OBS Chapter 898 Overseas Empire
Chapter 898 Overseas Empire
Chapter 898 Overseas Empire
The coronation ceremony was held in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, an Eastern Orthodox church built eight hundred years ago.
Although Christians are definitely a minority in Damascus, there are still a few remaining ancient churches that attract many pilgrims every year. Most of them belong to the Oriental Orthodox Church and have parted ways with the Eastern Orthodox Church.
The Coptic Church of Egypt and the Armenian Apostolic Church are its branches.
Except for a few Latin merchants living in the commercial port, there are almost no Catholics living in Damascus. Most of the Christian churches available for pilgrimage belong to the Oriental Orthodox Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. The Catholic Church, or the "Ecumenical Church", has not established a diocese here.
Therefore, Losa's coronation ceremony could only be held in such a church with a strong sense of mysticism and heresy.
The new king of Damascus was leading a huge team, passing through the magnificent Zoroastrian churches and towering minarets, and arrived in front of the "St. John's Baptist Cathedral".
This church is old enough and is said to be the place where St. John was baptized. Today, its outer buildings have been converted into the Temple of the Holy Fire. One has to pass through several courtyards and corridors to reach the church at the back.
This scene made many Crusader nobles extremely angry.
Losa said that in retaliation, he had requisitioned the largest Holy Fire Temple in the city to build the "Damascus Cathedral" and appointed Urdin as the diocesan bishop to appease the emotions of the Crusaders.
In fact, although Sebastian was the nominal Latin Patriarch of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, he actually had no power at all, and many affairs had previously been handled by Ulding.
It’s just that although Egypt is large in size, the numerous Coptic churches are enough to fill the faith in various places, which is different from the situation in Damascus.
After Lothar occupied Damascus, he would inevitably have to build a large number of Latin churches to accommodate the clergy accompanying the army and to "civilize" the local pagans, reversing the greening process that had lasted for hundreds of years.
But for now, we can only make do with it.
As Losa stepped into the church hall, the organ immediately played magnificent sacred music. A sacred music with a unique oriental style spread throughout the entire long street, and many Christians gathered outside could not help but shed tears.
In previous years, they could only pray in the Holy Fire Temple most of the time, because many saints in Christianity and Zoroastrianism are similar. For example, St. John here is also regarded as a prophet in Zoroastrianism. Although it was converted into the Holy Fire Temple, St. John is still worshipped.
Under Saracen rule, these Damascene Christians were still able to maintain their old faith, but they were always cautious, and it was a rare and holy occasion for them to play sacred music as grandly as they did today.
"God, this is the first time in hundreds of years that a Christian monarch has entered Damascus since it fell to the pagans."
"The great Christian King, the miracle worker who can control the dragon, has come to Damascus. This must be God's will and a sign that the Kingdom of God is about to come to the world!"
The Christians in Damascus were rejoicing. Apart from anything else, in exchange for a Christian monarch, at least the annual "unbeliever tax" would be exempted. No matter how magnanimous the pagan rule was, it was not their own people after all.
Some people are worried: "Will they force us to convert to the Western Catholic Church?"
The differences among Catholicism, Orthodoxy and the Eastern Church are not as simple as eating leavened bread or unleavened bread. Zoroastrianism could convert Syrians but could not swallow up the Syrian Church. This is why heresy is more terrifying than paganism.
"How is that possible? My relatives in Egupstadt have said that they still adhere to the Coptic faith, and His Majesty Lothar respects their archbishop very much."
"That's good."
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Losa slowly walked into the church door.
"Father in Heaven, welcome to the great Jerusalem and the Lord of Egupisto, Saint Lothar who rides the dragon. Your arrival brings glory to the entire church!"
The bishop came forward quickly, looking terrified and fearful. He was dressed quite ornately and was a "comprador" fostered by the Saracens. He exhorted Christians to obey at home and tried to curry favor with Saracen nobles abroad to consolidate his power.
Losa hated this kind of person, but he couldn't just get rid of him right now.
This time he wants to swallow up the entire Syrian territory. In the short term, he cannot raise the butcher knife internally like he did in Transjordan or Egypt. It will not be too late to slaughter these fat sheep after the situation stabilizes.
The Royal Guards handed the "Basileus Robe" that Lothar had obtained from Constantinople to the bishop, who draped it behind Lothar's back. "Engager of Jesus Christ on earth, please listen to my cry. For thousands of years, countless Christians have been enslaved and lived a miserable life. We are always looking forward to a Christian king like you to come and liberate us."
He pretended to cry and denounced Saladin's "cruel" rule over them.
Losa listened to the bishop's babble with an expressionless face, reciting a series of prayers such as "Justification by Faith", but he sneered in his heart.
Ever since he crowned himself in Jerusalem in imitation of Napoleon I, he no longer intended to accept the coronation of anyone else.
As the coronation ceremony progressed, after the bishop anointed Lothar with holy oil, he took the crown from the tray in the monk's hand and was about to put it on Lothar's head, but he found that the Frankish monarch, who was praying with his head bowed, suddenly raised his head. The terrifying pressure in his golden eyes made him almost unable to hold the light crown in his hand. The crown was taken from Saladin's treasury and was a tribute from an unknown chiefdom.
"what!"
Lothar said slowly: "Do you think you are more qualified to represent God than I am?"
"No."
The bishop's greasy cheeks were covered with sweat, which reflected the oily light.
“Who, then, is more qualified to be the spokesman for Christ Jesus?”
"It is you, your majesty!"
Lothar pressed on, asking: "Then do you think you are qualified to crown me?"
"no!"
The bishop trembled and his upper and lower teeth made a clicking sound - this was different from what they had agreed on!
He had never crowned any monarch before. All the procedures were taught to him by the clergy sent by Lothar in advance. He swore that there was no such step in it and he would not dare to make a fuss about it even if he had a hundred guts.
Beside him, the Brilliant Knight who was acting as the "Guardian of the Holy Spear" suddenly scolded, "If that's the case, why don't you retreat!"
The bishop stepped back hastily as if he had been pardoned.
Jeanne took the crown and handed it to Lothar.
Lothar put the crown on his head, raised the golden Spear of Destiny, and said loudly in the name of the Wielder of the Holy Spear: "By the grace of God, I am crowned the King of the Kingdom of Damascus today."
"Long live!"
"Praise Saint Lotha!"
"Praise the King of Damascus!"
Many Crusader nobles had witnessed Lothar crowning themselves in Jerusalem. They did not think there was anything wrong with Lothar's behavior and shouted devoutly.
Amid the cheers of the crowd, the system prompt sounded.
You are successfully crowned King of Damascus.
You already have three kingdom titles and a quarter of an empire title, which allows you to declare independence from the old imperial de jure and establish an empire of your own.
Please name your empire.
"Finally, this day has come."
Losa felt emotional and filled in the word "overseas" without thinking.
In the Middle Ages, with the exception of the Eastern Empire, country names were generally named after the region or emphasized the ethnic group that lived there.
For example, Normandy refers to the land of the Normans.
Franconia is the land where the Franks live.
There are also countries named after their core cities, such as the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Republic of Venice.
So the "Kingdom of Damascus" mentioned by Lothar actually refers to the "Kingdom of Syria". The reason why he did not continue to use this name was because this land and the neighboring Bale region had suffered too many disasters in his previous life, which made him feel it was not very auspicious.
According to this naming convention, it would make sense to call this new country the "Jerusalem Empire", "Egyptian Empire", "Levant Empire" or even the "East Franconian Empire".
In addition, there are also countries established after the names of founders, such as the "Carolingian Empire" established by Charlemagne, where "Carolingian" means "Charles" in Latin.
Therefore, it makes sense to call this country "Losa Lingia".
Although there are many alternative titles, Losa still prefers the title "Overseas", which is simple, easy to understand, and easy to pronounce. Even if he chooses a difficult-to-pronounce name, Losa thinks that most people will still refer to himself as "the Emperor Overseas".
Just skip this step.
He held the holy spear in his hand and wore a golden crown on his head, accepting the loyalty and respect of many vassal states who came to pay homage to him one by one.
Losa noticed that Leopold's eyes were red and tearful, but it was not because he was moved. Instead, there was an incense lamp next to him, and the white smoke from it made him look "fairy-like".
This poor fellow was not as important as Philip, Richard and Raymond, and the church was too small to accommodate too few people, so he was squeezed by these three people to a place where he would be exposed to the smoke.
No wonder Leopold doesn't get along with this group of people. You three are really going too far!
Lothar had no time to pay attention to this unfortunate guy. He led many Crusader nobles out of the church slowly. At this time, a three-headed ferocious demon dragon suddenly flapped its wings and flew over, making a deafening roar, and then landed on the church.
Its heavy, muscular body seemed able to crush the fragile old church into pieces with just a little effort, but it climbed to the top of the church with ease, and its wide dragon wings spread out, covering the entire square.
With his back to the dragon, Lothar stood on the wide square and shouted:
"Father, I have been in the East for more than a year, and have successively worn the crowns of Egypt, Jerusalem, and Damascus. The paradise where Christians once lived, and the overseas states mentioned by His Holiness the Pope, have all been unified."
"Barcelona of the Eastern Empire has granted me the title of Vice-Emperor of the Empire and handed over the legal rights of the three kingdoms and Cyprus to me. Today, I will reunite these kingdoms into a whole and create an unprecedented "Overseas Empire"!"
The voice fell, and there was an uproar.
Many nobles were shocked. Lothar had not informed them in advance about the establishment of the empire. Besides, if you were to become emperor, wouldn't you have to go to the Papal City in person and be crowned by His Holiness the Holy See himself?
Some people had a keen sense of smell and immediately realized that Lothar wanted to break the territorial isolation of the three kingdoms and fully implement the series of "new policies" he had implemented in Transjordan and Egypt in the three kingdoms.
(End of this chapter)