Read Online Archers and Crusaders: Historical fiction: Novel of Medieval Warfare by Marines, Navy sailors, and Templar knights in the Middle Ages during England's ... (The English Archers Saga Book 6) by Martin Archer - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Martin Archer
Tags: Historical fiction
Ads: Link
two reasons. First, because we know how much trouble crusaders can be and because our galleys can earn more coins carrying the refugees and parchments that will result from the fighting; second, because everyone would then know how strong we are and we’re still not strong enough.
Providing one or two galleys for the Pope or King John is fine and won’t reveal the strength of our ships and Marines or cut deeply into our revenues; providing more than that is not fine – helping Christian religious bigots take Jerusalem from the Moslem religious bigots who now hold it is not one of our goals.
@@@@@
Cardinal Bertoli wants to sail as quickly as possible. Word has reached Rome that the Venetian ruler, the Doge, has suggested a way by which the crusaders can get the money they need to pay for their transportation to the Holy Land - by collecting the taxes and fees Venice claims it is due from Zara and several smaller Adriatic port cities that broke away from Venice a few years ago and aligned themselves with the Kingdom of Hungary.
It seems the Venetians have “contributed” those revenues to the crusade and are offering to carry the crusaders to the Adriatic ports to collect them, by force if necessary - so the crusaders can pay for their transportation to Egypt and from there to Jerusalem’s port of Acre which is still being held by the Templars.
This proposal of the Venetians is a problem for the Pope, according to Bertoli, because Zara and the other Adriatic port cities are Christian and Innocent III does not want “his” crusade to cause any more fighting among Christians. As a result Bertoli is carrying an important letter from the Pope to Cardinal Peter of Capua, the man who is with the crusaders as the Pope’s legate. It instructs Cardinal Capua to inform the crusaders that His Holiness will excommunicate any crusader who attacks his fellow Christians.
“Unfortunately,” Bertoli says with a great sigh and a shrug of resignation, “what the Pope’s letter doesn’t do is tell the crusaders how they are to get the money they need to hire ships needed to get themselves, and particularly their horses, to the Holy Land.”
@@@@@
We sail immediately from Rome and go all the way around the boot of Italy and back up the other side to Venice. There is good news when we arrive in Venice and Cardinal Bertoli is visibly relieved when we hear it.
It seems that although some of the crusaders have sailed for the Adriatic ports to begin collecting the back taxes Venice claims it is owed, most of them are still in Venice - they have not yet sailed off to threaten or attack the Christian ports in an effort to collect the taxes Venice says it will contribute to the crusade.
There is other good news - the Pope’s legate, his ambassador to the crusaders, is not in Venice to receive the Pope’s letter. Cardinal Peter of Capua sailed for Pula and various other port cities on the Adriatic three days earlier to seek their voluntary payment of the uncollected taxes Venice has donated to the crusade. He has gone to ask them to voluntarily help pay for the crusaders’ transportation in order to avoid the shedding of Christian blood. His departure, of course, is quite inconvenient because it means we’ll have to carry Bertoli to Pula or elsewhere to deliver the Pope’s letter;
What we don’t know, and no one in Venice tells us when we arrive, is that someone in Rome has betrayed the Pope by sending a galloper across Italy to catch a galley at Pescara - and he has gotten to Venice ahead of us with a parchment warning the Venetians and crusaders about the Pope’s letter.
For the Venetians the issue is simple - they want the money the crusaders have agreed to pay them to be carried to Egypt and the Holy Land - and they want the crusaders to get it by teaching Zara and
Providing one or two galleys for the Pope or King John is fine and won’t reveal the strength of our ships and Marines or cut deeply into our revenues; providing more than that is not fine – helping Christian religious bigots take Jerusalem from the Moslem religious bigots who now hold it is not one of our goals.
@@@@@
Cardinal Bertoli wants to sail as quickly as possible. Word has reached Rome that the Venetian ruler, the Doge, has suggested a way by which the crusaders can get the money they need to pay for their transportation to the Holy Land - by collecting the taxes and fees Venice claims it is due from Zara and several smaller Adriatic port cities that broke away from Venice a few years ago and aligned themselves with the Kingdom of Hungary.
It seems the Venetians have “contributed” those revenues to the crusade and are offering to carry the crusaders to the Adriatic ports to collect them, by force if necessary - so the crusaders can pay for their transportation to Egypt and from there to Jerusalem’s port of Acre which is still being held by the Templars.
This proposal of the Venetians is a problem for the Pope, according to Bertoli, because Zara and the other Adriatic port cities are Christian and Innocent III does not want “his” crusade to cause any more fighting among Christians. As a result Bertoli is carrying an important letter from the Pope to Cardinal Peter of Capua, the man who is with the crusaders as the Pope’s legate. It instructs Cardinal Capua to inform the crusaders that His Holiness will excommunicate any crusader who attacks his fellow Christians.
“Unfortunately,” Bertoli says with a great sigh and a shrug of resignation, “what the Pope’s letter doesn’t do is tell the crusaders how they are to get the money they need to hire ships needed to get themselves, and particularly their horses, to the Holy Land.”
@@@@@
We sail immediately from Rome and go all the way around the boot of Italy and back up the other side to Venice. There is good news when we arrive in Venice and Cardinal Bertoli is visibly relieved when we hear it.
It seems that although some of the crusaders have sailed for the Adriatic ports to begin collecting the back taxes Venice claims it is owed, most of them are still in Venice - they have not yet sailed off to threaten or attack the Christian ports in an effort to collect the taxes Venice says it will contribute to the crusade.
There is other good news - the Pope’s legate, his ambassador to the crusaders, is not in Venice to receive the Pope’s letter. Cardinal Peter of Capua sailed for Pula and various other port cities on the Adriatic three days earlier to seek their voluntary payment of the uncollected taxes Venice has donated to the crusade. He has gone to ask them to voluntarily help pay for the crusaders’ transportation in order to avoid the shedding of Christian blood. His departure, of course, is quite inconvenient because it means we’ll have to carry Bertoli to Pula or elsewhere to deliver the Pope’s letter;
What we don’t know, and no one in Venice tells us when we arrive, is that someone in Rome has betrayed the Pope by sending a galloper across Italy to catch a galley at Pescara - and he has gotten to Venice ahead of us with a parchment warning the Venetians and crusaders about the Pope’s letter.
For the Venetians the issue is simple - they want the money the crusaders have agreed to pay them to be carried to Egypt and the Holy Land - and they want the crusaders to get it by teaching Zara and
Similar Books
