It gives me no pleasure to announce that Constantinople had to be taken in order for the Polish crusade armies to advance. The city has been immediately surrendered to Papal control, though the Pope has not yet seen fit to provide a garrison to maintain order. This unfortunate circumstance is deeply regrettable, but our crusade armies are now primarily in Muslim lands and so misunderstandings with our Orthodox brethern should be avoidable. Unfortunately the Byzantines rejected a peace offering and a state of war still exists, for the moment, between our nations. Negotiations continue, and there is hope of a lasting peace on the horizon.

In other news, Kiev stands under siege, and we wish to congratulate our Russian allies on the capture of Vilnius (In other words, I built a watchtower to keep an eye on that front. It's a wide border, shouldn't be hard to avoid trouble.).

King Wladyslaw