kingdom of nations

Chapter 217 The Cypriot Lords Are in High Demand (Part 1)

As the Archbishop of Cyprus and his entourage crossed the square in front of the Governor's Palace, a small ripple suddenly appeared in the crowd around them. They had been making way for the Archbishop and his entourage, but at that moment another prominent and ostentatious group emerged from an alleyway, forcing them to give way to the newcomers.

But at this moment, no one was there to tell them what to do. Some retreated, some advanced, some stopped, and some quickened their pace. They pushed and shoved each other, or trampled on one another. Some with bad tempers shouted and cursed, and even started fighting. Some petty thieves took the opportunity to cause trouble—the shouts of the victims made even more people panic.

While the archbishop was undecided about whether to ask his priests to intervene—a year had been enough for him to get to know the new ruler of Cyprus—he was a man who strictly adhered to rules and laws and expected others to do the same, regardless of who they were.

The archbishop did not want the new lord to associate him with chaos whenever he thought of him, but the other party acted faster than him. A group of agile and skillful servants rushed out from the ranks, wielding sticks, and soon dispersed the tangled crowd. They even caught two or three people who tried to take advantage of the situation and handed them over to the guards who arrived later. After doing all this, they sent one of their men to greet the archbishop.

Then the huge palanquin, carried by two tall mules, had its curtain lifted on one side, and the noblewoman inside bowed to the archbishop, who in turn nodded slightly.

"So it was her," the priest said in a low voice.

"Who else could it be? In Cyprus, there could be no woman more esteemed than her," the archbishop said calmly, though a hint of complex emotion could be discerned in his words.

In truth, fate is a cruel thing. The siblings were born in a Saracen castle and were forced to separate from their biological parents when they were still toddlers. They did not grow up as smoothly as people expected—when they were eight or nine years old, they were kidnapped by bandits and sold into slavery.

The younger brother, their lord Cesar, was fortunate enough to encounter Amalric I upon his return from a hunt, and was rescued by him. He then became a servant to Prince Baldwin. His sister, however, was far more unfortunate. She was sold into the harem of the Syrian Sultan Nur ad-Din. She was destined to become one of the Sultan's occasional concubines, just like the other female slaves. Perhaps after one or two nights, she would quickly fade into obscurity among the growing number of new women, never to be remembered by the Sultan again, unless she received God's mercy and conceived a child with the Sultan.

Surprisingly, her fate was even more bizarre than people imagined.

After Nur ad-Din's defeat and death in Galilee, she and several other virgins who had not yet been favored by him were given as gifts by Nur ad-Din's first wife to the King of Arazarus.

It is a miracle that only God could create, that these two siblings, whose fates have been so tumultuous, were able to reunite in the holiest place, the Road to Allah, after being separated for five or six years.

To this day, this once lowly female slave has undergone a complete transformation—she sits in a sedan chair made of fragrant wood, with maids kneeling at her feet, attendants and clowns in silk clothes clearing the way for her, bards playing their flutes and singing poems praising her, and knights in full armor guarding her vigilantly.

Around the palanquin, two or three young men who were clearly Cypriot nobles were vying to curry favor with her, either by trying to come up with a joke or by presenting her with flowers or jewels. They were competing to invite this noblewoman to their mansions for banquets, to enjoy music, drama, and acrobatic performances.

Compared to Arrasaro, Cypriot nobles knew better how to enjoy life. They never refused anything that could please them, whether Latin or Greek.

If an ordinary noblewoman were surrounded and flattered like this, she would probably have already lost all sense of propriety.

But this noblewoman with hair as black as raven feathers simply smiled. In this respect, she was similar to her brother, always appearing gentle, polite, humble, and kind, but just when you thought you could reach her, you found that there was always an invisible barrier between you and her.

The archbishop also knew that the priests around him were secretly slandering him.

Although she arrived in Arrassa with her identity document (issued by the Saracens), proving that this female slave still retained her chastity, she had been a Saracen slave and had long since lost her parents and land. If her brother were not the lord of Cyprus, she would only be a defeated opponent to other noblewomen in the battlefield of marriage.

But what could she do when she had such a loving younger brother? He gave her not only silk and gold, but also power.

When César needed to go to Arrassa to serve the king, or simply to reunite with friends and relatives, he would leave his sister Natia in Cyprus to manage the vast island for him, a decision that was enough to drive the Cypriot nobles mad.

She is not only a princess of Cyprus, but also the Queen of Cyprus. To win her over, regardless of how much dowry her brother is willing to give her—perhaps a city or a port—even the slightest chance of inheriting Cyprus would be enough to make those guys rush to her side, willing to do anything.

"It's a pity she's a woman who came from the Sultan's harem," the archbishop thought to himself. He didn't have a high opinion of these young people. Compared to the Frankish or Byzantine courts, the Sultan's or Caliph's harems were much more cruel. After all, in the Frankish or Byzantine courts, illegitimate children had no right of inheritance. No matter how much a concubine was favored by the king or emperor, their children could at most become a count or a duke.

It's not like that in the harem of a Sultan or Caliph. Any prince can become his heir if their sole master so desires, and the prince's mother can rise to become the most honored woman in the harem—it's not a matter of whether you want to or not, but something you have to fight to the death for if you're in it...

Not to mention, when she came to her brother's side, she did indeed greatly ease the tension between the new Cypriot lord and the Cypriots with her own skills. They may still be afraid of their new lord, but it is difficult for them to feel disgust towards a noblewoman - she is young, beautiful, and gentle, and she almost never refuses banquets or gifts - what later generations would see as greed, at this time it has well calmed the uneasy hearts of these people, and because she is trusted by Cesare, some of Cesare's thoughts can also be conveyed to everyone through her.

For example, the Cathedral of St. Anne, which will stand next to the Governor's Palace, is named after St. Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary. Another name derived from her is Anna.

Everyone knows that the church was built by César for his wife Anna, and no one would object. After all, at that time, building a chapel for a deceased loved one was a very common practice.

The priests in the small chapel would recite requiems and pray for the deceased at fixed times, hold daily Mass, and give alms to the poor at those times.

A church is undoubtedly more somber yet magnificent than a small chapel. But considering the misfortunes that befell Princess Anna and the vast bequest she left to Cesare, no one would have thought it excessive to build her a city, let alone a church.

Of course, Cesar wouldn't do something that would incite such resentment.

He even scaled down his palace. There was a reason why he chose Nicosia as the new political center. It was not only because Nicosia was located in the heart of Cyprus, but also because Nicosia originally had a governor's palace built in the 7th century and which had been repaired and expanded for centuries. Roman and Byzantine governors had exercised their power there. The city walls were high, the towers were majestic, and the auxiliary buildings such as stables, waterhouses, and workshops were all complete. He only needed to make some minor modifications before he could move in, without spending extra money and manpower.

"Is my brother still in the council chamber?" Natia asked. After receiving a definite answer, she walked lightly toward the square main tower, dismissing her maids and telling them not to follow. She pushed open the council chamber door alone, and what came into view was a scene that she was already quite familiar with.

The young lord sat at a large desk, one hand supporting her chin, the other flipping through documents, occasionally picking up a pen to jot down her comments. She stood there admiring the scene for a long time; it was exactly the image she had dreamed of, the pillar that had sustained her as she eked out a living in the treacherous harem.

Now all of this has come true, and much sooner than she had expected. Thinking of this, she felt she should pray for the princess she didn't know very well—she had originally wanted to attend the wedding, but because Cyprus was unstable at the time, Patriarch Chiraclius had asked her to stay at the Castle of the Holy Cross for safety reasons. Now it seemed that Chiraclius's worries were not unfounded.

Even now, whenever she leaves the Governor's Palace, she is always accompanied by a squad of knights, whether she is attending a banquet or watching a play.

She knew where César's fears came from, and therefore, no matter how others tried to persuade her, she would not sympathize with the noble ladies who were executed.

"You've come?" Cesar looked up and smiled slightly. Natia walked towards him, and the standing Cesar gave her a gentle hug and kissed each other on the cheek.

"I just saw the Archbishop of Cyprus in the square."

"how?"

"Is he coming to talk to you about St. Anne's Cathedral again?"

The Basilica of St. Anne can be said to have been built for Anne, but another reason was to deal with the extortion by the Roman Catholic Church.

Pope Alexander III was immediately excited when he learned from the priests who had gone to seek out Saint John the King that Cyprus now belonged to a Crusader knight.

This servant of God shared the same idea as the former Pope Geras II, and he immediately sent messengers to persuade the "devout" young man to donate Cyprus to the Church free of charge.

He offered many conditions for this. Unfortunately, these conditions did not include any exchange of money or power, but he was quite generous in terms of honors. The messenger even hinted that if César could agree to the Pope's conditions, it was not impossible for him to be posthumously granted the title of saint.

Cesar, of course, would not grant the wish of these greedy jackals. Although his words were tactful, his attitude was firm. He would not hand over Cyprus to anyone, not even the Knights Templar and the Knights of Charity, who could be said to have provided strong support.

The Knights Templar also hoped he would donate—although they weren't as outrageous as the Church, demanding the entirety of Cyprus. Instead, they hoped for a portion of Cyprus's territory, such as what the exiled families had left behind.

But César was only willing to lease, and for how long? Ninety-nine years.

This answer was certainly not satisfactory to the Knights Templar. Walter even openly called him a cunning brat. If it was just a lease, wouldn't that mean the Knights Templar would still support him, and even his successor? After all, if Cyprus changed hands, the contract between the Knights Templar and Cesar would no longer be recognized.

In order to continue to enjoy the island, the Knights Templar must always stand by Cesare's side, even in the face of the Roman Catholic Church.

Cesar also made significant concessions. For example, for the next hundred years, he would only charge an annual rent of one gold coin. He even allowed the Knights Templar to build castles and station troops, and granted them an important commercial privilege—the taxes payable on the commercial activities handled by the Knights Templar would be 20 percent lower than his predetermined taxes.

Don't underestimate this 20%. The commercial privileges that the Venetians tried so hard to obtain from the Byzantine emperors only amounted to a 10% tax reduction. Yet, this 10% was enough to allow their power to expand rapidly throughout the entire Byzantine Empire, even to the point of being rampant. The huge gap created by this expansion made subsequent Byzantine emperors yearn to reclaim this privilege.

This reward is undeniably generous.

After several rounds of negotiations, the Knights Templar reluctantly agreed. After all, Cyprus—in a sense, they hadn't conquered it; they had only provided support and assistance. This outcome was already quite good.

The rewards received by the Good Samaritan Knights were roughly the same as those of the Knights Templar, except that they had no intention of building castles or stationing troops in Cyprus, and their strength was not yet sufficient to extend their reach into new territories.

“I have already told him that Anna will continue to rest in the Cathedral of St. Lazarus, and I will not move her coffin here after the Cathedral of St. Anne is completed. But this gentleman does not seem to believe me very much, and every now and then he will find an excuse to make me repeat myself.”

"So what excuse did he use this time?"

Cesar's expression turned somber. "Anna's anniversary."

“Has it been that long?” Natia murmured.

Yes, time always flies by in the blink of an eye, and even César felt a little lost. The evening Anna left seemed like only yesterday, but those around him were already reminding him that it was time to hold an anniversary memorial for Anna.

The anniversary memorial service, more important than the seven-day or monthly remembrance services, lasts for two days, beginning with evening prayers on the first afternoon, followed by morning prayers and hymns on the second morning, and a requiem mass after breakfast. During the memorial service, a second funeral is held for Anna, complete with the ringing of funeral bells, a procession of the coffin, the lighting of candles, and a large-scale almsgiving ceremony.

People use this method to redeem the souls of the dead and reduce their suffering in purgatory.

Natia gently placed her hand on her brother's shoulder, but ultimately did not convey the messages the nobles had asked her to relay. She thought her brother would not be pleased to hear these requests.

Yes, the start of the anniversary of mourning also means the end of the mourning period, and the ruler of Cyprus will begin to look for his next marriage.

(End of this chapter)