.En Guillen de Moncada partook of the communion. I and the greater part [of the army] had taken it before embarking. He (Moncada) received his Creator on his knees, sobbing, and the tears falling down his face. After that they talked about who should lead the attack. En Guillen de Moncada said, "You take it, En Nuño." And En Nuño said: "To-day, do you rather take it." En Remon de Moncada said: "En Nuño, we know well why you say and do that - you speak out of love for the hard blows in the battle that we shall get at the Porrassa." [129] En Guillen de Moncada said: "Any how, it does not matter to me." And En Guillen and En Remon de Moncada had agreed that till they got to the battle line of the Saracens they would not pause. Thereon came one of my men to me and said: "Lo! all the infantry are going out of the camp and intend to advance." I mounted a hackney, and En Rocafort went with me; he found a mare and mounted her, for he had not his horse, which was yet on board ship. I ordered my horse to be brought, and meantime went up to the infantry, who were between four and five thousand, and addressed them in these words: "Bad traitors⁽³⁸⁾ that you are! How can you go in that way ? for if a few horsemen come down on you, they are sure to kill you to a man." The men perceived that I spoke sense to them, and accordingly stopped and said: "The King speaks the truth, we were proceeding like so many blockheads." I thus kept them till En Guillen and En Remon de Moncada, the Count of Ampurias, and those of his house, came up, and I said: "Here are the infantry, whom I have stopped as they were going out." They said: "You have done right well." The infantry was handed over to them, and all went away together. And when they had gone [130] a little way, I heard a great noise, whereupon I sent a message to Don Nuño to tell him of that, for certainly a great noise was in the air, and I was much afraid that our people had fallen in with the Saracens. The messenger did not return, and I began to think that he had been too long away. I then said: "En Rocafort, since our messenger does not come back, go you there and warn them; tell Don Nuño that I take amiss his delay this day, for peradventure I may get such hurt from it as all his money could not repair; it is not right that the vanguard should be so far from the rearguard, that the one cannot see the other." En Rocafort said: "You, my lord, are here alone, and on no account will I leave you." And I presently said: "Saint Mary! that Don Nuño and the knights should be so slow; very badly are they acting against me this day." As I spoke I distinctly heard the clash of arms, and cries, and I said: "O, Saint Mary ! do thou aid our men, for it seems as if they had met the enemy." And meanwhile Don Nuño came, and Bertran de Naya with him; and Lope Xemenez de Lusiá, Don Pedro Pomar, and all his company, En Dalmau and En Jaçpert de Barberá. They said to me: "Why are you here?" I said: "I came here through the infantry, that I had to stop; it seems now as if they were engaging the Saracens; for God's sake let us be on our guard." [131] En Bertran de Naya said: "Have you your quilted coat here ?" I said: "No I have not." "Then take this," replied En Bertran. I dismounted, put on the coat he gave me, and my own coat of mail over it, had my iron cap well secured on my head, and sent word to Don Pedro Corneyl, Don Eximen Dorrea and En Oliver to be on their guard, as the battle had actually commenced.

LXIV.

And when the battle was nearly finished I met a knight, and said to him: "How has it gone with you, and what have our people done?" He said: "The Count of Ampurias and the Templars attacked the tents, and En Guillen and En Remon de Moncada attacked the left." I said: "And you know no more?" "Yes, that the Christians have beaten back the Saracens three times, and the Saracens the Christians three times also." I said: "Where are they ? " He said: "At that hill." I then met En Guillen de Mediona, than whom they said there was in all Catalonia no man who tilted better; he was a good knight, and was coming away from the battle bleeding from his upper lip. I said to him: "En Guillen de Mediona, why do you leave the battle ?" He said: "Because I am wounded." I thought he had some mortal wound in the body, and said: [132] "How are you wounded ? " "I am wounded by a stone that struck me on the mouth." I took hold of the reins of his horse and said: "Turn again to the battle; a good knight for such blow as that should be enraged, not leave the battle." But after a while, when I looked out for him, I did not see him. When I had got up on the hill there were not more than twelve knights with me, the banner of Don Nuño, and Rothan who had charge of it, the Sieur Guilleaumes, son of the King of Navarre and others; there might be in all as many as thirty knights, and they passed before me. Up on the hill where the Saracens were, there was a great body of footmen; and a banner of red and white divided lengthways, with the head of a man, or if not that, a wooden head on the spike. I said to Don Nuño: "Don Nuño, let us go up to that body of infantry yonder on the top of that hill; they seem already beaten, and are evidently disorderly and in confusion; when men in a field of battle are in that condition, any one can attack them, and, if vigorously assailed, they will soon disperse." And he and Don Pedro Pomar, and Ruy Ximenez Delvesia⁽³⁹⁾ took my horse by the rein and said: "Your madness on this day will be the cause of our death." They went on giving great pulls at the bridle until I said: "You need not do that; I am not a lion [133] or leopard, and since you will have it so, I will wait; God will that ill do not come of it! "

LXV.

Thereon En Jaspert de Barberá came up and told Don Nuño to go forward, who said, "I will." I then said: "Since En Jaspert goes, I will go." And why you ?" said Don Nuño, "have you already become a lion of arms ? You may chance to find yonder as good a one or better than yourself." And before En Jaspert had moved on with the seventy knights, the Moors shouted, threw stones, and advanced a little, upon which the banner of Don Nuño and they who were with him turned back. And though they kept a good countenance, they came down a good stone's throw towards me, and some of my men cried out "Shame!" The Saracens did not follow them, and they stopped; meantime my banner and following, with a hundred knights or more who guarded it, came up, and the men said, "Here comes the King's banner." We went down the hill, and joined the troop of the banner. Then we pushed up all together. The Saracens took to flight; we found fully two thousand Saracen infantry, who went before us in flight; we could not overtake them, neither we nor any of the other knights, so worn out were our horses. And when the battle was won, and we were on the [134] hill, Don Nuño came up to us and said, "A good day for you and for us; all is ours, since you have won this battle.'

LXVI.

Then I said to Don Nuño: "Let us go to the town; the King of Mallorca is on the hills, and cannot get there so soon as we can; you may see him there in the midst of that crowd, dressed in white; we will cut him off from the city." As I began to descend from the hills and go into the plain towards the city, En Remon Alaman came to me and said: "My lord, what are you doing ?" I said, "Going to the city, to cut off the King from putting troops into it." "Oh ! my lord, you are doing what no king ever did; no general who has won a battle, but passes the night on the field to learn what he has lost and won." I said, "Know, En Remon Alaman, that what I intend doing is best." Meanwhile I descended the hillside, and went slowly along the road towards the city. And when I had ridden about a mile the Bishop of Barcelona came up to me and said: "My lord, for God's sake do not make such haste." "Why not, bishop? this appears to me the best thing to do." He said, "Let me speak to you;" and he took me aside and said, "Oh, my lord ! you have this day lost more than you imagine; En Guillen and En Remon [135] de Moncada are dead." "Dead!" said I, and I burst into tears; presently I said to the bishop, "Let us not weep, this is not a time for weeping; and let us carry their bodies off the field since they are dead." "So we will," said the bishop. "Do you wait for us here." "I will," said I.

LXVII.

And I went little by little up to the hill of Portupi, and from thence saw Mallorca in the distance, and it seemed to me the finest city I had ever seen, and those who were with me thought the same. There I met Don Pelegrin Atrosillo,⁽⁴⁰⁾ and asked him if there was any water by, at which we could camp for the night. He said, "Yes, there is yonder a small stream; I have seen the Sheikh⁽⁴¹⁾ go thither with fully twenty horsemen, and drink; but as we were only four, we dared not attack them." I went forward and found the water, and encamped there that night. Soon after Don Nuño came, and I said to him, "By God's faith I am very hungry, for I have eaten nothing all day." And he said, "My lord, En Oliver has pitched his tent yonder; he has cooked food, and you can eat with him." "Let us go then," said I, "wherever you please." We went there and [136] ate. When I had finished my meal there were already stars in the sky. Don Nuño then said, "My lord, if you have done eating, it would be well to go in search of the bodies of Don Guillen and Don Remon de Moncada." I said that he spoke right well. We all went, with torches and candles; and found the former lying on a mattress, and a coverlet over him; we stayed there a while weeping, and did the same over En Remon, who was close by. After that I returned to the tent of En Oliver, and slept there all night till day. And when morning came, they said, "Let us shift the camp." I said, "I will first make it secure against a sudden attack;" and having put on my quilted coat⁽⁴²⁾ and a coat of mail over it, I put the Aragonese on one side and the Catalans on the other, the water course (cequia) dividing them, and an encampment was made, though it was so small that it seemed as if only one hundred knights with their horses could hardly hold in it, yet the cords of the tents were so close together and so interlaced that for eight days no one could ride into it.⁽⁴³⁾

1. "Els homens embarrarense en la força hon hauia una torra molt bona e albacar."

2. The Valencian edition of 1557 omits from this point to "we have heard your words and will deliberate on them," in c. 42. Evidently the copyist who prepared the book for the press turned over two or more pages of the MS. instead of one, the result being in the printed copy as follows, in two consecutive lines:

Que havien a b ella, car eren stats de son pare, que li retessen la vila car lur dona. Acorde farem ço que far deurem, e no res als. E respos un cavaller de part de la.

It is strange that such nonsense can have passed under the eye of a reader or editor without being observed, and the omission detected and remedied. I need scarcely add that the omission has been supplied, by the help of a Spanish friend, from one of the two copies of this Chronicle preserved at Barcelona.

3. The original here is rather confused: "E Joan Martineç Desleva exi a peus escut abraçat e lespan en la ma, e al entrar que els faeren consegui aquel de caual de laigns (lains ?), e esgarra un caual al tornar que ells sen fayen can volgueren cremar lo fonevol." The Spanish translators seem to have been as unable as the present writer to give a clear translation of this passage.

4. To this point, from "your liege lady," is omitted in the edition of 1557.

5. The Count of Urgel, who held the castle, or a son of his? The Count's name was En Guerau, and he was the son of Ponce or Pons.

6. Here the edition of Barcelona has En Pons.

7. De Ager, or from Ager, a town of Catalonia, in the bishopric of Urgel.

8. Agramunt and Perexens, are also written Agremunt and Peraxens in this chapter.

9. Dalmenare is for a'Almenara, the name of a village in Catalonia. Menára, (Arabic letters in book) in Arabic, is a watch-tower, on the top of which a fire is made.

10. At this time, if a feudal lord wished to proceed by way of arms against any of his liege men he was bound to defy him, i.e. to declare the friendship existing between them as dissolved and broken.

11. "E no volien res demanar en "Iloch de nos pel dret que ela hi "avia." This statement assumes what is not said elsewhere, that King James's Court had decided in favour of the Countess.

12. Zurita, Anales II., c. 57, c. 77, c. 86, enables us to add to the king's own account the following particulars. Guerau, Viscount of Cabrera, had been in possession of Urgel from the beginning of James's reign, but always with reserve of the question of the claim of Aurembiax, daughter of Armengol, the last count. In 1228, when Guerau had been twenty years in possession, the king recognised the lady's claims as entitled to a hearing; but after she had undertaken to give up to him the important town and fortress of Lerida, and to acknowledge him as her suzerain, and bound herself to admit him, in peace and war, into nine of her castles, if she ever found the rightful heiress. Then followed the operations described by the king in his chronicle. At their close Don Guerau became a Knight Templar; his son Pons was made, after all, count of Urgel, Aurembiax dying without children.

13. The term general Cortes was usually applied to Cortes of all the realms of the king: these appear to have been of Catalonia only.

14. "Ciutadans de Catalunya," or deputies from the towns of Catalonia.

15. "Car al començament de aquest libre hauem parlat." The sentence in italics stands in the original as part of the king's speech! This strange confusion argues in favour of the Chronicle being James's own composition.

16. Feudal tax levied on each yoke, of oxen.

17. Grandson, not son, of Remon Berenguer, great-grandfather of King James.

18. "Car hi era nostre senyor "Jesu Christ, fill de Deus, Moysen, Elias, e sent Pere." The bishop or his reporter, not the present translator, has to account for this extraordinary sentence.

19. "Lo Provost" (præpositus ?) appears to be some ecclesiastic of rank.

20. Desclot calls him En Pere Groyn.

21. "Los corsos e las naus e els leñys."

22. Taridas, tartans, large open vessels used especially for carrying horses. Some such craft appear in the Bayeux tapestry. The word seems of Arabic origin, (Arabic letters in book).

23. "E entre brices e galeases E axi foren CL lenys capdals menys de les barques menudes." Brices, pl. of brica, are said to be flat-bottomed vessels, destined for the transport of horses and engines of war. But then what are tarides or terides? The meaning of leñys, elsewhere called fustes, is, literally speaking, "woods." About this time leño and fusta served in Castille and in the rest of Spain to designate any kind of vessel.

24. "E nos moguen en darrera del stol en la galea de Montpessler, a faem be M. homens recullir en barques, que volien anar ab nos, que nangu no hi passara."

25. "Mudas lo vent a llabeig." Llabeig, in Span, lebeche, is the wind from the south-western coast of Africa. At Marseilles and in the Provence it is still called "labech" from Lybicus, and "garbin" from Garb (Algarbe), or Western Africa.

26. Comit, in Span. comitre.

27. "Soyler e Almaluig" in Desclot. A hundred and twenty or thirty miles in a straight line from Salou.

28. "Cala, cala ! Carga, carga ! " would be the cry in Spanish. "Carguer voiles," said the French sailors about the same time. See Jale, Dict. Naut. v. Cargar.

29. In Desclot, "Guayron."

30. 7th September, 1229.

31. The edition of 1557 has one hundred men: the Spanish version "quinientos hombres." No reason, however, is given for the alteration.

32. "Ayós," pronounced Aaa-yós, is the monotonous and prolonged cry uttered by sailors in the act of drawing up anchors.

33. The word translated by "transports" is terides, which is another form for tarides. See above, p. 112, note I, "E lu galeas que hi hauia carsuna tiraua sa terìda e anauen traent les terides del port guit e suau."

34. Each knight or man-at-arms had four or more squires and servants under his orders; this must be well borne in mind throughout this narrative of James's campaigns, or else the number of knights must appear exceedingly small.

35. Darlot. "E ixquem trotant e "darlot contra alli hon era stada la batalla," says the text (fol. xxiii.). The word "darlot" is entirely unknown to me, nor is it to be found in any of the Provençal dictionaries that I have consulted. Arlot, in old French, meant a camp-follower, a worthless fellow. Exir d'arlot might therefore mean "ride fast though without orders."

36. Lá or lé is the negative in Arabic.

37. Ramon, Remon, Raymundo, are only varieties of the same name. Ramon is the Castillian appellation, and it will be observed that Don Ramon de Moncada is often used in these pages instead of En Remon de Muntcada, which was that of the Catalonian baron.

38. "Mal traidors." The king could use the words only as indefinite abuse. He spoke, it will be remarked, pure Provençal grammar in making mal a plural,

39. De Lusiá? See above, page 130.

40. D'Atrosil.

41. The King of Mallorca, generally called Xeque, from the Arabic root (Arabic letters in book), an elder and the chief of a tribe. His name was Abu Yahya Háquem, (Arabic letters in book).

42. The word used is gonyo, which I presume to be the same as "perpunt" (purpoint). In old French "gonelle" meant "casaque d'homme ou de femme."

43. "E faem la albergada tan streta que non paria que albergassen de C cauallers a evant: si que les cordes de les tendes se tenien entrellaçades duna a laltra, si que be dura huyt dies que no podia home fer carrera en la host," says the text of the Chronicle (fol. xxv. vo). The passage is evidently vitiated. The Spanish translators appear unable, as I am myself, to understand its meaning.