The Byzantine Wager

Chapter 7 - The First Wager

Chapter 7

The First Wager

They followed the river Po as it drifted to the east. The lands around Montferrat were rich and fertile. Green pastures which were filled with cattle, sheep, or horses covered the hills that rolled down to the valley and river. The bees that hovered over the wild flowers in the pastures returned to their hives hidden inside cleverly designed boxes. The boxes were tended by chandlers who lived with their families in small little wattle and daub huts. The bees provided honey which could be sold at the market and wax which could be made into high quality candles and sold to one of the many churches, the monastery of San Secondo di Terra Rossa, or the Benedictine abbey of Fruttuaria. The hive boxes and the chandlers' huts bordered orchards where pigs rooted for windfall. Beyond the orchards wheat farms and vineyards clustered around tidy villages which were filled with small industries. Leather was tanned and made into boots and gloves. Wool was carded, spun, and woven into cloth. Logs cut in the forests floated down the river to be pulled into shore by men with hooks. They were hauled off by burly sawyers to be sawed into planks. The timber was turned into wagons, barrels, furniture, and house frames.

However, not all of the industry was for the quiet needs of the people. Some of the leather being tanned was turned into padded armor for infantry. Some of the wool would be made into a soldier's sagum - a cloak to be worn on campaign. Some of the timber would be turned on a lathe and made into spear shafts. All the peasants were allowed to keep geese which provided eggs and meat for their owners, but the long gray goose feathers were the Margrave's property. The best of these were carefully sewn on to quarrel shafts by fletchers who specialized in the art. Cyn came from a family of such craftsmen. His father was a fletcher and Cyn was as handy at the craft as any. Both of his uncles worked the wood which made crossbows, including the ones he carried. The March of Montferrat had a thriving cottage arms industry.

A duke ruled a duchy and of course a count ruled a county, but Montferrat was a march and therefore was ruled by a margrave. In most realms, a march was a territory which was on the border with a neighboring kingdom and therefore it typically saw a lot of conflict. The word itself, "march," derived from Mars, the Roman god of war. Clever kings granted title of these contested areas to their most capable and trusted nobles, and that was how the Aleramichi family, Margrave Guilhem's extended clan, had some two hundred years ago risen to prominence in the Piedmont region of northern Italy. Their lands bordered the Holy Roman Empire which lay to the north and the Italian city states to the other compass points.

Margrave Guilhem was a vassal of Frederick Barbarosa, the Holy Roman Emperor. Barbarosa ruled Germany, but for almost thirty years he had been trying to extend his influence into Italy, sometimes through diplomacy, often through war. When the Margrave wasn't actually fighting for his lord, he was supplying the Emperor's armies with weapons, armor, horses, and food. In times of peace he also supplied the Italian cities - there was nothing wrong with their money. Both Conrad and Boniface kept a score of cavalry ready to hire out and make their own coin as well. As far as Margrave Guilhem was concerned, the long intermittent conflict was the best sort of war - not widespread and intense enough to disrupt trade, yet never secure enough for either side to stand down. As a result Montferrat flourished. Every barge that poled its way down the river Po had to pay a percentage to the Margrave. Every wagonload of goods that rolled through the hills of Montferrat on its way north or south was taxed.

The money came in useful. The Lord of Montferrat had ambitions. He wanted his sons to cease being vassals. His goal was for one of his sons to become a king in his own right. That was why William Longsword's marriage to the King of Jerusalem's sister had been so perfect. After William fell ill and died Renier's marriage to Maria Porphygenita had seemed promising. Now it had also ended with the death of one of Margrave Guilhem's sons. Conrad and Boniface were both married to suitable, but non-royal women. His only hope for further ennobling his family now lay with his five year old grandson in Jerusalem. Baldwin V was heir to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but would only be crowned if someone was able to look out for his interests.