Of Coloured Glass

I am very moved by one detail in the coronation at Vlachernai of John Kantakuzinos and Irini, daughter of Andronikos Asan. Because they had only a few precious stones (our afflicted empire was extremely poor) they wore artificial ones: numerous pieces of glass, red, green, or blue. I find nothing humiliating or undignified in those little pieces of colored glass. On the contrary, they seem a sad protest against the unjust misfortune of the couple being crowned, symbols of what they deserved to have, of what surely it was right that they should have at their coronation—a Lord John Kantakuzinos, a Lady Irini, daughter of Andronikos Asan.