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he gives in marriage to the [King] of Jerusalem for his son, and his first daughter, Irene, he joins in marriage to Andronikos Palaiologos, whom he also honored as despotes. Not long after, the despotes Palaiologos dies, as some said, from amorous dispositions, and the emperor takes as a son-in-law John Doukas, surnamed Batatzes; and he hailed from Didymoteicho, carrying out the office of protobestiarios. So Empress Anna had already died before her time, and the emperor took a wife from the Armenians. But being displeased with her, he sends her away to her own homeland, Cilicia, and brings to him as a wife the sister of the ruler of the Italians, who, as I said, was called Robert and had succeeded his uncle Henry. This Henry became the cause of many wars for Emperor Theodore and subjected many cities and lands of the Romans to himself. For being brave and swift in battles, and seeing the Romans' affairs in a humbled state, especially after Emperor Theodore killed the sultan—for then he had lost the Frankish army attached to him, in which he had been confident for battles against his own kind and which even Emperor Henry feared; for many were renowned both for their lineage and for the bravery they possessed. For these reasons, as some say, when Henry heard of the emperor's victory, he said, "Laskaris is conquered, not victorious." So that I may not prolong the account of the history, by saying this one thing I might represent the whole matter. Henry pitched his tents as far as Nymphaion itself, in the great absence of anyone to hinder him, and having returned from there, partly sated with his conquests and partly wishing to obtain a truce—for the Latin race is not very enduring in battles—he came to an agreement with Emperor Theodore. And it was agreed that all the lands of Kiminas—for so is the mountain near Achyraous called—along with Achyraous itself, would be ruled by the Frankish side, while Kalamos—Kalamos is a village, from which the theme of the Neokastra begins—was to remain uninhabited, and the lands from there on were to be ruled by Emperor Theodore; these were Neokastra and Kelbianon, Chliara and Pergamon and the adjacent Magidia and Opsikia. There was also another country belonging to Emperor Theodore, the one beginning from Lopadion and including Prousa and Nikaia. And thus matters turned out for Emperor Theodore.

16 The aforementioned Henry, although he was a Frank by race, nevertheless treated the Romans and natives of Constantinople more kindly, and had many, some enrolled among his magnates, others among his soldiers, while the common multitude he treated as his own people. For having taken the Roman cities of Lentiana and Poimanenon, he received as a godsend the men he found, breathing Ares and showing deeds of a noble soul. For in the city of Lentiana not only did a lack of water parch the defenders, nor that famine also forced them to eat the leather from their shields and cloaks, but also when a not insignificant section of the wall fell to the siege engines after a great fire, they guarded it for forty days, in turn piling more wood onto the fire. So when the city was taken, none of them were released except only the emperor's own brother and Dermokaites, who was appointed leader of the army, and Andronikos Palaiologos, whom, as the account has already shown, the emperor took as a son-in-law for his daughter Irene. But all the others Henry gathered, arranged them into squadrons, and having given them commanders of their own race, and ordering George Theophilopoulos to be in command of all, he entrusted to them the defense of the eastern parts.

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Ἱεροσολύμων εἰς κῆδος ἐπὶ υἱῷ παραδίδωσι, τὴν δὲ πρώτην αὐτοῦ θυγατέρα τὴν Εἰρήνην ἀνδρὶ συζεύ γνυσι τῷ Παλαιολόγῳ Ἀνδρονίκῳ, ὃν καὶ δεσπότην τετίμηκε. μετ' οὐ πολὺ δὲ ὁ δεσπότης Παλαιολόγος θνήσκει, ὡς μέν τινες ἔφασκον, ἐξ ἐρωτικῶν διαθέσεων, καὶ προσλαμβάνεται ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰς γαμβρὸν Ἰωάννην τὸν ∆ούκαν, οὗ Βατάτζης τοὐπίκλην· καὶ ἐκ ∆ιδυμοτείχου ἦν ὡρμημένος, τὸ τοῦ πρωτοβεστιαρίτου διενεργῶν ὀφφίκιον. ἡ μὲν οὖν βασιλὶς Ἄννα ἔφθη πρὸ καιροῦ τελευτῆσαι, ἠγάγετο δὲ ἐξ Ἀρμενίων γυναῖκα ὁ βασιλεύς. δυσαρεστήσας δὲ πρὸς αὐτὴν πρὸς τὴν ἰδίαν πατρίδα τὴν Κιλικίαν ἐκπέμπει, ἐπιφέρει δὲ αὐτῷ γαμετὴν τὴν τοῦ βασιλεύοντος τῶν Ἰταλῶν ἀδελφήν, ὃς Ῥομπέρτος, ὡς ἔφην, ἐκέκλητο καὶ τὸν θεῖον Ἐρῆν διεδέξατο. ὅστις Ἐρῆς πολλῶν πολέμων αἴτιος ἐγένετο τῷ βασιλεῖ Θεο δώρῳ καὶ πολλὰς πόλεις καὶ χώρας τῶν Ῥωμαίων ὑφ' ἑαυ τὸν ἐποιήσατο. ἀνδρεῖος γὰρ ὢν καὶ περὶ μάχας ὀξύρροπος, καὶ τεταπεινωμένα τὰ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ὁρῶν καὶ μάλιστα ἐξ ὅτου τὸν σουλτὰν πεφόνευκεν ὁ βασιλεὺς Θεόδωρος-τότε γὰρ τὸ ἐκ Φράγγων προσὸν αὐτῷ ἀπολώλεκε στράτευμα, ἐν ᾧ καὶ τὰς πρὸς τοὺς ὁμογενεῖς τεθαρρηκὼς ἦν μάχας καὶ οὓς καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἐρῆς ἐδεδίει· πολλοὶ γὰρ ἦσαν ὀνομαστοὶ ἀπό τε γένους ἀπό τε μὴν τῆς προσούσης ἐκείνοις ἀνδρείας. διὰ ταῦτα, ὥς φασί τινες, καὶ τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως νίκην ἀκη κοὼς ὁ Ἐρῆς «νενίκηται» ἔφη «ὁ Λάσκαρις, οὐ νενίκηκεν». ἵνα γοῦν μὴ πολὺν κατατείνω λόγον τῆς ἱστορίας, τοῦτ' ἂν μόνον εἰπὼν τὸ πᾶν παραστήσαιμι. μέχρι καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Νυμφαίου τὰς σκηνὰς ὁ Ἐρῆς ἐπήξατο, κατ' ἐρημίαν πολλὴν τοῦ κωλύοντος, ἐκεῖθέν τε ὑποστρέψας τὸ μὲν τοῖς κρατη θεῖσι κορεσθείς, τὸ δὲ καὶ ἐκεχειρίαν ἐθελήσας λαβεῖν, - οὐ γὰρ ἄγαν καρτερικὸν τὸ Λατινικὸν φῦλον ἐν ταῖς μάχαις καθέστηκεν-εἰς ξυμβάσεις ἦλθε μετὰ τοῦ βασιλέως Θεο δώρου. καὶ συνεφωνήθη τὰ μὲν τοῦ Κιμινᾶ πάντα- οὕτω γὰρ τὸ ὄρος καλεῖται τὸ ἐγγὺς τῆς Ἀχυράους τυγχάνον -μετὰ καὶ αὐτῆς τῆς Ἀχυράους παρὰ τοῦ τῶν Φράγγων μέρους δεσπόζεσθαι, τὸν δὲ Κάλαμον-κώμη δέ ἐστιν ὁ Κάλαμος, ἐξ οὗ τὸ τῶν Νεοκάστρων ἄρχεται θέμα-μένειν ἄοικον, τὰ δ' ἐντεῦθεν παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως Θεοδώρου δεσπό ζεσθαι· Νεόκαστρα δὲ ταῦτα ἦν καὶ Κελβιανόν, Χλιαρά τε καὶ Πέργαμος καὶ τὰ πλαγίως ἐγκείμενα Μαγιδία τε καὶ Ὀψίκια. ὑπῆρχε δὲ καὶ ἄλλη χώρα τῷ βασιλεῖ Θεοδώρῳ, ἡ ἀπὸ τοῦ Λοπαδίου ἀρχομένη καὶ Προῦσαν περιλαμβάνουσα καὶ Νίκαιαν. καὶ οὕτω μὲν συνέβη τῷ βασιλεῖ Θεοδώρῳ τὰ πράγματα.

16 Ὁ δ' εἰρημένος Ἐρῆς, εἰ καὶ Φράγγος τὸ γένος ἐτύγχανεν, ἀλλ' οὖν τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις καὶ ἰθαγενέσι τῆς Κων σταντίνου ἱλαρώτερον προσεφέρετο, καὶ πολλοὺς εἶχε τοὺς μὲν τοῖς μεγάλοις τούτου συντεταγμένους, τοὺς δὲ τοῖς στρα τιώταις, τὸ δὲ κοινὸν πλῆθος ὡς οἰκεῖον περιεῖπε λαόν. καὶ γὰρ περιγενόμενος τῶν Ῥωμαϊκῶν ἄστεων Λεντιανῶν τε καὶ Ποιμανηνοῦ καὶ ἄνδρας τὸν Ἄρην πνέοντας καὶ ἔργα ψυχῆς γενναίας ἐνδειξαμένους ὡς ἕρμαιόν τι ἐδέξατο ἐφευρών. ἐν γὰρ τῷ τῶν Λεντιανῶν ἄστει οὐ μόνον σπάνις ὕδατος τοὺς φυλάττοντας ἐξέκαυσεν, οὐδ' ὅτι καὶ ὁ λιμὸς καὶ σκύτη φαγεῖν αὐτοὺς κατηνάγκασε τὰ ἀπὸ τῶν ἀσπίδων καὶ ἐφεστρί δων αὐτῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τεῖχος οὐ μικροδιάστατον ταῖς ἑλε πόλεσι καταπεσὸν μετὰ μεγίστης πυρκαϊᾶς τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρας ἐφύλασσον τοῦτο, ἀμοιβαδὸν τῇ πυρκαϊᾷ προσεπισω ρεύοντες ξύλα. κρατηθέντος γοῦν τοῦ ἄστεος οὐδεὶς ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀπολέλυται εἰ μὴ μόνος ὁ τοῦ βασιλέως αὐτάδελφος καὶ ὁ εἰς ἡγεμόνα τοῦ στρατεύματος τεταγμένος ∆ερμοκαΐ της καὶ ὁ Παλαιολόγος Ἀνδρόνικος, ὅν, ὡς ὁ λόγος δηλῶσαι πέφθακε, καὶ εἰς τὴν θυγατέρα αὐτοῦ Εἰρήνην γαμβρὸν ὁ βασιλεὺς προσελάβετο. πάντας δὲ τοὺς ἄλλους ὁ Ἐρῆς συλλεξάμενος καὶ κατὰ ἴλας συντάξας καὶ ὁμογενεῖς αὐτοῖς παραδοὺς ἡγεμόνας, ὑπερέχειν δὲ πάντων τὸν Θεοφιλόπου λον Γεώργιον παρακελεύσας, τὴν τῶν ἀνατολικῶν μερῶν αὐτοῖς φυλακὴν ἐνεπίστευσε.