It was mid-February, 1133. The Pope’s emissary had just left with 1,800 florins. Before long, Duke Daniel’s excommunication would be null. With such a burden relieved from his shoulders, Daniel finally took a moment to relax. He leaned back in his Spartan chair, closing his eyes – relishing the new freedom he had regained.
“I may make it to Heaven just yet,” he sighed to himself.
The freshness of his newly constructed castle in Maine was calming to the senses. The walls were clean; the air was dry and warm. It was a wonderful center of operations for his court, as opposed to the dank and repressive atmosphere of the traditional seat of Ducal power. Daniel felt as if he had just woken from a dream – as if he had not given a conscious thought to a single moment in the last decade.
“Now, how did all that happen?” he thought.
It was not really a question he had bothered to wonder. His time was devoted to God and the state, not pointless thought. But still, perhaps it was worth going over? It would give him a nice base to stand on when contemplating future events. How did he end up in such a situation?
“The damned Franks,” Daniel thought. His anger was barely concealed behind his blank face.
Indeed, it was King Bernard Capet who started this mess. Perhaps it was fear or maybe he was angling for all-out annexation. The first year of Daniel’s reign had gone smoothly; the nobility were placated with carefully orchestrated propaganda and his brother Fulup was doing well administrating Leon. A revised tax code and liberal trade policies left Brittany more wealthy than ever before. The future was a smooth, well lit road and the Bretons were to be carried along it in a carriage.
All that changed when his Bishop Ewen burst into his quarters one night in January of 1122...
“A message from the Pope!” he blurted.
As the old holy-man trembled, he whispered- “Excommunication!”
How? Why?
“I was planning another expedition to Palestine,” Daniel gritted his teeth.
“It would have been a success too.”
How such a thing came to be was obvious after a brief examination. Who was closer to the Pope than any other secular ruler? Count Aldéric de Blois, a loyal subject of King Bernard Capet. Such an act had clear motivations – to weaken Brittany.
“I was accused of sabotaging the Crusade at Juniyah. Then of having my father poisoned.”
Daniel’s fists clenched until the tips of his fingers felt as if they might break-
“Luckily I secured some loyalty from my vassals. Brittany could have collapsed like a felled tree.”
But at least one limb was to fall – Charles Kerne in Mallorca had rallied the Catholics on the island. Declaring Duke Klaoda Prigent-
“A friend of Duke Daniel, therefore an enemy of Pope and therefore an enemy of God himself.”
It didn’t take long for Charles to overwhelm Menorca, claiming it as his own. Luckily the incompetent brat was at a loss when it came to the sensibilities of Muslims; he would eventually be begging at the feet of the Berbers.
This was but an outlier in a place where Daniel’s influence was little. Still, the potential and numerous consequences of being excommunicated were truly frightening.
“I was not scared yet.”
To maintain Brittany’s independence, something would have to be done. With Aquitaine once again under the Capetian yoke, the Franks were amongst the most powerful peoples in Europe. To resist the might of France with arms was out of the question.
“I would’ve been crushed.”
What could a meager Duke of the Bretons possibly do?
“Around March of 1123, a year after the Pope’s verdict was handed down, I struck back – the only way I could.”