A.D. 1197. ABBISI OF THE NOBLES OF SICILY. to the ground, he broke his neck, and expired ; shortly after, the Saracens took Joppa, and slew in it more than twenty thousand Christians. After the death of Henry, count of Champagne, the duke of Louvaine, and Henry, duke of Saxony, withdrew to the city of Acre ; but they were in possession of no territory beyond the gates of the city, and no provisions could be brought to them, through fear of tie pagans. In the meanwhile, the army of the emperor, which had proceeded by sea on its road to Jerusalem from Germany and other parts of his territories, made its way past Normandy and England ; and then, holding straight onward in its course for Spain, rescued the city of Silves from the hands of the pagans ; which, however, they utterly destroyed, not leaving stone upon stone ; for they feared that if they should give it into the charge of the king of Portugal, he would lose it as he had done before. • In this pilgrimage of the troops of the people of .the said emperor, an unusual miracle occurred, and one unheard-of by mankind. It so happened that two Germans, who were neighbours and friends, engaging in a partnership, agreed that during the pilgrimage to Jerusalem they would go together, sharing their lodging and their expenses. When the time for departure was close at hand, one of them came to the house of the other to lodge there that night; and after he had shown to the master of the house the money which he was going to take with him upon the journey, the latter, by the advice of his wife murdered him, and took his money, and then placing the body of the murdered man on his shoulders, set out for the purpose of throwing him into a river ; but [on arriving there] he could by no possible means cast him away ; so returning at daybreak with the body fast upon his shoulders, he lay in concealment for three days. However, when he could endure this no longer, he went to the bishop for the purpose of consulting him, what was to be done by him in the matter ; on which the bishop enjoined him, in virtue of the obedience he owed him, to carry the body with him to the land of Jerusalem, that so, expiating his crimes, he might restore his soul to the abodes of heaven. Accordingly, induced by a feeling of penitence, he proceeded with the other pilgrims, carrying the dead man on his shoulders, to the praise of the good and the terror of the wicked. In the same year, Henry, emperor of the Eomans, arrested the nobles of Sicily, and threw some of them into prison,