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return to Didymoteichon from the west. And so it seemed best, crossing over to Galata, the fortress of the Latins, he sought a way by which he might reach the emperor. But the rulers in Byzantium, discovering his flight, and Patriarch John, sending to Galata, ordered the Latins to hand over to them the Patriarch of Jerusalem. They offered him a choice: either to be in communion with them regarding the difference in dogmas and to remain with them for the rest of his time, as they would now show great generosity in their kindness to him, and the bishop of Rome would later be a great benefactor and would count him among the bishops under him; or they threatened to hand him over to those who were asking, by whom he would suffer irreparable harm. But he did not fear the threats so much as he laughed at their foolishness, if they hoped to make him abandon the ancestral faith for the sake of small and contemptible things; and he himself threatened in return that he would more easily turn them from their wrongly held beliefs than he himself would be led astray, either by great promises of good things or by the most terrifying threats. And when they saw that he was unchangeable, they handed him over as a prisoner to those who asked for him. And they led him to the Patriarch, who was expected to treat him inhumanely. But he, respecting the man's virtue, 3.93 for he was not unaware of all that he had said in opposition to the Latins who were inviting him to communion, nor that he had chosen to die rather than to abandon the ancestral faith, stood up as he approached, and greeting him gently and kindly, he sat him down beside him and deemed him worthy of a conversation befitting a friend, calling him a confessor in their discussions. Then he sent him away to his house, having shown not a trace of enmity, but he deemed him worthy of no provision. Therefore, after a short time, since he was being hard-pressed by want, he went away, having fled to the emperor, and for the remaining time of the war he was with him, being deemed worthy of his care, and after he became master of all and returned to Byzantium, he enjoyed much provision from the emperor. Later, having sent this patriarch with Sergopoulos as an ambassador to the Sultan of Egypt, he asked the Sultan to do other things that were beneficial to the Christians there, and to restore the patriarch to his throne, after expelling Gerasimos who was unlawfully acting as bishop. And the Sultan was generously disposed towards the emperor's embassy in other matters, and fulfilled all that the ambassadors requested, professing great gratitude for the embassy to him. For he had heard certain marvelous things about the emperor, and prized his friendship above all else, and sending the patriarch to the holy city, he ordered the barbarian rulers there to drive out Gerasimos, and to treat Patriarch Lazaros with honor, and not to trouble him at all as he bishoped the Christians in Palestine. 3.94 And he also sent a letter to the emperor, having the following text: "In the name of God, the compassionate and merciful. May the most high God ever make long the days of the reign of the great, the beneficent, the prudent, the lion, the brave, the impetuous in wars, before whom no one can stand, the most wise in his doctrine, the most just in his place and his country, the foundation of the faith and of the dogma of the Christians, the unshakable pillar of all the baptized, the helper of the dogmas of Christ, the sword of the Macedonians, the Samson, the king of the Hellenes, the king of the Bulgarians, of the Asenids, of the Vlachs, of the Russians and of the Alans, the honor of the dogma of the Iberians and of the Syrians, the heir of the kingdom of his land, the lord of the seas and of the great rivers and of the islands, Angelos Komnenos Palaiologos Kantakouzenos. May your majesty always seek its will from my Sultanic authority, and from our hallowed and enlightened house, and as we have all power to fulfill the love of your majesty, and as was found of the ancestors of

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ἐπάνοδον εἰς ∆ιδυμότειχον ἐκ τῆς ἑσπέρας. οὕτω δὲ δόξαν, πρὸς Γαλατᾶν τὸ Λατίνων φρούριον διαβὰς, τρόπον ἐπεζήτει, καθ' ὃν ἀφίξεται εἰς βασιλέα. οἱ δὲ ἐν Βυζαντίῳ ἄρχοντες φωράσαντες τὸν δρασμὸν, καὶ πατριάρχης ὁ Ἰωάννης, πέμψαντες εἰς Γαλατᾶν, ἐκέλευον Λατίνους πατριάρχην αὐτοῖς τὸν Ἱεροσολύμων ἐκδιδόναι. οἱ δ' αἵρεσιν αὐτῷ προὐτίθεσαν, ἢ κοινωνεῖν αὐτοῖς πρὸς τῶν δογμάτων τὴν διαφορὰν καὶ τὸν ἐπίλοιπον συνεῖναι χρόνον, ὡς νῦν τε αὐτῶν πολλὴν φιλοτιμίαν περὶ τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν εὐποιίας ἐπιδειξομένων, καὶ τοῦ Ῥώμης ἐπισκόπου ὕστερον εὐεργετήσοντος μεγάλα καὶ τοῖς ὑπ' αὐτὸν συναριθμήσοντος ἐπισκόποις, ἢ ἠπείλουν ἐκδιδόναι τοῖς αἰτοῦσιν, ὑφ' ὧν πείσεται ἀνήκεστα. ὁ δὲ οὐ τοσοῦτον ἔδεισε τὰς ἀπειλὰς, ὅσον τῆς ἐκείνων ἀνοίας κατεγέλα, εἰ μικρῶν ἕνεκα καὶ εὐκαταφρονήτων τῆς πατρίου δόξης ἤλπισαν ἀποστήσειν, ἀντηπείλησέ τε καὶ αὐτὸς, ὡς ῥᾷον ἂν αὐτὸς αὐτοὺς τῶν κακῶς μεταστήσειε δεδογμένων, ἢ αὐτὸς συναπαχθείη, ἢ μεγάλαις ἀγαθῶν ἐπαγγελίαις, ἢ τῶν πάνυ φοβερωτάτων ἀπειλαῖς. ἐπεὶ δὲ αὐτὸν ἀμεταθέτως εἶδον ἔχοντα, δεσμώτην ἐξεδίδουν τοῖς αἰτοῦσιν. οἱ δὲ ἤγαγον πρὸς πατριάρχην, προσδόκιμον ὄντα ἀφιλανθρώπως χρήσεσθαι αὐτῷ. ὁ δὲ τὴν ἀρετὴν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς αἰδε 3.93 σθεὶς, οὐδὲ γὰρ ἠγνόησεν ὅσα ἀντεῖπε τοῖς Λατίνοις ἐπὶ τὴν κοινωνίαν προκαλουμένοις, οὐδ' ὡς μᾶλλον εἵλετο ἀποθανεῖν, ἢ τῆς πατρίου δόξης ἀποστῆναι, προσιόντι τε ὑπανέστη, καὶ προσαγορεύσας ἡμέρως καὶ προσηνῶς, παρεκάθισέ τε καὶ ὁμιλίας ἠξίωσε πρεπούσης φίλῳ, ὁμολογητὴν ἐν ταῖς διαλέξεσιν ἀποκαλῶν. ἔπειτα ἀπέπεμπεν εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν, οὐδὲ ἴχνος ἐπιδεδειγμένος δυσμενείας, προνοίας δὲ ἠξίωσεν οὐδεμιᾶς. διὸ καὶ μετὰ μικρὸν, ἐπεὶ ὑπ' ἐνδείας οὐ μετρίως ἐπιέζετο, ᾤχετο ἀποδρὰς πρὸς βασιλέα, καὶ τόν τε ἐπίλοιπον τοῦ πολέμου χρόνον συνῆν φροντίδος ἀξιούμενος, καὶ μετὰ τὸ πάντων κύριον καταστῆναι εἰς Βυζάντιον ἐπανελθὼν, πολλῆς παρὰ βασιλέως ἀπήλαυε προνοίας. τοῦτον δὴ τὸν πατριάρχην μετὰ Σεργοπούλου ὕστερον πρὸς τὸν Σουλτὰν Αἰγύπτου πέμψας πρεσβευτὴν, ἄλλα τε ἠξίου τὸν Σουλτὰν ποιεῖν, ἃ ἐλυσιτέλει τοῖς ἐκεῖ Χριστιανοῖς, καὶ τὸν πατριάρχην εἰς τὸν θρόνον ἀποκαταστῆσαι, τὸν παρανόμως ἐπισκοποῦντα ἀπελάσαντα Γεράσιμον. Σουλτὰν δὲ τά τε ἄλλα φιλοτίμως πρὸς τὴν βασιλέως πρεσβείαν διετέθη, καὶ πάντα ἐξεπλήρου, ὧν ἐδέοντο οἱ πρεσβευταὶ, πολλὴν χάριν ὁμολογῶν περὶ τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν πρεσβείας. ἦν γὰρ θαυμάσιά τινα περὶ βασιλέως πεπυσμένος, καὶ τοῦ παντὸς ἐτιμᾶτο τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν φιλίαν, καὶ τὸν πατριάρχην πρὸς τὴν ἁγίαν πόλιν πέμψας, ἐκέλευε τοῖς ἐκεῖσε τῶν βαρβάρων ἄρχουσι τὸν μὲν Γεράσιμον ἀπελαύνειν, Λάζαρον δὲ τὸν πατριάρχην ἄγειν διὰ τιμῆς, καὶ μηδὲν αὐτῷ παρενοχλεῖν τοῖς ἐν Παλαιστίνῃ Χριστιανοῖς ἐ 3.94 πισκοποῦντι. ἔπεμπε δὲ καὶ πρὸς βασιλέα γράμματα οὕτως ἔχοντα ἐν λέξει· «εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἐλεοῦντος καὶ ἐλεήμονος. μακροημερεύσοι ὁ θεὸς ὁ ὕψιστος πάντοτε τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ μεγάλου, τοῦ εὐεργετικοῦ, τοῦ φρονίμου, τοῦ λέοντος, τοῦ ἀνδρείου, τοῦ ἐν πολέμοις ὁρμητικοῦ, εἰς ὃν οὐ δύναταί τις σταθῆναι ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ, τοῦ σοφωτάτου εἰς τὸ δόγμα αὐτοῦ, τοῦ δικαιοτάτου εἰς τὸν τόπον καὶ τὴν χώραν αὐτοῦ, τοῦ θεμελίου τῆς πίστεως καὶ τοῦ δόγματος τῶν Χριστιανῶν, τοῦ κίονος τοῦ ἀσείστου ἁπάντων τῶν βεβαπτισμένων, τοῦ βοηθοῦ τῶν δογμάτων τοῦ Χριστοῦ, τῆς σπάθης τῶν Μακεδόνων, τοῦ Σαμψὼν, τοῦ βασιλέως τῶν Ἑλλήνων, τοῦ βασιλέως τῶν Βουλγάρων, τῶν Ἀσανίων, τῶν Βλάχων, τῶν Ῥώσων καὶ τῶν Ἀλανῶν, τῆς τιμῆς τοῦ δόγματος τῶν Ἰβήρων καὶ τῶν Σύρων, τοῦ κληρονόμου τῆς βασιλείας τῆς γῆς αὐτοῦ, τοῦ αὐθέντου τῶν θαλασσῶν καὶ τῶν ποταμῶν τῶν μεγάλων καὶ τῶν νήσων, Ἀγγέλου Κομνηνοῦ Παλαιολόγου τοῦ Καντακουζηνοῦ. πάντοτε ἡ βασιλεία σου τὸ θέλημα αὐτῆς νὰ τὸ ζητῇ ἀπὸ τὴν Σουλτανικὴν ἐξουσίαν μου, καὶ ἀπὸ τὸ ὀσπήτιόν μας τὸ ἡγιασμένον καὶ πεφωτισμένον, καὶ ὡς ἔχομεν πᾶσαν δύναμιν νὰ πληρῶμεν τὴν ἀγάπην τῆς βασιλείας σου, καὶ καθὼς εὑρίσκετο τῶν προγόνων τῆς