Of the noble King Alexander's father and mother, and their positions and their characters.

Now, then: to explain who this most noble King Alexander was, so mighty and so valiant, and where he came from, these are the facts.

There was once a king in the land of Greece named Philip. He was king of Macedon, of all Alania, of part of Greece and all of Slavonia. In his youth he was much feared and respected, and loved and esteemed by all his neighbours – save a few who envied him, such as King Nicolas, of whom we'll speak in due course, who so resented Philip of Macedon's qualities and renown that he was finally killed by the hand of King Alexander himself, the said Philip's son.

When he was ready to marry, this King Philip, so noble and so feared, with the guidance and approval of his barons took to wife a most noble lady, good, beautiful, worthy and wise, named Olympias. She was a princess, the daughter of the king of Armenia, who was one of the mightiest and wealthiest kings then reigning in all the world – and she was his only daughter. She was well raised indeed and had acquired all honourable qualities: according to my source, had all honour been lost or expunged from the world, it could have been rediscovered in her. This lady loved and respected all worthy men and, with the utmost discernment, would give to them generously when she saw the need.