finding people outside and the entire Jewish settlement, as it seemed impractical for many reasons, behold, also from the castle, having seen us and being perplexed as to what was happening, for they had not anticipated anything, they sent one of the rulers and one canon named Mark with a dragoman and men, so that they might learn who was there and why. And when they saw who was there, and heard that we had come either for you to give us the castle or for us to take it, by whatever means we could, they returned and with haste, sounding the alarm, all those outside were forcibly gathered inside. But we, on the next day, which happened to be the feast of Palm Sunday, all having cut myrtle branches, as the place had an abundance, and carrying them in our hands, came and fell upon the gates of the castle. 17.8 And as we were lying there on the 20th of the same month of March after the service of Holy Saturday, when we had eaten, we were sitting in the tent of our lord, talking about many things. Suddenly a few horsemen sallied forth from the Jewish Gate or the Zeugalation Gate, for so it was called, and, being pursued as soon as they appeared, they departed and entered the Agialos Gate, where all those of the castle were skillfully arranged with battle-axes and bows and stakes. And as the despot and I were found in front in the pursuit of the horsemen, because by chance our horses were found ready near the little bridge of the road that goes to Saint Andrew, one of the Patrenes shot the despot's horse in such a way that it immediately fell; and running, either to kill or to capture him, I was found as his defender, and he, by the help of God, having been disengaged from the horse, fled on foot. 17.9 And I struck one and captured another, the son of Stamatellos, but they also struck me, both me and my horse so much that it weakened, fell, and crushed me, an excellent horse, which the emir had given to Asan Isaakios when they met; and Asan to his son-in-law, George Philanthropenos, and he to his nephew Komnenos, the son-in-law of the protostrator Kantakouzenos; and as he was fleeing with it, in order to go to Galatas, my brother caught up and captured him, and my brother was rewarded with his horse by the emperor; and I in turn took it from him, when coming to the Morea. 17.10 So, having captured me, they led me away with many wounds, and put me in the tower in a dark cell, which had ants and weevils and mice because it had previously been a granary; they also put me in single leg irons and on my left foot a strong chain nailed to a large block of wood. And I lay in such a prison, living bitterly from the wounds and the irons and the hard bed and the other evils that, as we have stated, the cell contained.

18.1 Here it is fitting to narrate also about the most holy Thomaïs. She, being of a good family in the East, was orphaned, and her relatives, bringing her to Constantinople, gave her to the sister of the three hierarchs and brothers, the Kavasilaioi, and mother of the most wise Nicholas Kavasilas. 18.2 And she who had her and was educating her, after some time, went to Thessaloniki, as Neilos Kavasilas, her brother, was the hierarch there, and they lived in the monastery of Saint Theodora with Palaiologina, a virtuous and learned woman, about whom I heard much and frequent praise from the late emperor kyr Manuel; and I have read many canons to Saint Demetrios and Saint Theodora and other saints, poems of hers, having with them also the holy Thomaïs and educating her in both virtue and letters. 18.3 And when their end came, they left her all their possessions, but also the wife of Kyprianos, who, indignant at the harshness of her husband, went to the aforesaid nuns and became a nun; and when she was near their end,

εὑρισκομένους ἔξωθεν ἀνθρώπους καὶ πᾶσαν τῶν Ἑβραίων οἴκησιν, ὡς ἐφάνη ἄπρακτον διὰ πολ λὰ αἴτια, ἰδοὺ καὶ ἀπὸ τὸ κάστρον ἰδόντες ἡμᾶς καὶ ἀπορήσαντες, τί ἄρα καὶ ἔνι, οὐδὲ γὰρ προενόησαν τὸ τυχόν, ἀπέστειλαν ἕνα τῶν ἀρχόντων καὶ ἕνα κανόνικα Μάρκον ὀνομαζόμενον μετὰ καὶ δραγομά νου καὶ ἀνθρώπων, ἵνα μάθωσι, τίς ἔνι καὶ διὰ τί; Ὡς δὲ εἶδον, τίς ἔνι, καὶ ἤκουσαν, ὅτι ἤλθομεν ἢ νὰ μᾶς δώσητε τὸ κάστρον ἢ νὰ τὸ ἐπά ρωμεν, μεθ' οἵου τρόπου ἐμπορέσωμεν, ἐπιστρέψαντες καὶ μετὰ σπου δῆς καὶ κρούσαντες λάρμα συνήχθησαν βίᾳ πάντες οἱ ἐκτὸς ἐντός. Ἡμεῖς δ' ἐπὶ τὴν αὔριον, ἡ τῶν Βαΐων καὶ ἑορτὴ τυχοῦσα, τεμόντες πάντες βαΐα μυρσίνης, τοῦ τόπου πλῆθος ἔχοντος, καὶ φέροντες ἀνὰ χεῖρας, ἐλθόντες ἐπέσαμεν περὶ τὰς πόρτας τοῦ κάστρου. 17.8 Ὡς δ' ἐκείμεθα τῇ κ-ῃ τοῦ αὐτοῦ μηνὸς Μαρτίου μετὰ τὴν τοῦ μεγάλου Σαββάτου ἀκολουθίαν, ὡς ἐφάγομεν, ἐκαθήμεθα εἰς τὴν τοῦ αὐ θεντὸς ἡμῶν τένταν, ὁμιλοῦντες περισσά. Ἄφνω δὲ ἐξεπόρτησαν ἀπὸ τῆς Πόρτας τῆς Ἑβραϊκῆς ἢ τοῦ Ζευγαλατίου, καὶ οὕτως γὰρ ὠνομά ζετο, καβαλλάριοι ὀλίγοι καί, διωχθέντες ὡς ἐφάνησαν, ἀπῆλθον καὶ ἐσέβησαν εἰς τὴν τοῦ Ἀγιαλοῦ Πόρταν, ἐκεῖσε κατασκευαστικῶς πάντες οἱ τοῦ κάστρου ὑπάρχοντες μετὰ τζαγρῶν καὶ τοξαρίων καὶ σκολόπων. Τοῦ δὲ δεσπότου κἀμοῦ εὑρεθέντων ἔμπροσθεν εἰς τὸν διωγμὸν τῶν κα βαλλαρίων, διὰ τὸ εὑρεθῆναι κατὰ τύχην τὰ ἄλογα ἡμῶν ἕτοιμα πλη σίον τοῦ γεφυρίου τῆς ὁδοῦ τῆς ἀπερχομένης εἰς τὸν ἅγιον Ἀνδρέαν, τὶς τῶν Πατρηνῶν ἐτόξευσεν οὕτως τὸ τοῦ δεσπότου ἄλογον, ὅτι εὐθὺς ἔπεσε· καὶ δραμόντες, ἵνα ἢ σκοτώσωσιν ἢ πιάσωσιν αὐτόν, εὑρέθην ἐγὼ ὑπέρμαχος καὶ ἐκεῖνος μὲν θεοῦ βοηθείᾳ ἀποπλακεὶς ἀπὸ τὸ ἄλογον ἔ φυγε πεζός. 17.9 Ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ δέδωκα καὶ ἕνα καὶ ἐπίασα, υἱὸν Σταματέλλου, ἀλλὰ καὶ δεδώκασί με, καὶ ἐμὲ καὶ τὸ ἄλογόν μου τοσαῦτα, ὅτι ἀδυνατῆσαν ἔπεσε καὶ ἐπλάκωσέ με, ἄλογον ἄριστον, ὅπερ ὁ ἀμηρᾶς δέδωκε τῷ Ἀ σάνῃ Ἰσαακίῳ, ὅταν ἐσυνήντησαν ἐκείνῳ· ὁ δ' Ἀσάνης τῷ γαμβρῷ αὐ-τοῦ τῷ Φιλανθρωπηνῷ Γεωργίῳ κἀκεῖνος τῷ ἀνεψιῷ αὐτοῦ τῷ Κομνηνῷ τῷ τοῦ πρωτοστράτορος τοῦ Καντακουζηνοῦ γαμβρῷ· καὶ φεύγοντος μετ' αὐτοῦ, ἵνα εἰς τὸν Γαλατᾶν ἀπέλθῃ, φθάσας ὁ ἀδελφός μου ἐπίασεν αὐ τὸν καὶ εὐεργετήθη ὁ ἀδελφός μου τὸ ἄλογον αὐτοῦ παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως· ἐγὼ δὲ πάλιν ἀπῆρα τοῦτο παρ' ἐκείνου, ἐρχόμενος εἰς τὸν Μορέαν. 17.10 Πιάσαντές με οὖν, μετὰ πολλῶν λαβωμάτων ἀπαγαγόντες με, ἔβαλόν με εἰς τὸν κουλᾶν εἰς ὁσπήτιον σκοτεινόν, ἔχον μύρμηκας καὶ σιταρόψιρας καὶ ποντικοὺς διὰ τὸ εἶναι ἐν αὐτῷ πρὸ τοῦ σιτηρέσιον· ἔβαλόν με καὶ σίδηρα μονοκάνονα καὶ εἰς τὸν ἀριστερὸν πόδα ἅλυσον στερεὰν εἰς τζόπον μέγαν καρφωμένην. Καὶ ἐκοιτώμην ἐν τῇ τοιαύτῃ φυλακῇ πικρῶς διαβιβάζων ἀπό τε τῶν λαβωμάτων καὶ τῶν σιδήρων καὶ τοῦ ξηροῦ κοιτασμοῦ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων, ὁποῦ εἶχεν, ὡς ἐδηλώσαμεν, τὸ ὁσπήτιον κακῶν.

18.1 Ἐνταῦθα δ' ἐστι προσῆκον διηγήσασθαι καὶ περὶ τῆς ὁσιωτάτης Θωμαΐδος. Αὕτη γένους χρησίμου ὑπάρχουσα ἐν τῇ Ἀνατο λῇ, ἀπορφανισθεῖσα, φέροντες εἰς τὴν Κωνσταντινούπολιν οἱ συγγενεῖς αὐτῆς, δεδώκασι τῇ ἀδελφῇ τῶν τριῶν ἀρχιερέων καὶ ἀδελφῶν, τῶν Καβα σιλαίων, καὶ μητρὶ τοῦ σοφωτάτου Καβασίλα Νικολάου. 18.2 Ἡ δὲ ταύτην ἔχουσα καὶ παιδεύουσα μετὰ καιρόν τινα ἀπῆλθεν εἰς τὴν Θεσσαλονίκην, Νείλου του Καβάσιλα καὶ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτῆς ἀρχιε ρέως ἐκεῖσε ὄντος, καὶ εἰς τὴν μονὴν τῆς ἁγίας Θεοδώρας ᾤκησαν μετὰ Παλαιολογίνας, γυναικὸς ἐναρέτου καὶ λογίας, περὶ ἧς πολλοὺς καὶ πολ λάκις ἤκουσα παρὰ τοῦ ἀοιδίμου βασιλέως κυροῦ Μανουὴλ ἐπαίνους· καὶ πολλοὺς κανόνας εἴς τε τὸν ἅγιον ∆ημήτριον καὶ τὴν ἁγίαν Θεοδώ ραν καὶ ἄλλους ἁγίους ἀνέγνωσα ἐκείνης ποιήματα, ἔχουσαι σὺν αὐταῖς καὶ τὴν ὁσίαν Θωμαΐδα καὶ παιδεύουσαι εἴς τε ἀρετὴν καὶ λόγον. 18.3 Ὡς δὲ ἦλθεν τὸ τέλος αὐτῶν, κατέλιπον αὐτὴν πάντα τὰ αὑτῶν, ἀλλὰ δὴ καὶ τοῦ Κυπριανοῦ γυνήν, ἥτις ἀγανακτήσασα τὸ σκληρὸν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς αὑτῆς ἀπελθοῦσα εἰς τὰς ῥηθείσας μοναχὰς καλογραία γέγονεν· ἐπεὶ δὲ περὶ τὸ τέλος αὐτῶν ἐγένετο,