88 Lionel's Remaining Life 



Of the adventures in which Lionel may have been engaged 

 between his marriage and his death, we catch sight of only one. 

 A branch of the house of Savoy had acquired what proved to 

 be the merely nominal title of Princes of Achaia, through the mar- 

 riage of Filippo of Savoy to Isabella of Villehardouin^ (her third 

 marriage) on Feb. 13, 1301, she having by her second marriage 

 become the mother of Mahault of Hainaut.® From this Filippo 

 descended Filippo II, who succeeded to the Piedmontese domin- 

 ions of his father Giacomo on May 7, 1367, though the latter, 

 having regard to his evil conduct, had left the principality to 

 his younger son, Amedeo, to whom Filippo was to do homage.^ 

 On March 17, 1368, Filippo made formal claim to the principal- 

 ity,^ his brother being then, and until 1377, under the guardian- 

 ship of the Green Count, Amedeo VI of Savoy. Strife having 

 arisen between the two parties, Filippo challenged the Green 

 Count to a tournament near Saluzzo, where, on a specified day, 

 fifty were to encounter fifty. The Green Count, with Lionel, 

 Giovanni II of Montferrat (ruled 1338-1372), and certain men 

 sent by Galeazzo, arrived at Fossano on the day appointed, prob- 

 ably Aug. 16; but the craven Filippo repudiated his engagement, 



For Hardyng's 'wynes' we should perhaps read 'wyues,' i. e. 'wife's' 

 (cf. Jovius) ; then 'delicacie' would mean voluptuousness. His 'regence' 

 refers to the extravagant statement with which he had ended a previous 

 stanza : 



In citees all he helde well vnitees, 



Create justes ay and joyus tournementes, 



Of lordes & knightes he made great asseniblees 



Through all the lande by his wyse reglmentes ; 



They purposed hole by theyr commen assentes 



To croune hym kyng of all Igreat Italie,] 



Within halfe a yere for his good gouernaly. 



On an earlier page Hardyng had said : 



And all the rule he had by councell wyse, 



Fro mount Godard vnto the citee [of] Florence, 



And well beloved was for his sapience. 



Barnes seems to go back to Froissart (see p. 104) : 'Not without sus- 

 picion of being poisoned, by some subtle Italian trick, to prevent that 

 Glory, which perhaps some Envy'd, that he should attain.' 



' See Rodd 2. 39-S8. 



''See pp. 124-5. 



' Cron. Saluc, p. 1014. 



^ lb., p. 1012. 



