@Gabrielico - to be fair, I didn't give a lot of thought about that specific phrase about the Pope's letter. It was supposed to be only one of these minor anecdotes that Historians like to cherrypick, sometimes without basis in reality.
But your question made me think about the repercussion this event might actually have: there is indeed a symbolic aspect in having the highest authority of the Catholic world actively supporting the Basileus against a Catholic king (of all of them, that of
France). That's not to mean that the Pope sees himself or any monarch in position of genuine subservience towards the Byzantine Emperor. Rather, it would be simply that he realizes that the Empire is an important player in the Crusades and hopes the Catholic kings can be more pragmatic towards the realization of their common goal.
@St. Just - Thierry most likely will remain in the Orient. I've been trying to set up this already. I see him, in the capacity of a Frankish lord under Imperial suzerainty in the region, as a bridge between the Latin Levant and the Byzantine Syria, and in this regard he would be poised to play a larger role than that Edessa played so far.
Zengi, on the other hand, is bounded to be much less successful and relevant than IOTL. His mention is supposed to be more of a cameo than simply an anticipation of any new divergences. I figure that, given the circumstances, he won't have a chance for his star to rise as it happened IOTL.
I'm fond of the
Richard Nixon the Used Car Salesman trope, so expect to see some of these off-hand mentions, at least while the TL is still young and this might have a figment of sense. But don't worry, we won't be seeing the likes of Beethoven or Napoleon if we do get to the 18th Century, for example.
@trajen777 - Indeed, even more considering that, by then, the Crusader soldiers are already in a somewhat bad shape, being fraught with disease and deprivation. And, besides, the Saracen side also has their share of veteran troops.
@galileo-034 - yeah, it will be fairly easy to have a post-Second Crusade map, since it will be more comprehensive than the mess that we had so far.
@Skallagrim - I have absolutely
not forgotten about the Georgians. In fact, they'll show up in next chapter for certain. In previous chapters we've already mentioned a Byzantine-Georgian alliance, so that's precisely the moment for them to appear and demand their own pieace of the cake. However, remember that between Georgia and the Islamic-dominated Shah-Ahlat, there's another Islamic polity, centered in Ani, that of the Shaddadids, so it is a scenario in which the Georgians can't simply waltz into Armenia to play the big damn heroes moment.
However, I see that you very very cleverly mentioned a possible Georgian incursion against Shirvan. A very good prediction, of course, not only because it was geographically closer, but also because they had, too, this goal of securing the southeastern Caucasus region as a "natural border".
On the other hand, I'm not sure if the Shirvan-Shahs were pushovers. I remember from the top of my head that the Kingdom of Georgia had some military successes against them, but never outright annexed Shirvan. In the long-run, it is an interesting possibility, especially because the Seljuqs are scheduled to fall in some 30 or so years at most.
BTW, I liked the idea about an alliance with the Rus. It is something I had not considered.
Now, about the Mongols... let's wait for it.
@Damian0358 - my friend, that's an excellent post. I'll be sure to contact you everytime I need intel regarding Serbia, considering it is, among all these I've mentioned so far, one I'm less knowledgeable about, and I'm in need of some serious research to adress it properly.
I see that by mentioning Zupan Zavida I've likely made some minor mistakes; as you said, the English Wiki doesn't mentions his date of death, and neither goes in detail about his struggles with Belos and the current Hungarian regency. I suppose I should have done my homework...
Now, the suggestion about having Desa as a chief of the Serbian Crusaders indeed does makes much more sense. I'll looking into it and will likely "retcon" the previous chapter to make it.
Also, Boris Kalamanos is still waiting for his attempted rebellion against King Géza II, much like IOTL. I remember reading somewhere that he actually joined one of the armies of the (historical) Second Crusade, and this provoked some friction between the armies of the HRE and the (already adult) King Géza. ITTL, however, we're somewhat early, so Boris is still hiding in some European court out there, and won't be joining the Crusade (at least not for the time being, especially considering that, as you've seen, these armies are loyal to Géza).
Finally, the mention about Helena doesn't has basis in reality, it is just something I conjured for some drama, but this does comes to favor the premise that Orthodox rulers might be as interested in joining a Crusade as the Catholic ones, even if they do not recognize the genuine universal primacy of the Pope. In this case, the Queen, in spite of not being Catholic, could very well have been convinced by the Hungarian Catholic subjects that the Crusade would bring prestige and wealth to the kingdom.
@Icedaemon - very good question! I'm not sure if the Pope would ascribe some greater legitimacy to the Byzantine Emperor, though; he's seen, by the Holy See, more as a benefactor than as a genuine leader of the Crusaders. On the other hand, the continued omission of the German Emperors is certainly bound to aggravate the distancement between the Papacy and the Imperial Crown that occurred due to the Investiture Controversy. By this moment of the TL, it was mostly solved as a dispute, but the underlying issues resulting from the distinct agendas of the Pope and of the Emperor still exist, and, of course, the idea that the Pope comes as more influential in a world where the Crusades are increasingly more successful jeopardizes the pretenses of the universal monarchy of the German Kaisers. Mind you, this doesn't necessarily changes if one or another German Emperor joins the Crusade, because, in this scenario, if he's sided by other Catholic Kings, such as those of France or England, he'll still be, according to the Papacy, another secular prince with his own army, all of them shadowed by the Pope's spiritual suzerainty.
@jocay and
@TheHandsomeBrute - At the present moment, the Kingdom of Georgia is a rising star, for sure, but the Islamic polities are formidable in their own right, so I wouldn't expect for Georgia to grab Azerbaijan too easily.
On the other hand, if Armenia is politically reincorporated into the Imperial sphere, this most certainly deals a serious blow against the regional Islamic powers, and the Georgians, having a more secure southern border, will be keen on investing their resources to prosecute a conquest of Azerbaijan. We must agree, indeed, that they are in a better position to do so than any Byzantine or Frankish polity.
That's why the Georgians have to conquer Azerbaijan and build a lot of castles. Make the conquest as slow, bloody and frustrating as possible when the M*ngols arrive.
The Georgians dont know that. Us in 2019 do. Building a lot of castles takes money. Mongols went that way since they were chasing Shah Muhammed II not really to conquer the Georgians in 1220s. They could have allied or kowtowed to the Mongols instead of fighting them since they had a common enemy during that time. OTL situation did not favor the Georgians since when it was the Khwarezmians who attacked the Georgians before the Mongols went back in 1230s. Even then in 1230s, war with the Mongols could easily be avoided thru excellent diplomacy. All they had to do was pay tribute which was the end result anyways.
Yeah, some good points. Again, we have a lot of spare time before the Mongols might arrive. In the meantime, who knows, maybe Georgia has already blobbed through the whole of the Caucasus region.
True, but if the Georgians do work together with the Byzantines, the Armenians and the Latins, and do manage to take control of Azerbaijan/Shirvan, then they will most assuredly recognise the need to heavily fortify their borders. Not against the Mongols, but against the certainly pissed-off Muslims to their south.