Soon Godfrey's letter was delivered to Bohemond:

"Flag-bearer of Caesar of the Holy Roman Empire, Duke of Lower Lorraine, Count of the Frontier of Bouillon, Goffrey of Heliyas and Cliff. Morality. Bouillon, with great respect, greets the Duke of Apulia, the Honourable Bohemond. Morality. Lord Tver.

The Holy See is willing to reconcile the misunderstanding between the Holy See and His Majesty Caesar, and is willing to settle the dispute between you and the city of Bari, and as far as the Holy See knows, the Holy See is now ready to leave for Le Mans, and the great crusade is coming, if you are willing to join forces with the Holy See, then you and I may go together to the East to create the greatest cause under the banner of glorious princes, and to support each other forever as friends and support each other; If not, then let you and I meet each other. Because Godfrey of Bouillon must complete the mission given by His Majesty Caesar, and he will not die.

The contemptible will pray for you in front of the statue of Christ, trusting that you will make the wisest choice. ”

As a result, Bohemond spat at the letter and said, "Is it the only one who can ask for reinforcements?" Then he summoned a herald and gave him an edict asking him to go to Rome as soon as possible to ask for reinforcements, and ask His Highness Urban to mobilize the entire Lombard League: Tuscany, Milan, Lodi, Anzio, Pisa, etc., to organize a new army, "Now the Emperor of Greece and the traitor Henry are united, as long as they can defeat the enemy here in one fell swoop, and then the Holy See Crusade will be safe, please trust Bohemond." ”

While the heralds galloped away on fast horses with the prince's letters, Bohemond ordered the date of the general assault on Bari to be postponed in order to adjust his deployment to cope with the additional Gofrey army.

As the spiritual leader of the Normans, Bohemond still had a hand in command and dispatch. At the very least, he was enough to keep an army of 10,000 men to monitor Godfrey's reinforcements without any flaws, and then continue to secure the siege of Barry.

But in the city of Bari, the depressing atmosphere of the previous days was also swept away by the flames ignited by the arrival of reinforcements, including the citizens who had been preparing to leave by boat. They all climbed the city, used bows and arrows and stone shooters to drive off the Norman cavalry, and fought to repair the walls.

Now all the focus has returned to the Pope of Rome, and his attitude is enough to influence the situation in the whole of Italy. When Bohemond's herald cavalry rushed into the city of Rome day and night, they came directly to the palace where the Holy See was located, and the whole city of Rome was boiling at that time. The monks and servants were busy preparing to move the entire cardinal body to Le Mans under the crown of the Pope, and this meeting was of epoch-making significance, and no one would take it lightly.

Urban sat in his seat, flanked by Matilda, the dearest of her kind, and her young husband, the listless Welf, and Plasidis, who had defected from the court of Henry IV. Having received an urgent letter from the Duke of Apulia, the Holy See gave his opinion to several people. "It seems to me that Bohemond's opinion is justified that Gawain, who, after taking the city of Bari, expelled the Catholic Church and reintroduced the rites of the Greek Church, attacked us as unleavened cathetes. They say that we are a four-dissimilar sect mixed with the genes of shameful Jews, and they attack the celibacy vows of the Catholic monks, who believe that the Holy Spirit can extend to the Son, and even say that the deacons and monks can marry and have children. If Gawain was in the city of Bari for a day, then the whole of southern Italy was a doctrinal dispute. It will plunge all regions into turmoil, and the future crusade of everyone will also encounter nails. ”

Matilda, who was already fifty years old, resolutely bowed her head and expressed her support for the Pope's decision, she and her cousin Henry IV had been fighting for almost twenty years, but not for profit, but for faith, a woman who took up the banner of protection of the Pope, and showed more energy and fortitude than all the male warriors of the nobility. She was repeatedly expelled and pursued by the powerful armies of the German Empire, but she never gave in, she granted her cities and villages autonomy, granted merchants the monopoly of goods, granted the minor nobles and peasants the right to fish and hunt freely, and won the allegiance of countless small cities and villages, who consciously formed a people's army and fought a bloody battle with the German Lancaiser, and when the Po Plain could not defend itself against the arrogant knights of Henry IV, Matilda retreated to the mountains of northeastern Italy, one by one loyal to her villages, Rolling stones, spear shooters, and boiling oil were set up in passes and cliffs to form a series of precipitous defensive nets, making it difficult for Henry to covet her and the Holy See, and she was also a wise woman, constantly instigating the rebellion of Henry's heirs and vassals, and inflicting heavy damage on her cousin's reputation, and when Plasidis accused her husband Henry IV of sexual perversion, Matilda also added to the Pope's record, "When Henry the Sinner imprisoned and tortured his wife Plasides in the city of Verona, She saw with her own eyes a black mass of demonic substance, summoned by sinner Heng by witchcraft, lying on her abdomen, inciting her to renounce her faith in the Lord and make her fall. ”

But her own personal life was also ruined, and her cousin Henry IV launched a campaign against Matilda by clergymen loyal to her. The most typical is her marriage to Welf, which Matilda initiated and wrote to Welf, who was still very young at the time:

"Nothing to do with the frivolity and recklessness of women, I am writing to you with my own kingdom on my shoulders, allowing you to rule the whole Lombardy region as a husband. I will give you innumerable cities, splendid palaces, and mountains of gold and silver, and will unite the glory of your name and mine, and forge the strongest alliance between men and women. ”

So Welf came to Tuscany, and the Duchess Matilda held a wedding for her young husband for one hundred and twenty days, which was more luxurious than that of a prince, and on the wedding night, Welf refused to share the same marriage bed and love with his wife, because he thought his wife had witchcraft, which was obviously from Henry's attack, but perhaps simply because he thought his wife was old.

The next day, Matilda sat naked in front of her husband on a sawing machine, and the blood from her body proved her innocence, and scolded Welf for being a coward, seaweed, and miscellaneous pieces, and declared that she would only raise Welf as an ignorant male dog, deprive him of his inheritance of his domain, and make a will, and give all her self-possession to the Pope after her death.

Therefore, Urban was full of great respect for the duchess, and after obtaining her approval, "Would you like to offer a hundred knights and a thousand two hundred armored infantry to the city of Bari to the aid of Bohemond?" (To be continued......)