Chapter 10: Of Wars, and Rumours of Wars
Queen Flora
Constantine was already in Africa, and so was able to quickly take over his father’s army, and continue the conquest of the Murabitid kingdom. Christmas was celebrated in Marrakech, from where fresh new troops were being recruited. On February 15th 1136 his brother Costante the Younger was accused of black magic by several superstitious and ambitious courtiers, to which Constantine replied by imprisoning all of them and making it clear he did not believe in any such thing as black magic.
On February 26th Anti-Atlas was captured, followed by Ifni on August 12th. The city of Marrakech was lost on September 24th, but after the fall of Tharasset (October 4th) Constantine was able to turn back and take Marrakech (November 25th). Anxious to return home to Italy and formally claim his kingdom, Constantine accepted a white peace with the Murabitid King.
The new King was ambitious. He saw himself as the reincarnated Constantine the Great, and dreamt of recreating the Roman Empire. He had long planned to expand his empire to the east, and to the west, to the north, and to the south, to the four corners of the earth. But now, when power was finally in his hands, he was unsure what to do. He considered invading southern Italy, but he knew the Boulognes of Naples were supported by the Pope, and any action against them might well incite the support of many other anti-Canossa princes in Christendom. He considered moving down into the Balkans, and making himself King in Croatia and Serbia, and then warring against the Greek princes and crown himself emperor in Byzantion! Yet he was unsure how his new vassals would be towards him, and so he did not reveal his plans to anyone. Instead, he went at once to his new capital, Bologna, where he was crowned King of Italy, Tunis, North Africa, and Mauretania, and Doge of Venice, in a splendid ceremony, attended by all the princes of the Empire.
On December 30th 1136 Constantine’s daughter Virginia married his half-brother Folcaud. Virginia was given the entire duchy of Savoie, and at the same time her younger half-brother Flavio was made duke of Alger, and her younger half-sister Carla made duchess of Tirol. Even those these two latter were too young to govern their lands, Constantine believed that, as he could not himself govern those lands, he might secure the loyalty of his subjects there by giving them a local ruler they could see and pledged allegiance to, even if it was a child. In addition to these, Constantine gave the duchy of El Rif to his grandmother Laura de Savoie (duchess of Mallorca), then aged 68, and the duchies of Tangiers and Fes to her cousin Sofia de Savoie, then aged 66. Lastly, the Muslim Fayiz ibn Hammad was made sheik in Annaba and Medjerda.
In January 1137 Constantine embarked upon the first military campaign of his own of his reign, against Ordoño Jimenez, “King of León”, and ruler of the tiny island of Malta. On October 24th, Ordoño captured the city of Tunis, but on November 14th the entire island of Malta had been captured. Completely humiliated, Ordoño, who had long tired of ruling Malta, ceded Malta and the titular crown of León to Constantine, as well as his pretensions to the former Jimenez kingdom of Castille.
On November 26th, 1137, Constantine’s eldest son Enzio contracted an advantageous marriage with Matilda d’Aquitaine, the eldest daughter of Berard (died 1119), the eldest son of Rogier, duke of Aquitaine, Gascogne, Poitou, Brittany, and Damietta. Matilda had one brother, Nicolau, count in Labourd, but he was a Catharic heretic, and excommunicated, and thus unable to inherit the lands of his grandfather; instead they were to pass to the firstborn son of Matilda, or (failing any son being born to her) to one of her uncles. The marriage was particularly advantageous as it connected the house of Canossa with the leading houses of southern France; Matilda’s mother was Rosa d’Auvergne, whilst her father’s mother was Elisa d’Albret (thereafter both the d’Auvergnes and d’Albrets were staunch supporters of the Canossa). Furthermore, Matilda was the niece of Anséume, count of Agen, Raimond, count of Nantes, and Sybille, wife of Guy of Flanders, duke of Orleans (an independent prince).
However, Constantine was duly horrified to learn that Nicolau, brother of Matilda, had a son, Tierri, who by the laws of the Catholic church could legally inherit the vast lands of Aquitaine. Assassins were duly dispatched and the boy done away with, to the fury of Nicolau, who duly sent assassins to Bologna, where Constantine’s younger brother Costante the Spymaster was fond lying in a pool of his own blood, with his throat slit. The death of the prince Costante was a small price to pay for the vast lands of Aquitaine (which not included most of western France, but also considerable lands in Egypt, the only part of north Africa not under Canossa rule). Costante left a young wife, Ambrosia, whom he had married back in October 1134; she was the daughter of his uncle Lucio, duke of Spoleto, and Elisa de Narbonne.
In January 1138 King Errard of France waged war on Rogier of Aquitaine. Seeing this as a valuable opportunity, Constantine at once marched east, against the count of Carcassone.
During this campaign, a zealous firebrand appeared, and told Constantine that god would forgive his sins if he joined the crusade (somewhere along the line Constantine had become a heretic); Constantine duly agreed with a gruff “Dues Vult!” and was called Constantine the Crusader, before he’d actually done any crusading.
Constantine took Montpellier (June 3rd) and Carcassone (July 24th), and forced the lords of those places to accept him as their new count. He then moved against the duke of Toulouse and Auvergne, and in a lightning campaign captured his capital on August 26th. Constantine, now also Duke of Toulouse and Auvergne, count of Toulouse, Carcassone, and Montpellier, stayed for a while at Beziers, where he received homage from Matias, count of Foix, Guglielmo, count of Valencia, and the lords of Rouergue. In due time, his son Enzio was appointed duke of Toulouse and Auvergne.
Next, Constantine marched north into Burgundy, which had been left wholely undefended as King Errard had gone west into Aquitaine. The capital, Dijon, fell on December 28th 1138; on January 13th, 1139, King Constantine of Italy made peace with King Errard of France, who handed over to him Dijon, and recognised his rule of Toulouse and Auvergne. King Errard duly made peace with Rogier, who in the meantime had conquered the Ile de France and Blois from his own son-in-law, duke Guy of Orleans, and went into exile; thus ending the French kingdom.
France in 1138, conquered lands in black
On June 15th, 1139 Constantine’s grandmother Laura de Savoie, duchess of Mallorca and El Rif, died. El Rif was granted to her cousin Sofia, whilst Constantine retained Mallorca and Menorca for himself for his upcoming campaign.
To the horror of Christendom, Constantine had assembled a great force, and with the utmost secrecy sailed with them to Iberia. On May 12th 1500 men landed near Barcelona, and were joined by many more over the next few days. The people of Barcelona soon realised that they were trapped within the city, yet it was only on June 30th that Constantine formally sent a declaration of war to King Guerau, who was in Barcelona. A siege of such a scale not seen since the Trojan War was at once laid, and several court poets hailed Constantine as a conquering Agamemnon. On August 6th, the men of Barcelona came out and fought, and were completely routed; some 4000 men of Barcelona were cut down, whilst only 1500 Italians were killed. Meanwhile, another force had descended through the Pyrenees from Toulouse and Provence, and at Rosello they defeated the Spaniards once more, with some 1500 Spanish killed, and only 200 Italians. On September 5th Barcelona fell, and Constantine at once took King Guerau captive.
Meanwhile, Constantine’s brother Ugocione, duke of Spoleto, had marched into the Balkans, and on February 25th 1141 captured Vidin, in Serbia, a Spanish possession. Guerau duly accepted defeat, and Constantine was crowned King of Castille, and count of Barcelona and Vidin. Guerau died days later in Constantine’s court.
On December 6th 1140 Constantine’s kinswoman Sofia de Savoie had died, leaving him the duchies of El Rig, Tangiers, and Fes. Being eager to show mercy to Guerau’s family, Constantine took in his three bastards sons: Sunifred (aged 5), who was made Duke of Fes, Ferran (aged 3) who was made Duke of El Rif, and Berenguer (aged 1), who was made Duke of Tangiers. In addition, the renowned fighter Fiachna Ui Mordha was made count in Vidin.
As King of Castille and León, Constantine had already received the homage of Bernardo, duke of Salamanca and Galicia, Galcera Benavides, count of Albarracin and Mahdia, and Manuel de Lara, count of Bejaija, who had been with Guerau at Barcelona. In March 1141 Constantine received the homage of Jaume de Fernolhet, count of Compostela, Folc Lopex, count of Asturias de Oviedo, Berenguer Ramon Martins, count of Asturias de Santillana, Marti de Barcelona-Urgell, and the powerful bishop Ferrer de Tavóra – bishop of Cadiz, Malaga, Almeria, Murcia, Denia, Cuenca, Almansa, Leon, Granada, Sevilla, and Plasencia – whom many (including Constantine) might make himself a secular ruler, in the south of Iberia. The homage of Ferrer brought Constantine much respect, and lead Marti de Barcelona-Urgell, count of Alcantara, Mummadomna de Meneses, countess of Burgos, Juan de Luna, duke of Castilla, and Alfonso, count of Molina and Castellon, to pledge allegiance to Constantine.
In April, the brother and sister Vidal and Margarita de Barcelona, count of Badajoz and countess of Salamanca, fell down at Constantine’s feet and paid him fealty, as did Ute von Lenzburg, duchess of Cordoba, in May. Lastly, in June, came Salmo, count of Caceres, who reluctantly accepted Constantine as liege. Thus, Constatine had, with the capture of one city, made himself ruler of nearly all of Iberia. To safeguard his interests there, he made Ferrer de Tavóra Archbishop of Almeria, Murcia, Toledo, and Valencia, and count Marti of Alcantara the new duke of Badajoz.
In February 1142 Constantine decided to go to war against the Fatimids. Moving into the Balkans, he took Usora (June 15th) Rama (July 27th), and Zachlumia (September 15th). Following this, Constantine was hit hard by the death of the dowager Queen Consort Guilheumina on October 21st, whom Constantine had loved very much (she had raised him as her own). Meanwhile, the Fatimids had poured into Germany, and Constantine was forced to lead his men into the Empire, and save the Emperor by decisively crushing their forcees at Ansbach, Zadar, Plauen, and twice at Nurnberg. At Ansbach, in late 1142, Constantine’s beloved nephew Gaspare, duke of Kairouan, was killed, leaving a beautiful young widow, Matilda Obertenghi (daughter of Constantine’s aunt Joscella, sister of his father King Abelino II) and two young sons, who were taken over and raised by King Constantine: Simonetto (aged 2), duke of Kairouan, and Lamberto (aged 1).
At that time, Constantine went to Breda, and met with the lords of the Low Countries. They clamoured to him about the Norman King of England, who had created a strong and powerful kingdom, and to whom many anti-Canossa princes now looked as the only alternative to the otherwise certain Canossa domination. The King had greatly expanded the ports of his house’s native Normandy, to the detriment of the ports of the Low Countries, and their merchants. Now the Dutchmen sought to sail to Fatimid Scotland, and establish Canossa rule to the north of England, and thus terrorise the Normans. The invasion of Scotland was duly launched, with Constantine departing from Boulogne (many have speculated as to his rather odd choice of port).
The warrior Jean de Blous, who had gone ahead, had already captured Galloway (June 22nd), by the time of Constantine’s arrival. Constantine then marched throughout the land, taking Lothian (August 1st) Strathclyde (September 13th), Fife (November 18th), Atholl (January 1st 1144), Argyll (February 20th), Moray (April 5th), Sutherland (May 16th), Buchan (July 27th), Mar (September 9th), and Angus (October 21st). On December 19th 1144 the Fatimid envoy found Constantine marching south from Angus, and duly informed him that the Fatimids had recaptured Zahclumia (June 28th 1143), Usora (December 6th 1143) and Rama (March 6th 1144), and were now threatening his own personal lands in Romagna. Thus a white peace was agreed to, with the Fatimids being maintained in Croatia and the east, and Constantine in Scotland.
Yet Constantine was not yet finished in cold Scotland – he would finish it’s conquest now, as he had no wish to ever return to it. He moved against the independent prince Qasim Habib, who had no ties with the Fatimids. After taking Berwick (March 14th 1145) and Carrick (May 20th), Constantine pursued Qasim to Ireland, capturing Laigin (September 25th) Osraige (October 26th), Tuadmumu (November 23rd), Desmumu (January 10th 1146), and Urmumu (February 7th). On November 12th, Queen Flora, who had accompanied Constantine on this campaign died, and after a long period of mourning (11 whole days) he married his niece Beatritz de Narbonne, daughter of his sister Candida and Guigues, duke of Septimania. Beatritz had long been betrothed to Godafres d’Albon, duke of Dauphine, but Constantine declined his offer of marriage in June, which was just as well as Godafres duly died, and was succeeded by his grandson Sergio of Canossa (his father Claudio, a brother of Duke Arnolfo of Swabia, had married Godafres’ heiress Rosa) who also attempted to marry Beatritz, and yet was curtly refused; this has lead many to believe Constantine murdered his wife, or some way or other wished to rid himself of her and marry Beatritz.
Going back to Scotland, Constantine had himself crowned king at Scone, whereupon he announced the division of the kingdom. Jean de Blois was made Duke of Galloway. Báetán O’Brien, a native Irish prince, was made duke of Munster, and his brothers Cúán and Fiachna counts in Osriage and Laigin. Aldobrandino Obertenghi (first cousin of Constantine) was made duke of Mar, and his eldest son Emmanuél was made duke of Atholl. Odon de Narbonne, brother of the dead Guigues, duke of Septimania (whose lands had since been conquered by the Bey of Herakleia) was made duke of Argyll, and his brother Loup, who had married Constantine’s sister Candida (the widow of his own brother Guigues) was made count of Sutherland.
After years of campaigning, Constantine finally returned home to Bologna. He found that Rogier of Aquitaine had died back in 1141, and that Rogier’s grandson Nicolau had duly renounced the Catharic faith and been admitted back into the Catholic church, and thus inherited Aquitaine. Nicolau, however, had no sons; his heir was his nephew Charles Constantine of Canossa (named after Charles Constantine, son of a Carolingian King, from whom the founders of the House of Canossa claimed descent), son of his sister Matilda (who had also died back in 1141) and Enzio, duke of Toulouse and Auvergne, who had taken as his second wife Ermessentz de Toulouse. In 1146 Nicolau went to war against his uncle, the duke of Orleans, and defeat him, adding Sens to Aquitaine; he finally made his peace with Constantine, and betrothed the eldest of his daughters to Charles Constantine.
In February 1146, according to the Chronicles of the Life of Constantine, Constantine broke into tears when he met for the first time in several years his surrogate son Gilbert de Narbonne, now a fully grown man. Gilbert was both his nephew, and brother-in-law, and was duly made Duke of Mallorca. Such was Gilbert’s influence over Constantine, that his close firend and confidante, an ambitious Catalan noble, Bofill de Besalu, was made duke of Berwick, and sent to guard Scotland against the English.
In September 1146 Constantine received homage from Constanca Giron, countess of Cordoba, bringing that rich city within his kingdom.
On January 11th, 1147 Queen Beatritz bore her first child to Constantine, a son, who was named Lanfranco.
On March 28th Constantine bestowed his daughter Carla, duchess of Tirol, to his bastard brother Baldovino.
Two days later, on the 30th, Constantine’s son Settimio (so named because he was Constantine’s seventh child) married Eleanor of Mar. Eleanor was the eldest daughter of Piers of Mar, a landless Scottish noble, and Esa, sister of the last Scottish King Robert (who was yet living, and had named Eleanor as his heiresss). Esa was the daughter of King Neil (died 1113) and Derorguilla Loarn, granddaughter of King Lulach of Scotland; Neil in turn was the son of King Duncan, half-brother of King Paul of Norway; thus, Eleanor was a landless, yet dynastically valuable, heiress, whose husband could claim both the throne of Scotland and that of Norway (the Norwegians had no set out system of inheritance, almost any prince could make himself king). Settimio was made duke of Strathclyde and Lothian: many speculated that Constantine might divide his kingdom, and make Settimio king in Scotland, Enzio king in Italy, and Flavio king in Africa, yet for the meantime Constantine remained silent and merely made Settimio his representative in Scotland.
Constatine in 1146
Queen Flora
Constantine was already in Africa, and so was able to quickly take over his father’s army, and continue the conquest of the Murabitid kingdom. Christmas was celebrated in Marrakech, from where fresh new troops were being recruited. On February 15th 1136 his brother Costante the Younger was accused of black magic by several superstitious and ambitious courtiers, to which Constantine replied by imprisoning all of them and making it clear he did not believe in any such thing as black magic.
On February 26th Anti-Atlas was captured, followed by Ifni on August 12th. The city of Marrakech was lost on September 24th, but after the fall of Tharasset (October 4th) Constantine was able to turn back and take Marrakech (November 25th). Anxious to return home to Italy and formally claim his kingdom, Constantine accepted a white peace with the Murabitid King.
The new King was ambitious. He saw himself as the reincarnated Constantine the Great, and dreamt of recreating the Roman Empire. He had long planned to expand his empire to the east, and to the west, to the north, and to the south, to the four corners of the earth. But now, when power was finally in his hands, he was unsure what to do. He considered invading southern Italy, but he knew the Boulognes of Naples were supported by the Pope, and any action against them might well incite the support of many other anti-Canossa princes in Christendom. He considered moving down into the Balkans, and making himself King in Croatia and Serbia, and then warring against the Greek princes and crown himself emperor in Byzantion! Yet he was unsure how his new vassals would be towards him, and so he did not reveal his plans to anyone. Instead, he went at once to his new capital, Bologna, where he was crowned King of Italy, Tunis, North Africa, and Mauretania, and Doge of Venice, in a splendid ceremony, attended by all the princes of the Empire.
On December 30th 1136 Constantine’s daughter Virginia married his half-brother Folcaud. Virginia was given the entire duchy of Savoie, and at the same time her younger half-brother Flavio was made duke of Alger, and her younger half-sister Carla made duchess of Tirol. Even those these two latter were too young to govern their lands, Constantine believed that, as he could not himself govern those lands, he might secure the loyalty of his subjects there by giving them a local ruler they could see and pledged allegiance to, even if it was a child. In addition to these, Constantine gave the duchy of El Rif to his grandmother Laura de Savoie (duchess of Mallorca), then aged 68, and the duchies of Tangiers and Fes to her cousin Sofia de Savoie, then aged 66. Lastly, the Muslim Fayiz ibn Hammad was made sheik in Annaba and Medjerda.
In January 1137 Constantine embarked upon the first military campaign of his own of his reign, against Ordoño Jimenez, “King of León”, and ruler of the tiny island of Malta. On October 24th, Ordoño captured the city of Tunis, but on November 14th the entire island of Malta had been captured. Completely humiliated, Ordoño, who had long tired of ruling Malta, ceded Malta and the titular crown of León to Constantine, as well as his pretensions to the former Jimenez kingdom of Castille.
On November 26th, 1137, Constantine’s eldest son Enzio contracted an advantageous marriage with Matilda d’Aquitaine, the eldest daughter of Berard (died 1119), the eldest son of Rogier, duke of Aquitaine, Gascogne, Poitou, Brittany, and Damietta. Matilda had one brother, Nicolau, count in Labourd, but he was a Catharic heretic, and excommunicated, and thus unable to inherit the lands of his grandfather; instead they were to pass to the firstborn son of Matilda, or (failing any son being born to her) to one of her uncles. The marriage was particularly advantageous as it connected the house of Canossa with the leading houses of southern France; Matilda’s mother was Rosa d’Auvergne, whilst her father’s mother was Elisa d’Albret (thereafter both the d’Auvergnes and d’Albrets were staunch supporters of the Canossa). Furthermore, Matilda was the niece of Anséume, count of Agen, Raimond, count of Nantes, and Sybille, wife of Guy of Flanders, duke of Orleans (an independent prince).
However, Constantine was duly horrified to learn that Nicolau, brother of Matilda, had a son, Tierri, who by the laws of the Catholic church could legally inherit the vast lands of Aquitaine. Assassins were duly dispatched and the boy done away with, to the fury of Nicolau, who duly sent assassins to Bologna, where Constantine’s younger brother Costante the Spymaster was fond lying in a pool of his own blood, with his throat slit. The death of the prince Costante was a small price to pay for the vast lands of Aquitaine (which not included most of western France, but also considerable lands in Egypt, the only part of north Africa not under Canossa rule). Costante left a young wife, Ambrosia, whom he had married back in October 1134; she was the daughter of his uncle Lucio, duke of Spoleto, and Elisa de Narbonne.
In January 1138 King Errard of France waged war on Rogier of Aquitaine. Seeing this as a valuable opportunity, Constantine at once marched east, against the count of Carcassone.
During this campaign, a zealous firebrand appeared, and told Constantine that god would forgive his sins if he joined the crusade (somewhere along the line Constantine had become a heretic); Constantine duly agreed with a gruff “Dues Vult!” and was called Constantine the Crusader, before he’d actually done any crusading.
Constantine took Montpellier (June 3rd) and Carcassone (July 24th), and forced the lords of those places to accept him as their new count. He then moved against the duke of Toulouse and Auvergne, and in a lightning campaign captured his capital on August 26th. Constantine, now also Duke of Toulouse and Auvergne, count of Toulouse, Carcassone, and Montpellier, stayed for a while at Beziers, where he received homage from Matias, count of Foix, Guglielmo, count of Valencia, and the lords of Rouergue. In due time, his son Enzio was appointed duke of Toulouse and Auvergne.
Next, Constantine marched north into Burgundy, which had been left wholely undefended as King Errard had gone west into Aquitaine. The capital, Dijon, fell on December 28th 1138; on January 13th, 1139, King Constantine of Italy made peace with King Errard of France, who handed over to him Dijon, and recognised his rule of Toulouse and Auvergne. King Errard duly made peace with Rogier, who in the meantime had conquered the Ile de France and Blois from his own son-in-law, duke Guy of Orleans, and went into exile; thus ending the French kingdom.
France in 1138, conquered lands in black
On June 15th, 1139 Constantine’s grandmother Laura de Savoie, duchess of Mallorca and El Rif, died. El Rif was granted to her cousin Sofia, whilst Constantine retained Mallorca and Menorca for himself for his upcoming campaign.
To the horror of Christendom, Constantine had assembled a great force, and with the utmost secrecy sailed with them to Iberia. On May 12th 1500 men landed near Barcelona, and were joined by many more over the next few days. The people of Barcelona soon realised that they were trapped within the city, yet it was only on June 30th that Constantine formally sent a declaration of war to King Guerau, who was in Barcelona. A siege of such a scale not seen since the Trojan War was at once laid, and several court poets hailed Constantine as a conquering Agamemnon. On August 6th, the men of Barcelona came out and fought, and were completely routed; some 4000 men of Barcelona were cut down, whilst only 1500 Italians were killed. Meanwhile, another force had descended through the Pyrenees from Toulouse and Provence, and at Rosello they defeated the Spaniards once more, with some 1500 Spanish killed, and only 200 Italians. On September 5th Barcelona fell, and Constantine at once took King Guerau captive.
Meanwhile, Constantine’s brother Ugocione, duke of Spoleto, had marched into the Balkans, and on February 25th 1141 captured Vidin, in Serbia, a Spanish possession. Guerau duly accepted defeat, and Constantine was crowned King of Castille, and count of Barcelona and Vidin. Guerau died days later in Constantine’s court.
On December 6th 1140 Constantine’s kinswoman Sofia de Savoie had died, leaving him the duchies of El Rig, Tangiers, and Fes. Being eager to show mercy to Guerau’s family, Constantine took in his three bastards sons: Sunifred (aged 5), who was made Duke of Fes, Ferran (aged 3) who was made Duke of El Rif, and Berenguer (aged 1), who was made Duke of Tangiers. In addition, the renowned fighter Fiachna Ui Mordha was made count in Vidin.
As King of Castille and León, Constantine had already received the homage of Bernardo, duke of Salamanca and Galicia, Galcera Benavides, count of Albarracin and Mahdia, and Manuel de Lara, count of Bejaija, who had been with Guerau at Barcelona. In March 1141 Constantine received the homage of Jaume de Fernolhet, count of Compostela, Folc Lopex, count of Asturias de Oviedo, Berenguer Ramon Martins, count of Asturias de Santillana, Marti de Barcelona-Urgell, and the powerful bishop Ferrer de Tavóra – bishop of Cadiz, Malaga, Almeria, Murcia, Denia, Cuenca, Almansa, Leon, Granada, Sevilla, and Plasencia – whom many (including Constantine) might make himself a secular ruler, in the south of Iberia. The homage of Ferrer brought Constantine much respect, and lead Marti de Barcelona-Urgell, count of Alcantara, Mummadomna de Meneses, countess of Burgos, Juan de Luna, duke of Castilla, and Alfonso, count of Molina and Castellon, to pledge allegiance to Constantine.
In April, the brother and sister Vidal and Margarita de Barcelona, count of Badajoz and countess of Salamanca, fell down at Constantine’s feet and paid him fealty, as did Ute von Lenzburg, duchess of Cordoba, in May. Lastly, in June, came Salmo, count of Caceres, who reluctantly accepted Constantine as liege. Thus, Constatine had, with the capture of one city, made himself ruler of nearly all of Iberia. To safeguard his interests there, he made Ferrer de Tavóra Archbishop of Almeria, Murcia, Toledo, and Valencia, and count Marti of Alcantara the new duke of Badajoz.
In February 1142 Constantine decided to go to war against the Fatimids. Moving into the Balkans, he took Usora (June 15th) Rama (July 27th), and Zachlumia (September 15th). Following this, Constantine was hit hard by the death of the dowager Queen Consort Guilheumina on October 21st, whom Constantine had loved very much (she had raised him as her own). Meanwhile, the Fatimids had poured into Germany, and Constantine was forced to lead his men into the Empire, and save the Emperor by decisively crushing their forcees at Ansbach, Zadar, Plauen, and twice at Nurnberg. At Ansbach, in late 1142, Constantine’s beloved nephew Gaspare, duke of Kairouan, was killed, leaving a beautiful young widow, Matilda Obertenghi (daughter of Constantine’s aunt Joscella, sister of his father King Abelino II) and two young sons, who were taken over and raised by King Constantine: Simonetto (aged 2), duke of Kairouan, and Lamberto (aged 1).
At that time, Constantine went to Breda, and met with the lords of the Low Countries. They clamoured to him about the Norman King of England, who had created a strong and powerful kingdom, and to whom many anti-Canossa princes now looked as the only alternative to the otherwise certain Canossa domination. The King had greatly expanded the ports of his house’s native Normandy, to the detriment of the ports of the Low Countries, and their merchants. Now the Dutchmen sought to sail to Fatimid Scotland, and establish Canossa rule to the north of England, and thus terrorise the Normans. The invasion of Scotland was duly launched, with Constantine departing from Boulogne (many have speculated as to his rather odd choice of port).
The warrior Jean de Blous, who had gone ahead, had already captured Galloway (June 22nd), by the time of Constantine’s arrival. Constantine then marched throughout the land, taking Lothian (August 1st) Strathclyde (September 13th), Fife (November 18th), Atholl (January 1st 1144), Argyll (February 20th), Moray (April 5th), Sutherland (May 16th), Buchan (July 27th), Mar (September 9th), and Angus (October 21st). On December 19th 1144 the Fatimid envoy found Constantine marching south from Angus, and duly informed him that the Fatimids had recaptured Zahclumia (June 28th 1143), Usora (December 6th 1143) and Rama (March 6th 1144), and were now threatening his own personal lands in Romagna. Thus a white peace was agreed to, with the Fatimids being maintained in Croatia and the east, and Constantine in Scotland.
Yet Constantine was not yet finished in cold Scotland – he would finish it’s conquest now, as he had no wish to ever return to it. He moved against the independent prince Qasim Habib, who had no ties with the Fatimids. After taking Berwick (March 14th 1145) and Carrick (May 20th), Constantine pursued Qasim to Ireland, capturing Laigin (September 25th) Osraige (October 26th), Tuadmumu (November 23rd), Desmumu (January 10th 1146), and Urmumu (February 7th). On November 12th, Queen Flora, who had accompanied Constantine on this campaign died, and after a long period of mourning (11 whole days) he married his niece Beatritz de Narbonne, daughter of his sister Candida and Guigues, duke of Septimania. Beatritz had long been betrothed to Godafres d’Albon, duke of Dauphine, but Constantine declined his offer of marriage in June, which was just as well as Godafres duly died, and was succeeded by his grandson Sergio of Canossa (his father Claudio, a brother of Duke Arnolfo of Swabia, had married Godafres’ heiress Rosa) who also attempted to marry Beatritz, and yet was curtly refused; this has lead many to believe Constantine murdered his wife, or some way or other wished to rid himself of her and marry Beatritz.
Going back to Scotland, Constantine had himself crowned king at Scone, whereupon he announced the division of the kingdom. Jean de Blois was made Duke of Galloway. Báetán O’Brien, a native Irish prince, was made duke of Munster, and his brothers Cúán and Fiachna counts in Osriage and Laigin. Aldobrandino Obertenghi (first cousin of Constantine) was made duke of Mar, and his eldest son Emmanuél was made duke of Atholl. Odon de Narbonne, brother of the dead Guigues, duke of Septimania (whose lands had since been conquered by the Bey of Herakleia) was made duke of Argyll, and his brother Loup, who had married Constantine’s sister Candida (the widow of his own brother Guigues) was made count of Sutherland.
After years of campaigning, Constantine finally returned home to Bologna. He found that Rogier of Aquitaine had died back in 1141, and that Rogier’s grandson Nicolau had duly renounced the Catharic faith and been admitted back into the Catholic church, and thus inherited Aquitaine. Nicolau, however, had no sons; his heir was his nephew Charles Constantine of Canossa (named after Charles Constantine, son of a Carolingian King, from whom the founders of the House of Canossa claimed descent), son of his sister Matilda (who had also died back in 1141) and Enzio, duke of Toulouse and Auvergne, who had taken as his second wife Ermessentz de Toulouse. In 1146 Nicolau went to war against his uncle, the duke of Orleans, and defeat him, adding Sens to Aquitaine; he finally made his peace with Constantine, and betrothed the eldest of his daughters to Charles Constantine.
In February 1146, according to the Chronicles of the Life of Constantine, Constantine broke into tears when he met for the first time in several years his surrogate son Gilbert de Narbonne, now a fully grown man. Gilbert was both his nephew, and brother-in-law, and was duly made Duke of Mallorca. Such was Gilbert’s influence over Constantine, that his close firend and confidante, an ambitious Catalan noble, Bofill de Besalu, was made duke of Berwick, and sent to guard Scotland against the English.
In September 1146 Constantine received homage from Constanca Giron, countess of Cordoba, bringing that rich city within his kingdom.
On January 11th, 1147 Queen Beatritz bore her first child to Constantine, a son, who was named Lanfranco.
On March 28th Constantine bestowed his daughter Carla, duchess of Tirol, to his bastard brother Baldovino.
Two days later, on the 30th, Constantine’s son Settimio (so named because he was Constantine’s seventh child) married Eleanor of Mar. Eleanor was the eldest daughter of Piers of Mar, a landless Scottish noble, and Esa, sister of the last Scottish King Robert (who was yet living, and had named Eleanor as his heiresss). Esa was the daughter of King Neil (died 1113) and Derorguilla Loarn, granddaughter of King Lulach of Scotland; Neil in turn was the son of King Duncan, half-brother of King Paul of Norway; thus, Eleanor was a landless, yet dynastically valuable, heiress, whose husband could claim both the throne of Scotland and that of Norway (the Norwegians had no set out system of inheritance, almost any prince could make himself king). Settimio was made duke of Strathclyde and Lothian: many speculated that Constantine might divide his kingdom, and make Settimio king in Scotland, Enzio king in Italy, and Flavio king in Africa, yet for the meantime Constantine remained silent and merely made Settimio his representative in Scotland.
Constatine in 1146
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