Chapter 355 - 253: Aegean Sea, Our Sea

Just then, a commotion arose from the other side.

Eric subconsciously turned his head and saw an old man in a white robe, holding a shepherd’s staff, personally supporting a tattered, disheveled middle-aged man of about fifty.

The white-robed elder was John de Beaumont, the Archbishop of Rouen. He was the Lord of Leister and the great-uncle of Beaumont, the current Viscount Yevry.

He was also the maternal uncle of the Earl of Hereford, Emma’s maternal great-grand-uncle, and a dear friend of the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lanfrank. In Normandy, he had always dedicated himself to promoting clerical celibacy and was considered a respectable figure.

Though he appeared hale and stood tall, he was nearly seventy years old. He had joined this Holy War with no intention of returning. Before his departure, he had informed the current Archbishop of Canterbury, Anselm, that he would remain in Jerusalem until his death, and had even nominated a successor for the position of Archbishop of Rouen to Anselm.

"What happened, Archbishop?" Eric walked over and directed a nearby attendant to help the Archbishop support the disheveled man.

The Archbishop waved his hand, dismissing the attendants who tried to help. He pointed to the disheveled middle-aged man he was supporting and said to Eric, "Earl of Gloucester, this is a Frank, Bishop Admar of Le Puy from Toulouse. He is also the representative of the Holy See, appointed by His Holiness the Pope for the affairs of the Eastern Expedition."

Those Greeks are outrageous! Bishop Admar and his party landed in Achaia not long ago, and the local Greek soldiers and civilians shamelessly attacked and plundered their Crusader party.

"Madmen! Madmen! Unbelievers! Unbelievers! Despicable traitors! Despicable traitors! I will take him to His Majesty to appeal! We must seek justice from those heretics! No, we must make them pay the price for abandoning the Lord of Heaven!" The wrinkles on the Archbishop of Rouen’s forehead furrowed together as he forcefully struck the ground with his shepherd’s staff.

The disheveled Bishop of Le Puy covered his face with his hands and sighed, his words filled with grief:

"We naively believed them to be our brothers in faith and accepted them as our guides without suspicion. But then... my retinue—those loyal knights and soldiers—were ambushed from behind without any warning!

Our supplies, gold, silver, provisions, and even the sacred artifacts we brought for the Holy War were brazenly stolen by them!

They rampaged through our camp, plundering everywhere like a pack of hungry wolves falling upon innocent lambs, their eyes filled only with greed and malice.

Their swords are no longer wielded to defend Christ, but to satisfy their own avarice!

We came for the Holy Land, for the glory of Christ, yet these Greeks—these so-called brothers in faith—repaid us with treachery!

They are no longer followers of Christ! Their actions are no different from those of heretics—in fact, they are even more shameful! Every one of them deserves to be hanged!"

"It seems our experience wasn’t an isolated incident. I bet the other Crusaders have all suffered provocations from the Greeks, more or less," Belem said resentfully.

"This is not the time for a direct confrontation with them. We’ll deal with it after we’ve secured Cyprus," Eric said, looking at Belem and then at the Bishop of Le Puy. "Of course, Bishop of Le Puy, do not despair. I will make them pay the price at the opportune moment."

...

For the next three days, Brinyos visited the Normans’ camp daily, murmuring apologies for the offense caused by the previous "misunderstanding." He blamed everything on the Greek mobs, completely absolving himself and his own.

Robert had a fondness for eloquent men, so he took a liking to Brinyos. On Eric’s advice, he bestowed some rewards upon him.

Three days later, Brinyos arrived at the camp with a troop of two hundred Pecheneg Cavalry to escort the army on its departure.

A year ago, Emperor Alexios, with the help of the Count of Flanders and Cuman mercenaries, had inflicted a crushing defeat on the Pechenegs at Levonyon in Thrace. The Pechenegs suffered heavy losses and were no longer a threat to the Empire, greatly boosting Emperor Alexios’s prestige.

The Pechenegs led by Brinyos were survivors of that Battle of Levonyon, now in the Emperor’s employ.

However, bringing the Pecheneg Cavalry was pointless. Eric informed Brinyos that they intended to sail the entire way to Constantinople and there was simply no room on the ships for the cavalry.

Besides, the Pechenegs disliked traveling by ship; they were afraid of the sea.

So, Brinyos was forced to leave the Pecheneg Cavalry with Tatikios and boarded Eric’s ship himself.

It took a week to sail around the Peloponnese Peninsula and reach Athens. There, Robert, using a supposed attack of quartan malaria as an excuse, claimed he was too weak to travel to Constantinople. He requested that Eric be dispatched to represent him.

At Odo’s insistence, William de Evreux, the Count of Evler, was also sent. He was a cousin of Conqueror William and the grandson of Duke Richard II of Normandy. Odo had persuaded Robert with the argument that only one of the Normandy Clan’s bloodline could properly represent the King.

Traveling with them were Stephen, the Count of Blois; Lagman of the Isle of Man; and Belem’s father-in-law, the Count of Boulogne.