Crusade against the Pope

Chapter 425 The Prophet and the Thief
It is February in Jerusalem, and the winter rains have gradually stopped.

Gellis sat on a stone bench in a corner of the Square of the Holy Sepulchre, watching the crowds of people huddled together in front of him.

I could hear the Franks speaking Occitan, Latin with an Italian accent, and even some Arabic words mixed in from time to time.

But then, it was blurred by the crowd, and only endless, whispered prayers remained.

Garys touched the fingers of his left and right hands together and placed them in front of his nose, looking at everyone in the crowd, one by one.

Some were kneeling in the dust in tattered clothes, some were followed by servants, and the children were the most active, moving among the crowd, many of them selling candles or other souvenirs.

Of course, there are others who have already touched Garys's back and put their hands on Garys's belt.

Jerusalem is a tourist city and a tourist city has its own characteristics. Apart from the lack of powerful city guilds that ordinary cities have, it also has a classic group of pickpockets.

Even if the kingdom tried its best to govern, there were many things it was powerless to do.

Therefore, many people who come here to make pilgrimages not only have their souls purified, but also have their wallets purified.

When the thief succeeded in stealing his stuff and tried to turn around and leave, his hands were held down.

"Do you think I'm so defenseless? You didn't even ask your accomplices to sell me those 'holy relics' to distract me."

Gellis didn't turn around, and he was able to determine whose hand was reaching out to him.

Sitting on this stone bench for two hours, Gellis was not just in a daze, but was carefully observing the ecology here.

Jerusalem is a peculiar city.

This peculiarity can be traced back to the moment when the First Crusade broke into the city.

The First Crusade's siege of Jerusalem brought about fundamental changes to the city.

First of all, before the siege began, the Muslim authorities had already driven almost all Christians out of the city to avoid acting as the fifth column and colluding with the Crusaders.

Then the Crusaders broke through the city walls and massacred the entire city.

Jerusalem is not a big city, with a total area of ​​only 1 square kilometer and a population of at most people. Faced with the massacre of nearly Crusaders, all records of it in historical documents were wiped out.

William, Archbishop of Tyre, wrote in his History Abroad:

[After the city was breached by force, almost all the residents were burned to death. Even if someone managed to escape, the city would not give them more living space.]

[The God-fearing leaders considered it a blasphemy to allow non-Christians to have such distinguished residents.]

Another chronicler wrote: "On the third day after the victory, the leaders pronounced the verdict, and everyone seized his weapons and rushed out to slaughter all the non-Jews who were still left... whom they had previously spared for money and human mercy..."

After this, the capital of the old Kingdom of Jerusalem was rebuilt on the ruins of the original city of Jerusalem.

They stipulate that anyone who holds an asset for one year will become the owner of the asset in order to attract nearby residents to settle there.

The original Muslim citizens were replaced by a large number of Orthodox Christians, Armenians and Copts.

But these citizens were obviously not the masters of the city of Jerusalem, but rather settled there as servants.

As a consumer city not centered on handicraft production, the Crusader rulers encouraged the development of commerce and imposed tariffs on goods and food brought into Jerusalem in 1120.

This policy was then extended to all types of trade and all agricultural products brought into the city from the hinterland. Since it did not rely on its own production, the city's economy, apart from the upper class through taxes on other surrounding areas, was heavily dependent on tourism from pilgrims from Christian Europe.

The exemption from customs duties allowed markets to develop in Jerusalem and sell imported goods to pilgrims.

But the number of practitioners in these industries is limited after all.

This inevitably leads to a large number of urban citizens falling into the poor class.

For these citizen groups, their income is extremely unstable, so it is natural for them to develop some side businesses.

Selling "holy relics" in various churches only brought in a negligible amount of income. After all, no one was rich in that era, and there were too many pilgrims who just looked but did not buy.

At this time, a more decisive approach is needed, and you have to take the money out of the pilgrims' pockets yourself.

This situation did improve during the period of the Kingdom of New Jerusalem.

But... that can only be said to be limited.

After all, there is only a thief who can steal for a thousand days, but you can't guard against thieves for a thousand days.

In the two hours that Gellis had been sitting here, he had already noticed at least six thefts of three types.

One of them is to steal directly with skill
Arrange someone to attract attention and steal from behind
The third one is to trip someone and then rob him.
The most common of these three types is naturally the second one.

After all, the first type requires too much skill, and the third type is too serious in nature. Once discovered, the offender will be sentenced for robbery, and the penalty cost is high.

On the contrary, the second category is easy to get started with.

"Sir, what are you talking about? Why don't I understand you?"

The thief was quite kind and polite in his tone, not showing any nervousness at all.

"Sit down, Alan, and talk to me. You don't want me to start yelling and telling the police that you and your friends have been stealing all morning and are returning the stolen goods to the Armenian neighborhood."

After giving the other person's name, the thief's breathing became noticeably faster, and when Garys mentioned the Armenian neighborhood, the other person reluctantly sat next to Garys.

"Sir, I really didn't steal anything. Please don't slander me. If you do this again, I will call the police."

"Then just shout." After answering casually, Gailis turned his head and examined the young man who was caught by him.

Judging from his accent and appearance, he might be a typical Armenian petty thief, about thirteen or fourteen years old.

Unlike his profession, he had a handsome face and took good care of his hair. His simple but carefully matched clothes made him look very deceptive.

That is why, even though the other two thieves were caught by the police, the boy named Allen was still active in this square.

If it weren't for Gary's intervention, Allen would not have been caught.

As for why Garys knew the other person's name, it was of course because he heard it directly with his high-value ears.

"You know what? Allen, this church in front of you has only been built to its current state for a few decades."

(End of this chapter)