kingdom of nations

Chapter 32: Count Etienne’s Advice (Part )

We all know that human thinking has always been very stubborn. Sometimes, it can even be stubborn to the point of ignoring facts. It's like if a person has lived in a pile of feces and rotten fish since birth, and is accustomed to the smell of those sticky, irritating, or faint but lingering stench. If you pull him out and put him in a pile of roses, he will not feel relieved, but will be terrified, thinking that he has met a devil, and will try his best to escape.

Count Etienne felt the same way at this moment. He was a smart man, but because of his intelligence he was tortured by the world.

At a very young age, he saw through his father's perfunctory attitude, his mother's boredom, his eldest brother's contempt, and his second brother's defensiveness; he could hear the mockery in the servants' words and understand the knights' impatience; his father's ministers were fawning and servile, and their target was definitely not him; the priests taught him that God created all things and that human beings are born with original sin, so everyone should be humble, pious, and strive to do good deeds to atone for their sins.

That's what they said, but they didn't feel any guilt when they lifted up their robes, mingled with the maids and servants, and held up scriptures to intimidate the farmers to hand over their last bit of wheat, their last handful of peas, or even their last few bundles of branches.

In his 37 years of life, the only bright spot found in this dark background was his wife Adlai.

People laughed at him, saying that he had gone to war with the king and two earls for a woman. Not only did he not get the dowry, but he also provoked a difficult enemy for nothing.

Only Etienne knew that if Adélae was just an ordinary woman like other women, muddle-headed or vicious, it would be fine, but she was a woman who truly possessed "beauty" and "goodness" - Ansor II was not the worst villain, he was just an ordinary nobleman, that is to say, he had all the advantages and disadvantages of a nobleman.

As soon as he saw Ansor II, Étienne could see Adélae's future. Either she would be rejected by her husband, divorced, or die "accidentally" because she could not obey him, or she would be forced to fulfill "a wife's duty" and become depressed and wither away early...

He took Adlai away not so much out of his irrepressible love for the girl he grew up with (he worked as a servant in Adlai's father's castle) but out of sympathy, and he married Adlai more to save himself.

When he arrived at the court of Louis VII, he thought he could at least find someone among these "noble people" who was not so vain. After all, in the singing of the bards, the king was always great and pious, the ministers were always wise and loyal, the queen and the ladies were always loyal and compassionate - but he was almost immediately disappointed. The palace was just a slightly larger castle, or in other words, the people there were not better, but worse.

If you ask him if he ever looked for help amidst his disappointment, he would say yes. Some of the priests and monks around him were sons of farmers or artisans. But do their past experiences lead them to harbor a bit of compassion and understanding for their former kind? Sorry, no. They would have everyone forget their origins, and when they exploited the lower classes, they became even more brutal and despicable.

Count Etienne could only settle for the second best. If there really were no perfect saints in this world, then there must be people who possessed one or two virtues. But when he really went to look for them, he found that they were as rare as pearls in the sand and gold in the mud. Even if they did exist, they would have long been captured by bishops or lords who were not blind or deaf.

In the end, there were only some not-so-bad knights and monks around him, and the best one was the monk Anonsia. He was "chosen" but his talent was not outstanding.

Not to mention, he did not quite meet people's current expectations of monks. He was too frivolous, unstable, and somewhat disregarded the power of power and money. He often spoke on the side of the poor, which made the abbot of Troyes Abbey where he was located extremely disgusted with him. When he heard that Count Etienne was willing to take him, he hurriedly sent him over.

So when Count Etienne heard about the "little saint" in Jaffa, his idea was exactly the same as that of other nobles, that is, this was just a trick used by King Amalric I of Alazarus to show off his son Baldwin. It was only because Prince Baldwin suffered from leprosy, a disease that everyone avoided, and could not be "cured by touch" (Note 1) or through long public prayers or parades, that his servants used such a trick to raise his reputation.

Not to mention "angels descended to the cathedral to help clean it", Count Etienne didn't even think he really cleaned the entire cathedral. He might have just found a random place for him to stay and let him go when the time came...

When the Templar Geoffrey rushed into the wolf pack, they shouted "God bless the knight, be brave", who would notice the little servant following closely behind him?
It was not until Count Etienne fell into the crevice, his thigh broken, his whole body cold, and he wondered whether he would be eaten by rats or insects, that he saw César, thought the boy brave, and began to admire him a little.

But then they met Mulet, and the wisdom and courage displayed by Cesar could not help but make the Count look sideways - as he had seen before, he was very virtuous, and a mortal with one or two of these was enough to establish himself in the court, the army, and the church... Was he so attentive because of some other intention?

When he returned to Castel Santa Croce, he made some inquiries and found out that Amalric I did not meet Cesar at the market or in the castle and bought him from the slave trader Isaac.

At that time, the slave traders of Isaac chose a hill in the mountains of Judah, where they planned to castrate a group of children to be sold to the pagan royal court as eunuchs. Amalric I's hunting party was passing between two hills. Cesar, who was just an unknown slave at the time, was dying and had a high fever. He was able to take advantage of the moment when the slave traders and guards were prostrating themselves on the ground to pay their respects and submission to the king, and he jumped up, jumped over those drooping heads, and rolled in front of the hooves of Amalric I's horse.

Count Etienne was also a knight, and hunting was a daily necessity for him. He knew, of course, that hunting was equivalent to a small tournament or a war. The king's cavalry was even more heavily guarded and well-trained. It was amazing that Cesar was not trampled to death by horses' hooves, nor beaten to death by his entourage - that's why Amalric I redeemed him from the merchant Isaac... Although Amalric I also had his own selfish motives, not every slave of the merchant Isaac could move him.

It is said that he had forgotten many things, including his origins, family, and beliefs, but he could still read and write Latin, count, and calculate. One of Gerard's deans liked him so much that he was almost unwilling to return him to the king.

When he arrived at the Holy Cross Castle, he was ostracized, framed, and even assassinated by the prince's former servants. This kind of thing was not uncommon - the oppression of the lower class was only more direct and cruel than that of the upper class. Not only did he not fall for it, he even killed two servants in return, one of whom he threw into the toilet corridor. The two servants were both adults, and one was tall and fat...

He challenged David, the son of the Count of Tripoli, to a duel and won.

Prince Baldwin was delighted and cherished to have such a companion. Within a few days, he treated him like a duke's son. The earl also saw that if living, eating, and traveling with the prince was considered a sign of respect for a servant, Baldwin made him wear a gold cross and sable fur, treating him as a person of the same class as himself.

What surprised the count even more was the evaluation Anonsia got after asking around - from washerwomen to helpers, from squires to knights, and from knights to monks, except for those who were jealous of him or stubborn, they were all praising him. Even the former who disliked him could not say anything bad about the prince's new squire.

And the origin of the title of "Little Saint" - he not only cleaned the most sacred place, but also cleared the filth in people's hearts because of his good deeds.

Since that grand procession, although the monks of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre still charge fees for worship and veneration, there are three days every month when they ask pilgrims to nominate the most virtuous or the person most in need of forgiveness to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This person will be exempt from all expenses.

Even those who were bold enough to commit crimes in the Holy City - those who even dared to rob pilgrims who wore shells (the symbol of St. James) on their hats - would consciously avoid the path walked by the "little saint".

To achieve this, it was far from enough to simply forgive the sins of a woman and a baby. The earl heard that he donated all the rewards from the lords and ladies to the poor, leaving only a piece of white woolen cloth that was said to have been draped on the Holy Sepulchre, and presented it to his master, Prince Baldwin.

Was this an instruction from Amalric I, or his spontaneous behavior? After Count Etienne hinted at several of Amalric I's attendants, he believed it was the latter, because in the following days, Amalric I had been very cold to his son's attendant.

No one could calculate the total value of the jewels and clothes that Cesar donated to the poor at that time, but the count had also experienced several grand processions after mass, when the monks and knights, with their upper bodies naked and shackled, whipped themselves cruelly, beating their stinking skins until they were bleeding and twitching. After a period of convulsions, the nobles would also throw away their jewelry, cloaks or scarves.

One knight boasted that a single ring was worth fifty gold coins...

At that time, Count Etienne still didn't believe such a kind person existed. He thought that either César was too young to understand the value of these things, or that he was asking for too much. What was he asking for? From the Count's perspective, what else could he ask for besides leaving a sinful leper?

This wasn't worthy of criticism. Whether he agreed to serve as the prince's squire or wanted to leave, it was merely a mortal's act of self-preservation in the face of a formidable threat. Moreover, he had indeed helped many poor people. For this reason alone, the earl was willing to redeem him, out of the favor owed to him by King Amalric I. "You may not understand," the earl patiently advised, also for the benefit of the poor who had benefited from the child's kindness. "You are inexperienced. The title of a prince's squire is indeed attractive, but you are serving a leper. Who knows if his sins will be passed on to you..."

He paused, observing Cesar's arms and face to make sure he wasn't sick. "Perhaps one day, perhaps not. But he won't live past thirty, and he won't have any offspring. Amalric I will have a new wife, and he's even younger than me, so it's entirely possible he'll have another son. By then, even your master won't be much of a factor. What future will you have?"

"That's why I want to stay with him," Cesar said patiently. "I will serve him until he dies, to complete the sincere friendship between us.

At that time, I will ask my king Amalric I to leave the castle. I will still be in my prime at that time, and I can become a monk, a craftsman, or even a farmer. I know it will be difficult, but it is much better than my original fate.

"But..." But you could have had a better future.

Everyone is trying to make a profit for themselves, and everything can be put on the scales to be weighed. Why wouldn't you want to be one of them?

Without Count Etienne noticing, Friar Anonthia had already stood up, and the Count stared at the young man, his chest heaving, as if he could no longer suppress his emotions.

After a long time, when even the sunlight had lost its glare, he turned to his brother and said, "Help me get the reliquary."

Reliquaries were the most popular decorations, jewelry, and storage items of the 12th century. As the name suggests, they usually contained some kind of holy object: bones, hair, fragments of torture instruments, etc. Some were made into the shape of hands or feet, some were made into crosses, and some were coffins or small cabinets; they varied in size, some could only be placed on altars or in niches, and some could be hung around the neck.

The count's reliquary was made in the shape of a cross, with a length and width of about one foot each and a thickness equal to that of a palm. The monk was a little surprised, but not that surprised. He quickly brought the reliquary. The count took off the small key hanging around his neck, opened the reliquary, and took out several rolls of parchment from it.

The monk brought forward the long chests, and the count opened them one by one, holding them down with his ring. "And bring me the box with the gold."

This time, the monk rarely muttered anything - nonsense like whether he could finish speaking at once. Instead, he turned around and brought back another box. This box was made of oak, plain and unremarkable, with no carvings or gold plating. It only had reinforced iron plates at the four corners and hinges.

"This is the pilgrimage permit signed by Alexander III." Cesar subconsciously lowered his head to look. Besides the sacred signature, there was also some brief information about the pilgrim. It showed that he was a devout Christian, a diligent wine merchant under the Count of Champagne. He had been married for twenty years without a son, so he decided to make the pilgrimage to Alazar...

Seeing Cesar's puzzled look, the count smiled and pointed to another parchment. This was the "Safe Conduct" signed by Louis VII, which also stated some information about the wine merchant, and another "Safe Conduct" signed by the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I.

After he had looked at them, several other documents were displayed in succession - a pilgrimage permit signed by the Bishop of Troyes, an identity certificate and "safe conduct" signed by the Count of Champagne, and then a "safe conduct" signed by Sultan Nur ad-Din of Zengi and Caliph Atid of the Fatimids.

Cesar had not been in this world for long, but he could tell that this was a complete set of documents for pilgrims. It could be said that with these pieces of parchment, he could travel unimpeded along the entire pilgrimage route. Every king had issued a decree strictly prohibiting the killing and imprisonment of pilgrims, and the authority of bishops and popes was sacred and unshakable. As for why there were also documents signed by pagan emperors - when some devout or cautious pilgrims thought they might have to cross pagan territory, they would try to buy such a permit - for money, the Sultan and the Caliph would not care too much whether Christians passed through their territory.

Of course, if you really encounter a thief who doesn't care about sin or the law, you can only blame yourself for your bad luck.

Count Étienne pointed to the monk beside him and said, "Anonthias is a skilled forger. He'll change the information on it to say you're the nephew of someone, saying you're on a pilgrimage on your uncle's behalf to pray for a son."

He pushed the box of gold coins over again. "Here are three hundred gold coins. I don't recommend you use them to help the poor. The poor in the Holy Land are like the sea, layer upon layer. The old haven't left yet, and the new have come. You might say that it would be nice if one person could be saved, but I hope it's you."

The count stared at Cesar and said with mixed emotions, "You saved my life, I should repay you, but you rejected my first offer, so I can only give these things to you." He said in a low but clear voice, "Take this gold. Prince Baldwin will not ask you for it, but some knights and squires will come to borrow money from you, or tempt you to gamble, or even attract prostitutes and merchants, asking you to indulge in the quagmire of pleasure. My child, don't listen to anyone, don't believe anyone, you must hide this money and these documents well, and don't tell anyone.

When the time is right, you can leave the castle, rent a small room outside, and hire someone to look after the things in the room for you. It doesn't need to be too much, just a few clothes, a strong mule or donkey, and remember to equip it with a wide-brimmed hat decorated with shells and a sturdy walking stick.

This is the pilgrim's gear.

"I hope that day will never come, but if it does, take the money, bribe the guard or someone else, escape from the Fort of Sainte-Croix, run to the hut, dress yourself like a pilgrim, mount a mule, and quickly sail for Jaffa or Acre. The captain there will see your license and your money and take you aboard. When you reach Egemot, come to me in Sancerre."

　Note 1: “Touch therapy” was a soothing therapy that was popular from the th to the th century.

　　Specifically, the king could cure the lymph tuberculosis that was prevalent at the time by touching the patient's forehead or face and blessing him with a gold coin.

　　I have checked the information but have not confirmed whether princes and nobles can do this. I will just assume that as long as the king allows, the prince can do it. After all, there were many cases of co-governance during this period.

　　Ps:

　　——I calculated that last month's monthly tickets were nearly a thousand, recommendation tickets were nearly ten thousand, and rewards far exceeded the amount I set——

　　I am truly overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of our readers!
　　Greatful!

　　After that, in February, we will gradually complete the additional chapters promised before.

　　In addition: In order to thank the author of this article, a special thanks is given and an additional update is added!
　　pss: I thought this article didn't need special annotations.

　　No stud, no harem, no danmei!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)