Raynaud de Xaintrailles:

*The noble, unseen by most present until now, stands up and strides to the center of the room. People are muttering to each other about whether this man actually belongs or not. After all, nobody seems to remember him from the Tournament and almost everybody of note was there. Nevertheless, they begin to sit back and listen.*

Good day gentlemen, and I hope you all are well. I hereby once again swear fealty to my King Philippe as well as my Prince and Duc, Louis, and wish long days and pleasant nights upon them.

Now, some of you may not have seen me before. This is perfectly acceptable, as I was… unable… to attend the Tournament. The reason for this is unimportant compared to the matter I will address with you now.

Fellow nobles, I come from Toulouse, which is as you know, a very pleasant area in the South of France. Toulouse and its surrounding areas contain good folk, honest, hearty, God-fearing people. But recently, we have had more to fear than just the Lord. To our west, the English pose a minor threat by occupying the lands of Bordeaux. However, to the south lies a far more dangerous foe. Down on the Iberian Peninsula, the vile and heathen Moors occupy the southern half and threaten to pour through and hit the rest of Europe, just as they did centuries though.

Now, we could wait. Concern ourselves with other matters and hope the Moors go against their very savage nature and stop their conquest and killing, or that the various Christian factions on the Peninsula finally get their act together and hold them off or drive them back. Or, should that fail, we could always repeat the heroics of our ancestor, Charles the Hammer Martel, and turn the tide ourselves at Tours. But I ask you all: Do we really want to risk it getting that close?

No, my fellow children of God, we cannot. We as a people have accomplished too much since the last invasion to risk it all falling apart. We in the South of France have accomplished too much to risk it all being destroyed in the name of some heretical offering to a nonexistent deity. We owe it all, gentlemen, to the people that we watch over, not to let them fall to the threat of eternal damnation!

What the people of the lower Peninsula deserve is a chance at eternal paradise. What our own people deserve is the same, and this will never be allowed to happen with the wicked Mohammedans so nearby. Therefore, it is my intention to take the initiative to drive them back from the Strait of Gibraltar for all time.

Edict 1.5: The Seneschal is instructed to begin assembling generals and men necessary for a Crusade with a target of Cordoba (This is a declaration of war against the Moors). By the end of his term, the Crusade is to have officially set out for its target. The Seneschal is to work toward granting the Pope’s approval for this Holy mission, but the Crusade will begin with or without his blessing. The King is to endeavor to evenly distribute captured Moorish settlements among the Houses.

I hope you will all see the merit in what I am saying. We will all be rewarded in the afterlife should we take up this measure now.

I also second Edicts 1.1, 1.2, and heartily second 1.3.