242 THE FRENCH BESIEGED IN TURIN. קג polis, and commanded, and they put her brother and his friend into prison; and he sent to Greenwich also, saying, "Put the queen Anna in prison:" and they did so. And all the people trembled much. And it came to pass, after some days, that they brought her to London, and put her in the Tower, and set a watch over her. And it came to pass, one day, that they smote off their heads from them, so that all three died in one day; then was the king's wrath pacified*. 916. And when the chief of the king's host heard that the emperor was come, he rode on a horse, and went to speak unto the king; and he found him at Lyons, and communed with them theret. And the king departed thence and went unto Avignon, and sojourned there many days. 917. And the emperor journeyed from Lucca on the tenth day of the month of May, and went on his journeys to Asti, a city on the uttermost part of Piedmont, and abode there. And he gathered both a host and horsemen, Spaniards, Germans, and Italians, and his host increased much, and they went out into the field; and the French gathered themselves unto the fenced cities, for they could not stand before them, for they were a great multitude. And the men of the emperor besieged *Esth. vii. 10. † Gen. xxiv. 8. Comp. Judges xi. 14 קר THE EMPEROR'S COUNCIL AT ASTI. 243 Turin, and also the walls of Fossano* they battered many days. At Asti, the emperor and his nobles held council together, and they made a covenant against the king of France, to war against him by sea and by land, and his ships went out to the coast of Provence: now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes†. 918. And many of the men of Tunis were wroth against their king, and they sent to inform the Turks that they would bring them into the city. And the men came; and with them were about two thousand Arabians, able to draw the sword. And behold it happened when they came, that about four hundred Arabians dwelling in tents were spread abroad on the surface of the field at the eventides, with their wives and their children, and all their substance with them, dwelling carelessly. And they shouted with a loud voice, and fell upon them suddenly, and the Arabians fled unto the mountain, and left the women, the children, and the tents as they were; and they became captives before the enemy, and their cry went up toward heaven. [TP] And it came to pass, in the * NUD, Fossanum, a fortified town in Piedmont, on the river Stara, south of Turin. + Num. xiii. 20. 1 Sam. xxx. 16. § Gen. xiv. 63. Judges xviii. 7. 244 A TOWER ERECTED OF HUMAN SKULLS. TP middle watch*, that they said one unto another, "And whither shall we cause our shame to got, and how shall we lift up our face before the eyes of the children of our people to-morrow. And now let not our hearts faint, let us choose death rather than life, and let us fall upon this camp. If God will keep us alive, we shall live; and if He will let us die, we shall die‡, for the battle is God's§." And they all arose as one man, and went unto the uttermost part of the camp, and behold, they were rejoicing, and dwelled carelessly. And they smote them and discomfited them, and defeated them with the edge of the sword, and took all their spoil from their hand. And the heads of those who died in that slaughter, they brought into the city, upon camels, with gladness. Then they builded at Tunis a tower, and they had their heads for stone**, and turned their faces outward for a token against the children of rebelliontt, until this day. And the men who were among the conspirators, the king caused to die, and their houses he cast to the ground. And he sent unto the emperor one of his servants, when he was at Asti, and asked of him soldiers, for he feared for his life; but he *Jud. vii. 19. ** Gen. xi. 3. † 2 Sam. xiii. 13. || Judges xx. 8. †† Num. xvii. 10 (25). 2 Kings vii. 4. Num. xiv. 45. קר SURRENDER OF FOSSANO. 245 hearkened not unto his voice, because of the wars in Italy; and the servant returned unto his country. 919. And Francis, marquess of Saluzzi*, turned his heart again†, and held fast to the emperor. And the heart of the French melted, and became like water. And the French said, And the French said, "Let us make a captain, for this oppressor has sold us, so that our life will become a spoil. And they delivered Fossano unto the emperor, and they made a covenant with them. And they departed, but the best of the horses they left there; for so they had agreed between themselves. 921. And the emperor thought scorn to lay hands on Turin alone§, and he set his face toward the wilderness, and passed to Provence with much people and a strong hand. And also in Turin he stationed some of the men of his hosts, and the marquess of Marignano the chief of his host; and the war was fierce in Piedmont in that year. 921. And the hosts of the emperor went into the borders of Provence, and warred against Antibes, and there fell of them about one hundred and fifty men slain to the ground; beside the .שאלוצי * Num. xiv. 4. † 1 Kings xviii. 37. אנטיבן 246 GALEOTTO PICO IN MIRANDOLA. קר wounded, who were a great multitude. Also some of the men of the ships which joined them in their way on the sea, died in that slaughter, for the men of the city filled their hands* and cast stones upon them; their eye had no compassion upon them. And it came to pass, after some days, that they delivered it up to the men of the emperor, for evil was determined against them, and their life was unto them a prey. 922. And some of the men of the host who were at Turin, went out unto a small city which was nigh unto them, on the thirteenth day of the month of July, which is the fifth month, and they found there two hundred Greeks who rode upon swift beasts, so they took them suddenly as one man, and they drove them out naked from the city, and they were not ashamed||. 923. And King Francis made the Count Guido Rangon¶ chief captain over his host in Italy in those days. And the Count Galeotto Pico**, and Monseigneur D'Estet† commanded in Mirandola, in the name of the king, at that time. And the Count Juan Tomaso‡‡ the son of Francesco Pico, |