and went to the Kingdom of Aragon, a very- 

 rich and well supplied kingdom. I found five 

 great cities in it. The chief one, where the 

 kings are crowned, is Zaragosa (Saragossa). 

 It is bounded by Navarre, Castile, France, and 

 the Pyrenees. The king has for his device 

 nine pales gules and or" (1044). (Nine strokes 

 red and gold.) 



There is a picturesque legend concerning 

 the adoption of this device. Far back in his- 

 tory an heiress of Aragon married the Count 

 of Barcelona, and the gold shield of the latter 

 was adopted by the kingdom. After a battle, 

 however, Raymond Berenger, Count of Barce- 

 lona, wiped his bloody fingers down the shield 

 and thereafter it became "or with five pales 

 gules" — gold with five red strokes. 



"I left Barcelona and went along the coast 

 to the country of Ampuria, and thence to the 

 city of Narbona (Narbonne), which is by the 

 shore of the Mediterranean Sea. The lord of 

 it has a white flag with a red cross like that of 

 Tolosa (1029), and in each quarter a sign like 

 this (1045), for this city belonged to Ray- 

 mondo Conde de Tolosa. . . . 



"I ascended the mountains and down to 

 Genoua (Genoa), a very rich city on the shores 

 of the Mediterranean Sea. The lord of it has 

 for his device a white flag with a red cross, and 

 with the word 'Justicia' " (1046). 



It was about the time of the Franciscan's 

 visit that Genoa elected its first doge, Simone 

 Boccariera, 15 years after whose death, in 1363, 

 the republic city engaged in one of its many 

 disastrous wars with Venice, during which the 

 Genoese galleys reached the very threshold of 

 their rival in the Adriatic and could have dic- 

 tated a most advantageous peace had they not 

 boasted that they would "bit and bridle the 

 horses of Saint Mark." 



"I departed from Genoua and entered Lom- 

 bard}', where there are many great and rich 

 cities. I left Lombardy and came to Pisa, a 

 land very fertile with a temperate climate. It 

 has a flag gules (red)" (1047). 



Pisa had reached the zenith of its power 

 during the century preceding the friar's visit. 

 [ts red flag had been banished from Corsica 

 by the Genoese in 1300, and 23 years later the 

 kings of Aragon supplanted it with their own 

 over Sardinia. 



"Leaving Pisa, I came to Tuscany, in which 

 there is a city called Florence. The lord of it 

 has for his device a white flag with a red cross. 

 I went from Tuscany to the noble city of 

 Rome, which is the head _of the empire of the 

 Romans. The devices of Rome are a red flag 

 with a gold bar, on which are letters" (1048). 

 (S. P. Q. R. — Senatus Populusque Romanns — ■ 

 the Roman Senate and People.) 



TRANSPLANTED LILIES OF FRANCE 



"I left Rome and arrived at Naples, a very 

 luxurious, well supplied, and pleasant land, in 

 which are the provinces of Pulla (Apulia) and 

 Calabria. There are many rich cities. The 

 King of Naples has for his device a purple flag 

 with gold fleurs de lys, for he is of the house 

 of France. Above is a red slip which they call 

 a label (1049). 



"I departed from Naples and went over to 

 the island of Sicily, a short passage. It is very 

 luxurious and well supplied. There are in it 



eight large cities. This Sicily has a flag parted 

 per saltire (the field divided into four parts by 

 two lines), two quarters argent (silver or 

 white), with eagles sable, the other two bars 

 gules and or, for the king is of the House of 

 Aragon (1050). . . . 



"I went to the city of Venecia, which is. at 

 the head of the gulf on the sea. The lord..of 

 this Venice has for his flag — argent, a winged 

 lion gules like the lion of St. Mark" (1051). 



The friar omits the words "Pax tibi, Marce. 

 Evangelista meus" ("Peace be with thee, Mar- 

 cus, my evangelist"), which are supposed to be 

 inscribed on the open book or scroll held by 

 the lion. 



"I departed from Venecia in the same galley 

 and coasted along the side of Esclavonia 

 (Croatia-Slavonia), passing by a city called 

 Aquylea (Aquilea), and another called Triesa 

 (Trieste). The king of this Esclavonia has 

 for his device a yellow flag in halves ; the red 

 half near the hoist has a white star and the 

 other half is yellow (1052). 



"In the Kingdom of Esclavonia there is a 

 very high mountain called Boxina (Bosnia), 

 where four rivers rise. All these rivers enter 

 the Kingdom of Ungria (Hungary) and unite 

 with the great river Danube, which rises in the 

 Alps of Germany. Now this land of Boxina 

 (Bosnia) marches with Germany and Ungria, 

 and the mountains are in its center, and they 

 are mountains well peopled, with a well sup- 

 plied land ; but they are not Catholic Chris- 

 tians, and the king of these mountains has the 

 same arms as those of the King of Esclavonia 

 (1053). 



"I departed from Boxina and went along the 



coast to the city of Jara (Zara), thence to 



Sinbochon (Sebenico in Dalmatia), and thence 



to Narent (in Dalmatia, at the mouth of the 



Narenta) (1054). 



"With this Narent there marches a city 

 called Dulcecno (Dulcigno), which, with the 

 adjacent mountainous country, is very pleasant 

 and well supplied. In these mountains two 

 very great rivers rise — one called Dranoya (the 

 Drave), the other Pirus (Epirus or Drina) — 

 which flow into the Kingdom of Ungria, fall- 

 ing into the great river Danube and forming 

 in Ungria ten islands. They call the first 

 Ungria La Mayor, whence the Kingdom of 

 Ungria took its name. 



"Know that in this Ungria there are many 

 rich cities. The Kingdom of Ungria (Hun- 

 gary) marches with Greece and Germany, 

 Esclavonia, Bolonia (Bologna), and Burgaria 

 (Bulgaria). The flag of this kingdom is part- 

 ed per fess (that is, in two equal parts), upper 

 half with fleurs de lys of France, because the 

 king is of the House of France (Louis I of 

 Hungary, 1342-1382, came, in the male line, 

 from Charles of Anjou, brother of St. Louis), 

 the lower half bars gules and argent (1055). 



"I departed from the Kingdom of Hungary 

 and went along the coast to a city called 

 Durazo (Durazzo). There I took ship and 

 proceeded to the island of the Morea (the 

 Peloponnesus, the peninsula portion of the 

 mainland of Greece). In it there are seven 

 great cities (1056 and 1057). 



"I left the island of the Morea and went to 

 the island of Rodas (Rhodes). This island 

 belongs to the order of St. John" (1058). 



391 



