A Crusader with System in the Middle Ages

”I said, we’re putting on a show of support for the Earl of Gloucester. Don’t you get it? You idiot.” Belem kicked him again.

The personal guard knight finally understood. He gestured to the Shrewsbury Knights behind him and also knelt down in Eric’s direction.

However, they did not shout words of fealty; they merely knelt.

Matilda glanced at Eric. After the Norman Knights’ ceremony of fealty was over, she took hold of the hand on which he wore the ring, pulling it down and extending it forward.

”Now, vassals of Tuscany, you may swear fealty to your new Marquis. Under the witness of the Holy See, and in the sight of God.”

The Tuscan vassals hesitated for a moment, then began to come forward one by one. They bowed to Eric and pressed their foreheads to the ring, showing their submission.

”Fermo City swears fealty to you, my Marquis. We are your people now...”

”Baron Arezzo swears fealty to you, my Lord Marquis...”

”Siena City swears fealty to you, my Lord Marquis...”

Almost all the Tuscan vassals had come to attend the wedding. Whether obedient or defiant, they were all here.

The obedient vassals could try to win the new Marquis’s favor as quickly as possible, while the defiant ones could take the opportunity to learn what kind of man the new Marquis of Tuscany was.

Just then, a middle-aged man with thinning hair walked slowly toward Eric. But he did not lower his head, let alone bow.

”Before performing the rite of fealty, Pisa City has a few questions for the new Marquis. According to Tuscan custom, a vassal may pose questions to their lord, and the lord is obligated to answer.” He held his head high, the excess flesh on his face bunching into wrinkles.

Matilda whispered to Eric, ”This is a magnate from Pisa.”

The Pisa Republic existed in a state of semi-vassalage to the Tuscan Feudal State. Depending on the strength or weakness of the Tuscan Feudal State, they would adjust the level of their loyalty to the Duke of Tuscany.

”Cesare, this is insolence! The Marquis is a man of great nobility! A low-born piece of filth like you, who comes from selling wool, is fit to question the Marquis? The moment you speak, I can smell the foul stench of sheep. Shut your mouth.” The speaker was the magnate from Florence, Antonio.

Not long ago, he had sued Belem for harassing his wife.

”If the new Marquis truly respects the Marchioness, and truly wishes to be a good Marquis of Tuscany, then I believe a Marquis from Normandy would not mind my questions. Am I not right, Marquis Eric?” The magnate from Pisa, Cesare, paid no mind to Antonio’s words and spoke with a smile.

”Though the timing is not exactly ideal, and the Holy See himself has graced us with his presence to preside over this ceremony for me, I am willing to respect the traditions of Tuscany,” Eric replied with a smile.

”Thank you for your understanding, my Lord Marquis. I have no intention of challenging your authority. It is only for the benefit of the citizens of the Tuscan cities that I must ask these questions. Please forgive my momentary insolence.” Cesare bowed to Eric, but before Eric could reply, he continued, ”What I wish to ask is about the future of law in Tuscany. As everyone knows, you are a great noble from Normandy.

I imagine everyone present is no stranger to the Normans. The great Outville Family now reigns over Apulia and Sicily.

Although I am willing to believe that our Duke is a humble, devout, and noble man—and that one’s origins do not determine one’s character, for that is God’s affair, and God decides all.

Some say there must be a reason why God sent the Normans to Italy to become our Marquises and Counts.

Was it to bring the Italians protection and glory? Or perhaps more wealth?

I do not wish to answer that question, because I know that each of you surely has your own answer in your hearts.

But I wish to tell you all a simple historical fact. For hundreds of years, God has brought many peoples to Italy: Greeks, Romans, Huns, Lombards, Burgundians, Franks, Vikings, Magyars, Teutons...

I will not say much about the Greeks and the Romans; we still remember them today. But the Huns, the Lombards, and that whole string of peoples—what did they bring?

Destruction! Endless destruction!

In my fifty years of life, I have been pondering this very question. Forgive the meager knowledge in my head. I am a foolish man; it has taken me all these years just to understand.

And so, I am here to share my own unrefined conclusion with you all.

Perhaps God continuously brought wave after wave of people to Italy not to bestow something upon us, but to warn us about something.

And why the warning? Because for the longest time, we have been doing the wrong thing! We are hesitant, our will is weak, and we are content to just get by!

When others take a step forward, we take a step back, constantly weakening our freedom, abandoning our inherent rights, thinking that such compromise can be exchanged for peace and tranquility.

But I tell you, if we seek to trade freedom for peace, we will be left with nothing.

Ever since the Romans left, wave after wave of foreigners has ravaged this land, plundering it as if it were their own backyard!

In the end, even the Romans themselves came to bully us.

And yet we kept retreating, retreating, constantly giving up, giving up.

God loves us. God loves Italy.

That is why He warns us, again and again, so that I might learn through this how important our birthrights are. Because most people only learn to cherish what they have after they have lost it.”