1444, Byzantium Resurrects

Chapter 87: Brass and Cypress Island

The bells rang long and the incense lingered. In the holy hall, a middle-aged monk in a simple white linen robe stood quietly under the cross with his eyes closed, as if listening to the voice of the Lord.

This is the Monastery of St. George of Mangana, the most famous Orthodox monastery on the island of Cyprus.

Since the Lusignan family occupied the island of Cyprus, they have been forcibly promoting Catholicism throughout the island and suppressing the local Greek Orthodox Church.

In this context, many Orthodox churches and monasteries with a long history were forced to be abandoned and turned into the dust of history.

The Monastery of St. George of Mangana is struggling to survive with the secret support of the Greek Orthodox Christians.

All this changed dramatically because of the arrival of a woman.

After Jelena Palaiologos married John II and became the Queen of Cyprus, she did her best to help the lower-class Greek Orthodox Christians. She donated large sums of money from her own private wallet to Orthodox monasteries, which revived the depressed Orthodox atmosphere among the people.

Jelena herself is extremely devout and often takes her daughter, Princess Charlotte, to various churches and monasteries to pray and visit, including the Monastery of St. George in Mangana.

"Dean Julian, Mr. Belfa is waiting for you with a guest."

A young monk walked out from behind the door and looked at Abbot Julian, who had his eyes closed, with awe in his eyes.

"Let them in, and keep their voices down so as not to disturb the other brothers."

Julian's voice was steady and powerful, not at all like that of an ascetic monk who had lived in a monastery for a long time.

Two well-dressed gentlemen walked into the hall and waited quietly for Julian to wake up from his meditation.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting."

Julian turned his head and looked at the two of them, trying to pull the corners of his mouth, but it made his face covered with ugly scars look even more hideous.

"I hope you can forgive me for bothering you so much during my visit."

The leader spoke quickly and took out a purse.

“This is our little token of our appreciation for the monastery.”

"The Lord bless your generosity, Brother Belfar."

Julian nodded and motioned for Belfa to put the money bag into the donation box nearby.

Belfa was born into a Cypriot Orthodox family and was one of the richest businessmen on the island. He often came with Queen Jelena and was a real "queen's party".

Afterwards, Dean Julian took the two of them to his study.

"You haven't introduced this brother to me yet."

Julian poured water for the two of them and looked at the strange faces brought by Belfa.

"Respected Dean Julian, my name is Martir, I am from the Gattiluccio family, and I am here on behalf of Bilinchi."

Julian looked up and glanced at Martial.

"Gatilucio? A Genoese?"

Martial nodded, as a sign of agreement.

Cyprus is located in the eastern Mediterranean, close to the Levant and Egypt, and is another important node connecting the Asia-Europe trade routes.

Cyprus originally means "Island of Copper". The island is rich in high-quality chalcopyrite and was once one of the copper mining and smelting bases of the Roman Empire.

Cypress is the characteristic plant here. Locals like to extract essential oils from cypress trees to make soaps and perfumes, which are widely praised in the eastern Mediterranean region.

In addition to these two specialties, this island named after copper and cypress also produces high-quality wine and olive oil, which made King Richard the Lionheart praise it highly.

Cyprus' important geographical location and resource endowment attracted many Italian business republics to invest here, gradually encroaching on local interests and obtaining large amounts of funds.

Genoa is one of them.

A few decades ago, Cyprus' commercial interests were almost entirely dominated by Genoa. Many Genoese migrated here and competed with local people for resources, forming commercial clusters.

The Lusignan family was very troubled by this and sought help from many parties, but to no avail.

It was not until the rise of Venice and the decline of Genoa that maritime trade in the eastern Mediterranean began to be monopolized by the Venetians that things began to take a turn for the worse.

In 1426, the Venetians successfully provoked the Mamluks' hatred of Cyprus, led them to land on this rich island, defeated the king at the time, and forced the Lusignan family to submit to the Mamluks.

During this period, the Venetians also took the opportunity to join in the division of Cyprus' trade interests, trying to incorporate the island nation into their increasingly stable eastern Mediterranean trade system.

In this way, this remote island became a battlefield for various forces to fight overtly and covertly, including the Latin and Greek churches, merchants from Venice and Genoa, and foreign forces from Mamluk and Karaman...

As a pure Greek Orthodox Christian, Julian naturally had no good feelings towards Martir from Genoa.

but--

"You are from Billinge, you say?"

"How are Queen Jelena and Princess Charlotte?"

Julian asked with concern.

He remembered that not long ago, Queen Jelena and the little Princess Charlotte were assassinated on the way to the Monastery of St. George in Mangana, and they ran in panic and asked for his protection.

With Julian's arrangement, the queen successfully avoided subsequent assassins and escaped from the country that was no longer safe.

"They have just returned to Bilinch from Constantinople and are currently staying in the Black Castle."

Belfa took out a ring and handed it to Dean Julian.

The queen's ring is like seeing the queen herself.

"Tell me, what do you want from me?"

Julian returned the ring to Belfa and became serious.

"I come here on behalf of Emperor Isaac and Queen Jelena. We will punish John II for his blasphemy against God and send the murderer James to the gallows."

"I am just an abbot of a monastery, and I want to concentrate on serving God and not ask about anything else."

"I can only express my sympathy for what happened to Queen Jelena."

Julian shook his head, his expression unchanged.

The monks in the monastery usually take a vow to dedicate the rest of their lives to Jesus Christ and not to care about worldly affairs.

Of course, there are many exceptions.

Martial and Belfa looked at each other, their faces looking slightly ugly.

"Dean, I think it is reasonable for you to help."

Belfa stood up and looked at Julian.

"Queen Jelena has treated you well and is the most devout believer of the Lord. It is with her support that the monastery can continue to exist."

"In theory, the illegitimate son James blasphemed God and committed murder, so he should be killed."

Belfa paused as he looked at Julian's seemingly indifferent expression.

"Your grandfather fought in Alexandria with Peter I, and your father fought with the previous king against the Mamluk invasion. They are the sharpest swords of Jesus."

"Are you going to sit back and watch a Mamluk puppet king wear the crown of Jerusalem and desecrate the Promised Land of God!"

At this point, Julian's originally calm eyes suddenly shrank.

He came from a prominent family. His ancestors had followed the kings of Cyprus in many battles, but due to religious reasons, they were never reused.

In the war of 1426, Julian followed his father to participate in the defense. His father died on the spot, and he was wounded and fainted on the battlefield, but was rescued by his comrades.

After the king surrendered and paid compensation, Julian became depressed and entered a monastery, preparing to end his life there.

"I am a servant of God and cannot break my oath."

"God will forgive you even in this situation."

After this, everyone fell silent. Everyone who knew Abbot Julian knew that he was unwilling to endure the lonely and boring life in the monastery and still looked forward to the pleasure of making achievements on the battlefield.

His old subordinates often came to visit him under the pretext of donating to the monastery, and sometimes brought wine and meat.

Julian would always scold his subordinates, then drink with them and reminisce about the past.

After a while, Julian finally spoke and turned to Martial.

"Your name is Gattiluccio. Who are you to the Emperor?"

"The late Empress Catherine Gattilusio, wife of Emperor Constantine and mother of Emperor Isaac, is my aunt."

"By blood relationship, I am Emperor Isaac's cousin."

Martial said as he handed Isaac's letter to Julian.

"I have convinced the Genoese council on the island that they will not be our enemies."

Julian took the letter and looked back and forth between the two people in front of him.

"After more than two hundred years, the emperor finally wants to come back?"

Julian said this with a slightly mocking tone.

"For more than two hundred years, the emperor has never been far away."

……

On August 1450, 8, Baron Julian, the most influential Orthodox nobleman in the Kingdom of Cyprus, summoned his old subordinates and publicly announced the blasphemous acts of John II and his illegitimate son James.

Julian and other Orthodox nobles demanded that the illegitimate son James be hanged for murder, and at the same time demanded that John II abdicate and hand over the crown to Princess Charlotte.

On the same day, under the instigation of the Orthodox merchant Belfa, the lower-class Greek Orthodox Christians began to riot, demanding the overthrow of the reactionary rule of the French aristocracy.

On August 8, Baron Julian, with the support of the Orthodox rebels, led his troops to capture the port of Paphos and gained a base for supplies.

On August 8, John II, who learned the news, declared Julian guilty of treason, summoned his vassals, organized an army, and prepared to suppress the rebellion.

On August 8, Mamluk envoys and some Venetian merchants announced their support for John II's decision and provided the king with money and mercenaries.

On August 8, the Genoese Parliament of Cyprus, upon receiving the news, overthrew the previously hesitant Speaker, and Martir Gattilusio, who came from a prominent family, was successfully elected as the new Speaker.

On August 8, the Genoese Senate declared its support for Baron Julian and destroyed a Venetian settlement.

"That's the situation. What do you think?"

In the Black Castle, Isaac was meeting with several of his important ministers.

After several months of preparation, Isaac felt the time was ripe and launched an overthrow of the Kingdom of Cyprus.

Under Isaac's instructions, Albert went to Cyprus early to oversee the excavation of the negative information about John II.

You don’t know if you don’t dig it, but you will be shocked if you dig it.

The womanizing John II had more than a dozen illegitimate children, whom he often brought into the castle without concealing the fact.

Many of them are children of Islamic female slaves.

This undoubtedly destroys the purity of marriage and is a blasphemy against Christ.

Of course, this crime was so common that the church didn't really care.

However, the murder of James, the illegitimate son of the royal butler, was a real felony, and John II, who condoned him, was also accused of being an accomplice by Isaac.

Not only that, Isaac also made full use of the advantages of journalism to spread rumors and pin all the negative information he could collect, whether true or false, on John II and his illegitimate son James.

Committing adultery with pagans, believing in polytheism, seducing young boys, homosexuality, usury, murdering wives and daughters...

After two months of processing, Isaac sent a 30,000-word indictment to the Pope, the Patriarch of Constantinople, the Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church, the elders of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and archbishops from all over the world. Even the Moscow Orthodox Church, which had severed ties with the Church of Constantinople, received a copy.

For a time, all the priests from Canterbury to Alexandria, from Santiago to Moscow knew that there was such a blasphemous murderer who was wearing the crown of Jerusalem and doing whatever he wanted in the land promised by God.

Not only that, Isaac also used his trade network and pirate system to spread propaganda and incite panic among the lower classes.

Isaac emphasized John II's identity as the "King of Jerusalem", igniting the sensitive religious sentiments of the people.

At Isaac's request, the Orthodox Church of Constantinople, the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church immediately announced the excommunication of John II.

Seeing that the matter had become a serious matter, Pope Nicholas V sent an inspection team to the Kingdom of Cyprus to investigate John II's apostasy.

Of course, Isaac knew very well that these public opinion offensives could not really defeat the Lusignan family, which had been deeply rooted in Cyprus for many years, but could only make it anxious for a while.

That's why my cousin Martiel Gattiluccio went to Cyprus.

"Your Majesty, are we angering the Mamluks and Venetians by doing this?"

Prime Minister Isult raised his concerns.

"The Mamluks and we are already at loggerheads, so there is no need to care about their opinions."

"As for the Venetians..."

To be honest, this has also been the biggest problem that has troubled Isaac for a long time.

In recent years, the interests of the Venetians in Cyprus have grown, and they are already on the verge of surpassing the Genoese to become the largest foreign power in the Kingdom of Cyprus.

In this regard, both the Genoese and the local Orthodox people held a resistance attitude, making Venice's control over Cyprus not so smooth.

Several decades later in the original time and space, the illegitimate son James married a Venetian noblewoman in order to defeat his half-sister Charlotte, which led to the large-scale entry of Venetian forces into Cyprus and eventually annexed it.

"First of all, the Venetians are merchants and will not do business at a loss,"

"Besides, Venetians are not a monolithic group, and not all councillors have interests here."

"As long as we can quickly settle Cyprus' internal affairs, the Venetians will not see any rewards and will definitely not go to war with us just for one or two councilors whose interests have been damaged."

Under Isaac's operation, his interference in Cyprus' internal affairs became legitimate and legal, and Venice could not use this to denounce Isaac.

"We support the Cypriot resistance movement for the sake of the Gospel of Christ, with the goal of removing the apostate John II and returning the crown to the rightful heir, Charlotte."

"but……"

The ministers wanted to speak again.

"No buts!"

Isaac slammed the table.

"If the Venetians insist on resisting the pressure of the entire Christian world and joining forces with the Mamluks to go to war against us, then we will fight!"

"What a coward, what a shame!"

Isaac looked at a group of worried ministers and suddenly thought of his father, Constantine XI.

Constantine encountered a similar situation when he reconquered the Morea Peninsula.

At that time, the Venetians owned quite a number of commercial ports on the Morea Peninsula and basically monopolized the local trade, which was not allowed by Constantine.

Fearing retaliation from the Venetians, Theodosius, who was in charge of the recovery of the Morea, hesitated and dared not move forward, and had a big quarrel with Constantine who advocated tough measures.

Later, Constantine joined forces with Thomas, and before the Venetians could react, they took a small number of troops to defeat the Latin forces and successfully regained this land that had been away from the empire for a hundred years.

When dealing with this group of businessmen, the weaker you are, the more they will spy on you; the tougher you are, the more they will be afraid to act rashly.

"Pass my order, the Third Guards Corps, be prepared. If the Mamluks are defeated, land in Cyprus immediately!"

"Notify Ibrahim and Mehmet that the Purple Guards will be stationed in the Tobruk Military District to prevent Mamluk retaliation."

"Notify Captain Fidel that all members of the Mediterranean Fleet cancel their leave and assemble in Bilinchi!"

(End of this chapter)