Kriegsritter Johannes Braun – Imperial Knight
Copyright© 2026 by Vonalt
Chapter 7: The Banquet and The Reichsretter’s Doubt
Johannes felt utterly out of place at the head table, surrounded by members of the Frangipani family, whose watchful eyes seemed fixed on his every action. His nerves were stretched so thin that he scarcely dared speak to Apollonia, fearing that a careless word might offend her family.
Noticing Johannes’s discomfort, Oddone Frangipane turned toward him, a faint smile playing on his lips. A man ill at ease was often easier to sway.
“You may speak with Apollonia, Johannes. She knows little of the burdens your king has laid upon your shoulders. Her only concern, I suspect, is whether you find her pleasing.
“If things had progressed as your king intended, you could have grown accustomed to meals in this hall, with Apollonia at your side. Whenever possible, we gather as a family to share food, news, and one another’s company.
“If you and Apollonia had chosen to marry while in Rome, this house would have become your home. These faces, which now seem so unfamiliar, might have become your family, Reichsritter.”
Johannes was not naïve; he understood Oddone well enough. In a Frangipani hall, words were rarely spoken without purpose, and meaning often lingered beneath the surface of polite conversation. Tonight’s message, it seemed, came in two parts: a careful measure of his loyalty to his king and a tempting reward in the form of Apollonia. Submit, and she is yours. Oddone was testing him.
Oddone smiled as though no great matter hung in the balance.
With that, Oddone inclined his head toward the steward, signaling for the banquet to begin. The steward immediately relayed the command, directing the kitchen servants to bring forth the first course.
The second course soon followed. Platters of roast pork were set before the guests, accompanied by olives, boiled root vegetables, steamed cabbage with apples, and rice. To wash it down, a robust red wine was served, made from grapes grown on the Frangipani estates beyond Rome’s northern outskirts.
Johannes could not remember the last time he had eaten so well. If he continued to enjoy meals like this during his time in Rome, he would soon look like one of the fat abbots whom Pope Adrian IV surrounded himself with.
Meanwhile, the servants moved efficiently through the banquet hall, clearing away the dishes and goblets from the main course as they prepared the way for dessert.
Before dessert was served, Johannes turned to Oddone, acting as if he was feeling the effects of the wine, and said, “If I continue to eat this way, Lord Frangipane, I shall soon look like one of those well-fed abbots forever crowding about Pope Adrian. Small wonder Arnold of Brescia rails against them. You know—the fellow backed by Giordano Pierleone, your rival—who dreams of a Rome free from both emperor and pope.”
The game Oddone had started could be played in two directions, and Johannes made his counter-move.
Johannes was beginning to feel the effects of the wine for real. Recognizing the danger, he resolved to temper his drinking before he said something that might truly offend his hosts—or, worse, overplay his hand. He was convinced that he had already committed a grievous blunder by insulting his host and had squandered whatever chance he might once have had of winning Apollonia as his bride.
Oddone laughed heartily at the remark, and Apollonia, embarrassed by her uncle’s outburst, soon politely joined in. The sound of her laughter caught Johannes’s attention.
Only then did it occur to him that he had yet to speak a single word to the very person in whose honor the banquet had been held.
Turning toward her, he desperately searched for something complimentary—or, if fortune favored him, even witty—to say.
He looked into Apollonia’s eyes, smiled nervously, and gave it his best shot: “Donna Frangipani, I must apologize for not speaking to you sooner. I fear I have been a poor table companion this evening. The truth is that your beauty has left me at a loss for words, and I have struggled to think of anything worthy of saying.”
“I am honored to sit beside you. Though we are little more than strangers at present, I hope that, in time, we will come to know one another well and that affection and friendship will grow between us.”
“I promise to do my utmost to speak the truth. And if I stumble over my words tonight, it is because of your uncle’s wine—and because I am overwhelmed by your presence. I beg your forgiveness, for I confess that I find it difficult to think clearly while sitting beside the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, who is more intoxicating than her uncle’s wine.”
Apollonia did not answer immediately. Her cheeks flushed a deep crimson. A tiny squeak escaped her lips, but moments later the color drained from her face, leaving her pale despite her naturally dark Italian complexion.
She gripped the arms of her chair as if to steady herself, yet still swayed slightly, looking very much like a woman on the verge of fainting.
As he quickly sobered, Johannes wondered if his compliment had been a terrible mistake.
Alarmed by Apollonia’s sudden pallor, Johannes reached out to steady her before she could fall. He then tapped Oddone on the shoulder and quietly drew his attention to her.
Oddone glanced at Apollonia and immediately understood the situation. With a slight nod in her direction, he signaled to his steward. Johannes was no mere courtier; he possessed an intellect worthy of far more than the rank he bore. Oddone realized that he had seriously underestimated him. Never before had he seen a woman so captivated by a suitor’s words as Apollonia was. The compliments had not been rehearsed; they had come entirely on the spur of the moment. Johannes was far more formidable than King Frederick and, of the two, the more dangerous.
The steward acted swiftly, and several female servants helped Apollonia to her feet and gently escorted her from the banquet hall, while conversation around them continued in hushed tones.
Dessert was served, and Johannes had to summon all his willpower to ask about Apollonia’s condition.
He slowly sipped the sweet dessert wine, served alongside cheese, candied fruit, honey-coated walnuts, and fresh exotic fruit brought to Rome from lands beyond the Mediterranean. It was a quiet testament to the Frangipani family’s wealth and influence.
“Lord Oddone, I sincerely beg your pardon for having upset Donna Apollonia. I did not foresee that she would take such offense at my words or at their implication,” Johannes said, visibly embarrassed.
He feared that his indiscretion had ruined any prospect of an alliance, much less a marriage. In truth, he was more concerned about a marriage than an alliance.
“Reichsritter, you have nothing to apologize for. Apollonia was merely overcome by your words. The poor girl was so deeply moved that she grew faint and had to retire for a time.”
“In truth, Johannes, she was already taken with you before this evening. After hearing you speak, I fear she has surrendered what little reason she had left. The poor girl is hopelessly in love.”
“Were I not the head of this family and bound to preserve a measure of dignity, I should be laughing at her plight. The poor girl looks as though she has been struck by lightning.”
“There is something remarkable about you, Reichsritter, and I am pleased to have made your acquaintance. Would that we might remain upon such friendly terms. Yet we serve different masters, and until they reach an accord concerning supreme authority in Rome and throughout the Italian peninsula, we must stand in opposition. I pray that such opposition remains confined to words and councils, for I should take no pleasure in seeing a man of your quality struck down in battle.”
“And I feel the same, Lord Oddone. I believe we might have become dear friends, joined by mutual respect and goodwill. It would grieve me beyond measure were my sword ever to deal the stroke that deprived the world of your life.”
Stunned, Oddone was taken aback by Johannes’s remark. Not only was the young man intelligent, but he was also not easily intimidated. He was indeed the Hammer his informants had described—a man of resolve and uncommon ability. King Frederick was fortunate to possess such a confidant and trusted lieutenant.
After the desserts were cleared away, Oddone and Johannes entered into serious discussion, considering terms that might best preserve Pope Adrian IV on the Apostolic Throne and enable King Frederick to receive the imperial crown.
Johannes proposed that the pope would have access to imperial forces as needed to maintain his authority in Rome and govern the Church. He further suggested that, in defense of the Holy Father’s authority, King Frederick could use his imperial power to depose any antipope who claimed the Chair of Saint Peter.
This arrangement was conditional upon the alliance being maintained between the two. Should the pope break the alliance, the newly crowned emperor would withdraw his support.
Oddone and Johannes felt they had gone as far as they could in the negotiations. Beyond that, it was understood that the matter would have to be left to King Frederick and Pope Adrian to resolve through their own deliberations and counsel.
In the course of his remarks, Oddone called Johannes “the Emperor’s Hammer.”
A slight tightening of Johannes’s brow revealed the displeasure he had worked hard to conceal.
There it was again—that word.
What, exactly, did they take him for—an enforcer of the emperor’s will, an executioner, a man dispatched wherever force and intimidation were required?
The title carried power, certainly, but every meaning Johannes attached to it sat uneasily with him. In his own mind, he was but a messenger, a negotiator.
Before long, the banquet hall began to empty. One by one, the guests took their leave, returning to their chambers or making their way through the streets of Rome. Those who had drunk too freely and could no longer walk unaided were supported by the steward’s servants, while a few were carried out altogether.
Johannes decided that to return alone to King Frederick’s residence would be unwise. Too many of the emperor’s enemies knew who he was and whom he served. As a trusted agent of the future Holy Roman Emperor—and, by extension, a potential ally of the pope—he had made himself a target.
In Rome, there were plenty who would not hesitate to catch him alone in the streets and make an example of him.
Johannes sought a quiet corner in which he might sleep through the remainder of the night. At dawn, he would be able to return safely to the pope’s residence.
As he looked around the hall, he saw Marcus and several of his men gathered near the steward, cheerfully trying to persuade him to let them have some of the banquet’s leftovers.
Marcus noticed Johannes and signaled for him to join them.
Johannes crossed the hall to join Marcus and his companions.
“Well, brother,” Marcus said with a mischievous smile, “how did you enjoy your introduction to the Frangipani family? Judging by my sister’s reaction, I’d say it went rather well. You’d best get used to all the food and wine—and being the center of attention.”
Johannes recounted how he had warned Oddone that, should he continue eating so, he would soon resemble one of the fat abbots in attendance at the papal court. Marcus and his men laughed heartily at his predicament.
One of the men asked Johannes for his opinion of Apollonia.
Johannes admitted he believed he had fallen in love with her at first sight.
Of course, he also told them about the gruff-looking woman he had spotted sitting alone at a table earlier in the evening. At first, he had been convinced she was Apollonia. On seeing her, he had seriously considered slipping out of the banquet hall, fleeing Rome altogether, and making for France or England to take service as a mercenary.
Failing that, he confessed he had considered returning to Trier to enter a monastery and take up the monastic life, to avoid whatever plans the pope and emperor had in store for him.
By the time he finished his story, Marcus and his men were laughing so hard that several of them had tears in their eyes.
One of Marcus’s companions spoke up. “The woman you spoke of is Crescentia. She is indeed a bitter woman. Twice, her prospective suitors have sent her back with a full purse for her parents if they would tear up the marriage contract. She wishes to enter a convent, but her parents will not allow it. She is a source of income for them.”
After hearing the woman’s plight, the compassionate Johannes reemerged. He would speak to Oddone on Crescentia’s behalf. No woman should be subjected to the embarrassment and humiliation her parents imposed upon her. If necessary, he would escort her to a convent himself. Johannes thought again of the old woman condemned as a witch, and a renewed wave of sympathy and compassion rose within him.
Marcus told Johannes that it was already too late to return to the pope’s residence.
“At this hour, the streets belong to dangerous men,” he said. “Thieves, cutthroats, and worse—men like Pierleoni.”
He went on to explain that the Pierleoni retainers were known to move about the city after dark. As sworn enemies of the Frangipani family, they would not look kindly upon a man found in the company of their rivals. Nor would they overlook the fact that Johannes served the future Holy Roman Emperor and was rumored to be aligned with the pope.
Marcus folded his arms and smiled.
“In a remarkably short time, you have gathered quite a list of enemies, brother. For that reason alone, it would not be wise for you to leave this house tonight.”
Johannes slept in quarters provided by Marcus. He slept exceedingly well, no doubt owing to the wine he had drunk that night. The amount he had consumed was not enough to leave him with a headache or upset stomach, though at breakfast he noticed several others still suffering from the effects of their excess.
Marcus had other responsibilities that demanded his attention and was therefore unable to accompany Johannes back to the pope’s palace, where Johannes was lodging. Instead, he provided Johannes with a mounted escort to ensure his safe passage through the streets of Rome.
During the journey, Johannes learned more about the city’s social and political landscape from his escorts. He became acquainted with the alliances and feuds of the powerful Roman houses and gained a clearer understanding of the rivalries that governed them.
The most valuable information he obtained from his escorts concerned the loyalties of the noble families—those who supported the pope and the emperor, and those who opposed them.
Even more important was what he learned about Arnold of Brescia and the support he enjoyed from the Pierleoni family. According to the men riding with him, if King Frederick hoped to secure the backing necessary to become Holy Roman Emperor, he would first have to capture Arnold of Brescia and suppress the open rebellion they were certain would follow.
After his coronation, Frederick would probably still need to crush a rebellion that threatened not only his authority as emperor but also that of Pope Adrian IV. To Johannes, this seemed a risk worth taking. The newly crowned emperor and the pope would have to work together to govern Rome.
If the men accompanying him were to be believed, Arnold was a threat, and that threat would have to be eliminated.
Indeed, Arnold was a threat. He resolved to persuade King Frederick to assist Pope Adrian IV in dealing with Arnold of Brescia, a man who interfered in Church affairs and incited the people of Rome to rise against both ecclesiastical and imperial authority.
When Johannes arrived back at the pope’s palace in Rome, he was told that the king was with the pope and would return in the early afternoon. While waiting for King Frederick, he went to the chambers he shared with several other knights. His companions were curious about why Johannes had been invited to the banquet the previous evening.
He explained that he had visited the Frangipani tower house to explore the possibility of an alliance between the king and the clan leader.
A marriage had been proposed to formalize the alliance between a member of the Frangipani family and a representative of King Frederick’s imperial authority. Johannes had been instructed by King Frederick to attend the banquet because he was that representative.
Upon his arrival at the banquet, Johannes told his companions that the only seat left for him was beside a coarse, ill-favoured woman whose bearing was most disagreeable. He assumed her to be his intended bride.
He admitted that, upon making this discovery, he had considered slipping away from the feast and fleeing Rome altogether. He thought of going to France or England to serve as a mercenary, relying on fortune and his sword for his livelihood. Failing that, he decided to seek admission to a monastery through the Archbishop of Trier and to live out his remaining days in peace and humble service.
For a time, his companions were taken in by his ruse, but Johannes soon grinned, betraying himself. He was quickly found out, and the others laughed at how easily they had fallen for his trick.
It was then that he came clean about the proposed alliance and marriage. He admitted that the woman he was to wed was beautiful. A few of his companions suspected he was exaggerating again and said that his earlier description was more likely to be the truth.
Johannes sadly told his friends that the alliance and the related marriage were highly unlikely, as events had not unfolded as expected. The situation was more complicated and would require more negotiation than he was willing to undertake. For this reason, Johannes awaited King Frederick’s return so that he could report on where things stood.
It was not long afterwards that King Frederick returned from his talks with Pope Adrian IV, which Johannes learned had not gone well. He promptly briefed the king on the previous night’s banquet and on his dealings with the head of the Frangipani family.
The king was not wholly surprised by Oddone’s position: that no alliance could be made while Frederick sought imperial dominion over Rome and the Italian peninsula, nor could he be crowned Holy Roman Emperor while he remained in opposition to papal authority over the Holy City.
It was the official position of the Frangipani that Pope Adrian IV, as head of the Church by right of the papacy, held spiritual authority over Rome and the Italian peninsula. Should the Holy Roman Emperor employ imperial troops to support the pope, suppress any republican uprising among the populace, and eliminate opponents such as Arnold of Brescia, the Frangipani would support Frederick’s coronation as Holy Roman Emperor.
King Frederick smiled and told Johannes there was already in place an agreement that met those terms.
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