Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 272 The Three Lusignan Brothers Gather

The moonlight is just so-so, but eating meat and drinking wine always makes people feel happy.

伊斯兰历以月亮圆缺为一个月，历时29日12小时44分2.8秒，月亮圆缺十二周为一年，历时354日8小时48分33.6秒。

Therefore, when the Islamic calendar festivals are reflected in the Gregorian calendar, they always come 11 days earlier every year.

Just look up at the moon and you can roughly determine what day it is.

Unlike the Gregorian calendar or the Celestial calendar, the Islamic calendar has no spring, summer, autumn or winter...

Today is almost the 15th. After all, the moon is like a round disk, casting layers of silver light on the ground.

Under the moonlight, Gellis walked into the courtyard wearing a cloak. When he walked into the courtyard, Fawaz was giving a speech.

"The Crusaders! We must suppress them at all times! We have to suppress them. Just imagine, you took your wife out of the city, eating barbecue and singing, and suddenly you were robbed by the Crusaders... Therefore, the days without the Crusaders are good days!"

Fawaz on the stage shouted like this, and many Turkic nobles below also cheered. These words really touched their hearts.

This Crusader! How could he be so evil!
If it weren't for the Crusaders, they could have lived a happy life!

As the amount of fermented grape juice increased and the Turks became happier, the atmosphere at the banquet became completely relaxed.

They didn't notice when Charles and Alex left.

On the other side of the monastery wall, Charles had a discussion with Alex.

"Charles, don't you think this is a bit inappropriate? Inviting this person here just to give him..."

As he spoke, Alex drew a line across his neck with his right hand.

Charles understood what Alex meant. Theoretically speaking, those Turks did enjoy guest rights.

Although the Crusaders and the Ayyubid Dynasty are now at loggerheads with each other, neither side actually cares too much about the unspoken rules.

The Knights Templar used the excuse of overthrowing Saladin and becoming the Kaqa of Damascus to trick Saladin's relatives into meeting in a garden, and then tied them up and took them away.

This incident itself, in addition to bringing some intelligence benefits to the Second Kingdom, also exchanged some prisoners from Saladin's dungeon.

I just don't know what Saladin would feel when he heard the reason why the person was captured by the Knights Templar.

Even though it was about to become a situation where "there was no need to talk about noble ethics with pagans"
But Alex comes from a knight family after all, so he will think more.

Charles spread his hands.

"Do we have any special arrangements? Do we need to attack them by surprise? Or have they put drugs in the food?"

"We didn't do anything, we just simply invited them to dinner, and we even used spices!"

Charles felt that they had done their best.

Alex rolled his eyes.

"Indeed, we did nothing. We just informed the Prophet that we would host a banquet for the Turks today..."

While the two were chatting, they heard sounds of an argument in the courtyard, followed by a fight and the sound of metal colliding.

Alex and Charles did not get involved. In their opinion, the Prophet alone was enough to deal with those people.

There was silence, and after a while, the fight died down.

Charles continued: "This war has been going on for two years. It will soon be over."

"Well, I guess it will be soon. If we win again next year, Saladin won't be able to hold on. After all, these Turks are not trustworthy and they will abandon Saladin."

"Yeah, by the way, Alex, where is your hometown?"

“The city of Jerusalem.”

"No, I'm asking, where are your ancestors from? Where in Europe?"

Charles's birth was more humble than Alex's. His ancestors had long forgotten where they came from. Therefore, he was more interested in Europe and the origin of his bloodline.

"Aquitaine."

"Aquitaine?"

Apparently, Charles's knowledge of geography was not enough for him to realize where Aquitaine was.

"It's France. Uh, it seems to be ruled by the King of England now. To be more precise, it's the fief of the Anjou family. I heard that there is bright sunshine and countless vineyards over there."

“We have it here, too.”

“Yes, we have it here too…”

"Do you want to go back and take a look?"

"Not really interested, this is my home."

Alex knows where he comes from, but he has no attachment to his hometown in Europe. After all, he has more feelings for the land under his feet.

"I really want to go back, and return to Europe with the Prophet's teachings."

Palestine alone is not enough for Charles. The right path requires more people to set foot on it, whether in the West or the East.

On the side, the fight in the courtyard was completely over. In fact, there were not many screams, but there were more voices begging for mercy, mixed with calls to Allah.

……

Some people wanted to return to Europe to spread the way to heaven, and naturally there were also people who came to Palestine from Europe to make a pilgrimage to this sacred land closest to heaven.

While Gellis was busy recovering the southern lands and opening up a connection with Arnon, Crusaders from Aquitaine, France and England set foot on the land of the Levant.

Just like Barbarossa's troops rested for a while on the island of Cyprus, the British and French Crusaders chose to stay on the island of Cyprus for a while in order to avoid the storm before landing on the mainland.

However, before the Lionheart Army took action, the Frankish nobles on the continent had already been ready to take action when they learned that the British and French Crusaders were coming.

A ship crossed the sea on this winter day and arrived in Tyre first as a messenger of King Lionheart.

There were many nobles from France on this ship, all of whom were related to many people in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Guy now faced a dilemma, although he still held the crown of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and was the nominal king.

But the current Kingdom of Jerusalem does not need a king like him.

In fact, many people felt that it would have been better for Guy not to have been crowned so that the blame for the previous defeat could be put on him.

This is not only the opinion of Balian and his faction, in fact even those represented by Iraklius think so.

For a time, Guy was tacitly sidelined by both factions in the kingdom.

This situation is very embarrassing. A king who does not pledge allegiance to his people is not worthy of being a king.

For a long time, he tried to reduce his presence as much as possible and relied on his marriage to Sibylla to maintain his status.

Catholic divorce is a very troublesome matter. It is difficult to separate Sibylla if she does not want to. Guy has not taken any action for a long time because he is waiting for an opportunity, and now the opportunity has come.

"Améry and Guy, how are you?"

Geoffrey de Lusignan, in a house in Tyre, met his two brothers in the Holy Land, and the three of them embraced each other.

They had not seen each other for 1168 years, since 20.

The Lusignan family, a French noble family, originated in the early 10th century AD. By the end of the 11th century, the Lusignan family had become a well-known lord family in Poitiers.

Of course, their fame, in a sense, comes from their ability to make things happen.

In 1168, Lusignan rebelled against King Henry II of England and killed his confidant Patrick, st Earl of Salisbury, and was immediately suppressed by Henry II the Lionheart's father.

As the fifth of the seven Lusignan brothers, Amery was the first to be expelled and thus embarked on a penitential expedition to Jerusalem.

This should have been a punishment of being exiled to a remote frontier, but by chance, it became the reason for the Lusignan family to rise to prominence.

The Kingdom of Jerusalem at that time welcomed all nobles from Europe, and anyone with some talent had the opportunity to obtain a position.

After a few years, Amery made a name for himself in Jerusalem. Guy happened to be unhappy in his hometown, so he also embarked on a journey to Jerusalem under the pretext of pilgrimage.

Jeffrey, who stayed at home, became the head of the family because his other two brothers had passed away.

In 1177, he rebelled again against Henry II but was suppressed.

After Charles the Lionheart was granted fiefdom and became Geoffrey's lord, Geoffrey joined forces with Charles the Lionheart's brother and other nobles in 1183 to rebel again against Charles the Lionheart himself.

In fact... this is far from the end. In history, after the Third Crusade, Geoffrey continued to rebel against the Plantagenet Dynasty of Anjou.

Such an indomitable spirit brought the Lusignan family a fame that did not match its strength.

But no matter what, the Lusignan family did not actually obtain even a county in Europe.

On the contrary, he was actually crowned king in Palestine, which could be said to be an unprecedented leap.

Because of Guy, their Lusignan family had the possibility of becoming a royal family.

After Guy explained his predicament to his third brother, Geoffrey realized that the Lusignan family would give up the crown held by Guy at all costs.

"Sybilla is dying? And she never bore you a son?"

"Yes."

When mentioning Sibylla, Guy also sighed. It was not true that he had no feelings for Sibylla.

"Come on, Guy, tell me about the aristocratic factions in Jerusalem first, and I'll think about it."

Upon hearing Geoffrey's request, Guy, as the youngest brother, naturally gave a comprehensive introduction to the political situation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

In fact, it is not difficult to understand that there are only two factions that can be brought to the table in the current Kingdom of Jerusalem.

In Guy's view, he had no way of understanding the significance of those reforms, and only understood Guéris's reforms as a means of seizing power.

Therefore, for him, one of the most important groups of nobles, led by Balian, was the one that supported Isabella's succession to the throne. Among them, Garys, as Balian's favorite son-in-law, became increasingly important.

In particular, somehow, Gellis actually gained the support of Cyprus and Tripoli, and can be said to be a rising star in the Balian faction.

The other faction was much looser, and was essentially a group of landless nobles led by Patriarch Iraklius of Jerusalem, who were headed by personal grudges against Balian and who wanted to curb the Balian faction in order to restore their own fiefdoms in the recovered territory.

But no matter how these two factions fight in the parliament, they actually don't like Guy very much.

It was under Guy's leadership that the Kingdom of Jerusalem has reached its present state of being a dying candle in the wind.

"It's not that there is no chance. They just don't like you, but they haven't directly asked you to abdicate..." Jeffrey was about to say something.

Ameri on the side interjected: "The reason why Guy hasn't abdicated is actually because the Patriarch doesn't like to see Balian monopolize power, so he needs someone to take the position who is not on Balian's side."

“But this won’t last long.”

"Why?" Jeffrey was a little confused.

"From what I know, Balian is also dying."

Unlike Guy, Amery had been in the Kingdom of Jerusalem for 20 years and had served as marshal of the kingdom's army.

Compared to Guy, who simply relies on Sibylla to survive and maintain his identity, he has a deep foundation. Even in Balian's faction, he is actually very successful and has many acquaintances.

He was able to get relatively clear information about Balian's physical condition.

“Shouldn’t this be a good thing?”

"No, this is a bad thing. Patriarch Iraklius does not actually have a clear interest position. The conflict between him and Balian is more of a personal one! Back in Jerusalem, Balian robbed Iraklius!"

"Once Balian dies, Patriarch Iraklius may, for the benefit of the church, turn to Isabella, who has more potential to become king!"

Hearing what Ameri said, Jeffrey couldn't help but cough, but he wasn't very surprised.

After all, that was how it was in the Middle Ages, and everyone was actually used to it...

Touching his chin, Jeffrey realized the key point.

"In this case, there is actually a solution."

"How to say?"

"If Isabella dies, then the only heir of the bloodline of the former king of Jerusalem, Amaury, will be your daughter, Guy..."

According to the blood inheritance of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, there are actually only six people who still have royal blood.

Unfortunately, they are all women.

Sibylla was already dying and Isabella was hostile, but Sibylla's four daughters technically also had a claim to Jerusalem, after all, Sibylla herself had been crowned queen.

They are four princesses with royal blood.

"And I think as long as we want Richard the Lionheart to make concessions, he will support our actions?"

"Support?" The two younger brothers were a little confused. The relationship between them and Lionheart should not be that good.

"If Lionheart is willing to support Guy to keep the throne and ensure that the crown is passed down on our side, then the ancestral land of the Lusignan family can be ceded to Lionheart."

"After all, why bother about that tiny piece of land if you can take over a kingdom?"

Geoffrey showed his gambler side. He spent his entire life seeking the land and glory of the Lusignan family. He was willing to sacrifice everything and use any means to achieve this.

Now, an unprecedented opportunity is before him, and he will not give it up no matter what.

Of course, Jeffrey didn't know what kind of people his thoughts would make him enemies with.

(End of this chapter)