XLV. Godfrey and his beautiful island
The gardens and shores of Naxos have always delighted Godfrey in childhood, at the time his father Stephen ruled the island; leaving for Lecce, he has carried with him the nostalgic memories of the island dreaming of coming back one day.
Tired of day-by-day duties, in mid-1290s Godfrey starts to make frequent trips to Naxos with the pretext of overseeing the works on site.
With all the energies and monies spent by Godfrey over a decade, the results of his incessant care are impressive: he enriches the princely residence with a new library and training grounds, commissions the construction of a monastery and a templar house and fortifies the island by enlarging the pre-existent Greek bastion (an undertaking which keeps him busy until 1304) and building a new civilian harbour. In his spree Godfrey employs the most distinguished men of letters and architects of the time, who come there to work under his liberal patronage.
Despite some criticism received at home for the costs incurred at Naxos, Godfrey well appreciates the rewards of his endeavours. Firstly, the various ports in the province of Lecce can prosper on distant trade routes unlocked by the access to the Aegean Sea for Apulian merchant ships, which now can also benefit from safer harbours offered by Naxos. Moreover, Naxos serves as bridge for Prince Godfrey to easily gain knowledge of the military innovations and techniques spreading from the highly advanced Byzantine Empire, now allied to the Kingdom of Sicily. Particularly valuable for Godfrey’s next campaigns would be the adoption of new organisational practices, such as hierarchical command, and new weapons like trebuchets and heavy crossbows, produced in the newly built smithy of Naxos.
In early 1300s, Godfrey’s escapes shorten in frequency and duration, as he is stressed about his children’s growth. As said, the second son Tancred has originally won Godfrey’s favour, while Athanasios is sent to monastery. But as the boys mature, their differences become more apparent: Athanasios, grown suspicious and sceptical because of the paternal preference accorded to his younger brother, shows signs of uncommon intelligence; while Tancred does not – further penalised by a speech impediment which gets worse and worse. A third son, Odo, does not look so promising. Thus,
Godfrey reluctantly comes to the conclusion that Athanasios is the most suited to bring the reins of government.
The resolution of the succession issue, the comfortable rule of King Richard of Sicily and the competence of Godfrey’s skilled lieutenants help make the Prince of Apulia’s rest time at Naxos enjoyable again. While uncle Humbert is still in charge of the county of Bari, the ducal government and the city of Lecce are assigned to a council comprising the chancellor Richard Skribas, the marshal William and the steward Alphonse. Until his death in 1306, Richard Skribas remains the leading character of the Apulian court: when Athanasios comes of age, the young man is appointed spymaster and put under the guidance of Chancellor Richard and the senior Hauteville relatives to learn the arts of administration and diplomacy.
Having thus deputed his responsibilities to Richard Skribas, Athanasios and the other council members, Godfrey retires to his beloved island and life of leisure. Such distracted the Prince is that when the diocese of Lecce remains vacant in 1301 it takes him five years to indicate - as the traditional customs prescribe - an appropriate candidate to become bishop.
Only the death of the influential chancellor Richard Skribas and the need of finding a land for Tancred induce Godfrey again to leave Naxos and return to Lecce in 1306. With that speech disorder, Tancred has few opportunities to seek a greater status than being just a minor knight in service of his father and elder brother. However, the Prince of Apulia takes care of his unfortunate son hunting for a decent title.
For a while, Godfrey has sought to find him a position in Italy, claiming for pretext the county of Piemonte in opposition to Edouard of Savoie. Yet, having memory of the incident suffered at Pavia by his grandfather Hugh and uncle Humbert, cautiously the Prince does not resolve himself to press the claim. An opportunity much easier to catch would come up later from the Levant, where the Muslim potentates have recovered much land from the remnants of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the military orders and where only the Byzantines and the Sicilians (now allied) have held on well. Their raids are a concern for all the Christians living in few scattered communities still subject to Latin sovereigns. The Sheik of Darum, in particular, has being harassing Norman traders and pilgrims on the way to Jerusalem. In late 1306, Richard I orders a Sicilian force garrisoning in the Negev to march against Darum but he would not see the end of the expedition and would die within few months, leaving at home problems far more concerning.
Rumours from distant lands – The French recovery of Paris
The Barons’ War has plagued England throughout the end of 13th century, leaving its monarchy drained and detested, particularly in its French possessions. Therefore, the recovery of the lands lost in the Thirty Years War (1207-34) becomes a major focus of
Charles IV, and with him of the whole French nation.
Following the revolt of the Duke of Berry against Stephen II, hostilities break out in 1303, when Charles IV decides to support the rebel nobleman and leaves its capital, Charolais, surrounded by popular enthusiasm. The French offensive progresses well, with Auxerre captured after a brief siege and Charles IV marching triumphantly northward.
On 27th May 1303, the French forces take Paris after one century of English domination. The loss of that symbolic city hampers Stephen II of England’s possibility to keep control over his remaining vassals in France: one after the other, Poitiers, Sens and Guyenne break their allegiance to Stephen II and side with Charles IV.
Tired of the defeats, Stephen II commits fresh resources to launch a counteroffensive, but is not able to change the course of the conflict before his death in 1304, which is the decisive misfortune for the English cause, as his shaky crown passes down to his minor son Henry III, offspring of an incestuous relationship. In the meantime,
disaffection with the duress of the Angevin rule begins to fuel the Irish revolt, which breaks out the following year when the leader of the rebellion, Duke Adam of Meath, openly challenge the authority of Henry III’s regency council.
Having also to cope with the Irish events, the English regency holds little hope to progress in France, therefore painful negotiations lead to the
Treaty of Saint Blaise (February 1306), but the terms of which France gets Paris, Auxerre and even Oxford. Freed on that side, the Angevin forces can focus on crushing the Irish revolt: a contingent lands on the island and gradually pushes Adam and his followers back (the same Adam of Meath dies in a encounter with the English). One by one, other rebel leaders surrender and finally in 1307, after two years of brutal scorched earth warfare, the island is pacified.
Northern France after the Treaty of Saint Blaise (1306)
