Patricia Taylor
Stories
11
Chapters
3,604
Words
1.6 M
Comments
0
Reading
5 d, 16 h
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"Noble edifices combining the favour and attraction with impressive proportions would immensely conduce to the exaltation of the holy chair of St. Peter." - Pope Nicholas V, Death Bed Speech, quoted in Ludwig Pastor, The History of the Popes from the Close of the Middle Ages. Pope Nicholas V touched the paper and the ink on top feeling its ruggedness with his ripe old hands. It is an achievement for him to be able to clearly read and articulate the words on the papers considering that a man of this age…-
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However, if one studies the map on the current situation of Anatolia between the Sultan Bayezid II, the Prince Orhan, and the various Beys and war lords, one will realise something strange. The map indicating the situation looks relatively messy, with an enclave over here and an exclave over here, the entire map looks like a pixelated art instead of a proper solid colour map. This is the direct result of Orhan expanding way too fast leaving some cities and towns which are not in the strategically…
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The meeting between Prince Orhan and Antonius did not end well. This is what happens when two men with different ideologies and believes clash with each other. Orhan, who came from a high noble family born and educated under the medieval background which naturally injects him with the pride and responsibilities of a noble, of course he would look down on the commoners who are largely uneducated and uncouth, it is down to his bones, and one cannot blame him for being like this as the craft of chivalry and…
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"Submit to Islam and you can stay safe, or agree to the payment of the Jizya, then you and your people will be under our protection, else you will have only yourself to blame for the for your destiny, for I bring the warriors who desire death as ardently as you desire life." - Khalid ibn al-Walid "Sword of Allah" "Come with me." Orhan Çelebi stared at the eyes of Antonius directly grabbing both of his arms. "Help me take back the throne of the Ottomans, and I shall grant you the Beylik of Izmir, mark my…
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Antonius' fleet went into action again after the end of the siege. A quarter of the ships, most of them loyal to Antonius not the emperor, sailed southwards into the Sea of Marmara, in the name of blockading the connections of Ottomans between Anatolia and Thrace through Kaliopolis, while another smaller fleet sailed into the Mediterranean towards the Republic of Genoa, passing by Candia and other Venetian properties in the Aegean. The emperor had no choice but to approve, because he found out that he…
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"Leave this city, immediately, leave this place, it is not your place." George said firmly behind Antonius. Antonius took a deep breathe, scratched his moustache and tried to maintain a calm tone. "That is one purpose of my visit for today, may I know when will I and Giovanni be getting our reward for this mercenary contract?" "Oh yes! Yes! The reward!" George Sphrantzes thought hard for a while trying to recall but failed. "Ahem, I am not really familiar with the contract you made with the emperor……
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"You have my ears." Antonius shrugged his shoulders, although not interested but he do not mind squandering the boring afternoon listening to some sophisticated things that might provide some level of help later. "I introduced you this theoretical question not because I want to torture and rip your mind, but if you dwell into this question further, you might catch a glimpse of… how the emperor thinks of you." Antonius slowly began to catch a glimpse of what George Sphrantzes is talking…
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Antonius still seems confused. "Fine, let me show you the bright side of Math… Come with me." George Sphrantzes pulled the latter a side into a quiet corner of an age old Gothic style pavilion built here three centuries ago by the Komnenian emperors, from its still firmly standing pillars one can see the dark burnt marks of the malicious destructions by the flames of war not long ago. Antonius sat there on the rock bench, while George Sphrantzes hurriedly went to scatter around the surrounding bushes…
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"Lord De'Ricci…" Antonius sat all the way there until the afternoon. George Sphrantzes has never gone through this kind of things before as a member of the ruling class, sitting here all day not taking a bite of food since the morning with this man doing his work. He definitely does not want to simply chase away this fellow bothering him here as it unsuits his image as a well educated classical Roman, but he also cannot go for lunch or dinner now as it would appear he has some free time now. Thus, he…
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Perhaps the only thing which has changed is his mind, and the people around him. The little kid named Francesco who might not have left a deep impression to people, always following him around, acting his steward although Antonius has already recovered his social status as a free man, forever closed his eyes at the age of eighteen. Now he lays in the bottom of the Aegean flowing with the tide of the ocean. The Norse man who was bluffing about slaying a wyvern and climbing the roots of Yggdrasil, named…
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