Adalwin was quite pleased with himself, the former ‘puppetmasters’ of his father were either dead or on the run for him and without much effort he also had been able to enlarge his kingdom with two rich counties. His personal demesne was now so large that it became very hard for him to rule all by himself.
The messenger who had brought him the news of the death of duke Charles and his inheritance, was a man called Guigues of Viviers. A well renowned knight from France, Adalwin offered him the position of royal marshall. Guigues was honoured and accepted the offer.
Adalwin, didn’t forget his previous marshall Wladislaw. Wladislaw was granted the newly aquired counties of Amiens and Viviers and the duketitle of Valois.
But even with these lands granted to a loyal vassal, his demesne was still to large to administer effectively, so the counties of Bremen and Hamburg were granted to his grandmother, Richwara von Franken.
And the duke of Silesia, Boleslaw Wlostowic, received back his old homecounty of Lower-Silesia.
After these affairs had been taken care off, Adalwin thought that now the time had come to prove himself in war. On the Maygarian plains a turkish chieftain had estblished himself in the county of Nitra.
In august 1226, Adalwin marched with the royal regiments of Danzig and Poznanskie to the town of Nitra, he there declared war on bey Ramazan. The Polish army of 7,000 men was no match for those couple of hundred Turks and after a short battle and siege, Nitra was in Polish hands.
In Nitra, another member of the Yaroslavich family, Zbigniew was installed as prince-bishop.
After this short and succesfull war, Adalwin knew that he was now ready for something more important. So when he returned home, he called for a meeting with his spymaster Albrecht and his marshall Guigues.
‘My dear lords, I believe the time has come for the Billungs to ad another kingtitle to our dynastie. As you know my mother was a Capet and this means that I have a claim on the crown of the king of France.’
‘But the king of France is your brother-in-law mylord. Haven’t you said yourself, a short while ago that a war against France might endanger your sisters live’ said spymaster Albrecht.
‘Haven’t I ordered you to be discrete, spymaster’ said Adalwin, while he nodded towards marshall Guigues.
‘Ah, yes. I am sorry mylord. But still that danger is still there ?’
‘King Louis is an honourable man, mylord, he will never harm a woman, even if he is at war with her husband’ said Guigues.
‘Yes, you see Albrecht, there is no danger for her. Now we can’t declare war immediately, I will first have to aquire some more funds. But next summer the war will begin’
‘About your mother, sire.’
‘What do you want to tell me about her, Albrecht. Where is she now ?’
‘It is believed that she has fled to Egypt mylord, to one of her cousins, the count of Gizeh. She is there together with your younger brothers and sisters.’
‘That is far away enough I would say. Have you found any of her confidents here in Poland, spymaster ? Any friends, supporters ?’
‘No, mylord. As you have said yourself she was never popular here.’
‘So, no possible spies or murderers in my court, Albrecht ?’
‘No, mylord. I have checked almost all courtiers and servants. Each and everyone of them is loyal to your majesty.’
‘That is great. Well, my lords. It is about time for the great banquet that my wife is giving me to celebrate our victory in Hungary. Shall we go ? And of course no word to anyone of what we have discussed here.’
‘You can trust us, sire’ said both the marshall and spymaster.
The messenger who had brought him the news of the death of duke Charles and his inheritance, was a man called Guigues of Viviers. A well renowned knight from France, Adalwin offered him the position of royal marshall. Guigues was honoured and accepted the offer.
Adalwin, didn’t forget his previous marshall Wladislaw. Wladislaw was granted the newly aquired counties of Amiens and Viviers and the duketitle of Valois.
But even with these lands granted to a loyal vassal, his demesne was still to large to administer effectively, so the counties of Bremen and Hamburg were granted to his grandmother, Richwara von Franken.
And the duke of Silesia, Boleslaw Wlostowic, received back his old homecounty of Lower-Silesia.
After these affairs had been taken care off, Adalwin thought that now the time had come to prove himself in war. On the Maygarian plains a turkish chieftain had estblished himself in the county of Nitra.
In august 1226, Adalwin marched with the royal regiments of Danzig and Poznanskie to the town of Nitra, he there declared war on bey Ramazan. The Polish army of 7,000 men was no match for those couple of hundred Turks and after a short battle and siege, Nitra was in Polish hands.
In Nitra, another member of the Yaroslavich family, Zbigniew was installed as prince-bishop.
After this short and succesfull war, Adalwin knew that he was now ready for something more important. So when he returned home, he called for a meeting with his spymaster Albrecht and his marshall Guigues.
‘My dear lords, I believe the time has come for the Billungs to ad another kingtitle to our dynastie. As you know my mother was a Capet and this means that I have a claim on the crown of the king of France.’
‘But the king of France is your brother-in-law mylord. Haven’t you said yourself, a short while ago that a war against France might endanger your sisters live’ said spymaster Albrecht.
‘Haven’t I ordered you to be discrete, spymaster’ said Adalwin, while he nodded towards marshall Guigues.
‘Ah, yes. I am sorry mylord. But still that danger is still there ?’
‘King Louis is an honourable man, mylord, he will never harm a woman, even if he is at war with her husband’ said Guigues.
‘Yes, you see Albrecht, there is no danger for her. Now we can’t declare war immediately, I will first have to aquire some more funds. But next summer the war will begin’
‘About your mother, sire.’
‘What do you want to tell me about her, Albrecht. Where is she now ?’
‘It is believed that she has fled to Egypt mylord, to one of her cousins, the count of Gizeh. She is there together with your younger brothers and sisters.’
‘That is far away enough I would say. Have you found any of her confidents here in Poland, spymaster ? Any friends, supporters ?’
‘No, mylord. As you have said yourself she was never popular here.’
‘So, no possible spies or murderers in my court, Albrecht ?’
‘No, mylord. I have checked almost all courtiers and servants. Each and everyone of them is loyal to your majesty.’
‘That is great. Well, my lords. It is about time for the great banquet that my wife is giving me to celebrate our victory in Hungary. Shall we go ? And of course no word to anyone of what we have discussed here.’
‘You can trust us, sire’ said both the marshall and spymaster.
