Outside Damietta, in the crusader camp.

Cardinal Sebastian, who wore a Mediterranean haircut, cut off a large piece of smoked ham from the table, stuffed it into his mouth, and said to his knight with a sarcastic face as he chewed: "He has just beaten Damietta, and he is about to be crowned Duke of Lower Egypt. ”

"It is simply deviant and audacious, does he not know that all the pagan territories occupied by the Crusaders should belong to His Holiness? Without His Holiness' permission, I can declare his title of duke illegal! ”

The knight beside him smiled wryly.

According to legal theory, of course, this is how things should be, but to put it bluntly, it is just a procedure, during the First Crusade, those Crusader princes occupied the city as kings, but without the approval of the Pope.

"Master Sebastian, don't do that!"

The knight smiled bitterly: "We and the Marquis of Lothar have not yet turned their faces, at least we have to wait until some really important nobles arrive in Egypt before we have the confidence to attack him, before that, you must be patient." ”

Sebastian snorted lightly: "Of course I know to be patient, but he actually wants a heretic bishop to crown him, he has turned away from the Catholic Church, and the heresy has been revealed, how can I tolerate it?" ”

That's what he gets most angry about.

If Lothar bowed to him and promised him many benefits, such as paying him half of the commercial taxes of Damietta and donating him the largest Zoroastrian temple in the city, he would not mind crowning Lothar.

But from beginning to end, Lothar didn't even ask him.

One can imagine how aggrieved he, the Patriarch of Alexandria, would be if he really made Lothar the king of Egypt.

"Moreover, since the crusade to the south, all the territories he has conquered along the way have been pocketed by himself, and he has never even held a meeting to consult with us, and in my opinion, there are many people who are dissatisfied with him, but they are afraid of him and dare not come forward."

"Tomorrow, if I stand up first, I will surely be crowded!"

The knight was stunned, a little helpless by the cardinal's assumptions that he served.

If you really have the heart to tear your face with the Marquis of Lothar, you should go deep into the army in advance and contact the nobles from all sides, which can be regarded as probing their tone.

He thought so in his heart, but he couldn't say it directly, so he could only knock on the side and admonish: "Since the departure of the crusaders, all the major battles have been the Marquis of Lothar's own army that has contributed the most and contributed the most. ”

"As for the territory of North Sinai, it is now a barren, and if the Marquis of Lothar really uses these wastelands to reward meritorious heroes, I am afraid that it will arouse the dissatisfaction of the rest of the princes and generals."

Sebastian's anger cooled, but his mood sank deeper and deeper.

"So what are we going to do?"

He was a little annoyed and said, "Don't forget that before I came to Egypt, I promised His Holiness an annual tribute, as well as the salaries of the recruited mercenaries. It's not something you can do by sitting in a church and selling indulgences. ”

"I'm afraid that if this continues, the prestige of that Jura barbarian will grow higher and higher. John, haven't you heard that there are already quite a few Copts who privately call him the king of the Eastern Franks? ”

The knight was silent.

I want to say: In the face of people like the Marquis of Lothar, even if you can't be friends, it's better not to be an enemy.

However, Sebastian was able to serve as the bishop of Alexandria this time, but it took a lot of favors and blank checks, and the Marquis of Lothar obviously would not allow Sebastian to go on a rampage.

The contradiction between the two was doomed from the beginning.

…

Early the next morning.

St. Mark's Basilica.

Lothar carefully examines this Saracen and Egyptian-style Christian church, under the oriental-style round dome, dozens of huge stone columns, hollowed-out wooden windows with patterns, and clusters of shrines.

Inside the shrine is a painted fresco of St. Mark riding a winged lion, and underneath the portrait is a proverb written in Coptic letters that look somewhat similar to Greek—unfortunately he can't read it.

St. Mark is the author of the Gospel of Mark, a saint recognized by all sects of Christianity, because he was the founder of Coptic Orthodoxy in Egypt and martyred Alexander, so he is also the most widely patron saint in Egypt.

In Cairo, Alexandria, Damietta and other large cities in Egypt, there is its own St. Mark's Church.

Alexandria used to enshrine the remains of St. Mark, but unfortunately it was stolen by the Venetians more than 300 years ago, and it was only since then that the Venetian emblem became St. Mark's flying lion.

A group of Crusader nobles gathered around Lothar and came to the main hall of the church.

The bishop of the Coptic Cathedral, as well as the clergy behind him, were already waiting here, and they couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts when they saw these crusader nobles who were like wolves and tigers, and their bodies seemed to have a lingering smell of blood.

Compared to the Saracen nobles who had long been accustomed to wandering the streets, prostituting and enjoying themselves, as if they had their fangs removed, the Crusader nobles were like a pack of wolves!

The bishop took a deep breath, trying to maintain the dignity on his face.

He knew that the relationship between the brothers of the same clan could not restrain these Franks who fought at the top of the battle, and it is said that when they were in Europe, they were a group of evil-doers, murderous figures, and it was impossible for them to go to a foreign land, but they all became humble gentlemen.

When the Eastern Empire's navy raided Damietta, it burned almost the entire city.

The Coptic Christians in the city were not allowed to be opened because of their status as brothers, and many young Coptic men and women were taken back to Constantinople by the Eastern Empire navy as slaves of a rare breed.

"The ceremony is about to begin, Your Highness, please sit in your place."

The bishop guided Lothar in the center of the main hall, where a solitary chair sat behind, behind which was a large painted fresco, which seemed to make Lothar appear smaller and smaller, apparently as a means of highlighting theocracy.

Lothar listened impatiently to the bishop's prayers and sermons, a long process that was no different from a prison sentence, and worse, all eyes were on his face at this time, and he couldn't even raise his hand to tickle himself.

When the bishop had finished preaching, a clergyman came to Lothar with a jar of holy anointing oil and applied it on his head, hands, and chest—in response to Lothar's usual gesture of drawing a cross.

The olive oil with the aroma of herbs and trees smoked Lothar a little dazed.

After that, there was a lengthy process, and Lothar was like a marionette to fiddle with them, until at the end, when the Coptic Bishop of Damietta took a somewhat small ducal laurel and a golden scepter, and walked slowly towards Lothar.

Lothar was crowned the Duke of Lower Egypt, the ruler of the Lower Nile Delta, rather than a Duchy independent of the kingdom's legal principles, meaning that Lothar remained subject to the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the will of its vassals.

On the one hand, it is considered that as a subordinate prince of the kingdom, he can accept the canonization of Baldwin IV, or the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, among them, his relationship with Baldwin IV needless to say, this powerful candidate for the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop William of Tyre, has a lot to do with him.

If he is temporarily crowned a duke as a prince under the kingdom, he can get the endorsement of both, which increases the legitimacy of Lothar as the duke of Lower Egypt.

On the other hand, it is also a warning to Sebastian or the rest of the Catholic forces, don't block yourself at this time, I have a lot of paths, Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and Coptic Christianity all work.

When the bishop arrived, Lothar knelt down on one knee and prayed with her hands together.

He didn't want to be like Napoleon, pick up the crown and put it on himself, it was uncomfortable for himself, after all, he was only one step away from unifying Europe, and he was the democratically elected emperor of France, and the basis of his rule came from the French nation, not the divine right of kings.

With Lothar wearing the duke's crown and receiving the golden scepter, this slightly rudimentary coronation ceremony came to an end.

Immediately, the whole church resounded with loud cheers and shouts.

It was not an illusion, but Lothar clearly noticed that the eyes of the people looking at him were subtly different from before, more awe, and more reverence, as if after that ceremony, he was really shrouded in a layer of divine aura.

The system's prompt sound sounded immediately

(End of chapter)