19

He crosses over to Lampsacus, where the empress Irene was, and they complete the union of the children, with patriarch Germanus performing the sacred rites. At that time also the archbishop of Trnovo, being under the jurisdiction of the one of Constantinople, was honored with autonomy and was decreed to be proclaimed patriarch by an imperial and synodical ordinance, with the leading men showing gratitude to the ruler of the Bulgarians, Asan, on account of the marriage alliance and the friendship. When, therefore, all that pertains to such things was fulfilled, the empress Irene, taking her son with the bride, stayed in the eastern lands, and likewise the wife of Asan returned to her own lands, but the emperor John and Asan, having joined their own forces, both overran the western country, as much of it as was subject to the Latins. And they took much booty and—to use the proverb—they created a complete Scythian desolation, and they divided the cities and the land between themselves according to their oaths. And Gallipoli, since it had been captured by the emperor even before the meeting with Asan, came under the emperor, and likewise Madytos and all the so-called Chersonese. The emperor also took the fortress of Kissos, and he set the borders as far as the river that the common people call the Maritsa. He also seized Mount Ganos and built a small town on it, where he sent Nicholas Kotertzes to keep guard and to cause trouble for the Latins in Tzurulon, a man tested in many wars and so successful, that all held such an opinion of him, that neither before him nor after him had another appeared who had undertaken such deeds or accomplished so much. But Asan held under his control the lands beyond those mentioned and those inclining to the north. Therefore, both of them reached the very walls of Constantinople, with King John seated upon them and watching, and they cast much terror into the Latins and placed their affairs in very dire straits. But when the autumn season passed by and winter was approaching, having taken leave of each other, both the emperor John and Asan, the one proceeds to his own country of the Bulgarians, while the emperor crosses over to the east.

34

But since his son Theodore happened to be underage, -for he was completing his eleventh year, as we said, when he was joined in marital union to the empress Helen-matters concerning intercourse remained unfulfilled. But they were brought up and educated by the empress Irene, since she, possessing a good nature, was inclined to every good thing. The affairs of the Latins were therefore much curtailed at that time, and because of the marriage alliance of the two emperors their pride had fallen very low. But King John, having survived for a short time, departed from among men, leaving the authority of Constantinople as an inheritance to his son-in-law Baldwin. But Asan, having become regretful, as it seemed, about the agreements with the emperor John, sought a way by which he might tear his daughter away from her husband, the emperor Theodore, and give her in marriage to another; for he greatly feared the Romans' progress toward better things, being the ruler of a nation formerly subject to the Romans. Therefore he devises a reason that seemed plausible, even if it did not escape the notice of those who understood the situation, and he sends ambassadors to the emperor and the empress, saying that since he would be near Adrianople, both he and his wife wish to see their little daughter and to embrace her in a fatherly way and to fulfill the customary rites and to send her back again to her father-in-law and her husband. Therefore, the emperor John and the empress Irene, although knowing the drama precisely and clearly recognizing the plot, nevertheless send their daughter to Asan, having said this, that if he should keep his daughter and deprive her of her lawfully wedded husband, there is a God who oversees all things

19

διαπεραιοῦται εἰς Λάμψακον, ἔνθα ἦν ἡ βασιλὶς Εἰρήνη, καὶ πληροῦσι τὴν τῶν παίδων συνάφειαν, τοῦ πατριάρχου Γερμανοῦ τὰ τῆς ἱερολογίας τελέσαντος. τότε καὶ ὁ Τρινόβου ἀρχιερεύς, ὑπὸ τὸν Κωνσταντινουπόλεως τελῶν, αὐτονομίᾳ τετίμηται καὶ πατριάρχης ἀναγορεύεσθαι κέκριται βασιλικῷ καὶ συνο δικῷ τῷ θεσπίσματι, χάριτας τῶν προυχόντων ἀποτιννύν των τῷ Βουλγάρων ἄρχοντι Ἀσὰν τοῦ κήδους ἕνεκα καὶ τῆς φιλίας. Ἐπεὶ γοῦν ὅσα εἰς τὰ τοιαῦτα φέρει πεπλήρωται, ἡ μὲν βασιλὶς Εἰρήνη τὸν υἱὸν μετὰ τῆς νύμφης λαβοῦσα τοῖς ἑῴοις συνδιῃτᾶτο χώροις, ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ ἡ τοῦ Ἀσὰν σύζυγος ἐν τοῖς οἰκείοις τόποις ὑπέστρεψεν, ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς Ἰωάννης καὶ ὁ Ἀσὰν τὰς οἰκείας δυνάμεις προσειληφότες καὶ ἄμφω τὴν δυτικὴν κατέδραμον χώραν, ὁπόση ἦν τοῖς Λατίνοις δουλεύουσα. καὶ λείαν μὲν πολλὴν ἐποι ήσαντο καὶ Σκυθῶν ἐρημίαν-τὸ τῆς παροιμίας εἰπεῖν -τὴν ἅπασαν ἀπειργάσαντο, σφίσι δὲ αὐτοῖς κατὰ τοὺς ὅρκους τὰ ἄστη καὶ τὴν χώραν διεμερίσαντο. καὶ Καλλι ούπολις μέν, ἐπεὶ καὶ πρὸ τῆς συνελεύσεως τοῦ Ἀσὰν παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως ἑάλω, ὑπὸ τὸν βασιλέα ἐγένετο, ὁμοίως καὶ Μάδυτα καὶ πᾶσα ἡ ὀνομαζομένη Χερρόνησος. εἷλε δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ τὸ τοῦ Κισσοῦ φρούριον, καὶ μέχρι ποταμοῦ, ὃν Μαρίτζαν ὁ πολὺς κατονομάζει λαός, τὰ σύνορα ἔθετο. ἐκράτησε δὲ καὶ τοῦ ὄρους τοῦ Γάνου καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ ἐδεί ματο καὶ πολίχνιον, ἔνθα καὶ τὸν Κοτέρτζην Νικόλαον φυλάττειν ἐξέπεμψε καὶ πράγματα παρέχειν Λατίνοις τοῖς ἐν τῇ Τζουρουλῷ, ἄνδρα πολλοῖς κατεξητασμένον πολέμοις καὶ ἐς τοσοῦτον εὐδοκιμήσαντα, ὡς πάντας τοιαύτην δόξαν περὶ τούτου σχεῖν, μήτε πρὸ αὐτοῦ μήτε μὴν μετ' αὐτὸν ἄλλον φανῆναι τοιούτοις ἔργοις ἐγκεχειρηκότα ἢ τοσαῦτα κατωρθωκότα. ὁ δὲ Ἀσὰν τὰ ὑπεράνω τῶν εἰρημένων χώ ρων καὶ πρὸς Βορρᾶν νεύοντα ὑφ' ἑαυτὸν ἔσχε. μέχρι μὲν οὖν καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν τειχῶν τῆς Κωνσταντίνου καὶ ἀμφότεροι κατηντήκεσαν, τοῦ ῥηγὸς Ἰωάννου ἐπ' αὐτῶν καθεζομένου καὶ καθορῶντος, καὶ πτοίαν πολλὴν τοῖς Λατίνοις ἐνέβαλον καὶ ἐν στενῷ κομιδῇ τὰ κατ' αὐτοὺς ἔθεντο. ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁ τοῦ μετοπώρου παρερρύη καιρὸς καὶ ὁ χειμὼν ἤγγιζεν, ἀλ λήλοις συνταξάμενοι ὅ τε βασιλεὺς Ἰωάννης καὶ ὁ Ἀσὰν ὁ μὲν εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν χώραν τῶν Βουλγάρων χωρεῖ, ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς εἰς τὴν ἕω διαπερᾷ.

34 Ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ Θεόδωρος ἀφῆλιξ ἐτύγχανεν ὤν, -ἑνδέκατον γὰρ διήνυεν ἔτος, ὥσπερ ἔφημεν, ἡνίκα τῇ βασιλίδι Ἑλένῃ πρὸς γάμου κοινωνίαν ἐζεύγνυτο-τὰ μὲν ἐς συνουσίαν ἔμενον ἀτελῆ. ἀνήγοντο δὲ παρὰ τῆς βασιλίδος Εἰρήνης καὶ ἐπαιδεύοντο, οἷα ἐκείνη φύσεως ἀγαθῆς τυχοῦσα καὶ πρὸς ἅπαν καλὸν ἐπινεύουσα. τὰ μὲν οὖν τῶν Λατίνων πράγματα συνεστάλη τε τότε πολύ, καὶ τῷ κήδει τῶν δύο αὐτοκρατόρων εἰς ταπεινὸν ἄγαν καταπεπτώκει τούτων τὸ φρόνημα. ὁ δὲ ῥὴξ Ἰωάννης μικρὸν ἐπιβιώσας ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἐγένετο, τὴν τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἐξουσίαν τῷ αὐτοῦ γαμβρῷ τῷ Βαλδουίνῳ ὡς κλῆρον καταλιπών. ὁ δέ γε Ἀσὰν μετάμελος ἐπὶ ταῖς μετὰ τοῦ βασιλέως Ἰωάννου συνθήκαις, ὡς ἐφάνη, γενόμενος τρόπον ἐζήτει, ὅπως ἂν τὴν θυγατέρα ἀποσπάσῃ τοῦ συζύγου βασιλέως τοῦ Θεοδώ ρου καὶ ἑτέρῳ ταύτην κηδεύσῃ· τῶν γὰρ Ῥωμαίων ἐδεδίει πάνυ τὴν εἰς τὰ βελτίω προκοπήν, ἔθνους ἄρχων ὑποτε ταγμένου πάλαι Ῥωμαίοις. σκέπτεται γοῦν αἰτίαν ὡς ἐδόκει μὲν εὔλογον, κἂν οὐκ ἐλάνθανε τοὺς ἐπισταμένους τὰ πράγ ματα, καὶ ἀποστέλλει πρέσβεις πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα καὶ τὴν βασι λίδα, ὡς ἐπεὶ πλησιάσειε τῇ Ἀδριανοῦ βούλεται καὶ αὐτὸς καὶ ἡ σύζυγος αὐτοῦ τὸ θυγάτριον ἰδεῖν καὶ πατρικῶς περιπτύ ξασθαι καὶ τὰ εἰκότα πληρῶσαι καὶ αὖθις ἀποπέμψαι πρὸς τὸν πενθερὸν καὶ τὸν σύζυγον. ὁ μὲν οὖν βασιλεὺς Ἰωάννης καὶ ἡ βασιλὶς Εἰρήνη, καίτοι γε ἀκριβῶς εἰδότες τὸ δρᾶμα καὶ καθαρῶς ἐπιγνόντες τὴν σκευωρίαν, ὅμως πέμπουσι πρὸς τὸν Ἀσὰν τὴν θυγατέρα, τοῦτ' εἰρηκότες ὡς, εἰ τὴν θυγατέρα κατάσχοι καὶ τοῦ νομίμως συζευχθέντος ἀποστε ρήσειεν, ἔστι θεὸς ὁ τὰ πάντα