the mourning was ended, and the emperor
refrained for a long time from taking a wife, being careful of his word.
But there is no court in all the world which is free from evil counsel.
Great men often go astray, and do not observe loyalty because of the bad
advice they take. Thus, the emperor hears his men giving him advice and
counselling him to take a wife; and daily they so exhort and urge him
that by their very insistence they persuade him to break his oath, and
to accede to their desire. But he insists that she who is to be mistress
of Constantinople must be gentle, fair, wise, rich, and noble. Then his
counsellors say that they wish to prepare to go away to the German land,
and seek the daughter of the emperor. She is the choice they propose
to him; for the emperor of Germany is very rich and powerful, and his
daughter is so charming that never was there a maid of her beauty in
Christendom. The emperor grants them full authority, and they set out
upon the journey well provided with all they need. They proceeded on
their way until they found the emperor at Regensburg, when they asked
him to give them his oldest daughter at the instance of their lord.

(Vv. 2669-2680.) The emperor was pleased with this request, and gladly
gave them his daughter; for in doing so, he does not debase himself, nor
diminish his honour in any way. But he says that he had promised her
to the Duke of Saxony, and that they would not be able to lead her away
unless the emperor should come with a great army, so that the duke would
be unable to do him any harm or injury while homeward bound.

(Vv. 2681-2706.) When the messengers heard the emperor's reply, they
took leave and departed. They returned to their lord, and bore him
the answer. And the emperor selected a chosen company of the most
experienced knights whom he could find, and took with him his nephew,
in whose interests he had vowed never to marry a wife, but he will not
respect this vow if he can once reach Cologne. [224] Upon a certain day
he leaves Greece and draws near to Germany, intending to take a wife
despite all blame and reproach; but his honour will be smirched. Upon
reaching Cologne, he found that the emperor had assembled all his court
for a festival. When the company of the Greeks reached Cologne, there
was such a great number of Greeks and Germans that it was necessary to
lodge more than sixty thousand of them outside the city.

(Vv.2707-2724.) Great was the crowd of pe