Kriegsritter Johannes Braun – Imperial Knight
Copyright© 2026 by Vonalt
Chapter 6: On a Mission for His King
Johannes and his companions rode quietly along the ancient Roman road, their eyes constantly watching for signs of danger among the ruins. Rome was not a safe city to be in after dark. Prominent families were constantly feuding and expanding their spheres of influence throughout the city. It wasn’t unusual for innocent victims to be caught up in the bloodshed.
The first of the prominent families King Frederick had asked Johannes to contact was the Frangipani family. Their territory lay near the Colosseum, and they had turned it and the surrounding ruins into one enormous fortress from which they controlled their interests in local politics, papal affairs, and military matters. Much of their power came from their control of key military and strategic areas within the city.
As they came closer to the Colosseum, Johannes noticed groups of men watching them from the shadows. He stopped near one of the groups and turned his horse toward them. Keeping his hands away from his body to show that he was not a threat, he rode over to them.
A man stepped out of the shadows and said something to him in the local dialect. Johannes had no idea what the man had said. In response, he replied in his best Church Latin, “I have a message from King Frederick, the soon-to-be-crowned Holy Roman Emperor, for the head of your family. My king has asked that I return with your family’s response. Could you take me to him so that I may deliver the message and then carry his reply back to King Frederick?”
The man who had stepped out of the shadows smiled and replied in Latin, “Follow me, brother. I shall take you to those whom you seek.”
Johannes motioned for his companions to follow, and they were led to a heavily guarded tower house on the grounds of the Colosseum. The man who had brought them smiled and waved them onward, handing them off to another heavily armed man who, though not openly hostile, regarded them with wary suspicion. The second man did not speak. He simply motioned for them to follow, watching Johannes and his companions closely, his hand never leaving the pommel of his sword.
They followed the man-at-arms to a tall tower house, where he pointed to its entrance, then turned and left them to make their own way inside. At the door, they were greeted by several servants. The one who appeared to be in charge greeted them in Latin, “Welcome, knights of the Holy Roman Emperor. Please allow these grooms to take your horses, and follow me.”
The servant led them to the main room on the first floor of the tower house. It was lit by the smoky glow of tallow lamps and candles. In one corner sat an older, regal-looking man, surrounded by several others who regarded Johannes and his companions with curious eyes.
Johannes bowed gracefully to the older man and began to speak, “I am...”
The older man shot back in perfect Latin, “Yes, I know who you are, Reichsritter. What is it you seek of me?”
Unflinching, Johannes responded, “I am to seek out the lord of the Frangipani and give him this message from King Frederick. Then I am to wait until I am given a written message in response.”
The old man answered, “I am Oddone Frangipane, head of the Frangipani. Give me the message from your king, Reichsritter, that I may read it.”
Johannes under the watchful eyes of the men who stood beside and behind the chair of Oddone Frangipane approached and handed him the document that King Frederick had given him earlier.
Oddone Frangipane took the document from Johannes and read it in silence. Then he read it again. And again. With each reading, he weighed his response carefully in his mind, as though every word carried consequences.
Oddone looked up at Johannes and said, “It will take time to pen a response to your lord’s request. While you are waiting, Reichsritter, why don’t you follow my steward to the kitchen for bread, cheese, and ale.”
Johannes smiled and thanked Oddone for his hospitality, and he and his companions followed the steward to the kitchen. There they ate fresh bread and a cheese they had never tasted before, all washed down with a weak ale. Johannes remarked to his companions that he could gladly eat such cheese every day.
The steward heard Johannes’s comment and replied that the cheese was called cacio, a local variety found throughout the region. Johannes was given a hunk of it to take with them, that they might share it on the road. He was thanking the steward when a retainer of the Frangipani lord arrived to fetch them. Oddone had a written reply prepared for them to carry back to King Frederick.
When Johannes and his companions returned to the main room, Oddone was nowhere to be seen. Only a few of the men who had been there earlier remained. One of them stepped forward with a parchment and handed it to Johannes. “Here is Oddone’s response to King Frederick’s proposition. Go with God, Reichsritter,” he said in a formal and solemn tone.
Another individual in the room escorted them to the entrance of the tower house. Once outside the house, they found their horses waiting patiently for them being held by the same people who took them when they first arrived. Johannes noted when he sat in the saddle on his horse, someone had taken the time to feed, water and groom his mount while they were at the Frangipani tower house.
Johannes stored the document in the pannier behind his saddle and placed the fragrant cheese in the one hanging near the pommel. After making certain his companions were ready, he raised a hand to signal their departure. As they rode away from the Frangipani stronghold, he noticed the man he had first spoken with standing beside the road. The man smiled and waved as they passed.
The next Roman family they were to contact was the Pierleoni family. The family’s area of influence lay along the Tiber River, centered around the Theatre of Marcellus. They were the principal rivals of the Frangipani and were constantly at odds with them, largely because the Pierleoni favored the political autonomy of Rome rather than subjection to papal or imperial rule.
The head of the Pierleoni family, Giordano Pierleone held the title of Patrician of the Romans, a once-powerful office in Roman politics. By then, however, it was more of an honorific than anything else.
The welcome Johannes received from the Pierleoni was far from friendly, and he was ordered to remain on his horse while they fetched Giordano. Glancing about, he noticed several groups of men-at-arms stationed nearby, their purpose unmistakable: to ensure that he and his companions caused no trouble and obeyed whatever instructions were given to them.
After several minutes, an older man appeared in the doorway of the Pierleoni tower house. He fixed Johannes with a cold stare for several moments before striding over to him.
“I am Giordano Pierleone, Patrician of the Romans. State your business, churl.”
Johannes took the insult as it was intended and replied coldly, “I am a Reichsritter of the Holy Roman Emperor, not some common churl. I bear a written message for you. I am to remain here until I receive your written reply, Pierleoni.” He thrust the message into Giordano’s hands.
Giordano read the message by the light of a torch held nearby by a retainer. When he finished, he looked at Johannes and said, “Tell your master that I will not attend. Now be gone, horseman.”
Johannes could have pressed the matter, but he saw no advantage in it. He and his companions could easily have been overwhelmed and slain. When they returned, he would tell his king of the insolence Giordano had displayed. Indeed, this was one man Johannes would not have mourned to see kneeling before the headsman’s axe.
Over the next several weeks, Johannes and his companions rode hard and fast, visiting the city-states to which King Frederick had requested that he deliver his written messages. At each stop, they waited while a response was drafted and written to answer the king’s request.
In every city they visited, they were treated well and provided with excellent food and lodging. When it came time to leave, they departed as friends and were given ample food and supplies for the next leg of their journey.
Johannes and his companions often had lively discussions about which city had given them the best send-off. It seemed that each man had his favorite.
Livorno was the last official stop on King Frederick’s mission. Johannes asked his companions which route they preferred: the familiar road along the coast or the other route, largely mountainous and unknown to them.
They chose the coast without much hesitation. The road was easier, and none of them were inclined to refuse more seafood if the opportunity arose. Johannes judged that they could reach Rome within a week if they kept a brisk pace.
On the evening of the eighth day since leaving Livorno, they reached the outskirts of Rome. Johannes led his tired, but happy companions back to the Palace of the Laterano where King Frederick and the rest of their travel party were lodged.
Tired but content, Johannes reported to King Frederick and presented him with the written responses he had gathered from the cities and lords the king had directed him to visit. Only Giordano Pierleoni’s reply was unwritten, and Johannes repeated it word for word.
Frederick gave no immediate response, but Johannes could tell that the message had not pleased him. Having completed his duty, he asked leave to retire and rest. Should the king wish to discuss the journey further, Johannes assured him he would make himself available on the morrow.
Frederick smiled and wished him a good night.
The next morning, when Johannes met with King Frederick, the king disclosed the purpose of his mission. He had been sent to deliver messages to the leading families of Rome and to the rulers of the city-states and duchies throughout the Italian Peninsula. Several factions opposed Frederick’s coronation, supporting either a rival claimant to the imperial throne or the abolition of the Empire in favor of a secular republic. The latter faction sought to strip the pope of his temporal power and was supported by the Pierleoni family, as well as by followers of the heretic Arnold of Brescia.
King Frederick said to Johannes, “It is my destiny to become Holy Roman Emperor, yet I cannot achieve it without your aid and the aid of those to whom I entrusted my messages. I already knew whom I could trust in Rome and whom I must regard with caution. Your mission has confirmed my suspicions. At the time of my coronation, an imperial army shall stand upon the outskirts of the city, awaiting only my command.
Giordano Pierleone’s refusal to provide a written response, along with his insistence on referring to himself by the honorific title Patrician of Rome, tells me that he is the self-appointed leader of the secular republican movement and a supporter of the rabble-rouser Arnold of Brescia. This Arnold poses a direct threat to the papacy of Adrian IV and, indirectly, to my own ambitions as Holy Roman Emperor.
Without a pope, I cannot be crowned emperor, and without Adrian, there is no one to perform the coronation. If Adrian were to be deposed, I would have no means of being crowned emperor. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the Roman Empire to support Adrian’s position as pope.”
“What role am I to play in this, King Frederick?” Johannes asked nervously.
He still remembered his encounter with the inquisitor monk who had ordered him to put an old woman to death by burning at the stake. Johannes had refused, and he had nearly found himself sentenced to life in an abbey had the king not intervened on his behalf.
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