The year 1054 was still a year of war, in which the Normans completely put down the rebellion in the territory of Hainaut, wiped out the struggling kingdom of Scotland, and drew their swords and looked around; Far east, in the Near East Arabia, the leader of the Seljuk Turks, the second sultan of the Seljuk Empire, and the great-grandson of the Seljuks, Arp. Alp-Arslan (meaning heroic lion in Turkish) was holding high the sword of Allah and leading 200,000 heroes to Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid dynasty.

The rise of the Seljuk Turks has been unstoppable, and historically, in 1055, the Sultan of Arslan will lead the Seljuk Turks to conquer Baghdad, control the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad, and receive the title of "Sultan".

It was from this time that the Sultan later became the ruler of the world, including the Turks and even the Seljuks, meaning "authority, authority".

Speaking of the Seljuk Turks, their ancestors were originally the Western Turks split from the Turkic Empire in the Tang Dynasty.

The Western Turks did not catch up with the good time of development, and were swept away by the powerful Tang Empire to Central Asia, one of which fled to Afghanistan and the Near East due to the defeat of the political struggle, and they converted to the Christians and were called Turkic Seljuks.

In the centuries that followed, the Turks often acted as mercenaries for the Abbasids and Fatimids, and even decades earlier, committed the heinous crime of taking the holy city of Jerusalem captive.

Of course, for the time being, the rise of the Seljuk Turks did not have much impact on Western European monarchs such as William, but the prescient William knew that the rise of the Seljuk Turks was the trigger for the First Crusade.

In this regard, William specifically told his intelligence director, Russell. Morality. Count Bayol, who asked him to keep an eye on the Seljuks.

However, William's main concern now is the war of independence that took place in Italy.

Last year, the Lombard Duke Ezzo II led the Lombards to defeat the 25,000 army of Otto III, Duke of Swabia, and captured more than 10,000 people, which directly caused the middle route army of the HRE Empire to fall into a rush.

After half a year of recuperation, the strength of the Central Route Army was once again restored to the size of more than 20,000 men, and the command of this route army was held by Ludwigsi, Count of Thuringia, a close minister of the Salian royal family, and the defeated general Otto III could only be relegated to the deputy position.

At the beginning of this year, the three-way army of the HRE Empire launched another attack on Italy, and they learned the lesson of the last time Duke Otto III of Swabia underestimated the enemy, and adopted a steady and steady strategy, attacking simultaneously from the north, east, and west directions that had been entered.

No matter how strong the military strength of the Lombards is, they only have an army of more than 10,000 people, and at most they can only rely on the natural dangers of the Alps to defend one direction.

The northern defense line is certainly impregnable with the Lombards, but the Verona defense line in the east and the Provence defense line in the west are in danger, the Italian armies in the Italian states are not well equipped, but they lack the courage to fight, their ancestors Romans have long been lost in bravery, and the defense line can not collapse in a rout, which is already the result of the great courage of the Italians to defend their homeland.

After a battle, the eastern defense line was supported by the Lombards and Normans, and the Tuscans under the command of the Tuscan Grand Duchess temporarily withstood the Bohemian and Bavarian attacks, but the Provence side, because of the attack from both sides by the Duke of Saxony and the Duke of Savoy, had retreated.

The door of Italy is open, the situation is precarious, and it is not only William who is anxious, but also Pope Victor II of the city of Rome.

If the Italians lost, it would mean the beginning of another Italian conquest, and the Germans, who had conquered northern Italy, would not miss the opportunity to march on Rome.

When Pope Victor II thought of this scene, the first thing that came to mind was his ally and vassal, King Caesar of Sicily. Morality. Outwell.

In the final analysis, the title on the head of King Caesar of Sicily, whether it is Duke of Apulia, Duke of Calabria, or King of Sicily, is given to Caesar by the Pope, and Caesar, King of Sicily, is still a vassal of the Pope.

This is undeniable, and it comes down to the fact that the Pope of Rome gave the Caesar and the Otwell family legitimacy to rule southern Italy and Sicily.

Although the Normans of Sicily were not obedient, the only helpers that Pope Victor could think of at this time were the Normans of Sicily, except for the Lombards who were too busy to take care of themselves.

After receiving the edict of Pope Victor II, Caesar did not shirk it, and immediately ordered his troops and horses, and led more than 12,000 troops north to Rome, including more than 1,000 powerful Norman knights. Being able to assemble such a large army in such a short period of time shows that Caesar, the king of Sicily, has been preparing for a long time.

The Normans had frightened off the Dukes of Saxony who had invaded Italy, but they had not forgotten the horrors of the Normans, who in their eyes were terrible devils from hell and could not be defeated.

At this point, Pope Victor II, who was a dancer and dancer, immediately intervened, demanding a truce between the German princes and the Italian states and sitting down to agree on a peace treaty to restore peace in Italy.

The Italian alliance and the Normans of Sicily had the upper hand at this time, but in the face of the vast Holy Roman Empire, this advantage was not sure whether it could be maintained for long, so they chose to compromise with the princes of the HRE Empire on the basis of preserving the gains they had made.

On the side of the HRE Empire, it was unwilling to lose Italy, a fertile and rich financial and tax land, and it was a very face-hurting thing for the Italian princes, so during the negotiations, the HRE Empire always did not agree to Italy's request for independence.

Eventually, Pope Victor II intervened, and he coordinated the efforts to put pressure on the German princes on the one hand, and on the other hand he proposed to make the Italian states independent states, but they could become vassals of the HRE Empire, provide them with troops in times of war, and pay a certain amount of tribute every year in exchange for the independence of the Italian states.

Victor II's mediation was fruitful, and both sides took a step back and signed the Treaty of Milan at Milan in June 1054, officially marking the official secession of Italy from the HRE Empire.

On the surface, the Italian states still maintain a vassal relationship with the HRE Empire, and vassalization is actually a closer alliance, but after all, the two sides are no longer subordinate, and as long as the Pope gives an order, it is not a matter of minutes for the Italian states to dissolve their vassal relationship with the HRE Empire.