Manchurian Books

"
"Oh, this repast is not in my honor, but in yours. I feared you might
object to the simplicity of it. It is upon record that this meal was
much enjoyed by a young lady some centuries ago, at this very Castle of
Stolzenfels, shortly after it was completed. Indeed, I think it likely
she was the noble castle's first guest. Stolzenfels was built by Arnold
von Isenberg, the greatest Archbishop that ever ruled over Treves, if I
may except Archbishop Baldwin, the fighter. Isenberg determined to have
a stronghold on the Rhine midway between Mayence and Cologne, and he
made it a palace as well as a fortress, taking his time about it--in all
seventeen years. He began its erection in 1242, and so was building at
the time your ancestress Matilda ceded Linz to the Archbishop of
Cologne, therefore I imagine Cologne probably wished to have a
stronghold within striking distance of Treves' new castle.
"One of the first to visit Stolzenfels was a charming young English girl
named Isabella, who was no other than the youngest daughter of John,
King of England.


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