ph to the castle, she was overtaken by a messenger, to inquire,
in the name of Theobald, what punishment should be inflicted on her
husband, were he again taken in arms. "Should such," she answered
without hesitation, "be his guilt and misfortune, he has eyes, and a
nose, and hands, and feet. These are his own, and these he may deserve
to forfeit by his personal offences. But let my lord be pleased to spare
what his little handmaid presumes to claim as her peculiar and lawful
property."

The establishment of the Normans in the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily
is an event most romantic in its origin, and in its consequences most
important both to Italy and the Eastern empire. The broken provinces of
the Greeks, Lombards, and Saracens, were exposed to every invader,
and every sea and land were invaded by the adventurous spirit of the
Scandinavian pirates. After a long indulgence of rapine and slaughter,
a fair and ample territory was accepted, occupied, and named, by
the Normans of France: they renounced their gods for the God of the
Christians; and the dukes of Normandy acknowledged themselves the
vassals of the successors of Charlemagne and Capet. The savage
fierceness which they had brought from the snowy mountains of Norway was
refined, without being corrupted, in a warmer climate; the companions
of Rollo insensibly mingled with the natives; they imbibed the manners,
language, and gallantry, of the French nation; and in a martial age, the
Normans might claim the palm of valor and glorious achievements. Of the
fashionable superstitions, they embraced with ardor the pilgrimages of
Rome, Italy, and the Holy Land. In this active devotion, the minds and
bodies were invigorated by exercise: danger was the incentive, novelty
the recompense; and the prospect of the world was decorated by wonder,
credulity, and ambitious hope. They confederated for their mutual
defence; and the robbers of the Alps, who had been allured by the garb
of a pilgrim, were often chastised by the arm of a warrior. In one of
these pious visits to the cavern of Mount Garganus in Apulia, which had
been sanctified by the apparition of the archangel Michael, they were
accosted by a stranger in the Greek habit, but who soon revealed himself
as a rebel, a fugitive, and a mortal foe of the Greek empire. His name
was Melo; a noble citizen of Bari, who, after an unsuccessful revolt,
was compelled to seek new allies and avengers of his country. The
bold appearance