Chapter 56: Visitors from the Eagle's Nest (Part II)

"I request all knights and squires who accept the challenge not to think that the competition I hold is out of arrogance, hatred, vanity, or any kind of bad intention. The only thing I hope for is to gain your friendship and praise."

This edict, personally signed by Amalric I, was copied by monks and carefully transcribed on a wooden board three feet square. The first letter was enlarged, and saint portraits and patterns were drawn around it. It was erected at the entrance of the martial arts tournament venue, and everyone entering and leaving could see it.

This line of words also appeared in the countries of the Holy Land and even more distant places. The farthest, as we all know, was England. The undefeated knight William Marshal, who had never lost in either melee combat or one-on-one horse combat, came from here—he saw the challenge and invitation of the King of Arasalu on the bulletin board in London and came without delay.

Some small towns might not have bulletin boards, and it was possible that the lords were illiterate, but there were also "informers" riding horses through dense forests, rivers, and swamps, coming to castles or fortresses to deliver this news.

Amalric I's martial arts tournament for this wedding was said to last for several months, which was quite amazing but not so rare, because just waiting for knights to rush to the competition venue from all directions would take one or two months, and in the following three or four months, people would continue to arrive—if the time of the martial arts tournament was limited to the usual six to eight weeks, some knights would still be on the road, and the tournament would have to end.

And on the announcement and challenge letter, it was also written where the martial arts tournament would be held, as well as the various rules that knights needed to follow, such as not looting residents on the way for the sake of this competition, not initiating battles at will (even against Saracens), not committing crimes, not damaging forests, fields, wells, etc. —these things were all done by knights before.

In addition, participating in the martial arts tournament was not free. Knights needed to pay fees according to their status.

Amalric I also stated that the host of this martial arts tournament was Count Raymond of Tripoli, a knight famous for his fairness and strictness. Even William, who was far outside the Holy Land, had to admit that every game he hosted was impartial and could combine some mercy when making correct judgments.

When he found that some knights' armor was old and their horses were old, he would try his best to persuade them to give up the competition. If the other party was still unwilling, he would give the other party some money, asking the knight to change his armor and horses before coming to fight.

As for whether this knight really changed his equipment after taking the money or just left, Count Raymond didn't care at all.

The martial arts tournament at this time did not have the tenderness of a few hundred years later. The swords used by knights were never dull, and the spears were never hollow. If this kind of "polite weapon" was discovered, your opponent would not be grateful for your mercy, but would feel humiliated and would have to fight you to the death.

This led to the martial arts tournament becoming a real battle. Hundreds of knights participated, and dozens of knights dying was a common occurrence. This was also one of the reasons why the Church strongly criticized the martial arts tournament, "They die for money and glory, not for God." A bishop once criticized so sharply.

But so what? Knights were originally lifelong professional soldiers. They honed their skills all day long, but even Arasalu didn't have war every day. To verify their martial arts, what could be better than a martial arts tournament?

If a knight dared not participate in the martial arts tournament, even a lame serf could spit on him. If a king dared not participate in the martial arts tournament—even if, reasonably speaking, a head of state should not participate in such a bloody and dangerous competition—but as we saw, there was no king who had not put on armor and held a spear to appear in the arena. Even if knocked off the horse, stabbed by spears and sharp swords, they were not afraid.

If there was really a coward wearing a crown, the people would laugh at him, and his vassals and knights would also abandon him.

Amalric I would appear in the last three days of the month, not only participating in one-on-one duels, but also participating in melee combat.

A martial arts tournament with the King's appearance was like inlaying jewels on gold, becoming more and more brilliant. People flocked to it, and the parade when entering was even more noisy and lively. At first, there were drummers, little flutists, and the King entered surrounded by ministers. He wore gilded chain mail and a helmet, and wore a white surcoat, with the gold-embroidered Arasalu cross shining brightly.

And behind him were thirty noble ladies, each beautiful, dressed in silk or velvet, smiling like flowers. They would sit in the high place of the arena—watching, and only watching the winners.

However, except for those young knights who were hot-blooded and unable to control themselves as soon as they saw these reserved noble ladies, some experienced knights paid more attention to the "Lady of Grace" of this martial arts tournament. This lady was generally the wife or daughter of a lord or king—if Amalric I did not marry, or the Byzantine princess had not entered Arasalu, today's "Lady of Grace" would definitely be his daughter Sibylla.

No one could deny Princess Sibylla's beauty, but there were too many things more important than beauty. People watched the thirty noble ladies surrounding Byzantine Princess Maria and Sibylla to the high platform, and the one who finally sat in the main seat was indeed Maria.

As if the last chess piece fell, they sighed in their hearts, but it was not strange. After all, if the knight who finally won the laurel was the King, he should present the wreath to the "most beautiful and noble lady here"...

If Princess Maria didn't get the wreath, people wouldn't care who Amalric I gave the wreath to—even if that person was his daughter Sibylla, rumors about her not being favored by her husband would continue to spread for several years.

And even without the Byzantine princess, Amalric I would not hand the wreath to Sibylla. You know, because Charlemagne did not allow his daughters to marry, it triggered many sworn rumors—people said he had an immoral relationship with his daughters, and the monk who wrote his biography said he had illegitimate children with two daughters.

In fact, it was just that Charlemagne was reluctant to give dowries—every princess had to have at least one city as a dowry. He had five daughters, at least from what Cesar heard from the knights, Charlemagne's daughters didn't marry, but they weren't lonely on the bed.

Ah, this is a bit far—in short, the one sitting next to the empty throne was of course Princess Maria, the highest-ranking woman here. Her face made some frivolous knights feel disappointed, but more knights became more and more eager to try. Whether she was beautiful didn't matter much. The fact that she would be the Queen of Arasalu in the future was the most important thing.

If she could accept their allegiance, they would have a path to the clouds.

Cesar and Baldwin also had a very good position—fortunately, they were still a prince and an attendant now, "Are these all knights who perceived the saint?"

"Should be," Baldwin said, he was also a little excited: "My father and the knights around him have all received blessings."

The day they were allowed to leave the castle, the competition held was for knights who "had not received blessings." They really didn't see anyone overflowing with holy light. Although the competition was fierce, it didn't exceed the scope of ordinary people.

"Look, that's William Marshal."

They had a deep impression of this knight with a peculiar figure. Even if he wore a nose-guard helmet, they recognized him at a glance. But even if they didn't recognize him, the crazy shouting of the audience also revealed his identity, "William of London!" they shouted.

This knight had been undefeated since entering the arena.

William Marshal took off his helmet on his horse and bowed to the surroundings to thank him. As an Englishman, the cheers he received here made the Frankish knights look not very good, but when the host grouped them, he received the most invitations—originally, grouping was divided by region, and the highest-ranking person was the commander, but who told the English knights to be too few.

Count Tripoli hosted this game. He arranged the competition from minority—majority—most, that is, one-on-one horse spear competition, ground sword competition, and hand-to-hand combat, then to small group competitions of three or four knights (decided by themselves whether to bring squires), and finally melee combat, which was no different from a small war. By then, all participants would enter the field, fully armed, with squires and armed attendants, fighting until the sunlight disappeared.

Amalric I first defeated several people, including the Grand Master of the Order of the Temple and the Antioch Prince Bohemond, as well as several other high-ranking opponents. He generously returned the other party's armor and horses and didn't ask for ransom, winning a round of compliments and praise.

But in the battle with William Marshal, he lost to this young knight.

This was also the first time Cesar saw knights who perceived the saint fighting head-on—when the host announced the knight's identity loudly, he called out the saint's name that William perceived—Saint Patrick. This saint could also be said to be a legendary figure.

The two knights first knelt down to pray, then got on their horses, greeted each other, and then ran towards each other.

William and Amalric I's spears were surrounded by bright white light. They galloped, and the arena was silent—except for the heavy horse hoof sound. The intersection was only in a flash. Baldwin and Cesar could clearly see that Amalric I was a move behind. Perhaps the horse stepped on a small stone, perhaps the wind happened to blow past his eyes... His spear tip tilted slightly, and he was glimpsed by William.

He tried his best to lift his spear and stab at that tiny gap. The roaring giant force shattered the round shield raised by the King. The round shield immediately shattered. Amalric I roared and tilted his spear tip, intending to whip William's side face, but William's spear had already stabbed into the King's ribs, penetrated the chain mail, and threw him high!

No, not just Amalric I, even Amalric I's mount couldn't bear this majestic force, fell on its back, and pressed the King underneath.

Knights and clerics of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher had already stood up. Heraclius had been paying attention to the situation in the field. Seeing this, he immediately raised his hand. The King had already struggled out from under the horse's body, and William also jumped off the horse. Waiting for Amalric I to take the two-handed sword handed by the squire, he also took new weapons from the squire's hand.

This time William was at a disadvantage, not because his martial arts were not exquisite or not pious enough, but because his broadsword, his sword could not bear the King's hacking, and broke into two pieces without warning.

The King asked someone to bring two new big swords, but was refused by William. From his expression and mouth shape, it could be seen that he didn't think the enemy would give him weapons on the battlefield.

But in the subsequent hand-to-hand combat, William defeated Amalric I again. We said before that he had a pair of long arms blessed by God, and could always hit Amalric I first. Although this was a bit unfair, it was impossible to let him cut off a section of his arm before competing...

And in this battle, I don't know how many facilities in the arena were destroyed. Princess Maria's face was pale, and I don't know if it was because the battle between the two reminded her of that crazy mother bear.

"I thought you would perceive Saint Patrick at first." Baldwin said softly when William knelt down to the King and asked for forgiveness. Indeed, Saint Patrick and Cesar's current background have many similarities, for example, he didn't believe in God at first, even though his father was a priest (priests could marry at that time), but at the age of sixteen, he was looted by thieves and sold to Ireland (at this time the Irish had not converted), and in the hard slave life, he gradually heard God's voice and received a blessing.

He escaped with several slave companions and later returned to Ireland to preach. In legend, the Irish threw stones at him, but he was unharmed.

"Perhaps because you were not a slave originally." Baldwin said again.

At this time, Amalric I had already pulled William up, accepted his apology, and invited him to join his team in the subsequent melee combat.

William of course gladly complied.

In the chaotic melee, the one confronting Amalric I was Count Raymond of Tripoli. Only he was the most suitable, and the one who temporarily replaced him was Bohemond. Bohemond sat in Raymond's original position, reading out the names, origins, and saint names of the participants loudly, and delineated the safe zones for both sides. Knights could rest and treat here, and captives would also be moved here.

This game could be called evenly matched. Raymond and Amalric I were not only experienced generals, but also knew each other's fighting styles very well. And starting from them, every knight in the field was not an ordinary person, and the damage they caused was exceptionally large—monks and clerics kept running around, treating them, or saving lives.

Even Baldwin became nervous. He stared at the figure in gilded chain mail, his eyes didn't blink. Suddenly, that person was besieged by several knights and was knocked off his horse!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 57 =====