CHAPTER 16
1348-1351
GATHERING OF VULTURES
Tragic assassination of basileus Luis Angelos the Pious on 29th January 1348 was a devastating blow to the Empire. Not only the Emperor himself was murdered, but Basileia Romaion has lost one of the greatest military leaders of these dark times. No matter what lies the enemies of the House Angelos were spreading, nobody dared to question strategy and conquests of basileus. It was obvious that without his brilliant Aragonese Offensive the Second Great War with the Horde could have had a very different conclusion. Basileus Luis, the first of the Aragonese Emperors, not only strengthen the Empire but by defeating savages from the Far West he gave hope to the citizens of Basileia Romaion and to all good Christians of Europe. With him gone, the dark clouds were once again gathering over the Empire.
Basileus Luis II Angelos, ascended to the Throne on 29th January 1348, the same day his father was murdered. He was 18 years old. The reaction of the
aristoi was immediate.
First were the separatists from the so called Alepponian League, who declared war on the Throne on 8th February 1348. The massive forces of the traitors were gathering in Asia Minor and with the Konstantinoupolis itself threatened, young basileus ordered elite
tagmata and mercenaries to march on the rebels immediately. Strengthen by the soldiers from
thema of Nikaea, Imperial Army clashed with the traitors in the mountain passage near Ancyra on 30th March 1348.
But it was just a beginning for there were a lot of
aristoi from the old Romanoi families who were dissatisfied with yet another Aragonese on the Throne. Using sister of the basileus as a false pretext, powerful faction led by House Doukas demanded from the Emperor to abdicate and retire to the monastery. Their motives were clear – with a woman on the Throne they hoped to marry her with one of their kin and thus reclaim their position as the ruling House of the Empire. Basileus Luis II obviously refused to these outrageous demands and so another civil war started on 27th September 1348. House Doukas and their supporters were powerful and the war would surely make the Empire bleed again. How hungry for power are those who are willing to kill their brothers and sisters in Kristos only to achieve their goals?
But just like years ago, House Angelos found salvation in tragedy.
Young Maria Angelos was found lying in the pool of her own blood with her throat cut in her chamber in the Great Palace few weeks after the war was declared. It was a second successful assassination attempt at one of the members of the Imperial Family during the last months. Great fear overcame the citizens of the City – if even their blessed Emperor and his close ones aren't safe from the Aztec obsidian daggers or Mongol poison, what a common man can expect? The riots erupted in Konstantinoupolis, bloodily surpressed by the Varangians. Whatever the intentions of the Tengri worshippers were, with sister of basileus murdered in such a brutal way the rebels lost their justification for war. The pointless spill of Romanoi blood ended shortly after, when on 7th October traitors from Aleppian League accepted white peace with the Throne.
But it was not yet over – this time treason came from Aragon.
On 13th November duchess Onega of Navarra boldly demanded from the Throne the change of the imperial laws. As the leader of a powerful faction of
aristoi, she dared to demand from the Emperor that the title of
exarchos of Abyssinia was not forever tied to the Throne but available for the
aristoi to have. Although distant and relatively poor province, the Exarchia of Abyssinia had powerful garrisons to guard the citizens of the Empire from the threat of Shia raids. If any
aristos was to control this force, he and his family were surely to gain more power than any other Great House of the Empire. What was perhaps the most outrageous in this demand was that the last
exarchos died centuries ago when Exarchia of Ravenna was lost to the barbarians and the title held by the Emperor was only titular – to give it to the
aristoi would greatly weaken the Throne. But basileus wanted to secure peace, no matter what, and so a compromise was created according to which
aristoi could gain the title of
exarchos but only with the support of the Abyssinian
themata.
Seeing what they perceived as a weakness of the Emperor, another powerful faction formed and in the person of doux Nikephoros IV of Wallachia
aristoi demanded the unthinkable – to restitute the privileges gave to them by Imperial Regent Salvador de Luna decades ago. When basileus Leon VII Angelos was only a small child, the
aristoi forced his regent to sign a decree which allowed them to ““solve their disputes in justified cases without bothering His Magnificence, the Emperor of Romans, so that His High Authority may not be occupied by these lowly matters”, thus eroding the power of the Throne. The results were tragic – free to enforce the “imperial justice”, the
aristoi started tens of small local wars, spilling the blood of Romanoi.
Themata of Basileia Romaion was greatly weaken by this tragic decree and it was only years later when basilissa Martha Angelos was able to rebuilt the authority of the Throne.
Alas, basileus Luis II had no choice, for to start another civil war would endanger the whole Empire - after short negotiations he accepted the demands of the
aristoi.
The
aristoi were pacified, at least for the time being. But not only the authority of the Throne was in danger – the position of House Angelos itself was threatened. Without a son or daughter, basileus Luis II only heir was
porhpyrogenneta Martha Angelos. If the brother and sister were to die, the Throne would go to the pretenders from the House Doukas, who was waiting for such opportunity for decades. Without a doubt Doukoi would have their revenge on Angeloi for taking the Throne from them.
Something had to be done.
On 5th March 1349
porphyrogenneta Martha was married to Hypatios Angelos, a distant cousin of the Imperial Family. Few weeks later basileus Luis II lost his wife – princess Brunhilde von Zähringen seeing the terrible destruction caused by a disastrous civil war between the German nobles and Theoderich decided to become a nun and pray for her House, begging Our Lord for forgiveness and mercy. Kind-hearted Emperor decided to approve her petition to change the Great Palace for a monastery – and so a bride-show was announced.
In the meantime Europe was bleeding. Another invasion was declared by savages on king Faste of Sweden on 2nd May 1349. This time Aztecs decided to seize the lands of north Germany, for their appetite for death was never satisfied. But soon the imperial spies brought even more surprising news to the City - as it turned out, the England still had a king. Before Aztecs came British Isles were consumed by war among the Catholic and Cathar heretics, kings of Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland fighting each other. But since the invasion of England no new from the Isles have reached Konstantinoupolis – it was widely believed that the Christian population was completely wiped out, the fate of Scotland and Ireland remained a mystery. There was no way to even transport imperial spies to England with the seas completely controlled by savages from the Far West. But, unexpectedly, some of the heretics managed to escape and, as the reports were saying, find a safe heaven on the isles of Zeeland. What was even more impressive, suffering from hunger and disease refugees led by their king Gregory Godwin in desperation tried to capture some lands from the terrifying Cult of Huitzilopochtli. Obviously, they lost – the remnants of once might kingdom reduced to but a few islands were doomed.
Disturbed by the sad news from Europe and hoping to find a way to strengthen his position, basileus Luis II decided to make a pilgrimage to the Holy City of Hierusalem, just like his father. And nothing seemed more important to him in these dark times than God's blessing which would show everyone that he, the Emperor of Romanoi, is the true God's Regent on Earth. And so the journey began on 25th December 1349, this time by sea. Traveling on board of a splendid
dromon of Imperial Navy was a fascinating experience for basileus, who so far has traveled the sea only once when his father left Aragon to take the Throne.
The Emperor with his court arrived in Hierusalem on 20th January 1350. Full of beggars and refugees, the Holy City didn't impress basileus who was used to the glory of Queen of Cities. But he had not come there to seek men but God's blessing – and he did receive it.
He met a young servant from a minor House, whose wit and beauty made a great impression on him. Iulia Balsamon was a daughter of a
horeiarios of Hierusalem, a was in charge of distributing food from the state granaries to the poor. Although not wealthy or influential, even such insignificant family as House Balsamon had a right to present a maiden to the Emperor during bride-show – and so did her father. The Emperor, impressed by her knowledge about Hierusalem was spending hours with her at his side, visiting Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Gethsemane, garden at the foot of Mount of Olives were Our Lord and Savior Iesus Kristos prayed to his Father the night before His crucifixion and from where Theotokos was assumed into Heaven. She was like a precious flower on a desert, a priceless gem hidden in a distant province. Basileus Luis II fell in love and he took Iulia Balsamon as his wife in Church of the Holy Sepulchre on 15th February 1349, with a much more glorious ceremony planned to be taken in Hagia Sophia after the pilgrimage was over. Blessed by God, basileus and basilissa found peace and love in the Holy City – a rare thing to enjoy in such harsh times.
Alas, it didn't last long.
When the news of the Emperors' pilgrimage reached the common men, a violent Tengri revolt erupted on 27th February 1349. Worshippers of the Dark Gods were hoping to seize the Hierusalem and kill basileus Luis II, whose sole presence so close to the border of consumed by terrible civil war Ilkhanate was a show of courage. He was forced to shorten the pilgrimage and with Iulia Balsamon as his wife and blessing of God he left the Holy Land while the
themata were gathering to suppress the dangerous revolt.
Having returned to Konstantinoupolis, Emperor decided to put an end to Mongol threat to Hierusalem and ordered Imperial Army to destroy horse-lords whose petty realms border Basileia Romaion. Isolated from the Horde, they couldn't resist the power of the Empire and soon were defeated, their armies wiped out and their subjects taken as slaves.
Just a couple of weeks after return to the City, Iulia Balsamon was blessed by a child. To celebrate this, Emperor gave the Holy Church a generous donation and ordered to built a chapel in Great Palace with holy icons from Hierusalem for his wife.
Taking this a sign from God, the Emperor ordered celebrations in the whole Basileia Romaion – with Iulia pregnant and Mongols defeated it seemed that a short period of strife after his father murder was finally over. Although de facto controlled by the Empire for decades, with the reconquest of the last small province from the barbarians the restoration of province of Aegyptus was declared by basileus on 12th March 1351. The citizens of Basileia Romaion rejoiced.
Several months later, on 16th June 1351
porhpyrogennetos and heir to the Throne Markos Angelos was borned. His arrival to this world not only secured the line of the Imperial Family but, being named after Saint Markos, he was a symbol of hope for the people and his father. With aristoi pacified – although for a great cost – and secured borders, the Emperor could start thinking not only about preserving Basileia Romaion and his rule but also about expansion.
Consumed by a terrible civil war which already lasted for years and saw tens of thousands of Mongols slaughtered in battles between different factions, the Horde posed no threat to the Empire. With the savages from the Far West occupied in central Europe and Shia reduced to a shadow of their former glory the borders were safe, at least for the time being. Civil war between the German lords was a perfect occasion to reconquer old imperial provinces. With the new doge elected in Republic of Pisa, it was also a good time to finally drove out the traitorous Pisans from the Empire and secure the imperial trade routes. Embargo on Pisans could also gave the Emperor support from the merchants – and there was never enough gold in the imperial coffers.
But in these times of chaos nothing is certain and nobody expected what Shia Caliph happened declared on 5th November 1351.