CHAPTER 2
1275-1285
DELIVER US FROM EVIL
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The answer to problems of Basileia Romaion was obviously war.
Facing immensely powerful enemies in both west and east, stretching the borders even further was a bad idea. However there was one region when expansion seemed to be a good idea – Italia. Reclaiming and securing the long lost provinces in Italy would strengthen the Empire and imperial rule wouldn't have to deal with religious revolts. Wealthy provinces meant more taxes and more manpower. And so the liberation holy wars were declared on the Catholic heretics in the northern part of Italy.
In the beginning victories were swift. On 21th October 1275 heretic count of Modena was forced to accept his defeat. His small forces, even with the support from military orders still loyal to so called Bishop of Rome, were no match for the elite
tagmata. Basileia Romaion was triumphant. War with Pisa on the other hand seemed to drag indefinitely. The last of the old independent merchant republics, Pisa was a truly Christian realm. This excluded the forces of the Brootherhood of the Holy Sepulchre from the battlefields – no Christian blood can be spilled be its members. This together with Pisa's wealth which allowed it to recruit mercenaries caused severe problems – Basileia Romaion had much more troops than Republic of Pisa, but to sacrifice them on the battlefield meant to weaken the Empire and risk invasion from the barbarians.
War against another Christian realm wasn't very popular. Reclaiming Ancona was vital for securing the trade routs connecting imperial vassal republics and safe passage between completely controlled Sicily and northern provinces. A lot however opposed the idea of spilling blood of our brothers in faith in such harsh for the Christendom times. Among them were even members of the imperial family, with the Basilissa Peksen in the lead. In his wisdom Markos the Saint decided - with a heavy heart – to press on and continue the war, for the greater good and the benefit of the Basileia Romaion, the Shield of Christendom.
Porphyrogennetos Valerios, as a kind and temperate man filled nonetheless with a truly admirable religious zeal, felt so ashamed by this war against Christians that he asked his father for his permission to join the Brotherhood. Seeing how pure is the heart of a young
porphyrogennetos willing to resign forever from the luxuries of the Imperial Palace for the harsh life of a warrior monk, Markos the Saint rejoiced. He didn't gave his son the permission he asked for though – he already gave one of his sons to the order. Valerios accepted the decision without protest.
In the meantime, against all odds, young queen of Aragon Varela not only survived her infant years but emerged from the chaos after her father's untimely death as a strong and capable leader, despite some... oddities. And she was looking for a husband. Markos the Saint saw this as a perfect occasion for the Basileia Romaion, not only to support fellow Christians, but also to forge strong alliance and maybe even one day include Aragon as a vassal kingdom to the Empire. Diogenes, heir of the Imperial Throne and
porphyrogennetos, was soon accepted as a royal husband and the wedding on 27th January 1276 brought both realms together. Lucky inheritance of one of the douxes gave even the Basileia Romaion small county which formerly was part of the Kingdom of Aragon.
But the queen didn't oppose.
Being strong and independent woman, Valera shortly after the ceremony declared war against sultan Iher, one of the rebelling Aztec vassals on 18th February 1276. She was clearly counting on support from the imperial army – a promise which couldn't have been fulfilled. Exhausted forces taking part in the Italian campaign consisted only of
tagmata and mercenaries. Due to the necessity of preserving the imperial levies, Republic of Pisa had superior numbers on its ground After long series of defeats, republican forces reinforced with fresh mercenaries from the north finally managed to gain momentary tactic advantage.
It was enough.
The battle of Calcinaia was one of the greatest military defeats of the Basileia Romaion in the 13th century. There were battles more bloody or more disastrous from a strategic standpoint, but on the fields of Calcinaia the old
tagmata were all but annihilated. Elite soldiers, many of whom were fighting in a victorious battle against the Ilkhanate during its 3rd invasion on the imperial lands, were dead. Almost 5000 of
kataphraktoi were slained by Pisan mercenaries – a catastrophic blow to the Empire's army capability. They say that on this day, 25th May 1276, militant spirit of all the imperial leaders was broken. Basileia Romaion couldn't afford loosing another aggressive war without risking defeat in an always threatening, like a sword of Damocles, barbarian invasion.
The white peace was signed two weeks later.
The war with Pisa ended on 7th June 1276. Shortly after however the good news finally came to the Constantinople – queen Varela was victorious and duchy of Mallorca was reclaimed from the savages, still fighting against their Aztec lord. After signing the peace on 15th September 1276, a grand ceremony was held in the capital by the queen, who sweared to Almighty God her will to continue what she called Segunda Reconquista until all the savages, infidels and heretics are driven out from the peninsula.
But in these times every moment of joy intermingles with sadness.
Porphyrogennetos Diogenes contracted terrible disease known as measles while leading Aragon forces on the isles of Mallorca and got severely ill on 11th of December. Even worse, imperial spies were delivering unnerving reports about his increasingly odd behavior. Some members of the Aragonese royal court were even whispering about
porphyrogennetos Diogenes being cursed or influenced by the evil spirits. Nobody in the Constantinople wanted to believe in it – Diogenes Angelos was just, patient and well educated man, who enjoyed theological disputes and even wrote several essays about inconoclasm heresy and its development in 8th century. Could it be possible that the beloved son of the Emperor, out of all people, was loosing his faith? He soon got better but it was just a beginning of a bad news.
After reclaiming almost all the land lost during the regency, khagan Yesugei the Young was still bloodthirsty. He was no longer the small child – he was a man now, a brave soldier and a brilliant commander, without a doubt a terrible foe for all his enemies. On 6th March 1277 he declared yet another invasion, this time against one of the former Mongol vassals who created his own petty realm on Crimea, near the imperial border.
Basileia Romaion couldn't interfere – the Empire was slowly regaining strength after disastrous Calcinaia and was in no condition to fight. Its enemies on the contrary were hungry for blood.
Ferocity of the Aztecs surpassed even those of the Mongols. Zolin, son of the Antichrist, despite still being a child declared invasion of Castille against brave queen Varela on 18th January 1278. Basileus Markos the Saint honored the alliance and joined the Kingdom of Aragon in its fight against the savages.
Sending the
tagmata to help the queen however, was out of the question - Basileia Romaion couldn't risk risking its finest. Small forces consisting of levies and mercenaries were dispatched, along with a generous gifts to the treasury of the Kingdom. But Basileia Romaion still wasn't ready to fight.
It took another year before the so called Markian reforms were completed. Just like infamous Manzikert changed the Imperial Army, impact of Calcinaia was immense. New organization structure, better equipment and tactics heavily influenced by rediscovered and again popular
Strategikon of Maurice created a completely different forces.
Tagmata decimated in the catastrophic battle of Calcinaia were now reborn with new capable commanders and professional soldiers, many of whom already experienced in a Brotherhood service. This new
tagmata, or as they used to say in the West retinue, was to become the iron fist of the Imperial power, never to loose a battle again – or so was the official position of the Imperial Palace.
The time has come.
To try the reformed
tagmata in the battle like a gold in fire, Basileus Markos the Saint decided to go after the last holdings of the Shia caliphate in Egypt. The war with Aztec was dragging on as a resourceful queen Varela together with small imperial forces was able to halt their progress. Thus the decision to test the prowess of the reborn army in a fight against infidels before moving them to Aragon seemed completely reasonable. After decisive battle of Mustabiq in which
kataphraktoi completely destroyed the enemy army, caliph didn't have a choice and had to beg for peace which was signed on 13th September 1279.
Alas, joy in the Queen of Cities was very short-lived.
In a truly barbaric display of brutality and power, armies of khagan Yesugei the Young after defeating yet again of his former vassals in battle sacked the great city of Baghdad. Once proud capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, what remained of Baghdad after orgy of destruction lasting several weeks was but a smoldering ruin full of corpses. Shia, Ibadi, Yazidi and Sunni alike were shaken by this inhuman atrocity – was it possible that the Allah has forsaken his faithful?
Ummah was long broken but this terrible act has united all Muslims in a furious anger and great sadness, even if only for a while. Situation of the followers of the Prophet was truly desperate – while most of the Ibadi and heretic Sunni were forced to serve their Aztec or Mongol lords, only few independent states remained. Apart from the kingdom of Mali, were Yazidi was a state religion, all what is left were Shia kingdom of Abyssinia and several counties in Arabia. Even once mighty Fatimids were reduced to nothing more than a few castles and cities, surrounded by barbaric Tengri.
For Basileia Romaion there were other pressing concerns however.
Aragon after depleting all its reserves of manpower was loosing badly. Giant armies of savages were in total control of a vast territory, raping, pillaging and sacrificing good Christians to their dark gods by the thousands. Slaughter seems to be endless. Queen Varela demanded reinforcements from the Empire but Markos the Saint in his wisdom understood that dragging the conflict on can serve no purpose. It could bring only even more death, to the Aragon peasants and Imperial Army alike, and wasting precious few resources in this war could be a fatal mistake. He advised brave queen to consider surrender in exchange for a truce, thus giving more time to the Defenders of Christendom to regain their strength. This would give also a possibility for reclaiming even more land from a rebelling Aztec vassals – united only by fear, local nobility regularly were raising their arms against their overlords. Religious revolts and so called liberation armies were causing trouble to the Aztec empire every year. With a heavy heart, just queen Varela agreed – the peace was signed on 30th October 1281, almost four years after the beginning of the invasion.
It wasn't the end of the bad news – tyrannous khagan Yesugei the Young after several victorious wars managed to bend the neck of every lord in the Ilkhanate, forcing them surrender their power to the khagan or suffer fate worse than death. His rule was now stronger then ever before and, however unlikely it seemed to be, barbarians from the East were becoming a bigger and bigger threat to the Empire with every month. The invasion was imminent – the only question was when will it happen.
But the worst was just about to come.
On 25th June 1283 the tragic news has reached the Constantinople –
porphyrogennetos Diogenes, heir to the Imperial Throne, was dead. He was slained in a battle against the heretic Knights of Calatrava, whose grandmaster Teobaldo refused to surrender lands of the order to its righteous ruler, queen Valera. His untimely death during Segunda Reconquista was a great tragedy for both Basileia Romaion and Kingdom of Aragon. Markos the Saint lost not only his beloved son but also his heir and alliance with Aragon, in which the so called anti-Byzantine faction quickly arranged another marriage for a queen Varela with a Polish noble. It wasn't surprising that during these black days almost nobody in the Queen of Cities noticed or seemed to care about the desperate decision of caliph Murshid.
And it was truly desperate. Announcing
jihad against the khagan Yesugei the Young was nothing more than a sacred suicide – the tiny forces of Shia couldn't dream about defeating armies of Ilkhanate.
Luckily for both kingdom of Aragon and Basileia Romaion, the royal husband Dobiesław Gołowin died of pneumonia on 17th October 1284, almost exactly a year after the disastrous war against the heretic Knights of Calatrava was won by Aragon. Basileus Markos the Saint once again offered his son and heir to the glorious queen Valera – and once again she accepted.
Porphyrogennetos and queen were betrothed on 18th October 1284 and the marriage followed shortly after. Fulfilling the wish of Basileus, queen promised to never ask her husband to lead Aragonese armies. In these dark times the royal marriage was like a beam of hope, again uniting both realms in an alliance against their enemies. And they were powerful. It seemed however that a delicate balance was achieved after this long decade. Neither Aztec savages nor Mongol barbarians didn't decide to attack Basileia Romaion, which on the other hand couldn't attack one of the pagan realms without risking invasion from another. Although aging, Basileus Markos the Saint managed to defend the Empire for whole ten years – the Empire was like the last and only safe haven for Christians and even Muslim or Jewish minorities were tolerated. As long as this precarious balance was sustained, the Cross was still standing and one could hope for a better future.
The horror brought to the Constantinople by the news from Arabia on 21th May 1285 couldn't have been greater.