University of Virginia Library

Of Priamus, þe sonne of Lamedoun which, at þe destruccyoun of Troye, was at the obsydey of A Castel. And howe mony sonnes and doughters that Priamus had.

The same tyme whan þat Troye toun
Destroyed was, and kyng Lamedoun
Was also slayn, þoruȝ þe cruelte
Of Hercules, vnder his cyte,
He hadde a sone, þe story telleþ vs,
Whiche was his eyr, I-called Priamus,
Wonder manly, discret, and ful prudent,
Whiche þat tyme from Troye was absent,
Whan his fader loste þus his lyf;
For he þat tyme with Eccuba his wyfe,
And with his sonys, aboute a castel lay,
And alle his knyȝtes, to gete it ȝif he may,
Þat hath on hem myȝtely werreyed:
For þei his fader han falsely disobeyed,
And vn-to hym be rebel wonder long;
Al-be Priam, with sawtis huge and strong,
Hem hadde assayled ofte & many sythe;
His strengþe on hem liche a knyȝt to kythe,
To gete in armys worschip and honour,
And hem to daunte liche a conquerour,
He caste hym fully or þat he departe.
For day by day his lyf he gan iuparte,
At her wallis for to preve his myȝt,
With many baroun and many worþi knyȝt;
For he ȝit had his ȝong[e] lusty blood,
And was of age flouryng in knyȝthod,
And at assautis & swiche maner strife,
On with þe first [for] to auntre his lyf.
To hert his men, hym list nat be behynde
For drede of deth, sothly as I fynde,
A-fore þe castel hiȝe and þikke wallyd.
And be his wyfe þat Eccuba was callyd,
Þis Priam had, ful worþi of degre,
Fyve sonys and ȝong[e] douȝtres thre,
Of whiche þe eldest Hector callid was.
Whiche also fer as Phebus in compas
A natural day goth his cercle aboute,
So fer of hym, with-outen any doute,
Reported was þe renoun and þe name,
Þe worþines, and þe noble fame.
For liche as bokis of hym specefye,
He was þe Rote and stok of cheualrie,
And of knyȝthod verray souereyn flour,
Þe sowrs and welle of worschip & honour;
And of manhod, I dar it wel expresse,
Example and merour; & of hiȝe prowesse,
Gynyng & grounde; & with al þis I-fere,
Wonder benigne & lawly of his chere,
Discret also, prudent and vertuous.
Of whom þe dedis & actis merveillous
Remembrid ben of so long a-goon;
For he allone excelled euerychon,
In olde auctours rede & ȝe may fynde,
Of his knyȝthood how ȝit þei make mynde.
Þe nexte broþer callid was Paris,
To whom Nature ȝaf at hir deuyse
Of schap & forme, bewte, and semlynes,
Þat to remembre his excellent fairnes,
In his tyme, with-outen any drede,
He passed alle þat I can of rede;
And he was eke a ful manly knyȝte;
But most he vsed, whan he schulde fiȝt,
In his hond for to bere a bowe:
For swiche an archer no man koude knowe,
For to seken bothe fer and nere,
Þat of schetyng myȝt[e] ben his pere,
As it was founde, whan he had ado;
And Alisaundre he callyd was also.
Þe þridde sone hiȝt[e] Dephebus,
A worþi knyȝt and a chiualrous,
And had in armys a ful gret renoun,
And was a man of hiȝe discrecioun,
And wyse of counseil, myn auctour telleþ þus.
Þe firthe brother, called Elenus,
Sadde and discret, and of hiȝe prudence,
And was also a man of greet science,
And renomed, þer-with in special,
In alle þe artis called liberal,
For he in hem was expert ariȝt.
Þe fyfte sone was a worþi knyȝte,
Fresche and lusty, and ȝongest of hem alle,
And, as seith Guydo, Troylus men hym calle:
A manly man founden in bataille,
And desyrous his fomen for tassaille;
Oon þe best in his tyme founde;
And called was Hector þe secounde
For his manhood, þoruȝ-oute Troye bok;
Whiche in þe werre ful ofte vp-on hym tok
Of his knyȝthod many hiȝe emprise,
As þe story here after schal deuyse.
And in his bok liche as writ Virgile,
Þe poete olde, by ful souereyn stile,
How þat þe kyng Priam had also
By Eccuba other sonys two;
And by record of þis Virgilius,
Þe ton was called Pollyodorus,
Whom Priamus, in his grene ȝouthe,
Whan þe comynge was of Grekis kouthe
To-Troye-ward, in alle haste anoon,
With gold, tresour, and many riche stoon,
Sent hym forth besyde vn-to a kyng,
Of ful gret trust, to haue hym in kepyng
Til tyme he seye what conclusioun
Þer schulde falle, after of þe toun,
And eke what fyn þe werre wolde take,
Þat vp-on hem þe Grekis dide make.
But þilke kyng for fals[e] couetyse
Of þis tresour, þat ȝe han herde deuyse,
Whan þat he sawe Fortunys variaunce
Toward Priam, & his vnhappy chaunce,
Like a tiraunt and murderere also,
Þe childes throte made kutte a-two.
And after þat, he ful cruelly
Made his men to burye hym priuely,
Þat no man myȝt his tresoun vnderstonde,
Be-syde a see depe vnder þe stronde.
Þe toþer sone, also as I rede
In Virgile, was callyd Ganymede,
Whom Iubiter in a forest hent
Vp-on a day as he on huntyng went,
And bare hym vp aboue þe sterres clere,
And maked hym in heuene his botelere,
Eternaly with Iuno for to wone,
In stede of Hebes, hir owne dere sone.
Þe first[e] douȝter of kyng Priamus
Hiȝte Creusa, as seith Virgilius
In his Eneydos, sothly as it was;
And sche was weddid vn-to Eneas,
As seith þis story; and eke þis ilke Enee
Was wonderful in his natiuite:
Of whom þe fader, I fynde dout[e]les,
Was in his tyme callid Anchyses,
Þat hym begat on Venus þe goddes;
For after hir he hadde such fairnes,
Þat neuere wyht ne kowde ȝet yse
A man þat was more passyng of bewte,
Of whom þis story, touchyng his werching,
Schal ȝow declare many wonder þing.
For it is he to whom so greet a loos
Virgile ȝaf in his Eneydos;
For he þat boke in worschip of Enee
Compiled hath, liche as ȝe may se,
Of his knyȝthod & many strong batail
Be hym achevid or he wan Ytaille,
After ful long þat þe royal toun
Of Troye was brouȝt to confusioun.
And his conquest, ȝif ȝe list take hede,
In þis poete ȝe may be ordre rede,
And þe armys wrouȝt in al his age,
And his commyng also to Cartage
Fro Troye-ward, in a litel while—
Al þis ȝe may beholde[n] in Virgile.
A-nother douȝter also, it is founde,
Kyng Priam had, of birthe þe secunde,
Callid Cassandra, of ful gret sadnes,
And was in maner a diuyneresse,
And in eche art had experience,
Of þingis future fully prescience
To telle a-forn what [þat] schal betyde;
Of whom þe fame sprang in costys wyde;
Whiche kepte hir chaste in virginite,
And ay in prayer and in honeste
Sche ladde hir lyf, and in deuocioun,
After þe ritys and religioun
Of paganysme vsed in þo dawes,
Þe obseruauncys kepyng of her lawes.
Þe þridde douȝter hyȝt[e] Polycene,
Ȝongest of al; and euer a maide clene
Sche kepte hir silf, and honest in hir lawe,
In-to þe hour þat Pirrus haþ hir slawe:
Of schap, of forme was neuer be Nature
Wrouȝt nor schape a fairer creature.
Eke as I fynde, þis noble kyng also
Hadde þritty sonys, þe boke seith, & no moo,
Hardy in armys and noble founde at al,
Þat callyd wern his sonys natural.
And þei wern alle, I excepte noon,
Worþi knyȝtes and manly men echon;
And her names who so list to knowe,
He schal fynde hem write vp-on a rowe
After þis story, eueryche after other,
Begynnygne first at the eldest brother.