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Cross & Crescent
- Thread starter The Sicilian
- Start date
TL
OTL
ATL
Minor P.O.D. A merchant family from Flanders, the de Montay’s, moves to Melfi in Southern Italy. Their two sons come into the services of Robert Guiscard de Hauteville, Duke of Apulia. Everything is more or less the same as IOTL until Guiscard's invasion of the Byzantine Empire in 1081.
1050: Twin boys, Simon and Raymond, are born to Geoffrey and Emma de Montay in Flanders.
1051: The Montay's pack up and leave from Flanders to escape creditors. They travel to Melfi, in southern Italy, where they have relatives. Geoffrey reestablishes his business a cloth merchant
1063: Raymond enters the service of Robert 'Guiscard' de Hauteville, the Duke of Apulia.
1066: Simon enters the priesthood. He develops ideas on church reform in the following years. He writes a series of essays, sanctifying certain uses of violence. These prove useful in the crusades
1071: Raymond proves himself at the sieges of Bari and Palermo. At Bari, he learns the importance of naval warfare.
1076-77: Raymond fights in the siege of Salerno.
1079: Simon, a prominent supporter of Pope Gregory VII in the Investiture Controversy, is appointed bishop of Venosa. Raymond is granted a small fief in Apulia
1081: Guiscard sails against the Byzantine Empire. He achieves a key victory over Emperor Alexios Commenos at Durazzo. Both Montay brothers act as Guiscard's administrators.
1082: Guiscard takes the key Macedonian fortress at Kastoria.
Major P.O.D.: A Byzantine emissary meets with Guiscard, and convince him to withdraw from Byzantium, and attack Fatimid Egypt.
January 1083: The forces gathered by Guiscard, Bohemond and Raymond de Montay gather at the Nile delta. The army splits in two, with one third under Bohemond assaulting Damietta, and two thirds under Guiscard assaulting Alexandria. Alexandria is taken after a two week siege in a pitched battle, during which the Egyptian lines collapse under a Norman cavalry assault. Damietta is opened up to Bohemond three days later by a Copt traitor inside the city. A minimum amount of looting occurs, and the city is left with a Copt garrison
crescent
Febuary 1083: Robert consolidates his hold over the delta as he prepares for the attack on Fustat-Cairo. He invests Simon de Montay with the Patriarchate of Alexandria, after reluctant letters of confirmation from the Pope and Byzantine Patriarch. Simon adopts the name Matthew. 5000 more men from Provence arrive in port.
March 1083: Guiscard and Bohemond join for an assault on Fustat-Cairo. The Fatimids make their final stand there by gathering all the forces they can summon to outside the capital. Outnumbered three to five, the left flank of the Norman army, composed of Slav levies and Lombard conscripts, collapses under assault from Sudanese horsemen. Seeing this, the Lomabrd wife of Guiscard, Sichelgaita, grabs a standard bearing the cross and rallies the fleeing troops. Norman knighta pounce on the confused Fatimids, and the battle turns into a rout. Guiscard enters Cairo in triumph the following day.
April 1083: Guiscard receives his letter of investiture of the Kingdom of Egypt from the Pope. He appoints Bohemond as Prince of Alexandria, effectively heir to Egypt. With Bohemond left in charge of Lower Egypt, Guiscard continues his march down the Nile, taking city after city with little resistance from the crushed Fatimids.
November 1083: Guiscard arrives at the end of Fatimid authority on the Nile: Aswan. There he faced the last vestige of the Fatimid Caliphate; the former vizier, Badr al-Jamali. Guiscard, whose forces have been depleted by attrition and garrisoning captured cities, calls upon the Christian Nubian kingdoms for assistance. The King of Dongola, Solomon, rides forth at the head of an army to aid Guiscard. They take Aswan and the first cataract, completing the Christian reconquest conquest of Egypt.
He meets with King Solomon, and representatives from the King of Alodia in the south, to write a treaty of alliance. Guiscard receives recognition from the Nubian kings, and, in turn, he grants their independence. He begins his march back to Cairo, at the head of a great caravan.
December 1083: Guiscard arrives in Cairo, only to receive word of major rebellions in Apulia and Calabria, under the leadership of Jordan of Capua. Jordan claims the ducal titles of Apulia and Calabria. Roger, Count of Sicily, temporarily suspends the conquest of the isle to sail to Calabria. He achieves success in Calabria, marching up to the river Crati.
January 1084: Guiscard is forced to stay in port in Alexandria due to weather, although this gives him a chance to gather his forces. He manages to collect 8,000 knights, foot soldiers, and mercenaries.
February 1084: Guiscard departs from Egypt and sails for southern Italy. He arrives just in time, as most of the peninsula has fallen to the rebellion. Despite this, the Saracen regiments under Roger have proved their worth.
March 1084: Guiscard falls upon the rebels with a vengeance. Numerous towns and cities are sacked if they don’t surrender.
April 1084: Guiscard captures Capua. He battles Jordan at Cannae and achieves a crushing victory. Jordan is captured and beheaded.
May 1084: Emperor Henry IV begins to march down the Alps, intent on ousting Pope Gregory VII from power.
1085: Henry arrives in Tuscany, where he faces the host of Matilda of Tuscany and Pope Gregory. In the battle at Canossa, they break and rout his army, sending the Emperor fleeing over the Alps. The Emperor’s power in Italy never fully recovers from this.
1086: Tutush I, the governor of Seljuk Syria, is defeated by Malik Shah I. However Süleyman ib Kutalmish continues his revolt in Anatolia. In Constantinople, Alexius senses and opportunity and attacks Kutalmish in Anatolia while the majority of his forces are committed elsewhere.
1087: Roger I, the ‘Great’ Count of Sicily, marries Adelaide del Vasto of Savonna. This forges an alliance between the Sicilians and the Genoese. Robert ‘Curthose’ of England marries Matilda of Tuscany. Alexius retakes Nicea and Nicomedia.
1088: Bruno, Bishop of Segni is elected Pope. He takes the name Urban II (different from OTL Urban, named Otto de Lagery), and preaches for a compromise in the Investiture Controversy. All of Ionia is retaken by the Byzantines. Robert Guiscard dies in April, and is interred in Alexandria. Bohemond succeeds him as King of Egypt, and Roger Borsa as Duke of Apulia.
1089: Eleanor de Hauteville gives birth to Mark and Bohemond II in Melfi. Kutalmish is defeated finally by Malik Shah. The Seljuk lord comes to an uneasy truce with the Byzantines, allowing them to keep their Anatolian gains for now.
1090: Malik Shah begins to raid Norman outposts in the Sinai Peninsula, testing their strength. Bohemond, sensing trouble, heads to the Sinai at the head of a sizeable force.
1091: Malik Shah begins marching into Egypt at the head of a huge Seljuk army. Contemporary estimates range from 30,000 to 100,000, though the likely size was around 45,000. Bohemond has around 10,000 soldiers. He sends a letter to the Pope, pleading for help. This sets off the First Crusade.
June 1091: Pope Urban II receives Bohemond’s letter. He summons many Archbishops, Bishops and Abbots to Rome to discuss a number of theological questions. At the end of the Council of Rome, he preaches a Crusade to conquer the Holy Land and relieve the beleaguered Greeks and Egyptian Normans.
1091-2: Urban II travels throughout Italy, Southern France and Spain. The rulers of the maritime Republics of Venice, Genoa, Pisa and Almafi sign on to the Crusade, doubtlessly licking their chops at the riches of the East. Princess Matilda of Tuscany, ever the Papal supporter, is one of the women who take up the cross. Welf II of Bavaria, and the elderly Frederick I, Duke of Swabia join as well. Feeling the pressure of the ongoing Investiture Conflict between the Pope and Emperor, many princes depart Italy to make their fortune among the riches of the Orient.
1092: Simon de Hauteville is born to Roger and Adelaide. The conquest of Sicily is completed. In an uncharacteristically brilliant tactical move during a pitched battle at Bilbeis, Bohemond (having the high ground) orders for the levies to be broken. The Nile bursts out, drowning many of Mailk Shah’s troops, and the Seljuk Lord himself. What is left of the Seljuk army retreats, and is captured by the pursuing Norman cavalry.
1093: The Italian/Occitan Contingent assembles. It has problems organizing under one banner, but the Doge of Venice, Vitale Michele, is chosen as leader. They depart in the fall with a huge armada, numbering around 1000 ships.
1094: The Almafitans are the first to break off from the main crusading body. They stop in Anatolia to help regain it for the Byzantines, which has renewed its assault. They do this in exchange for a merchant’s quarter in every city retaken, and commercial rights in the hinterland. The Tuscans, Occitians and Lombards break off when they reach Northern Syria. Matilda marches into the interior, captures Antioch, and more importantly Aleppo, and proclaims herself “Princess of Syria”.
1095: Roger de Hauteville is born to Roger and Adelaide. The remaining Crusading contingent composed of Venetians, Genoans, and Pisans arrives in Palestine. There, with a combined assault from the Normans from Egyptwho have recovered, they conquer Jerusalem. Bohemond (with none of the Religious pretensions of Godfrey of Bouillon) crowns himself ‘King of Jerusalem and Protector of the Holy Places”. The Germans, after frolicking and cavorting about in Hungary and Anatolia, finally arrive in the Holy Land to find the Italians have taken everything worth taking. Dejected, Welf II marches to the Euphrates and established the County of Edessa.
1096: The last semblance of Crusader cooperation breaks down after the Sack of Damascus. The mercantile Republicans feel they’ve been cheated by the Normans and Lombard Princes, and wage a war against them.
1097: A peace settlement is made between the Italian Princes of the Levant. The Normans are allowed to keep Jerusalem and Southern Palestine as the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Venetians, Genovese and Pisans have unrestricted trade access to the ports under Norman control in the Levant (the Venetians already have trade privileges in Egypt). In cities overwhelmingly under the control of one particular Republic is given to them as a colony. Cities that are split between are given their own governance, with a Republican system of rule. By the end of the year, there are the Most Serene Republics at Tyre, Sidon, and Acre. The Italian Republics push their control further into the Syrian interiot, much to the chagrin of the Lombard princes there.
1098: Roger the younger is discovered to have leprosy, and is sent to a colony. He dies in obscurity twelve years later. The ailing Urban II grants Count Roger Apostolic Legateship over Sicily.
1101: Roger I dies. Simon succeeds him in Sicily and Calabria under the regency of his mother.
1101- 1110: The regency of Adelaide. Inexperienced politically, yet determined to raise her remaining son as a worthy successor to the first, Adelaide relies mainly on the help of the Arab and Greek court advisors to run the country. Young Simon thrives during the regency. He is just as charming, diplomatic, and cunning as his OTL counterpart (Roger II), but due to the longer lasting influence of his Norman father, is more martially adept.
1103: Urban II dies, succeeded by Adrian IV.
1107: Mark de Hauteville sires a bastard named James with Isabel of Tripoli.
1110: Matilda of Syria dies. Her husband Robert succeeds her in Syria. There is no designated heir in Tuscany. Robert marries Beatrice of Armenia.
1111: William of Syria is born to Robert of Syria and Beatrice of Armenia. Adrian IV dies, succeeded by Innocent II.
1113: Bohemond I of Egypt dies. He is succeeded by Bohemond II in Egypt, and Mark "Palatine" in Jerusalem.
1114: Simon I of Sicily marries Sancha of Portugal. Bohemond II marries Henrietta of Edessa.
1117: Simon de Hauteville is born to Simon and Sancha of Sicily. Innocent II dies, succeeded by Honorius II.
1119: Henry de Hauteville is born to Simon and Sancha of Sicily. Djerba is taken by Simon I.
1122: The Investiture Controversy is put to rest at the Pact of Trier, between Honorius II and Emperor Henry V.
1127: William of Apulia dies, leaving Simon of Sicily as his successor. The Nobles on the mainland rebel. The Danes invade the Northern March
1128: Simon reaches a compromise with the nobles. However, the leaders of Almafi refuse to recognize him. Simon sends Sudanic regiments to crush all resistance in the city. A permanent royal garrison is stationed in the city, after much of it was looted and burned.
1131: Honorius II dies. A schism occurs in the church, between Popes Carolus I and Pontianus II. Simon supports Pontianus, while the ailing Emperor Henry V threw his support behind Carolus.
OTL
ATL
Minor P.O.D. A merchant family from Flanders, the de Montay’s, moves to Melfi in Southern Italy. Their two sons come into the services of Robert Guiscard de Hauteville, Duke of Apulia. Everything is more or less the same as IOTL until Guiscard's invasion of the Byzantine Empire in 1081.
1050: Twin boys, Simon and Raymond, are born to Geoffrey and Emma de Montay in Flanders.
1051: The Montay's pack up and leave from Flanders to escape creditors. They travel to Melfi, in southern Italy, where they have relatives. Geoffrey reestablishes his business a cloth merchant
1063: Raymond enters the service of Robert 'Guiscard' de Hauteville, the Duke of Apulia.
1066: Simon enters the priesthood. He develops ideas on church reform in the following years. He writes a series of essays, sanctifying certain uses of violence. These prove useful in the crusades
1071: Raymond proves himself at the sieges of Bari and Palermo. At Bari, he learns the importance of naval warfare.
1076-77: Raymond fights in the siege of Salerno.
1079: Simon, a prominent supporter of Pope Gregory VII in the Investiture Controversy, is appointed bishop of Venosa. Raymond is granted a small fief in Apulia
1081: Guiscard sails against the Byzantine Empire. He achieves a key victory over Emperor Alexios Commenos at Durazzo. Both Montay brothers act as Guiscard's administrators.
1082: Guiscard takes the key Macedonian fortress at Kastoria.
Major P.O.D.: A Byzantine emissary meets with Guiscard, and convince him to withdraw from Byzantium, and attack Fatimid Egypt.
January 1083: The forces gathered by Guiscard, Bohemond and Raymond de Montay gather at the Nile delta. The army splits in two, with one third under Bohemond assaulting Damietta, and two thirds under Guiscard assaulting Alexandria. Alexandria is taken after a two week siege in a pitched battle, during which the Egyptian lines collapse under a Norman cavalry assault. Damietta is opened up to Bohemond three days later by a Copt traitor inside the city. A minimum amount of looting occurs, and the city is left with a Copt garrison
crescent
Febuary 1083: Robert consolidates his hold over the delta as he prepares for the attack on Fustat-Cairo. He invests Simon de Montay with the Patriarchate of Alexandria, after reluctant letters of confirmation from the Pope and Byzantine Patriarch. Simon adopts the name Matthew. 5000 more men from Provence arrive in port.
March 1083: Guiscard and Bohemond join for an assault on Fustat-Cairo. The Fatimids make their final stand there by gathering all the forces they can summon to outside the capital. Outnumbered three to five, the left flank of the Norman army, composed of Slav levies and Lombard conscripts, collapses under assault from Sudanese horsemen. Seeing this, the Lomabrd wife of Guiscard, Sichelgaita, grabs a standard bearing the cross and rallies the fleeing troops. Norman knighta pounce on the confused Fatimids, and the battle turns into a rout. Guiscard enters Cairo in triumph the following day.
April 1083: Guiscard receives his letter of investiture of the Kingdom of Egypt from the Pope. He appoints Bohemond as Prince of Alexandria, effectively heir to Egypt. With Bohemond left in charge of Lower Egypt, Guiscard continues his march down the Nile, taking city after city with little resistance from the crushed Fatimids.
November 1083: Guiscard arrives at the end of Fatimid authority on the Nile: Aswan. There he faced the last vestige of the Fatimid Caliphate; the former vizier, Badr al-Jamali. Guiscard, whose forces have been depleted by attrition and garrisoning captured cities, calls upon the Christian Nubian kingdoms for assistance. The King of Dongola, Solomon, rides forth at the head of an army to aid Guiscard. They take Aswan and the first cataract, completing the Christian reconquest conquest of Egypt.
He meets with King Solomon, and representatives from the King of Alodia in the south, to write a treaty of alliance. Guiscard receives recognition from the Nubian kings, and, in turn, he grants their independence. He begins his march back to Cairo, at the head of a great caravan.
December 1083: Guiscard arrives in Cairo, only to receive word of major rebellions in Apulia and Calabria, under the leadership of Jordan of Capua. Jordan claims the ducal titles of Apulia and Calabria. Roger, Count of Sicily, temporarily suspends the conquest of the isle to sail to Calabria. He achieves success in Calabria, marching up to the river Crati.
January 1084: Guiscard is forced to stay in port in Alexandria due to weather, although this gives him a chance to gather his forces. He manages to collect 8,000 knights, foot soldiers, and mercenaries.
February 1084: Guiscard departs from Egypt and sails for southern Italy. He arrives just in time, as most of the peninsula has fallen to the rebellion. Despite this, the Saracen regiments under Roger have proved their worth.
March 1084: Guiscard falls upon the rebels with a vengeance. Numerous towns and cities are sacked if they don’t surrender.
April 1084: Guiscard captures Capua. He battles Jordan at Cannae and achieves a crushing victory. Jordan is captured and beheaded.
May 1084: Emperor Henry IV begins to march down the Alps, intent on ousting Pope Gregory VII from power.
1085: Henry arrives in Tuscany, where he faces the host of Matilda of Tuscany and Pope Gregory. In the battle at Canossa, they break and rout his army, sending the Emperor fleeing over the Alps. The Emperor’s power in Italy never fully recovers from this.
1086: Tutush I, the governor of Seljuk Syria, is defeated by Malik Shah I. However Süleyman ib Kutalmish continues his revolt in Anatolia. In Constantinople, Alexius senses and opportunity and attacks Kutalmish in Anatolia while the majority of his forces are committed elsewhere.
1087: Roger I, the ‘Great’ Count of Sicily, marries Adelaide del Vasto of Savonna. This forges an alliance between the Sicilians and the Genoese. Robert ‘Curthose’ of England marries Matilda of Tuscany. Alexius retakes Nicea and Nicomedia.
1088: Bruno, Bishop of Segni is elected Pope. He takes the name Urban II (different from OTL Urban, named Otto de Lagery), and preaches for a compromise in the Investiture Controversy. All of Ionia is retaken by the Byzantines. Robert Guiscard dies in April, and is interred in Alexandria. Bohemond succeeds him as King of Egypt, and Roger Borsa as Duke of Apulia.
1089: Eleanor de Hauteville gives birth to Mark and Bohemond II in Melfi. Kutalmish is defeated finally by Malik Shah. The Seljuk lord comes to an uneasy truce with the Byzantines, allowing them to keep their Anatolian gains for now.
1090: Malik Shah begins to raid Norman outposts in the Sinai Peninsula, testing their strength. Bohemond, sensing trouble, heads to the Sinai at the head of a sizeable force.
1091: Malik Shah begins marching into Egypt at the head of a huge Seljuk army. Contemporary estimates range from 30,000 to 100,000, though the likely size was around 45,000. Bohemond has around 10,000 soldiers. He sends a letter to the Pope, pleading for help. This sets off the First Crusade.
June 1091: Pope Urban II receives Bohemond’s letter. He summons many Archbishops, Bishops and Abbots to Rome to discuss a number of theological questions. At the end of the Council of Rome, he preaches a Crusade to conquer the Holy Land and relieve the beleaguered Greeks and Egyptian Normans.
1091-2: Urban II travels throughout Italy, Southern France and Spain. The rulers of the maritime Republics of Venice, Genoa, Pisa and Almafi sign on to the Crusade, doubtlessly licking their chops at the riches of the East. Princess Matilda of Tuscany, ever the Papal supporter, is one of the women who take up the cross. Welf II of Bavaria, and the elderly Frederick I, Duke of Swabia join as well. Feeling the pressure of the ongoing Investiture Conflict between the Pope and Emperor, many princes depart Italy to make their fortune among the riches of the Orient.
1092: Simon de Hauteville is born to Roger and Adelaide. The conquest of Sicily is completed. In an uncharacteristically brilliant tactical move during a pitched battle at Bilbeis, Bohemond (having the high ground) orders for the levies to be broken. The Nile bursts out, drowning many of Mailk Shah’s troops, and the Seljuk Lord himself. What is left of the Seljuk army retreats, and is captured by the pursuing Norman cavalry.
1093: The Italian/Occitan Contingent assembles. It has problems organizing under one banner, but the Doge of Venice, Vitale Michele, is chosen as leader. They depart in the fall with a huge armada, numbering around 1000 ships.
1094: The Almafitans are the first to break off from the main crusading body. They stop in Anatolia to help regain it for the Byzantines, which has renewed its assault. They do this in exchange for a merchant’s quarter in every city retaken, and commercial rights in the hinterland. The Tuscans, Occitians and Lombards break off when they reach Northern Syria. Matilda marches into the interior, captures Antioch, and more importantly Aleppo, and proclaims herself “Princess of Syria”.
1095: Roger de Hauteville is born to Roger and Adelaide. The remaining Crusading contingent composed of Venetians, Genoans, and Pisans arrives in Palestine. There, with a combined assault from the Normans from Egyptwho have recovered, they conquer Jerusalem. Bohemond (with none of the Religious pretensions of Godfrey of Bouillon) crowns himself ‘King of Jerusalem and Protector of the Holy Places”. The Germans, after frolicking and cavorting about in Hungary and Anatolia, finally arrive in the Holy Land to find the Italians have taken everything worth taking. Dejected, Welf II marches to the Euphrates and established the County of Edessa.
1096: The last semblance of Crusader cooperation breaks down after the Sack of Damascus. The mercantile Republicans feel they’ve been cheated by the Normans and Lombard Princes, and wage a war against them.
1097: A peace settlement is made between the Italian Princes of the Levant. The Normans are allowed to keep Jerusalem and Southern Palestine as the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Venetians, Genovese and Pisans have unrestricted trade access to the ports under Norman control in the Levant (the Venetians already have trade privileges in Egypt). In cities overwhelmingly under the control of one particular Republic is given to them as a colony. Cities that are split between are given their own governance, with a Republican system of rule. By the end of the year, there are the Most Serene Republics at Tyre, Sidon, and Acre. The Italian Republics push their control further into the Syrian interiot, much to the chagrin of the Lombard princes there.
1098: Roger the younger is discovered to have leprosy, and is sent to a colony. He dies in obscurity twelve years later. The ailing Urban II grants Count Roger Apostolic Legateship over Sicily.
1101: Roger I dies. Simon succeeds him in Sicily and Calabria under the regency of his mother.
1101- 1110: The regency of Adelaide. Inexperienced politically, yet determined to raise her remaining son as a worthy successor to the first, Adelaide relies mainly on the help of the Arab and Greek court advisors to run the country. Young Simon thrives during the regency. He is just as charming, diplomatic, and cunning as his OTL counterpart (Roger II), but due to the longer lasting influence of his Norman father, is more martially adept.
1103: Urban II dies, succeeded by Adrian IV.
1107: Mark de Hauteville sires a bastard named James with Isabel of Tripoli.
1110: Matilda of Syria dies. Her husband Robert succeeds her in Syria. There is no designated heir in Tuscany. Robert marries Beatrice of Armenia.
1111: William of Syria is born to Robert of Syria and Beatrice of Armenia. Adrian IV dies, succeeded by Innocent II.
1113: Bohemond I of Egypt dies. He is succeeded by Bohemond II in Egypt, and Mark "Palatine" in Jerusalem.
1114: Simon I of Sicily marries Sancha of Portugal. Bohemond II marries Henrietta of Edessa.
1117: Simon de Hauteville is born to Simon and Sancha of Sicily. Innocent II dies, succeeded by Honorius II.
1119: Henry de Hauteville is born to Simon and Sancha of Sicily. Djerba is taken by Simon I.
1122: The Investiture Controversy is put to rest at the Pact of Trier, between Honorius II and Emperor Henry V.
1127: William of Apulia dies, leaving Simon of Sicily as his successor. The Nobles on the mainland rebel. The Danes invade the Northern March
1128: Simon reaches a compromise with the nobles. However, the leaders of Almafi refuse to recognize him. Simon sends Sudanic regiments to crush all resistance in the city. A permanent royal garrison is stationed in the city, after much of it was looted and burned.
1131: Honorius II dies. A schism occurs in the church, between Popes Carolus I and Pontianus II. Simon supports Pontianus, while the ailing Emperor Henry V threw his support behind Carolus.
Bari, 1071
Raymond de Montay glared at the last vestige of Greek power in Apulia, indeed all of Italy (discounting their relation with Venice), as he boarded his ship. The mighty fortress on the Adriatic was aglow with many torches and lanterns. According to Duke Robert’s spies in Greece and the city itself, they had been set by the defenders to guide the relief force from the Emperor that was sailing toward them at that moment. A few minutes earlier, it had become evident that the fore was closer than Raymond had thought.
He was in Duke Robert’s tent, laughing merrily at the stories he told of his early career as a brigand in Calabria. Suddenly, a messenger burst in, reporting that the watchmen on the ships saw many lights, undoubtedly coming from the Byzantine fleet. The leaders of the Norman siege leapt up at the news, yelling orders, cursing the Greeks, and getting armed and armored for the coming battle, all at the same time. Raymond himself left the tent for his own, in order to collect his mail, helmet, and sword. His page grabbed the banner, which he used to rally the Normans under his command. When they had gathered, he led them to the boats.
Raymond boarded his own vessel, and waited for the rest of the army to be off. It was not long before the oars began rowing, and the Norman fleet sallied forth to meet their Greek foes. The irony of said oars being manned by Greeks themselves was not lost on Raymond, as evidenced by a brief chuckle. Roger, the brother of Duke Robert and commander of the fleet, had hoped that the Greek flotilla would mistake the Norman’s for Bariot compatriots, coming out of the harbor to welcome them. The ruse worked, and the ensuing battle was one-sided, though fierce.
Raymond’s own ship drew up close to a Byzantine one. A Greek leapt over onto the deck wielding a spear, which was cut in half by Raymond, who proceeded to behead the unfortunate Greek. The Norman knights and levies charged onto the ship, which was soon taken. All around him, Raymond saw that the Normans were victorious in their battles. Archers on one ship had dipped their arrows in pitch, which they lit aflame. The rigging and sails of a Byzantine ship they managed to set on fire. However, his fellow Normans paid for their success dearly. Raymond witnessed on one ship over one hundred Normans, in their heavy armor and cuirasses, run to one end of the ship, sinking it.
The next enemy boat that Raymond boarded was the Greek flagship. He was able to tell by the dual mast lanterns. Fighting through the Byzantine ranks, Raymond came upon the leader of the relief force; it was none other than the wretched Jocelin, the former lord of Molfetta, and current Duke of Corinth. The traitorous Norman exile fled to the Byzantines after his failed rebellions against Duke Robert. He currently was issuing orders to his Greek lackeys, and has his back turned to Raymond. Raymond grabbed his back, and struck him on the face, knocking him unconscious. Raymond proceeded to drag the leader of the soon to be failed expedition back to Roger’s ship. The Norman lord grinned widely, saying “Good, my Flemish brother, good,”
Weeks later, the demoralized city of Bari surrendered to Guiscard after such a crushing blow. Raymond would latter say he learned two very valuable things form the months besieging the city; the usefulness of a navy, and mercy in triumph.
Never trust a Greek bearing gifts.
-Proverb
Kastoria, April 1082
Robert stared across the Macedonian plain, pondering the coming campaign. He had once wished to seize the glory and splendor of Constantinople, but the corpulent ambassador from Alexius had convinced him that there was a greater prize to be had. His inner-Norman loved the sheer gall of a surprise attack. The Caliph would never expect legions of Franks charging down the Nile, paid for by Byzantine coin, and supported by Byzantine and Venetian ships.
The ink had barely dried on the treaty parchment when the Duke began to make preparations. The fifteen thousand or-so men under his command might be enough to best a host of effeminate Greeks, but to take Egypt from the Saracens would require a much larger army. For that reason, he had dispatched Bohemond and Count Raymond back across the Adriatic to gather more men to the cause. He instructed Raymond to travel through Italy to recruit Lombards, and sent Bohemond to southern France The Duke himself would stay in Kastoria, hiring Greek and Slav mercenaries.
To maintain the Greek and of the bargain, something that was quite difficult to achieve due to their lack of trustworthiness, Guiscard would leave garrisons at Kastoria and Dyrrhachium.
Indeed, like the light shining from the great lighthouse at Alexandria, the future seemed bright for the Duke of Apulia.
Outside of Toulouse, June 1082
“It is agreed then,” said Bohemond de Hauteville “You will finance the contingent of knights form Toulouse, in return for trading rights and privileges in Alexandria and Damietta,”
“True, and may the soldiers of Christ prevail over heathen and heretic,” replied William, the Count of Toulouse. Bohemond smirked inwardly at that assertion. It was doubtful that it was solely religious fervor that motivated the Count to endorse the expedition, especially considering that he would get to play landlord when his knights departed.
Bohemond was quite glad that the Count decided to stay in France, and not to go to the Nile delta on their little venture, despite William’s attempts at saying otherwise. His father Robert could give some feeble Tolosan knight some backwater village to run, but a Count would demand title, land and money, none of which father would be willing to part with easily.
With the formalities dealt with, the Count offered Bohemund a tour of the estate, which the Norman giant accepted. The lands around the manner were quite beautiful, but Bohemond would always prefer the orchards and mountains of Apulia to that of the home of his ancestors. [1]
Bohemond was telling the Count of his adventures during the campaign against the Greeks when he stopped suddenly. He nearly made the sign of the cross, as the vision of beauty standing before them could be nothing less than one of God’s angels.
“Ah, lady Eleanor. Has something delayed your departure back to Albi?” inquired the Count.
“Yes, your whores. My guards are making fools of themselves in front of your court wenches, again,” Spat back the lady angrily. Something in her tone of voice told Bohemond that she was referring to members of the counts family, and that this contention had arisen before.
“Do you know no end, woman?!” barked the Count. Lady Eleanor smirked.
The count calmed, wishing not to embarrass himself in front of the Norman. Bohemond did not care the least about what the count wished; He was in rapture gazing at the creature before him.
“Lady Eleanor, this is the son of the Duke of Apulia, Bohemond. Surely, you must have heard of his success against the Greek heretics,”
“Indeed,” tersely said the lady. She paused a moment before adding “Do you speak not because you are ill in the mind, or were you made mute by the parting of you and your tongue by a Saracen?”
Bohemond was taken aback at her wit. His towering height usually meant that not many would say such things to him. But while the count beside him fumed over her frankly insulting manner and insubordination, Bohemond found it enchanting.
Bohemond grinned widely, which seemed to throw the lady off.
“I beg your pardon, madam. In a great book, it was once written that a word is worth one coin, while silence is worth two. If you will excuse us, the count and I must be off. It of great pleasure to meet you,”
With a curt nod, the lady continued looking for her fornicating guards.
“God help and protect me in dealing with that defiant woman,” lamented the clearly frustrated Count “He late husband had amassed large estates outside of Albi when he died. They produced no heirs, thus she came into ownership of the property. Since then, she has refused to remarry, complaining that all of the honorable lords I present would be incapable of protecting her from the likes of me. I simply wish to get my fee, and restart normal taxing and levying, but she has the clergy on a string, and they won’t bless a marriage without her approval,” finished the Count
“She is a very well traveled woman, you know,” the Count added “She’s been amongst the Moors of Spain and Africa, rumors have it,” The warm feeling in Bohemond's cheeks grew
“My most honorable Count, I believe we have something else to discuss before lady Eleanor departs,” Bohemond said with a grin.
***
After the overthrow of the Fatimids, King Robert had one of the most densely populated places in the Mediterranean to rule. To help him do this, Robert followed his brother Roger’s example in Sicily; he incorporated to useful parts of the Muslim bureaucracy, and filled in the gaps where the harmful parts were cut out. He established the Patriarchate as the successor to the office of Imam, a sound idea considering the clerical genius of Patriarch Matthew. Raymond de Montay was appointed chancellor.
The urban properties, such as shops, bathhouses, and caravanserais were redistributed. They went from being owned by the defunct imam to being equally split between the offices of government and the public. The rent for property was lowered on Ramadan for Muslims, and Lent for Christians. Certain types of property were awarded to knights that had served Guiscard well. For instance, a certain Jordan of Salerno, a Lombard mercenary who helped turn the tide at the Battle of Cairo, acquired the majority of oil presses in the capital. This was a precursor practice of Urban feudalism, giving profitable crafts and manufactories to nobles, effectively transforming them to armed merchants.
Normans of Egypt. Tancredo Chen. New Melfi University Scriptorium, 1896.
***
The polytheist infidel king rode at the head of a great procession, a train of donkeys, horses and camels stretching as far as one could see unaided. The backs of the beasts were loaded with treasure and loot from up and down the Nile; gold and silver from Nubia, and the most excellent silk and weaved cloth from India. It was like a traveling feast, for the sultan gorged himself on dates and fine meats daily. He received presents from the lords of every town and city he passed through.
Anonymous Arab chronicler, 11th Century.
***
Djerba, 1119
Gregorios of Sidon disembarked the galley and turned around, gazing into the seas of the Gulf of Gabes. He breathed in the smell of the African city. The scent of some spices a merchant was selling on the docks wafted over to him. To contrast the pleasant aroma, it had beren a lucky day for a fisherman, and he was letting his wares air as well. The noises were that of any bustling town; a horse0drawn wagon carrying kasks of wine or oil passed him, while a contingent of spearmen, with their pavises strapped to their backs marched in the opposite direction. All in all, it appeared that the island was returning to normal operations. Only the past fortnight had the Altavilla standard been raised over the citadel, and it was his duty as Emir of Palermo to safeguard the city which it overlooked. The Count would need it, as a stepping stone deeper into Africa.
***
Palermo, 1123
"Pah!" exclaimed Simon to his wife Sancha "William should learn some lesions from his cousins. They fight every day to preserve their lands from Turks and Kurds, while he sends me deluge after deluge of letters, begging me to subdue Capua or Bari or Melfi. These endless request will be the end of me!"
"He is family," Sancha said "But you are right. You should be rewarded. Perhaps with all of Calabria"
Simon pondered this for a while. Before retiring to bed with his wife, he began drafting a response to his whining Cousin.
***
Thus, after marching on Lecce and Taranto and Otranto, surrounding the cities and burning them, the Count demanded his justly deserved reward. He received from his cousin William of Apulia his claims on the Duchy of Calabria, as well as his claims to half of Palermo and half of Messina. Thus, the Count grew in as great a stature in Southern Italia as his father, and began to look beyond his insular borders.
Gesta Normanni Sudensis, c. 1335. English translation by Robert FitzRoy.
***
While a small population of Blacks has existed in Sicily since the time of the Moors, the first large and, more importantly, recorded population settled there during the reign of Simon I (then still a count). Alexander of Tropea writes that King Bohemond II of Egypt, the Count’s distant cousin, gifted to him several thousand Sudanic soldiers and slaves, to honor his wedding to Sancha of Portugal in 1114. According to Tropea, the slaves were emancipated, and resettled as serfs to work in the royal orange groves around Palermo. The Black soldiery would grow to be the terror of Southern Italia in the following decades, enforcing the Count’s will on the invested nobility along side Sicilian Saracens. In fact, in the excommunication of Simon (then King) by Antipope Carolus I, he is accused of “condoning and colluding in the slaughter and crucifixion of Christian children by the Black heathens,” not doubt stemming from exaggerated reports from Almafi.
Africanus. Iago Ramón. New Melfi University Scriptorium. 1873
***
Messina, 1145
Giovanni Calzolari, or, as he was known in his capacity as a Soldier of Christ Palatine, Iovanninus Calzolarius, stepped off the diminutive galley ahead of the porters bearing his weapons, robes and other miscellaneous baggage he’d picked up in his thirty two years, thirteen of them as a Knight of the Palatine Order. He’d roamed and romped all across the Mediterranean, been through small fishing villages in Palestine and seen the City itself perched on the Bosporus.
Messina, because of its location and natural features, was a remarkable harbor. Many ships greater than the old bucket in which he’d sailed could come directly into port. A plank was thrown on deck, and cargo could be unloaded by porters. No small boats were necessary to ferry freight from ship to dock, unless they were anchored far out at sea. For this facility of loading and unloading, Messina was booming as a trade town. Like the island it rested on, it was the midway point between and the clearinghouse for Christians operating in Europe and the Oltremare, particularly the Palatine Order. It was caught between the lower hills of Etna, spewing out fire and poison, and the treacherous waters of the Straits that bared its name.
He observed the ships lined up along the quay like horses in their stables for a moment before directing the baggage boys where to haul his possessions. There was a minor house of the Order here in Messina, as well as a hostel operated by fellow Genovans. He has business with both. He was here to secure Genovan support for a joint Sicilian-Palatine expedition to Africa. He was also here to kill the director of the Order house.
He, like the head of the Order Mark d’Altavilla, a distant cousin to Count Simon, was the exemplary warrior-monk. Although his good looks, of which any man would be envious while courting, left a series of bastards in Venice and Acre, he had since settled down into monastic chastity and asceticism. He’d found the lifestyle and philosophy of physical and spiritual purification of the Order to be precisely what he was looking for after so many years of wandering. The Order also had use of his rather diverse array of skills.
The director of the Order house was in many ways the opposite. He was a fat, lecherous pig who used his position to prey on the weak, and who had probably never served a day in his life in the Oultremare. He’d solely gotten into the Order because of his pious uncle. He skimmed money off of legitimate Palatine operations on Sicily, and had a taste for young boys from the Greek quarter.
He was why Giovanni brought his crossbow.
***
The Oultremare Crusader States were able to survive the Anatolian, Mesopotamian and Arabian thrusts into the Levant in large part due to a sizeable friendly native population. A generation of Syrians and Palestinians had come to age under a generally benevolent Christian government. The looting had been relatively minimal in most cities, and the population of Damascus viewed their Norman rulers positively for driving the Mercantile Italians from their city after the Sack in 1096. The religious turbulence of the 1110’s had largely settled with the death of the European born Crusader leaders and the ascendance of the Oultremare Europeans to power. Both Christians and Muslims, while not living in mutual adoration, at least lived in mutual respect. Thus, when the time came for both to defend their homes from Arab, Kurd and Turk invasions, the Muslim contingents of the Oultremare hosts were not lacking. Able to draw on the large population centers of the Levant, Mark d’Altavilla, Grand Master of the Palatine Order, and William of Syria were able to rout Seljuk and Arab incursions at Damascus and Aleppo, respectively, in 1131. Unfortunately for the Oultremare States, the young and inspiring William was killed in the devastating 1138 earthquake in Aleppo.
Normans of Egypt. Tancredo Chen. New Melfi University Scriptorium, 1896.
***
Palermo, 1167
Alexander of Tropea dipped his quill into the ink, and resumed writing the manuscript
“With so many successes achieved, all the lands Apulia and the whole duchy in his power, the Prince of the Capuans, the Magister Militum of Naples and all the land up to the borders of the city of Ancona subject to him, and his opponents in war and strife subdued, those close to Duke Simon, and particularly his uncle Count Henry of Vasto by whom he was loved more than anyone, began very frequently to suggest to him the plan that he, who with the help of God ruled so many provinces, Sicily, Calabria, Apulia and other regions stretching almost to Rome, ought not to have just the ducal title but ought to be distinguished by the honour of kingship.”
He wrote in close Latin script, with perfect spelling and grammar. No paper could be wasted. The process of producing paper had been imported from Spain several years ago. Despite the preciousness of the material, the industry for creating it was booming. Moorish experts from Spain had been brought over to found the mills, and Italians from Ancona (the conquest of which had been conducted under the reign of Simon I) were being imported to make dipping moulds and watermarks. Though the recipe for ink varied from place to place, there was relatively large quantity available to Alexander. He continued writing
“They added that the centre and capital of this kingdom ought to be Palermo, the chief city of Sicily, which once, in ancient times, was believed to have had kings [who ruled] over this province; but now, many years later, was by God's secret judgement without them.”
He glanced out the window into the heart of Palermo, a metropolis, capitol, and home to some three hundred thousand Sicilians. When Simon came into power, the residents of the city were not Sicilians. They were Catholics, Greeks, Jews, Saracens. When he left, he left a city of Sicilians.
He saw the steam rising from a group of forges, where blacksmiths were pounding away, making swords and spears for one of the many Royal arsenals. He saw some Saracen scholars of the King’s court strolling up to the palace gate, discussing a section of al-Haytham’s Book of Optics. From his view in his tower of the royal palace were several administrative offices ringing the complex. Inside Greek and Saracen bureaucrats would be arguing over taxes and levies. Palermo was a city of Genoese merchants, and Norman knights; Saracen Imans and Latin Bishops. Jew and Saracen, Latin and Greek; Sicilians all, and all lived together in peace and respect, under the dutiful watch of Simon the Younger and his advisors.
Feeling cooped up in the hot attic of his tower, he decided to go on a stroll throughout the palace grounds. Unlike the poor monkish scribes in Northern Europe, sitting in their empty stone monasteries, full of hunger and cold, Alexander enjoyed some privileges as the official royal chronographer.
He admired the marble colonnades and the shimmering of the water as it trickled down fountains. The smell of lemon groves wafted through the courtyard as he walked through it. In the distance he could see the king’s younger brother Robert and his group of Greek and Muslim tutors. The adolescent was becoming just like his father and brother; quite the Cosmopolitan, speaking in rapid Greek and wearing the finest silks from the orient. After greeting the prince, he went back to his tower to give him a better view of the capitol.
Off in the distance, he could see some Greek shipwrights repairing a galley for the Emir of Palermo, Tiberias of Messina. In addition to his first and foremost task of managing the vibrant capital and trade center, he was also in charge of the maintaining and commanding the Royal Navy. But the king’s judgment was trusted; Tiberias was the right man for the job, as evidenced by the plunder he brought back from his most recent raid against the Pisans.
Indeed, Palermo was in good hands. Despite the few years of peace, he knew that war would return. Whether from the Germans in the North, the Greeks from the East, or the Muslims from the South, war would return to the Regno. He placed his confidence in Simon II, and continued his writing.
***
The economic transformation of Southern Italia is best illustrated by the changes that undergone at the Montanio manor. Originally Normans, Robert Guiscard gave John Montanio control over a small amount of land outside of Bari after helping him in taking the city. The Montanios did not join the campaign to the Balkans and Egypt, and consequently extended their domain over vacant neighboring estates. The main products of the estate were grains such as wheat and barley, olive oil, and wine. Several flocks of sheep were added in the 1130’s, which proved to be a wise investment. As the population of Southern Italia boomed due to good harvests and the increased availability of food stuffs from Egypt, there was a corresponding boom in manufacturing. Nowhere was this more evident than the manufacture of wool textiles. Purchasing records show that wool clothing and blankets were sold as far North as Padua. The 1180’s brought a crash in local grain production, with the direct importation of Egyptian cereals. This caused a corresponding switch to olive and grape growing, and sheep herding, furthering the boom of textile manufacturing. In the early years of the thirteenth century, the Montanio family set up a banking system in Naples, Bari and Melfi. In twenty years it had moved to Rome and Pisa. By the fourteenth century, Bruges, Antwerp, Hamburg, Nuremburg, Frankfurt, Prague, Wien, Marseille, Dijon and every major city in Italia had branches of the Montanio family. They extended their manufacturing to the realm of soap, using olive oil and rendered sheep fat with alkali salts to make a product finer than anywhere else in Europe. An apocryphal text states that many of Europe’s monarchs survived the Blackening due to their good hygiene from Montanio soap. Thus, one family saw the rise of industry and banking systems in Southern Italia over the course of three centuries.
Guigelmo Harris, Tertiary Thesis, James College of History, Trinity University, Newe York, 1839
Raymond de Montay glared at the last vestige of Greek power in Apulia, indeed all of Italy (discounting their relation with Venice), as he boarded his ship. The mighty fortress on the Adriatic was aglow with many torches and lanterns. According to Duke Robert’s spies in Greece and the city itself, they had been set by the defenders to guide the relief force from the Emperor that was sailing toward them at that moment. A few minutes earlier, it had become evident that the fore was closer than Raymond had thought.
He was in Duke Robert’s tent, laughing merrily at the stories he told of his early career as a brigand in Calabria. Suddenly, a messenger burst in, reporting that the watchmen on the ships saw many lights, undoubtedly coming from the Byzantine fleet. The leaders of the Norman siege leapt up at the news, yelling orders, cursing the Greeks, and getting armed and armored for the coming battle, all at the same time. Raymond himself left the tent for his own, in order to collect his mail, helmet, and sword. His page grabbed the banner, which he used to rally the Normans under his command. When they had gathered, he led them to the boats.
Raymond boarded his own vessel, and waited for the rest of the army to be off. It was not long before the oars began rowing, and the Norman fleet sallied forth to meet their Greek foes. The irony of said oars being manned by Greeks themselves was not lost on Raymond, as evidenced by a brief chuckle. Roger, the brother of Duke Robert and commander of the fleet, had hoped that the Greek flotilla would mistake the Norman’s for Bariot compatriots, coming out of the harbor to welcome them. The ruse worked, and the ensuing battle was one-sided, though fierce.
Raymond’s own ship drew up close to a Byzantine one. A Greek leapt over onto the deck wielding a spear, which was cut in half by Raymond, who proceeded to behead the unfortunate Greek. The Norman knights and levies charged onto the ship, which was soon taken. All around him, Raymond saw that the Normans were victorious in their battles. Archers on one ship had dipped their arrows in pitch, which they lit aflame. The rigging and sails of a Byzantine ship they managed to set on fire. However, his fellow Normans paid for their success dearly. Raymond witnessed on one ship over one hundred Normans, in their heavy armor and cuirasses, run to one end of the ship, sinking it.
The next enemy boat that Raymond boarded was the Greek flagship. He was able to tell by the dual mast lanterns. Fighting through the Byzantine ranks, Raymond came upon the leader of the relief force; it was none other than the wretched Jocelin, the former lord of Molfetta, and current Duke of Corinth. The traitorous Norman exile fled to the Byzantines after his failed rebellions against Duke Robert. He currently was issuing orders to his Greek lackeys, and has his back turned to Raymond. Raymond grabbed his back, and struck him on the face, knocking him unconscious. Raymond proceeded to drag the leader of the soon to be failed expedition back to Roger’s ship. The Norman lord grinned widely, saying “Good, my Flemish brother, good,”
Weeks later, the demoralized city of Bari surrendered to Guiscard after such a crushing blow. Raymond would latter say he learned two very valuable things form the months besieging the city; the usefulness of a navy, and mercy in triumph.
Never trust a Greek bearing gifts.
-Proverb
Kastoria, April 1082
Robert stared across the Macedonian plain, pondering the coming campaign. He had once wished to seize the glory and splendor of Constantinople, but the corpulent ambassador from Alexius had convinced him that there was a greater prize to be had. His inner-Norman loved the sheer gall of a surprise attack. The Caliph would never expect legions of Franks charging down the Nile, paid for by Byzantine coin, and supported by Byzantine and Venetian ships.
The ink had barely dried on the treaty parchment when the Duke began to make preparations. The fifteen thousand or-so men under his command might be enough to best a host of effeminate Greeks, but to take Egypt from the Saracens would require a much larger army. For that reason, he had dispatched Bohemond and Count Raymond back across the Adriatic to gather more men to the cause. He instructed Raymond to travel through Italy to recruit Lombards, and sent Bohemond to southern France The Duke himself would stay in Kastoria, hiring Greek and Slav mercenaries.
To maintain the Greek and of the bargain, something that was quite difficult to achieve due to their lack of trustworthiness, Guiscard would leave garrisons at Kastoria and Dyrrhachium.
Indeed, like the light shining from the great lighthouse at Alexandria, the future seemed bright for the Duke of Apulia.
Outside of Toulouse, June 1082
“It is agreed then,” said Bohemond de Hauteville “You will finance the contingent of knights form Toulouse, in return for trading rights and privileges in Alexandria and Damietta,”
“True, and may the soldiers of Christ prevail over heathen and heretic,” replied William, the Count of Toulouse. Bohemond smirked inwardly at that assertion. It was doubtful that it was solely religious fervor that motivated the Count to endorse the expedition, especially considering that he would get to play landlord when his knights departed.
Bohemond was quite glad that the Count decided to stay in France, and not to go to the Nile delta on their little venture, despite William’s attempts at saying otherwise. His father Robert could give some feeble Tolosan knight some backwater village to run, but a Count would demand title, land and money, none of which father would be willing to part with easily.
With the formalities dealt with, the Count offered Bohemund a tour of the estate, which the Norman giant accepted. The lands around the manner were quite beautiful, but Bohemond would always prefer the orchards and mountains of Apulia to that of the home of his ancestors. [1]
Bohemond was telling the Count of his adventures during the campaign against the Greeks when he stopped suddenly. He nearly made the sign of the cross, as the vision of beauty standing before them could be nothing less than one of God’s angels.
“Ah, lady Eleanor. Has something delayed your departure back to Albi?” inquired the Count.
“Yes, your whores. My guards are making fools of themselves in front of your court wenches, again,” Spat back the lady angrily. Something in her tone of voice told Bohemond that she was referring to members of the counts family, and that this contention had arisen before.
“Do you know no end, woman?!” barked the Count. Lady Eleanor smirked.
The count calmed, wishing not to embarrass himself in front of the Norman. Bohemond did not care the least about what the count wished; He was in rapture gazing at the creature before him.
“Lady Eleanor, this is the son of the Duke of Apulia, Bohemond. Surely, you must have heard of his success against the Greek heretics,”
“Indeed,” tersely said the lady. She paused a moment before adding “Do you speak not because you are ill in the mind, or were you made mute by the parting of you and your tongue by a Saracen?”
Bohemond was taken aback at her wit. His towering height usually meant that not many would say such things to him. But while the count beside him fumed over her frankly insulting manner and insubordination, Bohemond found it enchanting.
Bohemond grinned widely, which seemed to throw the lady off.
“I beg your pardon, madam. In a great book, it was once written that a word is worth one coin, while silence is worth two. If you will excuse us, the count and I must be off. It of great pleasure to meet you,”
With a curt nod, the lady continued looking for her fornicating guards.
“God help and protect me in dealing with that defiant woman,” lamented the clearly frustrated Count “He late husband had amassed large estates outside of Albi when he died. They produced no heirs, thus she came into ownership of the property. Since then, she has refused to remarry, complaining that all of the honorable lords I present would be incapable of protecting her from the likes of me. I simply wish to get my fee, and restart normal taxing and levying, but she has the clergy on a string, and they won’t bless a marriage without her approval,” finished the Count
“She is a very well traveled woman, you know,” the Count added “She’s been amongst the Moors of Spain and Africa, rumors have it,” The warm feeling in Bohemond's cheeks grew
“My most honorable Count, I believe we have something else to discuss before lady Eleanor departs,” Bohemond said with a grin.
***
After the overthrow of the Fatimids, King Robert had one of the most densely populated places in the Mediterranean to rule. To help him do this, Robert followed his brother Roger’s example in Sicily; he incorporated to useful parts of the Muslim bureaucracy, and filled in the gaps where the harmful parts were cut out. He established the Patriarchate as the successor to the office of Imam, a sound idea considering the clerical genius of Patriarch Matthew. Raymond de Montay was appointed chancellor.
The urban properties, such as shops, bathhouses, and caravanserais were redistributed. They went from being owned by the defunct imam to being equally split between the offices of government and the public. The rent for property was lowered on Ramadan for Muslims, and Lent for Christians. Certain types of property were awarded to knights that had served Guiscard well. For instance, a certain Jordan of Salerno, a Lombard mercenary who helped turn the tide at the Battle of Cairo, acquired the majority of oil presses in the capital. This was a precursor practice of Urban feudalism, giving profitable crafts and manufactories to nobles, effectively transforming them to armed merchants.
Normans of Egypt. Tancredo Chen. New Melfi University Scriptorium, 1896.
***
The polytheist infidel king rode at the head of a great procession, a train of donkeys, horses and camels stretching as far as one could see unaided. The backs of the beasts were loaded with treasure and loot from up and down the Nile; gold and silver from Nubia, and the most excellent silk and weaved cloth from India. It was like a traveling feast, for the sultan gorged himself on dates and fine meats daily. He received presents from the lords of every town and city he passed through.
Anonymous Arab chronicler, 11th Century.
***
Djerba, 1119
Gregorios of Sidon disembarked the galley and turned around, gazing into the seas of the Gulf of Gabes. He breathed in the smell of the African city. The scent of some spices a merchant was selling on the docks wafted over to him. To contrast the pleasant aroma, it had beren a lucky day for a fisherman, and he was letting his wares air as well. The noises were that of any bustling town; a horse0drawn wagon carrying kasks of wine or oil passed him, while a contingent of spearmen, with their pavises strapped to their backs marched in the opposite direction. All in all, it appeared that the island was returning to normal operations. Only the past fortnight had the Altavilla standard been raised over the citadel, and it was his duty as Emir of Palermo to safeguard the city which it overlooked. The Count would need it, as a stepping stone deeper into Africa.
***
Palermo, 1123
"Pah!" exclaimed Simon to his wife Sancha "William should learn some lesions from his cousins. They fight every day to preserve their lands from Turks and Kurds, while he sends me deluge after deluge of letters, begging me to subdue Capua or Bari or Melfi. These endless request will be the end of me!"
"He is family," Sancha said "But you are right. You should be rewarded. Perhaps with all of Calabria"
Simon pondered this for a while. Before retiring to bed with his wife, he began drafting a response to his whining Cousin.
***
Thus, after marching on Lecce and Taranto and Otranto, surrounding the cities and burning them, the Count demanded his justly deserved reward. He received from his cousin William of Apulia his claims on the Duchy of Calabria, as well as his claims to half of Palermo and half of Messina. Thus, the Count grew in as great a stature in Southern Italia as his father, and began to look beyond his insular borders.
Gesta Normanni Sudensis, c. 1335. English translation by Robert FitzRoy.
***
While a small population of Blacks has existed in Sicily since the time of the Moors, the first large and, more importantly, recorded population settled there during the reign of Simon I (then still a count). Alexander of Tropea writes that King Bohemond II of Egypt, the Count’s distant cousin, gifted to him several thousand Sudanic soldiers and slaves, to honor his wedding to Sancha of Portugal in 1114. According to Tropea, the slaves were emancipated, and resettled as serfs to work in the royal orange groves around Palermo. The Black soldiery would grow to be the terror of Southern Italia in the following decades, enforcing the Count’s will on the invested nobility along side Sicilian Saracens. In fact, in the excommunication of Simon (then King) by Antipope Carolus I, he is accused of “condoning and colluding in the slaughter and crucifixion of Christian children by the Black heathens,” not doubt stemming from exaggerated reports from Almafi.
Africanus. Iago Ramón. New Melfi University Scriptorium. 1873
***
Messina, 1145
Giovanni Calzolari, or, as he was known in his capacity as a Soldier of Christ Palatine, Iovanninus Calzolarius, stepped off the diminutive galley ahead of the porters bearing his weapons, robes and other miscellaneous baggage he’d picked up in his thirty two years, thirteen of them as a Knight of the Palatine Order. He’d roamed and romped all across the Mediterranean, been through small fishing villages in Palestine and seen the City itself perched on the Bosporus.
Messina, because of its location and natural features, was a remarkable harbor. Many ships greater than the old bucket in which he’d sailed could come directly into port. A plank was thrown on deck, and cargo could be unloaded by porters. No small boats were necessary to ferry freight from ship to dock, unless they were anchored far out at sea. For this facility of loading and unloading, Messina was booming as a trade town. Like the island it rested on, it was the midway point between and the clearinghouse for Christians operating in Europe and the Oltremare, particularly the Palatine Order. It was caught between the lower hills of Etna, spewing out fire and poison, and the treacherous waters of the Straits that bared its name.
He observed the ships lined up along the quay like horses in their stables for a moment before directing the baggage boys where to haul his possessions. There was a minor house of the Order here in Messina, as well as a hostel operated by fellow Genovans. He has business with both. He was here to secure Genovan support for a joint Sicilian-Palatine expedition to Africa. He was also here to kill the director of the Order house.
He, like the head of the Order Mark d’Altavilla, a distant cousin to Count Simon, was the exemplary warrior-monk. Although his good looks, of which any man would be envious while courting, left a series of bastards in Venice and Acre, he had since settled down into monastic chastity and asceticism. He’d found the lifestyle and philosophy of physical and spiritual purification of the Order to be precisely what he was looking for after so many years of wandering. The Order also had use of his rather diverse array of skills.
The director of the Order house was in many ways the opposite. He was a fat, lecherous pig who used his position to prey on the weak, and who had probably never served a day in his life in the Oultremare. He’d solely gotten into the Order because of his pious uncle. He skimmed money off of legitimate Palatine operations on Sicily, and had a taste for young boys from the Greek quarter.
He was why Giovanni brought his crossbow.
***
The Oultremare Crusader States were able to survive the Anatolian, Mesopotamian and Arabian thrusts into the Levant in large part due to a sizeable friendly native population. A generation of Syrians and Palestinians had come to age under a generally benevolent Christian government. The looting had been relatively minimal in most cities, and the population of Damascus viewed their Norman rulers positively for driving the Mercantile Italians from their city after the Sack in 1096. The religious turbulence of the 1110’s had largely settled with the death of the European born Crusader leaders and the ascendance of the Oultremare Europeans to power. Both Christians and Muslims, while not living in mutual adoration, at least lived in mutual respect. Thus, when the time came for both to defend their homes from Arab, Kurd and Turk invasions, the Muslim contingents of the Oultremare hosts were not lacking. Able to draw on the large population centers of the Levant, Mark d’Altavilla, Grand Master of the Palatine Order, and William of Syria were able to rout Seljuk and Arab incursions at Damascus and Aleppo, respectively, in 1131. Unfortunately for the Oultremare States, the young and inspiring William was killed in the devastating 1138 earthquake in Aleppo.
Normans of Egypt. Tancredo Chen. New Melfi University Scriptorium, 1896.
***
Palermo, 1167
Alexander of Tropea dipped his quill into the ink, and resumed writing the manuscript
“With so many successes achieved, all the lands Apulia and the whole duchy in his power, the Prince of the Capuans, the Magister Militum of Naples and all the land up to the borders of the city of Ancona subject to him, and his opponents in war and strife subdued, those close to Duke Simon, and particularly his uncle Count Henry of Vasto by whom he was loved more than anyone, began very frequently to suggest to him the plan that he, who with the help of God ruled so many provinces, Sicily, Calabria, Apulia and other regions stretching almost to Rome, ought not to have just the ducal title but ought to be distinguished by the honour of kingship.”
He wrote in close Latin script, with perfect spelling and grammar. No paper could be wasted. The process of producing paper had been imported from Spain several years ago. Despite the preciousness of the material, the industry for creating it was booming. Moorish experts from Spain had been brought over to found the mills, and Italians from Ancona (the conquest of which had been conducted under the reign of Simon I) were being imported to make dipping moulds and watermarks. Though the recipe for ink varied from place to place, there was relatively large quantity available to Alexander. He continued writing
“They added that the centre and capital of this kingdom ought to be Palermo, the chief city of Sicily, which once, in ancient times, was believed to have had kings [who ruled] over this province; but now, many years later, was by God's secret judgement without them.”
He glanced out the window into the heart of Palermo, a metropolis, capitol, and home to some three hundred thousand Sicilians. When Simon came into power, the residents of the city were not Sicilians. They were Catholics, Greeks, Jews, Saracens. When he left, he left a city of Sicilians.
He saw the steam rising from a group of forges, where blacksmiths were pounding away, making swords and spears for one of the many Royal arsenals. He saw some Saracen scholars of the King’s court strolling up to the palace gate, discussing a section of al-Haytham’s Book of Optics. From his view in his tower of the royal palace were several administrative offices ringing the complex. Inside Greek and Saracen bureaucrats would be arguing over taxes and levies. Palermo was a city of Genoese merchants, and Norman knights; Saracen Imans and Latin Bishops. Jew and Saracen, Latin and Greek; Sicilians all, and all lived together in peace and respect, under the dutiful watch of Simon the Younger and his advisors.
Feeling cooped up in the hot attic of his tower, he decided to go on a stroll throughout the palace grounds. Unlike the poor monkish scribes in Northern Europe, sitting in their empty stone monasteries, full of hunger and cold, Alexander enjoyed some privileges as the official royal chronographer.
He admired the marble colonnades and the shimmering of the water as it trickled down fountains. The smell of lemon groves wafted through the courtyard as he walked through it. In the distance he could see the king’s younger brother Robert and his group of Greek and Muslim tutors. The adolescent was becoming just like his father and brother; quite the Cosmopolitan, speaking in rapid Greek and wearing the finest silks from the orient. After greeting the prince, he went back to his tower to give him a better view of the capitol.
Off in the distance, he could see some Greek shipwrights repairing a galley for the Emir of Palermo, Tiberias of Messina. In addition to his first and foremost task of managing the vibrant capital and trade center, he was also in charge of the maintaining and commanding the Royal Navy. But the king’s judgment was trusted; Tiberias was the right man for the job, as evidenced by the plunder he brought back from his most recent raid against the Pisans.
Indeed, Palermo was in good hands. Despite the few years of peace, he knew that war would return. Whether from the Germans in the North, the Greeks from the East, or the Muslims from the South, war would return to the Regno. He placed his confidence in Simon II, and continued his writing.
***
The economic transformation of Southern Italia is best illustrated by the changes that undergone at the Montanio manor. Originally Normans, Robert Guiscard gave John Montanio control over a small amount of land outside of Bari after helping him in taking the city. The Montanios did not join the campaign to the Balkans and Egypt, and consequently extended their domain over vacant neighboring estates. The main products of the estate were grains such as wheat and barley, olive oil, and wine. Several flocks of sheep were added in the 1130’s, which proved to be a wise investment. As the population of Southern Italia boomed due to good harvests and the increased availability of food stuffs from Egypt, there was a corresponding boom in manufacturing. Nowhere was this more evident than the manufacture of wool textiles. Purchasing records show that wool clothing and blankets were sold as far North as Padua. The 1180’s brought a crash in local grain production, with the direct importation of Egyptian cereals. This caused a corresponding switch to olive and grape growing, and sheep herding, furthering the boom of textile manufacturing. In the early years of the thirteenth century, the Montanio family set up a banking system in Naples, Bari and Melfi. In twenty years it had moved to Rome and Pisa. By the fourteenth century, Bruges, Antwerp, Hamburg, Nuremburg, Frankfurt, Prague, Wien, Marseille, Dijon and every major city in Italia had branches of the Montanio family. They extended their manufacturing to the realm of soap, using olive oil and rendered sheep fat with alkali salts to make a product finer than anywhere else in Europe. An apocryphal text states that many of Europe’s monarchs survived the Blackening due to their good hygiene from Montanio soap. Thus, one family saw the rise of industry and banking systems in Southern Italia over the course of three centuries.
Guigelmo Harris, Tertiary Thesis, James College of History, Trinity University, Newe York, 1839
What parts, my dear readers, do you think need filling?
It's a place where I could put the compiled TL without someone having to sort through six pages. Also, it's a new title. Norman Egypt is rather too descriptive. Cross & Crescent could be about anything vaguely relating to Christianity and Islam, thus would attract a wider audience. Besides, alliteration FTW.Why the new thread? Something wrong with the old one?
Of what area, precisely? I've got a map of the Oultremare & Egypt after the First Crusade.
Here be it:
Nice work as always, Sicilian.
I'm afraid of got some more daft questions for you.
I take it that the Royal Sudanic troops are a product of the Mamaluk tradition. Will King Simon I and his successors continue the practice in their territories, or are the African soldiers simply just considered an elite group of men-at-arms?
Would the court languages in either Egypt and Sicily be French, that of their forefathers, or would it be Italian, as it seems to be the language of businessmen in the Levant at that time?
.I'm afraid of got some more daft questions for you
.I take it that the Royal Sudanic troops are a product of the Mamaluk tradition. Will King Simon I and his successors continue the practice in their territories, or are the African soldiers simply just considered an elite group of men-at-arms?
Would the court languages in either Egypt and Sicily be French, that of their forefathers, or would it be Italian, as it seems to be the language of businessmen in the Levant at that time?
Maybe Egypt itself, to show the situation in Upper Egypt and elsewhere?
I suspect for the time being they would remain highly skilled soldier-slaves. However, within a few generations, they would either be folded into the Saracen regiments, or remain on as very loyal and deadly royal guards.
As in OTL Sicily, the languages of the court of Simon I would be Greek, Arabic, Latin and French. However, as Norman, Greek and Saracen become Sicilian, and as Lombard, Tuscan, and Sicilian become Italian, that language would come to reign supreme in the courts of Simon's successors.
In Egypt, the only common language among the Western European conquerers is Latin (unlike Sicily, where the conquerers were overwhelmingly Norman, who therefore spoke French). The languages of the majority of the population, Coptic and Arabic, are also spoken at court. Eventually, as it integrates more and more with the Oultremare states, Italian become more common (though not as much as Sicily, due to geographic factors).
The unfortunate problem is I can't find a good base map with all of the ciites.
Hey, me again.
In the first thread, you said that Egypt may centralize it's hold on Jerusalem in the years to come. Both twins Bohemond II and Mark d'Altavilla are respectively kings of those countries. Do one of their lines grind to a halt?
Since the late Princess Matilda of Tuscany and Syria was a die-hard Papal supporter, and was unlikely to do so, should we expect to see the Oultremare Italians to revive the Patriarchate of Antioch. Or would that somehow jeopardise their working relationship with the Egypto-Normans?
In the first thread, you said that Egypt may centralize it's hold on Jerusalem in the years to come. Both twins Bohemond II and Mark d'Altavilla are respectively kings of those countries. Do one of their lines grind to a halt?
Since the late Princess Matilda of Tuscany and Syria was a die-hard Papal supporter, and was unlikely to do so, should we expect to see the Oultremare Italians to revive the Patriarchate of Antioch. Or would that somehow jeopardise their working relationship with the Egypto-Normans?
http://www.eeescience.utoledo.edu/Faculty/Harrell/Egypt/Turin Papyrus/Harrell_Papyrus_Map_fig-1.jpg
Bigger and cleander
Reasonably easy to edit.
Any of those work?
It will be revealed all in good time.
The staunch papal support in Syria dies with Matilda. Egypt and the Oultremare will both use their native Patriarchs to defy the will of Rome, eventually severing altogether as they allow and enforce nonstandard practices and doctrines.
Sure, but there aren't that many interesting international borders to show in Egypt. I should get around to making one for Italy, though.
Any chance that the Normans and their Venetian and Genoese friends might send trading expeditions down the Nile to do business with the Ethiopians, if the haven't already?
Also, does the Arabic slavetrade in Africa continue despite the Christian government in Egypt? Thats to say that the Normans tax them for passing through their territory? Or do the Arabs simply sail to the eastern coast, and in time, probably increase their presence there?
If the second question is too early for this timeline, then I apologize.
Also, does the Arabic slavetrade in Africa continue despite the Christian government in Egypt? Thats to say that the Normans tax them for passing through their territory? Or do the Arabs simply sail to the eastern coast, and in time, probably increase their presence there?
If the second question is too early for this timeline, then I apologize.
Blarg. It's on hiatus until I have more time and figure out what to do with it.
I hope you get all the time you want, because it doesn't get better than yours.
Well, Sicilian, seeing you really aren't dead yet, I am not just bumping but commenting on this thread I first saw today.
Regarding the Outremer Normans controlling two Patriarchates, I don't think this is quite the "make up your own Church Magisterium free!" card people are assuming it is.
Back when Constantine organized the Church hierarchy, the Patriarchs, including the Patriarch of Rome, i.e. "the Pope," were all on an equal footing, with the Emperor of the Roman Empire supervising all of them. So it might seem that with not just one but two Patriarchs delivering rulings the lords of Norman Outremer like, he's got it in the bag.
Well enough, if Outremer is content to operate all on its own. But in reality, the Normans and their Outremer Italian Republic allies are deeply concerned to trade with Western Europe. They are, I suppose, still getting people from Western Europe to supplement the original contingent of Europeans. They are entangled with terrain and people the Pope of Rome does have influence on, and it behooves them therefore to find some sort of coordinated common ground between Roman policy and their own.
There are lots of ways to approach this of course. They might, when the Roman Church schisms as it often did between "Pope" and "Anti-Pope" (which one was which depending on which side of the schism your local prince was on) back the one of their choice and as a quid pro quo if they can secure that one's victory, get some ecumenical harmonization of Rome's rulings with those of Antioch and Alexandria. Quid pro quo, perhaps some of the latter will be quietly reversed to achieve harmony...
Playing the "my Patriarchs are just as authoritative as you, 'Pope!'" card is risky because it throws into relief the status of the five Patriarchs as ultimately subordinate to the "Roman Emperor," whoever he is deemed to be. To the Eastern Church of course it was the Emperor at Constantinople, who will find these quarrels to be opportunities to try and stick his oar in. Since a number of the Christians the Normans and Italian Republics include will be members of Eastern Orthodox rites, these are dangerous waters for the Outremer Normans to muddy up, unless they can get control of Constantinople too. Which seems highly unlikely.
It could also be that they thus have a perverse incentive to allow some Muslim power to take Constantinople if they can't since then there would be no Christian Emperor there, especially if the Muslims can hunt down any fleeing remnants of Byzantium and subdue them too. Or, perhaps the Normans can capture/give refuge to these, and thus gain control of the Patriarch of Constantinople in exile (adding to their collection) and perhaps by virtue of controlling all three, assert that God has passed the role of Emperor in these religious matters on to them?
But meanwhile of course in Western Europe there are people claiming that they are the successor of the Roman Emperors, and while in the situation that prevailed OTL they never went so far as to claim oversight of all the Patriarchs (certainly not the Pope of Rome, or when they tried that it ended badly) ITTL they might be encouraged to try for it.
Meanwhile any attempt to demote the authority of Rome will be seen as the kind of heresy the Roman Church can't compromise with. Unless the Outremer rulers can secure an overwhelming alliance in the West favoring some change of the rules whereby the Roman Patriarch is cut down to size, they still risk rupture of good relations with Western allies and trade partners unless they can finesse the relationship between the church branches. Which Rome will probably keep spinning in the direction of "submit to our rulings," either by the Patriarchs of the East formally submitting to Roman authority or de facto, conforming their rulings to Rome's.
In all of the above I've assumed of course, as your subscribers generally seem to have as well, that the Normans and Italians won't suffer major reversals, divisions, and schisms of their own. It seems unlikely, as we go down the centuries, that such solidarity and success would go all unreversed! There could easily be events that cost them northern Outremer (thus losing control of Antioch) or vice versa the south (which seems less likely only because the original timeline was called "Norman Egypt," which implies that valley would be the bastion that stands longer than other parts if bad stuff starts to happen.) The ruling dynasties could split, warring with each other and weakening both against Muslim re-conquest. And so on.
Anyway, for the sort of smooth integration of Outremer into the Western Christian sphere that the dialog here pretty much assumes, what with all this talk of an Italian Med and Italian discovery of the Americas and so forth, somehow or other the Eastern Patriarchs under the Norman thumb have to wind up singing hymns from the same hymnal as the Roman Pope. There are a lot of ways to approach this, but one of them is not "the Normans have their own Patriarchs and so can do as they like."
Regarding the Outremer Normans controlling two Patriarchates, I don't think this is quite the "make up your own Church Magisterium free!" card people are assuming it is.
Back when Constantine organized the Church hierarchy, the Patriarchs, including the Patriarch of Rome, i.e. "the Pope," were all on an equal footing, with the Emperor of the Roman Empire supervising all of them. So it might seem that with not just one but two Patriarchs delivering rulings the lords of Norman Outremer like, he's got it in the bag.
Well enough, if Outremer is content to operate all on its own. But in reality, the Normans and their Outremer Italian Republic allies are deeply concerned to trade with Western Europe. They are, I suppose, still getting people from Western Europe to supplement the original contingent of Europeans. They are entangled with terrain and people the Pope of Rome does have influence on, and it behooves them therefore to find some sort of coordinated common ground between Roman policy and their own.
There are lots of ways to approach this of course. They might, when the Roman Church schisms as it often did between "Pope" and "Anti-Pope" (which one was which depending on which side of the schism your local prince was on) back the one of their choice and as a quid pro quo if they can secure that one's victory, get some ecumenical harmonization of Rome's rulings with those of Antioch and Alexandria. Quid pro quo, perhaps some of the latter will be quietly reversed to achieve harmony...
Playing the "my Patriarchs are just as authoritative as you, 'Pope!'" card is risky because it throws into relief the status of the five Patriarchs as ultimately subordinate to the "Roman Emperor," whoever he is deemed to be. To the Eastern Church of course it was the Emperor at Constantinople, who will find these quarrels to be opportunities to try and stick his oar in. Since a number of the Christians the Normans and Italian Republics include will be members of Eastern Orthodox rites, these are dangerous waters for the Outremer Normans to muddy up, unless they can get control of Constantinople too. Which seems highly unlikely.
It could also be that they thus have a perverse incentive to allow some Muslim power to take Constantinople if they can't since then there would be no Christian Emperor there, especially if the Muslims can hunt down any fleeing remnants of Byzantium and subdue them too. Or, perhaps the Normans can capture/give refuge to these, and thus gain control of the Patriarch of Constantinople in exile (adding to their collection) and perhaps by virtue of controlling all three, assert that God has passed the role of Emperor in these religious matters on to them?
But meanwhile of course in Western Europe there are people claiming that they are the successor of the Roman Emperors, and while in the situation that prevailed OTL they never went so far as to claim oversight of all the Patriarchs (certainly not the Pope of Rome, or when they tried that it ended badly) ITTL they might be encouraged to try for it.
Meanwhile any attempt to demote the authority of Rome will be seen as the kind of heresy the Roman Church can't compromise with. Unless the Outremer rulers can secure an overwhelming alliance in the West favoring some change of the rules whereby the Roman Patriarch is cut down to size, they still risk rupture of good relations with Western allies and trade partners unless they can finesse the relationship between the church branches. Which Rome will probably keep spinning in the direction of "submit to our rulings," either by the Patriarchs of the East formally submitting to Roman authority or de facto, conforming their rulings to Rome's.
In all of the above I've assumed of course, as your subscribers generally seem to have as well, that the Normans and Italians won't suffer major reversals, divisions, and schisms of their own. It seems unlikely, as we go down the centuries, that such solidarity and success would go all unreversed! There could easily be events that cost them northern Outremer (thus losing control of Antioch) or vice versa the south (which seems less likely only because the original timeline was called "Norman Egypt," which implies that valley would be the bastion that stands longer than other parts if bad stuff starts to happen.) The ruling dynasties could split, warring with each other and weakening both against Muslim re-conquest. And so on.
Anyway, for the sort of smooth integration of Outremer into the Western Christian sphere that the dialog here pretty much assumes, what with all this talk of an Italian Med and Italian discovery of the Americas and so forth, somehow or other the Eastern Patriarchs under the Norman thumb have to wind up singing hymns from the same hymnal as the Roman Pope. There are a lot of ways to approach this, but one of them is not "the Normans have their own Patriarchs and so can do as they like."