Chapter 1563 Adelaide’s Claims and Archbishop Vivian’s Claims

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The countryside is cold and quiet in late autumn, but there is a lively scene in the city of Tours.

In another building left over from the Roman era, Robert and Adelaide suddenly received a special message from little Hugo.

The messenger conveyed the words to Robert, which made him unbelievable for a moment. He even threatened the messenger: "If you dare to tell any lies, I will hang you."

Of course, the messenger did not dare to spread the message randomly. As the clergy endorsed the relevant situation, Robert also had to face this reality.

One sunny afternoon, the north wind was obviously stronger, as if a snowstorm from the north was approaching.

Such weather made Robert feel a little bit ominous

He stood by the stone window. Standing here, he could easily overlook the mansion where the Earl of Tours family has lived for generations, as well as the St. Martin's Cathedral not far away, which has a spire and a large number of arch windows.

He knew that little Hugo was staying there quietly, and that the whole house was deserted. He also knew that the waiters serving the young earl always had very limited care for him out of fear of the "curse" that the child carried.

Robert would not visit him unless necessary, for fear that he would also be infected by the curse.

He had already thought about how to deal with the building after little Hugo's death, and he was also clear about the funeral-related matters.

He only didn't know why little Hugo wanted to separate the earl's direct jurisdiction, so he gave Shannon to Regraf, the son of King Ross.

"Are you in a daze?" Adelaide walked over quietly and put a hand on her husband's shoulder.

"I'm thinking about something."

"What's up?"

"About your brother. Hugo actually gave Shannon to Reglaf. This kind of thing... is simply unbelievable." At this point, Robert couldn't help but clenched his fists.

Adelaide noticed this and continued to pat him on the shoulder: "He is Rurik's son. Besides, he has fought alongside you for so long, and we are already friends with him. It is really inappropriate for Shannon to give him ?"

It sounds like the wife's words are a rhetorical question.

"You..." Robert turned around suddenly and looked at his wife's face. His old face was trembling, and he said coldly: "Shannon is a good place. Why would Hugo give up such a wonderful place to him? He clearly doesn't want me to get it."

Adelaide still didn't care: "Maybe. He is still an earl now. If he wants to make such a decision, how can I object?"

"Why don't you object. You can object."

"What's the problem?" Adelaide put on an indifferent attitude: "As long as my brother dies, you will be the earl. As Regrave, as Baron Shannon, you will be his lord. You were defeated by King Ross, You came to Tours with the funds provided by King Rus, and now your son can be your servant, and you have made a profit."

"It's just vanity. Only a woman would be willing to do this."

"What?" Adelaide put away the teasing smile at the last word, and then pinched her waist: "Are you mocking me? Tours is my hometown, and Hugo is my brother. Even if we don't have the same mother. , he is also my brother, and his decision has no real harm to me or you. Robert, don’t be too greedy. Think about it, we are so poor that we are about to starve to death in Taunus Mountain. Gave us food to survive? Shannon gave it to Regrave, I support it."

Robert closed his eyes and listened to his wife's chatter. After a while, he held back a sentence: "Are you repaying a favor?"

"It's to repay a favor."

"It's ridiculous. There's no reason to repay a favor like this."

"I don't care." Adelaide said with a resolute attitude: "The King of Rus sent people to save me and you, and even my son. Without the help of the Rus people, we would have starved to death in Taunus. In the snowdrifts below the mountain. Now I give Shannon to King Ross's son, I am happy."

"Listen to what you say. It's as if you are already a countess! It's ridiculous. It's because your family has no male heir that your father married a young man, and the son he gave birth to was still burdened with a curse."

"That's enough!" Robert wanted to continue, but Adelaide stopped him firmly: "Only Hugo can declare you to be the next generation.

Count of Tours. Instead of obsessing over the ups and downs of Shannon returning to Reglaf, you might as well have a good chat with Hugo and let him announce you as the heir when he canonizes Reglaf. "

"Forget it. I'm not good at asking for help, unless I can't live anymore. Besides, my current power was gained through fighting. Next year, I will conquer Orleans and Paris. I don't need that patient to canonize me and check the concept of me. My military achievements will automatically grant me a title." After that, Robert left the stone window in despair, leaving Adelaide alone here to feel sad.

From Robert's point of view, his wife is now the benevolence of a woman.

But calm down, some of what my wife said does make sense.

Adelaide was a woman who had given birth to many children. Her younger brother Hugo was about the same age as her own son, and he was also about the same age as King Rus' son Reglaf.

At certain moments, when she saw Reglaf leading his men in a show of force, it was as if she saw her eldest son Wilfin, who had been abandoned in Burgundy. She admitted that she was not a good mother, but her first marriage was not something she had any control over.

Of course she doesn't regard Reglaf as a son, but at most as a friend. What's more, the Russians came to rescue her from starvation and freezing in the Taunus Mountains. She doesn't care that it was the Russians who defeated her husband. The Countess of Rheingau, who had taken good care of herself, once lived like a savage in the mountains. She only paid attention to who gave her food when she was about to starve to death in humiliation, and was grateful for this kindness.

His father chose to be an enemy of this generation of emperors, and the successors to the title of Tour could only follow the old count's attitude and continue fighting.

Tour is his natal family, and it is also just the natal family of Queen Imingard.

In her heart, Adelaide is also competing with her eldest sister.

When he was young, the eldest sister was domineering because of her age. As the eldest sister, she received more love from her parents. As the second daughter, Adelaide could only condescend to the eldest sister in everything. That was all thirty years ago. Especially when it comes to marriage, the eldest sister married Lothair, the then crown prince, and she was arranged to go to Burgundy.

Her sister gained great honor simply because she was born first. This first-come, first-served situation led to the consequences that Adelaide couldn't let go of. Now, those past events have become the reason for his persistence - his descendants must firmly control his natal Tour.

As for Robert, he is more like a tool man in the eyes of Adelaide today. It is said that when his son Robert Jr. grows up, this child will inherit the dual power of the Robertia family and the Tour family, and then a vigorous young man will become the real Count of Tour. This is the best result.

By that time, the husband is already too old. Even if he does not delegate power, his life will naturally come to an end...

Because Adelaide no longer believes that Emperor Lothair will win the final victory, the emperor will be defeated, and the eldest sister who is the queen will also be in despair. At that time, Adelaide is also willing to take her down-and-out eldest sister back to Tours to spend her old age. Although she may have the idea of ​​venting her hatred, she still doesn't want her sibling sister to completely lose her soul.

Good and evil? Justice and evil?

Adelaide feels that now she finally has the ability to control her life. Just as her husband said, if Tour had already stipulated that women could inherit the title, she would have done it herself.

On the other hand, although Robert is very reluctant, he is not strong enough to control everything in Tours. Even the control of military power was backed by the joint authorization of Hugo, his wife Adelaide, and the church.

The elite troops of Tour were brought under the command of Robert because everyone needed professional strong men as qualified army commanders to ensure that Tour would not be invaded during the civil war. The best way to protect yourself is not to defend yourself, but to take the initiative and beat up the approaching imperial nobles. The long-dead old Count Hugo III has already set a successful example, and his successors should inherit this strategy.

Many times, Robert firmly believed that the prestige he had established now was earned by his own efforts.

However, the real situation is that the most daring ones on the battlefield are the elite cavalry composed of lower-level nobles of Tours and the hundred Norman "berserkers" in the hands of Regrave. Even the coalition forces moved extremely fast, largely relying on Reglaf's long-term

These ships allowed Tours to launch raids in the style of Norman pirates.

Le Mans was easily won because the coalition forces suddenly arrived and caught them off guard.

On the contrary, it was Robert who organized the army himself. The early troops had been consumed in the war. To this day, there is no direct army under his command that dares to fight.

Even after Robert won Le Mans, he had an identity of "Count of Le Mans" that was not widely recognized.

Among the imperial nobles, since this guy gave up his status as Earl of Rheingau, he is a guy with no status. His status is low and his behavior is barbaric, just like a Norman pirate.

He wanted to quickly break the extremely embarrassing situation in his identity, but his wife's angry words reminded him. After he calmed down, he really felt that he could go to Little Hugo to make the request in person.

A teenage king becomes the new Baron Shannon! Bruno was very happy that his old friend was so lucky. He couldn't help but complain that as the next generation of Duke of Saxony, why didn't little Hugo of Tours get a piece of land for himself?

The one who felt the deepest impression was Wibert from Nantes who had just turned 20 years old. After all, he helped Tours fight as an ally. If he had military exploits, he would get a piece of land. How could little Hugo favor one over the other?

Wibert only dared to complain when there was no one around. As the second son, in principle, he could not inherit the Earl of Nantes. It seemed that his father had carved out a piece of land in the earldom and he could just become a baron.

With Wibert's mind, he could not understand the strategy of little Hugo on the sick bed - Hugo, who was seriously ill, had a lot of time to make calculations about personnel appointments and removals.

For a few days, Reglaf had been ready to receive the knighthood.

In the past few days, he entered St. Martin's Cathedral to pray according to regulations, received blessings from the Benedictine Order, ate and lived with church staff for three consecutive days, and did not leave the cathedral for three days.

He did not think that this was personal control. If he wanted to become a lower-level noble in Tours, personal canonization from the earl was in principle, but it was also very necessary to gain the favor of the church.

At the same time, this is also the first time in three years that Archbishop Vivian has had close contact with Regrave, who is said to be the "eldest son of the most barbaric Normans." The monastery will have its own judgment on the boy's level.

Then Vivian suddenly realized the astonishing thing about the boy - this child was able to flip through a parchment book and scroll in the library and basically understand the contents of the book.

"He actually knows Latin, why didn't I realize it earlier? It's a sin. I'm actually prejudiced against him. His true identity should be the King of Mercia, not the son of the Norman King."

It is indeed difficult for Vivian to put aside his prejudice. After all, Reglaf is a pure "golden retriever", and his hundred northern subordinates are also "golden retrievers". Only the hair color is hugely different from the people of Tour.

In the Benedictine Order of Tours, most of the priests at all levels have black hair. Lower-level priests come from the second and third sons of local small nobles. As for boys or orphans selected from poor families as lower-level priests, there are such people, but the number is extremely limited.

The church in Tours has a long history. The relationship between teachers and students has replaced the relationship between father and son. The Benedictine order here has become another form of hereditary nobility. The great library of the cathedral is the spiritual center of the order.

Their large areas of black hair prove their ancestors to the Roman nobility. Although priests are not allowed to marry, their families have been proliferating intermarriage. The alliance between the priests and the lower-class nobles is extremely stable. Outsiders who want to take root in Tours must also abide by it. This set. Coupled with the naturally derived teacher-student system, the tradition of the Tour church system is both flexible and stable.

The "Mediterranean" hairstyle on Vivian's head was deliberately shaved. In Tours, even young priests must keep this hairstyle. By shaving the hair on the top of the head, the scalp will directly face the blue sky and the ceiling of the cathedral, and the mind will be able to One step closer to the realm of God.

The hair in other parts of the body is basically black.

It was also a great challenge for the Benedictine monks to accept a Norman boy as Baron Shannon and to recognize him.

Vivian was pleasantly surprised. This child was polite to her, completely different from the arrogance of other nobles.

The child will first cover his heart with his right hand and make an announcement before speaking.

But he is clearly the King of Mercia!

That kingdom is in Britain, and there are also priests from Mercia practicing among the Benedictine monks in other places.

When Vivian was still the abbot of the monastery, he learned of a strange news. The Pope actually recognized a baby boy as the king of the Kingdom of Mercia. Anyway, this matter was of no importance to them. With an indifferent attitude, the archbishops of various dioceses followed the Pope's orders and agreed to this matter.

The Archbishop of Tours at that time admitted the matter.

The baby boy who co-wrote the book is the boy in front of him. He is polite and culturally knowledgeable in Latin. Comparing the boy and Robert, Vivian naturally likes the boy Regrave, even if the former is a senior Franks, the latter is a mixture of a Norman king and a Mercian royal family.

In fact, Reglaf is sensitive to many things.

He accompanied his grandparents as a "left-behind child" for several years, until his participation in the large-scale military expansion launched by his father opened his eyes. However, he was deliberately left in Saxony, and Reglaf began to refine his observation skills.

It seems that his father doesn't love him. Maybe his father has never loved his mother, and his attitude towards him is not very kind.

Because he has seen too much, Reglaf is no longer too lazy to complain. Instead of complaining, he would rather lead the guys who are loyal to him to fight for a better future. Obtaining Shannon from the sick little Hugo, he always felt that accepting this was hardly an honor, but he did need a solid foundation, and he, the King of Mercia, would also rise in Shannon.

He heard that Shannon was a quite wealthy place, and he could imagine that little Hugo was very serious, and what he said about friendship on his sickbed was not a joke.

Compared to himself, little Hugo is truly pitiful. On the other hand, he was born in a world of blessings and does not know how blessed he is.

During the three days in the cathedral, Bishop Vivian took the opportunity to learn a lot of past events about the Kingdom of Rus through Reglaf's mouth. Rather than looking at the handwritten version of the letter Eskil sent to Reims, it would be better to hear the son of King Rus come out and give his account.

Regrave couldn't help but he was full of complimentary words. Everything about Rose made Vivian feel like it was a fantasy.

Regraf talked about all the generals and military aristocrats of Russia from memory, and especially introduced his grandfather. His words were full of praise, and they were very distorted from reality.

The focus of all descriptions remains on King Rus himself.

The Rus' army swept across Götaland, entered Denmark and wiped out the Frankish forces, and formed a coalition to defeat Ludwig's army on the Elbe River. This was Reglaf's personal participation. He described the earlier wars that the Russians participated in with added detail.

As for the Russian warriors, all of whom are wearing armor, owning a number of high-end weapons, and owning ships as big as a hill, Vivian, who knows nothing about military operations, is just listening to the scriptures.

On the other hand, Vivian can easily relate to the fact that all Russian soldiers are wearing armor through the soldiers brought by Regraf.

They are a group of Rus warriors who put on orange robes. They are indeed all wearing armor, and the weapons they hold are bright white stabbing swords. They also prepare battle axes. The weapons and armor are completely different from those of Tour's army.

The helmets are unified, the round shields are unified, and even the patterns on the shields are unified as the royal emblem of Mercia.

One hundred warriors, fully armed, can give the priests the illusion that all of them are copies of one warrior. The clothing, weapons and equipment are all of the same style, which is something the Frank army has never been able to achieve.

As for the benefits of uniform clothing, the priests who collectively wear black burqas know all too well.

Based on Regrave's introduction, Vivian's understanding of the Normans has been subverted. At least the Rus, the most powerful among the Normans, have their own order. Many Normans have converted to God. Regarding this situation King Rus had a tolerant attitude.

This corroborates what Eskilde described in his letter - fellow monks could still continue to go to the north to persuade the Normans to convert.

It seems that Reglaf and his one hundred warriors are not special cases. Although their style of war is still that of the barbaric Normans, they

They were indeed converted to God. They will repent for their crimes during the civil war in the future, and Bishop Vivian believes that these lost lambs will be saved in the future.

In the Frankish world, the Benedictine Order, led by the Roman Pope, was orthodox, while the Arian heresy was being frantically suppressed and could only move underground. All churches in Britain also belong to the Benedictine order. If the church in Tours is willing to contact the church in Mercia, the two parties can communicate through letters and personnel as long as the more senior Archbishop of Reims serves as the intermediary.

If Regrave is regarded as a Norman, he is one of the Normans who is easy to get along with.

If Reglaf is regarded as the king of Mercia and is friendly to him now, he will be friendly to the church, and his colleagues working in Mercia will not encounter trouble in the future.

Reglaf could have refused this unreasonable "three-day fast". On the appointed day, he was canonized by Little Hugo. Afterwards, the archbishop could only admit it. He didn't know at first that this was Archbishop Vivian's deliberate move, but he had no objection at this point.

The new voice revealed in a friendly manner with the Archbishop, which admittedly had his own personal desire to express himself, was officially welcomed by the Benedictine Order of Tours, which was necessary for his future rule in Shannon.

Regrave made a very purposeful promise: "I will not allow others to destroy the Shannon under my rule. I will protect the local villagers and the local priests, and I will not withhold the tithe from the church. When My people are getting married in Shannon, and I also ask you to send a priest to be the host."

Shannon has always been under the direct jurisdiction of the earl. In theory, the local church tithe must be paid, but the earl family is busy collecting the tax themselves but withholding it. In the entire Diocese of Tours, the most stable tax base for the church is the villages under the jurisdiction of the church. It is basically a delusion to want the earl family to allocate money. Now, instead, Robert is asking the church for money on the grounds of needing military expenses.

Shannon was split off to form a barony, and Regrave promised to send tithes to the church. This was a great thing to expand the church's tax base!

If the young man really fulfilled his promise, it would be a darkly humorous spectacle because the Earl and his party refused to give money, but the Normans gave money instead.

The Order of Tours will not have trouble with money. Once the money is delivered, Regraf will still be a good person even if his attitude is more arrogant. And he behaved too politely, and some lower-level priests criticized him behind his back as "the little barbarian deliberately pretending." Even if it was just pretending, Vivian wanted Reglaf to perform for as long as possible.

When Reglaf walked out of the main entrance of St. Martin's Cathedral, behind him was the support of the entire Benedictine Order of Tours.

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