"Haven't the Normans replied?"

In the solemn Vatican's Castel Sant'Angelo, Pope Leo IX frowned and paced back and forth, turning his head to ask Cardinal Otto of Salzburg beside him.

"Your Majesty, it is a pity that we have sent several groups of envoys to Paris to negotiate peace with King William, but there has been no news of them, and the Normans have no intention of receiving us at all." Cardinal Salzburg could only sigh helplessly.

"What about Cardinal Hildebrand? Didn't he have already been received by King William, and why didn't he hear from him at all? "Leo IX's main concern is Cardinal Hildebrand, and he has been very worried for so many days without news.

"Since half a month ago, Cardinal Hildebrand has completely cut off contact with us, and we have not been able to get in touch with him by all means." Cardinal Salzburg shook his head and said.

"Needless to say, it must have been the shameless Normans who had imprisoned Cardinal Hildebrand. These hateful Normans! Leo IX gritted his teeth.

He was not only talking about the Normans of the Norman kings under William, but also the Normans of the ungrateful Kingdom of Sicily.

"De. The House of Ottville and the Normans of Sicily are simply devils from hell, lowly fishmongers, unscrupulous liars......" Leo IX cursed De without image. The Oateville family and the Normans of Sicily, fortunately, there were no outsiders present here except the Cardinal of Salzburg, otherwise it would have been a strange thing.

Leo IX cursed in his mouth. The House of Ottville and the Normans in Sicily King Caesar. Morality. Under the leadership of Ottwell, taking advantage of William's defeat of the Holy Roman Empire on the Rhine, he decisively announced an invasion of Rome and the seizure of the Bishopric of Benevento.

Caesar reneged on the alliance with the Holy See on the surface, ignored Leo IX's warmth for crowning him king of Sicily, and turned against him and marched to Rome with a large army, which Leo IX saw as naked deception and betrayal.

In response to rebellions against Caesar and the Tver family, the Pope had already prepared an edict of breaking the law and excommunication, and was ready to punish Caesar with breaking the law and excommunication.

Leo IX confidently prepared to give the Sicilian Caesar the punishment of excommunication, but the Cardinal of Salzburg was not optimistic, and it turned out that the punishment of excommunication did not have much effect on the Normans, such as hypocrites and shallow believers, such as William, who had been excommunicated by the church twice, but now the Normans were still loyal to William, and there was no rebellion at all.

The shrewd Bishop of Salzburg did not express his opinion bluntly, but advised: "Your Majesty, it is imperative to contact the Lombard vassal Ezzo II and the Duchess of Tuscany, and ask the Lombards and Tuscans to send troops south to support Rome." ”

"Well, do as you say, the Genoese, Pisa, and Venetians are also asking for help, and we need their navy and mercenaries." Leo IX nodded and instructed.

Just as Leo IX was about to proceed with the instructions to the Cardinal of Salzburg, Cardinal Ravenna walked in, bowed and said: "Good day, Your Majesty the Pope. ”

"Cardinal Joanne Enrique, you have arrived just in time, and I was about to ask you how the war is going in the Duchy of Toulouse?" When Leo IX saw Cardinal Joannin Rick of Ravenna coming, he immediately stepped forward and asked.

"Back to Your Majesty, our army has suffered successive defeats in the Duchy of Toulouse, and I am afraid it will be difficult to gain a foothold in the Duchy of Toulouse." Cardinal Ravenna regretted.

"How so? The battle report from a few days ago still said that he was in a standoff with the Normans? Leo IX was surprised.

"The Normans are treacherous and cunning, and they first use a legion to pretend to be the main force to attract the attention of our army, while the real main force is led by the famous Norman general, Duke Hubert of Anjou, from the Garonne River upstream, to the flank of our army.

The enemy attacked from the front and rear, and our army was defeated, so we had to temporarily retreat to the country of Mogiob, near Provence, to hold on. Cardinal Ravenna explained.

"Then quickly withdraw all the troops, Caesar of Sicily is marching towards Rome with the Normans, the situation is urgent, and we can't take care of so much." Leo IX said eagerly.

"This is probably a bit difficult, our army is being besieged by the Normans in the two castles of Mogio and Narbonne in Toulouse, and it is impossible for our army to withdraw without the Normans' consent." Cardinal Ravenna shook his head.

"Normans! Normans! Why is it that there are traces of Norman bandits everywhere in the continent of Europa? Leo IX said hatefully.

"Your Majesty, please do not worry, the Normans have sent envoys to discuss peace negotiations with you, but their demands must be strict, so I have come to consult with you beforehand about this matter." Cardinal Ravenna was relieved.

"What are the demands of the Normans in the vicinity, tell me about it!"

Leo IX knew that the Norman character would definitely open his mouth, and sure enough, the Normans shamelessly demanded that the church recognize the church in England, France, and Normandy as independent of the church, and establish a religious denomination with William as the honor, and forbid the church to interfere and interfere in the church and internal affairs of the kingdom......

What is even more unreasonable is that William actually asked Leo IX to transfer his right-hand man, Cardinal Hildebrand, to William's command, which is even more intolerable.

"Your Majesty, you must not agree to the Normans' demands, if you agree to the Normans, the churches of France and England will no longer belong to the Holy See, and an extremely powerful heretical church will rise, and it will never be tolerated." Cardinal Salzburg insisted: "Moreover, Cardinal Hildebrand, the leader of my Cluny sect and your right-hand man, would suffer a great loss of strength without him. ”

During the Middle Ages, Western Christians found heretics more hateful than infidels. Heretics are everywhere, and Christians can recognize them at a glance, but heretics are not necessarily, they are a wolf in sheep's clothing that can convert the Lambs of the Holy See into heretics when you can't even tell the difference.

Because heretical theories are more demagogic to Christians than heresies, and the probability of a lamb in one's hands becoming a heretic is much greater than that of becoming a heretic, Christianity is extremely hostile to heresy, and even does not hesitate to form a inquisition to eradicate heresy.

This is like the relationship between Apple and Samsung, if Apple sells mobile phones with peace of mind, and Samsung only sells chips, there will be no very fierce competition between them, but once Samsung starts to sell Android machines, the competition between Apple and Samsung will be extremely fierce.

This is true in the relationship between Christians and pagans and heretics.