Stories of Charlemagne and the Twelve Peers of France by Alfred John Church

King Charles held a great court in his capital city of Paris at the / Feast of Pentecost. Thither came the Twelve Peers of France, and / many other men of note, besides strangers from Germany, England, and / other realms. One of the chief of the Frenchmen was Aymon, Duke of / Ardennes, who brought with him his four sons, to wit, Reynaud, Alard, / Guichard, and Richard. All these four were marvellously fair, witty, / and valiant; but the fairest, wittiest, and most valiant was Reynaud, / the eldest born. There was not in the world a man of so great / strength and stature. It is of him and his brothers that this tale / is told.

King Charles stood up, and said, "Brethren and friends, you know that / by your help I have conquered many lands, and brought many pagans to / confess the Christian faith. You know also that this has not been / done without grievous loss on our part, and verily had not been done / at all but for succour that we looked not for. But the succour that / we looked for, that we had not, and notably from Duke Benes of / Aygremont. This, then, is my purpose. I will send to Duke Benes, / bidding him attend me this summer. And if he will not come, then I / will besiege him in his town of Aygremont. And when he shall come / into my hands, I will hang him, and slay his son Mawgis, and cause / that discourteous woman, his wife, to be burnt with fire."