, of their
ancient house. [86] While they sigh for past greatness, they are
doubtless sensible of present blessings: in the long series of
the Courtenay annals, the most splendid aera is likewise the most
unfortunate; nor can an opulent peer of Britain be inclined to envy the
emperors of Constantinople, who wandered over Europe to solicit alms for
the support of their dignity and the defence of their capital.

[Footnote 80: Dugdale, Monasticon Anglicanum, vol. i. p. 786. Yet
this fable must have been invented before the reign of Edward III.
The profuse devotion of the three first generations to Ford Abbey was
followed by oppression on one side and ingratitude on the other; and in
the sixth generation, the monks ceased to register the births, actions,
and deaths of their patrons.]

[Footnote 81: In his Britannia, in the list of the earls of Devonshire.
His expression, e regio sanguine ortos, credunt, betrays, however, some
doubt or suspicion.]

[Footnote 82: In his Baronage, P. i. p. 634, he refers to his own
Monasticon. Should he not have corrected the register of Ford Abbey, and
annihilated the phantom Florus, by the unquestionable evidence of the
French historians?]

[Footnote 83: Besides the third and most valuable book of Cleaveland's
History, I have consulted Dugdale, the father of our genealogical
science, (Baronage, P. i. p. 634--643.)]

[Footnote 84: This great family, de Ripuariis, de Redvers, de Rivers,
ended, in Edward the Fifth's time, in Isabella de Fortibus, a famous
and potent dowager, who long survived her brother and husband, (Dugdale,
Baronage, P i. p. 254--257.)]

[Footnote 85: Cleaveland p. 142. By some it is assigned to a Rivers
earl of Devon; but the English denotes the xvth, rather than the xiiith
century.]

[Footnote 86: _Ubi lapsus! Quid feci?_ a motto which was probably
adopted by the Powderham branch, after the loss of the earldom of
Devonshire, &c. The primitive arms of the Courtenays were, _Or_, _three
torteaux_, _Gules_, which seem to denote their affinity with Godfrey of
Bouillon, and the ancient counts of Boulogne.]

Chapter LXII: Greek Emperors Of Nice And Constantinople.--Part I.

The Greek Emperors Of Nice And Constantinople.--Elevation
And Reign Of Michael Palaeologus.--His False Union With The
Pope And The Latin Church.--Hostile Designs Of Charles Of
Anjou.--Revolt Of Sicily.--War Of The Catalans In Asia And
Greece.--Revolutions And Present