Chapter 943 - 66: Four-Headed Alliance?
The Capet fleur-de-lis, the Golden Lion of Anjou, and the red with a Golden Cross Banner of the Toulouse–Tripoli branch formed three ranks, as Knights armed to the teeth clustered around their lords and galloped over from afar.
Looking at the six hundred Winged Cavalry who had long since formed up in neat ranks awaiting them, the expressions of the Tripartite Alliance were all rather complicated.
Richard did not actually dislike Losa; at most there was a trace of jealousy, because Losa truly could fight, and in handling affairs he was fair, magnanimous and generous—simply impossible to hate.
Yet their interests clashed, and they really could not become friends.
He had imagined more than once that, if there were no Losa in this world, then who but he would be the one whose name was sung throughout all Christendom, who personally defeated Saladin and relieved the Holy City from peril?
Philip, by contrast, felt mostly envy, but what he envied was not Losa’s prosperous domains, rather the exalted prestige Losa had won through Holy War—thrones inherited by bloodline sound very secure and more lawful, yet in truth everyone knew they could never compare to the founder of a Kingdom.
When he ascended the throne at fifteen, the regent power fell to the Empress Dowager, and the dignified King actually had to be subject to another’s control.
Later, in order to rid himself of the regency of the "Adelle of Champagne" over the Kingdom, he decisively chose to marry into the Count of Hainaut’s house; while gaining a powerful ally he also acquired Artois as a dowry territory.
Once his strength had grown, Philip discovered he could finally begin to reveal a little of royal authority, and he promptly allied himself with the great house of Flanders, the Alsace Family, launching the Champagne War and completely removing the shackles upon his royal power.
Yet Philip then discovered that even though he had taken back the King’s authority, the Capet Royal Family was still stuck in the embarrassing situation where its edicts did not extend beyond Gaul Island.
The nobles of Anjou, Normandy and Aquitaine, their power and authority were in fact greater than that of him, the so‑called King; the Anjou Family had even gained a new Crown overseas on Albion Island.
Whenever he sought to expand his own authority, the nobles of all Gaul would sway like reeds in the wind, sometimes leaning toward Anjou, sometimes toward Hohenstaufen.
Even though up to now he had already expanded the Royal Family’s demesne of the Capet Dynasty by more than fourfold, compared to Losa, he still felt his own authority pitifully small.
Hence Philip envied Losa greatly; he more than once recorded what he had seen and heard in his notebooks, and more than once deduced with his Servants and advisers what consequences and risks he might face by acting in such a way in Gaul.
But whatever he had to face, Philip had no intention of retreating.
Raymond’s attitude toward Losa was far more complex.
Reverence, fear, resistance, anger, unwillingness...
Once upon a time, royal power had been in his hands as Regent King; for quite a long period, he could be counted the uncrowned King of Jerusalem.
As the foremost power‑holder in the Kingdom, Raymond knew very well what a Monarch as forceful as Losa would do to him after ascending the throne.
In his mind, the throne of Jerusalem ought not to have been privately conferred in this way by Baldwin.
But now Losa’s kingship was an accomplished fact; either one fought a war over the succession to the throne of Jerusalem, or one bowed one’s head and acknowledged it. Nearing forty, Raymond chose the latter.
Leopold, leading a troop of Cavalry bearing the red‑and‑white Babenburg banner, strutted past them with his nose in the air, a look of smug satisfaction on his face.
Judging from his self‑satisfied air, one would think that the one crowned King of Jerusalem was not Losa but Leopold himself.
A dog bullying others by relying on his master.
Duke Leopold felt as though he could finally straighten his back; he could not help it—whether in rank and status, family wealth, or the strength under his command, he was inferior to the others.
Since coming to the Holy Land, he had had to endure the complaints of his subordinates while also suffering the ostracism of the Tripartite Alliance, truly squeezed from both sides.
"Your Majesty, now that you mount the throne of King David with the bearing of a lion, this is truly God’s grace upon the entire Germanic people. I have heard the Saracens call you King of the Eastern Franks, and now the title is indeed deserved."
"I also hear that Your Majesty bears the title of Vice Emperor of the Eastern Empire, the rightful Emperor over all the Levant and Egypt. If this time you recover Syria, then modeling yourself on Charlemagne the Great Emperor to establish a new Frankish Empire in the Eastern lands would likewise be perfectly legitimate."
Losa smiled and nodded; if Leopold were in the court, he would certainly be a sycophant, handing out honeyed words as though they cost him nothing.
"Gentlemen, long time no see."
Even though they were displeased, in the face of Losa, the Tripartite Alliance, who commanded wind and rain among the Northern Crusaders, still lowered their noble heads.
"By God’s grace, Philip de Capet, King of Gaul, offers you, as a fellow Christ Warrior, his most exalted congratulations on your coronation in the Holy City of Jerusalem."
Richard’s congratulations, by contrast, sounded somewhat dry: "God bless you, Your Majesty."
Though the Kingdom of Jerusalem possessed but a small territory, this sacred halo carried the authority to command all Christians who came East to wage Holy War.
This was what Richard had dreamed of.
Otherwise, at the previous Military Council, with Raymond’s support, he would not have prepared to stand as a candidate for the succession to the throne of Jerusalem. Compared to his lands in Europe, he far more wished to fight forever on the Eastern battlefield.
On the condition that it was as Supreme Commander.
"I also hear that Your Majesty bears the title of Vice Emperor of the Eastern Empire, the rightful Emperor over all the Levant and Egypt. If this time you recover Syria, then modeling yourself on Charlemagne the Great Emperor to establish a new Frankish Empire in the Eastern lands would likewise be perfectly legitimate."
Losa smiled and nodded; if Leopold were in the court, he would certainly be a sycophant, handing out honeyed words as though they cost him nothing.
"Gentlemen, long time no see."
Even though they were displeased, in the face of Losa, the Tripartite Alliance, who commanded wind and rain among the Northern Crusaders, still lowered their noble heads.
"By God’s grace, Philip de Capet, King of Gaul, offers you, as a fellow Christ Warrior, his most exalted congratulations on your coronation in the Holy City of Jerusalem."
Richard’s congratulations, by contrast, sounded somewhat dry: "God bless you, Your Majesty."
Though the Kingdom of Jerusalem possessed but a small territory, this sacred halo carried the authority to command all Christians who came East to wage Holy War.
This was what Richard had dreamed of.
Otherwise, at the previous Military Council, with Raymond’s support, he would not have prepared to stand as a candidate for the succession to the throne of Jerusalem. Compared to his lands in Europe, he far more wished to fight forever on the Eastern battlefield.
On the condition that it was as Supreme Commander.
"I also hear that Your Majesty bears the title of Vice Emperor of the Eastern Empire, the rightful Emperor over all the Levant and Egypt. If this time you recover Syria, then modeling yourself on Charlemagne the Great Emperor to establish a new Frankish Empire in the Eastern lands would likewise be perfectly legitimate."
Losa smiled and nodded; if Leopold were in the court, he would certainly be a sycophant, handing out honeyed words as though they cost him nothing.
"Gentlemen, long time no see."
Even though they were displeased, in the face of Losa, the Tripartite Alliance, who commanded wind and rain among the Northern Crusaders, still lowered their noble heads.
"By God’s grace, Philip de Capet, King of Gaul, offers you, as a fellow Christ Warrior, his most exalted congratulations on your coronation in the Holy City of Jerusalem."
Richard’s congratulations, by contrast, sounded somewhat dry: "God bless you, Your Majesty."
Though the Kingdom of Jerusalem possessed but a small territory, this sacred halo carried the authority to command all Christians who came East to wage Holy War.
This was what Richard had dreamed of.
Otherwise, at the previous Military Council, with Raymond’s support, he would not have prepared to stand as a candidate for the succession to the throne of Jerusalem. Compared to his lands in Europe, he far more wished to fight forever on the Eastern battlefield.
On the condition that it was as Supreme Commander.