I mean the two hundred pounds of the coinage of the Emperor Michael. In addition to all these there has been given to me by the sacrosanct Golden Bull of your Majesties the duchy of . . . in its entirety with all the forts and lands pertaining thereto, and this ducal dignity is not confined to my person alone; for permission is given me by the same sacrosanct Golden Bull to bequeath it to whomsoever I myself may desire, that is, if he also is willing to bow to your Majesties’ commands and wishes as being the liegeman of the same Empire and the same kingdom and being of the same will and agreement with you, as I was.
Queen of Cities
And from henceforth, when once I have become your man’ and belong to the circle of your Empire, it is my right to receive as yearly gift from the imperial treasury two hundred talents of money of the right quality and bearing the impress of the former Emperor, the Lord Michael, and they shall be sent to me by an envoy of mine from Syria who will also bear letters to you to the Queen of Cities in order that he may receive these monies for our person. And you on your side, you the ever-revered Majesties, the Sebasti and Augusti of the Roman Empire will observe, I presume, all that is written in this Golden Bull of your pious Maj esties and keep its promises. I on my side by this my oath do ratify all the agreements made by me with you.
For I swear by the passion of Christ, our passionless Saviour, and by His unconquerable Cross, which He endured for the salvation of all men, and on these all-holy Gospels, which lie before me, which have brought the whole world into their net; holding them in my hand, and in my spirit, I include with them the most precious cross of Christ and His crown of thorns and the nails and the lance which pierced His divine and life-giving side, I swear to thee, our most powerful and holy Emperor, the Lord Alexius Comnenus, and to thy fellow-Emperor, the much-desired Lord John Porphyrogenitus that I will observe all the conditions to which I have agreed and spoken by my mouth and will keep them inviolate for all time and the things that are for the good of your Empire I care for now and will for ever care for and I will never harbour even the slightest thought of hatred or treachery towards you, but will abide by the agreements here made by me and not in any way whatsoever will I be false in my oaths to you or try to annul my promises nor will I think upon anything that tends to war, neither I myself nor any of those who are with me and under my jurisdiction and form the body of my soldiers.
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