this daye are a nation of the best warriers of all the world the which haue always discomfited those that would assayle and inuade them praying you furthermore to do better than I can say to consider that this victory vpon those that ouercome al other people doth prepare you an inestimable triumph of glory defacing or dusking at once the most noble of our auncetors elders Prince Anaxaries OratioÌ„ to the Paganes assuring them of the victorie as well for their good right as for the presence of the Infants of the Gods. In the .10 booke the .18 Chapter LOrds quoth he Captaynes and Souldiers we sée ofteÌ„times that the Gods do so shewe their might in the déede of battells that oftentimes the great number of people are broken by the lesse But how much should your courages be assured of all such hazard and danger knowing for a suretie that the right is on your side Also they haue sent you hither their sonne and their daughter to execute their victorie of the which no man should make any doubt séeing the multitude of our aliesâ— and knowing the valiantnesse of the conductore of the armie Now I will hold my peace being well assured that ye are more prompt and ready to the effect of the déede than to hearken to any such words The Oration of Lucidor to the Christians In the .10 booke the .18 Chapter MY Lords I will not vse great nor many wordes wyth you to encrease the boldnesse that is naturally in you and greatly experimented among all your enimies I wyll only reduce vnto your memorie that ye must set your assurance in the diuine maiestie the which doth certenly know to hardeÌ„ your sinnowes and to double your breath to execute his iustice by our hands vpon the vniust vsurpers of other mens Yet that notwithstanding good right hath néede of aid therefore consider all thing to maintain the order of warre that shall be apointed you by your captaynes and the Sergeants of your â—ands being certayne that this one point might depriue and take from vs the victorie whiche we holde as it were euen now betwéene our hands Consider also besides the common right of this enterprise the obligation that euery man hath to assist his natural prince to aid him to maintaine the honor that they haue of long time obtained ioyning thereto your owne so greatly celebrated and honored the which by the losse of this iourney shoulde be abolished and brought to nothing Furthermore aduise you that we hazard our selues much lesse in this battell than our enimies do for if it were so that God forbid that by them we should be broken the losse could not be so greate of our parte fighting in this champioÌ„ countrey for why our wiues infants pareÌ„ts and friends shall remaine entier and whole without léesing of one foote of land but if our enimies chance to be ouerthrowen as I trust all we shall be enriched occupying theyr lands and Lordships with a glorious satisfaction of oure iniurie The king of Scitbes and Dom Florisell of Portingale do defye by a letter Amadis of Greece and Florisell of Niquea vpon the quarell of Lucidor In the .10 booke the .18 Chapter BEing come into this campe to fauor iustice againste the wrong that by you hath bene done to the royall bloude of France specially by Florisell the vsurper of the true bed of prince Lucidor we being for this cause in the battell that is paste it séemeth to vs a thing enorme that so many good men are slayne and other redy to folow them and all for the cause of a woman This considered we iudge it reasonable that ye two whiche are the spring and the begynning of the déede should also beare the whole déede and effecte of the enterprise Therfore Dom Fryse of Portingale I haue apoynted to fighte with you two with eyghteene knyghtes of ours against as many of yours trusting that God will giue vs veÌ„geance vpon you with the fruite of all your glorie redounding with like meane vnto oures And that with this condition that they which winne may driue and cast out of the campe all that be ouercommed and those that be vnder their charge as long as the warre indureth Offering you of oure part such suretie of the camp as we shall desire of you parting the sunne by egall aduantage as well to the chalengers as to the defendaÌ„ts the iudges of our side are the prince Anaxartes and the princesse Alastraxeree and they of your part shall be such as ye shall name within the thirtéene of the date of these present letters of the which we make an end as we trust to make of the whole warre Amadis of Greece and Florisell answer to the kinâ— of Soites letter In the .10 booke the .20 Chapter THe soueraigne God hath in such wise reserued the ouersight of all things by him created that fortune hath no other power but asmuch as it pleaseth him to suffer he is the only stay of his holy faith the which he wil sustayne against all the inuasions of infidelles and false Christians taking their aliance not suffering his laude to be transported to whome it perteineth not And to answer to your letter Amadis of Greece and Florisell of Niquea do accept the combat with eyghtéene gentlemen the whiche they haue chosen against your eyghtéene with such suretie of the campe departing of the sunne winde or dust and other conditions as ye haue capitulated and rehersed In the which we do name for our iudges the high and excellent princes king Amadis of Fraunce and the Emperoures Esplandian and Lisuard of Greece Wherevpon we make an end remitting the end of our combat to the disposition of God. A letter of defyance from the princesse Alastraxeree to prince palanges of Astre In the .10 booke the .22 Chapter THe humayne iustice doth condemne in a great amendes the vassall committing felonie against his liege Lord but they that runne or fall into the crime of the diuine maiestie defyled are cruelly both they and al their posteritie punished This I say for thée PhalaÌ„ges which art ataint of these two enorme vices for thou canst not denye but that thou hast not presented me thy seruiceâ— with fayth and homage and agaynste all right and duetie thou dost rebell and euen nowe doest take armes agaynst me and mine To what ende dothe it tende that thou didst publish the ceremonie and adoration of my Image making to me diuine and godly honoure if thou labor and go about to destroy and to bring me to ruine in open warre Thys proude boldnesse doth constrayne me to denounce vnto thée by this letter mortall combat of my owne person to thine to make and cause thée to knowledge him whome thou haste not well knowen for the day I assigne thée the same vpon the whiche our knightes shall fight against yours that the memory of thy temerariousnesse and pride may be celebrated and shewed in the Theatre of so many
that I may accoÌ„pany you if not to giue me leaue for I haue pointed to depart tomorrow early in the morning Amadis answer to Bruneo excusing himselfe that he was constrayned to leaue him In the .3 booke the .5 Chapter BY my fayth my great friend I haue all my life time desired such company as yours is being well assured that there could not chaunce to me but all honour and good fortune But the kings purpose and communication that he of late hath had wâ—th me not as yet to depart from his countrey doth constraine me to leaue and forsake your company whereof I am sore displeased Therefore I pray you to haue me excused praying God that he will conducte yoâ—â— King Arauignes Oration to his Souldiers inciting and prouoking them to behaue themselues strongly in the battell In the .3 booke the .5 Chapter WHat néede is it my Lords greatly to exhort you to fight well and strongly seeing that you are here to doe the same and your selues the authors of this war in the whiche you haue chosen me to be your head and principall coÌ„ductor the which thing is the principall cause and reason why that I shall shewe you what me thinketh and what my mynde is to the intent that after you haue perceiued me you maye haue before your eyes the cause why you are in so great nuÌ„ber of people gathered togither Certainly it is not to defend yâ—ur countrie your libertie your wiues your children or your goods But it is to conquer and to bring vnder the yoke a people the moste proudest and fiercest that is this daye liuing and the which estéeme vs being farre from them as nothing yet that notwithstanding I beléeue that they neare at hande dare not tarie for vs althoughe that you sée them march forwardes furiously but that notwitstanding if you beholde well their countenance it seemeth that it shoulde haue more efficacie to moue you and to giue an heart to fight well than all the wordes of any man lyuing yea although you were in a maner vnprouided and yll appointed But contrariwise we are here the floure and the strength of the most part of al the Ocean Isles and in such a great number that in a maner it were sinne to dout of our certain victoriâ— And more certenly to assure vs therof remembring that we are in a strange land and very farre from our owne not among our good friends but in the midst of al those that desire our death a thing that we can not auoide if we be once broken for they haue many horsemen by the whiche we shall be pursued hauing no maner of meane to retire to our ships And therfore we must be resolued either to winne or to die for the necessitie wherein we be is much more to be feared than their force and might therfore let euery man do his dutie and I hope or and before the night dothe deuide vs we shall be masters and Lordes of all this countrie and afterwardes redoubted and feared in all coastes of the world King Lisuards Oration vnto his Knightes aduertising them of his iust quarrell and that they for this cause should manfully sustaine his part In the selfesame booke the .5 Chap. MY friendes the right being on our side God the which is iust and in whose handes are the victories will if it please him helpe vs And if they would saye that they make warre vpon me to reuenge those only that last inuaded this Realme with King Cildadan be you assured that they maye well finde themselues deceiuedâ— for knowing and beléeuing to reuenge their iniurie vpon trust of some power their shame oftentimes groweth and increaseth and do ende and â—inishe their dayes as I hope they shall vnfortunately for there are none of you so yong and vnskilful to be in any such conflictes that is not experimented and reputed by themselues a wise and a hardie Knight They grounde their victories onely vpon the great number of people that they haue in their campe people I may saye gathered togither and of all nations the most part without order and without obedience the which séeing vs to drawe nigh shall be astonyed or euer we haue abased our lauÌ„ces and if we may once set them out of order and arrayeâ— we shall haue euen what we will. Let vs then boldly go on and make them knowe that they be not better men than their companions of whose burials and sepulchers our lande hath bene fatted and dunged and the Wolues three or foure times with their carren carcases repasted when they were by youre vertue and magnanimitie destroyed in battell The exhortation of King Perion of Fraunce to Amadis and Florestan his sonnes giuing them courage to be strong against their misfortune In the .3 booke and .6 Chap. HOwe nowe be you astonyed so sonâ— of the déedes of fortune are you yet to learne hir moueablenesse by my â—aith I thought you more strong and consâ—ant of one thing I praye you not to giue me more anoyance and heauinesse than I haue for your heauinesse doth cause such passions in my soule as only are sufficient to cause me to dye Therefore quiet your selues and let vs hope in God the which is almightie to drawe vs out of this place We muste commende our selues vnto him and haue our trust in him only but who would euer haue thought that we should haue falne into such an accident or chaunce by the onely persuasion of a simple Damsell vnder the colour of fayning hirself dumbe after that we had escaped the dangers of so cruell a battell Thus my children seing that we can set no order let vs contemning all naturall pitie that yâ—e may haue of me and I of you take our fortune in good worth Amadis answere to Archalaus the which demaunded what he was In the selfesame Chapter BY my fayth Lorde Archalaus when you shall knowe what we be I am sure that you will better intreat vs than we haue bene as yet for you being a Knight as we be and that hath often suffered the mischaunces and turnes of fortune as we doe shall not finde it euill that we haue holpen our friendes as we would doe for you in like case and if there be in vs any noble actes the same should be a meane to cause you the better to recognise and knowe whither you doe vs wrong or no. The Oration of Arquisill a Knight of Rome to his companions not to defer and delay the Combate and fight accorded and appointed In the .3 booke the .7 Chap. HOwe now my Lordes shall you forget and thus lese the reputation of our Empire Shall it be published that eleuen Knights of Rome haue bene through feare of death so slouthful as not to be so hardy to fight with twelue grosse Almaines vnexpert in armes by God if I alone had enterprised and taken them to taske I would not to die a thousand deathes togither defer it And if you feare and doubt of
that ye know that after I haue found him I may haue of him that I hope for and desire aboue all things Melies letter to the Emperour of Trebisonde auanting hir selfe to ouerrunne and wynne the Christians and to constraine them to beleeue the Pagans lawe In the .6 booke the .7 Chapter MElie lady aboue all Magicians enimie to the lawe of the Christians and curious to augment day by day the lawe of our gods Thou shalt know Emperour of Trebisonde that Constantinople shall be shortly besieged by thrâ—e score and seuen Princes of the Pagan faith Where I personally will be to take my pleasure to sée it burne and the euill men that doe possesse it and him likewise of whome all Christentiâ— shoulde hope to haue fauour as of his refuge and principall aide But it shall happen farre otherwise for she vnto whoÌ„ thy daughter is deliuered hath put hir in my power and in so sure kéeping that neither Amadis hir grandfather nor yet hir father Esplandian although they were vnbewitched shoulde haue no meane nor wayes to succour and to helpe hir And yet that is but little in respecte of the thing that I intend to doe for by little and little I shall haue the rest of you to dispose you after my owne will and pleasure constraining the ouerplus of the vulgar people be it by loue or by force to turne to our faith and haue you no doubt of this for all this shall chaunce and that easely Frandalo making reuerence to Perion doth offer him his seruice In the .6 booke the .12 Chapter SYr Cheualier I am wholly yours so that ye maye commaunde me as him that desireth to obey you for the honour of King Amadis Esplandian your brother whose friend and well affectioned seruant I am A cursed letter of the infant Melia to the Emperour of Constantinople foretelling him that he shall receiue much misfortune and destruction In the .6 booke the .12 Chapter MElia Infant the most cruellest enimie of Christianitie to the Emperour of Constantinople ruine and intyre malediction Know thou that shortly thou shalt feele misfortune the which by myne occasion is prepared for thée and such as neuer the like was spoken off for with thy owne eyes thou shalt see the death of thy people the destructioÌ„ of thy cuntrey a strange martyrdome of him whom thou louest best in this worlde and finally the end of thy life in miserie In witnesse whereof this sworde shal hang in the ayre ouer thy great Câ—â—tie vntill that a prophecie of Apolidon that remayneth to be fulfilled haue his effect Then it shall vanyshe awaye and shal be séene no more The Oration of Alquise to the Princesse Gricelleriaâ— from his Knight Lisuard from whom he presenteth hir a Prince and the children of the King of Hierusalem and doth praye hiâ— for his loue to intreate them well In the .6 booke the .14 Chapter MAdam your knight the which far passeth al other in valiantnesse and in greate goodnesse of armes doth salute you as hir whom he desireth to serue all his lyfe in witnesse whereof he doth sende you by me the thing that he hath conquered and gotten since the daye and time that he departed from you to his very great displeasure and heauinesse That is this gentleman a verie doutie Prince amoÌ„g the Pagans and of good right for he beyng at libertie maye commaundâ— in the countrey and land of Liquie no more nor lesse than the Emperour your father doth in his And these other are the King of Palestines children brother sister the which he doth praye you to receiue and dispose as your owne And also he charged me to assure you that intreating them graciously and as he estéemeth of your goodnesse he shall be singularly well pleased for and bycause of the place they are issued out of and the conquest that he hath done and had of them at his beginning The letter of Perion called the Knight of the Esphere to the Princesse Gricelleria certifying hir of the great loue that he beareth hir and also that he feeleth him selfe very fortunate that he was sent to a lady of so high a price vnto whom he is readie to obey In the .6 booke the .14 Chapter MAdam I knowe not how I may satisfye the great goodnessâ— that ye graunted mee vpon the day that ye accepted me for yours seyng that the best knight of the world should not thinke him sufficient to serue so great a ladye and Princesse And I then poore dum man that hath done as yet no acte of Chiualrie beyng come to suche honour is it any maruell then if my hearte hath desired to take things in hande wherof wyth reason it hathe esperance and hope to continue in thys hyghe place putting farre from hym all feare and perill of deathe by the continuall remembraunce that he hath of your good grace the whiche hath so captiuated my libertie that my eyes haue béene incheined with the bandes of your fortunable presence euen since the daye that they sawe the brightnesse of your diuine face But this prison is hidden in suche libertie that it causeth me to liue for the enuie that I haue to obey and serue you for euer assured that otherwyse my soule troubled bycause of your absence shoulde not remaine one houre in this body passioned and troubled for the great loue that he beareth you Thus Madam I beséeche you commaunde the thing that pleaseth you I should doe and hauing pitie vpon your poore slaue sende him by this Damsell which is faithful your will beleeuing hir as touching the ouerplus of the thing that she shall tell you From him that doth kisse the hands of your highnesse in all humilitie The answere of the Princesse Gricelleria to Perion called the the knight of the Esphere wherein she declareth that she is glad that she hath receiued his letters reuealing vnto him hir amorous passions and recommendeth vnto him the Damsell Lisuart praying him to bring hir out of danger In the â— booke the .21 Chapter THe great pleasure that I haue receiued with your letteâ—â— and the presents the which ye haue sent me by this damsell haue renued in my heauie heart the annoyance troubles the which my soule suffered through your long absence And beléeue me my friende that were it not for the continuall presence of your person the whiche I haue in the eyes of my vnderstanding it were impossible for me dayly to resist so many assaults the which loue deliuered vnto me euen the selfe same day that ye came mute and dumbe into this court not speaking one worde to me nor to no other but the hope that I haue that ye will shortly returne as this messanger hath assured me doth giue me a certaine force and strength to suffer this that I endure without any releasement Buâ— for a conclusion and to the entent that with more occasion ye may come to see me as I trust I pray you to keepe your selfe nigh vnto
assure my selfe to be excused of this sacrifice that I speake of and that ye shall cause it to fall vpon our enimies to their great confusion and to your perpetuall glorie Nowe in this confidence I will make an ende of my wordes to beginne the effect and I will call to the defence of our libertie the fauour of the Gods and the succour of the straunge knightes the whiche are nowe in my Court and bycause my treasures as great as they bée shall not bée sufficient to recompence theyr vertue I will praye them to haue a respect to the honour and to the immortall renowme that is prepared for them for the true and better recompence of the trauayle that they shall obteyne dayly wandering thorowe the worlde to employe the force of theyr highe chiuarlie for nowe they haue founde in thys warre a verye iust occasion A Letter from Queene Sidonia to king Amadis of France and â—o Orianâ— by the whiche shee doth them to vnderstande the fulfilling of certaine Prophecies alreadie past and that there bee other of the whiche they must make an ende In the .12 booke the .60 Chapter TO the right excellent prince king Amadis of France and to Quéene Oriane Sidonia Quéene of the I le Guinday and all the Princes Kinges and Quéenes assembled in hir great Citieâ— doe sende salute the whiche Fortune hathe graunted them after many calamities which are past Understande then right excellent King that the inconstant fortune after that the disguised Daraida had set the Prince of Grece with his heaâ—e in my power hath brought oure highnesse in suche extremitie that wée and oures were â—allen into a miserable seruitude if the victorious Princes the King Dom Phalanges of Astre and the Knightly Quéene Alastraxeree in this néede and busynesse had not holpen vs for why my Citie béeing almost taken of oure enimyes that then beganne to enter into it these twoo noble Princes did not onely take and recouer the Citie from the Kinges of Russia and Gaza and the victorie the whiche they nowe esteéemed certaine but further they brake them and sette them and theyr confederates in suche a rowte that they sette vs agayne in our fyrst libertie and in oure auncient herytage By the meanes whereof after the Prophecies of my fayre Diana Daraida béeyng past Phoebus came did beheade in my presence within the Towre of Diana the Image of Dom Florisell whose heade did depriue mée of all sentimentes and enforced Dom Rogel of Grece to auenge the death of hys father for the trespasse of Daraide And afterwardes the combate was so greate betwéene them two and with suche sheadding of bloude the whiche they loste the same day that euen both of them fell downe vppon the grounde as deade vntill that the braue Serpent and the victorious Quéene knowing againe after the Prophecyes hir deare sonne vnder the habite of Daraide reuealed vnto hir by hir dolorous cryes and mortall mourning the thing whiche was the occasion to léese the name of Daraide and to recouer that of Agesilan with my daughter Diana for hys spouse whome hée had woonne alreadie by the faythfulnesse and constancie of his loue in the vertue whereof they set at libertie and out of prison the infant Dom Rosaran and the duchesse of Bauire in the inchaunted Towre whose prisoners they shoulde haue remayned without comming forth vntill they two the most accomplished and perfit in faythfulnesse of loue may giue them the wayes and meane and to vs the consolation of the heauinesse that we suffer by their absence the which shall endure vntill the excellent King and Quéene of Englande be entered into the inchaunted Castell deliuering them out of prison to the great glorie of their faythfull loues and to the consolation of vs all Therefore to find some maner of peace in this warre we pray you and beséech you by your comming ye will finde the meanes we may haue it the whiche thing shall returne to your greate lawde and to oure rest wythoute the whiche wée shall remayne and bée vntyll by youre comming yée make an ende of this inchantment and doe set at libertie these two faythfull louers of your linage Amadis of France and Amadis of Grece letters to the princesses of the I le Solstice praying them to accept the peace that they are mynded to make betweene them In the .12 booke the .64 Chapter TO the right excellent and most fayre Princesses of the I le Solstice Amadis of France king of Englande and Amadis of Grece Emperour of Trebisonde Prince of Grece of Englande of France and king of Rhodes salute and therewith peace and rest of your perillous warre Ye shall vnderstande that fortune and the tempest driuing vs into this Isle with the Quéenes and Princes of our companie we haue perceyued the warre ye make one agaynst the other therefore desiring to set you in amitie we send vnto you the fayre Duchesse Siria the which shall tell you from vs the thing that we haue charged hir withall praying you to beléeue hir as our selues And desyring to make an ende of your trauell we sende you peace the which ye may not refuse neyther of the one part nor of the other at leastwise if ye haue any sisterly charitie before your eyes A letter from the knight Afronteur to the Princes and Princesses of Grece conteyning a certain Prophecie by the which he trusteth to be reuenged of them In the .12 booke the .66 Chapter TO the right excellent Princes and Princesses of Grece Afronteur of subtilties Lorde of Cautels chastener of the vncarefull counseller of those that iourney and deceyuer of those that be better counselled I sende you salute and health that therewith ye may mainteyne your selues in rest vntill ye haue had experience of my stratagemes I am come out of your power and nowe I finde me in mine owne after that I haue béene as well intreated of the Damsels as I am minded to intreate theÌ„ if at any time I may haue them in my power to render and to doe the like vnto them This is it my Lords that causeth me to wish and desire to haue you as many as yée be in my hands as I thinke it shall happen if the prophecies of my Gods deceyue me not for I finde by them and ye if ye thinke it good do remember that shortly the forces of the fronters and borders shall through a certayne ambushmente destroy the house of Grece and that the braue Lyons of the king Licbrastron shall be brought vnder and the strength of their clawes effeblished vntill the Lord of Russia set them agayne at libertie by the obscure and dark cloudes of his knowledge to his great glory and to the lande of him that shall cause them to enioy that clemencie for the rewarde of the rigour that is past and considering this warre I wyll sende you peace without the which it is impossible to prepare the thing that is necessarie for an armie A temerarious Letter from Bruzarte king of Russia to the Princes of Grece threatning them destruction and ruine In the 12. Booke and the .100 Chapter DOn Bruzarte king of Russia confederate with a hundred and thréescore kings of the Orient by the counsell and diuine sufferance of our soueraigne Gods disdayning at and for so many offences that haue béen done vnto them by the house of Grece hauing so often times moysted the fieldes with the bloud of their seruaunts and set fire in their tents they haue nowe gathered their armie togither bicause that the smoke of the burned temples as it were out of a censer is ascended before their diuine Maiesties to require vengeance and it is paste and gone into their most soueraigne and heauenly Empire Therefore we haue ordeyned after the power graunted vnto vs by the Gods that all the house of Grece shall passe by the edge of the sworde and all their Cities shall be burnte with our flames that within a while after the Russians may cause them to be edified and buylded agayne to the great glorie of their vertue and to the immortall glory of our Gods and calling vpon their name we sende you this arest signed not aduertising you otherwise of the day nor of the hourâ— when wée shall put it in execution and bicause yée shall giue entier credence vnto it we haue signed it with our signes and sealed it with our royall armes and haue sent them to you by these so very little creatures as they shal be great that ought to execute it And hitherto we pray our Gods to kéepe you in health for your greater sicknesse assuring you that for a short peace ye shall haue a long warre in the whiche wée promise to couer the great seas and the large champion fields with our armies and to make them red with your bloud A Letter of Amadis de Gaule and of the Emperours Esplandian and Amadis of Grece to all their friends and vassals In the .13 booke and the fyrst Chapter WE Amadis de Gaule the King and the Emperours Esplandian and Amadis of Grece with all the Kings Princes and Knights assembled in the Citie of Constantinople to all our friends and vassals gréeting Wée let you wit that the enimie of mankinde hath inflamed the heart of the king of Russia to come agaynst our Imperiall Citie with an infinite and an incredible armie of an hundred and thréescore crowned Kings besides a number of Califes Souldans and Tamberlanes meaning to destroy and subuert the same and vtterly to extinguishe therewith the name of Iesus Christ and therevpon to aduaunce and set vp their false Prophet Mahumet as by a letter or writing of defiance to vs in that behalfe sente more playnely appeareth And for that you may vnderstande the great importaunce of these affayres and in what daunger the key of Christianitie standeth wée pray and beséeche you our good and deare friends and commaunde and firmely enioyne you our subâ—ects and vassals that you do make all the diligence that possibly you can to present your selues with all your forces within our sayde Citie And also that you do shewe suche fayth and fidelitie to this Knight the bearer héereof as you would do to our owne persons The ende of the extract of Amadis of Fraunce Imprinted at London by Henry Synnemanâ— for Thomas Hacket
Florestan that hir father would marie hir to the Emperoure against hir will prayeth him to speake to hir father In the .3 booke the .14 Chapter ANd beléeue said she that if he continus in his opinion that the first newes that he shall haue after my departure of me the same shall be of my death for what soeuer shall chance if he separate me from this countrie the Sea and death shall separate me also being well minded to ende my misfortunes by the impetousitie and furiousnesse of the waues the which shal be witnesses for euer of my dolours as they of the which I hope to fynd more pitie than in my owne father parents countrey friendes and seruantes And therefore my Lord Florestan I pray you in the name of God to prepare your selfe to dissuade him of his fantasie or else by my faith this thing shall be vnto him a greate charge in conscience and to me the most strange misfortune into the which any poore damsell disherited and forsaken of God and man might fall Florestans answer to Oriane excusing himselfe to hir that he dare not speake to hir father for hir and that he will cause him to bee spoken to by other In the .3 booke the .14 Chapter MAdame ye shall do me great iniurie if ye haue me not in that estimation that I am entirely yours and ready to obey and to serue you vntill death but to speake to the king your father as ye pray me is impossible for me to do for ye know the enmitie that he beareth me in despite of my Lord Amadis forgetting all the great seruices that he and all they of his linage haue done him in times past and if he haue receiued any by me he ought not to thanke me seing that I did it not for his loue but by his commaundement that hath all power vpon me and vnto whome I may not nor I ought not to saye against the whiche was the cause that I of late was in the warre of the seuen knightes not to ayde those of England but only to conserue and kepe the right that ye haue there as she y one day shall be if it please God Lady â— Quene And as concerning the rest I wil obey you and shal cause king Perin to vnderstand the thing that ye haue told me and other my friendes to assay and to finde remedie in your affaires and I trust they wil in such sort prouide for you that ye shall haue an occasion to content you assuring you that I will tarie in no place til that I be in the inclosed I le where I shall find the Prince Agraies the which hath as ye know a great desire to do you seruice also for the loue of Mabile his sister There we shall aduise vs togyther of the thing that we must take vpon vs without sparing of any thing that is in our puissance and power The Oration of the Earle ArgamoÌ„t to king Lisuard touching the mariage of Oriane tending to turne him from the marying of hir to the Emperoure In the .3 booke the .15 Chapter MY Lord seing it pleaseth you that I speake before thys company the thing that I thinke of the Emperoures mariage with my Lady Oriane your daughter I beséech you most humbly to receiue of me the thing that ye shall vnderstand in good part for it is no lesse treason to dissemble good counsell toward his Prince than to offend him in his proper person therefore beléeue that I without dissimulation shall tell you mine aduice notwithstanding that often ynough I haue particularly declared it vnto you Syr ye knowe that my Lady Oriane your eldest daughter ought to succéede you and to be by reason inheriter of the lands that God and fortune hathe gyuen and committed to your custodie vnto the which by right of nature she hath more iust title than ye euer had for they fell vnto you only by the death of king FalaÌ„gâ—is the which was but your brother and she is your owne daughter and the eldest Therefore consider with your selfe that if he had done on your part as ye apoint to do to my Lady Oriane ye had not bene now so great so mightie a Lord as ye are Wherfore will ye chase hir away to cal my niece Leonor into hir place coÌ„sidering that as I beléeue she neuer offended you And if it séeme vnto you the marying hir to the Emperour Patin ye shal make hir a great Princesse very wel to prouide for hir truely syr you are far from your accompt for you know that hauing childreÌ„ togither if she outliue the Emperor she shal remain but the simple dowager of Rome in place to be after you Lady and Queene of this Realme furthermore do you estéem that your subiects wil hardly coÌ„sent there to by my soule I thinke that if they said yea that it should be perforce and against their wils and therefore so shall it not please God I say no otherwise vnto you than my conscience dothe vrge me being yet assured that for any thing that may be persuaded you you will giue no place but to your owne fantasie Thus I beséech you most humbly to pardon me considering that I would neuer haue spoken so farre without the expresse commaundement that you haue giuen me Grasindes letter to King Lisuard declaring his greatnesse vnto him and praying him to giue hir and the Knight of Greece a salfe conduct to come in safetie vnto him In the .3 booke the .15 Chapter RIght highe and magnificent Prince I Grasinde faire aboue all other faire Ladies of Rome giue you to witte that I am only aryued into your countrie in the guarde and custodie of the Knight of Gréece expresly for this cause that as I haue bene iudged and taken for the fayrest woman of all those of Rome and following this glorie the which hathe so contented my heart that when I am so estéemed aboue al the maydens of your Court then shall my spirit remaine as satisfied of that that it desireth more than any other thing And if there be any Knight that for the loue of any one particularly or for all togither will say the contrarie that he take deliberation of two things The first to fight with the Knight of Gréece and the other that he may haue of the damsell such a Coronet as I weare so that the victor in a signe of a triumphe of the victorie maye make a present to hir for whome he hath fought And if it please you syr to graunt me the thing that I desire of you you shall sende to me by this Damsell and to all my company but especially to the knight of Gréece a safe conducte that he receiue no outrageousnesse nor iniurie if it be not of those against whom he shall fight if he ouercome the first let the second the third the fourth come and all they that will proue him one after an other The Oration of the
good part of Orians annoyance troubles I do thinke that they shuld also féele of hir ease and aduancement I commende theÌ„ vnto you assuring you that the greatest pleasure that I can haue in my olde age and yeares is that your bretheren â—alaor and Floristan were maried that I or euer I die maye sée my selfe reuiue againe in them by the linage of you all And therefore I pray you to looke vnto the thing that I haue told you and as soone as ye may Amadis Oration to hys companions offering them a recompence for their trauells which they suffered in the warres for his loue In the .4 booke the .25 Chapter MY companions and friendes the great trauels paines that are paste the which ye haue sustained in this last warre do well deserue that now ye should giue your selues and your minds to rest and pleasure And in asmuch as I am bound vnto you I assay proue by al meanes to cause you to haue the thing that I shal perceiue know ye haue most affection vnto for I by your good helpe that ye haue gyuen and shewen me haue obtained the thing that I loued best in al the world that is my lady Oriane Therefore I pray you with al my hart that euery one of you do presently declare shew me if he pretend or haue any minde to any of these Ladyes Damsels that be here assuring you by the faith of a knight so to labour therin that with the good contentation wyll of their friendes they shall beleue me in that that I shal desire and pray them And furthermore ye know how that Kyng Arauigne Barsinan and many other our prisoners leauing and forsaking the vertue whervnto they were bounde by the order of chiualrie haue exercised asmuch as they could so great tyrannie that they are not worthy of any raunsome but of great punishment for the greuousnesse of their treasons And therfore I do thinke ye should deuise to part and deuide their goods among you And as touching me I quite and refuse my part holding my selfe a great deale more than satisfyed if I might finde and haue the meanes and wayes perticularly to do you pleasure or seruice that might content you The Oration of Bruneo of Good Mere to the Citizens of the towne to the which the Queene of Dace had brought theÌ„ to succor theÌ„ admonishing them to kepe theÌ„ good and true for the iust quarell of their Prince against his enimie In the .4 booke the .27 Chapter LOrds Citizens the loue that ye shew to this yong Prince your liege Lord doth binde him very much as long as he shall liue to will you well The confidence that he hath in you shoulde moue you to honor him ye sée that he is yong and hath little meanes and helpe to chase his enimie out of his borders the which as ye know did murder through treason the last King your good Prince and afterwardes thinking to vsurpe his kingdome he besieged the principall citie and kéepeth it so straight that without your aide it is in danger to be wonne and destroyed with those good men knightes that â—re within it Therefore my maisters the Citizens nowe that the occasion dothe offer it selfe by the returne of the Quéene your good mystresse that bringeth with hir the knightes of the inclosed Isle of the which I am one propose your selues to reuenge the iniurie that ye haue receyued by the traitour and so to labour that your leige Lordes may be set into their lands againe ensuring you if ye wil folow me that I will â—inde a meanes sodenly to take him and his armie and to destroy him by the fauour and helpe of my companions that are within the towne the which shall not faile to come forthe assone as they shall sée the signe that I wyll gyue them Amadis Oration to Dragonis promising him in fauour of the trauells that be past to cause the Realme of the profounde Isle to fall into his handes and to accorde the mariage betweene him and Estoillette In the fourthe booke the .29 Chapter MY cousin since that ye left vs we haue made many mariages of the principallest knightes that be here wyth those that they desired long since And besides this King Arauigne Barsinan and other our prisoners landes and countreys by the consent of al haue bene parted and diuided and bicause of your absence ye were forgotten but good as ye shall vnderstande hath prouided I haue presently bene aduertised by a certaine Esquire that since our departing from Lubanâ—â— the King of the profound Isle the which was wouÌ„ded and hurt is departed vpon the sea a fewe dayes after he toke shipping thinking to returne and retire and therâ—ore I shall cause his Realme to fall into your hands and so ye shal haue by this meanes Estoilletti to your wyfe whom ye haue loued of long time and wel worthy being faire wise and a vertuous Princesse issued of a king of two cotâ—s and aswell loued of Oriane as any other that I knowe I thinke that a man for your contentatioÌ„ cannot better satisfie you thaÌ„ to make you ioyfull of the thing that ye loue and estéeme more than your selfe A complaint of Darioletta for Amadis the which was besieged on euery parte by hir occasion In the fourth booke the .23 Chapter ALas caitife and vnfortunate that I am shuld it be that by my occasion the best knight of the world should die How shall I dare from henceforth appeare are before the king his father and the Quéene or any of his friends knowing the euil that I haue purchast him Ah ah vnfortunate and more vnfortunate than I can saye if in tymes paste I was a meane to saue his life by the inuention of a cradle wherein I put him wheÌ„ he was cast and deliuered to the mercie of the waues and surges of the sea now cleane contrarie I haue aâ—aunced the ende of his dayes when I most trusted to haue had aide and support of him Alas had I not my vnderstanding wit wel aduised when I found him by the sea side and would not suffer him so muche as to returne to the castell Apolidon to take his leaue of my lady Oriane froÌ„ whence he might haue brought some other knightes by whom he might haue had some helpe But what who should receiue punishment but I to much hated of good fortune that hath done a deede of a light and of a too euill forecasâ—ing woman Belan doth sharpely reproue hys sonne Brunor of treason and that he agaynste his fathers promise besieged Amadis In the .4 booke the .34 Chapter INfamous villaine durst thou falsifie my word in the thing that I haue promised wretch that thou art what honour or what gaine canst thou haue of suche an euyll turne and déede as thou haste done seing it was not in thy power to reuoke my life if death had called me and lesse to haue excused thée of treason ending
is no such thing and â—hat is worsse the more that the Lady or damsell the whiche is loued be of a good house and of great merite so much the more ye do glory wherby men know that not only ye beare them affection but that ye are loued and that she beareth you good wil aboue al other the which is very contrarie to the nature of womeÌ„ I meane of such as may name themselues wise for why the higher that the pareÌ„ts be the more feare they haue that meÌ„ should perceiue their amorous passions and in such sort that ordinarily they denie with word gesture and countenance the thing that they haue most printed in their hart and mind And not without cause considering that the thing which ye turne to prayse as ye think that your loue is made manifest doth bring vnto them and their honor a certayne spot the which oftentimes they cannot well deface So then it is more than necessarie to obserue this modestie and constancie in vs not that I will restrayne my selfe to this law seing that all my glory and felicitie doth hang and dependâ— vpoÌ„ you and so that I desire no greater thing in this worldâ— than that the loue and seruice that I beare vnto you were published euery where to the intent that they which shall haue knowledge of your great valure and of my litle merit may know euen then what is in me to be yours as I am Thus my Lord if séemeth to me that ye should take in good part and greatly to your aduantage the purpose that Gastilles hath written vnto you that ye were bound to my Lady Leonorina and in the presence of the Emperour for I answer you vpon my honour that both your affections are reciprokes and that she hath spoken very wisely vsing suche dissimulation I say not but that she had some occasion to be miscontented considering and seing the wordes which I at other times haue brought hir from you but that is easely amended And if the amitie loue that she so long hath borne you should be vtterly broken as I thinke it be not nother more nor lesse than a bowe that is broken péeced together agayne the whiche is more stronger in the place that it is mended in than in any other so you being present and in hir company shall bring togither and amend that ye shall finde broken and shall make hir to be much more yours than euer she was And therefore I would counsell you that obeying hir ye goe vnto hir and eueÌ„ to morow if it be possible A letter from Armato the king of the Turkes to all the princes of the Orient commaunding them to bring togither their force and strength to chase the Christians out of his limits and to conquer the Empire of Constantinople In the .5 booke the .45 Chapter ARmato called by the prescience of our gods immortall â—o the gouernmeÌ„t and rule of the great kingdome of Turkie Frontier and bulwarke of the Paganes lawe to all hys Califfes Kings Sondans Admirals and gouernoures of the lands that are in the parts of the Orient gréeting At my retourning out of prison whereof we are now deliuered I thought it good to giue you knowlege that not long since ther is come out of the North countrey as men say into these coastes a knight of the line of Brutus the Troyane vnto whome our gods haue permitted for our vnrighteousnesse as it is very like to conquere the mountaine defended putting to death Matroco and Furion two knightes estéemed among the best of all the Orient And that they do that is far worse dayly increase the number of Christians and labour to exterminate and destroy our holy law To withstaÌ„d this we haue taken armes vpon vs and prepared a strong and a puissaÌ„t armie thinking at the least to driue them out of our limites But yet after that we had kept a long siege before the mountaine Defended and had brought it to such extremitie that they which were within had no more vitailes he of whome we doubted most and the firste that enterprised this warre found a meane by the fauoure of a vile palliard one of ours called Frandalo to enter in and by cautell and subtiltie to take vs in such sort that our armie was destroyed and we remayned as prisoners in their handes where they kept vs for the space of a whole yeare most strayghtly during the same our affayres fell from ill to worse so by treson craftinesse they be in possessioÌ„ of Alfarin and of Galatia two of the best hauens of our realme The which they should neuer haue done without the help succour of that traytor vnfaithful Emperour of Constantinople And now they gather so much people that without your ayde we be in danger to fall into their mercie a thing that shall be of greate consequence seing that we be as ye know the frontier and rampier of you all Therefore we praye you and admonishe you in our Gods that as well for the defence of our Lawe as for the vtilitie of all the countrey of the East ye assemble your strength in so greate a number that we maye chase and driue awaye these Christians from our borders and conquer the Empire of Constantinople vnto the partes of Fraunce and Englande the which shall be vnto vs easy and profitable Esplandians letter to the Emperour of Rome shewing hym of the great armie of the infidell potestates sent and prepared to destroy the Christians and that for this cause he must giue help to a thing of so great importance In the same booke the 47. Chapter MY Lord the danger that I sâ—e prepared for all christendome doth coÌ„strayn me to send Enil vnto you by whom ye may vnderstand at length the greate streÌ„gth and puissant armie that all the kings and potentates of the East the enimies of our fayth haue prepared at the persuasion of Armato king of Turkie to come to destroy not onely the Empire of Greece but to presse further vntill they haue cleane extermined and quenched our fayth and beléefe And for asmuch as they whose place and roome ye hold haue bin euermore the true defenders and protectors of our Religion and also bycause the case doth touch you so nigh I thinke my Lorde that ye shoulde spare nothing that is in your might and power but assemble your fores in all extremitie and prepare your vassals to help that good prince the which is the borderer as ye know to you and to all the potentates that hold of the law of Iesu Christ. I haue written likewise to the king my father and to the moste parte of all other Christian Lordes vnto whome I sende Gandalin And bycause I haue charged Enil to shewe you the rest I wyll sende you no longer letter but praye you to beléeue hym as my selfe An iniurious letter of Rodrigue the great Soudan of Liquie to the knight of the great SerpeÌ„t threatning him for his enterprise