kingdom of nations

Chapter 20: Sibylle's Humiliation (Part )
According to Amalric I's plan, no banquets will be held in the Castle of Holy Cross except for necessary celebrations before the Epiphany on January 6, and everyone should focus their energy on the upcoming "Choice Ceremony".

The castle was noticeably more desolate, with dust flying all over the square. In contrast, meditation and training became increasingly intensive, the quality and quantity of food were greatly improved, and there were also monks... They came to Baldwin and Cesar in an endless stream, praying for them and stroking their heads. Some monks would whisper encouragement, while others would show pity on their faces.

From the robes they wear, it can be seen that they are not all from churches or monasteries. A large number of them are "priests" in the knightly orders, including the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, the Knights Templar and the Knights of the Charity House, or some small knightly orders in the Holy Land, such as the Knights of St. Lazarus and the Knights of Thomas.

They had only one thing in common - they were all "chosen ones". Their prayers and touches had divine power, which could make Baldwin and Cesar stronger, more agile and more focused, especially the last one. Every time after receiving comfort from the monks, Heraclius would take out a portrait of a saint and ask them to stare at it intently, while also prick up their ears and listen with all their might.

He said: "The prayers during the ceremony are of course the most important, but the accumulation of daily life should not be underestimated. Just like a frightened lamb will panic and run to a familiar shepherd, a shepherd will also reach out to his own lamb among hundreds of similar white wool."

At this point, he looked at Cesar. This was the biggest difficulty the child faced. He had forgotten everything in the past, and they could not get a glimpse of his past life... They could not tell which saint would be more likely to notice him. What made Heraclius laugh and cry was that the child was not so "pious". He only hoped that even if his previous asceticism could not impress the saint, it could at least convince mortals. If he was not chosen, people would only say that perhaps this was a test and tempering given to him by God, rather than that the gem had an irreparable crack.

Cesar was also hesitant. He was still unsure. After all, in the world before him, there was no power beyond science. Baldwin showed a worried look - as the son of Amalric I, he had nothing to hesitate about. There was always a statue of St. George hanging in his room. Generally speaking, when a father has a vision of a saint, the son is also very likely to become a follower of this saint.

Heraclius sighed and placed three statues of saints - Saint Blaise, Saint Mark and Saint Ambrose - in front of Cesar. These three people were also carefully selected by the monks. After what happened before, Cesar felt that the more humble the saint, the better. Saints like Saint George who were often chosen by kings would definitely not be acceptable, and saints like the Pope or the Twelve Apostles were also best not to be chosen.

Saint Blaise was the bishop of Sebastede in Armenia. Because he suffered persecution for his church, he had to hide in the mountains. There he tamed wild animals as he would sheep, sang sutras for them, combed their wool, and lived with them like a family. A woman's pig was taken away by a wolf, so the saint commanded the wolf to return the pig. A child had a fishbone stuck in his throat, so he commanded the fishbone to come out by itself. All of the above miracles have been proven.

St. Mark was one of the seventy disciples sent by Jesus to preach in Judea. It is said that he once betrayed Jesus, but later repented, became St. Peter's assistant, and wrote the famous "Gospel of Mark".

St. Ambrose was the Governor of Milan in the fourth century AD. It is said that before he took office, an angel disguised as a human said to him: "Govern the people like a bishop, not like an ordinary governor." Turns out his words came true. At that time, the people of Milan were arguing over the election of a bishop, and St. Ambrose had to step in to mediate. As a result, some people shouted, why don't we elect Ambrose as bishop?
People thought that this honest and gentle young man was indeed the best choice, so they chose him as bishop.

This is not the reason why Heraclius chose him - after the young governor was consecrated and became the Bishop of Milan, he immediately gave away all his furniture and money to the poor, donated his land and property to the church, left only a small amount of money to his sister, and gave the title to his younger brother.

This selfless act was subtly consistent with Cesar's previous good deeds. If he had been seeing Saint Ambrose, it is hard to say whether someone would regard Cesar as a disciple of this saint in the future, which would be much more reliable than the guarantee of a king or a bishop.

Heraclius was about to give Cesar a hint when there was a knock on the door. A servant stood outside and said that the king needed to see him immediately. The monk had to put down his two children and hurried away. But soon another servant came running over and told Baldwin that there was nothing serious with the king. It was just that Etienne, Count of Sancerre, the special envoy of King Louis VII of France to the Holy Land, had arrived in Jaffa and was preparing to enter the city. Bohemond, Duke of Antioch, had been ordered by Amalric I to go and greet him.

"Hurry!" Baldwin grabbed Cesar's hand, "Let's go to the city wall!"

They ran out quickly, left the tower, crossed the fortress, passed through the inner city wall, and came to the twin towers on both sides of the city gate... While waiting for the soldiers to open the tower door for them, David was running over with another group of children - all of them were people Baldwin was familiar with, his former companions and followers - it was obvious that they were also here to watch the fun.

In the 12th century, when entertainment was generally restricted and despised, people had very few ways to find pleasure, so penance, execution, and mass could be regarded as rare performances, and the tours of kings, lords, or special envoys were also regarded as rare encounters. If an ordinary farmer was lucky enough to see it, he could talk about it for thirty or forty years, and he would relish every detail.

David and Baldwin exchanged glances only briefly before retreating as if they had touched a burning coal. David lowered his eyes, breathing rapidly, not knowing what to say. Fortunately, Baldwin raised his hand and pointed toward the bridgehead on the other side, "You go there."

Of course there is no reason for a prince to avoid the minister's son.

"I used to come here often with them—sometimes to greet my father, sometimes just to enjoy the evening breeze."

Baldwin held Cesar's hand. He always wore gloves, so even if he held someone's hand tightly, he lacked the intimacy of direct skin contact and the transmission of body temperature. However, Cesar could feel the hand trembling slightly. It had only been two or three months since he was diagnosed with leprosy... Baldwin couldn't help but miss his friend...

He pulled his hand away and put his arm around Baldwin's shoulders as he looked at him in disbelief.

"Look, they're coming."

The team of Holy Land envoys is indeed impressive.

Along the way, there were hundreds of people in the procession. At the front and on both sides of the procession were ragged pilgrims. When they saw such a noble, they would immediately come forward to beg. The pilgrims in front would clear the way for them and sweep the ground, while the pilgrims on both sides would shout, boast, and praise - this behavior had already existed in ancient Rome, but at that time, the people following the sedan chair were not pilgrims but retainers and slaves.

Around the pilgrims walked mercenaries, armed with clubs, ready to disperse any rogues or men with ill intentions who, whether intentionally or unintentionally, approached too closely. Further in, the retinue and servants of the envoy and Archduke Antioch, along with the monks, proudly carried crosses, relics, and banners—Charlemagne's golden flames, the Capetian crown with gold fleur-de-lis on a blue field, the wall banner of Blois, and the matching large arms—arms as large as shields, slung across the arms of the retinue, their vibrant paint easily visible in the sunset. Between the arms and banners stood a band of about seven or eight, with musicians playing drums, flutes, and trumpets, while clowns in colorful costumes darted about.

The knights were dressed in armor and gorgeous robes, and their horses were no less impressive, like peacocks with four hooves. Surrounded in the center by them was of course the familiar Bohemond, Duke of Antioch, and the most important guest of the day, Etienne, Count of Sancerre, the special envoy of King Louis VII of France.

From a distance, Count Etienne of Sancerre had a similar figure to Bohemond, tall and thin. When he spoke to Bohemond, he leaned slightly and made humble gestures from time to time. He looked more like a scholar than a knight, but if you thought he was really that gentle and kind man, you were wrong.

This Count is not only bold but also quite brave.

"You said he stole someone else's wife?!"

"That's not the case. The marriage didn't go through to the end." Baldwin felt a little embarrassed when he said this, but he really wanted to share some gossip with his friends - when he first heard about this, he was also dumbfounded and couldn't understand it.

How to say it, this gentleman is the third son of the Count of Blois. We all know that under Salic law, the eldest son gets everything, the second son can only be said to be a spare tire, and the third son... Even though Blois is an ancient and large family, after the death of his father Thibaud IV, Etienne, as the youngest son, only got the worst and smallest territory, Sancerre.

But at this time he was in love with Adélae, the daughter of a neighboring lord, who was already engaged to another lord, Ansor II. If it were anyone else, they would have just sighed and given up silently, but not Mr. Etienne!

He broke into the church where the wedding was being held, forcibly took the bride away, brought her back to his territory, immediately married her and made her marriage public.

Ansot II was furious, but because they were all subjects of the French king, they could not go to war privately. So he appealed to Louis VII. Louis VII found the head of the Blois family, Etienne's eldest brother, the Count of Champagne... The Count of Champagne could not do anything with his younger brother, so he could only attack Sancerre together with Louis VII and Ansot II.

If they had won, people would have laughed at the stupidity of Count Etienne of Sancerre, but the problem was... they hadn't been able to take it!

In the end, it was the Holy See that mediated, saying, "Since the marriage contract has been reached," why waste the knights' blood and the king's gold coins in vain? Louis VII certainly wanted it, and the Count of Champagne was not very willing to attack his own brother. Ansor II was certainly unwilling, but if it was only him, he could not afford the heavy expenditure, so the matter ended in nothing.

He did this when he was twenty years old. Now this gentleman is thirty-seven years old, but he still looks very young. Although he is thin, it can be seen that he has never slackened in his pursuit of martial arts.

At this time, Baldwin and Cesar could already see his face clearly. The Count of Sancerre's complexion tended to be a less healthy gray, but his lips were red, his eyes were bright, his hair was thick and fluffy, and he was wearing a crimson velvet tunic, a sapphire blue cloak, and a silver belt. Although his dress was not much different from that of the nobles at that time, he looked particularly relaxed and suave.

At the same time, Count Sancerre also felt the gaze from above. He raised his head and saw Baldwin in white. He immediately guessed that he was the only son of King Alasarus who was said to have contracted leprosy. The Count was slightly startled - after all, in his impression, even if lepers were not expelled from the city, they would hide themselves in the room. After all, people's terrified and disgusted eyes were like knives that pierced people.

But he was only stunned for a short moment, then he lowered his head and saluted on his chest.

Cesar heard Baldwin sigh softly, not with much sadness, but with a hint of relief. Before he was found to have leprosy, Baldwin was as naughty and energetic as all the other boys. Climbing up the battlements in the evening breeze to gaze into the distance must have been something they did every now and then. But since... since then, Baldwin seemed to prefer staying alone in his room. Cesar could understand that, but seeing Baldwin no longer isolate himself and not suffer setbacks on his first attempt...

It's so good.

_______
"He saluted Baldwin?"

"Yes," said the maid, gently combing Princess Sibylle's long hair with a golden comb. "He looks like a humble and good man."

"And he was very generous. He gave the pilgrims several pounds of Frankish copper coins." Another maid brought a Xinan hat. This Xinan hat was even more exquisite than the one Cesar had worn when he first met the princess. The white gauze hanging from the top was not one but several layers. They cascaded down like snowdrifts falling from the mountains, but Sibyl just glanced at it. "No, not this today. Bring me the headscarf."

The headscarf she was talking about was the Umppal headscarf. Simply put, it was a white linen cloth covering the hair and neck, leaving only the face exposed. Unmarried girls could wear a garland of flowers, and the king's daughter like Sibyl could wear a crown. Sibyl's crown was simple in style, with only a sapphire inlaid on the top of the cross.

The maids exchanged glances behind Sibyl. They had heard of his "good name" before the Holy Land envoy arrived in Jaffa. They also heard that his wife had passed away and he was now a widower. Now he was of the right age and status, and Louis VII sent him to the Holy City for no reason, perhaps intending to make him Sibyl's husband.

(End of this chapter)