Page 69 - The Golden Eagle
P. 69
send to the emperor a challenge of
battle, which thing he did forthwith,
and sent by the hand of his trumpeter
a bloody glove on a bramble.
Arrighetto, as the commander of the
imperial host, accepted the gage of
battle with the highest courtesy, and,
having made his dispositions, fixed the
day when he would take the field.
The night before the battle the King
of Aragon appointed twelve
commanders of the host, all men of
great valour and understanding. The
first squadron was composed of three
thousand stout men-at-arms, clad in
black, the greater part of them being
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