House of Xiphilinos
I, Konstantinos Xiphilinos, leave this account for the benefit of my heirs. The long march of history has taught us Greeks nothing if not that the past is of great importance to the present as well as the future. I hope that those that seize the reigns of power after me will take it upon themselves to record events in their time as well.
September 9, 1084
The Empire is crumbling. A state of war exists between the Emperor and many of his former vassals. My father, a trusted and loyal friend to the Emperor to his dying day, would never have abandoned Byzantium. The Emperor did after all make him a Prince. When I took power as a child of 2 years, at my mother’s urging, and unlike my father, I refused to relinquish control over the armies of Thessalonica to be squandered on countless battlefields for the glory of the Empire. Instead, at the age of 7, I declared war on the enemies of Christendom on my own and seized the lands of Siracusa, Agringento, and Trapani for myself. As I grew into manhood more and more of my fellow dukes and counts grew weary of the iron grip of the Emperor and revolted. Though repeatedly asked by my friends and neighbors, I refused to join the Rebel Alliance, not out of any loyalty to the crown, but out of loyalty to my father’s memory. Once my father’s friend was dead, killed some say by his own brother for the thrown, I saw no reason to stay within the Empire. I did not join the war against it, because, even at only 16 years of age I could see that this new Emperor was a cruel and vengeful man. I had no desire to embroil the good people in my lands in a painful and costly war, not unless there was something to gain that is . . .
December 20, 1089
The next few years were peaceful, so I shall record here the story of my wives. My first wife’s name was Alisia of Cagliari. My mother, always eager to get involved in my life, arranged the marriage with an Italian count. I fell in love with her completely. Unfortunately, she spent a little too much time with my Marshal, a Moslem named Jabir who fled from the lands of my enemies. My heart was broken, and had he not been such a good Marshal, I may have just had him exiled or killed, but luckily Alisia died in childbirth in 1085. My second wife was named Binhilde von Babenberg, and again the marriage was arranged by my mother with a German count in 1086. You need to understand, I was somewhat disillusioned with marriage at this point, so you can see why it was around this time that I fathered a bastard son named Isaakios with a serving wench. This second wife gave me a daughter as well. But then she began spending a little too much time with Marshal Jabir. Unfortunately, he is a damn good Marshal, so once again I had a hard choice to make. Luckily, (and conveniently) Binhilde died in childbirth in 1088. My next wife I choose myself, because clearly my mother had poor taste in women. My third wife was named Elena Vojislavljevic and we were wed in a pleasant ceremony in the summer of 1088. Much to my delight, this wife actually produced a legitimate son, Theodoros. Things were looking up. Elena even got pregnant again right away. Shortly thereafter, however, there was another unpleasant development.
Will my wife conveniently die for her transgressions, or will I have to help her see the error of her adultery? Will she give birth to another son, or a half heathen bastard of my Marshal (did I mention he is a very good marshal)? Will the evil Empire try to pull my lands back into its fold? Will the heathen’s see my realm as a target and attack in hordes? Will Marshal Jabir ever feel bad about sleeping with all my wives? I will answer these and other questions at a later writing.
Good marshals come and go!!!
