-A.D. 1250, &c ] JOINTILLE EQUIPS FORTY KNIGHTS. 475 "been confined in the Saracen prisons. On his arrival at Acre, Madame de Secte, couein-german to the count de Brienne, received his bones, and had them interred well and honourably in the church of the Knights Hospitallers at Acre. The funeral service was grand, and attended by every knight, who made his offering of a waxen taper and a silver penny. The king offered a taper, and a golden bezant of the coinage of Madame de Secte,* which caused every one to wonder, for he was never before known to make an offering of any coin but his own. He did this, however, out of compliment to Madame de Secte. Among the knights whom Sir John do Vallance had brought with him from Egypt, I was acquainted with forty at least, attached to the count of Champagne, who were in a most ragged and dirty condition. These forty I had new dressed at my own expense, and, clothed in coats and surcoats of green, I conducted them to the presence of the king, and entreated that he would detain them in his service. The king, having heard my request, made not a word of reply ; but one of his council then present reproved me, saying, that I did very ill to make such requests to the king, who had already exceeded the state of his income by 7,000 livres. I replied, that misfortunes make people speak ; for that among us of Champagne we had lost in the service of the king at least five-and-thirty knights bannerets of the count of Champagne, adding, that the king would not act properly if he did not retain them, seeing the want he was in of knights. As I said this, I began to weep, when the king appeased me, by granting what I had asked ; he retained all the knights, and added them to my battalion. When the king had given audience to the ambassadors from the admirals of Egypt who had accompanied Sir John de Vallance, and learnt that they were impatient to return, he told them, that he would not enter into any negotiation with them for a truce until they should have restored all the heads of the Christians which were hanging on the walls of Quassereyt from the time the counts of Montfort and of Bar * Of the number of the great barons of the kingdom of Jerusalem, who among other rights, had that of coining money, was the lord de Sajette. f The Poitiers edition has Quahere, and the lord de Joinville gives us