Weak and near to death, and the kingdom and its affairs i have given to you and do as you wish.
On the 28th he died and was buried in the monastery of the holy apostles jason and sosipater.
Having died, he rejoices in the heavens, but has left us grieving his loss.
let us allow them to take such a castle in the middle of our land. For this reason we went there; and having examined the matter, we stood firm so that it would not happen. And behold, as you see, we arose and came to our house; therefore in a few days I have a plan to send this very archon to my brother the great emir, representing me, and he will declare also our further reasons. And the Turk, having heard these words, and also having been well treated, departed rejoicing. 19.6 And when he had departed, he appointed me; Behold, prepare the necessities for the journey, though I did not previously know anything of it. But I reported to him that if only God would grant that the metropolitan not come and that they give us the castle, what more could I fall sick for; but I will have everything ready in fulfillment of your acceptance. 19.7 And when the appointed time came and the metropolitan did not come, on the 1st of the month of June of the same year, we set out on horseback for Patras. In those days, therefore, the lordling Sir Thomas was besieging Chalandritsa, the castle of Prince Centurione, who later also became his father-in-law. And as my lord and his brothers were traveling the road leading to Patras, his brother also came down and they stayed together in Kamenitza. 19.8 And when the archon of the Prince in Chalandritsa, Ioannoutzes Balotas, learned this, he asked for a safe-conduct, so that he might come and pay homage to both lords; he came; and having gone out, he immediately took out the keys of the castle and gave them to my lord the despot, saying: This is the castle especially of my lord and brother-in-law of your majesty; for the son of the Prince has already taken as his lawful wife the sister of the Queen Lady Theodora; and he ordered me to hand this over to her. And he answered him: So it is, that the place belongs to my kinsman, but not a closer one than my brother; therefore if my brother had done this earlier, as if to my own, he would have attempted nothing, and I would have had it peacefully and your lord otherwise; but now if I take it, it will force us to quarrel with my brother; and nothing happens for much, much less for so little; but go into it and do as you can. 19.9 And when he heard these things, he asked that he might enter his castle safely. And I was appointed and I took him with soldiers and went away. And being found near the castle, Raoul Thomas thought it would be easy to take him from me. And there came a danger of a great and grievous battle arising between the brothers, but nevertheless, with God being well-pleased, I safely restored him to his castle and I, having returned safely, found my lord saved in the church and tomb of Saint Andrew the First-Called late on the 4th of June. 19.10 And on the morning of the 5th of the same, the first day of the week, the notables of the castle and all the people came out and went as far as the said church of the saint, and paid homage to my despot and lord and gave the keys of the castle. And mounting on horseback with the greatest joy on both the one part and the other, we entered the castle and went as far as the houses at the church of Saint Nicholas, the whole road being strewn with all manner of flowers and finery and from the houses on the right and on the left everyone sprinkling rose-water and roses and thirty-petaled roses, but from above the tower they received us badly with vessels and arrows, although they did no harm; for the metropolitan's men, having held the tower, and also the lordly houses near it, and having provisioned and secured them, held on, hoping that when the metropolitan arrived, they would through this have again what they had before. 19.11 And on the morrow, when we were gathered in the church of Saint Nicholas along with all the people of the land, they gave an oath, that
ἀφήσωμεν νὰ ἐπάρωσι τοιοῦτον κάστρον εἰς τὴν μέσην τοῦ τόπου μας. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ἀ πήλθομεν ἐκεῖ· καὶ ἐξετάσαντες τὸ πρᾶγμα, ἐστήσαμεν νὰ μηδὲν γένη ται. Καὶ ἰδού, ὡς βλέπεις, ἐσηκώθημεν καὶ ἤλθομεν εἰς τὸ ὁσπίτιον ἡ μῶν· εἰς ὀλίγας οὖν ἡμέρας ἔχω σκοπὸν νὰ στέλλω τοῦτον δὴ τὸν ἄρ χοντα εἰς τὸν ἀδελφόν μου τὸν μέγαν ἀμηρᾶν, δεικνὺς ἐμέ, καὶ θέλει δηλώσειν καὶ τοὺς πλείονας ἡμῶν λόγους. Ὁ δὲ Τοῦρκος ἀκούσας τούτους λόγους, ἔτι δὲ καὶ φιλοφρονηθεὶς καλῶς, ἀπῆλθε χαίρων. 19.6 Ἐκείνου δὲ ἀπελθόντος, ὥρισεν ἐμέ· Ἰδοὺ προετοίμαζε τὰ πρὸς χρείαν τῆς ὁδοῦ, μὴ εἰδότος μου πρότερον τὸ τυχόν. Ἐγὼ δ' ἀνέφερον αὐτῷ ὅτι μόνον νὰ δώσῃ ὁ θεὸς νὰ μηδὲν ἔλθῃ ὁ μητροπολίτης καὶ νὰ δώσουν ἡμᾶς τὸ κάστρον, καὶ ἐγὼ νὰ ἀῤῥωσθῶ τί ποτε πλέον· ἀμὴ πάντα θέλω τὰ ἕξειν ἕτοιμα εἰς ἐκπλήρωσιν τῆς ἀποδοχῆς σου. 19.7 Τῆς δὲ προθεσμίας ἐλθούσης καὶ τοῦ μητροπολίτου οὐκ ἐλθόντος, τῇ α-ῃ τοῦ Ἰουνίου μηνὸς τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἔτους, καβαλλικεύσαντες ἀπερχόμε θα εἰς τὴν Πάτραν. Ἐν αὐταῖς οὖν ἡμέραις καὶ ὁ αὐθεντόπουλος κὺρ Θωμᾶς τὸ τοῦ πρίγκιπος κεντυρίωνος κάστρον τὴν Χαλαντρίτζαν τοῦ καὶ μετέπειτα γεγονότος πενθεροῦ αὐτοῦ ἐπολιόρκει. Ὡς δὲ διήρχετο ὁ αὐθέντης μου καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ αὐτοῦ τὴν ὁδὸν τὴν φέρουσαν εἰς τὴν Πά τραν, κατελθὼν καὶ οὗτος δὴ ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ ἔμειναν ὁμοῦ εἰς τὴν Κα μενίτζαν. 19.8 Ὡς δὲ ἔμαθε τοῦτο καὶ ὁ εἰς τὴν Χαλαντρίτζαν τοῦ πρίγκιπος εὑρισκόμενος ἄρχων, ὁ Ἰωαννοῦτζος Μπαλότας, αἰτήσας ἀφίρωσιν, ἵνα ἔλθῃ καὶ προσκυνήσῃ ἀμφοτέρους τοὺς αὐθέντας· ἦλθε· καὶ ἐξελθόντος εὐθὺς ἐκβαλὼν τὰς τοῦ κάστρου κλεῖς δέδωκε ταύτας τῷ αὐθέντῃ μου τῷ δεσπότῃ, εἰπών· Τοῦτο ἔνι κάστρον ἰδίως τοῦ αὐθέντη μου καὶ συγγάμ βρου τῆς βασιλείας σου· καὶ γὰρ ὁ τοῦ πρίγκιπος υἱὸς προαπῆρεν εἰς νόμιμον γυναῖκα τὴν ἀδελφὴν τῆς βασιλίσσης κυρᾶς Θεοδώρας· καὶ ὥρισέ μοι, ἵνα παραδώσω τοῦτο αὐτήν. Ὁ δὲ ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ· Οὕτως ἔχει, ὅτι συγγενοῦς μοῦ ἐστιν ὁ τόπος, ἀλλ' οὐ γνησιεστέρου τοῦ ἀδελ φοῦ μου· λοιπὸν προγενέστερον ἂν εἶχε ποιήσειν τοῦτο καὶ ὁ ἀδελφός μου, ὡς εἰς ἐμόν, οὐδὲν ἤθελεν ἐπιχειρήσειν τι, καὶ ἐγὼ εἰρηνικῶς ἤθελα εἴχειν αὐτὸ καὶ ὁ αὐθέντης σου ἀλλοτρόπως· ἀμὴ νῦν ἂν τὸ ἐπάρω, ἀναγ κάζει νὰ διαφερώμεθα μετὰ τὸν ἀδελφόν μου· καὶ οὐδὲν τυχένει διὰ πολύ τι, πολλῷ μᾶλλον διὰ τοσοῦτον· ἀλλ' ἄπελθε ἐν αὐτῷ καί, ὡς δύνασαι, ποίει. 19.9 Ὡς δὲ ταῦτα ἤκουσεν, ἐζήτησεν, ἵνα καλῶς ἐμβῇ εἰς τὸ κάστρον αὑτοῦ. Ὡρίσθην δ' ἐγὼ καὶ ἀπῆρα αὐτὸν μετὰ στρατιωτῶν καὶ ἀπερ χόμην. Καὶ περὶ τὸ κάστρον εὑρεθεὶς Ῥαοὺλ ὁ Θωμᾶς ἐνόμισεν εὐκό λον εἶναι, ἵνα ἐπάρῃ αὐτὸν ἀπ' ἐμοῦ. Καὶ εἰς κίνδυνον ἦλθε τοῦ γενέσ θαι μέσον τῶν ἀδελφῶν μέγα τι μάχιμον καὶ λυπηρόν, ὅμως οὖν θεοῦ εὐ δοκήσαντος, ἐκεῖνον μὲν καλῶς ἀπεκατέστησα εἰς τὸ κάστρον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐγὼ καλῶς ἐπιστρέψας εὗρον τὸν αὐθέντην μου ἐν τῷ τοῦ ἁγίου Ἀν δρέου τοῦ πρωτοκλήτου ναῷ καὶ τάφῳ ἀποσωθέντα τῇ δ-ῃ τοῦ Ἰουνίου ἀργά. 19.10 Τῇ δὲ ε-ῃ πρωῒ τοῦ αὐτοῦ, ἡμέρᾳ τῆς ἑβδομάδος α-ῃ, ἐξελθόν τες οἱ τοῦ κάστρου ἔκκριτοι καὶ πᾶς ὁ λαὸς καὶ ἐλθόντες μέχρι καὶ τοῦ ῥηθέντος ναοῦ τοῦ ἁγίου, τῷ δεσπότῃ καὶ αὐθέντῃ μου προσεκύνησαν καὶ τὰς κλεῖς τοῦ κάστρου δεδώκασι. Καὶ καβαλλικεύσαντες μετὰ πλείσ της ὅτι χαρᾶς καὶ τοῦ ἑνὸς μέρους καὶ τοῦ ἄλλου, ἐσέβημεν εἰς τὸ κάστρον καὶ μέχρι τῶν εἰς τὸν ναὸν τοῦ ἁγίου Νικολάου ὁσπιτίων ἀ πήλθομεν, τῆς μὲν ὁδοῦ πάσης κατεστρωμένης πάντων ἀνθέων καὶ εὐκοσ μίας καὶ ἀπὸ τὰ ἐκ δεξιῶν καὶ ἀριστερῶν ὁσπίτια πάντων ῥαινομένων διὰ ῥοδοσταγμάτων καὶ ῥόδων καὶ τριακονταφύλλων, ἀπὸ δ' ἄνωθεν τοῦ κουλᾶ διὰ σκευῶν καὶ τζαγρῶν κακῶς δεξιουμένων ἡμῶν, εἰ καὶ οὐδέν τι ἔβλαψαν· οἱ γὰρ τοῦ μητροπολίτου κρατήσαντες τὸν κουλᾶν, ἔτι δὲ καὶ τὰ αὐθεντικὰ πλησίον αὐτοῦ ὁσπίτια καὶ σιταρχήσαντες καὶ ἀφιρώ σαντες, κατέσχον ἐλπίζοντες [ὅτι] ἐλθόντος τοῦ μητροπολίτου διὰ τούτου ἕξειν πάλιν, ἅπερ καὶ πρότερον εἶχον. 19.11 Ἡμῶν δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν αὔριον συναχθέντων ἐν τῷ τοῦ ἁγίου Νικο λάου ναῷ καὶ παντὸς τοῦ τῆς χώρας λαοῦ, δεδώκασι ὅρκον, ὅτι