to
the honor of God and St. Mamede." And the brethren brought him their
charters of King Ramiro, and King Bermudo, and King Alfonso, and
of Gonzalo Moniz, who was a knight and married a daughter of King
Bermudo, and of other good men. And the King confirmed them, and he
bade them make a writing of all which had passed between him and them
at the siege of Coimbra; and when they brought him the writing, they
brought him also a crown of silver and of gold, which had been King
Bermudo's, and which Gonzalo Moniz had given to the monastery in honor
of God and St. Mamede.

The King saw the crown, set with precious stones, and said, "To what
end bring ye hither this crown?" And they said, "That you should
take it, sire, in return for the good which you have done us." But he
answered, "Far be it from me that I should take from your monastery
what the good men before me have given to it! Take ye back the crown,
and take also ten marks of silver, and make with the money a good
cross, to remain with you forever. And he who shall befriend you, may
God befriend him; but he who shall disturb you or your monastery, may
he be cursed by the living God and by his saints." So the King signed
the writing which he had commanded to be made, and his sons and chief
captains signed it also, and in the writing he enjoined his children
and his children's children, as many as should come after him, to
honor and protect the monastery of Lorvam; upon his blessing he
charged them so to do, because he had found the brethren better than
all the other monks in his dominions.

Then King Don Ferrando knighted Rodrigo of Bivar in the great mosque
of Coimbra, which he dedicated to St. Mary. And the ceremony was after
this manner: the King girded on his sword, and gave him the kiss, but
not the blow. To do him honor the Queen gave him his horse, and the
Infanta Dona Urraca fastened on his spurs; and from that day forth he
was called Ruydiez. Then the King commanded him to knight nine noble
squires with his own hand; and he took his sword before the altar,
and knighted them. The King then gave Coimbra to the keeping of
Don Sisnando, Bishop of Iria; a man who, having more hardihood than
religion, had by reason of his misdeeds gone over to the Moors, and
sorely infested the Christians in Portugal. But during the siege he
had come to the King's service, and bestirred himself well against the
Moors; and therefore the King took him into his favor, and gave him
t