THe realm of Cathay is coū ­ted and holden for y^e moost no­ble and rich re­alm of y^e world This Realme marcheth on the cost of y^e Occean see. So many yles be there about in the see that men may nat well knowe the nombre of them. The people which inhabet this realme of Cathay be called Cathayns / & amonge theym be founde many fayre and comely men and womē after theyr nacion. But all haue theyr eyen very smale / and lytell heer on their berdes This people in theyr wrytynge haue letters / which in beauty and fayrnesse of draught resemble and are moche lyke vnto latten letters / and they speke a language which is moche dyuers from other languages of the world. The beleue of this people is moche dyuers / for some be­leuyth in the sonne some in the mone / some in the sterres / some in naturs of thinges / some in the fyre / some in the water / some in the trees / and some beleue in oxen bycause they labour the grounde / wher vpon this people haue theyr lyuely sustenaūce. And some peo­ple of this realme haue no lawe / nor beleue at all / but lyue as brute beestes vnresonable. These same people whiche are this symple in theyr beleue and in thynges spyritual ar more subtyll than all other people in corporall or bodely wer­kes and busynes. And as the Ca­thayns say / these people be they / which seyth with bothe eyen / by­cause of their subtyll insyght / in bodyly werkes. And they say the Lattyns seeth but of one eye / as theym reputynge lesse ingenious and lesse inuentyfe. But the other nacions say that these Cathayns are but blynde / as in reprouynge theyr subtylyte. By this may we vnderstand that these Cathayns repute other people of grosse wyt and vnderstandynge / and them selfe onely ingenyous / and for ve­ry treuth out of this realm of Ca­thay / are brought many strange and meruelous thȳges of subtyll labour & art ingenyous / wherby this peple well seme to be y^e moste subtell and inuentife of the world in arte & laboure of handes. The men of this coūtrey ar no stronge warryours nor valyant in armes but they be moche subtyll and in­genyous / by mean wherof often tymes they haue dysconfyted and ouercome their ennymes by their engyns. And they haue dyuers sortes & maners of armours / and engyns of warre which other na­cions haue not In the same lande is money currant / for comen and vniuersall dyspences / which mo­ney is made of papir inform qua­drate or fouresquared / sygned or imprynted w^t diuers sygnettes of the lorde of the same lande. And y^e same coygne is of valour more or lesse after as it is signed w^t diuers impressyons. With this same mo­ney [Page] there they by and sell all thyn­ges cōcerninge theyr exchaunges and whan this same money is impered or worne by oldnesse or o­therwyse / he which hath the same in possession / shall render it vp in the court of the lorde of that land and for the same shal receyue new of equall valoure. In this same lande / the oyle of olyffe is in grete scarcyte / and holden at very dere pryce. And whan the kynges and lordes may fynde of the same they cause it to be kept as a grete dere thynge / and for medycine. Vnto this lande of Cathay marcheth or bordreth none other lande / saue onely y^e realme of Tharsay on the occident or west part where it ad­ioyneth nerest on all other partes this realme of Cathay is inuyro­ned or cōpased aboute other with desert / or with Occean see.

¶Of the realme of Tharsey.

IN this realme of Tarsey / be thre prouynces or countreys. And the lordes of the same do themselfe to be called kinges they all haue one lyke letter / and lan­guage semblable. The people of these coūtrees be named Iobgontans / and all tymes they haue ben Idolatrers / and so they contynue to this presēt day / saue the nacion or kynred of those thre kynges / which came to worshyp our lorde Ihesu Chryst at his natiuyte / by demonstracyon of the sterre. And the linage of the same thre kinges be yet vnto this day great lordes about the lāde of Tartary / which ferme and stedfastly beleue in the fayth of Christ the people of this lande of Tharsay / trauayle nor labour not in feat of armes / but they be of subtyll vnderstādynge / and moche ingenious to lerne ar­tes and sciences. All y^e moost part of this people eteth no flesshe nor drynketh no wyne / nor kylleth no­thynge which bereth lyfe. They haue good cytees and ryche with very great temples wherin they hold their ydols whom thei haue in great reuerence. In this same lande groweth plenty of corne / & of other sedys ynough. But wyne haue they none / but coūte it great synne to drynke wyne. This same realme of Tharsay marcheth to­warde to Orient / or Est vpon the realm of Cathay beforesayd / and towarde the Occedent or West / it marcheth to a realm named Turquestan / toward y^e north it marcheth on a desert / towarde the south it marcheth on a prouynce / which is called the land of Sune which is betwen y^e lande of Cathay and the realme of Inde. In this same lande be foūde y^e fyne dyamātes.

¶Of the lande of Turquestan.

THe realme of Tur­questā / marchith on the Est parte to the realme of Tharsey / on the West parte to the realme of [Page ii] Persy / toward the North it bor­dreth on the realme of Corasme / and on the Southe part it exten­deth towarde one heed of the wyl­dernes of Inde. In this realme be fewe good Cytees / but in it be many grete playns & large feldes of plentyfull and good pasture. Wherfore this people be al for the moost part pastours or Heerdmē and thei be loged intentes & other such houses which they may lightlye cary frō place to place. ¶The heed cyte of this realme is named Hoctecar. In this lande groweth ryght lytell where / or barly. The peple eteth and fede for the moost part on Mystlyn and rysse wyne haue they none / but they drynke Alys and other maner of drinkes The people of the same lande be named Turkes and all they for the moost parte / beleue in the fals doctryne of y^e law of Machumit. And some be among them which haue nother / lawe / fayth / nor be­leue. They haue no letters proper vnto theyr langage / but vse y^e let­ters of Arrabyās by their cytes & townes where lettred mē frequēt.

¶Of the realme of Corasme.

THe realme of Corasme is wel garnisshed with cytis and townes / and the lande well furnysshed & stored with people. There groweth corne sufficyent / but wyne haue they lytell or none. This same realme of Corasme / marcheth towarde y^e Est toward a parte of the desert contaynynge largely a hūdreth dayes iournay in length / towarde the west if ex­tendeth vnto y^e see called in latten (mare chaspium) englysshed the see of Caspy / towarde the North it marcheth on the realme of Cō ­manye / towarde the Southe it marcheth on the realme of Tur­questan. The heed cyte of this re­alme is named Corasme / the peo­ple of the lande be called Coras­myns. All be panyms & haue no­ther lawe / nor letters proper vnto theym selfe / but beleue as grekes and ar vnder obedience of the pa­triarke of Antyoch. In theyr churches their syngynge and seruyce is moche dyuers / they celebrate & consecrate as grekes. But theyr language is not greke.

¶Of the realme of Comanye.

THe realme of Comany is on of the gretyst realmes of the worlde. This lande is yll in habited for great distemperaunce of the ayre of the same lande / for some partes of the same be so cold that nother mā nor best may lyue in the same for excessyue coldnes. And some other partes and coun­treys be in the same lande / which be so hote in somer that no man may endure there for grete hete / & for flyes which there aboūde / this lande of Comani is all playn / but no tree there groweth wherof mē may make tymber / nor no busshe there groeth saue in some certayn [Page] places / Where the inhabytauns haue planted some trees for to make gardens and orchyards. A great part of the people dwelleth in tentes / and theyr chefe fuell for fyre is beestes donge dryed. This lande of Comany on the Est part marcheth on the realme of Coras­me / & in parte of the same syde on a great desert / towarde the West / it marcheth to the grete see and to the see called the see of Reme / to­warde y^e northe it marcheth to the realme of Roussy / & on the southe part it extendeth vnto the grettest flodde whiche men knowe in the worlde / which is called the flode of Etyll. This flod freseth euery yere / and somtyme dureth frosen all y^e hole yere in suche maner that men womē and beestes passe ouer the same / as vpon stedfaste lande on hordes / or bankes of the same flode groweth some smale trees / but on the other part of this flode towarde the west and toward the southe dwell dyuers nacyons of pepyll which count not themselfe of the realme of Comanie and be not obedient to the kynge of Co­manye. This nacions inhabet a­bout the moūtain of Cocas which mountayn is very great and hye, On this same mountayn be bred many gret byrdes of diuers kȳde and all be white of coloure. This moūtayn of Cocas is betwene .ii. sees y^t is to say the gret see which is on the west parte of the same / & the see of Caspys which is on the Est part of the same. This see of Caspys hath but onely one entry towarde the Occean see / all the remiuaunt within is but lyke a lake or standynge water. But for gretnes of the same it is called a see or Mer. For it is the grettest lake & largest of the worlde / this lake or Mer of Caspys extendeth forthe it selfe from the mountayn of Co­cas vnto the heed or begynnge of the realm of Persy / and it depar­teth in fonder all they countray of Asye. And that same parte which is on the Est parte of this lake is called Asya y^e lesse or lower Asya. But that part which is on y^e West syde is called Asya the greter / the water of this Mer is nat salt but fresshe & swete / and in the same is great aboūdance of diuers fysshe Also in this same lande of Coma­nie are founde wylde oxen / and in the foresayd mer of Caspys be di­uers yles in which byrdes of son­dry kynde make theyr nestes / and namely fawkons & marlyons / of suche shape and quantyte y^t none lyke may be foūde any where els / saue in the same yles. The chefe cyte of the realme of Comanye is named Sartay which was ī aunsyant tyme a ryght good & ryche cyte but at this tyme it is welnere all wasted and dystroyed by the Tartaryans.

¶Of the realme of Inde.

THe realm of Inde is a ve­rye longe lande / and bor­dreth alonge vpon the Occean see [Page iii] which see is called in those coūtre is the see of Inde. This realm of Inde begīneth at the boūdes of y^e lande of Persy / & so extēdeth forth to a prouīce or lande named Ba­ [...] and I [...] these coūtre to be foūde precyous stones whiche be called Bal [...]yses. Toward the north [...] by the long & great desert of In [...] wher kynge Alexandre [...] so great dyuersite of serpētes and of beestes as his hystorie recoūteth: there be founde namely all y^e Ba­layses. In the same land of Inde saynt Thomas y^e apostle preched the sayth of Christ & cōuerted ma­ny prouinces and countreis of the same to the christen fayth. Neuerthelesse for that the same coūtreis and peple be ferre distant from o­ther lādes wher the fayth of christ is worshipped right fewe be in y^e same lāde which maynten y^e fayth of Christ for ther is but one cytie alone wher christen men inhabit. And all the other ar become ydo­laters. Toward the South part of this realme of Inde is thocceā see. And ther about be many yles wherin Indyans or men of Inde inhabet which be all blacke / & all go naked bycause of great heate. and all these worshippe ydols. In these yles be founde precyous sto­nes: also in thē groeth right good spices. There is also one yle pre­eminēt aboue the other which yle is named Celā / wherin be found the best Rubyes & Saffirs of the world. The kyng of the same yle hath the moost riche Ruby & grettest which is in y^e worlde. & whan the kynge of the same yle is crow­ned he bereth the said Rubye this hande for excellence and royaltie. This kyngdome of Inde is also in maner of an yle / for on the one part it is enuyroned or set aboute with the occean see / by which par­t [...] the entryng into the same land is not easy sa [...]e onely on the syde of the lande of Persey. Wherfore suche as wyll entre into this land of Inde resorteth fyrst of all vnto a cytie named Hermeis y^t which cyte the famous phylosopher Hermeys made by his grete arte as it is written & called it by his owne name. From this cytie of Herme­ys thei passe by a streit passage of the see. Vnto a cytie which is cal­led Courbaeth. In this cytie and in the countrey about ar found y^e strange byrdꝭ called Popyngays and as great plēty of the same byrdes is in that coūtrey as of Spa­rois in these parties. In the same land fyndeth marchaūtes all ma­ner of marchaūdises / lytell where and barley groweth in this land: but y^e peple of the same eteth rysse mystlyne / mylke / butter / dates / & other maner of fruytꝭ wherof thei haue great plenty.

¶Of the realme of Persey.

THe realme of Persey is diuyded in .ii. ꝑ­ties howbeit it is all but one realme / for one lorde hath alway had gouer­naunce [Page] of the same. The first part of this realme of Persy is extēded by the west part vnto a fludde na­med Physon: which is one of the foure fluddes floynge forth of Paredise terrestre toward y^e North it extēdeth vnto the see of Caspis / towarde the South it stretcheth forth it selfe vnto the see of Inde. This land of Persy is also in maner all playne & in the same [...] great and riche cyties of wh [...] y^e one is named Borraca / and the other Semorgraunt. The people of this countrey be called Persy­ens / & thei haue a langage proper which they speke. they lyue moost on marchaundyses & tyllyng of y^e grounde. Armour nor war [...] they meddyll nat gladly at this tyme vnconstrayned / in auncyent tyme they worshipped ydols but name­ly thei honoured the fyre for theyr god but sith tyme that y^e wicked & false sect of Mahomet spredynge abrode came into those parties y^t Persyens haue all ben Sarasȳs and beleue in y^e false lawe of Ma­humet. The other part of Persey begynneth at the fludde of Physō & extendeth on the Weest syde vn­to the realme of Mede / & of Armeny the great. Toward y^e South it marcheth at one prouince of the realme of Inde & in some part at the occean see / and other part at y^e lande of Mede. In the same par­ty of Persey be also two great cy­ties / the one is named Nezabor y^e other Spahan / & the maner and custome of the people of this part of Persey is semblable to sh [...] of the other part aforenamed.

¶Of the realme of M [...]de.

THe realme of M [...]de is [...] ry kinge toward the Eest but it is [...] large. Towarde the East it beginneth at the [...] of Persy & at the realme of Inde the lesser in part of the same & [...] deth forth by the Weest part vnto the realme of Calde. Towarde y^e North it begynneth at the realme of Armeny & extendeth [...] by y^e South vnto the Aquissan which is on the Occean see: and there be found the grettest and thyrest perlys. In y^e realm of Mede be great mountaynes & lytell playing roūde in the realme of Mede be mountayn [...]. ma­ner of people / the one is called sa­rasyns / and the other Gordyns. And in this countrey ben. ii. gret cyties / the one is called Sarras / and the other Quere [...] / and there they kepe the lawe of Mahumet. And vse of Arabyke letters / afore they be good archers.

¶Of the realme of Armeny.

IN the realme of Armeny bē nit realmes of y^t which one lorde holdeth all the lordship / the length of the lande of Armeny be­gynneth at the realme of Persy / and extendeth forth by O [...]edent to the realme of Turkey. The brede of Armeny towarde Occe­dent begynneth at the great cytie / [Page iiii] which is called Port de ferr / that is in englysshe the yren gate / the which kinge Alexander cōmaun­ded shuld be shytte for bycause of dyuers nations of people that re­sorted into the depe Asye / y^t which he wold nat that they shuld passe in the great Asye without his cō ­maundemēt The sayd cytie is in the narow of Caspis see & recheth to the great mountayn of Cocas. The brede of the realme of Arme­ny from the sayd cytie extendeth forth to the realme of Mede. In y^e realm of Armeny be dyuers gret cyties & riche / amonge the which Towres is the moost named in y^e lande of Armeny. In Armeny be great moūtayns & brode playnes great waters / & fluddes / salte / & swete / with great plenty of fysshe The peple that inhabit in y^e land of Armeny be named by diuerse names / after y^e maner of y^e coūtrei y^t thei be inhabited, and ther they be good men of warr both afore & a horsbacke. And as for harnes & vestmēt they folowe the maner of the tartas / bycause that they haue ben long vnder their lorde. Ther letes be dyuers & some be named Armonoses & the other Alcen. In Armeny is a great mountayn the which is the grettest / & that moū ­tayn is named Ararach. And ther was set the arcke of Noe after the Deluge / but yet ther can no man clyme vpon that mountayn for y^e great noyse & murmure y^t is ther bothe wnyter & somer / but in the very toppe of it appereth a great blacke thinge which they say that is the arcke of Noe.

¶Of the realme of Georgie.

THe realme of Georgie to­ward thorient hath agret mountayn / which is named Ab­bers & is inhabited with many diuers natiōs of peple. And for that cause it is named the countrey A­layne. And from thens extendeth the realm of Georgy by thoccydēt toward Septērrion / to y^e prouīce of the realme of Turky / y^e length of the realme of Georgie extēdeth all vpon the see toward y^e South & finysshed with y^e great Armeni. this realm of Georgi is deuydyd in two realmes / the one is named Georgie / & the other Abcas. The realm of Georgy is vnder the iu­risdiction & subiection of thēper­our of Asye. The realm of Abcas is mighty of peple & of strong ca­stels & was neuer subget to themꝑour of Asie nor to the tartas. In y^e realme of Georgi appered a gret meruayle which I darre nat tell nor reherse yf I hadde nat sene it but for bycause I was ther & se I dare say. That in Georgi is a ꝓ­uynce which is called Haynsen y^t which is well of .iii. dayes iour­ney of length or there about. And as long as this sayd prouynce la­steth in euery place is so great ob­scurite y^t no man is so harde to cōe into y^e sayd lande / for they cannat cum out agayn. And the dwellers within the same lande / sayde that [Page] often tymes ther cometh noyse of men / cockes crowyng / & horses neynge. And by a fuldd that cometh out of that place come tokens ap­pering that ther is resorting of peple. Verily they fynd in thistores of Armeny redyng & Georgi that ther was a cruell emꝑour in Persy named Sanorelx this emꝑour worshypped the ydols / and cru­elly persecuted the cristēmen. vpō a day he cōmaūded y^t all they that dwelled in Asye shuld come to do sacrifice to y^e ydols / & they y^t wold nat come shuld be put to deth. A­mong the which it happened that some true cristēmen receyued the martyrdom or thei wold sacrifice y^e ydols. some sacrified for fere of deth / & for fere of losyng of thir tē ­porall goodes / & the other fledd a way into the mountayns. In that tyme inhabyted dyuers good cri­stēmen in a coūtrey which is cal­led Morgan. which cristēmen for soke their goodes & fled away to­ward Grece. And whan thei wer in y^e contrey abouesayd / the sayd cruell emꝑour met with thē / & cō ­maunded that all the sayd cristen men shuld be cut all to peces. and thā the sayd cristēmē made a gret cry to our lord god. And sone af­ter came this great darknes that blinded thēperour & all his men. & so the cristēmen scaped & the sayd emꝑour w^t his mē caryd in y^e sayd darknes▪ and ther thei shall abyd as they beleue to y^e worldꝭ ende.

¶Of the realme of Caldee.

THe realme of Caldees to­ward thorient begynneth at the mountayns of Mede & extē deth to the great Ninyue the olde cytie which is nygh to the fludde of Tygres. This Ninyue is the cytie of the which y^e holy scripture speketh. And in y^t which was Io­nas the profet sende to prech y^e cō ­maūdemēt of god. This cytie is nowe all wasted but for cause y^t it is yet well apparaūt it is sene that it is one of the moste grettest cyti­es of all y^e world / the brebe of the realme of Calde toward Septē ­trion begȳneth at a cytie y^t is cal­led Maraga / and extēdeth to the South to thoccean see. The gret­test cyte in the realme of Calde is called Babylone. In this lande Nagabudonosor brought Anthetinoyson the chyldren of Israell whan he toke Iherusalē. In y^e re­alme of Calde be great playnes & fewe moūtaȳs & not moch cōming waters. the people that is inhaby­ted in Calde be called Nostoryus and vsed of Arabe letters / & kepe the false lawe of Mahomet.

¶The realme of Mesopotamy.

THe realme of Mesopota­my toward or [...]r begīneth at the gret cytie Mosell y^t is nigh to the flud of Tigres. & extēdeth by thoccydent to y^e cyte of Rohais which is set vpō y^e flud named Eufrates. this cytie of Rohays was kyng Agers to whō our lord sende the ve [...]nicle y^t is no wat Ro [...]e. & [Page v] nygh to this cytye is the lande of Baram in y^t which dwelled Abraham & his kynred in the old tyme Whan our lorde cōmaunded hym that he sholde leue this lande and passe y^e flode of Eufrates / & come to the lande of promyssson that is the Holy land as is cōtayned in y^e bible. This is called Grioise & the land of Mesop. for cause that it is betwene the two great flodes Tygris and Eufrates. The brede of the realme begynneth at a moun­tayn / which is called Sanson in Armenie & extendeth by mydday to the desert of Arabe the leste / in this lande of Mesopota. be great playnes aboundant and delecta­ble. And great mountayns with great plenty of fruytes & of goodꝭ One of the mountaynes is called Symar / & the other Lysson. In the sayd realme is nat moche ron­nynge water / but the peple of this coūtrey drynketh well water out of cesterns. In this realm of Mesopotamy inhabet christen men / some be Siryens / some Armyns and the other sarasyns. The syri­ens and the sarasyns of the sayd countrey medyll with no dede of armes / but they be shepardes and labourers of the grounde for the moste part / except some that dwelled in a coūtrey that is called Meredyn / the which be good archers And they ben called Cordyns.

¶The realme of Turky.

THe realme of Turkey is moche riche & ther be my­nes of syluer brasse / & other good ynough. And also there is plenty of where / wynes / and fruytes / & also there is moche catell / & good horses .his lāde endeth by y^e gret Armeny / towarde the orient and w^t the realme of Georgy / toward the occydent / and extendeth to the cyte of Satalie / which is vpon y^e see of grece towarde Septentriō and hath no endes with any other lande. And extendeth of length in length vpon the see syde / and to­warde Midday endeth part with the seconde Armeny / and w^t Sy­lice / and part extendeth to the see of grece and to the syght of the yle of Cipres. And the sayd realme of Cipres is called grece of all the peple of the Orient / for cause that in the olde tyme themꝑour of grece kept that lande as his owne / and ruled all the lande by officers y^t he sende thyder euery yere. And af­ter that the Turkes toke the sayd lordship of Turky. They orday­ned a lorde amonge them y^t which they called theyr sowdan / & from that tyme the Turkes inhabyted in the sayd lande / and than it was named Turky. And there be ma­ny good cities. The fyrst ꝓuince is called Helcone / y^t is the noblest cyte of Elconye. The .ii. is named Capadoce / that is the cyte of the great Cesar of grece. The thryde prouince is called Saury & there is the cyte of Salern. The .iiii. is called Briquie and there is y^e cyte of Lichoe of grece. The .v. is cal­led Quisiton and there is the cyte of Effeson. The .vi. is called De­pictrony [Page] & there is the cyte of Ni­quie. The .vii. is called Pascagonie & there is the cite of Germana polis. The .viii. is called Genesti & there is the cyte of Trapesonde and this onely prouynce is made a realme within fewe yeres. For whan the turkes toke the lordship of turky they coulde nat take the cite of Trapesond nor no place lō gyng therto / bycause there wer so many strong castels. And so it re­mayned to themꝑour of Constantinoble / & the sayd emꝑour had a custome to send a bayly y^t was called duke to gouerne the sayd land And it fortuned so that one of the dukes rebelled agaynst themper­our & toke the lordship of Trape­sonde for hym selfe and made hym selfe to be called emꝑour / all they y^t dwell in the sayd land be grekꝭ. we put Tarpesonde in y^e nombre of y^e prouīces & nat in y^e nombre of the realmes. After as we fynde in the histores of y^e Oriēt. In the re­alme of turky inhabet .iiii. maner of people y^t is to say grekes / Ar­myns / Iabobins / & turkes which ben sarasyns. And they haue takē the lorship of the sayd lande of the grekꝭ thei y^t be dwellers in y^e cites ocupied marchādise & labouryng the groūd & the other sheperdes y^t dwelled in y^e feldes in tentes wint (ur) and somer & fed their beestes / and also they be good men of armes a fote and a horsbacke.

¶The realme of Syrie.

THe realme of Syrye to­warde the Est begynneth at the flode of Eufrates and extē ­deth by occident to the cyte of Ga­ser which is toward y^e see of grece to the heed of the desert of Egypt the brede of y^e realme of Syrie towarde Septētrion begynneth at the cyte of Baruth & extendeth to the cricke of moūt royall toward the Eest it endeth at the realme of Mesopotamy towarde Septen­trion w^t the seconde Armenye and part with the realme of Turky toward Mydday endeth at y^e see of grece & at the desert of Araby / the realme of Siry is depared i.iiii. prouinces y^t in the old tyme were realmes & in eueri one of thē was a king. The first ꝓuince is called Sein / the .ii. Palestin / & in y^t is the cyte of Heirusalem / the .iii. is called Antioquie & there be .ii gret cytes Halap & Antioch / the .iiii. is called Silyce / & there is the cytie of Tarsot in y^e which was borne the apostle saynt Paule / the sayd Silyce is now called Armeny for syth y^t the enemies of y^e cristē fayth had taken this land from y^e grekꝭ handes / the Armins traueyled so moche y^t thei recouerd the realme of Silyce / & now y^e kyng of Armeny holdeth it by y^e grace of god In the realm of Siri inhabet diuers peple grekes / armins / Iacobyns Nestorins / sarasins / & two other nations y^t is syrisins & Maroins the cristen men holdeth the maner of Greioyse for in the olde tyme they were obediēt to the church of Rome they speke language Ara­byke the seruyce & the office of the [Page vi] church is made in letters greioi­ses / the Maronyus hold the ma­ner of Iacobyus and haue a lan­gage and letters Arabyke / & this peple inhabyted about the mount Lyban & towardes the partes of Iherusalem / & they be good men of armes / of the siriens be men I now / but of the Maroyns be but fewe. And amonge them there be valyant men / the realme of Siry is .xx. dayes iourney of length & fyue in bredthe / & in some places lesse after as the desert of Arabyk and the see cometh more or lesse.

¶Sythe that we haue spoken of the .xiiii. pryncipall realmes that be in Asye we shall speke after of the emperours of Asye the which hath holden the lordship of Asye after the byrthe of our lord Ihesu Chryst after the rehersynge of the hystores of the Oryent.

¶How the kynge of Persy was fyrst emperour of Asye.

AS saynt Luke sayth in his gospell the emperour of Rome Ce­sar Augustus helde the lordshippes of all the worlde in that tyme that oure lorde Ihesu Chryst was borne / after that came a kynge of Persye which was called Cosserossath he rose ayenst the emꝑour of Rome and made hym selfe to be called y^e emperour of Asye. This emꝑour toke the lordeshippe of Persy / of Mede / of Armeny / & of Calde / & his power encerased somoch that he droue themperour of Rome & his men from all the foresayd landes. And the Persyens reygned in Asye the space of .CCC. yeres. And after the Sarasyns toke the sayde lordship from them as here after shalbe declared.

¶Whan the sarasyns entred into Syri.

IN the yere of the incarnacion of our lorde .vi.C. and xxxii. yeres / the euyllsede of Mahomet cam into y^e realme of Sy­ri· And fyrst they toke frō the gre­kes handes then oble citie of Da­mas & after they ocupyed all y^e re­alme of Sirie. After they came & be seged the cytye of Antyoche. Whan themperour Eracles men were come to a playne that is na­med Pofferit the sarasyns came and met theym / and thrre began a great batayle that lasted longe / but at the ende the sarasyns had the victory. And so many mē wer slayne in the same batayle / that y^e bones yet be sene in y^e felde / of the whiche thynge the grekes y^t kept the citie of Antioch were so a frayed in so moche that they delyuerd the lande into the sarasyns handꝭ by appoyntmētes. Than the ene­mys of the holy faythe ocupyed / Cylice / Capadoce / Lyconie / and [Page] other ryche landes / wherof they rose in so great pride that they apparellyd galeys and shippes and went to Constantynople / & fyrste they aryued in Cipres / and there they toke a cytie that was called Constance / & there was the graue of saynt Barnabe y^e apostle / and whan they had taken all y^e ryches of the sayd cytie / they brake y^e walles downe to the foundacion / and neuer syth the sayd citie was inhabyted. And than they departed & came to the yle of Rhodes & toke it / with other dyuers yles of the Rhomayns landes / and brought prysoners without nombre. And after they went to Constātinople and layd therto sege bothe by see & by lande / in great fere wer the cy­tizens in somoche that they cryed our lorde mercy / wherof it fortu­ned god that is mercyfull sende a great tempest of wynd & rayne in that somer. That all the galeis of the sarasyns were broken and the enemis almoost all drowned / and than the sarasyns retorned with­out doinge any other thynge.

¶How that the sarasyns entred into the realme of Mesopotamy.

WHan the christen mē of Constātynople se that they were dely­uerd by the grace of god / they made a solēpne day for to worshyp god for y^e honour of theyr saluatiō which day is kept euery yere to this day with great worship After that the sarasyns were refresshed a certen tyme after thei thought to gather a great nomber of people to take the realme of Mesopotamy / and Calde. That were of the lordship of the realme of Persy / the kynge of Persy that was called Asobari othe feringe the great myght of y^e sarasyns sende his messangers to the kyng & to y^e lordes his neygh­bours that were at the syde of the flode of Phison / and required thē of helpe and socoure promysinge great gyftes to all theym y^t shold come. And vpon that thei came togyther to the realme of Turky a­boute foure thousande men of ar­mes that were called Turkmens and thei moued for to com & helpe the kinge of Persy agaynst the sarasyns / and so they passed ouer y^e flode of Physon. But for cause it is the maner of that peple to cary wyues and chyldern with theym where so euer they go / they coude nat take great iourneis. The sa­rasyns that were in the realme of Calde that had taken the sayd re­alme thought that yf the hoost of the Turkmens shold come to ge­ther with the hoost of Persy they sholde not lightly acōplyssh there owne men of the realme of Persy and toke counsayle to sende to the kyng of Persy / & y^e kyng of Per­sy y^t coude nat chuse put hȳ ayenst thē. And therby a cytye y^t is called Maraga / began a great batayle which lasted lōge in y^t which was of bothe partes many men slayn. [Page vii] and at the later ende y^e kinge was slayne in the batayle and so dyed this was in the yere of our lorde god .vi.C. and .xxxiii.

¶How the sarasyns chose theyr sowdan.

AFter that the Sarasyns had taken the lordshyp of Persye and dyuers realmes / in Asye they chose there amonge them a lorde the which they called the Sowdan that is to say kynge in latten tonge / the foresayd Sa­rasyns toke the lordshyppe of the lande of the great Asye except the realme of Abcas that is in Georgy and a countray in the re­alme of Armeny y^t is called Glā ­segarfordis / these two countreys holden agaynst the Sarazyns so well that they coude neuer haue y^e lordship of it. And there the crystē men fledde a way for fere of theyr enemys of y^e Turkmens y^t came for to helpe the kyng of Persy we shall say some thynge shortely by­cause that their hystory shall be of more clere vnderstandyng / the a­bouesayd Turkemens came to a lande that is called Corasten and there they herde tydinges of y^e vndoynge of the Persyens & of the kynges deth / wherfore they wold go no farther / but they thought to holde this sayde lande of Co­rasten for them selfe and thought that they shold kepe it well ayenst the sayd Sarasyns wherof it ha­pened that y^e Sarasyns brought a great hoost togyder and came agaynst thē / the Turkmēs feryng y^e batayle / dyde send theyr messē ­gers to the Calyfe of baldach ꝓferynge them to his cōmaundemēt the which thinge pleased moche y^e sayd Calyfe & to y^e sarsyns / and so the receyued the Turkmens to a trust and chased theym out of the sayde lande of Corasten and put them out to dwell ī a nother land where y^t they sholde nat fere their rebellion and ordayned that they sholde pay euery yere a tribute to the lordeshyp. And in this maner abode the Turkemens vnder the lordshyp of the Sarasyns longe tyme / to y^e tyme that the sarasyns toke y^e lordshyp of Persy / Mede / and of Calde. And there they tur­ned all to the false lawe of Maho­met. And after it fortuned that the Calyfe of baldach cōmaunded to come before hym all the moost old & wysest men of the Turkmens & desyred them y^t they sholde beleue in Mahometes lawe. And y^t they shold teche the other Turkmens to beleue so / and promysed them to do them great grace & honour yf they wolde do his commaund­ment / the Turkmens that had no lawe were lightly consentynge to the Calyfes wyll / wherof it came that y^e Turkemens y^t were .lxiiii. nacions were made all sarasyns / except two kynredes that were deceyued of the others. And thā thei began to loue the Turkmens & to do them honoure & grace. And so longe dwelled ther the Turkmēs [Page] that they multiplyed of goodes & people / and there humbly & wyse­ly kept themselfe. And the sarasȳs kept y^e lordshyppe of Asye .iiii.C. and .xviii. yeres / & after they loste the sayde lordshyp as we shall de­uyse here after.

¶A cuniuracyon amonge the sarasyns.

IN that tyme it happed that a great debate fell amonge the Sarasyns which lasted in cō ­tynuaūce .xxx. yeres / that the sow­dans and the lordes of the landes wolde nat obey to the sowdan of Baldache / but they rose agaynst hym / & so the Sarsyns power began to mynisshe. In y^t tyme was in Constātynople a valiant Em­perour which was called Diogi­nes / the which began valiantly to enter into the landes that the Sarasyns had taken from the cristen men in thēperour Eraclos tyme / and to recouer the noble cytyes of Antyoch / sylice / & Mesopotamy the other landes the sarasins kept tyll the tyme that the Turkmens toke it from them as it shalbe dy­uysed here after.

¶The fyrst reygnynge of the turkes in Asye.

IN the yere of the Incarna­cion of our lorde. M.li. be­gan fyrste the Turkmens to haue the lordshyp in Asye in suche ma­ner that whan the Turkmēs wer multiplyed of men and goodes & se the great trouble y^t was amōge the sarasins they thought to haue rysen agayne wherfore they cam togyder and chose amōge them a kynge that was Salyoth / & afore that they had neuer lorde of theyr kinred whā they had y^t done they began so valyantly vpon the sarasyns that in shorte shace they had and ocupyed the lordship of Asye but to the Calyfe of Baldoche they dyde hym no grefe / but they yelded hym great honour / wherof it cam that y^e Calyfe more for fere than for loue ordayned Saliothe lorde of the Turkmens. But not longe after themperour Salioth dyed & after hym was his sonne made lorde which was called Doloryssa / this man moued y^e warre agaynst themꝑour of Constanty­ple & toke dyuers landes & castels a Grece. And after he send to the realm of Mesopotamy one of his cosyns which was called Artothe vnto y^e which he gaue men ynow and gaue hym the realme of Me­sopotamy and al the other landes that he myght gete ayenst the Grekes / than the great Artothe went with a great nōbre of men & layde sege to [...] cytie of Rohays & toke all the lande of Mesopotamy / he toke his owne sege in the cytye of Meredȳ / & there made hymselfe sowdan / in that tyme dyed Dolo­rissa kynge of Persy / & his sonne which was called Alpasselē / kept the lordship after hym / this Alpasselem had a neuewe y^t was called Solymā / which longe tyme had serued his father / this Solyman [Page viii] was moche valyaunt in armes / wherfore the forsayd kyng of Persy Alpasselem gaue a great nom­ber of men of warr to his neue we Solyman / and send hym to Ca­padoce and graūted hym to hold and kepe all y^t he coulde take vpō the grekes. And vpon that wente Solyman & entred in the realme of Turky and there toke cytes realmes / and castels & almoost all y^e land put them vnder his lordship wherfore he dyd chaūg his name and was called Solymansa. and of these men the hystores maketh mencion of Godfray debullayns passage whan he fought with the pylgrimes and dyde them moche harme or they coulde passe y^e lan­des of Turky.

¶How y^e Grekes were dryuen out of Asye.

AFter that dyed Alpasselem the turkes em­perour / and thā was his sonne made emꝑ­our / which was called Melacaceraf the which send a commaund­ment to Artoth y^e sowdan of Me­sopotamy and to Solimansa the sowdan of Turky that thei shold go and lay sege to the cyte of An­tyoche / wherfore they brought to­gither a great hoost and laid sege to Antyoche the which the grekes kept. And not long after thei toke it / and so were the grekes dryuen oute of all the landes of Asye / by the myght of the enemys of y^e cry­sten fayth. And than after Mela­caceraf themperour of y^e turkes dyed & laft two chyldern the fyrst was called Balryaro the whiche kept the lordshyp after hym / but his brother that was more valyāt in armes ocupyed a great part of the landes of Persy / and at that tyme that Godfray de bullen pas­sed the sayd Balryaroth was em­perour of Asye and Solymansa was sowdan of Turky and dyde many enterprises to y^e pylgrems or they coulde passe the landes of Turkey.

¶How the Crysten men layde sege to Antyoche

WHan the Emperour of Persy vnderstod that the crysten men had layd sege to the cyte of Antyoche / he brough togyder a great people of the realme of Turkey / and sende for them for to socour the cyte. Or the turkes coulde come / y^t myght of y^e enemys were so great y^t they layde sege rounde about the cyte / wherfore the cristen men that had layde sege before / were themselfe beseged / & at the later end our pilgrimes fought ayenst this great nomber of enemys so well that by the grace of god y^e other were all discōfyted / & Corberam y^e chefe captayn slayne / they y^t scaped out of y^e batayle went agayn into Persy And there the founde y^t theyr emꝑour Balryarothe was deed / than his broder wold haue take y^e lord­ship but his enmis dyde rone vpō [Page] hym & kylde hym / great trouble was amonge the sarasyns in so­moch that neuer sithe they coulde nat agre to make no emꝑour nor generall lorde / but they began to make war the one ayenst y^e other wherfore the Greces & the Arme­nys of the great Armenye entred vpon them and droue theym oute of all the landes of Persye bothe theyr wyues and chyldern and so they went into Turky and there they kept the lordship i great pro­speryte tyll the comyng of y^e Tartas the which ocupyed the lande & lordship of Turky as it shalbe declared here after.

¶How the Corasmyns cōque­red the realme of Persy.

IN the realme of Coras­mȳs was a maner of pepyll that dwelled in the mountayns and in the feldys fedynge theyr beestes the which were bolde men of armes / these men vnderstode that the re­alm of Persy was without a lord wherfore they thought for to con­quer it lightly. And than thei cam togyder and dyde chose a lorde a­mōge thē which was called Iala­adȳ & whan they had so done they went to the noble cytye of Torys without any cōtradictyon of / any man / and there they dwelled and made theyr lorde Ialaadyn Em­perour of Asye for they thought to occupy other realmes of Asye as they had taken y^e realm of Persy / this Corasmȳs rested there certayn dayes and there they were al full of goodes & ryches of Persy / wherof they toke so great pryde y^t they entred into y^e realm of Tur­kye and thought to haue ocupyed it & enioyed it / but the sowdan of Turky that was called Ialaadȳ gethared his hoost and fought a­gaynst the Corasmyns and ouer cam them and droue theym out of Turky and Ialaadyn theyr Emperour was slayn in batayle / and they that scaped went into the re­alme of Mesopotamy / and than came to gyther into the playne of Royhas & there they toke coūsayl betwene them to entre into the re­alme of Syry which was at that tyme gouerned by a Lady / & then the Corasmyns cam & brought togyther agayne the hoost & entred in to Siry. And this noble Lady brought her men togyder in y^e cy­te of Halap & nygh to the flode of Eufrates / cam to mete the Coras­myns & fought there great was y^e batayle / but at the later ende the Corasmyns were ouercome / and fled awaye towarde the desert of Arabe / and after they passed ouer the flod of Eufrates nygh to a ca­stell that was called Racabe & en­tred into the realme of Syry and cam to the prouince of Palastyne that is in the realme of Hyerusalē and dyde great damage to the cristen mē as it apereth in y^e historis of the passage of Godfray debul­layn / & at the last this Corasmins began to murmure & wolde not [Page ix] obey to theyr lorde / and than they departed so that some went to the sowdan of Harmes and to other sowdans. Which were .v. in Sy­ry. Whan that y^e Corasmins duke that was called Beretall / se y^t his men were wasted / send his messā ­gere to the sowdan of Babilon & profered hym his seruice / wherof the sowdan was ryght glad and receyued hym with a good wyll & dyde great honour to y^e duke and to them y^t came with hym and de­parted the Corasmyns by all his landes bycause that he wolde nat haue theym all togyther. And be­cause of that / the sowdans power of Babylon rose moche for the cō ­myng of the Corasmyns / that be­fore was ryght smale. And in conclusyon & in short tyme the natyon of the Corasmyns cam to nought And then after the Tartas began to haue the lordshippe.

¶What coūtray the Tartas inhabited fyrste.

THe lande & countrey there as the Tartas dwelled / fyrst is be­twene the grete moū tayne of Beligian of this moun­tayn speketh the hystores of Alex­ander there as he maketh mēcyon of the wylde men y^t he founde. In that coūtrey dwelled fyrst y^e Tar­tas as beestysshe men that had no faythe / nor lawe. But went from place to place as beestes fedynge. And of other natyons they were kept subgettes to the which they were seruaūtes to dyuers natyōs of Tartas that wer named Mal­gothz came togyther & ordayned captayns & gouernours amonge theym. And so they multyplied so moche that they were departed in vii. nations. And to this day these nations be taken more noble then the other. The fyrst of this nation is called Tartar / the second Tā ­gothe / the thryde Curach / y^e .iiii. Iason / the .v. Sonithe / the syxte Mangly / and the .vii. Tebethe. And as it happened that these .vii nations dwelled in the subgectiō of theyr neyghbours as is before sayd. It fortuned a poore olde mā that was called Cangius sawe in dremynge a visyon / the which to hym semyng was a knyght in ar­mour vpon a white horse / that called hym by his name. And sayde vnto hym Cangius y^t wyll of thy immortall god is suche that he o­weth to beshortli gouernor made vpon the .vii. natyons of y^e Tar­tas y^t ben called Malgothz and y^t by hym they shalbe delyuerd oute of the saruage that thei had longe ben in / & shall haue worship vpon theyr neighbours / Cangius rose vp merily herynge the worde of Christ / and rehersed the vision y^t he se to all the gentilmen / but they wold nat beleue but skorned hym wherfore it fortuned the night fo­lowynge the captayns of the .vii. nations se the white horse in visiō as Cangius had rehersed. Which cōmaunded by the immortall god [Page] y^e they sholde obey all to Cāgius / and that they sholde kepe all his cōmaundemētes. wherfore y^e .vii. captayns abouesaid / brought the people togyther / and dyde make obesaunce and reuerence to Can­gius. And they them selfe dyde so as to theyr naturall lorde.

¶How Cangius was elect em­perour of the Tartas.

AFter that the Tartas ordayned a seat in y^e myddes of them all & putte there vpon the groūde a blacke carpet and made Cangius to syt therupon. And y^e vii. captayns of the .vii. natyons reysed hym vp with the sayd car­pet & set hym vpon the seate. And named hym Can / and with kne­linge dyde hym all honour and reuerence as to theyr owne lorde.

¶Of the solempnyte y^t the Tar­tas dyde to theyr lorde In y^e tyme sholde no man maruayle of it / for ꝑaduenture they coulde do no better or they had no fayrer clothe to set hym on / but for that they wold nat change theyr first vsage. It is marueyle seynge y^t they haue conquered so many landes and real­mes & yet they kepe theyr fyrst maner / for thei wyll chuse their lorde and twyse haue I ben at thelectyō of the Tartas emperour / they as­semble togyther in a great felde / & he that sholde be theyr lorde they caused hym to sytte vpon a blacke carpet and put a ryche seate in the myddes of them all. And than af­ter cam the noble men and y^e chefe of his kynred and lyft hym vp on hye and set hym vpon the seate / & after dyde hym all honour & reue­rence as to theyr naturall lorde / & for al the lordship or riches y^t they haue conquered they wode neuer chaūge theyr fyrst gyse. And after that Cāgius Can was made em­perour by the cōmen wyll and cō ­sent of all the Tartas. First of all or Cang. Can wold do any other thinge he wolde knowe if they all wolde be obedient vnto hym and than he cōmaunded .iii. cōmaun­demētes. The fyrst cōmaundemēt was that they sholde all beleue & worshyp one god immortall by y^e which he was made emꝑour And forthe withall the Tartas began to beleue and worship god / and reclamed y^e name of god in all theyr warkes and dedes. The seconde cōmaundemēt was y^t they shold viewe and nombre all them that were able to bere harnes / and or­dayned that vpon euery .x. sholde be a captayn / & ouer .C. a captayn and ouer .x.M. was a captayn / & they called the company of the .x. thousande Thoman.

¶After that he cōmaūded to the captayns of the .vii. natyons and lynages of the Tartas that they sholde yelde vp all theyr armes & lordships. And y^t they sholde hold and pay vnto hym as he sholde or dayn them. The .iii. commaūde­mēt that Cāgius Can made was thought moche cruell to them all / [Page x] for he cōmaunded to the foresayd vii. great captains that euery one sholde brynge his eldest sonne be­fore hym / and whan they had so done. He cōmaūded them y^t euery captayn sholde stryke of his son­nes heed / the which cōmaundmēt they thought was moche felon / & not for because y^t they shold fere y^e people. But bycause y^t they knew well y^t Cangius Can was made emperour by cōmaundement of y^e immortall god. And so euery one of the .vii. captayns strake of his sonnes heed. And than whan Cā ­gius Can knewe the good wyll of his people / and se that they wolde obey hym vnto the dethe. Than he cōmaunded that they sholde be apperylled in knyghtes armour with hym.

¶How Cangius Can was sa­ued by a byrde.

WHan Cangius Can had ordayned well & wyselye his batayle he entred into the lā ­des of thē y^t had lōge tyme kept the Tartas subgettes and fought with theym and ouer came them all / and put theyr lan­des in his subiectyon. After that Cangius Can went forthe cōque­rynge landes and countreis / and all thingꝭ went as he wolde. Vpō a day it happened that Cangius Can rode with a smale cōpany / & met with a great nombre of his e­nemys / which set sharpley vpon hym. Cāgius Can defended him valyantly but at the last his hors was slayne vnder hym. And whā Cangius men se that theyr lorde was in the prese incontynent they lost their corages and began to fle away. And theyr enemys chased after thē / and toke no hede to Cā ­gius Can themperour that was a fote. Whan Cāgius Can se that he hyd hym in a lytell busshe that was nere. The enemis that had y^e victory began to serche for theym that were fled / and as they wolde haue serched the said busshe wherin Cāgius Can was hyd. A byrd that is called a duke / cam and sat vpon the sayd busshe. And whan they that sought for Cāgius Can se the byrde syttynge vpon y^e sayd busshe ther as Cāgius Can was they supposed no body to be there And deꝑted sayenge if any body were ther the byrde wolde nat syt ther / and so they went away with out any more serchinge thinkyng that no body sholde be in the sayd busshe.

¶How and wherfore the Tar­tas were fethers.

WHan that nyght cam Cangius Can wente out of the busshe / and dyde so moche that he cam to his men and coūted to thē all his auenture. And how y^e byrd lyght vpon the busshe there as he was hyd / and for that cause his e­nemys serched nat for hym. And [Page] than the Tartas rēdred grace to god / & from thensforthe they had the sayd byrde / which was called duke in great reuerence. For who that myght haue a feder of y^e sayd byrde gladly wolde were it vpon his heed. Of this history I haue made mencyon to thende that ye sholde knowe wherof the Tartas were the feders vpon their heedes Cangius Can rendred grace to god that he was so delyuerd in y^t maner.

¶After y^t he assembled his hoost togyder and fought with his ene­mys and discomfyt theym & put theym all in his subiection. And Cangius Can conquered all the landes that were from thens to y^e mountayn of Belgyan and helde them / so moche that he se an other vision as it shalbe deuysed here after. ¶Whan Cangius Can had conquered y^e lordships of all those countreis that were a this syde y^e mountayne of Belgyan vpon a nyght it happened that he se in vysion the white knyght agayne the which sayd vnto hym Cang. Can the wyll of the immortall god is that thou passe the mountayn of Belgyan / and thou shalt cōquere the realmes & coūtreis of dyuers nations / & shalt reygne & be lorde ouer them. And to thende y^t thou shalt know that this that I say is the wyll of the immortall god.

Ryse vp and goo to the mount of Belgian with all thy men / & whā thou shalt come there where y^e see is ioyning to the sayd moūtayn y^u shalt discende with all thy men / & shalt knele .ix. tymes agaynst the Orient / and shalt pray to the im­mortall god / that he wyll shewe y^t the way. And he shall shewe y^t / the way & so thou mayst passe with al thy people. Whan Cangins Can was waked out of his slepe / he beleued well in y^e vision & forthwith cōmaunded his men y^t thei sholde get thē to horse for he wolde passe the mountayn of Belgian. Than they rode forthe tyll they came to the see and there they coulde nat passe ouer / bycause there was no passage greate nor smale. And in contynent Cangius Can descen­ded from his horse / and cōmaun­ded to all his army y^t they sholde lyght and knele downe .ix. tymes towarde the Orient / and y^t they sholde pray to almighty god im­mortall / that he wolde shewe thē the way to passe. And all y^e nyght Cangius Can & his men abode i prayers. And on the morowe Cā ­gius Can se that the see was gone from the mountayn .ix. fote & they had a fayre large way. whan Cā ­gius Can and his people se that thing they marueyled moche of it wherfore they yelded grac to god and passed all toward the partes of the Orient as it is rehersed in the Tartas histores.

¶How Cangius Can fell sycke.

AFter y^e Cangius Can had passed the mountayne of [Page xi] Belgian he founde moche water marese & the lande desert so moche that or he & his people coude come in a good land they suffred great penure. After y^t they founde gode landes and plentyfull of all thyn­ges wherfore they dwelled in the coūtrey many dayes and reposed them. And as it plesed god a gret sykenesse toke Cangius Can and than he cōmaūded to come before hym .xii. sonnes that he had and cōmaunded them that they sholde euer be all of one wyll and acorde & gaue theym suche example. He cōmaunded that euery one of thē sholde bringe an arowe. And whā the .xii. sonnes were com togyder he cōmaunded to his fyrst sonne y^t he sholde take all the arowes and that he shold breke them with his handes. And so his first sonn̄ toke the sayd arowes but he coude nat breke them with his handes / and than he toke theym to his seconde sonne but he coude nat breke thē. And than Cangius cōmaunded that the arowes sholde be deꝑted and cōmaunded to the leest of his sonnes y^t he sholde take euery one of the arowes by theymselfe / and that he shold breke them. And thā the chylde brake all the .xii. arow­es. And than Cāgius Can torned hym towarde his chyldern & sayd to them / wherfore coulde you nat breke the arowes as I cōmaūded you / and they sayde bycause that they were all togyder. And than he sayde wherfore hath this lytell chylde broken them / and they an­swered that bycause that he brake them euery one by thēselfe. Than sayd Cangius Can it shall come so by you for as longe as ye shalbe all of one wyll & one acorde / your lordshyps shall euer last / & whan ye shalbe departed one from an o­ther / soone after your lordshipes shall torne to nought and shal nat contynue. Dyuers more cōmaū ­demētes and examples gaue Cā ­gius Can to his chyldren and to his men / which the Tartas kepe yet in great reuerence.

¶How Cangius Can them­perour dyed.

WHan Cangius Can had that done seyng y^t he coulde nat lyue long he made one of his sonnes / the best & wysest lorde and emperour after hym. And cōmaūded that they all sholde obey vnto hym and serue hym as theyr naturall lorde. And this sayd sonne was called Hactoca. After that the good emperour and fyrst of the Tartas dyed and passed out of this worlde / and his sonne Hoctoca held the lordships after hym. And before y^t we make an ende of thistory of Cāgius Cā we shal say how the Tartas haue the nōbre of .ix. in great reuerēce and honour / in worship of the .ix. knelynges / and of the .ix. fote that the see went backe from the coost and made way of .ix. fote. Where they passed all they mountayn of [Page] Belgyan by the cōmaundemēt of god / the Tartas haue the nōbre of .ix. in great reuerēce. Wherfore he that wyll present any thinge to his lorde / and wolde that his pre­sent sholde be receyued gracious­ly. He must present the nombre of ix. and so is the vsage of the Tar­tas vnto this day.

¶How Hoctoca Can made war in Asie.

HOctoca Can y^t was emꝑ­oure of the Tartas after the deth of his father Cā ­gius Cā which was valyāt good and wyse / & also his people loued hym well / & were to hym faythfull and true euermore. Hoctoca Can thought to conquere all the lande of Asie / and before that he deꝑted from the lande ther as he was / he wolde knowe the power of all the kynges that were in Asie / & wold knowe which was the moost pu­saunt. Purposynge to fyght fyrst with hym / for he thought that he sholde lightly ouercome the other if he might cōquer y^e moost migh­ty. Thā Hoctoca Can send a wise and a valiant captayn which was named Gebesabada / and sende w^t hym .x. thousande fightynge men and cōmaūded them y^t they shold entre into the landes of Asie. And to viewe the state and condicyon of the sayd lande / and if thei foūd any mighty lorde whom thei wer nat able to resyst / they shold shortly retorne backe agayn. As Hoctoca Can cōmaunded it was acom­plysshed for y^e sayd captayn w^t his x. thousand Tartas entred sodē ­lye into the landes of Asie / & there he toke cyties and landes. Or the inhabitauntes were ware / or be­fore that thei coude make them redy to batayle or defende thē / they kylde all the men of armes / but they dyde no harme to the people They toke horse / harnes / vitayle and all suche thynges that they neded / and went so farre in the land that they came to the moūtayn of Cocas. For this moūtayn of Co­cas one can nat passe the depe of Asie into great Asie / but by the lycence of the peple of a cyte that the kynge Alexander closed vpon a narowe see that toucheth the moū tayne of Cocas. This sayd cytye was taken by these .x. thousande Tartas / in suche maner that the inhabytantes of the sayd cyte had no space nor tyme to defend them selfe. And than they toke this cyte and all that was therin / and put all the mē and women to y^e swerd And after that they brake downe all the walles of the cyte / bycause that whā they sholde come agayn they shold fynde nothing agaynst them. This cytie was in the olde tyme called Alexander / but nowe it is called porte de ferre. The re­nowne of the Tartas was sprede ouer all the countreis and landes wherof it fortuned that the kynge of Georgi which was caled yna­ims brought his hoost togyder & [Page xii] came agaynst the tartas & fought with them in a playne that is cal­led Morgam. The batayle lasted longe / but at thende the Georgy­ens were constrayned to fle away as discomfyt. The tartas passed so ferre that they came to a cyte of turkey that is called Arseon / and than they vnderstod that the sowdan of turkey was nere / and how he had assembled his hoost togy­der. Therfore the tartas durst go no farther / seynge that they were nat able to encounter agaynst the sowdā of turkey / they went backe agayne by an other way to theyr lorde. The which they founde in a cyte that is called Amelect / and tolde hym all that they had done / and founde in the lande of Asie

¶Whan the tartas lerned fyrst letters.

WHan Hoctoca Can vnder­stode the maner & condicy­on of the lande of Asie. He thought that there was no prynce that was able to withstand hym. And than he called thre sonnes y^t he had / and gaue them great ry­ches with a great nombre of men of armes. And cōmaūded them to entre into the lande of Asie / con­quering all the realmes & landes. And cōmaunded to his son̄ Iochi that he sholde go toward the par­ties of Occident vnto the flode of Physon. And to his second sonne that was called Bacho he cōmaū ­ded that he shold kepe his way towarde Septētrion / and to y^e leest that was called Chasada cōmaū ­ded that he sholde ryde toward y^e South. In this maner he depar­ted his thre chyldren and send thē for to conquer these landes & pro­uynces. After that Hoctoca Can sprede his hoost abrode by y^e coū ­treis / so moche that the fore fronte of his hoost rought to the realme of Cathay / & the other front to the realme of Trase. In those partes the tartas lerned leters / for before that tyme thei had no letters and therfore the dwellers of the sayde coūtrey were all ydolatours. The tartas began to honour the ydols but many of them confessed y^e im­mortall god gretter than y^e other. ¶After that themꝑour Hoctoca Can gaue to his eldest sonne that was called Bacho .xxx. thousande tartas that were called Tanachy that is to say conquerers / and cō ­maunded that they shold go that way y^t the .x. thousād tartas kept and y^t they shold tary in no lande tyll they sholde come into y^e realm of Turky / & more ouer he cōmaū ­ded y^t thei shold proue if thei wer able to fyght agaynst the sowdan of Turky / & if that they dyde se y^t the sowdans power wer to great they sholde nat fyght w^t hym / but they sholde do so moche to one of his chyldren which sholde be next them y^t he wolde gyue them helpe and men of warr. And than after they met began the batayle of Bacho w^t .xxx. thousand tartas went so moche by theyr iourneis y^t they [Page] came to the realme of Turkey / & there he vnderstode that the sow­dan that had dryued away the .x.M. tartas was deed. After hym one of his son̄es y^t was called Gi­riacadyn was made lorde. this sodan was in great fere for the tar­tas cōmynge / and than he gathe­red and waged all maner of men that he coude haue as Barbarins and Latyns / y^t had two captayns of the which one was called Iohn de la limynate / which was of the ple of Cipre. And y^e other was called Bonyface de moulins / and he was of the cyte of Venyse.

¶Of the batayle y^e was betwene the sowdan of Turky & y^e tartas.

WHan the sowdan of Turky had gathered his hoost of all the parties. He came & fought with the tartas in a place that is called Asadache / the batell was grete and many men slain of bothe parties / but at the laterend the tartas had y^e victory / & entred into the landes of Turky & cōquered the sayd landes. In the yer of our lorde god .M.CC.xliii. And than nat longe tyme after Hocto­ca Can themꝑour of the tartas dyed. And after hym one of his son­nes was made lorde / which was called Guyot Cā / this Guyot Cā lyued nat long after hym. One of his cosyns was made lord which was called Māgo Can / y^e which was moche valyant & wyse & con­quered many landes & lordships / but at the ende as a man that hath a great hert he entred vpon y^e see. And as he layde sege to an yle the which he wold haue takē by y^e see syde. The men of that lande that were subtyll send for men y^t coud swym vnder the water / which mē entred vnder the vessel in y^e which Mango Can was in. And there they taryed so longe vnder y^e wa­ter that they brake the vessell ī dy­uers places / so moche y^e the water entred into the sayd vessell of the which thing Māgo Can toke no hede tyll the sayd vessell was well nygh full / & began to synke vnder y^e water. And so was Māgo Cā themꝑour of the tartas drowned / his mē went home agayn & made his brother lorde y^t was called Cobila Can / the which kept the lordship of the tartas .xlii. yeres. And made them christen men & closed a cyte which is called Ioing / y^t is gretter than Rhome. And in this cytie dwelled Cobila Can which was the .v. emꝑour of the tartas tyll the last ende of his dayes. We shall leue to speke of Māgo Can and shall retorne to speke of Hoc­toca Cans chyldren of Halcon of his heyres and of his warkes.

¶How Iochy conquered the re­alme of Turquestan & Persy.

IOchy the first sonne of Hoctoca Cā rode toward Occydēt w^t all his men that his father had gyuē hȳ [Page xiii] And conquered the realm of Turquestan and of Persy the left / and than he went to y^e flodde of Phy­son / and there he founde the coū ­treis full of all goodes and dwel­led in the sayde countrey in rest / and peace / and multiplied in gret richesse. And vnto this day y^e hey­res of the foresayd Iochy holde y^e lordeship of the sayd lande. And there be two lordes that holde the lordshippe of the sayd lande. The one is called Chapar / and the o­ther Thochay / & they be brethern and lyue in rest and peace.

¶ How Bacho and a great parte of his men wer drowned in y^e ryuer of Austrich.

BAcho the seconde son̄ of Hoctoca Cā with the men that his fa­ther had gyuen vnto hym rode towarde y^e partyes of Septentrion / & dyde so moche that he cam to the realm of Comany. The kyng of Coma­ny thinkynge well for to defende his lande / gathered his hoost and fought agaynst the tartas / but at thende the Comayns were discō ­fyt. And they droue thē Comains vnto the realme of Hongrye and yet vnto this day be many Comayns dwellyng in Hongry.

¶After that Bacho had dryuen the Comayns oute of the realme of Comany. He entred into the realme of Roussy and toke it / and he conquered the realme of Geze­re / and the realme of Bulgary. And after he rode to the realme of Hongry / and ther he found some Comayns and toke them. After y^t y^e tartas passed toward Almayn & dyde so moch y^t they came to y^e ry­uer syd y^e ran by Almain by y^e duchy of Austrych. y^e tartas thought to passe by a bridge that was ther but the duke of Austrych caused the brydge to be garnysshed / so y^t the tartas coude nat passe ouer. & whan Bacho se that he coude nat passe ouer the brydge. Herydde into the water with his horse and dyde begynne to swym / and than he commaunded to his men that they shold passe ouer swymming Wherin he put hym selfe and his men in great danger. For before that they coude passe ouer theyr horses was so wery y^t they coude swymme no lengar. And so Ba­cho and a great parte of his men were drowned in the foresayd ry­uer of Austrych or they coude pas ouer / or come to the other syde.

¶wHan the other Tartas that were nat entred into the water se theyr lorde Bacho / & theyr other company drowned. Full sory and heuy they daꝑted and went backe to the realme of Roussi and of Comany. And neuer after the Tar­tas entred into Almayn.

¶The heyres of the sayd Bacho holde the lordshippe of the realme of Corasme / the realme of Comany / and the realm of Roussy. And he that is nowe lorde was Hocto­ca [Page] Can [...] thyrde sonne which was called Chacaday.

¶How Iochy receyued his broder Chacaday.

CHacaday the thyrde son̄ of Hoctoca Can with his mē that his father had gyuen vnto him rode toward the Southe / tyll he came to the ꝑ­ties of Inde the leest. And there he founde moche voyd lande and no men dwellynge therin. And so he coude nat passe but he lost his men and many of his beestes. Af­ter that he went towarde the Oc­cydent / and dyde so moche that he came to his brother Iochy and rehersed to hym all his fortune.

¶Iochy receyued his brother & his company full humbly & gaue vnto them part of his landes that he had cōquered. And in continēt were the two brothers to gyder & there men in good peace and rest. And he that is nowe lorde is cal­led Baretath.

¶How and whan the kynge of Armeny laft his owne countrey & came to the kynge of the Tartas. And how he required .vii. peticy­ons of hym.

IN y^e yere of our lord god a thousand two houderde and thre & fyfti. Hayton y^e king of Armeny of good remembraunce seyng that the tartas hadde conquered all the countreys and realmes to the realm of Turkey. He toke counsayle for to go to the kyng of the Tartas & to take with hym his goodes & his frendes. The king of Armeny by the counsell of his barownes send before for his brother sir Symme Batat constable of the realme of Armeny. And than the constable went to the realme of the Tartas and to the lord Mango Can and brought hym many riche presen­tes / and was courtesly receyued.

¶And whan he had accomplys­shed well all his besynesses for the whiche his brother the kynge of Armeny had sende hym for. Ve­ryli he taryed foure yeres or that he came agayn into Armeny / and whan he had tolde to his brother the kynge what he had done and founde. By and by the kynge ap­parylled hym and his men of ar­mens and wente pryuely he and his men by Turky / for that / that he wolde nat be knowen. And he merre with a captayn of the Tar­tas the whiche had ouer come the sowdan of Turkey / the kynge of Armeny gaue him knowlege and tolde to hym how that he was go­ynge to themperour of the tartas. And than the sayd captayne gaue hym company to bryng hym to y^e port de ferr. And after y^t the king found other company y^t brought hym to the cytye of Maleth / and there was Mango Can themꝑ­our of the Tartas / the which was [Page xiiii] eyght gladde of the kynge of Ar­menes cōmyng. And receyued hȳ honorably & gaue hym great gyf­ [...]es and great graces. After that the kynge of Armeny had taryed certayn dayes / he made his requestes and required of themperour seuen thinges.

¶The first thing that the kynge required of thēperour was / that he and his men sholde becom cri­sten men / and that they sholde be baptised. The seconde that he re­quyred that perpetuall peace and loue sholde be betwene the tartas and the christen men. The thyrde he required that in all the landes that the tartas had cōquered and sholde conquere the churches of y^e christen men as preestes / clerkes / and all the relygious ꝑsons shold be fre and delyuerd of all seruagl. The .iiii. y^t the kynge required of Mango was to gyue helpe & coū ­sell to delyuer the holy lande oute of the Sarasyns handes / and to put it agayn into the christenmēs handes. The fift he required that he wolde gyue cōmaundement to the tartas that were in Turkey y^t they sholde helpe to distroy the cytie of Baldach and the Calyf that is chefe and techer of the fals lawe of Mahomet. The sixt he requy­red a priuilege and cōmaundmēt that he myght haue helpe of y^e tartas that were nygh to the realm of Armeny whan he sholde requyre them. The .vii. request was / that all the landes y^t the sarasyns had taken that were of y^e realme of Armeny / that after was come into y^e tartas handes sholde he restored frely vnto hym. And also all y^e landes y^t he myght conquer agaynst the sarasyns that he myght holde them without any cōtradiction of the tartas in rest and peace.

¶How themꝑour Mango Can and his barownes agreed to the vii. peticiōs of y^e king of Armeni.

WHan Māgo Can vnderstode the requestꝭ of the king of Arme­ny before his barow­nes and all his court answered & sayd. Bycause that y^e kyng of Armeny is come frō ferre countreis into our empyre of his owne frewyll. It is metely y^t we shall fulfyll all his requestes. To you kyng of Armeny we shall say as we be emꝑour we shalbe baptysed first / and shal beleue in y^e faith of christ / & shall do christen all thē of our house. And shall kepe all y^e fayth that the christēmen holde to this day / and to the other we shall gyue them counsell that they shall do lykewise / for y^e fayth wyll haue no body by force. The seconde re­quest we answer and wyll that ꝑ­petuall peas & loue shalbe amōge the christēmen and the tartas / but we wyll that ye shalbe pledge that the christenmen shall holde good peace and trewe loue towarde vs as we shall do towarde thē ▪ And [Page] we wyll that all the churches of the thristenmen / prestes / cleckes / and all other persons of what de­gre or condicyon so euer they be seculer / or relygiouse ꝑsons shall be free and delyuerd of all serua­ges. And also they shalbe defēded from all maner of hurt both of body and goodes.

¶And vpon the dede of the holy lande we say that we shall go per­sonally with a right gode wyll for the honour of our lord Ihu christ But for bycause y^t we haue moch to do in those parties / we shall cō ­maunde to our broder Halcon y^t he shall go with you for to fulfyll this warke. And shall delyuer the holy land fro the sarasyns power and shall restore it to the christenmen. And we shall sende our commaundement to Bacho and to the other Tartas that be in Turky & to the other y^t be in that coūtreys that they shall obey to our brother Halcon. And he shall go to take y^e cyte of Baldach & shall distroy y^e Calyfe as our mortall ennemy.

¶Of the priuilege that the kyng of Armenye requyringe to haue helpe of the Tartas / we wyll that the priuilege shall be diuysed all after his owne mynde and plea­sure all we cōmaunde & confirme.

¶And all the landes that y^e king of Armeny requyred that sholde be restored vnto hym / we graunt it with a right good wyll. And cō maunde to oure brother Halcon that he yeld to hym all the landes that were of his lordshyppe and more ouer we gyue vnto all the lā des that he may cōquere agaynst the sarasyns. And of outspecyall grace we gyue hym all the castels that be nere to his lande.

¶How Māgo Can was christened at the request and desyre of the kynge of Armeny / and dy­uers other of his people. And how the kynge of Armeny and Halcon wente to the Assasyns countreis.

WHan Mango Can had fynisshed all the peticions and requestes of the kynge of Armeny. Soone after he caused a bysshoppe to chri­sten hym / which bysshoppe was chaunceler to the sayd kyng of Armeny. And after he caused all his housholde seruauntes to be chry­stened / and many other both men and womē. Than after he orday­ned men of warre that sholde go with his brother. And than Hal­con and the king of Armeni with a great compani of men of armes rodde tyll they came to the flodde of Physon / and dyde so well that or syx monethes were at an ende Halcone occupyed the realme of Persy / and toke all the lādes and countreys there as the Assasyns dwelled. That be men w^tout any fayth or belefe saue that thei haue a lorde the which is called y^e olde [Page xv] mountayn dyde teche them to be­leue and they be so moch obedient to their lorde y^t they put themselfe to deth at his cōmaundement.

¶In the sayd lande of Assasyns was a stronge castell well fornys­shed with all maner of thingꝭ that was called Tigado. Halcon commaūded to one of his captayns of the tartas that he shold lay sege to the sayd castell / and that he sholde nat depart away tyll he had taken the sayd castell. And than the tar­tas taryed to besege y^e sayd castell without any deꝑting .xxvii. yeres And at thend the Assasins yelded the castell for defaut of clothyng & for no other thyng. Whan Halcon vnderstod the taking of the sayd castell the king toke leue of Halcō & retorned vnto Armeny & taryed ther .iii. yeres and a halfe after in good helthe thanked be god.

¶After that Halcon had orday­ned the gard of the realme of Persy he went into a delycate coūtrey that was named Soloch & there he taryed all the sōmer in gret rest whan the wether was cold again Halcon went & beseged the cyte of Baldach and the Calyf that was maister and techer of Mahometz lawe. And whan he had gathared his hoost he caused the cite of Baldach to be assayled vpon all ꝑties And dyde so moche that they toke it by force / and as many men and women as they found thei put thē to the swerd. The Calyf was brought alyue before Halcō / so moch richesse they found in the cytie of Baldache that it was wonder to beholde it. And than Halcon commaunded that the Calyf with all his treasoure sholde be brought afore hym. And than he sayd to the Calyfe knowest thou nat that all this tresour was thyn / and he answered ye. Than sayd Halcon vnto hym / wherfore dyde you make no good ordinance & prouysiō for to defende your landes from oure power. And than the Calyf answered hym / he thought that the olde women had ben sufficyent to de­fende the land. Than sayd Halcō to the Calyf of Baldach / bycause that y^u art maister and techer of Mahometz lawe / we shall make the fede of these preciouse tresour and richesses that thou hast loued so moche in thi lyfe. And than Halcon commaunded that the Calyf sholde be put in a close chambre & that some of his tresour sholde be layd before hym / and y^t he sholde eate of it yf he wolde. And in the same maner the wretched Calyfe endede his lyfe / and neuer sythe was Calyfe in Baldache.

¶Whan Halcon had taken the citie of Baldach and the Calyf and all the countreis about. He departed the lordships / and put in eche of them baylies / and gouernours as it plesed hym selfe. And he dyd moche honour to the christen men and put the sarasyns in great ser­uage euer after.

¶A woman that was called Descotacon / which was a good chri­sten woman & was of the lynage [Page] of the thre kynges y^t came to wor­ship the natiuitie of our lorde Ihū Christ. This sayd woman made to be buylded agayn all the chur­ches of the christen men / and cau­sed all the temples of the sarasyns to be put downe / and put them in so great seruag & subiectyon that they durst nat come abrode.

¶Why Halcon send for y^e kynge of Armeny for to come to hym.

WHan Halcō had refresshed hym the space of an yer and his men in the cite of Rohais. He sende for the kyng of Armeni that he sholde come to hym / for he was disposed to go and delyuer y^e holy lande & to restore it agayne into y^e christen mens handes. The kyng of gode remēbraūce was full glad of the sayd cōmaūdement & gathered a gret hoost of valyant men a fote & a horsbacke. For in y^e tyme the realme of Armeny was ipros­peryte so y^t he made .xii. thousāde horsmen / and .xii. thousand afote and that haue I sene in my dayes Whan the kynge of Armeny was come he helde a parlyment & coū ­sell / to Halcon vpon the dede of y^e holy land. Than sayd the kyng to Halcon / sir the sowdan of Halap / holdeth the lordship of the kyng of Anyne & of Syrie. And syth y^t ye entende to go to the holy land me thinke it for y^e best to lay sege first to the cyte of Halap / which is the moost strongest cyte in the realm of Syrie. For if we may take the cyte of Halap all the other may be lightly takē. Halcon was well ple­ased with the kynge of Armenis counsell. And than he layd sege to the cyte of Halap / which had full strong walles / but the tartas toke the cytye by mynes that they had made vnder the grounde / and by other craft and ingins that they dyde make / they toke the cytie by­force in nyne dayes. But there was within the cytie a castell that was so stronge that it defended them that wer within a leuen dayes after that they had take y^e cytie Great haboundaunce of riches & other substaunce founde the tar­tas Whan they were entred withī the cytie of Halape. And so Ha­lap was taken / and after that all the realme of Syrie.

¶In the yere of our lorde god a thousande two hondred and thre­skore. Whan the soudan of Halap that was at that tyme in the cytie of Damas vnderstod that the cy­tie of Halap was taken by the tartas. And that they had taken his wyfe and his chyldren / he knewe nat what to do / but yeld hym selfe to the mercy of Halcon thynkinge by that mean that Halcon sholde render to hym his wyfe and his chyldren and parte of his lande. Than Halcon dyde send the sow­dan his wyfe and his chyldren to the realme of Persy bycause that he might be y^e more surer of hym.

[Page xvi]¶After that Halcone departed great richesse amonge his men / & to the kyng he gaue a great nom­bre of goodes. And also he gaue hym of his lādes and castels that he had conquered / and specially dyuers that were nygh to the re­alme of Armenie. And after the kinge furnysshed the castels with his men. Than after that Halcon dyd send for the prince of Antioch which was the kyng of Armenes sonne / and dyde hym great grace and honour. And dyde gyue hym all the landes and lordships that he had taken from the sarasyns.

After that Halcon had ordayned all that was nedefull about the cytie of Halap / Damasse / and the other landes the which they had conquered and taken from the sa­rasyns. As he had thought to en­tred into the realme of Hierusalē for to delyuer the holy lande vnto the christen men agayne. There came a messangere to hym and brought hym worde that his bro­theh was deed and passed oute of this worlde / & how the barownes fought for to haue made hym em­perour.

¶How y^e Halcon departed oute of the realme of Syrie.

WHanne Halcon had herde this tidynges he was full sorye for his brothers dethe. And by the coūsayle of his mē he went away & left one of his barownes that was called Garboga with .x. thousande tar­tas / for to kepe the realme of Syrie. And cōmaunded that all the landes that had ben in the estristē mens handꝭ sholde be restored a­gayne. After that he went toward the Orient / and left one of his sō ­nes at Thores which was called Agaba / and from thens departed Halcon and wente to the realme of Persy. And whan that he was com thyder tydingꝭ was brought vnto hym how Cobyla his cosyn was made emperour.

¶Whā Halcon vnderstode those newes he wold go no farther but retorned agayn to Thores there as he had left his sonne his hous­holde / and his seruantes. As Hal­cone taryed at Thores there cam newe tydinges vnto hym y^e Bar­ta / whiche at that tyme helde the lordship y^t Bacho helde. Whiche was drowned in the flodde of Au­strich as he was cominge to haue ētred into Halcōs landꝭ. And whā Halcon herd that he gathered his hoost togither & cam agaynst his ennemys. And betwene Halcons men / & Bartas men was a great batayle vpon a frosen ryuer or an yse / and for the great heuynesse of the men and beestes the yse brake & there was drowned aboue .xxx. thousand of the tartas. And than the bothe parties retorned backe agayne without doyng any more And made great lamentatyon for the dethe of theyr frendes.

¶How Ginboga and the men of Saiectfyll at varyaunce.

GInboga the which Hel­con had left with hym .x. thousand Tartas in the realme of Syri / & went to the Palestines ꝑte / which kept the lande in peace and worshiped and loued moche the christen men For he was of the thre kyngꝭ kyn­red which cam to Bethelem to honoure the byrth of Christ / Ginbo­ga trauayled moche to recouer y^e Holy lande. And than the deuyll put great trouble betwene hym & the christen men y^t were of the partes of Saiect. For in the lande of Belfort that was of the lordshyp of Saiect was diuers townes in the which the sarasyns dwelled & payd a tribute to y^e Tartas wherof it came that the men of Saiect and of Belfort came togyder to make a course and robed the sayd townes frome the sayd sarasyns / some were slayne / and some were brought prysoners. One of Gin­bogas neuiewes was in that coū ­trey & went after the christen men with a smale cōpany a horsebacke and as he began to blame them of that / that thei had done and wold take the prey that they brought. Some of the christen men ranne vpon hym and so kylde hym. whā Ginboga vnderstode that y^e chri­sten men of Saiect had slayn his neuiewe. He rode with his men & came to Sarepte / and as many christen men as he founde put thē to the swerde / but y^e peple of Sa­repte wente away in the yle & but fewe slayne / Ginboga dyde putte fyre in the cyte and brake the wal­les and neuer sythe Ginboga had neuer trust nor loue with the chri­sten men of Syrie nor his men. After that the Tartas were dry­uen oute of the realme of Syrie / by y^e power of the sowdā of Egipt As it shalbe declared here after.

¶How y^e sowdā of Egipt droue the Tartas out of Syri.

IN that tyme y^e Bar­ca began warre aga­ynst Helcone / as we haue sayd before / the sowdan of Egipt gathered his armye and came into the Palestins countreys. In a place that is cal­led Haymelot and ther he fought with the Tartas / but they coude nat abyde the sowdans power & so they fled backe with theyr cap­tayns. It was sayd that Gynbo­ga was slayne in the batayle / the Tartas that scaped from the said batayle went into Armenie. At y^e tyme the realme of Syrie torned to the sowdans power / but some cytes that were by the see that the christen men kept. Whan Helcon vnderstode that the sowdan of E­gipt was entred into the realme of Syrie / and y^t he had betyn his mē and kylde them. He gathered his hoost and sende to the kynge of Armenie / to the kynge of Georgy / and to the other christen men [Page xvii] of the parties of Syrie / that they sholde be redy to go with hym a­gaynst the sowdan of Egipt. And whan Halcon had all his army redy for to go to the realme of Syri a sharpe synenesse toke hym that helde hym .xv. dayes of which he dyed and so his deth lette the go­ynge into the holy lande. After hȳ his sonne Albaca he [...]dē the lorde­shippe of Halcon. This Albaga wolde y^e Ambyla his vncle sholde confirme hym his lordship which thinge he dyde with a good wyll bycause that he knewe well y^e Al­baga was the best and the wysest sonne that Halcon had / and so he was called Albaga Can. And be­gan as raygne in the yere of our lorde god a thousand .CC.lxiiii.

¶How Albaga wolde nat be­come christen which fortuned hym yll.

ALbaga y^t was moch valyant & kept wyse­ly his lordeshyp and was moche fortunat in all maner of thinges saue that he wold nat become christē as his father Halcō was / and so he was any do [...]er. And an other thing was that he made warr vpon his neyghbours / whiche caused hym that he coude nat ouercome the sodan of Egipt / and bycause of that the [...]dan of Egiptes power encreases moche. yet the sowdan of Egipt dyd an other subtyll poynt for he sende his messangers to the ta [...]tas that were in the realme of Comany and of Roussy / & made couenable peace and loue w^t them And ordayned if Albaga wolde come into the lande of Egipt that they shold inuade his landes and that they shold warre vpon hym. And for this cōposicyon the sow­dan had great [...]y to haue y^e chri­stēmens landes of Syri / and for that cause the christēmen loste the cyte of Antyoch and many other. As it is wryten in y^e cronicle boke of the holy lande.

¶Bendonedar which was sow­dan of Egipt was moche mighty and puysaunt. He sende his hoost into Armeny / but the kynge was gone to the tartas. Than his two sonnes gathared the hoost of Ar­meny / which was at that tyme of great power and came agaynste their ennemys & fought with thē The batayle was great but at the ende the christenmen were ouer come / & of the two sonnes the one was takē prisoner / and the other slayn in batayle. And than the sa­rasyns entred in the lande & wa­sted all the playn of Armeny. The christēmens power was moch minyshed bycause of that / & the puytaunce of the sarasyns power was moche enhaunced. Whan y^e kyng of Armeny vnderstod this tidynges of his sonnes and of the lande he was moch sorowfull & thought in his mynde how y^t he myght do harme to his ennemys. Thanne went he to Albaga and to y^e other tartas desiryng and prayeng thē [Page] that they wolde come to helpe the christēmen. The kyng trauayled moch but Albaga wold nat go for bycause y^t he had warre with his neyghbours. The kyng seyng y^t he coude nat haue helpe so shortly of the tartas / send his messāgers to the sowdan of Egipt and cōfir­med peace with hym to thyntent that he myght haue his sonne out of prison. And the Sowdā made poyntment with the kyng that he shuld rendre vnto hym one of his felowes which was called San­golagar that the tartas kept / and that he shold yelde to hym agayn the castell of the lande of Halap / y^t he helde / & he shulde gyue to hym his sonne agayn. The kyng dyde so moch that the tartas gaue hym Sāgolagar the sowdans felowe aboue sayd / and the kynge yelded to the sayd felowe y^e castell of Trepessache / & two other castels that he brake downe at the sowdās re­quest. And in this maner the king of Armenis sonne Baron Lynon was delyuerd out of the prison of the sarasyns.

¶After that the kyng Hayton of good remēbraūce which had don̄ grete good to the christēdom ī his lyfe / gaue his realme & lordship to his son̄ Lynon aboue named / and left the pryde of this world & toke y^e order of relygion & chaūged his name after the gife of the Armins and was called Macayres & than the kyng Haytō dyed monke. In the yere of oure lorde god a thou­sande two honderd .lxx.

¶How Albaga toke the traitour Pernana and put hym to deth.

THe son̄ of kyng Hay­ton Baron Lynon [...] was wise and valy [...] and gouerned his realme and his lordship wisely. He was well beloued of his people & the tartas dyde to hym great ho­nour. This fayd kyng Lynō toke moche labour for to graue the sa­rasyns by the tartas. And diuers tymes send his messangers to Albaga y^t he shold come for to helpe to recouer the holy lande / and to confound the power of Egipt. At that tyme the sowdan of Egipt entred w^t his power into the realme of Turky / he kyld and drope out all y^e tartas that were ther / & toke many landes and countreys. By a traitour that Albaga had made chefe captain of Turky that was called Parnana / whiche torned & was obeydient to the sowdan of Egipt / and toke moch labour for to dryue the tartas out of Turky. Whan Albaga vnderstod this ty­dinges. He gathered his hoost & rodde hastely / for of .xl. dayes iornay he made but .xv. and came to Turky. Whā the sowdan knewe of the tartas cōming / he durst nat abyde but fledde away hastely & Albaga sende his men forward & before y^t the sowdan myght come and retorne into the realme of E­gipt. The tartas ouer toke y^e last parte of the Sarasyns hoost in a place is called Lepas Blaur, and [Page xviii] entred into the sarasins hoste and toke .ii.M. horsmen & gate great tichesse / & more ouer they toke .v.M. houses of Cordyns that were in the sayd parties. And than Al­baga had coūsell that he shuld nat entre into the land of Egypt for y^e great hete y^t was ther / & for theyr horses that had so moch laboured And than Albaga retorned to turkey & toke the landes & the cites / & dyd so moche y^t he toke Parnana And sone after as the maner of y^e tartas was / Pernana was put to dethe / & than Albaga cōmaunded that in all maner of his mete that he shuld ete / shuld haue some of y^e flessh of Parnana / and so Albaga dyd ete of the flesshe / & gaue some to his men. And y^t was the vengeaūce that Albaga toke of the trai­tour Parnana.

¶How Albaga ꝓfered y^e realme of Turky to the king of Armeny.

WHan Albaga had taken all the landes & had ordred y^e realme of Turky to his plesure. He dyde call before hym / the kynge of Armeny & profred hym to haue & hold the realme of Turky at his pleasur / by cause y^t the kyng of Armeni & his kynred had euer ben true to y^e tartas. The kynge of Armeny as a wiseman thāked moch Albaga of so great a gift / & excused hym say­eng y^t he was nat sufficient to go­uern two realmes. For the sowdā of Egypt toke moch labour for to do hurt to the realm of Armeni / & than y^e kyng of Armeny coūselled to Albaga that he shuld nat gyue the lordship of the realm of Tur­key to a sarasyn. This coūsell plesed moch to Albaga / & so he wolde y^t no sarasyn shuld haue no lande nor holde in Turkey.

¶After that the kyng of Armeni praied to Albaga y^t he wold go or sende his brother to delyuer y^e ho­ly lande out of the sarasyns handꝭ and to gyue it to the christēmen a­gayn. Albaga promised hym that he shuld do it w^t a good wyll & cō ­maunded to the kyng of Armeny that he shulde sende to the pope & to the other kynges & lordes / of y^e christēmen of y^e occydent that they shuld come or send their men to y^e helpe of the holy lande / for to kepe the landes & the cytes y^t thei shuld cōquer. Than y^e king of Armeny deꝑted & retorned into his landes & sende his messāgers to the pope and to y^e kynges of the occident / & whā he had ordayned y^t / that was nedefull to the realme of Turkey He came to the realme of Corasten ther as he had left his housholde / Bēdonedar was poysoned as he retorned to Egypt and coude nat retorne on lyue to the cyte of Da­mas. Of Bendonaders deth wer the christēmen glad / and the sara­syns moche sory for he was a valy ant man of armes. After Bēdona der was one made sowdan y^t was called Melecset / but he taried nat longe for he was put from y^e lord­shippe. [Page] And one that was called Esly was made sowdan.

¶Of the batayle betwene Man­gadamor and the sowdan.

WHan the tyme and y^e season came that Al­baga myght ryd for to entre into y^e lande of Egypt. Firste he sende Mangadamor w^t .xxx.M. tartas / and badde that they shuld occupy the kyng Anyne of Syri. and he wolde ryde after. And yf y^e sowdan shulde come agaynst thē that they shulde valyātly fyght w^t hym. And if the sowdan durst nat come in the batayle / he cōmaūded that they shuld occupy the landes and the cyties / and that they shuld deliuer them into the christēmens handꝭ to kepe. Māgadamor rod with .xxx. thousand tartas that Albaga his brother had gyuen hym And the king of Armeny put him in his company with a grete nombre of horsmen. whan Mangadamor and the kyng of Armeny en­tred into the realme of Syri they went wastyng the sarasyns landꝭ to the cyte of Hames / that is cal­led la Chalemelle. Which is in the myddes of the realme of Syrie / Before this cyte is a fayre playne and ther was the sowdan with all his power. The sarasyns on one parte / the tartas / and the christen men of an other parte. Began to fyght. The kyng of Armeny that cōducted the right part of y^e hoost sette them in aray / and sette vpon the lyft part of the sarasyns hoost and discomfyt thē / and droue thē be end the cytie of Hames thre le­ges and more. And y^e constable of the tartas y^t was called Halmach Bech / set vpon the right part of y^e sarasyns hoost and ouercame thē And than euery of them went to a cytie that is called Thara / Man­gadamor that taryed in the felde se come a company of Bednyns / and putte hym in great fere / as a man that had neuer sene batayle / and without reason departed frō the felde with the victori. And left the kyng of Armeny and the con­stable that were gone after theyr ennemys. Whan the sowdan se y^t the tartas wer departed from the felde. He went vpon an hyll with iiii. thousand horsmen / whan the kyng of Armeny retorned fro the disconfiture / and found nat Mā gadamor. He was moche a bas­shed whiche way he was gone he rode after. Ameleth the constable taryed .ii. dayes for his lord Mā gadamor / and also he was moche abasshed of the way that he went / and whan he knewe that he was gone. He rode after with his men tyll he came to the ryuer of Eufrates and coude nat ouertake Mā ­gadamor. And so by the faute of the sayd Magadamor they left y^e felde and the batayle / whan they had the victory. The tartas went agayne into theyr countreis / but the kyng of Armeny suffred gret trauayle and moche losse of his people [Page xix] through faute of vitayle / the mē and beestes were so wery that they coude nat go. And than they departed a sonder and went by dyuers wayes / there as the sarasins were and dwelled in the sayd coū ­treis which toke and slewe many of the christē men. And so y^e moost part of the king of Armenis hoste was lost / and almoost all the gen­tylmen were slayn. This mysfor­tune happened. In the yere of our lorde god .M.CC.lxxxii.

¶How Albaga and his brother was poysoned by theyr famulyer seruauntes.

WHan Albaga vnderstode this tidynges he sende and cōmaū ded that his barow­nes shulde cōe in all the hast vnto hym. And so Alba­ga gathered a great hoost to thyn [...]Lent to entre into the realme of E­gypt / but it happened that a sara­syn came into the realm of Persy the which dyde so moch and gaue gyftes to Albagas famyliar ser­uauntes / that they gaue to Alba­ga and to his brother poyson / and so they lyued but .viii. dayes after And so Albaga Can dyed. In the yere of our lorde god a thousande two honderde foureskore & two.

¶After the dethe of Albaga Can the barownes came togyder and ordayned one of Albaga Cās brothers that was called Tangader this Tangader was greter than any of the other brethern. Whan he was a chylde his name was Nychole / but after that he was made lorde / he toke the sarasyns company and dyde call hym selfe Mahomet Can. He putte all his wyt to cōuert y^e tartas to the false lawe of Mahomet. Whan many of the tartas wer conuerted to the sarasyns lawe. This Mahomet that was the deuyls sonne dyde breke downe all the christenmens churches / and cōmaunded y^t they shulde nat worshippe the lawe of Chryst / nor the name of Chryst. & put away all the christēmen / pre­stes / and relygiousmen / and dyd prech Mahometes lawe through all his landꝭ. And he send his messangers to the sowdan of Egypt and made promyse of peace and loue / and promysed to the sowdā that he shulde cause all the christē ­men that were in his lande to torn̄ and to be sarasyns / or els he shuld put them all to dethe. Of this the sarasyns were all gladde / and the christēmen were sory and of great disconfort. In so moche that they wyst nat what they shulde do / but put theym selfe into the mercy of oure lorde god. For they se come vpon theym great persecucions. The sayd Mahomet sende to y^e kynge of Armeny / to the kynge of Georgy / and to the other christen men of the Orient that they shuld come to hym. The good christenmen were in great thought and great fete. All the whyle that the [Page] christēmen werein so moche try­bulation vnder the lordshippe of this euyll Mahomet / but god y^t is w^t thē that belyue in hym sende to the christēmen a great confort. For a brother of the sayd Maho­met and one of his neuewes that was called Morgō / rose agaynst hym for his euyll warkes / & gaue knowlege to themperour Coby­la Can how he distroyed and pre­ched to the tartas that they sholde torne to the sarasyns lawe. Whan Cobyla Can vnderstode that he sende a commaundement to Mahomet / that he shold leue his euyl warkes / or els he shulde ryse aga­ynst hym. Of this mater Maho­met was sore dyspleased and dyd so moche that he toke his brother and kylde hym. And than after he went for to take Argon / but Argō putte hym in a strong castell that was in a mountayne. Mahomet dyde lay sege to the sayd castell / & at the ende Argon yelde hym selfe sauynge his owne lyfe and his seruauntes.

¶How the false Mahomet was slayne by his neniew Argon.

WHan Mahomet had his neuiewe vnder his power he dely­uerd hym to one of his constables for to kepe. And after ordained that his men shulde come softly after hym and he hȳ selfe wolde go towarde Thoris / there as he had lefte his wyfe. And commaūded to the cō ­stable that he shulde secretly kyll his neuiewe Argon / and that he shulde bryng hȳ his heed to Tho­ris. A great myghty man founde hym / y^t which Argons father had norysshed and done moche good to hym. This sayd man had gret py [...]e vpon Argon / and than vpon a nyght came and slewe the con­stable / and all them that were of his company. And delyuerd Ar­gon from dethe and out of pryson and made Argon lord ouer them all / and to hym they were obeyd [...] ent and redy to do hym seruyce. Whan this was done Argō rydde hastely and dyde so moche that he ouertoke Mahomet Can or y^t he came to Thoris / and incontynently he cutte hym all in peces. And after this maner the cursed dogge Mahomet fynisshed his lyfe / the seconde yere of his reygne.

¶In the yere of our lorde god a thowsande two honderde .lxxxv. After y^t Mahomet was deed Ar­gon was made lorde of the Tar­tas and the great emperour con­fermed hym in his lordship / and wolde that he shulde be called Ar­gon Can. And bycause of that Argon was moch more worshipped than any of his aūcytours. This Argon was fayre and plesaunt of visage and a storng man of body and kept his lordshyppe wysely. He gouerned well his lordshippe and he loued well and honoured moch the christēmen. And y^e chur­ches [Page xx] of the christēmen that Mahomet brake downe / Argon caused thē to be newe made agayn. And than came to hym the kyng of Ar­meny / the kyng of Georgy / and y^e other christēmen of the Orient / & prayed Argon that he wolde take payne to delyuer the holy lande. Wherupon Argon toke aduysmēt entendyng to make peace fyrst w^t his neyghbours / to thyntent that he myght go the more surer aga­ynst the sowdans power. And as it happened that Argon was in y^t good purpose. In the fourth yere of his raygne / as it pleased god he dyed. And one of his brethern y^t was called Kalgato was made lorde after hym. This sayd Kal­gato was the vnprofitablyst lord that euer reygned in that coūtrey sith Cāgius Can was made lord as it shalbe rehersed here after.

¶How Kalgato was drowned by his owne people.

IN the yere of our lorde god M.CC.lxxxix. After y^e deth of Argon Can his brother Kalga to helde the lordship. This sayde Kalgaro beleued nat well / nor he was nothyng worth ī armes / but demeaned hym selfe lyke a foule beest / in etyng of denteth meres & drinkynge of swete wynes to fyll his belly. Non other thȳg dyd he in .vi. yerꝭ whyle he kept his lordshippe. For the great peuisshnesse that was in hym his owne people began to hate hym & to disprayse hym / and so at the ende his owne peple drowned hym. After y^e deth of this Kalgato one of his cosyns was mad lord / which was called Baydo. This sayd Baido was a gode christēmā / & dyd moch good to the christēmen but he lyued nat longe in this worlde.

¶After the deth of Kalgato Baydo had the lordship of his brother This man as a good christēman caused the churches of the christē ­men to be buylded vp agayn / and cōmaūded that none shulde prech the lawe of Mahomet in his lāde. Of y^t the sarasyns that were mul­typlied were sore greued. and thā the sarasyns & the tartas send pryuely / to Consan messāges which was Argons sonne / & promysed hym y^t they wold make hym lord & that they shulde gyue hym Baydos lordship if he wolde forsake y^e christen fayth. Casan that set nat moche by the fayth of Christ was lightly torned / for he was moche couytus to haue the lordship / and was content to do after theyr de­syre. Wherupon Cōsan rose / than Baydo gathered his hoost & cam agaynst Consan / and knewe nat the treason of his people.

¶How Casan was deceyued by the traytour Chapchap.

WHan Baydo thought to come agaynst Cō ­san all they that kept Mahometz law deꝑted & wēt to­warde [Page] Casan. Whan Baydose y^t his men had betrayed hym he torned backe agayn / but Casan send after and toke him & so as Baydo fledde away he was kylde & than Casan toke the lordshippe.

¶After Baydos deth Casā kept the lordship he shewed hym selfe moch proude to the christēmen / & that dyde he for the pleasure of thē that had put him in the lordship aboue sayd but syth y^t he was fer­med in his lordshyp. He began to loue moch the christēmen & hated the sarasyns / & he dyde moch pro­fet to the christen lande. Fyrste he put to dethe all them that gaue hȳ counsell to do hurt to the christen­men. After that Casan cōmaūded that all his men shulde be redy w^t ­in a yere / of all maner of thynges that they had [...]ed to. For he wold entre into the land of Egypt and put out the sowdan / and sende to the kyng of Armeny / to the kyng of Georgy / and to the christēmen of the parties of the Orient / that they shulde be redy to come with hym. Whan the season was come Casan rode with all his power & came into the cytie of Baldache. Whan Casan came into the sow­dans landes / he brought his men togyder. The sowdan of Egypt that was called Malecuaser ga­thered all his power before the cy­tie of Hames / that is in the myd­des of the realme of Syrie. Ca­san vnderstode that the sowdan was cōmyng for to fyght agaynst hym. And for cause of y^t he wolde nat tary / for to take castell / nor towne / but he went streight to the place there as the sowdan was / & lodged by the hoost / within a dayes iourney. In a medowe wherin was great plenty of grasse / than Casan cōmaūded that thei shulde gyue rest to all their beestes / that wer laboured in commyng haste lye so ferre way. In the company of Casan was a sarasyn that was called Chapchap / whiche had ben baylie of Damas and was fledde away for fere of the soudā. Casan had don many honours & graces to the said Chapchap and trusted hym well. And than it happened that the sayd Chapchap / sende by his letters to y^e sowdan of Egypt all the secrettes and counsell of the Tartas / and sende to the sowdan that he shulde come hastely aga­ynst Casan to the batayle. And as his men and his beestes were we­ry / than it fortuned that the sow­dan of Egypt / which dyd purpos­lye tary for Casan / went into the countreys of Hames by the coun­sell of the sayd Chapcha the tray­toure. And came hastely with all his power to begynne vpon Ca­san / and to make hym a frayed. The kepers of Casās hoost gaue knowlege of the sowdās cōmyng And than Casan commaūded to all his barownes that they shulde ryde all in ordre ī theyr batayles / against the sowdan and his men / and Casan rode euer with as many of his men y^t were by him / and [Page xxi] came agaynst the sowdan which came hastely with a great nom­bre of the beest men of his hoost. Whan Casan se that he coude nat vndertake the tayle & that his mē that were abrode coude nat come to hym so soone. He taryed there & cōmaunded to all them that were with hym that they shulde lyght a fote / and that they shuld put theyr horses about them. And with bo­wes and arowes they shulde bete theyr ennemys downe / that were cōmyng & rōnyng as fast as theyr horses coud bere them / than y^e tartas descended afore and put theyr horses betwene them / & held their bowes and theyr arowes redy in theyr handes / abydinge tyll theyr ennemys were come nere to them Than the tartas shot theyr arowes all togyder and made thē that came rōnynge fyrst to fall vpon y^e grounde / and the other that came after fyll vpon them / and so y^e one fyll vpon an other. And they shot styll and well for they were good shoters / so that fewe of y^e sarasins skaped / but y^t they were slayne or hurt. Whan the sowdan se that he went backe agayne. And thā Ca­san commaunded incōtinently to his men that they sholde lepe vpō theyr horses / and that they shulde valiantly set vpon their ennemys Casan was the fyrst that went to fyght agaynst y^e sowdan and ran into the prese with suche small cō ­pany that he had with hym tyll all the barownes came to the batayle Than began the batayle that la­sted from the son̄ rising tyll none / at thende the sowdans hoost coud nat endure afore Casan. For with his owne handꝭ he dyd gret mer­uelles / & the sowdan with his people fledde away. Casan and his mē chased them tyll it was darke nyght / and they slewe as many of theyr ennemys as they coud take Than ther was so many sarasȳs slayne that the groūde was all co­uered with them. The sayd night Casā taryed in a place that is cal­led Caner / full gladde of the victory that god had giuen hym. This batayle was / in y^e yere of our lord god a thousāde thre hondred and one / the wednisday before Chri­stmasse.

¶How the cytie of Hames was conquered.

AFter that Casan commaūded to the kynge of Armeni and to one of his barownes that was called Molay / that with for­ty thousande Tartas they sholde go after the sowdan vnto the de­sert of Egipt that was well twelfe dayes iourney from y^e place there as the batayle was / and cōmaun­ded that they shuld tary his com­myng in the countrey of Cassore. The kynge of Armeny & Molay with .xl.M. tartas deꝑted & went after the sowdan / & as many sara­syns as they coude take they kyld them. The thyrd day after Casan cōmaunded that the kynge of Ar­meni [Page] shuld cōe backe again for he wold lay sege to y^e cyte of Hames & cōmaūded y^e Molay shulde go after y^e sowdan. But y^e sowdā ran away nyght & day vpon cōnynge horses / in the cōpany of Bednyns that were his gyde. And ī this maner myserably the sowdan entred into Babylon without any cōpa­ny / the sarasyns fledde away into dyuers wodes ther as they thou­ght to skape better. & a great part of the Sarasins kept the way to­warde Triple the which were ta­ken & kylde by the christēmen that dwelled at the mount of Lyban. The kynge of Armeny retorned to Casan and found that the cyte of Hames was yelded to Casan / and all the riches that the sowdan and his men had was brought be fore Casan. And they marueyled greatly all that the sowdan & his men had brought with thē so gret riches ther as they though to fey­ght. Whan Casan had brought to gyder all the tresure & riches that wer goten he deꝑted all to his mē And I fere Hayton hath ben pre­sent to all the great besinesse that the tartas had to do with the sarasyns. From Halcons tyme hyder­to / but I herd neuer speke that no lorde of the tartas dyde so great a dede in two dayes as Casā dyde. For the fyrst day of y^e batayle Ca­san with a smale company of men proued hymselfe agaynst the sowdan & a great nōbre of his men / & of his person dyde sowell that he was named aboue all other in batayle / & of his person shalbe spokē among the tartas euermore. The second day the fredome of Casan was great for all y^e riches that he had gotē that was w^tout nombre he deꝑted it to his men in such maner / that he kept for hym selfe but one swerd & a purse of ledderfull of writinges & dedes of the lande of Egypt. And all the remnant he gaue frely / & marueyll it was y^t so lytell a body myght haue so great vertu for among a .M. men coud nat be so sklēder a man nor so euyl mad nor a fouler mā / he surmoū ­ted all other in prowesse & vertue. And for bycause that Casan is of our tyme we must speke of hym lē ger than of the other / for this sowdan that was ouercome by Casan is yet lyuenge. And moreouer all them that tary the passage of the holy lande may take there many good examples.

¶How they of Damas yelded them selfe to Casan.

AFter y^e Casā had rested certain dayes & ordred his besinesses he rode to the cyte of Da­mas. whā they of Damas vnder­stode the cōmynge of Casan they wer afrayed / for if Casan sholde take thē by force / he shuld take all without any mercy. And thā they sende theyr messangers to Casan with great giftes and sende to hȳ the keys of the towne of Damas. Than it happened that Casan re­ceyued the gyftes / & cōmaūded to [Page xxii] the messangers that they shuld retorn to Damas. And y^t thei shuld make vitayle redy for his hoost & that they shuld nat fere his com­myng / for he wolde do no hurt to the cite of Damas / but wold kepe it as his chābre. The messangers deꝑted full gladde for y^e good an­swere y^t Casan gaue thē. And thā Casan rod after & lodged nere the riuer of Damas / & cōmaunded y^t no man shuld hurt nor oppres the cyte. They of Damas send to Casan great gyftes & habondaunce of vitayle for him & his hoost / and so Casan soiorned many dayes in Damas with his hoost besydde y^e xl.M. tartas that wer with Mo­lay / the which wer at Acasere ta­rieng for Casās comyng. As Ca­san and his people taryed & repo­sed them at Damas / there came a messāger that brought tidyngꝭ y^t Baydo was entred into y^e realme of Persy / & that he had don̄ moch harme in y^e lande / & they thought he sholde do more hurt thā he had done. wherfore Casan cōmaūded to Catholasa y^t he sholde tary for to kepe y^e realme of Syri / and cō ­maūded to Molay and to y^e other tartas that wer w^t hym in Casere that thei shold obey to Catholasa y^t which Casā had laft in his plac And than after he ordayned baylies & gouerners in euery cyte / and made Cachap baylie of Damasse Casan vnderstode nat y^e Cachap was a traytour. After all that Casan called the kynge of Armeny & shewed hym how he wold retorn̄ to Persy. Casan sayd we haue delyuerd you the lande of Syrie to kepe for y^e christēmen if they come we leue our cōmaūdement to Ca­tholasa y^t he shall delyuer the holy lande to y^e christēmen & y^t he shuld gyue coūsell & helpe to make y^e lā ­des agayn. whan Casā had done that he went toward Mesopota­my & whan he was at the flode of Eufrates. He cōmaunded to Ca­tholasa that he shold leue Molay with .xx.M. men to kepe the land & that he shold come in all the hast to hym w^t the remnāt of the hoost / of the kyng Anyne of Mesopota­my. And so Catholasa departed & dyde as Casan cōmaūded hym / & Molay taried for to kepe y^e lande of Syri / by y^e coūsell of the traitor Capchap. Molay wēt into the ꝑ­ties of Hierusalē into a place that is called Gant wher was gode pastur for their horses. whan the sō ­mer was com Capchap send his messangers to the sowdan & ꝓmysed to delyuer hym Damas / & all the other landꝭ that y^e tartas kept of the realme of Syri. And y^e sowdan promised to Capchap that he shold gyue hym y^e lordship of Damas / & a great part of his tresure and his syster to be his wyfe / than Capchap rose and made to rysse all the countres for he knewe well y^t the tartas coud nat come vpon them bycause of the great hete of the sōmer Whanne Molay se that Damas & the other coūtreis wer vp he durste nat abyde in the re­alme of Syrie with so fewe men / [Page] but went towarde Mesopotamy and there he found Casan and re­hersed to hym what Capchap the traytour had done. Whan Casan vnderstod those tydinges he was greatly displeased but he coud no remedy for the great here y^t was there. Whan the sōmer was paste and the wynter began Casan ga­thared a great hoost vpon y^e flode syde of Eufrates and sende firste for Catholasa with .xxx. thousāde tartas. And cōmaunded that they shold go toward the cyte of Antioche / and that he shold sende for y^e kynge of Armeny and for the chri­stēmen that wer at that tyme in realme of Cipres / and so they came by the see to the cyte of Corcose / & there was the lorde Sut brother to the kyng of Cipres / which con­ducted the lordes and knyghtes / and ther was the maisters of the temple and of the hospitall. And as they wer apparelled to do our lorde god seruice tydingꝭ came y^t a sore sykenesse had taken Casan. Wherfore Catholasa was fayn to retorne to Casan with his men / & the kyng retourned to his coūtrei And the christēmen that wer com to y^e yle of Carcon went to Ciprez & for this cause y^e warr of the holy lande was last. This mater was in the yere of our lorde a thousāde thre honderde and one.

¶Whan the kynge of Armeny & Catholasa toke y^e cyte of Hames.

IN the yere of our lorde god M.CCC. & .iii. Casan ga­thared his hoost agayn vpon the flodde of Eufrates to thentent y^t he myght enter into the realme of Siri / and to distroy y^e sowdan of Egipt. And to recouer y^e holy lāde and delyuer it to the christēmen a­gayne. Whan the sarasyns vnderstode the cōmynge of Casan and that they were nat able to fyght a­gaynst his power / they wasted & brende all the lande and countrey by they which thei sholde passe w^t theyr beestes and catell & all that they coude fynde the brought to a stronge place and all they remnāt they sette on fyre / for cause y^t theyr horess sholde fynde name at. whā Casan vnderstode this that the sarasyns had done / thinkynge that the horses shold fynde no mete to lyue on. He toke counsell to tary y^e same wīter at y^e flode of Eufrates And whan the grasse shold begyn to springe they wolde take theyr waye / but they had more thought for their horses mete thā they dyd for themselfe as men but of smale fedynge. Casan was vpon y^e flod syde with his hoost and sende for the kyng of Armeni. Casās hoost was so grete that it lasted .iii. dayes iourney of length. From the castell y^t is called Racale to another that is called la Bire / these two castels wer longing to the sarasyns but they yelded them to Casā and as Casan was tarieng at the flod of Eufrates for the seson & wether forto delyuer the holy land out of [Page xxiii] the sarasyns power he herd tidȳ ­ges that Baydo was come agayn into his lande / and how he hadde done moche harme there / and dryuen his men away that he left ther forto kepe y^e lande / vpon that Ca­san had counsell that he shulde re­torne into his countrey. And in y^e next yere he might well entre into the realme of Syrie. Casan was sore displeased that the mater of y^e holy lande taryed so long. Than he cōmaunded to Catholosa that he shulde entre into the realme of Syrie with .xl. thousande tartas and that he shulde take the cyte of Damas / and that he shuld put to the swerde as many as he shulde take. And cōmaunded to the king of Armeny that he shulde go with his men with Catholosa with .xl. thousand Tartas on horsbacke & that they shulde entre into the re­alme of Syrie / and as they shuld go to wast all the countrey. They had thought to haue found the sodan in that countrey as they had done in tymes past / but they foūd hym nat but they herd say that he was at Gazette. And that he wold nat departe out of that countrey. Wherfore Catholosa and y^e kinge of Armeny dyd assayle & set vpon the cyte of Hames / so well that w^t in fewe dayes they toke it byforce and put all the men and womē to the swerd w^tout any mercy. Thei founde there great ryches & great plenty of beestes & vitayles. And after that they went before y^e cytie of Dames / to thintent to set vpon it. But the burges of the cyte desyred them that they shuld gyue thē terme for thre dayes / and after y^t they shulde yelde them to mercy. The terme was graūted to them but ronners made a course from the tartas hoost well a dayes iourney be ende Damas / & toke a cer­tayne nombre of sarasyns whiche they sende to Catholosa their captayn. And by those sarasyns Ca­tholosa knewe that within .ii. dayes iourney from thens were .xii. thousande sarasyns on horsbacke taryeng for the sowdans cōmyng Whan Catholosa vnderstod this tidynges he rode hastely & dyde so moche that he came to the place ther as the .xii. thousande sarasīs wer to euynsong tyme / thinkyng to ouertake thē or y^e sowdan shuld come. But a lytell whyle before y^e sowdā was come with his power Whan Catholosa and the king of Armeny se that the sowdan was come they toke counsell what they shulde do / and bycause it was al­moost nyght they had counsell to rest them. And vpon the next day they shuld set wysely vpon y^e sowdan / but Catholosa that dspiray­sed the sowdan wolde nat tary so longe. But cōmaūded that his mē shulde take corage / and that valyantly they shuld set vpon theyr ennemys. The sarasyns y^t were lodged in a strong place betwene .ii. waters / wold nat depart to fyght for they knewe well that y^e tartas coude nat come to them without great losse. And bycause of that y^e [Page] sarasyns wolde nat departe from thens / y^e tartas rode hastely to set vpō their ēnemys / but thei foūd a lytel water y^t they coude nat passe in dyuers places that troubled thē moch or they coude passe the sayd water whan Catholosa the kyng of Armeny / and the moost part of theyr men was passed they set va­liantly vpon theyr enenmys / thei kylde all them y^t they met in theyr way and chased them tyll y^t nyght the sowdan wolde nat come from his place nor come to the batayle. That night Catholosa lodged by a moūtayn with his mē except .x.M. that coude nat passe y^e water by day lyght. Than the next day Catholosa ordayned his men for to fyght / but the sowdan wold nat come out of that place nor come to y^e batayle. The tartas toke moch labour forto haue y^e sarasyns out of that place / but they coude nat in no wyse. The batayle lasted tyll none / but for faute of water y^e tar­tas were wery & went backe forto fynde water. And went in order one after an other tyll they cam to the playne of Damas / and there they founde pasture and water I nough. And Catholosa ordayned to rest his mē and his horses a cer­tayne whyle there / bycause y^t they shulde be the fressher forto retorne & fyght agaynst the sowdan. Whā the tartas hoost was lodged in y^e playne and thought to be in rest / the men of Damas lette ronne the water of the fludde by cundittes and dyches / so moche that or .viii. of the clocke in the mornynge the playne was all couered with wa­ter and the wayes. Wherfore the Tartas wer fayne to ryse hastely and also the nyght was darke the diches and the wayes were al full of water. Wherfore the hoost was in great confusyon horse / beestes / and harnes were lost / and many men drowned to great losse. Thā the day come and so they were de­lyuerd by the grace of god out of that daunger / but the bowes and the arowes / wherof the Tartas occupyed y^e moost in batayle wer so weyt that they cound nat helpe them therwith. In this maner the Tartas hoost were sore troubled that yf the sarasyns had come so­daynly vpon thē they might haue ouercome them. The tartas begā to go backe agayne softly bycause of theyr horses lost / & came i.viii. dayes iourney to the fludde of Eufrates they were fayne to passe o­uer vpon theyr horses / the beste y^t they coude do. The flud was gret and depe so moche that many Ge­orgyns / and tartas were lost ther And so the Tartas went backe a­gayne to theyr cōfusyon nat for y^e power of their ēnemys / but by e­uyll coūsell / for Catholosa myght auoyded all that myscheffe if he wolde haue beleued good coūsell.

¶How the kynge of Armeny went to Casan.

I Frere Hayton that maketh mencion of this history was [Page xxiiii] present. And if I haue spoken to long of this mater I pray you ꝑ­don me / for I haue done it to the entent to put of the daungers. In lyke mater for the warkes that be done by counsell ought for to haue good ende. After that the kyng of Armeny had passed the fludde of Eufrates / nat w^tout great labour & losse of his men. He toke coūsell to go se Casan or he shuld go into Armeny. Than the king toke his way & went streyght to the cyte of Ninyue ther as Casā dwelled at that tyme Casan receyued y^e king honorably / & had pyte of the grete losse that he had of his men. And for bycause that the king of Armeny & his men had serued truely in all theyr besynesses Casan dyde a speciall grace to the kyng. For he gaue hym a .M. tartas that were good horsmen / & cōmaunded that thei shuld dwell ther forto kepe y^e lande of Armeny to the kynge of Turkes cost / tyll that he shuld be able to gyue wages to a .C. other knightes to his wyll. After that y^e kynge toke his leue at Casan and went into his coūtrey. and Casan sayde to hym se that ye kepe your land well tyll y^t I shall come ꝑso­nably forto recouer y^e holy lande.

¶How the sowdan made trewse with the kyng of Armeny.

THe kyng of Armeny retorned into his countrey / but syth his cōmynge ther he had but lytell rest. For the sowdan send in the same yere almoost euery mo­neth a great nōbre of men a warr that ran almoost all y^e lande of Armeny / & wasted all y^e playn. wherfore the realme of Armeny was worse than euer it was before / but god almighty that is with them that serue hym / had mercy of y^e peple & christēmen of Armeny. wherof it happened that in the moneth of Iuly .vii.M. sarasyns of the best of the sowdā of Egiptz house entred into the realme of Armeni & ronned all the playn wastyng & robbing to the cyte of Tersot. In the which saynt Paule was borne This ennemys dyde moche hurt / and as they were goynge backe agayne. The kyng of Armeny ga­thered his hoost / & met with them & nygh the cyte of Layas was the batayle. And by the grace of oure lorde god theyr ennemys were o­uercome / in suche maner that of y^e vii.M. sarasyns skaped nat .iii. hondred / but they wer slayn or taken. And that was vpon a sonday the .viii. day of Iuly / & after that batayle they durst nomore come ī the realme of Armeny. But the sodan sende & made truese with the king of Armeni. And I frere Hayton maker of this warke was present to this thinges / & longe tyme afore y^t I was purposed to take y^e order of relygiō. But I coud nat for the great besinesse y^t the kyng of Armeny had at y^t tyme. I coud nat for myne honour forsake my lordes and my frendꝭ in all nedis but sith god of his grace hath gy­uen [Page] vs the victory agaynst our ennemys. And also gyuen grace to leue the realme of Armeny in suf­fycient good state / shortly after I thought forto make an end of my bowe. And than I toke leue of the kyng & of my kynred & frendes / & in that tyme y^t our lorde gaue vs the victory agaynst the ennemys of our fayth. I toke my way & cā ī to Egipt & ther into our lady Delepiscopie chirch of y^e order of Premontrey / I toke the abyte of relygion & longe I had ben knyght in this world to thyntent forto serue god the remenaūt of my lyfe. And this was in the yere of our lorde god. M.CCC.v. grace & mercy to god / for the realme of Armeny is reformed in better state than it was by the yonge kinge my lorde Lynon in the old tyme baron the which is full of vertue and grace. And also we trust y^t in this yonge kyng of Armenys dayes. The re­alm of Armeni shalbe in his gode first state w^t the helpe of our lorde Ihesu Christ.

¶The auctour.

¶yet I that hath made this boke se all that is in the thyrde parte of this boke / I knowe it in .iii. ma­ners. For from the begynnyng of Cangius Can / that was the first emperour of the tartas / tyll Mango Can that was the forth emperour. I se all as y^e Tartas historis rehersed. And from Mango Can tyl Halcō dyed I speke as I haue herde and lerned of my lorde myn vncle the kyng Hayton / the kyng of Armeny which hath ben presēt in great dilygence rehersed to his sonnes and to his neuewes / & dyd vs put in writynge for a remem­braunce. And frō the beginnȳg of Albaga Halcous son̄ tyll y^e thyrde part of this boke there as the tar­tas hystorie finysshed I speke as he that was present in person and of that I haue sene I may reherse truely. We haue sayd of the tartas dedis & hystoris yet we shal speke of theyr power.

¶Of the thre kynges that dyd honour to the great emperour.

THe great emꝑ­our of y^e tartas y^t kept the lord shype is called Tamor Cann which was the vi. emperour & held his sege in the realme of Ca­tay in a cyte that is called Iunig / the which his father foūded. The myght of this emperour is great for hym selfe alone might do mor than all the tartas princes / them­perours men be takē for more no­ble / more riches / and more garnis­shed of all thingꝭ than others. For in the realme of Catay is a great haboundaunce of riches. And af­ter the .iii. kynges of Tartas that haue a great power / and do all reuerence [Page xxv] to the great emꝑour / and obedient by his Iugement. The first of these kynges is called Ta­par / the seconde Totay / and the thyrde Tarbanda. Tarpar held the lordship of Turkesten and is more nygh of themperours landꝭ than the others / this kynge may bringe with hym in batayle .iiii.C. thousand men of warr an horsbacke / this men be valyant & har­dy / thei haue gode harnis / & gode horses. Somtymes themperour maketh warr against Chapchap & wolde take his landes from him but he defended hym valyantly. The lordshippe of Capar was all vnder one lorde how beit that his brother Totay helde a great part of his lande.

¶Totay the kynge of the tartas helde the kyng of Cumanys lord­ship and his sege in a cytie that is called Sarra. This prynce may bring to the batayle .vii.C. thou­sande men an horsbacke as y^e say­eng is / but they be nat so valyant in batayle and ī dede of armes as Capars men be. How be it y^t they haue better harnes / & better hor­ses. Somtyme they make warre agaynst Carbāda / somtyme they make warr agaynst the kynge of Bulgarie / sōtyme they haue war amonge them. But nowe Totay kepeth the lordship in rest & peas.

¶How they of Lices haue know lege by birdes whan any of theyr ennemys be cōmyng toward thē.

CArbāda held his po­wer in the great Asie and kept his sege in y^e cite of Toris / he may bring to the batayle about .iii.C. thousande men of armes an hors­backe / but they be men of dyuerse nations / rych and well furnisshed of all maner suche thinges as thei haue nede. Capar & Totay make warre often tymes agaynst Car­banda / but he defended his lande wisely. Carbanda medled nat w^t no warre agaynst no man but the Turke of Egypt / to the which all his auncestours haue had warre with the aboue sayd princes. Ta­par and Totay wold fayne putte Carbanda out of his lordship yf thei coud / but thei haue no might How beit y^t they be more mighty of men and of landes / this is y^e re­son how Carbanda defended his landes from the myght of his neybours. For Asie is deuyded in .ii. partes / the one parte is called the depe Asie / the other is called the maior Asie. And in that part Car­banda dwelled there is no more but thre wayes by the which they may entre out of Asie the ꝓfonde / and Asie the great. The one way is by the which thei go from y^e re­alme of Turquesten to the realm of Persy / the other way is by the ende that goeth nigh to the cyte y^t Alexander founded / that is called Port de ferr. The other way is towarde the see of Maior and passe by the realm of Dabcas by y^e first way. Capars mē can nat entre in [Page] Carbādas landes without great danger and payne. For cause that they coude nat fynde pasture for theyr horses tyll many dayes iourneys ende / for this coūtrey is dry and barr. And so or thei coud cōe to they good landes theyr horses shulde dye for lacke of meate. And with a small company of ēnemys they that shulde passe myght lese theyr lyues by the other way / at y^e ende Totays mē myght entre īto Carbādas landꝭ .vi. monethes in y^e yer in y^e wynter tyme. but Albaga dyde make a dayes iourney of length lysses dykes and thynges ī a place that is called Cyba / & now there be men of warr forto kepe y^e passages. Totays men haue ma­ny tymes proued forto passe / pri­uily but they coude nat. For they must passe by a playne that is cal­led Mongan. In this playne be e­uer in wynter a maner of wylde-foule y^t they call Seyserach / these byrdes be as great as fesātes and with feyre feders. And whan any men cōe into this playn these byr­des fle away and passe the Lyces toward the playn of Mongan / & by the token of these byrdes com­myng. The kepars of the sayd Lices knowe the cōmyng of theyr ennemys / and than they puruey for them for the kepynge of the sayde passage. By y^e other way toward the maior see they durst nat entre for they shuld be fayn to entre and passe by the realme of Dabcas. Which is garnysshed with men & stronge landes / & so they can nat passe. And by this maner Carbā ­da & his auncetours haue defēded theyr lādes from the great myght of theyr ennemys & neyghbours.

¶The maner and gyse y^t the tar­tar vse amonge them.

yEt shall we say some thȳ ge of the tartas maner & custome. The tartas be moche dyuers of maner and custome. It is nat possible to reherse the dyuersite of them / the Tartas beleue in god and name god onely & they saye that god is immortall. And none other reue­rēce thei do to god / nother by praier fasting / aflictions / nor none o­ther good dedꝭ. The tartas thȳke no synne to haue kylde a man if y^e byt was in the horse mouth / they thinke to haue sȳned deedly. The tartas thinke that y^e deed of leche­ry is no synne / they haue dyuerse wyues & by theyr guyse & custome after the dethe of theyr father / the son̄ must take for his wyfe his mother in lawe. And the brother the wyfe that was his brothers wyfe and make theyr beddes togyder. The tartas be good mē of armes / to theyr lordes they be obedyent more thā any other nation. Ther lorde gyueth them no wages / but he may take from thē what it ple­ase hym. Nor for cost or ridynge theyr lorde is nat bounde to gyue them any thing / but they be fayne to lyue on their pray & haūtyng y^t thei take vpon their ēnemies. whā [Page xxvi] y^e tartas ryd & passe by a passage ther as they thinke to fynd no vi­tayles they bringe with thē great plenty of beestes / kyne / & mares. & lyue of the mylke & of the flesshe of these beestes & ete it & say that it is good flesshe. The tartas be moch light in dede of armes a horsbake but a fote they be nat moche worth for they can nat go a fote whā thei be ordayned forto fyght they vn­derstande shortly theyr captayns wyll and knowe what they haue to do. Wherfore the captayns rule theyr men lightly without any la­bour / the Tartas be subtyll forto take townes and castels. The tartas seke euer ther aduātage vpō theyr ennemys in batayle & wyll do none other thynge to theyr profet. The tartas haue more vaun­tage than other men / for if they be in a felde togyder forto fyght agaynst theyr ennemys if it please thē thei shall fight / & if the batayle pleased nat thē / theyr ēnemis can nat fyght agaynst thē nor come nygh thē. The tartas batayle is moche mortall / for in one lytell batayle of the tartas / ther shuld be more mē slayne & wounded than in a great batayle of other men / and that is for the bowes & arowes that they ocupyed, whan the tartas be ouer com they ron̄ all togyther as nigh as it can be possible / & is a peryl­lous thinge to folowe them / for in goyng they kyll with their bowes horses & mē / & shote backward as thei do forward. & if thei se y^t their ennemys folowed folysshely they torne vpon them. And somtyme it happened that they that ran after them by kylled & slayne. The tar­tas hoste is nat of grete mustre bycause that they go nygh one with an other / so nygh that .x. housāde tartas shewe nat .v. hunderd. the tartas be of fayre speking to their hoostes and courtesly they spende theyr meate. And lykewise y^t they shulde ben done with them or els they wolde take some parforce the tartas can well conquer y^e strāge thinges but they can nat kepe it / For they loued better to be in ten­tes and in the feldes thanne in the townes / the tartas be moche couytouse and occupied moche to take other mennes goodes and they cā nat kepe theyr owne and nought thei wyll spend. whan y^e tartas be in cōpany ther as they may be maisters they be of great corage and proude. And whā they se y^t thei cā nat haue y^e mastry thei be courtes & honest. the tartas wyll euer take thingꝭ to theyr ꝓfet & shortly they be vp / and in .ii. thinges they dar nat make a lye / nor say y^t they had done any good dede of armes yf they had nat done / nor deny theyr euyll dedes if they had done any. The other before the lorde or the Iuge in iugmēt he dare nat deny the trouth though he shuld be cō ­dēpned or lese his lyfe / & as moche as is sufficyent y^t tartas speketh.

¶The maner howe a kynge or a prince shlud order thē to warr.

[Page]REason requireth that who so euer wyll moue warr a­gaynst his ennemys / ought to cō ­sidre .iiii. thinges. First he ought to haue Iust & resonable cause or good lytell to moue y^e warr / these conde thyng that he ought to se to his power if he be sufficient for all the cost & furnyssh other thyngꝭ belongyng to the warr / to begynne maynteyn and finysshe. the thyrd is that he ought wisely enquer of the cōdicyon and maner of his en­nemis / the fourth is that he ought to begyn warr in a cōuenyent sea son and tyme. And frere Hayton that by the cōmaundement of our lorde the apostle ought to speke of this matter I may say truely that the christēmen haue Iust and re­sonable cause to moue warr agaynst the sarasyns to the valyaunt kynred of Mahomet. For they haue occupyed theyr owne herytage that is the holy lande / the whiche almyghti god promysed to y^e cri­stenmen. And ther they fynde the sepulture of our lorde Ihesu that is the begynnynge of the christen fayth. And for y^e great dishonesty and great losse of blode that y^e cristēmen haue had by the sarasyns / and euyll lyuers in tyme passed & for other dyuers reasons y^t shulde be long to reherse. The second reson I say that no man ought to be in doute for y^e holy church of rome which is lady & maisters of all the world hath wyll power by y^e grace of god / and with the helpe of the good kynges and princes of y^e cristen fayth. And the seruauntes of Christ to delyuer the sepulture & the holy lande from the sarasyns power / the which lande they hold and occupy by our synnes. Of the thyrde reason & the fourth I speke it is to knowe the maner and con­dicion of his ēnemys and to chose tyme place and season conuenyēt forto begyn warre. I must speke more at length / for a good surgy­en that ought to knowe the sycke­nes of y^t which he wyll gyue helth Likewyse a kyng or a prīce ought te enquer thintent condicyon and state of his ennemys to thintent y^t he may begyn his warre wisely / maynteyn and bringe to a good end. To a prince in dedes of war the secrete of his ennemys ought nat to be hydde from him. For the thynges y^t be proued before hand can do no grefe / and in the maters vnpurueyed somtymes trouble. Many mē coragious is dedes of armes and bataylles / whan they haue no tyme nor rome to beware of the people and dangers that be redy to come in all other maner of warkes. A remedy may be found except in batayle if it be any faute in / for soone after the payn folow­eth aft the cost. wherfore to thītent that more euydent vnderstādyng shuld be vpon oursayeng we shal speke of y^e passage of y^e holy land. And also we shall say some thingꝭ of the state & condicyon of y^e lande of Egipt the hoost of Babylon / & of the ennemys power.

¶How the sowdan ordereth his barownes and his knyghtes.

THe sowdan that hol­deth nowe the realm of Egypt and of Syrie / is named Mel­cuaser & is a Cumany by his na­tyon. The knyghtes and y^e hoost of Egypt be men of dyuers partꝭ and of straūge landes / for y^e men of that countrei be nought bowed a fote nor an horsbacke nother by see nor land. The sowdā of Egiptes power of fotemē is nat great but of horsmen is mighty. Verily the moost part of thē be Sclauys that haue ben bought & solde / the which the euyl cristēmen brought there forto sell them for couetise of money. And other be they y^t were takē in batayle / which be cōstray­ned to forsake the lawe of Christ. But the Sclauys that be solde be more praysed and more honoured and dyuerse tymes it happened y^t many wolde be sold bycause that they shall be the better beloued of theyr lord and maister. The sowdā of Egypt is euer in great dout and suspection of his men / for thei be of such cōdicyon that they euer take the lordshyppe of their prȳce And by reason of that many sow­dans hath ben slayne. The hoost of Egypt may be about .xx. thou­sand knyghtes / and some of them be good warryours & vsed to do verily the grettest parte is but of small price. whan y^e sowdā goeth with his hoost he taketh w^t hym / a great quantyte of stoffe / and of laden horses for the warre. They haue resonably of goodes & lyght forto ronne / theyr horses and mu­les be but small / nor they cā nat do moch labour and thei haue great nede of good kepyng. The hoost of Egypt is euer redy and appa­rylled to the sowdans cōmaunde­ment / for all they inhabit in y^e cyte of Cayre. The condicyon of the hoost of Egypt is suche / euery mā of armes hath his wages whiche passeth nat .vi. skore floryns / and euery man is bounde to kepe .iii. horses and a camell forto bere his stoffe. And whan y^e sowdan brin­geth his men out of the realme of Egypt he gyueth them somwhat more if it please hym. The sowdā departeth his wages and offices and gyue them in kepynge to his barownes that he called Admiralles / to some he gyueth a hunderd to some .ii. honderd more & lesse. After that he wyll do more honor and profet to one than to an other For if the sowdan gyue power to one admyrall to kepe an hunderd or two honderd knightes / he shall gyue hym for all the hole wagꝭ as moche as it shall come to in a hole som̄e. And by reason of this the sodan hath great faure ī his seruice. For this Admyrall that gyue ser­uyce to an hūderd or two hūderd knyghtꝭ / thei be Sclauōs of their owne money & delyuerd harnes / & horses and put them in seruyce for men of warre / and receyued theyr wagis. And sykemē of small price [Page] and gaue them some thinges and delyuerd them horses and harnes And receyue wages for them & all y^e remenāt thei put ī their purses. Wherfore diuerse tymes amonge sur he men / is found but fewe va­lyant men.

¶Of the subtyltie of the sowdan of Egypt to conquer cyties.

THe myght of the sowdā in the realme of Syrie may well be .v.M. knightes that haue theyr lyueng vpon the rentes of y^e lande / & yet there is a great nōbre of Bednyns / & turkmens that be woodmen / & do great helpe to the sowdan. Whan he wyll put sege to any lande / for if he wyll without any wages but gyueng them some He may haue them forto go in ba­tayle or forto defende his lande. The aboue sayd Bednȳs / & turkmens / wolde do nothyng for y^e so­dan without great wages and yf the sowdan wolde cause thē to do byforce they shuld go away. The turkmēs ioyned to the moūtayns and the Bednyns ioyned to y^e de­sertꝭ of Arabe. yet the sowdā hath a sergeantre a fote in the coūtreis of Moyllebech / & about the moūt Lyban / & in the lande of the Assa­sȳs. And myght haue helpe of thē to put the sege to a cyte or to a ca­stell / or forto kepe y^e lande in their coūtrey. But out of theyr coūtrey they wolde nat go for the sowdan nor he can nat constrayn them for the great moūtayns ther as they be. The sowdā of Egypt is moch subtyll for to take cytyes & castels and ī diuers maners they set vpō the landes. Forby trosbowes / stones / & mynes vnder the grounde / and by fyre that cā nat be put out. And by other maner y^t thei take y^e landes lyghtly without any ꝑyll.

¶Why they of Egypt yelded thē to the sarasyns.

THemꝑour of Grece kept the lordshyp of Egypt. And gouer­ned the lande by du­kes / and by officers that he sende euery yer to receyue the rentes of the landes / and sende them to thē perour of Constātinople / and so the lordshyppe of the grekes was in the lande of Egypt tyll in the yere of our lorde god .vii.C. hun­derde & .iiii. They of the lande of Egypt coude nat suffre the wron­ges that the Grekes dyd vnto thē and than they yelde them to the sarasyns and chose a lorde amonge them of Mahometz kynred / & named hym Calyfe / and all theyr lordes were called Calyfe. And kept the lordshippe of Egypt those of Mahometz kynred .CCC.xlvii. yeres. After that y^e sarasyns toke the landꝭ / and the Medyens that be called Cordins ocupied y^e lord­shyppe of Egypt as we shall say here after.

¶How the christenmen were driuen out of Egypt.

[Page xxviii] IN y^e yere of our lord god a thousand .liii. kyng Almaur kynge of Hierusalē of good mynd gathered his hoost in all y^e lande of Hierusalem and entred into Egypt and conquered many landes and cytes / as it is wrytten in the boke of the holy lande con­questes. The Calyfe seynge that he coude abyde agayn the christē ­mēs power / send his messangers to the sowdan of Halap that kept Mahometez lawe. And thought to haue a great treasour of the Ca­lyfe that was called Saraton / he and a great cōpany of men a war came to helpe the Calyfe / & those men dyd so moch that they droue the christēmen out of the lande of Egypt riche and delectable. And the power of the Calyf was smale the sowdan coueyted the lordship wherfore he toke hym and put hȳ in pryson & than after he set vpon the lande valyantly and put it in his subiection / and made hym so­dan and lorde of Egypt / this Paraton was of the Corasmyns na­cion and was the fyrst lorde in E­gypt of his nation.

¶After the dethe of Saratō one of his sonnes was made lorde of Egipt that was called Salzadin And this Salzadyn dyd so moch that he vndyde the kyng of Hierusalem and toke his cyties byforce and toke dyuers other landes of the christēmens / as it apperith by the boke of the cōquestes of the holy lande. After the deth of Salza­dyn / his brother and one of his neuiewes one after an other kept the lordship of Egypt tyll y^e sowdās tyme that was called Mellecasa. This Mellecasa was sowdan of Egypt at that tyme that the Tartas toke the realme of Cumany y^e sowdan herde say that the tartas solde the Cumayns that they had takē to a good shyppe. And thā he sende dyuers marchauntes with a great quantite of good for to by some of the sayd Cumayns / and ī specylly of the yongest / and many of them was brought into Egypt Malacasa dyde norysshed them & loued them moche / and lerned thē to ryde and to the armes / and tru sted them well and kept them euer nygh him. And in that tyme y^t the kyng of Fraunce Loys passed o­uer the see and was taken of the sarasyns the aboue sayd Cucumās that were bought and solde kylde there lorde Malecasa / and made one of them lorde that was called Turkmen / and by the reason of this the kyng of Fraunce and his brother that were in the sarasyns pryson were the soner bought a­gayn and delyuerd out of pryson. In this maner began the Cucu­mās to haue lordship in Egypt / this kinred of y^e Cucumās is cal­led chapchap into the Oriēt partꝭ nat many dayes after one of this Sclauons which was called Cochos kylled the sayd Turkemēt & made hym sowdan / and was cal­led Melomees. This man went [Page] into the realme of Syrie / and driued out Gynbago and .x. thousād tartas / the which Halcon had left for to kepe the lande of Syrie. As he retorned to Egypt an other of the sayde Cucumans kylde hym. Which was called Bēdocdar and made hym sowdā and made hym calle Meldaer. This was moche wise and valyant to y^e armes & to his power he rose moche / the sara­syns power in the realme of Si­rie and Egypt. And toke many cyties and landes that the christen­men kept. And toke byforce the noble cyte of Antyoch. In the yere of our lorde god. M.CC.lxviii.

¶In the realme of Cucumanie this mā dyde moch harme in this Bendocdar dayes. Whan syr Edwarde kyng of Englande passed ouer the see. The sowdā thought to haue kylde hym by an Assasyn by the which Assasyn y^e kyng was hurt / with a knyfe that was poy­soned / but he was hole agayne by the grace of god. Thā after it happened y^t the sowdan had a drinke with mortall venym / and dyed in the cyte of Damas. After his deth his sonne that was called Melec­sart was mad sowdā / but he kept nat long the lordshippe of Egypt for an other Cucumant that was called Elsy dryue hym oute of the lordship and the lande of Egypt & made him sodan. This Elsy was he that layd sege before the cyte of Triple / and toke it byforce. In y^e yere of our lorde god a thousand two hondred foureskore & nyne.

¶How Elsy was poysoned.

IN the yer after the sayd Elsy brought all his power to gyder nygh Babylone / taryenge forto put sege afore Acre. Vpon a day as he put hym in a pleasaunte place for to ease hym selfe / yt fortuned that a seruaunt the whiche he trusted well / and had made hym constable of his hoost / gaue hym poyson to drynke and dyed soone after. This cōstable occupyed the lordshyp / but the other ran vpon hym and cutte hym all in pecys. After that one of Elsy sōnes was made sowdan y^t was named Melecasseraph / the which toke the cytie of Acre / and put out of the lan­des of Syrie all the christenmen. This was in the yere of our lorde god a thousande. CC.lxxxxi.

¶How Melcuaser was made sowdan of Egypt.

WHā Melecasseraph was retorned into Egipt vpō a day he went a huntyng and ther a seruaunt kylde hym in the wode / and soone after the ser­uaunt was kylde by y^e other. And after that he that is sowdan nowe was made sowdan in Egypt that is called Melcuaser which was Melecasseraph brother. And by­cause that this Melecuaser was yonge he was put vnder an ouer­sear which was of the tartas naci­on and was called Ginboga / this Gynboga putte away this chyld [Page xxix] Melecuase and put hym inward into the crake of moūt royall and toke the lordship & made hymselfe sowdan / and was called Meleca­dell. In this Melechadels dayes was so grete nede of vitayles that all the sarasyns dyed for hunger if it had nat ben for the false christenmen that brought them vitayle Inough for couytes of money. Aft that it happened y^e tidynges came of the tartas cōmynge / thā Ginboga gathered his hoste & went into the realme of Syrie forto defend the lande agaynst y^e tartas. This Ginboga honoured moch those y^t had bē tartas & kept thē nere hym of this y^e Cucumās had great en­uy. Wherfore it happed y^t as Gin­boga retorned to Egypt the Cu­cumans put hym out of his lorde­ship / and made one of thā sowdan that was called Lachyn & was called after Melecuaser. This La­chyn wold nat kyll Gynboga by­cause that he wolde be his felowe / but gaue him a coūtrey y^t was called Sarta. and after that he gaue hym the lordshyp of Haman / but he wolde nat suffre that Ginboga shuld dwell in Egypt. This sow­dan taryed .iii. yeres in the castell of Cayre for fere of his men except a day y^t he came downe to y^e playn and came there to play at the fore­ball / his horse fyll vnder hym and brake his legge. After it happed that vpon a day this sowdan La­chyn played at cheker & had putte his swerde nygh hym & one of his owne seruauntes toke the swerde and strake hym & sone after the o­ther ran vpon hym y^t had done y^e dede / & cut hym all in pecis and after that the sarasyns wer in great debate for to make a sowdan but ī thend they agreyd and put Me­lecuaser aforesayd in the lordship the which Ginboga had last in the crake of mount royall. This sow­dan is he that ouercame Casan in the felde & is yet sowdan of Egipt It shalbe forgyuen me yf I speke to lange of the Cucumans that be subgettes bought & solde / & of the sowdans of theyr kinred for I do to shewe y^t the sarasins can nat be long without such a fortune shuld come vnto thē / by the whiche they might nat cōe out of Egipt nor go with an hoost in an other lande.

¶How the lande of Egypt is watred with the water of flud Gyon.

THe realm of Egipt is mo­che riche & delyctable. It is .xv. dayes iourney of length & thre dayes iourney in brede. The land of Egipt is a yle / for by both the sydes is desertes & sand is and of the other part is the see of grece toward thorient is more nygh of the lande of Syrie than of any o­ther lande. Verily betwene y^e .ii. realmes is well .viii. dayes iour­ney of way / & all landes towarde thoccydent finysshed to one of the Barbare prouynce / that is called Darta / & betwene these two landꝭ is well .xv. dayes iourney of desertes / toward mydday fynisshed w^t [Page] the realme of Nabye which be cristēmen and all blacke for the hete of the sonne. And bytwene y^e two landes is well .xii. dayes iourney and all sandes. In the realm of Egypt be .v. prouinces. The first is called Sayth / the seconde Meser the thyrde Alexander / the .iiii. Rychy. This coūtrey is closed of the see and fluddes of an yle / and the other Damyette. The chefe cy­tie of the realme of Egypt is cal­led Cayre / and is nygh of an olde cytie that is called Meser. These two cyties be vpon y^e fuld of Nyll syde / which rōneth by the lande of Egypt that is called Gion. This fludde is moch ꝓfitable for it wa­treth all the landes ther as it pas­seth and maketh all the lādes fruit full / and habondaunte of all ma­ner of goodꝭ. In the flud of Nyll be fysshes ynough and bere great shippes for it is great & depe. and aboue all the fluddes y^e Nyll may be prased yf it were nat that there is a maner of beestes that be cal­led dragons / & deuoured horses & men that be vpon the water & vpō the see whan thei may haue them. These beestes be called Cocalx / y^e fludd of Nyll riseth ones in a yer and begynneth to ryse at myddes of August & so risynge tyll saynt Michaels day. And whan it is so high that it can no more the mē of the countrey let the water ron by bykes & smale ryuers so that they water all the countrey. And so the water tarieth there .xl. dayes and whan the gound is dry the peple sowe & set all the ground. And by­cause of the sayd watryng all ma­ner of goodes growe in y^e lande / for in these partes is neuer rayne nor snowe / nor ye ran nat knowe the winter from the somer, yet the habytauntes of Egypt hath put a colombe of Marble in the myddꝭ of y^e flude of Nyll in a lytell yle y^t is called meser & haue made tokēs in the sayd colombe. And whā the fludde is flowen as moche as it may they loke vpō the colombe tokens & after the risyng of the wa­ter they shall knowe yf they shall haue great plenty of goodes that yere / or toskant. And vpon y^t thei set price vpon theyr marchaūdyse The water of the fludde of Nyll is holsome to drinke / but whan it is taken out of the fludde it is to hote. But they put it in a vessell of yerth / & than it is clere colde & hol­some. In the realme of Egypt be two see portes / or hauens. the one is called Alexander / and the other Damyette. In Alexanders porte may well come in shippes & galy­es / & the cyte is strong & well wal­led. The waters that they drinke in Alexandre cometh in cundittes from the flude of Nyll of y^t which they fylled their cesterns / that thei haue ynough in the cyte. They haue none other water y^t thei might drynke. Wherefore yf y^e water that ronned in the cundytes myght be stopped they shuld be in great payne / & long they coude nat lyue by any other wise it shuld be hard to take Alexander biforce. The cytie [Page xxx] of Damyette is vpon the flude of Nyll which was well closed in the olde tyme / but it was taken twyse by the christēmē. Ones by y^e kyng of Hierusalem / & by the other cry­stēmen of thorient. And the other tyme by the kyng of Fraunce saȳt Loys and bycause of that the sarasins brake it downe / and transported ferre from the see & they made no walles nor stronge place & cal­led this newe lande / newe Damy ette. And the old Damyette is all wasted with the portes of Alexandre and Damyette. The sowdan hath great goodes / the lande of Egypt yelde great haboundance of socour & of almaner of goodꝭ they haue nat moch wines / but y^e wyne that groweth there is very good / the sarasyns dare nat drinke wyn because that it is for bydden them by theyr lawe / moten / hēnes / and gottes thei haue ynough / but thei haue nat moch befe. And ere hors flesshe / in the realme of Egypt be some christēmen dwellynge ther / that be called kepty & hold the maner of the Iacobyns. And in that parties they haue dyuers abbeys & holde them fre and in peace / and these Keptys were the oldest hey­res of the lande of Egypt for y^e sa­rasyns began to inheryt the land sythe that they had the lordship y^e thynges that they can nat fynd in Egypt & that the Egipciēs coude nat fynd if they shuld nat haue of other men they shuld haue great nede / as yron & other thinges by­cause & faute of that thei coud nat lyue longe in all the realme of E­gypt is no cytie nor castell walled but the cyte of Alexandre y^t which is well walled. The sowdan dwelled in the castell of Cayre / whiche was nat stronge all y^e lande of E­gypt is kept & defended by knightes. Than syth the hoost of Egipt was ouercome the land might be shortly cōq̄red & w^tout any dāger.

¶Whan tyme is to moue warr.

IN fewe wordes I say that I may say these wordꝭ. Ec­ce nunc tempus acceptabile / ecce nunc dies salutis. For verily it is cōuenyent tyme & acceptable and counable tyme to moue warre a­gaynst his ēnemys of y^e holy faith Nowe is tyme couenable to gyue helpe to the holy lande / the which hath ben longe in y^e euyll beleuers handes / nowe is tyme conuenyēt in the which the corages of Chri­stes louers ought to be in mynde to the holy landes passage to thin tent that the holy sepulture of our lorde may be delyuerd out of thennemys handes that is the begyn­nynge of our fayth. Nor we haue nat remembred in times passed of suche conuenyent tyme as we ha­ue nowe / as god by his pyte and mercy shewed vs in dyuers ma­ners. For first god almighty full of mercy hath gyuen vs pastoure and right holy father right christē and full of vertue. which syth that he was sette in the holy apostoly­que sete both night & day thought [Page] and desyred how he might socour the holy lande forto haue it out of the ennemys of y^e holy faythes hā des which blamed y^e name of crist and the holy sepulcre of our lorde. And bycause that they may truely beleue y^t god hath torned his mercyfull eyen to beholde y^e holyland And hath gyuen him vpon y^e erth his redemer it is y^e father apostell In the which dayes by the mercy of god the holy land of Hierusalē that hath ben long tyme kept vn­der y^e seruage of our ennemys by our synnes shalbe delyuered and brought to the fyrst fraūches & to the fyrst power of the christēmen.

¶Why thy go into y^e holy lande.

NOw is the tyme conueny­ent and acceptable in the which god hath shewed vs clerly that y^e holy lande shalbe delyuerd out of the ennemys power / for by the grace of god the kynges & the princes of christen landes be now in good state & in peace betwene them / and haue no more warr nor debate as they were wont to haue in the olde tyme. Wherfore it is lyke that god almyghtie wyll de­lyuer the holy lande & yet all chri­stenmen of dyuers landes and of dyuers realmes by fayth and de­uocyon be apparelled to toke the crosse / and to passe ouer the see into the holy land. Helpe and to put theyr body & goodes for y^e honour & reuerēce of our lorde Ihū Crist valyauntly & with a good wyll.

¶How the ennemis of the christē fayth was mynisshed & put down

NOw it is conuenient tyme and acceptable by y^t which god shewed to the christen people that y^e power of the christē faithes ennemys is dimynisshed. Also by the tartaras warre by the whiche they were ouercome and loste mē without nombre in batayle. Also for this sowdā that raigned those dayes in Egypt / that was a man of no goodnesse & nothyng worth Moreouer all the sarasyns pryn­ces be deed that were wōt to gyue helpe to the sowdan by the power of the tartas. And one was lefte alone that was named sowdan de Meredyn / the which is tourned lately to the tartas subiectiō. And therfore at this tyme without any daunger or payne / the holy lande myght be recouered / and y^e realm of Egipt and of Syrie cōquered. And also with all the power of the ennemys might be the more easly brought downe nowe / than in ty­mes passed.

¶How Carbanda kyng of y^e tartas profered hymselfe and his po­wer to go to the holy lande.

yEt is cōuenyent tyme y^t which god shewed to the christēmen bycause that the tartas hath proffered thē selfe to gyue helpe to the christenmen agaynst the sarasyns. And for this reason Carbanda kyng of the tartas [Page xxxi] sende his messangers proffe­ringe to putte all his power to vndo the ennemys of the christēland And so in this tyme the holy land myght be recouered by the helpe of the tartas and the realme of E­gypt conquered lyghtly without peryll or daunger. And so it were nede that the christēmen shuld set vpon the holy lande without any taryenge / for in the taryenge is great daunger. For fere of Car­banda that is nowe frende shulde fayle / and an other might cōe that shulde vse the mahometz wayes & that shulde agre with y^e sarasyns And so it myght tourne to great dāmage and paryll of the christen lande / and of the holy lande ouer the see.

¶Of the aduersytes & prosperi­teys of the ennemys.

TO the hounour of our lorde Ihesu Christe I trust to accōplyshe my faute I say to the entent that the holy lande may be cōquered with leest payne & trou­ble. It is conuenyent that the cri­stenmen shall entre into the lande and that thei shuld set vpon their ennemys in the sayd tyme y^t their ennemys shalbe troubled of some fortune for if the christēmen wold do this enterprise at that tyme y^t theyr ennemys shuld be in prosperytie they coude nat fulfyll theyr enterprise without great daūger and payne. we shall deuyse truely which is the prosperytie & whiche is the aduersytie. The aduersyte of ennemys is this. Whan the sa­rasyns haue a sowdan and a lord wyse and valyaunt / and such that he may without any fere of his re­bellynge holde and kepe his lord­shippe. The other prosperytie of the ēnemys may be whan thei ha­ue ben longe in peace & without any warr of the tartas or other mē And yet whan they haue great haboundaūce of corne & other goodꝭ in the realme of Syrie / and yet whan the wayes be sure by the see and by the lande & open. And such thynges y^t the ennemys haue ned may be brought to thē w^tout any cōtradit out of straūge coūtreis & yet whan the sarasyns be in peace with Nubiens / & with the Bed­nins of Egipt desert so thei moue no warr nor quetell & yet whan y^e truqueniens & bednȳs y^t dwelled [Page] in the realme of Egypt / & Syrie obedyent to the sowdan of Egypt bycause of the aboue sayd thyngeꝭ and prosperites the ennemys po­wer shuld ryse so moch y^t it shuld be impossible to ouercome them.

¶The names of the .ix. sowdās that were slayne & poysoned.

¶By the contrary aduersytes it myght come to the ennemys in dyuers maners. It is whan the en­nemys do ryse and kyll theyr sowdan or lorde as they haue done in tymes past & do often tymes. For syth the kynred of the Cucumans beganne to haue the lordshippe in Egypt .ix. haue ben ordayned so­dans and lordes vpon them. And of these .ix. sowdās that haue ben in Egypt they haue ben slayne by swerde it is to knowe Turqueni­en / Chocas / Lachyn / and .ii. other that were poysoned / that was Bē docdac / and Elsy. The two other Melecuaser / and Gynboga were putte in exyle. And this Melecuaser that is nowe sowdan was ons putte out of his office & lordship & his lyfe in variaunce tarienge to an yll ende.

¶Prouision agaynst the sow­dan of Egypt.

ITem the ennemyes myght cōe to aduersyte. It is whā y^e flude of Nyll riseth nat so moch that they may water the grounde as nede is. Than the sarasyns of Egypt shuld haue gret nede and hunger / and yet it is nat longe y^t it came so moch that yf it had nat ben for christenmen that brought them by y^e see for couytouse of mo­ney they had ben deed for hunger And whan suche a nede shulde cōe to thennemys they shuld be come poore and shuld be fayne forto sell theyr horses & brynge away theyr chyldren and seruauntes. And by this reason they shulde nat haue power to depart out of Egipt nor come īto Syrie. Euery one must cary with hym all suche thynges and baggage that they haue nede of for .vlii. dayes for hym selfe his beestes and his housholde for thei fynde but sandes / and downes in y^e sayd .viii. dayes iourney. Wherfore he that shuld nat haue horses nor camels shuld nat haue power to departe out of Egypt. And by this maner the sowdan shulde be so troubled that he coude nat com to socoure y^e realme of Syrie. yet whan thennemys haue had longe tyme warre / yet great aduersytes and thoughtfull to thennemys. yf the wayes vpon the see were kept that nothynge shulde be brought into theyr countrey of suche thin­ges as they haue moste ned to / as yron / stele and other thinges that they coud nat haue but it wer brought vnto theym out of straunge countreis. And without such thinges they coude nat longe endure yet whan the Nubyens / or y^e Bednyns moued warre to the Sow­dan he myght be by suche warre so troubled that he coude nat de­part [Page xxxii] out of Egipt nor go in Sy­rie / yet whan the lande of Syrie hath nede & nat good seasō by drynes or by warr of the tartas or in other maner / for if y^e wayes shuld fayle the hoost of Egipt coud nat come forto dwell in Syre. for out of Egipt & other landes their coud bringe nothinge into Syrie / and by this reason the hoost of thennemys coude nat departe out of E­gipt. Than if thēnemys shuld haue some of these aduersytes with­out any faute they coude nat deꝑt out of Egypt / forto come to Sy­rie. Than the christē men myght occupy the realme of Hierusalem and myght repare the cyties & ca­stels and garnysshe them in suche maner that they shuld neuer fere the power of theyr ennemys.

¶How imbassadours wer send to Carbanda a kynge of y^e tartas that the ennemys shuld haue no­thinge brought to them.

SIth that we haue re­sonably spoken & de­uised of the prosperites and aduersities y^t myght come to thennemys. We shall say in this party the begynnynge of the passage of y^e holy lande. I thinke for y^e suerti and y^e profet of the passage that at begynnynge a certayn nombre of horsmen & fotemen myght knowe the power of thennemys & as me semeth. For this present tyme it shulde be sufficient to the nombre of a thousand knyghtes .x. galeys and thre thousande dykers. & vpō this men shulde be sende a legate by the church and a wyse captayn and a valyaunt that shulde passe with them ouer the see to y^e yle of Cypres in the realme of Armeny / as they shuld thinke the best to do Aft that without any tarienge by the kyng of Armenys coūsell they shulde sende messangers to Car­banda a kyng of the tartas / requiring two thynges. The one shuld be that Carbanda shuld defende in all his landes y^t nothyng shuld be brought in the lande / of the en­nemis. The other was y^t he shuld sende his messāgers & of his men a warr / into the countreis of Meletur that they shulde ron̄ & waste Halaps landes. After that we pylgrims & them of the realm of Cy­pres & of Armeny / by see & by land we shuld moue warre and vndertake valyantly the ennemys lan­des / and that they shulde take pa­yne to kepe the see in suche maner that nothynge shulde be brought into the ennemys landes. yet our christēmen myght garnysshe the yle of Corcose which is in a good place for to receyue the galleys & ther they myght do a great dam­mage to the ēnemis. Now verily I shall leue to speke of y^e maner of the begynnynge of warre and to sette vpon the ennemys / for after the condicyon and state of the en­nemys shulde be nedys to chaūge coūsell & vse / by the wysemēs coū ­sell y^t shuld be present to the dede. [Page] The profettꝭ & y^e goodes y^e might come of this first vyage & passage I shall shortly herafter declare.

¶How y^e sowdā of Egypt shuld be brought subget to the christen­men and to the Tartas.

THe first profet shuld befor this fyrste pas­sage might be ordayned so that thēnemis myght be so sore troubled by the helpe of the other christēmen that be in the parties of thoriēt and by the tartas that thei coude haue no rest / but they shulde suffre great thoughtes & great damages for if by the christēmen and by y^e tartas the warr was done to the sowdan of Egypt by see and by lande into the realme of Syrie. The sowdā shulde be fayne to sende his men forto kepe and defende the passa­ges and cyties that be nygh of the see / and all other that myght be assayled. And if by the tartas y^e war was moued in the parties of Meleton in the landes of Halap / the sowdās men shuld befaynt to cōe where it is well .xxv. dayes iour­ney. And y^t they shulde come from Babylone to this seruice shuld be in short tyme a fote / and shuld lose their horses / & theyr harnes. And shuld be so wery & so trobled that they coude nat endure. In .iii. or foure maners thennemys shulde lese theyr goodes and shuld suffre many great dāmages. yet by the fyrst passage the ennemys myght haue moch trouble for with the cō mynge of the .x. galeys of the pas­sage w^t the helpe of these y^t myght be arryued of the realme of Armeny / and of Cipres thēnemys lan­des myght be roned all. And y^e galeys myght retorne safe into y^e yle of Corcose. And if y^e sowdā wolde kepe and defende the sayd landes he shuld befayn to come hymselfe in person / & with hym all his power of Babylon ī Syrie or he coud haue sufficiētly men to giue helpe to all the landes that be nygh of y^e see. The cōmyng out of the realm of Egypt to come in Syrie shuld by ꝑyllous and damageable to y^e sowdan for fere of his men traysō full of enuy. For by the setynge of the christenmen they myght be so troubled that they shulde haue no rest damageable. For he shuld cō ­sume and wast all his tresoure so moche that it was hard to beleue the great some of good that the sodan and his men spende and con­sumed euery tyme that they came out of Egypt landes / forto come ī Syrie. yet by the sayd galeys the wayes and the portes of the sayde see myght be kept in suche maner that it shuld be brought nothinge to thēnemys of such thyngꝭ y^t they haue more nede / & that they coude nat endure long without as yron stele and other thinges that be brought vnto theym out of straunge coūtres. yet more thēnemys shuld lose the rentes of y^e see portes that is a great some of good & tresure.

yEt yf it shulde happen y^t the ennemys were trou­bled by some aduersite & that they coude nat departe out of Egipt nor gyue helpe to the landꝭ of Syrie. Than the pylgryms of this fyrst passage with helpe of o­ther christēmen of thoryent partꝭ myght well redresse y^e cyte of Triple / & to the moūt Lyban be cristē men dwellynge / good sergeantes about .xl. thousand y^t shuld gyue the pylgrymes great helpe. And many tymes they haue rysen agaynst the sowdan & do hym & to his mē gret harm & dāmage. And thā if the cytie of Triple shuld be for­med / the christēmen myght holde it tyll the cōmynge of the passage generall & myght take all the coū ­trey about / and kepe the coūtrey of Triple. And might retorne easly by the men that shulde come to the generall passage for thei shuld fynde y^e port redy ther they might surely come. yet yf it shuld hapen that the tartas shulde occupie the realme & the holy lande. The christēmen of the fyrst passage shulde be redy to receyue the tartas lan­des & to kepe them in such maner And I that knowe resonably the tartas wyll I beleue that all y^e landes that they shuld conquere vpō the sarasins that with a gode wyl they shuld gyue them in kepynge to the christēmen franke & quyte. For the tartas coude nat dwell in that countrey for the great here y^t is there in somer / wherfore they shuld be glad that the christenmen shuld holde the landes & kepe thē The tartas do neuer fyght withe the sowdā of Egypt for couytous to gette landes & cyties. For they haue all Asie ī theyr subiectiō / but thei fight for cause that the sowdā hath euer ben theyr princypall en­nemy. And hath done them more harme & dāmage than any other / and specially whan thei haue had warr agaynst theyr neyghbours. And for this reasōs aboue sayd I trust that the nombre aboue is sufficyēt. It is to knowe a thousand knyghtes .x. galleys / and .iii.M. sergeantes & many thinke that in this begynnynge that they shulde nat make so many men that this shuld do / and the exspences & cost shulde multiply moche.

yEt by this fyrst passage might cōe .iii. other pro­fettes. For syth y^t the pylgryms of the first passage hath taryed in the partes be end the see a season / and had knowen the cōdi­cyon & maner of the lande & of the ennemys. They might gyue warnynge to the other pylgrims that shuld come to y^e generall passage. yet take we y^e tartas for warre or for other thyngꝭ / or for excuse that they wolde nat gyue helpe to the christēmen agaynst the sarasyns / And y^t the sowdan & his men wer in ther prosperite / & that it shuld nat be an easy thinge to conquere the holy lande. And to delyuer it out of the ennemyes power. your holy paternite knowyng the con­dicyon [Page] of the holy lande. And se­ynge the generall passage myght haue better counsel & aduertismēt vpon such thynges that shuld be cōuenyent forto do or forto passe / ouer the generall passage or to tary for conuenyent tyme. And by y^e reason of this all the daungers of the ennemyes may be auoyded.

yEt your holynesse shall ꝑdon me I dare say two other wordꝭ. The one is that your holynes wold wryte to the kyng of the Georgiens that be christēmen / & that they be more deuout peple thā any other nacyō to y^e pylgrimagꝭ / & to the holy relykꝭ of y^e holy lande y^t they shuld gyue helpe & socour to the pylgrims to recouer y^e holy lande. I beleue verily for the honour of god and for the reuerēce of your holynes they fulfill your cōmaūdement for thei be deuout christēmen and men of great power / & valyant men of armes & neighbours of the realm of Armeny. And yet that your holy paternyte wold write to the king of Nubiens / which be christēmen and wer conuerted to the fayth of Christ / by saynt Thomas in y^e holy lande of Etyope. Sendynge y^t they shuld moue warr agaynst y^e sowdan & his men. And I beleue verily that the aboue sayd Nubyens for the honoure of our lorde & for the reuerence of your holynes they shuld moue warr agaynst y^e sowdan & his men / & shulde do thē harm & dāmage to theyr power / & that shuld be great trouble for the sowdan & for his men. And the sa­yde letters myght be sende to the kyng of Armeny that shuld translate them in theyr langage & sende them by your messangers.

¶Deuoutly & truly I haue rehersed after my lytell vnderstanding suche thinges as is nedefull to the begynnige of the passage & helpe of y^e holy land. And aft (ur) wyllȳg to obey the comaundemēt of your holy paternyte / vpon this y^t is nede to y^e generall passage ouer y^e see.

¶Of the generall passage.

THe generall passage may be in .iii. wayes The one shuld be by the way of Barbary But this way I wolde nat gyue coūsell to them that knowe the cō ­dicion of the countrey. The other shuld be by they way of Constan­tynople / it is to knowe by the way that Godfray de bullyen & other pylgrims / in that tyme kept as I beleue parfetly the passage gene­rall myght go lightly to the cytie of Constantynople. But goynge ouer the braz of Georgie & goyng by the turkes / the way shulde nat be sure. For the turk mēs y^t be sa­rasyns and y^e dwell in turky / truely the tartas may delyuer & ensur the way / & might ordayne that in the lande of turkey shulde be bro­ught vitayles ynough into y^e pyl­grims [Page xxxiiii] hoost & horses of a resona­ble price. The other way that eue­ry body knoweth it is by the see / therfore if y^e passage wyll go by y^e see ther must be at euery port of y^e see shippes redy apꝑelled & other necessary thyngꝭ to passe with the pylgrims. And moreouer it shuld be cōuenyent to a prefeke terme & a couenable season that all y^e pylgrimes shuld be redy to go in the shippes & passe togyder / & so they might come to Cipres & rest them and their horses of the see labour. After y^t the passage gen̄all shulde be aryued in Cipres & shuld be refresshed a certayn dayes / yf y^e pyl­grims of the first passage had closed the citie of Triple / or an other vpon the see in Syrie. The pas­sage myght come thyder and that shulde be to them great ease. And yf the pylgrims of y^e first passage had nat closed some lande ī Syre It shuld be nede that the passage generall shuld take the way by y^e realm of Armeny. In this maner it is to knowe that the pylgrimes shuld refreshe them & their horses in the realme of Cipres / tyll My­helmas day that they might passe surely to the realme of Armeny / & ther they shuld fynde such thingꝭ as they shuld nede to. Verily thei myght tary in the cytie of Tersot more easely bycause y^t they shulde fynde ther great plente of waters and pastour for their horses. And from the realme of turkey that is nygh they shuld bringe vitayle & horses & such thinges y^t they shuld haue nede of in the lande of Armeny. Also & they myght tary all the wynter in Armeny & whan the pastur shuld be cōming the pylgrīs hoste might go to Antioch that is from y^e lande of Armeny a dayes iourney. And frō thens the shippꝭ mygth go by the see to the port of Antioch / and so the see hoost & the lande hoost shuld be neyghbours After that the pylgrims shuld haue occupied the cytie of Antioche the which they shuld shortly take with y^e helpe of god. The pylgri­mes myght refresshe them in this lande certayn dayes & myght ron̄ and rauysshe their ennemys lan­des that be ther aboue. And there with they might knowe the condicyon state & wyll of their ennemis that be ther about. And in this ꝑ­ties of Antioch there be christēmē dwellyng that be good sergeantꝭ and shuld come with a good wyll to the christēmens hoost / & myght do them good seruyce. After that the pylgrims shuld depart out of Antioch they myght go by the see syde to the cite of Lyche. this way shuld be shorter & better for the see doth flowe to the hoost of y^e land. Verily nygh to the Margat by y^e see fyd is a passage that troubleth moche the people y^t passe by. And yf it shuld happen y^t the ennemys had garnysshed this passage ī su­che maner y^t the pylgrems might nat passe. Our men might retorn without any daunger into Anty­oche / & myght go by y^e way of E­phemye toward Cesar by the syd [Page] of the flud of Reuell vpward & by that way y^e hoste shuld find gode pasture & good waters & the enne­mies landes garnisshed with vy­tayle & other goodes of the which the hoost myght haue great ease / And by this way our men myght go by the cyte of Haman which is a riche cytie / the which the cristen men might occupy shortly. And if it shuld happē y^t the enemis wold defend Haman for bycause it is a riche cyte & that thei shuld nat cōe to the batayle agaynst the christē ­men they shuld haue a great vaū tage to fight in that place & shuld lighty ouercome their ennemies / and yf the christēmen might ones ouercome the sowdans hoost. Af­ter that they shuld fynde nothyng agaynst them / and so they myght go streight to the cytie of Damas the which they shuld take or they shuld yelde thēselfe by some trea­tie. For syth the sowdan shulde be ouercome / they of Damas shulde nat hold but they wolde yelde thē with a good wyll. They lyue safe as they dyd to Halcon & to Casan after that they had ouercome y^t so dan. And thā yf the cristēmen had taken Damas they shuld lightly conquere the remynaunt. And yf the ennemies shuld lose y^e batayle the cristēmen might come to Tryple in .iiii. dayes frō Damas and might make agayne y^e cite of Triple. and w^t this the cristēmen that be of the moūt Lyban shuld gyue great helpe to the pylgrimes / & so yf the christēmen myght kepe the cite of Triple they might cōquer y^e cite of Ierusalē w^t helpe of god.

OF the cōpany of the christenmen & of the tartas I thȳke that a certayne nombre about .xx. thousand tartas myght do great ease & proffet to the christēmen goynge by the coūtres for fere of the tartas / the Bednyns / nor tucke­mens durst nat come nygh to the christēmens hoost / the other ease shuld be that the tartas shuld puruay for vitayle to the christēmens hoost / & shuld cōe out of ferre coū ­treis forto gette money or some o­ther thinge. yet by the tartas they might enquere & knowe the com­munycation of the ennemyes for the tartas be lyght for to ron̄ in & out. and can well entre & come out night & day of their frewyll to ba­tayle & to bete cyties. The tartas myght be thrifty for they be moch subtyll in suche thinges. And yf it shulde happen that Carbanda or an other in his rome w^t men shuld come for to entre in the lande of Egipt / than it shuld be well done to shyft & go ferre from their cōpany For the tartas wolde nat do after the christēmens wyll / & the christē men myght nat folowe the tartas wyll that be a horsbacke & go hastly. And the christēmen myght nat folowe them for the fotemen.

YEt whan y^e tartas know that they be stronge & ha­ue power they be moche proude and without reason. And [Page xxxv] coude nat be w^tout doynge harme to the christēmen / the which thing the christenmen might nat suffre. Wherof myght come great sklaū ­dre and euyll wyll amonge them / but vpō this thei might put good remedy. It is to knowe y^t the tar­tas shulde go by Damas way as they be vsed to do euer. And y^e cristēmen shuld go in the parties of Iherusalem / & in this maner go­yng ferre one frō an other it shuld be good peace betwene the tartas and the christēmen & loue kept / & the myght of the ennemies shulde be confounded rather by two than by one. yet an other thinge I wyll remembre to your holynesse it is this the christēmens coūsell shuld be kept wysely for in tyme passed they wold nat kepe their counsell Wherfore they haue hadde many great sorowes & the ennemys ha­ue skaped many great daūgers / & haue taken from the christēmen y^e maner to accōplyssh their desyres And yf it be so that the passage gefiall name might nat be kept close for thei shuld go by the vniuersall world. Neuerthelesse that coude nat torne to no daūger nor losse to ennemies for they coude nat haue no helpe of no port / and in dyuers maners the christēmens counsell myght be kept doynge maner to do a thinge and do an other / and the cause that the tartas coud nat kepe their counsell. Which thinge hath done them often tymes grete harme / the tartas hath such a ma­ner that at first mone of Ianuarii they take counsell of all such thyn­ges that they haue to do in y^e yere Wherfore yf it fortune y^t they wyll moue warr agaynst the sowdā of Egypt soone after their coūsell is knowē of all & so y^e sarasyns sende worde to the sowdan / & vpon that the sowdan maketh hym redy a­gaynst thē. the sacasyns can kepe well their coūsel which thȳg hath done thē many tymes good. And so it is sufficiently spoken & sayde for this present tyme vpon y^e dede of the passage generall of the holy lande by ende the see.

AFter all this I pray hūbly that blessyd holynes wyll receyue this y^t my deuocyon wri­teth vpon the passage of the holy land. And yf I haue sayd more or lasse y^t it shuld be I put it to your correctyon. For I had nat ben so hardy to giue coūsell vpō so great a mater as the passage of the holilande yf it were nat by the cōmaū demēt of your holy painite which syth [...] that it was sette to the sege pastorall by the cōmaundment of god / of all his hurt desyred procured and laboured. How the holy lande that was a rose of the precyous blode of our lord Ihū Chryst shuld be delyuerd fro the euyll ly­uers. & for this resō all cristen kȳ ­ges & prīncꝭ be called to his coūsell to thītent y^t he may haue coūsell & be aduertysed vpō y^e helpe of y^e holy landꝭ passage. How beit y^e out lorde is full of mercy which hath shewed vs by very experiēce that [Page] he wyll delyuer y^e holy land out of thēnemis handes to y^e tyme of yo (ur) holy pat (er)nite. we ought all to pray hūbly that longe lyfe & good gyue hȳ y^t reigneth in scla sclo (rum). Amē.