The Byzantine Wager

Chapter 14 - The Fugitive Teenage Years

Chapter 14

The Fugitive Teenage Years

After the attempted coup failed Andronikos fled with his father and brother east across Asia Minor to the court of the Danishmendid Emir at Melitene. Only days before their arrival, Bohemund, the twenty-two year old Christian Prince of Antioch, had led a force into Armenian Cilicia. The Emir had ambushed and annihilated the inexperienced crusader force to a man. So indiscriminate had the slaughter been, even Prince Bohemund himself had been slain - despite the fact that he would have made a valuable hostage. Now Emir Gazi wanted to send Bohemund's head - along with a poem he had written - to his overlord the Abbasid Caliph as a gift. Unfortunately, the young man's head was starting to go... off.

Issac and his sons arrived to find the city in a jubilant mood after the victory. Melitene had only recently fallen to the Emir and, with hostile Greeks on his western border, having the Emperor's treasonous brother at hand could only be useful. Emir Gazi was no fool. My enemy's enemy is my friend. They were welcomed, but as what? Guests? Hostages? Prisoners? And if his father's position was uncertain, what role was there for his sons - Ionnes, the polite one, and Andronikos, the tall one?

Andronikos' classical education did help, however, and he had been tutored in the local Arabic. He remembered reading that Alexander the Great had been preserved in honey after his death. Emir Gazi was glad to find a sweet and simple solution to his smelly head problem which he placed in a silver box and forwarded on to the Caliph in Baghdad. He was also happy to forward the Byzantine exiles on to anyone else who might join a coalition.

Next stop was Trebizond, capital of a former Byzantine province on the southern coast of the Black Sea. It was formerly a Byzantine province because Constantine Gabras, the current ruler, was now styling himself as prince - not governor - and was no longer subjecting himself to Emperor John. In the rebel province Issac found ears which would listen. But Constantine Gabras - as an ally? Another traitor? The man's own brother had once been imprisoned for desecrating a church and stealing a nail from the Holy Cross.

After that it was off to see the Lord of the Mountains, Prince Leo of Cilicia. Leo was sympathetic to Issac's situation. Having poisoned off a nephew, he knew what it was like to have to remove a relative to gain power for himself and get around the nonsense of primogeniture. He was also eager to attack Emperor John and gain territory in south Anatolia. To cement this alliance, Prince Leo married one of his daughters to Andronikos' older brother Ionnes the Polite. The match was a good one. The girl was a great-great-great granddaughter of none other than Bardas Phocas - the legendary Byzantine general. Her dowry included the city of Mamista - and would include - the city of Tarsus, which Leo hoped to soon capture.

Communication with Issac's supporters in Constantinople was slow, irregular, and had to be secretive. Messages were spoken to a priestly intermediary who would relay them from Issac to his wife, Irene. They were always verbal messages mouth to ear only - never written. Issac knew that if intercepted the priestly courier could be forced to reveal what he knew, but emperor John was godly and above mutilations or torture. Or so Issac hoped. Princess Irene kept in contact with sympathetic members of the extended Imperial family. From her Issac learned timing an attack would have to be crucial. Having the Emir of the Danishmendids, the rebel "Prince" of Trebizond, and the Prince of Cilicia on his side was all well and good, but without the power of the Sultan of Rhum, Issac's coalition would be worthless - and he knew it.

Sultan Masud received them warmly in the capital of Iconium. They were presented with gifts - a beautiful Quran with surpassing calligraphy for Issac, a fine Arabian stallion for Ionnes, and a hunting falcon for Andronikos. A manse was found for them to quarter in along with servants. Sultan Masud was also sympathetic. He too had experienced family problems. Fourteen years earlier he had deposed, blinded, and eventually murdered his older brother, Malik, to take his position. More of a mercy than a murder really. The imbecile's campaign against the Byzantines hadn't made a dent - despite the fact that the enemy leader, Issac's father Alexios, had been aged and ill at the time. Malik was forced to conclude a humiliating peace giving a huge portion of his lands back to the Greeks. After Masud got rid of Malik the treaty was nullified, but all of that land was still in contention. The Sultan sought an advantage over John the Emperor and his general, John the Persian.