Rheims, 1186

"Mein Gott! So that's their game, is it?" sighed Ulrich, as he read the lastest dispatch from the Imperial Diet.

It had looked so promising. After marching across the border into Champagne, Ulrich and the depleted Swabian army had reached the city of Rhiems. It was an impressive sight, surrounded by thick stone walls, flanked by towers. After blockading the city's four main gates, Ulrich was hopeful that the fate of the city was now sealed. Reports had filtered through the camp that though the city was well supplied, the French had but a weak garrision quartered here. After setting his engineers to construct siege equipment, Ulrich was confident that an brief assault would carry the city.

But then the besiegers became the besieged. After surveying his men, a party of horsemen rushed back towards the Duke.

"Mein lord Duke, the French are here!" shouted the leader, Rupert von Hapsburg, a knight from the Tyrol.

Ulrich turned with a start. He had not counted on another French army in the vicinity of Rheims. Was not a large army already besieging Dijon? Quickly regaining his composure, Ulrich signalled the men to come to his tent.

Once they had entered, Ulrich began to question them.

"Where are the French camped?" he began, "How many men do you estimate march under the Fleur de lis?"

"They are but four miles distant, mein Duke." answered Rupert. "Herr Lothar and I reckon that they are over 700 men strong, though we had difficulty in concealing ourselves from the French sentries."

"You have done well, gut ritters." replied Ulrich, "You have the gratitude of your Duke and Swabia"

As the knights exited Ulrich's tent, a page bowed before entering. When he entered he silently handed Ulrich a missive bearing the unmistakeable seal of the Imperial Diet.

A discreet cough interrupted his train of thought. As Ulrich looked up, he saw Jan van Ghent, his Flemish military advisor.

"They have forced mein hand; I must pull back. Those fools in the Diet care more about following rules, rather than serving the Reich. I have just heard that they will call upon mein men to desert, unless I withdraw. Mein men would remain loyal, but I cannot lead them into a life of inglorious exile.

Besides, there are the French to consider. They have now surrounded us. Regardless of mein actions, I shall have to fight mein way out of thier encirclement. The losses will be heavy, but I trust that on this field we will deal them such a blow that will break the spirit of all those who swear loyalty to the French King.

But the further insult comes unabated. They now demand my abdication as Duke of Swabia. For what? For marching across a border of our enemies? I have little pride left this day, for they have trampled Swabia into the dirt."

"Your course is decided? asked van Ghent, "What shall you do, and where shall you go?"

"I shall take a loyal band of Swabians with me to the Holy Land. Perhaps there I can make a name for myself, but I cannot remain in Swabia as a disgraced knight, though it was unjustly deserved."

"Very well, I shall go with you!" exclaimed van Ghent, "But first, we have a French army to scatter."

Ulrich smiled and buckled on his sword.

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Peace

It was a a quiet evening in the crusader camp. Dietrich was sitting alone on his camp stool outside of his tent,watching how a warm breeze from the Mediterranian Sea shook the grass and little trees on the small hill his tent was positioned. The warm breeze felt good on Dietrich´s old wrinkled skin. He liked the Southern weather, but maybe it was just the aging that made him like more hospital enviroment of the Mediterranian.
Dietrich sipped some red wine from a cup he was holding and took a look on the surrounding camp. To the smaller tents of pilgrims on the outskirts of the camp,going through the larger individual tents showing where Counts and Knights had their spots on this huge war camp stopping in the end to an single huge tent in the middle of the camp, the Kaiser Henry´s tent with its bright Imperial colours and swarm of soldiers,messengers and scribes besieging it.
Dietrich was happy that Henry was with them. He liked the Kaiser very much and had many times wondered how different the father and son were. Where Heinrich had been an autocrat and very jealous of his personal power, Henry was more kind,calm and was more of an mediator as Kaiser. Maybe some felt that the good character of Henry was sign of weakness,but Dietrich didnt agree on such opinions.
For him fighting together with Henry had been a real honour,commanding the right wing of the army was position of great honour. Dietrich had witnessed also the commanding abilities of Kaiser in that battle and he was pleased on what he had seen.Dietrich thought.

"I hope that the Kaiser will be safe and one day will return to the Reich. Under his leadership and bit of luck,the reich could be heading towards a golden age."

Dietrich streched his legs on the camp stool a bit and continued thinking about the current situation. One man had completely suprised him in the last few years.That man was Chancellor Von Kassel.

"In the end of the reign of Kaiser Heinrich i became to think that Von Kassel was nothing but an upstart who was ready to betray anyone or anything to climb the latters towards larger power. Now this man has completely suprised us when he finally got the power´s of Chancellor. Nothing pleases me more then that we are now back on the lap of mother church. I think that this huge effort made by Von Kassel will turn us once more towards more peacefull times.Unfortunately im not sure that i will witness that time"

During the last battle something had happened. At the middle of the fight when Dietrich and his knights were charging on the right wing,suddenly when Dietrich was gallopping towards the enemy, a swift pain had crossed the left side of Dietrichs body. First he had thought that he had been hit by an arrow,but soon he realized that the pain was coming from inside. Dietrich had crashed on the enemy,but for a moment he couldnt bare even the weight of his shield and he had thrown it to the ground. Soon his veterans had surrounded him,becouse they had thought that the Duke was wounded,but as the pain gave away, Dietrich had commanded his men forward.
When the battle had ended and Dietrich had undressed his armour he felt like his whole body was covered on cold sweat. At that moment he understood that the Lord had told him that soon his time on this earth would be over.
Dietrich had acted like nothing had happened,but his close men knew something was wrong. Maybe becouse of their respect towards their leader they had not bothered asking questions, in which they knew they would have not gotten answers anyway.

As months had passed,Dietrich had felt how his stength started to vanish,little by little. He still could walk and do normal things,but as the time passed he was getting slower and slower. The kingdom of heaven was coming closer and closer towards old Dietrich.
As he sat on his camp stool in the diminishing light of the evening,his thoughts turned into Franconia. To the dark forests and hills covered on morning mist. To the shores of the wild northern sea. Oh how he missed his land,the land he wouldnt see anymore. As the last rays of sun disappeared behind the horizon,the old knight raised slowly from his seat and walked to his tent. A page came inside and offered Dietrich´s evening meal. Tasty roast with bread and some more wine. When Dietrich was finished with his suppers and the page had cleared the table,Dietrich opened an scroll.

"I have been avoiding this decision for far too long.Well now the decision is made.I hope its the right one."

Dietrich thought as he casted his seal ring on hot red wax and pushed the mark of the Duke of Franconia on the pergament.
For a while Dietrich just sat there looking at the scroll.Then he wrapped it up and placed on the draw where he put all his letters and documents that were to be dispatched. Dietrich tasted the last few drops from his wine glass and then undressed and layed down to his bed. With his eyes closed he prayed a silent prayer.

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. "

During the last sentences of the prayers,Dietrich felt like he was getting lighter. He saw his family, the faces of his wife and daughter smiling to him,he saw how light was starting to shine around their faces and with silent voice Dietrich sayed.

"Im coming home."

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A letter written to Gunther of Eichstadt from Chancellor Otto von Kassel in 1190

Gunther,

You have done well in the Diet, my Chancellorship would not be possible without you serving as my liaison. I hope you have passed on my call for more nobles to come to Outremer. Even when the Crusade ends, the Reich must remain here in the Holy Land. The Church will need us as their protector from the infidel. The Papacy reigns supreme in spiritual matters, but they will need our assistance in their temporal defence.

That is how the special relationship between Empire and Church began you see. Pope Leo needed a protector from the Lombards, Charlemagne assisted him, and so was made Emperor, putting him above all the other sovereigns of Europe. This balance held for many years, but as the threat receded, the Papacy sought more temporal power, secure in their support from the other Catholic nations of Europe. Soon enough, as the Empire weakened and the Church gained in strength, we lost our role as the protector. Other nations vied for it, and the Church began interfering in the succession of the Reich and picking away at our lands in Italy. The delicate balance between the two fell apart, as the Popes would not keep to their proper sphere.

This led to the investiture crisis. The Papacy tried to become a Kingdom of Earth as well as Heaven. As we had once helped choose the Pope, they tried to choose the Emperor. Kaiser Heinrich, to his credit, sought to restore the old balance, to return the Popes to the spiritual realm. Unfortunately he did so with brute force, and I was young, prideful and greedy enough to help. Our long night under interdiction showed me the error of my ways. Yes, we did eventually reconcile but how could we make sure this would never happen again? There had to be a different, more subtle way to restore the balance. Yet if we gave them territories in Europe, they would always have the other Catholic realms to call upon. Our role as protector in return for primacy among the nations would never be guaranteed.

So we come to the Holy Land. We will give the Pope Jerusalem, and we ourselves will take the rest of Palestine and the Levant. We will be the protectors again, the shield against the Saracen, first among the Catholic nations, first in the favor of God and Church. And there will be no one else for the Popes to turn to for protection, no one else to play us off against, for we are the only Catholic presence in this heathen land. The balance will be restored, and so it will stay. The Popes will pray, we will fight and all will be well under Heaven.

Give my best to your lovely wife,

Otto

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