Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 273 Conrad: Pot Falls from the Sky
Unlike the royal families of Jerusalem in past dynasties who had difficulty in having children, the Lusignan family had an advantage that other families could not match - many children and grandchildren.

Guy himself had four daughters, and Guy had six brothers in total.

Moreover, these seven brothers were all born to the same mother, and only one did not live to adulthood.

Considering the sanitary conditions of the Middle Ages, this was a miracle.

With the help of so many brothers, whether in France or Jerusalem, it can be said that "brothers fight tigers together, and fathers and sons fight together in battle."

Now that the goal has been set and the throne of Jerusalem must be preserved at all costs, a careful plan needs to be formulated to seize the fruits of victory.

In the original history, the Lusignan family moved towards success step by step and established the Lusignan dynasty.

Starting from Guy's coronation in 1186, the two Lusignan dynasties lasted until 1472 (the beginning of the EU era). The titles accumulated were so wide that they not only acquired France and Jerusalem, but also Cyprus, Armenia and even Antioch...

Of course, all this that was supposed to happen may never happen again.

"So, besides Balian and Garys, Conrad is also worth noting?"

"Yes."

As soon as the discussion began, the Lusignan brothers took out pens and paper and wrote down all the people in the Kingdom of Jerusalem who needed attention.

Among them, the important figures of Balian’s faction and those who needed to be eliminated were all sorted out.

In addition to Isabella and Gaillis, there is also Conrad.

Compared to Guy, Jeffrey's plotting ability is much stronger. After careful analysis, he found some problems.

The system of the Kingdom of Jerusalem was somewhat too perfect, not like a ruined kingdom that had experienced war.

Even compared to France, it is more orderly, clearer and more centralized.

This entire parliamentary system, coupled with the separate responsibilities of the kingdom's central departments, has a beauty that is inconsistent with the feudal system.

In Europe, there are actually only a few countries that can achieve this level and use bureaucratic groups to govern the country.

The Papal States is undoubtedly one, the Eastern Roman Empire is also one, and the Republic of Venice is actually also one.

As for the Holy Roman Empire, although under the influence of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, an Imperial Parliament was established to discuss legal, diplomatic and military affairs, it was still far inferior to the other three.

The Holy Roman Empire's Parliament at this time was essentially a consultative body between noble lords and church bishops.

Who is Gillis? He is just a country bumpkin born in the Levant, who has a few tricks up his sleeve but has never seen a big scene.

As a result, in Balian's faction, Conrad, who was born in northern Italy and had close ties with Venice, allied with the Pope to defeat Barbarossa's expedition, quelled the aristocratic rebellion in the Eastern Empire, and even obtained the title of Caesar, became particularly prominent.

An Italian, familiar with Venice, a former ally of the Pope, and the "Caesar" of the Eastern Empire.

This suddenly involved the three countries with the most sound bureaucratic systems in Europe.

Compared to Gellis's resume, Conrad's life is much clearer and more dazzling.

If we were to ask who in the Balian faction is most likely to lead the Kingdom of Jerusalem to reform, it would definitely be "Caesar" Conrad!

There is nothing wrong with reform itself, but the power of reform is significantly strengthening the Balian faction. After Balian passes away, Isabella and others continue to control the bureaucratic group. What should we do then?
Jeffrey, who had just arrived, actually had no idea how the bureaucratic system of the Second Kingdom came into being, nor did he know that there was a religious order behind the bureaucracy.

He just blindly believed that it was Conrad who brought about the earth-shaking changes in Tyre.

Therefore, how to deal with Conrad needs to be put on the agenda.

……

Conrad had no idea that he was being targeted. How could he have imagined that?

He was just acting as a representative of the Italians, living in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but then something unexpected happened and he inexplicably became a reformer of Jerusalem in Jeffrey's eyes.

Of course, strictly speaking, this is not wrong.

But his status and importance were not as critical as Jeffrey thought.

Conrad and his father William V were indeed deeply involved in the transformation of the Second Kingdom.

William V himself, at the age of 74, served as Speaker of the House of Lords of the Parliament of King's Landing, and will not be mentioned much.

Conrad himself, due to his extensive knowledge and familiarity with business, also personally participated in the establishment of certain businesses.

Gellis tried to promote more efficient papermaking through Conrad, and then hoped that the other party could use his connections to help the kingdom establish a distribution system in Europe, especially to distribute the Bible that was about to be printed.

Regardless of region, country or ethnicity, it is generally recognized that papermaking originated from the Celestial Empire.

In the 8th century, papermaking technology was introduced to the Islamic world. Craftsmen in Baghdad made certain improvements to the papermaking process, enabling the Middle East to produce paper in large quantities.

This laid the foundation for Arab culture to enter its glorious era.

However, the history of printing technology was full of twists and turns, and it was not until much later that it was successfully spread to the West.

To be precise, it was not until the Mongol invasion of the West that printing technology was introduced to the West, but it did not become popular quickly. Instead, it was not until the beginning of Gutenberg's movable type printing that there were signs of large-scale appearance.

In other words, for the Second Kingdom of this era, the problem of paper is relatively easy to solve, while the problem of printing technology requires investment in manpower research and development, the training of new technicians, and the construction of a completely new industry.

Moreover, the prospects of this industry are actually quite unclear.

It’s not that books of this era were not expensive enough. Quite the contrary. The fact is that in Europe of this era, there was both a lack of demand for books and a lack of people who could afford them.

Take the Christian classic, the Bible, for example. Before Gutenberg's printing press came into operation, the Bible was usually made of high-quality parchment.

A complete Bible requires 300-600 sheets of parchment, equivalent to the skins of 50-100 sheep.

On average, it took a scribe a year to complete a complete Bible.

Such a Bible, with its fine leather binding, gilded ornaments and intricate iconography, would cost around 300 gold dinars, or even more.

Ordinary churches could hardly afford a complete set of Bibles; only bishops and even large noble families could own one.

But apart from the nobility and the clergy, in the whole of Europe, only Italy and Constantinople might be slightly wealthier and have relatively more wealthy merchants who would try to buy.

As for the lower class people, why would they buy a Bible?
Can it be eaten? Is it useful? Can it change the poor life?
So what if you can read? Can literacy change your social class?
Even if printing technology could reduce the high price of books, it would be meaningless for the poor people in Europe. Moreover, even after the Gutenberg printing press in Europe was put into operation, a relatively sophisticated set of Bibles was actually worth 30 gold florins.

The truly impoverished cannot afford any price for knowledge.

But on the other hand, the Italian region, the Venetians, Constantinople, or the Second Kingdom which is now becoming wealthy.

Indeed, a group of people with the ability to spend money to pursue spiritual enjoyment has begun to emerge.

Even if it's not much, you can still give it a try.

When Gellis was in Tyre, he mentioned this matter to Balian, hoping that the other party could find some trustworthy craftsmen to tackle this technology.

And it might be necessary to keep the manufacturing process of the printing press secret for quite some time, in order to buy time for Galisson.

From a religious perspective, mass printing of the Bible was actually a necessary prerequisite for the Reformation.

On the one hand, only when the number of Bibles is large enough for the middle class to access, can the middle class clergy or citizens propose the reform program of "Scripture alone" and implement it.

Otherwise, a group that has never been exposed to the Bible would have no chance of using the authority of the Bible to refute the Roman Catholic Church.

It is only those bishops who actually own the Bible who, by virtue of their monopoly on the Bible, become more authoritative, corrupt and do as they please.

This is one of the reasons why, although the Hussite doctrine in the 15th century had the intention of religious reform, it did not spread on a large scale, nor did it clearly propose "Scripture alone".

Moreover, according to some unspoken meaning of Gillis, large-scale printing of the Bible or the Koran is actually an opportunity to mix in private goods.

When the flashing technology matures, it is actually the time to compile the Bible again.

As long as the number of copies of the Guillis version of the Bible or the Quran can be distributed more than that of other sects, then who is orthodox?

In order to seize this opportunity, you need to be prepared.

The initial technical reserves can be carried out by the Order alone, but the subsequent distribution of goods cannot be separated from the commercial city-states in the Mediterranean.

Naturally, Conrad is also needed as a middleman.

After a year of experimentation and production, Tyre's movable type printing technology is almost mature.

Unlike in China, printing technology did not spread significantly after it was introduced to the West during the Mongol invasion of the West.

As for woodblock printing technology, both the Middle Eastern Arab civilization and the Christian civilization were more or less not adapted to the local conditions and were only used in a relatively small range.

It was not until the movable type printing technology was adopted and improved by Gutenberg that unimaginable sparks emerged.

The reason for this is actually very straightforward: there are too many Chinese characters and not enough letters.

Therefore, Gellis's advice to the order was to skip woodblock printing and go directly to metal movable type printing.

This technology is said to be complex, but in fact it is not simple at all.

It took the blacksmiths of the cult nearly a year to come up with a barely usable version according to the plan left by Garys.

The spiral press is not complicated at all. It simply uses the principle of the spiral press for wine juice extraction, which is a ready-made technology.

But the ink formula and the manufacturing process of movable type require a lot of thought.

Later, Gutenberg developed an oil-based ink suitable for printing, which was mainly a mixture of vegetable oil, rosin and carbon black. This ink is more viscous than traditional water-based ink and can adhere evenly to the surface of metal movable type.

Garys didn't understand what this ink was all about. Although he knew its approximate composition, he obviously didn't have the time to restore it himself.

This is even more true when it comes to movable type.

Compared with China's movable type printing technology, the European printing press in the 15th century brought about an innovation in materials science.

Gutenberg was familiar with metal knowledge and had produced a large number of metal mirrors. He was also the first professional craftsman to use an alloy of lead, tin and antimony to make movable type.

This alloy, called type metal, printing lead, or printing metal, was essential for making durable type blocks and producing high-quality printed books, proving more suitable for printing than the clay, wooden, or bronze type used in East Asia.

The progress of materials science, those who understand this will understand, in a sense, it is just pure luck to draw cards...

In fact, Tyr's sect has only achieved a relatively acceptable level until now, and has not truly replicated Gutenberg's movable type.

Although there are some simpler production methods, considering the customer groups that Gellis faces, they are basically either rich or noble, or at least merchant families or knights.

So we must not fool people too much, or it might even affect the reputation of the Galis Sect.

In a workshop in the new city of Tyre, a Paladin who has received training in metal craftsmanship is concentrating on his work.

In his hand was a steel metal punch with embossed letters on it that were slightly smaller than the nail of his little finger.

Beside him, many similar metal punches had been prepared.

The next step is to hammer these steel metal punches into the softer copper bars to form a mold similar to an engraved character.

Once this process is complete, it is placed into a handheld mold, which is then filled with molten type metal to cast the finished type.

This process has to be repeated countless times until the workshop can officially start printing.

And next to this workshop, three of the twelve apostles gathered here.

Watt, Puldock, Caffey...

These people, who were not well-known in this era but were destined to go down in history, looked at each other in this small room, and the atmosphere was particularly solemn.

"So, is it confirmed?" Watt, who had experience in blacksmithing, looked at Purdock and Caffey.

"Do we really want to print it like this?" Purdock looked quite conflicted.

"This is what the prophet meant." Kafi also expressed his point of view.

What was placed in front of the three of them was actually a manuscript left by Garys. This manuscript could also be said to be Garys's guiding opinions on the printing of scriptures of various religions.

(End of this chapter)