Episode 50
Heinrich VI, King of Rome, King of Italy, and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, seemed to have been born under a lucky star.
To begin with, being the son of Emperor Frederick I of the Holy Roman Empire was an unparalleled stroke of fortune.
Yet, it was a well-known fact that if you weren’t the eldest son, inheriting the throne was a long shot.
By tradition, Heinrich, born as the second son, was not destined to become emperor.
However, in the Middle Ages, when infant mortality was high, even second sons had a chance.
Eventually, Frederick I’s firstborn, also named Frederick, passed away in infancy, and Heinrich was elevated to the status of the eldest son.
Moreover, he married Constance, the aunt of the King of Sicily, who was ten years his senior, thereby securing a potential claim to the Sicilian throne.
If the childless King of Sicily were to die, Constance would become the legitimate heir, and the Hohenstaufen family would seize the Sicilian crown.
But Heinrich’s luck didn’t stop there.
As the heir apparent of the Holy Roman Empire, holding the title of King of Germany, he was active from a young age.
One day, he traveled to Erfurt with the empire’s nobles to mediate a dispute between the Archbishop of Mainz and the Landgrave of Thuringia.
And then, a historic event occurred.
As they gathered in St. Peter’s Church in Erfurt to begin negotiations, the wooden floor suddenly gave way, sending 60 nobles plummeting below.
Unfortunately, the area beneath was a cesspit, and the nobles of the empire met an ignominious end, drowning in filth.
The tragedy was caused by the old wooden floor, unable to bear the weight.
The absurdity of the event was compounded by the fact that the meeting was on the second floor, yet the floor below also collapsed, directly over the cesspit.
Had Heinrich been caught in the disaster, the heir to the Holy Roman Empire might have met a laughable end in a cesspit.
But as fate would have it, Heinrich was standing on a stone floor and managed to escape unscathed, clinging to a window grate until he was rescued.
Truly, he seemed to be a man favored by the gods.
Had his story ended there, Heinrich might have been remembered as merely a fortunate man.
But at 25, the crown prince harbored a secret ambition.
“If I succeed my father as emperor, I can make the empire truly belong to the Hohenstaufen family. I will make it so.”
Thanks to his father Frederick I’s unprecedented imperial power, Heinrich was granted the status of King of Germany, the empire’s heir apparent, at the tender age of five.
Unlike most European countries, the Holy Roman Empire was an elective monarchy in name only.
Thus, an emperor wishing to pass the throne to his son would preemptively secure the title of King of Germany for him through election.
Heinrich planned to strengthen imperial power further and render the elective monarchy obsolete.
If successful, the Holy Roman Empire would forever belong to the Hohenstaufen family.
His father was a revered emperor, but he was now too old.
Heinrich believed he was the only one capable of bearing this responsibility.
That very year, his father, Frederick I, perished in an unexpected accident while ambitiously leading a crusade.
Moreover, the previous year, King William II of Sicily had died without an heir.
At just 25, Heinrich found himself inheriting both the throne of the Holy Roman Empire and the Sicilian crown.
From that moment, Heinrich VI was convinced he was the most beloved of the gods.
His desire to meet the prophet Edward Marshall stemmed from a wish to confirm this belief.
Fortunately, the prophet was quite favorable towards him.
Of course, the emperor had no intention of making such a significant decision based solely on his feelings.
His gaze turned to a shadowy corner of the room.
“What do you think? Was there anything strange in our conversation?”
“Nothing stood out. He seemed just as the rumors described.”
“Right? It seems the gods truly favor me.”
Though it might have sounded like arrogant self-praise, the attendant did not object.
After all, even he had to admit the emperor’s luck was extraordinary.
“By the way, Your Majesty, won’t the prophet be displeased if he finds out I was eavesdropping?”
“He won’t know if we don’t tell him.”
Unless one could read minds, how could anyone detect a hidden presence?
Though Marshall was a capable knight who had served in the Crusades, the emperor’s attendant had never been caught.
“Still, Your Majesty, while nothing seemed amiss, it might be wise to be cautious. Everything is unfolding exactly as you wish.”
“Is that so?”
Marshall seemed to know all the emperor’s concerns and addressed them precisely.
The attendant’s worry was precisely this.
“After all, the prophet is from England. It might be prudent to maintain some distance.”
“Your point is valid, but perhaps that’s why we should draw him closer.”
Heinrich VI, convinced he was chosen by the gods, thought differently from ordinary people.
With luck upon luck piling up, he believed this time would be no different.
If he failed to seize the opportunity the gods had arranged for him, he would be a fool.
“Marshall is close to the papacy, so it’s not surprising he knows our concerns. The pope seems to want to use him as a bridge between the empire and the papacy.”
“Indeed, that could be useful. I hadn’t considered that.”
“Moreover, if what Marshall told me is true, there’s no need to doubt his sincerity. We won’t have to wait long. We’ll know everything on the day of the coronation.”
Unlike his father, Heinrich VI had no immediate plans to launch a crusade.
It was something that had to be done eventually.
But the empire’s current situation was not favorable.
Internally, the Lionheart was waiting for an opportunity, and externally, an illegitimate son with no claim to the Sicilian throne was causing trouble.
Raising an army for a crusade would be like inviting trouble.
However, the Islamic side had provoked them, creating a perfect atmosphere for a holy war.
Backing down would damage the emperor’s prestige and raise doubts about his faith.
So Heinrich planned to negotiate with the pope, asking him to publicly acknowledge his claim to the Sicilian throne in exchange for launching a crusade.
Marshall had seen through this and promised to help facilitate a smooth compromise with the pope.
He even hinted that they might not need to send troops to the Holy Land.
“Indeed, it seems the gods intend to make me the master of Europe…”
Whenever a problem arose, it was swiftly resolved, proving his divine mandate.
Convinced of his destiny, the emperor found himself increasingly drawn to Edward Marshall.
As the only person in the world who could hear the voice of the gods, the prophet belonged by the side of the emperor, the master of Europe and Rome.
Leaving him in a backwater like England was a waste of his talents.
“Once the coronation is over and I return to the empire, I’ll have to devise a plan… a bait to lure Edward Marshall over to our side…”
After my private audience with Heinrich VI, I secretly sought out Celestine III.
“What did you think? Is Heinrich VI trustworthy?”
“Trustworthy? I’d sooner trust a cat to guard a fish market.”
I replied with a smirk to the pope’s naive question as I took a seat.
“He invited me for a private audience, yet he had someone hidden in the shadows. How can you trust a man like that?”
“Perhaps it was a bodyguard?”
“If it were a bodyguard, they would have stood openly by his side.”
He might have thought he was well-hidden, but he couldn’t fool my eyes.
Why, you ask?
Because I could clearly see the status message floating above the supposedly empty bed.
Whoever it was, they had a rather dangerous trait labeled [Boy-Lover], a clear sign of a pervert.
And to top it off, Heinrich VI had [Ingrate] floating above his head, marking him as a truly untrustworthy individual.
At this point, trusting them would be foolish.
Of course, I couldn’t tell the pope this directly, so I concocted a plausible reason to cover my tracks.
“Besides, there’s very clear evidence that he’s constantly scheming to stab us in the back. Your Holiness, I advise you not to trust him too much.”
“If the Prophet says so, I’ll follow. But why offer such a generous proposal to Heinrich VI?”
“Because trusting the author and making the author trust us are two entirely different matters.”
Heinrich VI is currently the most powerful ruler in Europe. Openly opposing or earning the distrust of someone like him would be a grave mistake. We need to keep him close, using him to prepare the stage for my own ascent. Removing him can come later.
Unaware of my true intentions, Celestine III sighed in relief, patting his chest. “In any case, I’m glad you’re here, Prophet. I almost ended up as a naive fool.”
“Indeed. No matter how conciliatory the Pope tries to be, Heinrich VI has no intention of maintaining an equal relationship. He firmly believes that imperial power should always surpass papal authority.”
“But even knowing that, we still need to save face for Heinrich VI this time.”
“Yes, but we mustn’t give away too much. We need to ensure we get what we need.”
Regardless of Heinrich VI’s character, allowing the Hohenstaufen family to swallow the empire whole isn’t beneficial for me. The emergence of a true autocrat who could easily crush papal authority could drastically alter history, and not necessarily in a favorable way for me. I have no connections within the Holy Roman Empire yet. Ideally, the Hohenstaufen family would quietly fade into obscurity, as history originally intended.
So, how can we establish our position here?
As I pondered, the Pope, with a subtle tone, suggested an idea. “What if we approach it this way? Battles aren’t fought with swords and spears alone, are they?”
“True.”
“A crusade is ultimately a matter of definition. I believe a crusade without force is entirely possible…”
Hearing the Pope’s plan, I nodded in agreement. It’s remarkable how our once indecisive Pope has transformed into someone brimming with enthusiasm and dedication. What a beautiful sight.
I imagined the faces of those who would be shocked and dismayed by this news, and I couldn’t help but smile. They probably thought they could control everything. Sorry to disappoint, but the world rarely bends to one’s will.