"Speaking of which, I heard the King of England, the one they call the Conqueror, was recently excommunicated by this new Holy See," Berthold, the Duke of Carinthia, suddenly said.
Apparently, he somewhat agreed with Otto’s point of view.
"Your news is out of date, Berthold. The Conqueror is already finished. His eldest son defeated him, in the name of the Holy See," said Welf.
"It seems, then, that this new Holy See has reached an agreement with the new King of England. He might provide aid to the Holy See. Perhaps we can ally with England," said Rudolph.
"That’s too naive. Don’t forget, didn’t the Conqueror conquer England nine years ago in the name of the Holy See? And not long after, he turned his back on the previous Holy See, threw all his envoys out of England, and forbade his Archbishop from traveling to Rome to report.
The Normans have always been pragmatic creatures. The moment you’re no longer useful, they turn on you. Hasn’t Giscard already made that perfectly clear?" Berthold said, shattering Rudolph’s delusion.
Rudolph fell silent. Indeed, the Normans’ perfidy was already notorious.
After a moment, he looked at Otto. "Otto, I’d like to hear your opinion."
"My opinion?" Otto was a bit speechless. He was really here to negotiate on Henry’s behalf.
’I’m a loyal minister right now! A loyal minister! You have to believe me, you bastards.’
Though his inner thoughts were running wild, he said aloud, "I think they might be worth winning over. While the Normans can’t be trusted, they can be reliable partners when interests align.
The previous Holy See, our beloved Pope Alexander, was indeed ruthlessly abandoned by Conqueror William. However, William merely failed to fulfill his promise. After all, we all know Alexander’s demands were excessive. To make the Monarch of a nation his vassal? How was that ever possible?
Besides, before William abandoned him, it wasn’t as if he gave nothing. He sent substantial donations, although most of them were plundered from the English Church. The Holy See did not come away empty-handed.
As for Giscard, although he defeated the Pope on the battlefield, he still professes loyalty to him, at least on the surface.
Furthermore, Conqueror William’s eldest son, the new King of England, is known for his generosity and benevolence. To be honest, I haven’t heard such descriptions in years. People now call him the ’Universal Lover.’ Perhaps he will be a Saint King.
I believe he would be more than willing to aid the Pope to secure his newly acquired throne. We should try to win him over. After all, we have nothing to lose."
Rudolph nodded in agreement with Otto’s words. "Then let’s proceed. However, shouldn’t we inform the Holy See’s loyal ally, our Lady Feudal Lord of Tuscan and border Countess of the Empire?"
"Matilda would be doing well just to take care of herself. The Holy See really overestimates her. She’s lost the protection of the Duke of Lorraine. Tuscan must be in utter chaos by now," Berthold said sarcastically.
Berthold was the Duke of Carinthia, and Carinthia bordered Tuscan, so he was quite familiar with the situation there.
The cities in northern Italy were numerous, and their urban tyrants would not be so quick to obey the commands of a woman.
"All the more reason she needs to know the Dukes of the Empire intend to support her, Berthold." Rudolph was very displeased with Berthold’s tone, which smacked of insubordination.
’This damn old man...’
"Right now, she needs a husband more than our support. After all, it’s impossible for us to send troops to help her. Your domains are too far away, and my own Carinthia is already giving me enough headaches. I simply don’t have the spare hands to help her," Berthold said.
"Finding a powerful husband isn’t easy, especially one of a suitable age. Why doesn’t one of you make a sacrifice and save this Lady Feudal Lord?" Rudolph suddenly joked.
"Dukes, the topic you discuss is a bit dangerous. On behalf of God, I offer you a friendly warning: God does not permit a husband to abandon his wife," the Archbishop of Mainz suddenly spoke up.
All the Dukes present, even the youngest, Welf, was already thirty-five this year, and all had wives of noble birth.
"Relax, Archbishop. We’re just making a harmless joke. Instead of worrying about our little joke, you should be more concerned with Henry. That fellow detests our beloved Empress and is trying to get a divorce," Rudolph said with a shrug.
"Any word on the new Duke of Lorraine?" Welf suddenly asked.
"That dog, the Hunchback, left his Lower Lorraine to his nephew, Godfrey of Bouillon, a sixteen-year-old brat. We don’t need to consider his opinion. If he’s lucky enough to receive Lower Lorraine, his rule will be even weaker than Matilda’s.
Although, I don’t think for a moment that Henry IV will give Lower Lorraine to him, even if the Hunchback was his loyal Vassal."
......
「On the fourth day, Eric and his party arrived in Rouen.」
They had been delayed a day by taking care of the little girl along the way, so by the time Eric arrived, the funeral had already begun.
Besides Robert’s feeling that Sesil might not have been very fond of her father, the weather was also getting hotter by the day, making it difficult to preserve the body.
Even now, despite burning a large amount of mugwort and placing the body in a coffin, the stench of decay was becoming difficult to conceal.