"I departed from the Kingdom of Castile 

 and went to the Kingdom of Portugal, where 

 I found four large cities, and three great rivers 

 flow across it. This kingdom borders on the 

 western sea and the Kingdom of Castile and 

 Leon. The arms of this kingdom are castles 

 all round and quinas (shields with five white 

 circles, representing the five wounds of the 

 Saviour) in the middle (1026). 



"I went to Bayona (Bayonne the greater, 

 which is in Gascony. It is seated on the west- 

 ern sea, near the Pyrenean Mountains (Pyre- 

 nees). The Lord of this Bayona has for his 

 flag white with a cross red" (1027). 



At the time of the Franciscan's visit Bayonne 

 was under the King of England, and the flag 

 was therefore the St. George's cross (830), 

 adopted by Richard Cceur de Lion during the 

 Third Crusade. 



"I left Bayona and entered Navarre, a very 

 rich kingdom, in which there are three great 

 cities. Three great rivers flow through it. The 

 king of it has for a sign the flag as follows" 

 (1028). 



At the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa, in 

 1212, Sancho, King of Navarre, and his knights 

 broke the chain which defended the approach 

 to the tent of "En-Nasir," the Almohade Sul- 

 tan. The victory which followed resulted in 

 laying all Mohammedan Spain at the feet of 

 the Christians. From that time the kings of 

 Navarre bore the chain on their coat-of-arms 

 and on their flag. 



"I departed from Navarre and crossed the 

 Pyrenees. On the left side of these mountains 

 is the noble city of Tolosa (Toulouse), where 

 the liberal arts are studied, and the lord of 

 this Tolosa has for his sign a red flag with a 

 cross of gold (1029). 



"I left Tolosa and turned along the coast of 

 the country of Burdeo (Bordeaux), and then 

 to Rochela (La Rochelle), a rich city of 

 France, and thence I went to the point of 

 Sanmae, which is in the province of Bretanea 

 (Brittany) ; thence to the Gulf of Samalo (St. 

 Malo), and thence to the province of Nor- 

 mandia (Normandy). All these are in the 

 Kingdom of Francia (France), where there 

 are many cities, towns, and villages. Know , 

 that the Kingdom of France borders on the 

 Mediterranean, where there is a city called 

 Narbonne, and on the Alps of Alsace and on 

 the coasts of Flanders, and all the coasts of 

 Gascuena (Gascony) to the Pyrenees. The 

 King of France has three fleurs de lys of gold 

 (1030). 



"I left Paris and went to Roan and Chalon, 

 and thence to a city on the coast which they 

 call Diepa (Dieppe), and I left it and reached 

 a rich city called Cales (Calais), which is in 

 the province of Picardy. Know that from this 

 Cales to the island of England is a short cross- 

 ing of eight miles (leagues ?). I departed 

 from Cales and went to the country of Flan- 

 ders, to a noble city, Brujas (Bruges). The 

 lord of that country has a flag — gold with a 

 black lion (1031). 



"Thence I crossed a great river which they 

 call Rinus (the Rhine), which passes by Co- 

 lona (Cologne), a great city of Germany. In 

 this city they say that the three Magian kings 

 are interred who worshiped Jesus Christ in 

 Belem (Bethlehem). But when I traveled in 



the Empire of Cataya (China) I was in a city 

 called Solin (Saba?), and they showed me 

 three highly revered monuments, and they were 

 in honor of the three Magian kings who adored 

 Jesus Christ, and they said that they were na- 

 tives of that city. In this Germany there are 

 some very high mountains which they call the 

 German Alps. . . . The Emperor of Ger- 

 many has for his device a flag — yellow with a 

 black eagle crowned (1032). 



"I departed from Colona and went to a city 

 called Colanda (Holland), in the Kingdom of 

 Frisia. I then passed over a great river, Albia 

 (Elbe), rising in the mountains of Boemia 

 (Bohemia). Here the German Sea forms the 

 great Gulf of Frisia, and in that gulf there are 

 four islands. The King of Frisia's device is a 

 flag — gold with three long black lions (1033). 



"In the Kingdom of Boemia there are seven 

 great cities, the largest called Praga (Prague), 

 where 'they crown the King of Boemia. This 

 Praga is all surrounded by a lofty range which 

 they call the Mountains of Boemia. In the 

 middle there is a great plateau and in its center 

 is the city, surrounded by a great river called 

 Albia. The King of Boemia has for his de- 

 vice a flag — white with a red lion crowned 

 (1034). 



"I left Boemia and went to the province of 

 Sant Nurio (Sandomir), and to another the 

 name of which was Curconia (Cracow) and 

 Culman (Culm), which are great provinces 

 between Germany and the greater sea, and 

 though it may be that they are inhabited by 

 Christians, still they are schismatics; and I ar- 

 rived at two great cities between the greater 

 sea and the Sea of Germany, called Litefama 

 (Livonia) and Catalant (Courland). It is a 

 very populous land and the king of it has for 

 a device a white flag with this sign (1035). 



THE VANISHED KINGDOM 



"I entered the Kingdom of Polonia (Po- 

 land), where there are five great cities, the 

 largest being Santa Maria (Mariempol), where 

 they crown the kings. The King of Polonia 

 has for his design a green flag with this sign 

 in red (1036). 



"I left the Kingdom of Polonia and went to 

 the Kingdom of Leon, which the Germans call 

 Lumbrec (Lemberg), in which there are five 

 great cities. It must be known that this King- 

 dom of Leon (Galicia) borders on the prov- 

 ince of Rumenia (Livonia) and with the King- 

 dom of Suava (Swabia). The king has a 

 green flag with a red cross (1037). 



"After this I turned to the other coast of 

 the German Sea (Baltic), to the part of the 

 Trasmontana, being the land of Europe I will 

 mention further on. I entered a great prov- 

 ince they call Suevia (Sweden) and found the 

 city of Roderin (Roggerwick), very rich and 

 populous, though the land is very cold. It has 

 in it nine cities. The King of this Suevia has 

 for his device a yellow flag with two red lions 

 facing each other" (1038). 



A few years before the visit of the Fran- 

 ciscan the first union between Norway and 

 Sweden had taken place under the three-year- 

 old king, Magnus, who, however, lost both 

 kingdoms before his death. 



"I left the city of Roderin and, going on 



389 



