kingdom of nations

Chapter 200 A Less Than Ideal Day for the Byzantine Queen

For Mary, the queen of the Byzantine Empire, this day was anything but pleasant.

People in the Crusader states often mocked the Byzantine emperors as nothing more than heretics in crowns, and because of the influence of the Persians and Saracens, they exercised Eastern-style rule—although they outwardly practiced monogamy, Manuel I still had a large harem.

The reason it's considered so vast is that any woman in the entire empire could become his concubine, including his blood relatives. However, this was nothing Mary cared about. As people mocked, she happily married him, at the cost of betraying her own brother.

Manuel I had divorced his first wife and stripped his two children of their inheritance rights, and she did not disappoint him. Even though Manuel I was already so old, she still gave birth to a healthy son for him, but this incredibly smooth life ended with Manuel I's crushing defeat.

To secure the Crusaders' aid, they had to pay 150,000 gold coins and 100 purple silk robes, a price that already broke Queen Mary's heart. Yet, she had no choice but to do so, and she continued to use her own private funds to bribe the Crusaders.

She began to miss her brother more intensely than ever before.

After all, her son was only six years old. Even if she could win over ministers and generals to support her instead of Manuel I's eldest son, Alexius, who was always eyeing her, it would be difficult for her to control the entire Byzantine Empire on her own for the time being.

The country was too vast, and even though she had received some education in Antioch, it was nothing compared to the situation she was about to face.

But when the emperor returned, she had barely said a few words before she was reprimanded by Manuel I.

Faced with the furious Manuel I, she was speechless. She wanted to consult Bohemond for a solution, but to her surprise, Bohemond did not even return to Constantinople with Manuel I this time. He went back to Antioch and did not intend to meet his sister. This made Mary furious, but she was helpless.

Finally, something happened that drove her completely mad. Manuel I decided to marry his daughter—the eldest princess Anna who had been disinherited—to the knight César who had saved him. Queen Marie met César before any of the other women in the harem. The entire banquet was radiant for the young knight, and even she couldn't help but glance at the young man several times.

If she were the Empress Dowager now, she would regretfully think that she could have brought this young man to her side and enjoyed some happiness with him. But unfortunately, she was still the Empress and had to ensure that her character was spotless in front of the suspicious and cruel Manuel I. Then she learned some bad news: Manuel I actually wanted to marry Anna to that knight.

Not only that, he also promised to give Cyprus as Anna's dowry. For the Queen, this was like a bolt from the blue; she could hardly believe what she was hearing—she rushed to Manuel I to confirm it, and then ran back to her room with a swollen face from being slapped.

Then those precious porcelain and glasswares suffered another great calamity, with a constant crashing and banging sound.

Manuel I did not change his mind because of her, and even took action against her.

The Queen longed more and more for someone to work with her. She put on a veil to cover the bruises and swelling on her face and ordered her maid to bring paper and pen. She wanted to write a letter to her brother.

Before her brother even arrived in Constantinople, a few days later, Manuel I ordered her to attend with him the farewell ceremony for King Arrassal, the two Grand Masters of the Knights, and Princess Anna. The Queen was extremely reluctant, but she knew that this was not something she could decide.

That day, she got up early and busied herself with dressing up. Although she, like the previous queen, believed that natural beauty was better than artificial beauty, and even though she had given birth to a son, she thought she still looked younger than Anna, she was not sure if she could completely outshine the princess in appearance.

She awkwardly fiddled with the cosmetics, from charcoal pencils to face creams, from face creams to rouge, imagining the admiring look on the Christian knight's face when he saw her. She chuckled softly, pressing the charcoal pencil between her eyebrows, trying to draw them thin and long—but before she could apply any pressure, the charcoal pencil snapped. This was a very common occurrence, but the queen immediately flew into a rage and threw the charcoal pencil to the ground.

"This is the quality Nisitas promised!" she shouted sharply. The maids around her immediately knelt down in a panic, but none of them dared to respond to the queen's words. The queen was scolding the chief eunuch of Manuel I, one of Manuel I's most trusted men. Although he was a eunuch, he often had a place in the court and on the battlefield. The queen could scold such a powerful figure at will, but they dared not participate.

The empress's chest heaved violently, and it took a long time for it to finally calm down.

She glanced at the water clock in the room; Manuel I wouldn't wait for her. If she didn't arrive on time, the emperor would surely be furious.

The Empress dared not slack off, so she took another charcoal pencil to draw her eyebrows, and then had her maids comb her hair and help her change her clothes.

Although she felt that nothing was quite right—the rouge wasn't bright enough, the golden crown was a bit dull, and the inner robe didn't fit her well—she still did her best to make herself look as glamorous as possible before going out.

Today, the Queen is wearing the same robe as Manuel I: a gold pullover robe underneath and a sleeveless crimson silk cloak over it, embroidered with colorful flowers and adorned with sparkling gems and pearls.

What she was most proud of was her thick, lustrous hair, which was neatly combed by the maids, adding a touch of elegance to her beauty.

The Empress rose and left the room, and the maids all breathed a sigh of relief. They dared not speak, but could only exchange glances to share this rare joy.

But this sense of security was shattered when the Queen met her stepdaughter Anna, who was wearing more jewelry than her. She could even tell at a glance that several of the pieces came from Theodora's private collection.

This was, of course, an overstepping of his bounds, but Manuel I didn't care. He called his daughter to his side and, like a loving father, spoke sweet words to her, making empty promises. To an uninformed person, these words might sound incredibly warm and touching, enough to bring tears to their eyes and break their heart. But how could the princess not know what kind of person their father was?
Although he always said, "I have married my most beloved daughter to you," and referred to her as "Born of the Purple Chamber," he never mentioned restoring her status as a legitimate child, even when she was about to leave Constantinople for Arrassa. In other words, she remained an illegitimate child, and because her dowry already included Cyprus as its most important bargaining chip, he gave her almost no other compensation.

In other words, the dowry she had barely managed to scrape together came entirely from the gifts of her two mothers: her biological mother and Theodora. She worried that Theodora might anger Manuel I and hoped she would take back the jewels and silks, but Theodora only sighed wearily.

“When Princess Maria married, she was given the full respect due to a Byzantine princess, with wild beasts, an army, furniture and utensils—though those beasts nearly took her life. And you… I mean, this marriage came too hastily… You have none of these, so you should at least be compensated in other ways.”

While Manuel I painted a rosy picture of the marriage, he ignored the princess and simply transferred a portion of his first wife's inheritance to her, which consisted of only some clothes and gold coins—a truly meager sum. Anna didn't even have any maids willing to accompany her in the marriage.

It's truly laughable to think that Manuel I's real illegitimate daughter married a king, while the king's legitimate daughter could only marry a knight, and their dowries were worlds apart.

Yes, Cyprus was part of the princess's dowry. She and her husband would live in Cyprus, and all the taxes and other produce of Cyprus would belong to them. They only needed to pay tribute to Manuel I regularly.

But there is no doubt that they will have a very difficult time at the beginning.

Once the Crusader knights obtained Cyprus, they would certainly not allow Cyprus to keep switching between themselves and the Saracens. They would need to constantly drive away and repel the invading Saracen fleets, which meant that once these people arrived on the island of Cyprus, they would likely have to build fortresses, walls, and fleets first.

Theodora was unsure whether Manuel I would be willing to allocate a portion of his fleet to his daughter and son-in-law. Perhaps Manuel I was planning to use Cyprus in exchange for the money, trees, artisans, and soldiers he needed.

Of course, the Knights Templar might provide money and aid. But then it would be hard to say who Cyprus would belong to. No one is willing to give without expecting anything in return, especially the Knights Templar, who have long coveted Cyprus. When they heard that Manuel I was willing to give Cyprus to Cesar as a dowry, they were more excited than anyone else in the future.

One can imagine that if the reconstruction of Cyprus had to be entrusted to these people due to financial constraints, the princess's future husband would have been nothing more than a lord in name only. But what task requires money to rebuild without the help of outsiders?
It was not uncommon for Crusader knights to use their wives' dowries to build castles. For example, Baldwin I, while certainly despicable in his marriages, undeniably possessed the formidable defenses surrounding the Arathi Basin without the dowry of his second wife.

She had also heard that the young man was not only handsome but also an impeccable person in terms of character and morality. Given this, he could at least retain a degree of gratitude towards a wife who, although much older than him, had at least retained her virginity and was willing to provide him with selfless assistance in his future reign.

With that in mind, she handed over all her savings accumulated over the years to Anna without any hesitation.

But for Queen Marie, this behavior was rather jarring. Although they were Manuel I's concubines, these women did not hold any official positions or titles; their only advantage was Manuel I's favor. Once they grew old and lost their beauty or lost Manuel I's favor, when they were expelled from the Grand Palace, they could not possibly carry with them a single penny of the wealth they had acquired in the palace.

This means that even though Theodora now possesses jewels, gold, and silk that even the Queen cannot attain, as long as she does not intentionally damage them, those things will eventually belong to Manuel I, and belonging to Manuel I is equivalent to belonging to his son.

Now, with Manuel I's tacit approval, Theodora gave all these precious treasures to Princess Anna, leaving Queen Marie feeling suffocated.

She gritted her teeth, almost wanting to strip the princess of all her jewels and silks with her eyes. Of course, that was impossible. She could only watch as Anna, surrounded by the crowd, boarded the small boat, and then, amidst the laughter and encouragement of the crowd, was carried by her future husband up the rope ladder to the large ship.

The sight of the princess wrapping her arms around Cesare's neck deeply stung the queen's eyes, and she resented it all the way, describing it as "a monkey carrying a fat pig on its back."

Upon returning, he continued to complain about the matter to Manuel I.

Cyprus, Cyprus! How could you give Cyprus to a Crusader? It will all belong to his son, his son! She was completely oblivious to Manuel I's expression and the looks of those around her, especially his stepson Alexius. Her complaint ended with another slap from Manuel I.

The queen burst into tears, stamping her feet as she ran back to her palace. This time, however, she did not smash anything in her anger. While things like gold cups and silver plates could be broken and repaired, precious porcelain and glassware could not.

King Manuel I wouldn't be stingy with such a small expense, but their son had just lost so much jewelry and Cyprus, so the Queen had to think more about her son's future. "What a cruel father you have," she wept, "He gave away your Cyprus to someone else."

She lamented her fate until dusk, when her eunuch came to report that her brother Bohemond had arrived in Constantinople. Judging by the time, he had set off immediately after receiving her letter, and his ship might even have passed Anna's ship on the high seas.

However, the Queen had no time to think about these things. She leaped up and hurriedly urged the eunuch to bring her brother into the palace before sunset; she wanted to see him. The eunuch left in a hurry, but returned alone. He reported to the Queen that her brother had indeed arrived, but as soon as he stepped into Constantinople, he was summoned by Manuel I to handle another matter.

"Another matter? What could be more important than Cyprus?" the Queen shrieked.

Yes, for example, the papal envoys of the Western Roman Catholic Church.

(End of this chapter)