"Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - Olivia 2 - Crusader's Torch" - читать интересную книгу автора (Yarbro Chelsea Quinn)

Richard Coer de Leon, determined to regain the English lands in France,
completed Chateau Gaillard on the Seine in the same year, in effect throwing down
the gauntlet to Philippe II. In 1198, he declared that EnglandтАФand the King of
EnglandтАФwere not vassals of France, but nevertheless lost ground to Philippe, who
was having trouble of his own when the new Pope, Innocent III, excommunicated
him for repudiating his marriage to Ingeborg of Denmark. During this dispute
between the Pope and Philippe of France, Richard disputed with the vicomes
(viscount) of Limoges, and the following spring he besieged the castle of Chalus,
where he was wounded by a crossbow quarrel and died of gangrene on April 6 after
apologizing to his wife Barengaria that God had not made him a lover of women. He
was thirty-two years old.
In 1202, Pope Innocent III proclaimed a Fourth Crusade and for the first time the
VenetiansтАФwho were actively engaged in commerce with Islamic countriesтАФwere
persuaded to participate beyond providing transport. Manrico Dandolo, Doge of
Venice, formidable still at age ninety-four, finally agreed, but on the condition that
the Crusaders sack the city of Zara on the Dalmatian coast. The Crusaders accepted
the condition, and were excommunicated for the act by the same Pope who had
proclaimed the Crusade. The Crusaders, undaunted, proceeded to Constantinople, and
restored the blinded Isaac II Angelus to the throne with his son Alexius acting as
regent. After six months, both father and son were deposed by the general
Mourzouphles who took the title of Alexius V Ducas, and for this usurpation, the
Fourth Crusade besieged Constantinople, and as a result a short-lived Latin kingdom
was established in Byzantium. Two separate Byzantine Empires were established,
one at Trebizond, one at Epirus; the former lasted until 1461, the latter less than ten
years.
The Fourth Crusaders fell victim not only to their excommunication, but to
Bubonic Plague, and the forces never reached Jerusalem.

For the purposes of this book, I have used Norman French for names of people and
places wherever such information is available and fairly consistent. In the case of
Richard Coer de Leon, since he never learned to speak English, I have used his own
usual Norman variant of his name. For help with Norman French of the late twelfth
century, I wish to thank Jeanet Simeon and R. L. Hansen for their assistance;
providing other research material, thanks as always to the indefatigable Dave Nee.
Whatever errors may be in the text are not theirs but mine. I would also like to thank
Jill Sherman and Paul McNutt for their assistance. And, of course, thanks to the good
people at Tor for their support and encouragement of my vampire tales.




PART I
Valence Rainaut
Text of a letter of the Venetian merchant Giozzetto Camarmarr from Cyprus to
the Benedictine scholar Ulrico Fionder.
My dear cousin and esteemed teacher, I fear your apprehensions were well-
founded. As you warned me, the situation has become worse. It is not only the
presence of the Islamites that brings trouble to this island, but since the people
reclaimed this place as their own, there has been an alarming increase in piracy, and
the venture our united families were so hopeful of I must now recommend we