A.D. 1200. ANSWER OF THE ENVOYS OF THE KING OF THE DANES. 507 sewed up in sackcloth, from the head to the knees, which he had been long in the habit of wearing beneath a white gar ment. In the same month of December, a little before the Nativity of our Lord, there appeared by night, in the province of York, five moons in the heavens, at about the first watch of the • night. The first appeared in the north, the second in the south, the third in the west, the fourth in the east, and the fifth in the middle of the first four, having with it many stars ; and this latter one, with its stars, made the circuit of the four moons previously mentioned five or six times. This phaenomenon appeared, in the sight and to the great surprise of many, for about a period of one hour ; after which, it vanished from the eyes of those who beheld it. In the same year, at Mid-Lent, in the month of March, Philip, king of France, and queen Botilda, his wife, met, with their respective partisans, at Soissons, in the presence of Octavianus, the bishop of Ostia, the judge-delegate of our lord the pope Innocent. On behalf of the said queen also, there were there present bishops, and other worthy and discreet men, who had been sent by Canute, king of the Danes, her brother, and who, before the commencement of the trial, demanded of the king of France security to be at liberty to answer and to make allegations, and to depart from his territories. These being accordingly granted, the king of France stoutly demanded that a divorce should, take place between himself and Botilda his wife, saying, that they were so closely connected in the ties of consanguinity, that he was bound by law to have no intercourse with her. To this, the envoys of the king of the Danes made answer in the following terms : " We both know, have heard, and have seen, that,-when the venerable men, your envoys, whom your excellency sent to our lord Canute, the king of the Danes, for the purpose of contracting a marriage between you and Botilda, his sister, were in his presence, and had stated that you had desired, with exceeding great desire, to take to wife his sister Botilda, a distinguished maiden, and of royal birth, and urgently requested that she might be sent to you, our lord Canute, the king of the Danes, the mighty triumpher over his foes, whom no one with impunity opposes, upon hearing the opinions of the nobles of his kingdom, thought proper to listen to your requests. Upon this, your said envoys made