The
bearer of this letter, Robert by name, coming to the merciful Holy See,
tearfully confessed his sin, a great and grave sin indeed. For when
he was captured by the Saracens with his wife and daughter, an order went
out from the ruler of that land, whom they call the Emir, that, since the
starvation from hunger was prevalent, whichever of the captives had a child,
he should kill it. By reason of this order, this wretched man,
urged on by the pangs of hunger, killed his daughter and ate her.
When again another order was issued, he killed his own wife, but when she
was cooked and served up to him, he could not bring himself to eat her
flesh.
Pope Innocent III, Register, 5th Year, September 3, 1202