Chapter 97: The Death of the King (5)

"Strong enemies ahead, fear nothing! Pious and loyal, grateful to God! Humble and upright, never lie! Protect the weak, defend justice!

These are your vows, remember them firmly!"

Amalric I said in a low and majestic voice.

"I will treat the weak with mercy, I will face strong enemies with courage, I will fight against sinners in every way, I will fight for those who cannot fight, I will help those who need my help, I will treat friends faithfully, reach out to women and children, I will treat every knight generously, and I will fulfill every vow I have made without discount."

Baldwin in front, Cesar behind, they made their vows with this, receiving the King's satisfied nod: "Very good." He reached out, and a knight beside him handed over a long sword.

When the two young men knelt side-by-side before Amalric I, the nobles invited here as witnesses could not help but have strange expressions.

Although it was said that this approach was to accommodate Amalric I's current physical condition—the King probably did not have the strength and time to preside over two sword-granting ceremonies in a row, but in the cognition of most people, he only needed to hold one grand sword-granting ceremony for his only son. Why add this little attendant?

If he had to promote this little attendant to a knight, this matter could be left to Baldwin. After all, according to common sense, a person with knight qualifications could knight another person.

And this was also more beneficial to Baldwin. After all, if a knight received his weapon from someone's hands, the other party would have eternal grace toward him. He had to fight for the latter and be loyal to the latter, unless he was no longer a knight.

Amalric I did this, was he not depriving his son of the rights he might have in the future?

Could it be that this black-haired boy was Amalric I's illegitimate son?

Those who had this thought could not help but have more foul thoughts that could not be spoken—like Richard, although he was of noble status, there were still few people who valued personal character and personality rather than background and surname when making friends.

More people had ideas when they heard that the attendant beside Baldwin had no prominent background, but on the contrary—he was a slave of an Isaac merchant who luckily got Amalric I's rescue and Baldwin's favor, and was able to climb to his current position step by step.

They might not all have that evil hobby condemned by the Church, but such a beautiful person, if he could be brought back to the castle and court, even if offered to the lord and king as an ornament, would be enough to make them envied or even successful.

So when Amalric I ordered Baldwin and Cesar to kneel before him, these people could not help but feel regretful waves in their hearts.

The two sides in the knighting ceremony could be said to have reached an important and unchangeable contract—if an ordinary knight knighted Cesar, they might still have a chance to persuade him to leave the dangerous Jerusalem for the warm Apennine or the wealthy Frankish lands.

But if it was Amalric I who knighted him, he would never be able to leave Jerusalem again.

Amalric I knew very well what those people were thinking. After all, since they saw Cesar, there had been more than one or two people who asked him for this child or wanted to exchange for him.

A smile appeared on his lips. Cesar was a treasure, and this treasure had long been snatched by him to be inlaid on the crown of Jerusalem, and this crown must be worn on his son's head.

He looked down at the two children and raised his hand to slap them each in the face. This was to warn the young men who were about to become knights not to be overly proud and forget themselves, and to maintain enough humility and obedience.

Only then did he take the long sword handed by the knight and tap them on the shoulder. First Baldwin, then Cesar.

When tapping Cesar's shoulder, whether the King suddenly ran out of strength or did it on purpose, the long sword was too close to Cesar's temples and ears. After the tap, not only was a lock of hair cut off, but a large scratch was scraped out. Although it was not flesh-tearing, it could still be seen that blood was rapidly condensing into a series of small beads and flowing down Cesar's ear roots and neck.

Fortunately, it was Balian of Ibelin and Humphrey of Toron who "dressed" the two children. Because of the Countess of Jaffa, Balian's relationship with Cesar had always been quite good. As soon as he saw this situation, he immediately gave a look to Humphrey on the other side. They immediately stepped forward quickly and skillfully put the shining chainmail on the two children.

Taking advantage of this movement, Balian used the inside of his sleeve to absorb those blood beads. Fortunately, the injury was not very serious. By the time they hung the sword belts and put on the spurs for the two new knights, the blood had already stopped.

But this was indeed an ominous sign. Baldwin looked at Cesar worriedly. Cesar shook his head, indicating that he had no problem.

Next was the most important step in the entire ceremony, which was that the new knights should immediately pick up their weapons and shields, mount their horses, and knock down a dummy target prepared in advance. The knights watching would cheer for them.

Of course, the premise was that they really knocked down the target. Some new knights would become flustered or not skilled in martial arts, making this last step a big joke.

For Cesar and Baldwin, this was not a problem at all. They mounted their horses as nimbly as birds. The black Pollux and the white Castor, under the bright morning light, knocked the dummy wrapped in cowhide and filled with straw far away in one go.

The watching knights cheered like thunder. The King watched the two children who were like the rising sun, his heart full of gratification.

When they turned their horses back, he handed his hand to Baldwin. Baldwin immediately leaned beside his father, and then, to everyone's surprise, he actually reached out another hand to Cesar.

Baldwin's mother, the Countess of Jaffa, had done the same, but a countess and a king making the same move had completely different meanings, not to mention at such a sensitive moment.

"Why not walk over?" Amalric I asked gently. "My Knight of Bethlehem?"

Hearing Amalric I say this, everyone present could not help but show horror, followed by an uproar—even Baldwin could not help but look at his father in surprise. And Heraclius frowned deeply. Amalric I had not told him that he would grant Cesar a fief, let alone Bethlehem.

He had originally envisioned the best result, which was that the King would carve out a small piece of territory for Cesar in the newly occupied territory.

Although this vision was now impossible, Fustat was still burning like a hellfire, and Bilbeis had become a lonely city. They could only return to Jerusalem.

So in Heraclius's thinking, as long as Cesar could be knighted by Amalric I, even without a fief, it would be fine.

If it were in Frankish or Apennine lands, if a person were knighted, he should have a fief, even if it were just a mill or a field. But such laws or agreements were difficult to be thoroughly implemented in Jerusalem and the surrounding Christian countries.

Because almost all the land here was obtained by Christian knights fighting the Saracens. Today it might be in the hands of the Christians, and tomorrow it might become the Saracens'. Therefore, if a knight chose to be loyal to their king or lord, he might not necessarily receive a fief.

So the Crusader generals, inspired by the Saracens, adopted the method of directly paying currency to support their knights, the so-called "gold coin fief."

The amount of land for a knight supported by Amalric I was about nine hundred to one thousand gold coins a year.

In this regard, Heraclius did not have much ambition. He felt that even if he only got five hundred gold coins a year, as long as Cesar was still by Baldwin's side, he could not have any chance of being strapped for cash. Baldwin would treat Cesar the same way he treated his brothers.

He would even be happy to share everything he had with Cesar.

It was just that he did not expect the King to really grant Cesar a fief, and it was the critical Bethlehem!

Bethlehem was just a small city in the lower right corner of Jerusalem. Its area might only be one-tenth of the Holy Land, and its population was only a few thousand, but its holiness was no less than Jerusalem. Because Jesus Christ and King David were born here.

Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, a prophet named Micah prophesied that the Savior would be born in Bethlehem. Sure enough, Jesus Christ was born in a manger in an underground cave in Bethlehem—a group of shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem saw angels descend and tell them that the Savior had been born. They followed the angels' guidance to find him, saw the newborn Jesus Christ, were overjoyed, and spread the news everywhere.

There were also three Eastern wise men. They went to see King Herod and told him that they had seen the birth of the Savior from the revelation of the stars and were going to worship him. King Herod was very uneasy when he heard this, so he told them to go see the Savior and come back to report—the wise men went, worshipped Jesus Christ, but the angels told them not to go back, so they did not go back.

King Herod knew this, thought he had been deceived, and feared the rumors of the Savior, so he sent people to Bethlehem to kill all infants under two years old.

But before this, Jesus Christ's foster father, Joseph, had already taken Saint Mary and the Holy Child to Egypt under the warning of the angels.

In Bethlehem, there was a Church of the Nativity, which was the Christmas Church the King mentioned during the "Selection Ceremony." The holiness of this church was no less than the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Not only that, Bethlehem also had the Tomb of Rachel, the place where the Holy Innocents were martyred, the Milk Grotto where Jesus took refuge, and other holy sites.

For Christians, the importance of Bethlehem went without saying. Previous Kings of Jerusalem had never granted it to any knight or noble.

Immediately, some people wanted to come out to advise, but as soon as they saw the King's cold blue eyes, they lost the courage to remonstrate.

Balian pushed Cesar. Amalric I was originally a self-willed person, and now he was even more unscrupulous—wanting to speak at length in front of a dying patient, hoping he would change his mind, was better than trying to persuade a stubborn stone to open its heart.

Not to mention that this was almost equivalent to Amalric I telling his last words.

Christians at this time had a rather strange view of wills. They did not avoid them and would establish and constantly modify them—perhaps because people at this time were too easy to see God—war, murder, disease, or even just a fall could cause them to lose their lives.

Therefore, when people were ill, before childbirth, going out to do business or on a pilgrimage, going to war, or hunting... Christians would make a will or make modifications to their original will.

Clerics also strongly encouraged this behavior. They said that if someone died without leaving a will, leading to others having resentment over his inheritance or new deaths, it was a very big sin. This sin could even lead to them being deprived of the qualification to hold a funeral and unable to ascend to heaven.

Therefore, as long as it was a pious believer, they would not wait until they were dying to gather their family members to their sickbed and leave their last wishes—this might also be considering that people might have confused thinking and unclear speech when they were seriously ill or old.

People generally believed that if a person wanted to make a will, the best time was when he was still healthy and clear-headed. Sometimes, notaries would even harshly require the person making the will to cross a stream or ditch without anyone else's help, or say that they must rely on their own strength to stand straight on the ground.

If a person was bedridden for a long time or suffered an accident and wanted to make a will, he had to invite all his relatives and witnesses to his house, and he could not lie in bed, but needed to be dressed neatly, sit in a chair, and face everyone's questioning to ensure that he was still a healthy person, so as not to affect the execution of the will.

An ordinary person was like this, and a king needed to be even more cautious. Not to mention that there were church figures who had tried to trick Godfrey into handing over Jerusalem before he died—Amalric I had to ensure that his will would not be distorted or tampered with by anyone.

Was this not the best opportunity now?

The noblest, most prominent, and most pious knights and lords were all here, hundreds of witnesses. They not only witnessed Amalric I knighting his only son and his companion, but also listened to every word spoken from Amalric I's mouth.

"I am under God's grace." The King placed his hands on the shoulders of the two young men, his face suddenly overflowing with vigorous vitality, and his voice was once again as loud as a bell: "Although I have gone through the trials of purgatory, I am still—clear-headed and firm in will.

Gentlemen, I am here, speaking by my own thoughts, not manipulated by others or the devil..."

The surroundings were silent. People, whether standing outside the tent or inside the tent, silently listened to Amalric I's last instructions.

Amalric I continued: "I make my will, or my last expectations..."

He first stated his property, dividing it into six parts: one part donated to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, one part donated to the Church of Jerusalem, one part donated to the Templars and the Hospitallers, one part left to his only son Baldwin, one part handed to the Byzantine Princess Maria and his two daughters, and the last part donated to all the poor people of Jerusalem, whether men or women, whether Isaacites, Christians, or Saracens.

Then he handed Jerusalem and the Holy Cross Castle to Baldwin, and asked him to kneel before him and swear never to fail the heavy responsibility given by God and the favor given by the saints. Then he called the Prior of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre and allowed him to re-elect the Grand Master together with the Commander of the Order.

However, everyone knew that this Grand Master would only be Baldwin. If Baldwin had not received the blessing, it would be one thing, but since Baldwin could still shoulder the heavy responsibility of leading the Crusaders to fight the Saracens, no matter what, they would not choose anyone else.

Finally, Amalric I's gaze lingered for a while on Raymond, Bohemond, and several other vassals: "And my daughter Sibylla's marriage..."

People were visibly nervous.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 98 =====