1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 121 Catalan Mercenaries
Aegina Island, Aegean Coast.

This small island is located in the Saronic Gulf, across the sea from the cities of Corinth to the west and Athens to the north respectively. It has been an important trading port since ancient times.

The climate here is Mediterranean, with plains and hills in the north and low hills in the central and eastern parts. In addition to wheat, local residents also grow economic crops such as grapes, olives, and figs.

The largest port city on Aegina Island is the Port of Aegina of the same name. There is frequent trade here and it is very close to the Port of Piraeus in Attica, making shipping convenient.

Lupo Bernagnago sat alone in a shabby tavern, turning his head to look out the window at the busy city.

It is late autumn, the scorching summer sun is gradually dimming, the rain is increasing, and the warm and humid winter is approaching along the Mediterranean coast.

In 1453, when the Lord became flesh, He did not seem to want to leave quietly, and He bid farewell to the world reluctantly.

"It's an eventful time, isn't it?"

a voice sounded.

"of course."

Lupo echoed, wiping his dirty cup with his dirty sleeve and drinking the turbid, low-quality wine in it.

"Have you heard? Not long ago, Bordeaux surrendered to the French."

Lupo remained silent and continued to pour bad wine into his glass.

On July 1453, 7, the French army defeated the English army in Castillon, the Earl of Shrewsbury was killed on the spot, and the English garrison in Gascony was wiped out.

In the following months, the French army captured cities in Aquitaine and Gascony. The Kingdom of England was no longer able to stop them and could only watch as one city after another fell into the hands of the French.

On October 10, the city of Bordeaux was declared liberated, and the remaining cities also surrendered to King Charles of France.

At this point, the Hundred Years' War between England and France ended. This war, which lasted for a hundred years and spanned several generations of monarchs, ended with the complete victory of King Charles VII of France.

Not only did the Plantagenet royal family of England fail to conquer the Kingdom of France, they also lost almost all of their territories on the European continent, including the Duchy of Aquitaine, which they had ruled for three hundred years.

Seeing that Lupo didn't respond, the drinker felt a little disappointed. He then turned around and started chatting with another middle-aged man.

"This year is really chaotic. From west to east, there are wars everywhere."

"Italy is still fighting?"

"you do not say!"

The drunkard talked about the war in his hometown, with a hint of anger in his words.

"Other people's wars only last a few months at most. Once they are over, the people can live a peaceful life for a while."

"It's better in our place. We've been fighting from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, and there's no sign of stopping."

The drunkard pounded his fist on the table.

"How is the war going now?"

The guests who were listening around were all interested.

"It's the same as always. Milan is fighting Monferrato and Venice alone, while Florence and Savoy are watching from the sidelines and sending mercenaries to support them."

"We've been fighting for so long but there's still no progress. Isn't this just wasting lives?"

"I really don't know why, alas..."

When the drinker mentioned these things, the deep sadness between his brows could not be dispelled.

Seeing this, the other guests changed the subject at the right time.

"I heard that King Henry VI of England was a mental patient. Is that true?"

"It's true. I've had this attack several times this year alone."

“So who has the final say in London now?”

"It's hard to say. After Henry VI's first attack, Richard, Duke of York, became regent and formed a regency council to manage domestic affairs."

"But everyone knows that Queen Margaret will not give up power easily."

"Just wait, there will probably be another good show soon."

Lupo drank his wine by himself and listened to the drinkers talking more and more boldly, eventually extending the topic to Queen Margaret's lover, and he completely lost interest.

Without waiting for the person he was waiting for, Lupo stood up, searched his pocket, took out a few silver coins, and was about to leave.

"Sorry for the long wait. This meal is on my table."

The familiar voice finally sounded, and a pair of big hands pressed Lupo down again.

"Nathan, I thought that since you changed your master, you might be able to change your bad habit of being late."

Nathan raised his brow.

"Go ask King Afonso and Emperor Isaac, when have I ever been vague at a critical moment?"

"You mean, meeting me is optional?"

"This wine tastes terrible."

Nathan changed the subject.

During the Battle of Constantinople, King Afonso of Aragon and the Two Sicilies sent a small group of Catalan guards to the Eastern Roman Empire, and Nathan was the captain of the guard.

During the Battle of Galata, Nathan was ordered to guard the west gate and block Zagan Pasha's escape route, and he made considerable contributions.

After the war, at Emperor Isaac's request, King Afonso handed over his remaining guard of only sixty men to him.

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. How is the matter that His Majesty asked you to do going?"

Nathan asked.

"I have already talked to some old brothers and tried to test the waters."

"That old bastard Anthony is unpopular, and many people hate him with a vengeance."

"But when they heard that I was working for the Eastern Roman Emperor, they all hesitated."

Lupo spoke slowly.

"After all, the Palaiologos family is well-known for their cunning and insidiousness."

Nathan said nothing, looking at the emblem on Lupo's sword.

In the dim light, the emblem appeared very blurry, but you could still roughly make out the red and yellow stripes and the irises on the stripes.

Nathan also has a similar sword, but with slight differences in details.

Over the past two hundred years, this emblem has been very famous in the Mediterranean region, representing a glory that is about to disappear.

This is the coat of arms of the Catalan Mercenaries.

The Catalan Mercenaries were the earliest regular mercenary organization in medieval Europe. Initially, they fought against the Angevin dynasty in Sicily as part of the army of the Kingdom of Aragon, and the emblem came from this.

Later, when the war was over, the original war heroes became destabilizing factors in the territory. An Italian named Roger obtained permission from the King of Aragon, took the Catalan mercenary group on a ship, and headed eastward.

They soon found a new employer, the Eastern Roman Emperor, Andronicus II Palaiologos.

Roger married the emperor's niece and was named Grand Duke. He transformed himself from a poor Italian nobleman into the son-in-law of the Eastern Roman Empire.

That was also the most glorious time for the Catalan Mercenary Corps, with a total strength of over 10,000 soldiers and nearly 6,000 regular troops.

Under Roger's leadership, the Catalan mercenaries fought for the Eastern Roman emperor in many battles, wiped out the Genoese forces in Constantinople, and fought against the Turks in the Anatolian Peninsula, defeating the larger Turks with fewer troops several times and making them terrified.

The complacent Roger took the top leaders of the mercenary group to a banquet in Constantinople. Emperor Andronicus II highly praised his achievements, and then arranged for the executioners to kill them all and burn down the headquarters of the Catalan Mercenary Group in Constantinople.

Andronicus II then assembled a large army and attempted to wipe out the remaining mercenaries.

The emperor's army was bloated and failed to wipe out all the mercenary groups that fled in small groups. Instead, it was led by them around the Balkan Peninsula.

Later, the Catalan mercenary group was divided into two groups. One group was loyal to the King of the Two Sicilies and became more and more scattered with the several changes of the royal family of the Two Sicilies. Nathan was from this group. The other group continued to stay in the Balkan Peninsula, went south to overthrow the rule of the Principality of Athens, and took control of the land near Attica.

During this period, the Catalan mercenaries experienced a brief revival, but soon continued to decline due to foreign intervention.

In the second half of the 14th century, the Navarre mercenaries, also from the Iberian Peninsula, suddenly launched a large-scale invasion. After several wars, they completely defeated the Catalan mercenaries, making their glory no longer exist.

With the rise of Venice and the Ottoman Empire, the Duke of Athens from Florence began to reunite with the Catalan mercenaries to fight against foreign invasions.

However, the Navarre Mercenaries, who had finally seized power, were unwilling to be on an equal footing with them, and open and covert fighting often occurred.

In 1425, the Catalan mercenary group finally could no longer bear the continuous exclusion and moved its headquarters to the island of Aegina.

Three years ago, Antonello, the current leader of the Catalan Mercenaries, offered the island of Aegina to the Venetians despite everyone's opposition and joined the Venetian army with the Catalan Mercenaries.

Some members who were unwilling to surrender to the Venetians elected Lupo as their leader, and together they became pirates, active along the coast of the Aegean Sea.

"What I don't understand is what kind of attitude your emperor has towards us?"

Lupo spoke up, breaking the silence.

"If you want to occupy Athens, why don't you go find the Navarre Mercenaries?"

"You know, we don't have much left in Athens."

Speaking of Athens, Nathan smiled disdainfully.

"Athens is a small country, not worth worrying about."

"Whether the Navarra Mercenaries surrender or not doesn't mean much to us."

"Is there anything we can do to help?"

Lupo asked doubtfully.

"My Lord's target is not just the small city of Athens."

"what is that?"

Nathan pointed out the window.

Above the dock area in the distance, a Venice St. Mark's lion flag is fluttering in the wind.

……

Unlike the dimness of the tavern in Aegina Port, the garden of Bilinch Black Castle was sunny, gentle and warm.

Isaac and Leonor sat at the table, quietly enjoying the beautiful afternoon.

The two-year-old Prince Justinian was sleeping soundly in a cradle nearby. Isaac's niece, Queen Charlotte of Cyprus, was lying beside the cradle, muttering to herself.

Isaac turned his head away and looked at his wife's delicate face and slightly bulging belly.

After their hard work, Leonor finally became pregnant again. Now the little guy is four months old and seems very active, often kicking around in his mother's belly.

This child will definitely be a restless person when he grows up.

"I heard that His Majesty Constantine is planning to marry the Grand Duke of Serbia?"

"Yes, we have already discussed it. The wedding will be held at the beginning of next year. You can rest and take care of your pregnancy in the Black Castle. You don't need to participate."

Isaac nodded.

Under the persuasion of Serbian Archbishop Brankovic, Princess Mara finally agreed to marry Constantine XI and brought a generous dowry.

"I heard that Princess Mara is very thoughtful and cunning. You should be careful."

Leonor did not hide her hostility towards Princess Mara.

"The Grand Duke of Serbia must have his own selfish motives. If Princess Mara and His Majesty Constantine successfully give birth to a prince, he might take the opportunity to interfere in the internal affairs of Constantinople."

Isaac smiled noncommittally and took Leonor's delicate hand.

Before this, several ministers, led by Prime Minister Isult, had already advised Isaac, openly or secretly, to stop this marriage to avoid chaos.

For Bilinchi's administrative agency, as long as they could hold out until Constantine XI passed away, Isaac would be the only emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, and they would be able to follow Isaac into Constantinople smoothly.

Of course they were not happy when something unexpected happened which was supposed to be going smoothly.

"Don't worry, I'll make arrangements."

Isaac patted the back of Leonor's hand in comfort.

Of course, the Grand Duke of Serbia had his own selfish motives. Not only did he give a rich dowry, he also sent a team of armored guards to specifically protect Princess Mara's safety.

But then again, Brankovic was plotting against Isaac, and Isaac was certainly plotting against him as well.

Even though Durad Branković is an old fox who has been in politics for decades, he cannot defeat time.

It is now the end of 1453, more than two years before the death of Grand Duke Durard in the original time and space.

After Durand's death, the Brankovich family had no successor, and all of them were mediocre and not worth mentioning.

If Princess Mara gave birth to a prince, it would give her an excuse to interfere in Serbia's internal affairs.

Furthermore, Constantine XI was no fool. His love for the Eastern Roman Empire was unmatched, so he would naturally not allow Serbia to do whatever it wanted.

"Just make arrangements."

Leonor nodded and leaned her head against Isaac's shoulder.

"Then let me write the invitation this time."

"It's really embarrassing to show your handwriting to others."

Leonor quipped.

"of course."

"However, I will write an invitation myself and send it to Mehmed II."

"In case he couldn't understand it, it had to be written in Greek, Serbian, Latin, Turkish and Arabic."

Isaac imagined the possible expression on Mehmed II's face when he received the letter, and he smiled happily.

Leonor pulled her hand away unhappily and rolled her eyes.

"Your Majesty, an urgent letter from Prime Minister Isurt!"

At the garden gate, Yergubai, who served as an attendant, rushed in.

"Don't be anxious, speak slowly."

"According to our observations, Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II crossed the Bosphorus Strait from the area of ​​​​Slitthroat Castle and led his army into Bursa."

"The vanguard led by Mahmud Pasha has approached the city of Ankara."

"Their targets are most likely the Karamanbey State and the Aq Qoyunlu."

Isaac took the letter from Iseult and glanced at it quickly.

It seemed that this old enemy was even more powerful than he thought. After giving up control of the outer vassals, he quickly suppressed the internal struggles and was preparing to deal with the restless neighbors in Anatolia.

However, the Ottoman army is unlikely to interfere in Balkan affairs as it moves eastward, which is also a good opportunity for him.

Isaac folded the letter.

"Notify all ministers and military commanders to go to the Black Castle as quickly as possible to attend the meeting."

"Inform Thomas, the Grand Duke of Achaea, and ask him to remain vigilant and cooperate with our actions."

"Request all naval vessels cruising nearby to quickly assemble at Bilinchi Harbor and await orders!"

(End of this chapter)