Deep within the center of Constantinople, the Byzantine Emperor sat on his throne with a downcast expression. The man was on the verge of tears, but he could not allow himself to be seen crying as Emperor. As such, he steeled his resolve and continued to read the letter in his hands written by his son Decentius.
Arethas was dead, according to his second son; the man had died in combat against the Mamluke forces early on in the campaign. Since then, Decentius had been leading the Byzantine troops to victory in North Africa.
The news of the death of a man who was more of a brother to Emperor Vetranis than his siblings was a great shock to the man. With the Strategos' death, many things became uncertain. Especially in regards to their relations to the West.
News had spread to Constantinople about Austria's war for independence, which appeared to favor the self-proclaimed King Berengar von Kufstein. The Byzantines had not taken a stance on the conflict. Instead, they stayed utterly neutral.
After all, Berengar was the largest supplier of arms and armor to the Byzantine Empire. Though they had begun to have success in replicating the Arkebuse, most of their weapons still came from Austria. Meanwhile, relations with the Holy Roman Empire were tenable at best.
This was not the only reason for staying neutral in Austria's war for Independence. There was a matter of significant debt that the Byzantine Crown had towards Austria due to the agreement made about unlimited arms support.
Arethas was the mastermind of all dealings with the upstart King in the West. Without him, it would be challenging to maintain the friendly relationship that the Byzantines had with their debtor. If he sent the wrong diplomat to negotiate further, it could spell ruin to the Empire's finances.
Losing his closest aid and confidant, who was the godfather to his children, was one thing. Yet, the ramifications such an occurrence had was enough to cripple the Emperor with anxiety. On top of this, such a tragedy occurred shortly after his daughter's disappearance and presumed death.
The only good news that Vetranis had heard within the last year or so was that his son had salvaged the situation and had rapidly begun to reconquer Egypt and Lybia. Before long, the entirety of those two regions would fall into the Byzantine Empire's hands, and they would be able to repay the massive debt that had accumulated with Austria.
With this in mind, the aging Byzantine Emperor sighed heavily; now that his alliance with France had crumbled, his next best option was an Independent Austria; if Arethas was still around, Vetranis was sure the man would advise him to establish friendly ties to the young King.
If only Honoria was still alive, Emperor Vetranis might consider betrothing her to the upstart King from Austria to cement an alliance between their two realms. Of course, that was assuming Berengar was willing to break his betrothal to his cousin. Honoria was an Imperial Princess, and he would not tolerate her being a concubine.
Austria had proven itself a military and economic power like no other, even now the staple currency of international trade had begun to shift to the Austrian Thaler, so much so that some Merchants who visited the Empire had started to accept the Austrian currency as the sole means of coinage for their products.
If the Austrians were indeed to become independent and annex the Swiss Confederation as they have proclaimed, the future was bright for the fledgling Kingdom; as such, the Emperor was at a crossroads.
For some time now, there had been significant pressure from the Vatican on the Orthodox Church to support them in their efforts to combat Berengar's alleged heresy. To the point that the Patriarch had been visiting Vetranis daily, insisting on cutting off trade with the self-proclaimed Kingdom to the West.
As Vetranis was thinking of such matters, the Patriarch of Constantinople appeared before him in his great hall. When Vetranis saw this, he sighed heavily before speaking his thoughts allowed.
"Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. Tell me, Petrus, just what have you come to ask of me this time? If it is about cutting ties with Austria, my answer remains the same."
When Petrus heard this response, he frowned; the relations between the Vatican and Constantinople were beginning to deteriorate rapidly; the more the Emperor stalled on giving him a reply, the worse the situation became. If he did not provide the Vatican with what they wanted soon, a full-scale schism was bound to occur over the issue of the Berengar Heresy.
With this in mind, the old Patriarch of Constantinople began to address the Emperor in a dignified fashion.
"Your majesty, a representative of the Vatican, has arrived, and given us a request if we do not publically denounce Duke Berengar von Kufstein and his heresy, as well as provide monetary aid to the Vatican for their upcoming crusade against him, then the results will be an outright schism.
The Vatican will denounce your majesty and me as Heretics and condemn us to Hell for eternity; we will be forced to do the same in response. There will be no mending this bridge. You must choose a path as Emperor of the Romans! Do we stand with the Vatican as we have for centuries, or do we embrace the German Reformation as a legitimate branch of Christianity?"
In response to this, Vetranis tapped his armrest repeatedly as he thought about how best to handle this situation that had presented itself. Ultimately, he could not afford to denounce Berengar; the man held too much debt against him.
With his licensing of privateers, Austria could easily cripple the trade of the Empire if they reneged on that deal. Just like they had done to the Holy Roman Empire, the might of the Austrian Navy was not to be underestimated.
Though the combined might of the catholic world might be enough to bring down Berengar's Grand Army, it would be years before they could fully mobilize their forces, and by then, Berengar's army may have grown triple in size, it would be capable of holding its own.
After careful consideration, Vetranis stood up from his golden throne before responding with a firm tone.
"Inform Pope Lucius that the Empire stands with King Berengar and the Kingdom of Austria. Tell that fool that under the declaration of the Emperor of Byzantium and the Patriarch of Constantinople, the German Reformation is at this moment considered a legitimate branch of Christianity!"
When Petrus heard this, he sighed heavily as he rubbed his temples in an attempt to cure his growing headache. While he knew that Austria's wealth and power were multiplying at a rapid rate, openly supporting them, and their so-called German Reformation would undoubtedly mean war with the western world. Such a thing could prove disastrous. Nevertheless, he was willing to follow Emperor Vetranis's decision on the matter and, as such, bowed before the Emperor respectfully.
"Yes, your majesty, I will relay your words to the Vatican. Hopefully, they won't react too harshly to our decision, but I fear this will create a rift between us that will never be mended."
In response to this, Vetranis simply sat down upon his throne once more and rested his face in his hands; as he did so, he made one more comment about how he perceived the future.
"With the rise of the German Reformation and others like it throughout Europe, the days of Papal dominance have come to an end. They are too foolish to realize that their crusade will be the end of Catholic authority as we know it. I do not care for Berengar or his religious beliefs; I am merely choosing the winning side..."
With that said, the Patriarch of Constantinople was dismissed, and Vetranis was left by his lonesome once more as he began to sulk in depression over the loss of his comrade.
"Oh, Arethas... Surely if you were still alive, you would council me on such a course of action, would you not?"
With Arethas gone, the Emperor's confidence in ruling his Empire effectively had crumbled; without the support of the mighty Strategos and his charisma, Vetranis would begin to second guess his every decision.
With the choices made by the Byzantine Emperor, and his subservient Patriarch on this day, the East-West schism had finally occurred. The year 1421 AD in this world, would forever mark the divide between the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Churches.
The reasons surrounding this schism were entirely the result of Berengar's effects on the timeline; had he never risen to power, and challenged Papal authority, the likelihood of such a divide occurring would be slim. Thus proving once more that Berengar's existence in this world had forever changed its course of destiny.
What effect this schism would have on Byzantine growth and prosperity had yet to be seen. However, one thing was sure. Such actions were bound to breed conflict between the Rus and their neighbors in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Even Berengar could not predict the rapid changes that would occur in Eastern Europe because of his actions.
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